including the staff of the congressional black caucus, house and senate leadership and staff throughout various committees. we view this work period as an opportunity to invite staffers from both sides of the aisle to come to that white house and discussed shared priorities and find common ground on the way forward. we are not just reaching out to cup my capitol hill, we have engaged with key leaders and policymakers around the country. it is critical for the initiation to gather input from the states, people throughout the country rather than just leaders here in washington. looking ahead to tomorrow, the president will meet with a group of world-class business leaders to discuss specific action he can take to remove barriers to job creation. these leaders, many of whom represent some of the country's largest manufacturers, will begin the date and working groups with the vice president, cabinet members and key aides of the president staff. the working group will engage in a deep diving conversation on the attendee's specific area of expertise peer topics of discussion include deregulation, tax and trade, training and the

workforce of the future and infrastructure. vice president pence will be engaged with each of the groups and after the groups conclude their discussion, the president's staff will compile the feedback in the president will sit down with the entire group for a listening session on some of their recommendations. as you can tell by the structure of the meeting, the president is expecting these interactions to lead to real action being taken by the administration, creating a dynamic and booming economy that works for all americans. this continues to be at the top of his domestic policy agenda. as a successful businessman himself, the president knows if we are getting the country back to work, we need to hear directly from job creators, what is loading them back in what the appropriate steps to remove the barrier. in his first month in office, the president has already taken numerous actions to boost job creation and key economic indicators are showing it is working. ceo and they are confident of us, stock market continues to reach record highs in january numbers were strong. the meetings on thursday will continue to build on that momentum. with that, i would like to take some questions.

steve. jeff. [laughter] >> reporter: you can you give us an update on the admitted patients planned in regards to transgender bathrooms? can you confirm in schools and confirmed that there has been some disagreement between secretary devos and others? >> press secretary spicer: i expect further guidance to come out on that today. the president, as i said yesterday, is a firm believer and states rights. when you look at the issues of the obama demonstration, remember to the best of my knowledge that was installed in never fully unlimited, there were various reasons for that. several legal reasons and several procedure recent so that department of education and department of justice both jointly issued that guidance back during the obama administration are now working together again during the trump admonition to review guidance that was signed in the bases it was put through, and there have been several areas of concern

both legal and procedural that they have been discussing. i think where you might be hearing something is more on the timing and the wording of the staff. the conclusion, everyone in the administration has agreed upon, there no issue between the president and some secretaries peer there has been discussion between the timing of the issuance and recommendations for between the exact wording but as far as the conclusions go, i've made this clear and the president has made it clear since the campaign he has a firm believer in states rights and certain issues like this are not best dealt with at the federal level. >> reporter: report out today that some cabinet secretaries are bristling at what they see as the white house micromanaging staffing at the cabinet level. to what degree does the white house think that it should impose its hiring approvals on members of the sub cabinet? and his some of this at least partially driven by cabinet secretaries wanting to appoint

people who may not necessarily be aligned with the president's thinking? >> press secretary spicer: i think when you come to you -- they are called political appointees for a reason. the idea is that people who come into the government should want to support and enact the president's agenda that he campaigned on with the american people. i think one of the reasons you have seen in recent polls, the president, even if people do not agree, they give him high marks for making sure to follow through on promises to the american people and getting things done he said which is not always done in washington. we want to make sure the people who staff eight trump administration are committed to the trump agenda. cabinet secretaries and other administrators and directors have broad discretion, but at the end of the day, no matter what position you have, whether it is the lowest or highest in this white house or in a department or agency, we should be making sure people who are coming in as appointees of the

president support the president's agenda. that is one thing. this is not about getting a job as a federal employee where you are subject to certain restrictions as to what you can and cannot do in the benefit of being a federal employee. these are political appointees. so i think there is obviously -- we're going to ensure that people that are political appointees share the vision and agenda of the president that he campaigned on and implemented. >> reporter: does the white house believe it needs to have final approval or can you -- >> press secretary spicer: it's not a question of trust, it is making sure we are all on the same page and committed to the same agenda that the president set forth. this process is probably no different than what we have seen in previous administrations. cabinet secretaries come to the president with recommendations on who they want, and it depends on the position, obviously. in certain cases, if they are going to fulfill a job that is a

