>> by march 16th, we will see that new immigration order. >> 3 feet of snow outside the window. >> stella is coming. a style of the storm. now "happening now" ." >> jon: we start with the fox news alert, white house daily briefings that you begin any moment now. >> as we await the congressional budget office estimates on the cost of the republican health care plan. we are covering all of the news "happening now." >> jon: we might assume in the estimated price tag for the plan to replace obamacare as the president and g.o.p. leaders saw their plan to tricks in their own party. >> conservatives across thed do not like their proposal because it is obamacare lite, keeps the subsidies, the mandate. >> jon: one of those critics rand paul.

and will there be a bipartisan effort to investigate russia's ties in the 2016 election? what top lawmakers are saying. it is all "happening now" ." >> jon: we begin with another whirlwind of a day at the white house, welcome to the second hour of "happening now." i am jon scott. >> heather: i am heather childers in for jenna lee. the president working hard working through yet another packed schedule as you mention right now as we await the white house daily briefing. mr. trump spent part of the morning leading a listening session, that is what they called it, on healthcare, which included people in the administration who they call victims of obamacare. >> jon: chief white house correspondent john roberts is they are live. >> good afternoon. big topic of conversation here at the briefing this afternoon will be the cbo score for the new american healthcare act expected to come out later on this afternoon. the two big numbers to watch for, how much is it going to cost and how many people will be

covered by it? the white house and other republicans in congress perhaps anticipating the numbers are not going to be good after the last week, so they have been playing down the accuracy of the cbo and scoring big bills like this. they sit look at what happened to obamacare, they were off by millions of people being covered not by billions of dollars in terms of the cost. mick mulvaney, omb director going as far as to say yesterday may be the omb should do other things other than scoring bills this big which is exactly what the cbo is supposed to do. the president just got through a 45 minute listening session with what the white house called victims of obamacare, people who signed up for obamacare who were either unable to go to the doctor they use to see because those doctors dropped out of the plan or were unable to afford the huge deductibles that went along with the insurance. basically, they went without healthcare. the president promising that under this new plan, all of that will be better. listen. >> the house bill to repeal and replace obamacare will provide you and your fellow citizens with more choices, far more

choices at lower cost. americans should pick the plan they want. now they will be able to pick the plan they want, able to pick the doctor they walked, able to do a lot of things that the other plan was supposed to give and it never gave. >> the president and white house info sales mode, full dealmaking mode in terms of the affordable care act repeal in replacement, but if they come out in the numbers are not favorable, he is going to need all the skills he has as a dealmaker and salesman to get this thing through. back to you. >> jon: we will see if he can get it done, thank you. the trump administration is busy pushing the republican plan to replace obamacare as we await their white house daily briefing where, no doubt, it will be one of the central topics. in this morning's listening session, the president said he is making progress in keeping his promise to read america of obamacare, but it is going to take some time. >> more competition and less regulation will finally bring

down the cost of care, and i think it will bring it down very significantly. unfortunately, it takes a wild to get there because you have to let that marketplace kick in. it's going to take a little while to get there. once it gets there, i think it's going to be a beauty. it should maybe take a year or two years, but that is what is going to happen, and that is the way it works. >> jon: let's talk about it with daniel, washington bureau chief for "the new york post" and betsy is a political reporter for ""the daily beast"." kind of interesting here because obamacare was the signature achievement of the last president and the current president ""the daily beast." wants to kind of interesting here because make it, i guess, his signature achievement to undo it all. >> exactly, this moment, this particular site has the potential to define trump's presidency in a similar way that it defined president obama's time in office. of course, trump is hoping this will be a legacy item for him that will be viewed really positively, significant improvement years from now looking back. however, it is extremely tough.