key area that the president has very specific goals to enact that he promised the american people, you want to make sure the person fulfilling that job actually is committed to the agenda and vision the president set forth and promised the american people. that is something we are always going to be making sure is in alignment. >> reporter: is the approval process in some way slowing down the appointment of crucial staffers? >> press secretary spicer: not at all. i think when you look across where we are, track the number of people in the pipeline, we are doing very, very well with getting all of these positions filled. i think once in a while, you may hear one or two people, but overall generally speaking, i mentioned during the transition period how many members of the beachhead team he had, in those members who are appointed had 120 days, and they were there to allow basically a four-month process for secretaries in the white house to make sure that people on a permanent basis could populate those positions. that is what is happening. make no mistake, we were ahead

of the curve on those teams come a very clear with the landing team during the transition. this has been a very methodical process that has been seen from top to bottom and we are doing a phenomenal job. lucky me. reporter mike i'm going to take mine. [laughter] >> reporter: the president and the roosevelt room just said to us that among other things thaty finalized but cannot be submitted until the healthcare plan statutorily or otherwise is. so what i wanted to clarify, is the white house during the healthcare proposal or was he talking about congress and not the white house? >> press secretary spicer: obviously, there are two vehicles, reconciliation vehicles. fy 17, i'm going to give you the answer. the fy 17 reconciliation was

never completed because the budget was not finalized in the last congress, then you have 2018. we want to look at the opportunities to work with congress on obamacare utilizing 2017 and you can use the 2018 reconciliation budget process to do tax reform. again, thousand not prescriptive, but as far as why the president is saying it that way is because we have the option available to us right now and i think the president is committed to making sure that the promise that he made to the american people to repeal and replace obamacare continues to be first and foremost then his tax plan. we can walk and chew gum kind of thing, we can exit continue to work with congress and the leadership in both houses. >> reporter: there are a few things that are going to happen on the timeline, there is going to be a budget plan that you guys are going to present on march 13th-ish. there is going to be a

healthcare something from him and something from them and then a tax reform plan afterward, is that the way it works? >> press secretary spicer: when we are ready to announce -- we have obamacare, budget, tax reform, going to be a very busy march and april for us. we will continue to work with congress to make sure that is implemented. >> reporter: you were talking about fulfilling the president promises, and you know he promised during the campaign a complete shutdown of muslims entering the country. there were people and his party who thought it was a very good proposal p or can you expand his evolution and backing down from that, and can you also say whether he regrets using that rhetoric because it ended up hurting the court case? >> press secretary spicer: i go back to the merits of the case. and the order that gives him the authority to make that u.s. code 1182 very clear. the president was very clear in his executive order that these were countries that we did not

have the proper vetting for when it came to ensuring the safety of americans. that is what the executive order said. the authority is very clear to have him do that, and you will continue to see the president take the steps necessary to protect this country. that is why he has talked about fighting this on both fronts, making sure we keep evolving through the court system on the existing eeo and then looking toward the next draft of the executive order that will continue to achieve the goal of protecting the american people. that is where we are. that is what the order says. so i think we continue to feel confident -- it was crafted in a way that was very clear about the countries and was not focused on anything else but the vetting requirements that we have two make sure that we know who is coming into this country and that they are here not to do us any harm. >> reporter: talking about fulfilling his promises, can you explain why he decided to back down from that one? >> press secretary spicer: i think he made it very clear from the beginning that this was a

country-focused issue, safety-focused, and i do not see anything other than that with reference to that. >> reporter: sunday night, will the president be watching the oscars? and if there is a meryl streep kind of moment, how do you think he will react and why do you think this happens? >> press secretary spicer: why do i think what happens? >> reporter: actresses and actors like meryl streep. >> press secretary spicer: i don't know, it is a free country. hollywood is known for being rather far to the left in its opinions. i have to be honest with you. i think the president will be hosting the governors ball that night. mrs. trump looks forward to putting on a phenomenal event and the first lady has put a lot of time into this event that's going to occur welcoming our governors to the capitals. i feel like that is where the president and first lady are going to be focused on sunday night and so we will go from there.