remember, a central key of his campaign was that he said he's an excellent negotiator. there's probably nothing that is harder to negotiate when it comes to domestic policy and his healthcare issue because it affects every single american. and on top of that, he is squaring off against congressional conservatives very early on in his presidency. george w. bush did not really go toe-to-toe with conservatives on the hill for several years under his time at the white house, so for trump, 50 days income he's going to say that he is up for squaring off against their freedom caucus and rand paul. this is going to affect those relationships come his ability to work with them and a key fight going forward. >> jon: the republicans have promised they are going to be able to maintain coverage for the same number of people but lower costs, daniel. is that possible, is it doable? >> president trump promised he would expand coverage and that more people would be covered and it would be at a lower cost. i don't think it is doable. the problem is they over promised and it will not be able

to deliver as much. i think the cba -- cbo scores will hurt the case, the question is will they be able to offer ay sort of results? they might be able to do something like that and some of these -- some of this policy, some of this bill that has been laid out might do some of that, but it is up to the administration to make that case to say this is how it will help. i do think it ultimately will fall short of the overall promised that president trump made, but it might be salvageable, but right now, they do not yet have the votes. it will be a real tug on the hill to try to get those votes. >> jon: and about 45 minutes, we are supposed to talk with senator rand paul of kentucky. he obviously campaign for the presidency against donald trump, did not prevail, but he certainly is a thorn in the side of the president right now as he tries to repeal and replace obamacare. does it surprise you that, given the republican distaste for this law over the last eight years,

that they are not more on the same page when it comes to how to undo it? >> not necessarily because even though all republicans agree that the affordable care act is bad policy, that was a central point of consensus during an eight year stretch when republicans disagree on a lot of major issues, opposition to obamacare brought them together. despite that, they never fully coalesced behind a replacement plan. that is something you're going to hear democrats slamming republicans on over the coming months is that republicans had years in years and years to find a bill that they could hopefully use to make everyone happy, and thus far, it has not happened. i think that is why senator paul as well as leaders in the freedom caucus are so frustrated, but remember, it's not just conservative republicans concerned about the legislation, there are also more moderate republicans in the senate, republicans from purple states like cory gardner from colorado or shelley from west virginia who criticized the president and speaker ryan's

legislation for the opposite reason, they say that they are really concerned about the rollback of the medicaid expansion particularly through the perspective of addiction issues as the opioid epidemic has ravished swabs of the country, it has played a key role in pushing back. so more moderate and centrist republicans are concerned as well so that means trump's negotiating skills are really going to be in for a tough test. >> jon: obviously over the weekend, speaker of the house paul ryan seemed to suggest that millions of people might not be covered under the american healthcare act. but that is because the new legislation is going to give them the freedom to decide whether they want to be covered by some kind of government health insurance program or not. >> it stands to reason that if you mandate something, more people are going to be covered in if you take away the mandate, less people will be covered. it seems pretty logical. i think the cbo numbers will reflect that animal show and predict that more people will be

uninsured later on, maybe that is not such a bad thing again if they could explain how it will lower costs for average americans, for regular americans, and if they can explain how it will improve coverage and the healthcare system at large. i think that is what people are looking for. this mandate stuff, again, it is like if you require people to have car insurance, everybody's going to have it. but if you take that away, fewer people will have it, that just makes sense, that is the way people operate. it does give certain people a choice, the question is will the choices be better in while there actually be more choices for more people? the problem now is some people only have one choice of health care plan, and they are very, very expensive. >> jon: obviously, the big question if they opt not to buy health insurance than they get sick, who foots the bill for their treatment? it is a warty question. daniel and betsy, thank you. >> heather: me time, some new information on president trump's budget plan.

the president said to unveil his first federal budget on thursday. it is expected to include a major downsizing of the federal workforce. job cuts as some analysts say could hurt the local d.c. economy. we will continue to keep an eye on sean spicer's daily briefing, and our other eye is on cheryl who is live with those details. what can we expect? >> i will tell you what, this budget could off or cuts to federal spending and agencies that we have not seen since the wind down after world war ii. but we have been told in advance, the admission she must add $54 billion to military spending but offset that new spending by taking a red pen to the budget for several domestic federal agencies. that includes the epa, environmental protection agency, possibly a 20% reduction in staff, then an 18% cut to the congress department's budget, it may be a 14% cut to the department of housing and urban development which would be about (600)000-0000 out of their budget.