>> reporter: the president has a big audience next tuesday to do a joint address of congress. does he have a set of goals in mind for the speech or any specific policy rollouts as part of it? >> press secretary spicer: i think the speech is going to focus -- i mentioned this yesterday. it is going to remind the american people what he has done already and make sure that he explains to them not just because of a sense of accomplishment and moving the country forward but because i think it is important for the american people to know that he was an agent of change. he came here to get things done. he did not waste any time. he is committed to keeping his word. i think he's going to lay out his vision and talk about things like education and healthcare and infrastructure. the problems that we face as a country, the violence and some of our cities but also some of the solutions we can act on, some of the partnerships we can create. it's obviously still a work in progress, but i think it is going to look forward to where

he wants to take this country. and talk about working with congress and other leaders throughout the country to get things done. i think of a draft that i've seen so far, it is going to be a very strong blueprint of where he wants to take this country. in the past, i think a lot of presidents or some presidents have got very detailed specifics, but i think you will see him try to talk about policies and a broad sense of where he wants to take the country and what defining success is, what the goal means. it is still a work in progress hopefully toward the future. >> reporter: the tone is going to be optimistic? >> press secretary spicer: i think this is an opportunity for him to lay out a very positive vision for the nation and to really let america know where we can go and how we can get there. and the potential we have as a nation. >> reporter: piggyback on that, another question. i know of past presidents including president obama immediately hit the road after -- i note not the state of the

union, but something like that to sell policies, so if he is talking more on vision, deceit anticipate doing that? >> press secretary spicer: there will be some travel. that is evolving right now. there are a lot of things that we are trying to look at, and as we look at the speech and some of the objectives and goals and visions he is sharing, talk to him about potential places to go to highlight that, but i think you're going to see a fair amount of visits in the next few weeks to highlight some of the places he wants to take us. >> reporter: the other thing is i have seen members of congress last week, there is a legislative meeting today, it feels as if we have not seen as many executive actions or executive orders. i know we have the vetting one coming out this week. are we in a different phase now that he has done the executive orders he wants to do? >> press secretary spicer: we have several in the pipeline. part of it is just -- the days

are focused with these meetings and getting things done, trying to plan ahead. as we see fit and as the implementation process of a lot of these goes through the process, we will have plenty more. >> reporter: is there going to be more legislative emphasis now? >> press secretary spicer: it is both. we work through congress, these are big things. we're talking about fundamental tax reform, something that has not happened in our nation since 1986. repeal him or placement of obamacare which is mammoth. i think part of it is those things take time, joint address on tuesday, a lot of things are happening, therefore we need to kind of make sure that we appropriately use the schedule. i can assure you that if you miss executive orders, you are going to a bunch. just want to make sure you know. jonathan carl. >> reporter: i want to ask about obamacare. the president referred to

so-called "angry crowds," is he suggesting this is a manufactured anger, this is not real anger? >> press secretary spicer: i think there is a hybrid there. i think the people are clearly upset, but there is a bit of professional protester manufactured base in there, but honestly there are people upset. i also think that when you look at some of these districts and things, it is not a representation of a member's district or incident. it's a small group of people disrupting things in many cases for media attention, no offense. that -- just because they are allowed does not necessarily mean there are many. i think in many cases, that is what you are saying. >> reporter: so is there doubt there is real anger smacked it's just a few loud agitators, there could be real concerned that people will lose their -- >> press secretary spicer: that is a false narrative. the president has been very

clear. you have to look at what our healthcare system is right now. and so many counties around our nation, we've gone down to one provider. that is not choice, that is not access. then they are going in a lot of cases to say we are not taking medicaid or the insurance used to have, the doctor you used to have, and by the way, states like arizona, you've got over 100% increase in premium, 112% i think is the number there. many states, it is double digit digits. the idea that we have to remember is that the american people got sold the affordable care act. it is neither affordable or accessible. they are losing their coverage, and premiums are spiking. people are truly worried about losing their coverage, so they should be applauding the presidents action for wanting to make sure we put a system in place that does what they were supposed to have been promised a wild back. i think that is what is missing from this dialogue. i've seen some folks that were protesting at some of these

things saying, i am on obamacare, i'm going to lose my think your mom they were asked how old they are, they are 71 or 72. they are not on obamacare, there are medicaid. >> reporter: are they making it up? >> press secretary spicer: i'm not saying they are making it up, but there is a letter blurring of the facts. the reality of some people are not on obamacare, they're on employer-based systems, medicaid, receiving benefits through medicare because of their age. they have no problems. i think in other cases, people are told the plan they are on is unsustainable, that these carriers throughout the country just look at them over and over again pulling out of the exchanges. the reality is that they are losing their healthcare, but they are losing it under obamacare because the exchanges are collapsing on themselves, carriers are pulling out, premiums are going up, and access is going down. so the president's plan is actually going to do exactly what they were promised eight years ago and did not get. so for those who are worried, the answer is that help is on the way.

>> reporter: but what is the plan? >> press secretary spicer: the president has made it clear we will have it up in the next couple of weeks. he is working on it. this is not going to be what they jam through the democratic congress then told us to read after it was passed so taking our time to get this right to achieve the goals we set forth is probably the right thing to do considering the experience we had the last time. >> reporter: two questions for you. the issue of transgender bathrooms was not when we heard about a lot from the president during the campaign. he said at one point, caitlyn jenner can use whatever bathroom she wants at trump tower. why is this not a priority for the m initiation 40 days into office? >> press secretary spicer: it is not a priority, there's a case. let me answer the question. there is a case pending in the supreme court in which we have to decide whether or not to continue to issue guidance to the court. it is dictated by that. the obama administration had issued joint guidance from the department of education and department of justice. we have to decide whether this administration wants to continue the track that they were on.

it is plain and simple. if we don't -- there are problems both in the legal and process weight in which that guidance was issued. it is incumbent upon us to actually follow the law and recognized that title ix never talked about this, that is enacted in 1972. no discussion of this back then so to assume certain elements of the law were thought of back then with respect to this would be completely preposterous. >> reporter: secretary devos is on board with this? >> press secretary spicer: yes, 100%. thank you. >> reporter: second question about mexico, the secretary of state along with secretary kelly, there have been tensions between the mexican president and president trump. is this a cleanup job? >> press secretary spicer: no, i think the president of mexico and president trump spoke again, foreign minister had several contacts with our staff. i would argue that we have a very healthy and robust relationship with the mexican government and mexican officials. i think they would echo the same

sentiment. president pena nieto has echoed that at well. our relation ship is incredible and there has been robust dialogue between the two nations. >> reporter: intel indicated the u.s. needs to take a larger share of the burden and perhaps sent troops to syria. has the discussion discussed this with -- has the president this with the security team? >> press secretary spicer: you have seen the president talking about safe harbors and cereal with several leaders -- thank you. that is an area at the top of the president's foreign policy agenda that he continues to talk to leaders especially in the middle east about, trying to make sure that we deal with that issue in that area right now. but i am not going to get ahead of the department of defense on this and they will make recommendations to go forward. i am not going to -- if i have

an update, i will give it to you tomorrow. >> reporter: president trump and the canadian prime minister have to council for advancement of women onto printers, can you talk about how it is growing and transpiring? >> press secretary spicer: that is part of the president's agenda that occurred six or seven days ago, we will have further updates as it goes forward but he continues to be in touch with prime minister justin trudeau and are resident and staff continue to work on the back end to make it happen. >> reporter: two questions for you. an earlier comment, does the white house not have confidence in the cabinet secretaries by looking over their shoulders, does president trump trust his cabinet secretaries and administered his staff to find people who agree with the president agenda? >> press secretary spicer: i think there is a big difference. the president named these folks

because they are unbelievably qualified individuals. part of it is that you are staffing major departments with major positions to fill. when you are filtering through a good number of people, i don't even think the secretaries at some degree, can depending on the department, have full background on these individuals. getting to the pipeline -- and again, there are areas that are of key priority for the president that he campaigned on. i think when he wants to make sure certain of those individuals who are going to be overseeing key priorities that he promised the american people have somebody who is not only qualified but agrees with and shares the president's vision to fix whatever problem that was or fulfill the vision he articulated. it would almost be malpractice not to do that, to allow people to fill a job, a political appointee job who do not share the vision and agenda of the president of the united states