sources also said the administration is looking at a 30% cut to the energy department, in particular the office that promotes energy efficiency in renewable energy. so in addition to domestic cuts, the administration and its limited budget which was delivered in secret last month proposing a 30% cut to the state department and foreign aid budget but those numbers could be different by now. agencies, of course, started to weigh their opinions probably something to the june f not my budget. >> heather: so what is the actual economic impact? >> you mentioned the local economy of d.c., that is where you can see in immediate effect on the washington area, not just d.c., virginia, maryland, estimates that 1.8% or 2% reduction in total and local federal jobs could occur under this plan we will get later this week. think about it, l.a. runs on the movie business, new york runs on that financial business, d.c. runs on the government business,

retail, small businesses that rely on federal workers, dry cleaners and restaurants, things like that. it is not an easy task but something the president has promised to do which is cut spending. >> heather: 2.8 million federal employees at last count. thank you very much, cheryl. have a great day. >> jon: as we continue to keep an eye on the white house briefing room, for sean spicer's daily briefing, we want to bring you this fox news what 3 weather alert, tens of millions of americans are bracing for what could be the biggest storm she slammed the northeast this winter. in new york city, blizzard preparations are underway, schools will be closed tomorrow. the storm could bring 12-18 inches to the big city. philadelphia, washington, d.c., and boston also in the path of what they call a nor'easter around here. travelers feeling the pain with hundreds of flights already canceled nationwide. we have fox team coverage tracking this storm all day and into the night for you. >> heather: bent down the

hatches and get out the boot. we are awaiting the daily white house briefing as we said in president trump discusses his healthcare replacement plan, we will bring it to you live as it begins. plus a deadline looming for the justice department to turn over evidence on allegations of wiretapping at 3 trump tower. . but what they didn't know was that i had dry, itchy eyes. i used artificial tears from the moment i woke up... ...to the moment i went to bed. so i finally decided to show my eyes some love,... ...some eyelove. eyelove means having a chat with your eye doctor about your dry eyes because if you're using artificial tears often and still have symptoms, it could be chronic dry eye. it's all about eyelove, my friends.

experience exceptional offers on sales event is here. our most refined models ever. get up to $2,500 customer cash on select 2017 models for these terms. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. >> jon: a trial date set and offer the man charged in the florida airport shooting rampage, esteban santiago has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, but his lawyers say he is competent to stand trial. san diego stands accused of killing five people and wounding six others at the fort lauderdale airport in january. a hearing is set for wednesday for his mental condition peer the trial now set for october 2nd. >> heather: a deadline for the justice department to turn over evidence on claims that

president obama ordered wiretaps at trump tower during the presidential campaign as more critics continue to slam president trump for the allegations made more than a week ago. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is live for us in washington with more on this. catherine, we are learning now that the request was made last wednesday. >> that is right. republican and democratic leadership of the house intelligence committee sent a private letter to the justice department requesting all documentation, applications, warrants or orders that apply to alleged wiretaps of donald trump and his team during the campaign. the deadline is significant coming just one week before the committee first public hearing on the russia investigation. fbi director james comey, nsa director mike rogers whose agency oversees surveillance, former cia director john brennan, former director of national intelligence james clapper, as well as former acting attorney general sally yates have all been called to testify. the sunday times shows a leading republican and opponent of the president said there only two

outcomes. >> i think the president has one of two choices. either retract or to provide the information that the american people deserve because if his predecessor violated the law, president obama violated the law, we've got a serious issue here to say the least. >> based on our reporting, there was at least one surveillance order for the phone calls and text messages of the russian ambassador sergey kislyak, the former national security advisor mike flynn phone calls and text messages were captured under that order. that is what is called incidental collection. a second source told fox news they believe there may have been at least one additional surveillance order, but it was not specific to trump tower or the trump team. >> heather: we've been talking about this huge blizzard that is headed our way, could the weather have any impact here? >> it is possible. the department of justice could ask for more time, and we've got calls out on this this morning. the acting deputy attorney general dana boyd t go,