would almost be -- it would be silly to six to eight mike suggested. i think any administration and past history would willingly take on somebody who would adamantly oppose or speak out specifically against what the president was seeking to do then have them fulfill a job to carry out that mission. it does not seem as though it mix any sense. reporting we are a week away from the deadline that the president written ordered the review of the strategy, meeting with generals, was he meeting regarding that review? >> press secretary spicer: general dunford and secretary mattis have begun providing him updates on that. i know that the new national security advisor is getting brought into the process and continuing to do updates. we will have further updates but the team has been working on it since the president issued it. >> reporter: as far as the secular executive order --

second exec of order is concerned, what are they going to do in terms of making sure that the second executive order passes constitutional scrutiny? >> >> press secretary spicer: we have done a few things. one, we've been clear about understanding what the court said and trying to tailor that specifically while achieving the same goal of keeping america safe and ensuring that people do not come into this country who seek to do us harm. that is number one. number two -- that order is basically completed. what we are now doing is working with the very agencies and departments to make sure further limitation of that is done in an extremely smooth way. we look at it from both a process standpoint and a legal standpoint, and i think it is achieving the goals. again, i would also mention that on the merits, i believe that the first order did just that. it was written in that way and ultimately we will continue to

prevail on that because it is written in a way that is clear and consistent with u.s. code and the president's ability to protect the citizens. >> reporter: so if the second executive order is likely to face a legal challenge, you surprised that the president's prior remarks as it relates to the judiciary are going to allow him to get a fear hearing by the judicial branch as it relates to the second executive order? >> press secretary spicer: absolutely. you saw it happen in the massachusetts case. at the end of the day, look at the law and what the order does, and what you have in the case of the ninth circuit, we continue to disagree with that. the president has pointed this out, you don't have to be that high up in grade school to recognize what the code says with the authority that is granted to him and what the order does. the things brought out and that

order, though seven countries, quick cursory look fat upwards of 20 people, some of the basis for which they decided the case does not actually pass muster. i think any other judge or judges that look at that order so we can come to the same conclusion. >> reporter: i want to ask about the president's budget priorities. what is he spending on, where is he decreasing spending, and how much money politically is he asking for for those 5,000 border patrol agents? >> press secretary spicer: i will refer you back to the other question, we will have something in mid-march as we put that out but i'm not going to get ahead of director mick mulvaney. he just had a meeting where he continued to work out how they are providing him back and forth, that is the idea of crafting this budget until we put it out on paper. i don't want to get ahead. >> reporter: thank you very much, going back to mexico, officials said this morning they

are not going to enact what was put out by the dhs yesterday, they may not accept anyone who is not a mexican immigrant, what do you think? >> press secretary spicer: second rex tillerson and kelly are going to have a great discussion down there to walk through the implementation of the executive order, but i feel very confident that any country that has a citizen that comes to the country that we sent back will make sure that they comply. >> reporter: this is about immigration, the president talked a number of times about millions of illegal immigrants casting votes during the election, and you promised to look into that. there was no mention of that in any of these directives or these immigrants, it does president still believe -- >> press secretary spicer: vice president pence will lead the task force on that. reporter migrated we stand on that? >> press secretary spicer: he named the task force, they're stating to gather names and individuals to be part of it. >> reporter: the other question i have is about the

daca program here yesterday you suggested we have to go after hardened criminals, major security threats first, but during the campaign, the president talked about daca being unconstitutional executive amnesty, does he still think it was an unconstitutional use of obama's power? >> press secretary spicer: i said this yesterday. the president is very clear with his priorities with respect to immigration. yesterday was focused on going after people who are a public safety concern and we are going to walk through this -- i will get back to you on that. right now, the focus on keeping the country safe and making sure we enact change. >> reporter: given all of the push on illegal immigrants, i wanted to see if this white house and president trump have any interest in curtailing illegal immigration going forward? >> press secretary spicer: we have to look at this from a priority level. right now there are millions of people that are in the country illegally, i think the focus continues to be the 800,000 or 900,000 who already have in

order to have them removed and get the process through in a way that keeps america safe. legal immigration obviously is a completely separate subject. that includes visa reform and all of the other stuff. the president has talked about that with business leaders, visa holders, et cetera, you will see more of that coming, but there is a prioritization of how we deal with immigration both illegal and legal and we have more on that. i have to run, thank you very much, we will see you tomorrow, take care. >> jon: always entertaining television there, sean spicer, the president's spokesman talks about what is up at the white house at his daily briefing. >> jenna: a slew of different topics, transgender bathroom issue, budget issue being talked about but also a key part of the exchange during the press briefing was regarding what has been going on in local districts. that is going to be one of the

topics we talk about, reaction and local districts as lawmakers are returning home to their districts for a brief recess. it's going to be one of the topics we are going to discuss. first is a quick commercial break and we will be back with more "happening now" ." ahh, sir?

you the law? we've had some complaints of... is that a fire? there's your payoff, deputy. git! velveeta shells & cheese. there's gold in them thar shells. all umm...ed. you wouldn't want your painter to quit part way, i think you missed a spot. so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? aleve, live whole not part. you want this color over the whole house? >> ice speak i think the people are actually upset but there ist of manufactured protests there, but i also think that when you look at some of these districts and some of these things, it is

not a representation of a member's district or incident. it is a lead group, small group of people disrupting something in many cases for media attention, no offense. >> jenna: none taken. press secretary sean spicer responding to a question in the press briefing about what is going on outside of washington, d.c. capitol hill is quiet today with lawmakers on recess and many back home. some republicans are getting an ear full on obamacare and other issues at town halls across the country. take a listen. >> mr. grassley is saying that we are trying to get the american people safe, but i am m country, and i am a muslim, who is going to save me here? is going to stand behind me? [cheers and applause] >> let me finish my answer please. i think mrs. devos is going to be a fine secretary.

[boos] >> shame on him! >> i am proud of those states out there. they do not much like what i am doing. they do not share my agenda, but i respect their right to be there and to express themselves. that is what we do in this country. >> investigate trump! >> everybody has the right to free speech. what i asked with that. you can holler all you want at me, that is fine. i'm the elected representative. >> shame on you! shame on you! >> this is what democracy looks like! [cheers and applause] >> answer the question! >> there is no question some people have a very good experience with the aca, obamacare, but most people had a

very bad experience. [boos] >> jenna: euros by why the press secretary was asked about this today. the president dismissing those events in a tweet, writing: "the so-called angry crowds in home districts of some republicans are actually, in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists. sad!" let's bring an barbecue set, editor-in-chief at "the hill." we are sitting the table for why the question was asked a few moments ago, this is what has been transpiring over the last several days. what do you make of it? >> i think sean spicer said the right thing, there are a lot of angry people but also artificial grassroots. remember, this is the democratic playbook for what happened a few years ago to democrats in 2010, the rise of the tea party, we saw the town halls when obamacare was being crafted and passed. i think it is a combination, the election of 2016 was a very

angry one. the left, i think, is still trying to come to grips with the fact that they lost. and you have these very, very difficult decisions that are facing republicans that dominated the sean spicer press conference on what they are going to do on a budget and specifically on the affordable care act. >> jenna: when you say artificial grassroots, what do you mean by that? >> i think there is some -- we have not seen definitive proof, but democrats organizing getting out there, which is totally allowed in the first amendment, showing up to these conservative districts for the most part, and it is being dominated by liberals or at least the people showing up. has this problem republicans? absolutely. leadership was giving them advice of how to handle these town halls. it is embarrassing when it looks like all of your constituents are going after you. but i think clearly these are not all of their constituents. these are some people who are quite loud, but i also don't think there is just a few of

them. i do think this is going to be continuing because the real problem for republicans is that obamacare has been the law of the land for since 2010, in the benefits are in place. anytime you take away benefits, that can cause problems with voters. >> jenna: because of what you say are potentially artificial grassroots that are part of these protests, what do you think of the comparisons being made to the tea party as it came together in 2009 going into 2010 election? >> i think they are apt. we do not yet see liberal primary challenges to democrats who are in office, and that is what we saw with the tea party. the tea party was greatway for t helped them when back to houston then later the senate. from a governing perspective, republican leaders got very frustrated with the tea party. here, democratic leaders are under an enormous amount of pressure to stop trump's agenda, to oppose the supreme court nominee and moved to the left.