but a five day turnaround would be considered pretty fast for the federal government, and if the snow shuts down the government tomorrow, it will be much later in the week. meantime, the house intelligence committee ranking democrat says he believes that when the fbi director comes up to the hill next week, he will embrace the opportunity to give his side of the story. >> you believe fbi director james comey coming before year committee on the 20th will answer in public on that day? >> i do. the press reports are accurate that he asked the department of justice to knock this down and they refused for whatever reason, he may look of the opportunity, but he will certainly have that march 20th. >> jon: >> witnesses for next we firsthand knowledge of the investigation and probably pretty good insight into where the leaks may have originated. >> heather: fast turnaround for the federal government would surprise a lot of people. thank you. >> we are keeping an eye on the

west wing of the white house where the daily briefing will begin any minute now. when it begins, we will take you there live. also in washington, lawmakers from both parties are weighing in on the investigation into russia's alleged interference in our presidential election. why our next guest says it is time for a special prosecutor. take a listen. are your allergies holding you back or is it your allergy pills? break through your allergies. introducing flonase sensimist. more complete allergy relief in a gentle mist you may not even notice. using unique mistpro technology, new flonase sensimist delivers a gentle mist to help block six key inflammatory substances that cause your symptoms. most allergy pills only block one. and six is greater than one. break through your allergies. new flonase sensimist. ♪ hi hey you look good. thank you, i feel good. it all starts with eating right.

that's why i eat amaz!n prunes now. they're delicious and help keep my body in balance. i love these. sunsweet amaz!n prunes, the feel good fruit. >> jon: fox news alert, as promised, here sean spicer with the daily briefing at the white house, let's listen. >> press secretary spicer: treasury secretary steve minasian, commerce secretary roskam of veteran second david shulkin, and members of his white house staff. during which they discussed immigration reform and their efforts to repeal and replace obamacare. over the weekend, the vice president went down to louisville, kentucky. he was joined by governor matt bevin for a listening session to go over a dozen small business owners from kentucky to discuss the burdens that obamacare has effected on their businesses. the kentucky business owners shared in deep how obamacare has negatively affected their businesses and reiterated their support for repealing our current healthcare system and replacing it with one that actually works.

this morning, after receiving his intelligence briefing, the president let another listening session on healthcare with the secretary of health and human services dr. tom price. the president and secretary price heard from nine concerned americans from across the country who have been failed by their broken promises of obamacare as well as to doctors who have seen their patients suffer from the law's misguided and requirements. this listening session was another important step in the process of crafting and implementing an effective patient-centered healthcare. americans have been watching their healthcare costs skyrocket while their choices of provider and insurance and insurers have dwindled for years. they've received those cancellations in the mail, as many as three times. they've seen urgent care in emergency rooms filled with people who cannot afford their high deductibles and resorted to enduring the pain or sickness until they have no choice but to go to a hospital. they've had family members with chronic pre-existing conditions whose costs of healthcare has

more than doubled. and they have been forced to let go of valued employees or frankly unable to hire more due to staggering working compensation increases. the president campaign on a pledge to repeal and replace this unraveling system. the american health care act is one part of fulfilling this pledge. it is far from the only one. he is using administrative action to provide a central regulatory relief to insurers, increasing coverage choices and providing lower premium options to individuals and families. he will continue to work with congress on the additional legislation, as part of this three-pronged strategy to increase choice while decreasing prices, including allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines, adding to the list of healthcare related costs patients can duck with their health savings accounts, streaming the process of the fda so prices can get lowered it to the american public faster, banding together to negotiate lower health insurance for all

employees and reforming the medical malpractice system so doctors are not forced to perform unnecessary and costly procedures and tests out of fear of future litigation. our healthcare system is large, complex, and critically important not only to the health of our citizens but to the health of our economy. through common sense, patient-focused reforms, the president will work with congress to create a new system that does not impose a one-size-fits-all, government knows best vision on the american people. we will empower the american people to make their own choices about healthcare, make them best work for themselves and their families and will bring costs for everyone down. after listening session, the president had lunch with vice president mike pence and secretary of transportation elaine chao. later this afternoon, the present will welcome all of his confirmed cabinet members to the white house for their first cabinet meeting. this meeting is an important opportunity for the president to share his vision with the country with his cabinet members providing direction for them to bring back to their agencies and