whether that succeeds in the election next year in the midterm election remains to be seen. the democratic party is moving left because of these liberal protests. >> jenna: what we were showing was video from 2009, some of the early evidence of the tea party coming together, just to share our viewers in some cases that it looks similar although there are some key differences as well. one of the things i read in "the wall street journal" today is that although, perhaps you pointed out, absent affects of what these groups are protesting in republican districts, it is official that the bernie sanders campaign aides have launched a super-pac. here's how "the wall street journal" described the strategy of his followers. it is to infiltrate and transform the democratic party power structure starting with the lower level, state and county committee post, specifically draw scant attention. what they want to do is move, as you mentioned, the bernie sanders agenda more into the mainstream.

what are you going to be watching to see if that is effective, and what impact does that have more broadly speaking on the political landscape when we are looking at republicans as well? >> i think they're so much anger on the democratic side. we saw that in 2060 with the rise of bernie sanders. they did not want hillary clinton, and bernie sanders was able to do very well. his favorite candidate in the dnc race, keith ellison, he has the edge right now. i think in some ways, what bernie sanders is trying to do an elizabeth warren is trying to do is what stephen bannon did on the right is roughed up the establishment and ruffled their feathers, and that is certainly what president trump is doing to washington, d.c., right now. and bernie sanders said we cannot just nominate centrists, we need to nominate true progressives if we are going to win. that is at both the congressional level and presidential level. >> jenna: very interesting, we will see where it goes in results come from it, we are watching the play-by-play. great to have you as always,

thank you very much. >> jon: fox news alert, we've been telling you about the terrible weather and california, torrential rain. these are pictures just coming into the fox news room from the san jose area. there actually has been no rain today, but the runoff is still pouring into some of these lakes and reservoirs, in the water levels are rising. at that particular dam it appears that spillway or even emergency spillway is being employed to keep the thing from overtopping the dam. the bad news is that more storms are on the way, hundreds of people had to be rescued. we have fox team coverage, hang in there, california. we will keep you updated. silhouette briefs.

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warning customers they could soon pull out of these stages as the industry braces for more instability. peter doocy has that story live from washington. >> the disturbances we have seen at town hall meetings coast-to-coast are partially being fueled by democratic lawmakers and liberal activists who wanted affordable care act to remain the law of the land, but if, for some reason, it stays intact and the republican congress and republican president did not do anything, there may not be many insurance companies on the market places for much longer. and we know that because their ceos are saying they are not sure if it is good business for them to participate in 22018. anthem says they are only going to be part of the market place this year, but next year is a question mark because they need to see how stable the marketplace is. cigna, and other insurance giant says that right now, at best, they think the marketplace is fragile, so they will make decisions in the spring about staying or leaving. humana has already said things that things right now are so

unfavorable for their bottom line, they're not going to offer any plans in 2018. recently, a few days ago, aetna aetna's ceo used the word that individual plans are in a death spiral, but the latest word from top republicans as it could be a while before a full replacement is signed into law. >> we do not want to have the same kind of abrupt problems that occurred when obamacare was of limited and full 2013. so whatever the timing is, repealing obamacare and then replacing it with a new healthcare reform approach, we need to have a gradual transition into that next phase. >> he spoke there about a next phase, and it should start next week, that is what speaker ryan says that the republican bill is going to be revealed. >> jenna: we will be waiting and watching, thank you. >> jon: for more on this, let's bring in simon rosenberg, president and founder and former campaign advisor to president

bill clinton. rich is also with us, editor of the national review and fox news contributor. one assessment is that the biggest, thorniest issue and trying to dismantle or revamp obamacare is the medicaid expansion. 31 states decided to do it. the others obviously did not. simon, do you agree that is the toughest fixed in this issue? >> i think the toughest fix is going to be the republicans co-hearing around a single plan, single alternative. it has been eight years, and during the eight years since obamacare was introduced, they have been unable to come together. i think the medicaid expansion is a big part of it, but i think that the real challenge for the republicans is going to be defined a single approach they can get through the house and senate and get president trump to sign to move forward. i think that's going to be a daunting challenge. >> jon: i know some voters in the insurance marketplace may say they left their obamacare, but overall, and we just heard