departments to ensure that the entire administration is working toward the same goals. unfortunately, this afternoon, you'll see some empty chairs around the table representing the presidents four nominees who have yet to be confirmed by the senate. secretary of agriculture designate governor perdue, second of labor designate alex acosta, director of national intelligence former senator coats, in the united states trade representative nominate robert lighthizer. democrats have drawn out this process for way too long in these key agencies and departments will not be rep resented at the president's first cabinet meeting p of the president is confident the questionable abilities of the unconfirmed cabinet members and he is just as confident in those who were able to attend p of their absence will clearly be felt as this administration comes together for the first time to receive guidance from and provide counsel to the president on these unique areas of jurisdiction. following the cabinet meeting, the present will sign and its

negative order to reorganize the federal government. it requires a their examination of every executive department and agency to identify money where money is being wasted and how services can be improved and whether or not the programs are truly serving the american people. this is the beginning of a long overdue reorganization of the federal government and another significant step towards the presidents often stated goal of making it more efficient, effective, and accountable to the american people. this evening, the president will have dinner with secretary of state rex tillerson national security advisor advisor mcmaster. also he hopes to see seema conf, another unquestionably qualified nominee who has been delayed from taking her post. looking at the big ahead, tomorrow based on the current forecast, we are currently in conversation and contact with officials and the chancellor's

office in germany regarding the visit. we will have an update regarding that visit later today. wednesday, the present will visit detroit for a trip focused on job creation and automobile manufacturing. he will meet with autoworkers and plants highlighting the need to relieve burdensome regulations that needlessly hinder job growth. also wednesday, the present will visit nashville what he will lay a wreath at president jackson's grave at the hermitage and as i told you last week, the present will welcome represented from arlen for the traditional st. patrick's day visit. i can also confirmed that deputy crown prince of saudi arabia will have a meeting with the president on thursday of this week. excuse me, i will have further details on that visit soon. and on friday, the present will travel to malaga for the weekend. finally, the president is aware of the forecast for the thorn that is -- the storm that is threatening the northeast, he's

been briefed by his advisor and fema administrator peer has directed his inter-government staff to remain in contact with governors and mayors in the path of the storm peered he has dired his acting fema administrator to lean forward and be prepared to help states should they require federal assistance. we urge everyone to listen to state and local leaders and public safety officials to follow their warning and closure notices. they are the best source of information during that storm. with that, i would be glad to take your questions. >> reporter: if i can come back to the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, preet bharara who was asked to resign along with 45 other u.s. attorneys. the president seemed to indicate not too long ago that he wanted mr. bharara to stay on in that job and he was asked to resign like the other attorney and beats and then said he was fired on saturday when he refused to resign for did the president change his mind about keeping him on wasn't only supposed to be for a finite period of time?

>> press secretary spicer: i'm going to refer you to the department of justice on that. this is a standard operating procedure for a new administration around this time to ask for the resignation of all the u.s. attorneys. we had most of them, a good chunk of them had already submitted their resignations. this is just the final swath of individuals who had not at this time. this is common practice of most administrations. >> reporter: the request was from the doj, but there seems to be a white house connection vis-a-vis that the president had actually asked him to stay on, and apparently he was called a few days before he was a jet allegedly fired, can you tell us about that? did the president change his mind? >> press secretary spicer: the president was calling to thank him for his service. this is as standard as i said, standard action that takes place in most administrations. attorney general reno sent out an almost identical letter in 1983, bush initiations that went

out as well. this is a very common practice for all political appointees, not just in the department of justice but throughout government when there is a turnover in the administration to ask for all of them. >> reporter: john mccain said the president should either provide information about the allegation he put on twitter last saturday about phones being tapped at trump tower, today is the deadline, what is the president going to do? >> press secretary spicer: let's be clear, the department of justice was asked to send information dr. congress. it was not the white house that was asked to do that just so we are clear as far as the request. i understand that, and with the tweet -- hold on. i think if you look at the president's tweet, he said very clearly "wiretapping." there has been substantial discussion in several reports, bret baier from fox on march 3rd talked about evidence of wiretapping peer there been reports and "the new york times," bbc, other outlets about other aspects of

surveillance that have occurred. the president was very clear in his tweet that it was wiretapping. that spans a whole host of surveillance options for the house and the senate intelligence committee one i'll look into that and provide a report back. i think there have been numerous reports from a variety of outlets over the last couple months that seem to indicate that there has been different types of surveillance that occurred during the 2016 election. >> reporter: so what you're saying is that president does not have an obligation to provide any evidence? >> press secretary spicer: i'm not saying that at all. what i am saying is the request made from the house was to the department of justice. i think that is an appropriate question to ask them peer but i'm telling you is from the white house perspective, there is no question that there have been an abundance of reports regarding surveillance and other type of activity that occurred during the 2016 election. report make that leads us to

believe that presidents only evidence are these reports. >> press secretary spicer: that leads you to believe that. i am saying that what we made clear on that sunday was the house and senate intelligence committees have the means to process and axis and look at the entirety of the evidence being presented to them. they can determine and then report back to us. report of my following up on majors question, does the president feel he has an obligation once investigation is over to release some sort of statement in response to whatever the findings are? that is my first question and i have a second. >> jon: let's get there first. i think we start to presume what the outcome is going to be from the house and senate when they look at all the evidence and reports presented to them, that would be presumptuous. let's slow down a little, let them look at everything and let them make some determination. >> reporter: my second question for you come has president trump donated his paycheck from the month of february like he promised to do during the campaign? >> press secretary spicer: the president's intention right now

is to donate his salary at the end of the year, and he has kindly ask that you all help determine where that goes. the way that we can avoid scrutiny as to let the press corps determine where it should go. [laughter] >> press secretary spicer: in all seriousness, he views that he made a pledge to the american people to donate to charity and would love your help to determine where it should go. >> reporter: the correspondents association. >> press secretary spicer: that would be a great way to do it. >> reporter: thanks a lot. i wanted to follow-up with you on questions regarding michael flynn who was no longer with the administration. there is a five year lobbying band that has been imposed upon all trump admin initiation employees. does that also apply to michael flynn? what he not be permitted to lobby now for five years because of the agreement that he signed when he became the national security advisor? >> press secretary spicer: that would be correct. i have to check and figure out when he signed or if he signed

the form, but yes, all administration officials who come in are required to sign an ethics pledge banning them from lobbying for five years and then a lifetime ban on lobbying on behalf of any foreign governmen government. >> reporter: reported to that, what are the repercussions of an employee of this admission lobbies within five years, where is the teeth, what is the penalty, what is the punishment that would be imposed on that particular trump administration employee? >> press secretary spicer: i would have to get back to you. i don't know whether the department of justice has that aspect or not, but i will get back to you. >> reporter: i was wondering, did the president ask preet bharara to stay on during the transition or no? >> press secretary spicer: i was not privy to that conversation. i'm not really sure how it is relevant at the end of the day. the department of justice has all remaining 46 at this time that they asked for all of them to submit letters of resignation based on the same kind of precedent that was said during both the clinton and bush

administrations in terms of the timeline. jessica. >> reporter: asking about these reports about visiting with mar-a-lago and what they want to accomplish with a formal visit next next, with respect to the visit, don't have an abbasid or or secretary of state for east asian affairs, how does that affect your ability to really properly brief the president and make sure he has a strong position? >> press secretary spicer: planning is ongoing for a visit between president trump and president xi, the date is not confirmed, we will have more information. the purpose is to help diffuse tensions over north korea and the recent military battery to south korea, any meeting between the president of the united states and an end chinad

cover a broad topic of concern peer and secretary rex tillerson is traveling to the region now. as we go forward, we will have additional details on both the timing in the location of that when we go forward. >> reporter: is the implication talking about rex tillerson's visit that he will be setting that up? >> press secretary spicer: he is in the region, when he is japan, south korea, china, i am sure there will be preparations. what is that? go one at a time. >> reporter: rash of attacks on community centers over the weekend, committee center here in d.c. was attacked, and a person was assaulted, this follows similar attacks in recent days in orlando, florida, new jersey, and oklahoma. this is anti-semitism that the president has already denounced,