the term "death spiral," that is what the insurance companies are saying about the whole system. >> that was really eye-opening to have the head of aetna saying these exchanges are in a death spiral is just incredible. he predicted there will be some areas of the country where you will not be able to get insurance on the obamacare exchanges from any private insurers, so it was flawed from the beginning, it is in deep trouble now and needs to be repealed and replaced. simon is right, the challenge here is the consensus around replays. i think president trump has pushed republicans on capitol hill and the right direction here. the initial approach was just a repeal, think about replace later. that would have been a mistake. they need to try to slow down a little bit, do it together, get it right. i think capitol hill will need more guidance from the president on this, hopefully in his address to congress, he will lay out a more specific vision for what he thinks replays should be. this will be a messy process, it will seem at times, i am sure, like the whole thing is going to

fall apart. my guess is that ultimately it gets done. >> jon: simon, one of the republican proposals would have more competition, insurance across state lines, that kind of thing. isn't competition a good thing in general but especially when it comes to healthcare? >> when we started this adventure eight years ago, democrats wanted to cover more people and the growth of healthcare slowed. we achieved both of those things, tens of millions of people have health insurance now that did not have it, healthcare costs are creeping up at a slower level than before, some of that is obamacare, some as other factors. i think we have been very clear for eight years that we are open to other ideas. we know this was just one plan that over time we were going to have to make changes. i think democrats will be very open to working with republicans to improve obamacare because frankly, we are proud of what it has already done, but we know it can be better. that is where we will be focused going forward. >> i do not see that at all.

democrats were resistant to any fixed during the obama years, and i think that will continue to be the posture going forward. more people have been insured, that is a good thing, and republicans need their own answer for having to keep them insured. >> jon: we are going to have to leave it right there, thank you both. we will be right back.

>> jenna: a fox news alert, heavy rain and severe flooding slamming california where there are reports of at least eight deaths, thousands forced from their homes as creeks and reservoirs overflow, sending floodwaters into neighborhoods. what you see his mom is a go ago in san jose, california, south of san francisco, north of san francisco is where we find the oroville dam. alicia acuna is there and the spillway is finally getting some relief, and she is here with the update.

>> hello, and yes, we are going to start down south where folks are dealing with the flooding. 14,000 people are under mandatory evacuation, in the fire department down there says they are not only dealing with trying to get people out of their homes and this moving water, it is filled with debris and may be contaminated. the fire captain said anyone who comes out of the water is required to go to the hospital to get checked and be decontaminated because the floodwater could contain gas lanes, sewage and motor oil, and because of that, city workers from san jose were going door-to-door, telling residents that they needed to be taken out by boat but rather than wait for rescue, some decided to walk out. all of this water coming through the coyote creek which overflowed after runoff over the anderson spillway. >> i left for school, taking my daughter to school, i come back and see all of this. i'm like, what is going on? it happened really fast.

>> here at the oroville dam, the california department of water resources said the water levels are receding after the last storm that came through, really drenching the region. yesterday was the most optimistic news conference we have seen so far. officials say they are focused on removing debris from the bottom of the damaged spillway with hopes of getting the hydroelectric plant up and running again for the butte county sheriff says they are feeling much more confident and they have weathered the storm. >> as we move forward through the completion of some of those milestones in the week, during this week and perhaps in coming weeks, i will have a better comfort level for that, and we will consider lifting that evacuation warning. >> more water is expected in this area and north in san jose. >> jenna: very much a developing story. alicia, thank you very much. we will be right back with more "happening now" ."

john gerdes looking at live

pictures from the san jose area in california where the coyote creek is over flowing the area. >> jenna: too much of a good thing, water in california. thanks for joining us everybody. "america's news headquarters" starts now. >> shannon: fox news alert. the white house defending president trump's changes to the enforcement. i am sandra smith. reporters grilling sean spicer. we have that team coverage and trace gallinger is following that over obamacare and we start with chief white house correspondent john roberts. what is the newest on the ban on travel we are expecting friday now? >> reporter: good afternoon, sandra