will he also denounced these? >> press secretary spicer: one thing we've announced in previous statement on this is that this is not the way that we as americans solve our differences. we do not attack each other.e if behavior. i think we have a first amendment that allows us to express ourselves, and that is the appropriate way doing it, but threatening violence or discretion or violence is inappropriate in all of its forms. i do not believe there is any connection between -- that would be a stretch to say the least. >> reporter: thank you for taking my question. i want to ask about north korea. you mention north korea, can you talk about the review of north korea right now and what direction you think the administration is going in terms of that relationship? >> press secretary spicer: as i mentioned, secretary rex tillerson is heading to the region and will meet with counterparts and south korea, japan, and beijing peer that

will be a major starting point. as i mentioned, when we ultimately meet with president xi and others, that will be a discussion of something they talk about prior to the resignation of the last south korean president that was something that was part of an ongoing discussion. there is an internal review that we continue to have, but then there is obviously a geopolitical conversation we are having with partners in the region and we look to contain north korea's military. >> reporter: thank you. can you confirm any cooperation with russia in regards to serious off the table? and then the forthcoming anti-ices plan, does it include some sort of cooperation with russia? >> press secretary spicer: i'm not getting into it -- it is not done yet as i mentioned a couple days ago, secretary mattis was briefing the principles and that plan is continuing to evolve, so i'm not going to start to rule out one country, but i think the president has been very clear in the past that any country that

shares our commitment to defeat isis and we can work with them and a shared mutual concern, we will do so. >> reporter: second question, the common spokesperson said that russian president putin and president trump will meet at the g20. can you confirm that? with the white house rule out the possibly of meeting before that? >> press secretary spicer: i will follow up on that. i don't have a date. i know the team is working very actively with respect to bilateral meetings at the g20. i don't have anything for you on that. >> reporter: omb director mick mulvaney said he felt the obama administration have been manipulating the jobs reports, is that if you the president shares and what does that mean? >> press secretary spicer: he's clearly referring to obamacare but i refer you back to his comments with respect to how he characterized that. he can discuss the precise nature of what he meant on that.

>> reporter: does the president feel the obama administration had been liquidating numbers? >> press secretary spicer: i think you know the president's view, he has made a very clear in the past his comments on how those numbers were articulated in the past. i think there is a question between the total number of people that are employed. the president's comments in the past have affected that his big concern was getting to the bottom of how many people are bringing in this country and that the denominator, meaning their percentage rate of the total number of people is not the most accurate reflection of how many people are employed in this country. how many jobs are created and have any people are getting back to work, how many companies are committed to hiring more people, it's a much more accurate assessment of where we are headed as a country where our employment and economy is headed, but to look at a number and say we have 4.7% or 5.9% unemployment is not necessarily an accurate report of how many people are working, seek to work or want to work and when you know how they conduct those surveys, a lot of people when

they are younger or older how long they've been searching for work are not considered statistically viable, so when you look at the percentage of people working can be m&a belated number. the number of people added to the role every month is a much more accurate understanding of what has happening to the economy. >> reporter: i want to clarify your answer to major's question. will they do g and/or the administration comply with the deadline for providing information? >> press secretary spicer: it is not -- the request was made of the doj. that is the proper venue to ask that question is the department of justice. >> reporter: surely, the white house knows -- >> press secretary spicer: you can't -- because it is interesting in the past whenever we have these conversations with another agency, the accusation from the press corps as we are interfering in something. you cannot have it both ways. you cannot say we are interfering with someone when we talk to them. when we don't talk to them, it is surely you must know. hold on, major.

i understand. i understand, that does not mean you get to jump in, cecelia. report back to follow-up on his point, this is a tweet from the president, doesn't doesn't the president have an obligation -- >> press secretary spicer: he does, and we have made it very clear that we expect the house and the senate intelligence committees to do their job. i think there is a preponderance of reports that continue to come out about surveillance and actions that occurred during the 2016 election. once they come up with a report and talk later today, we can come up with those conclusions. at this time come you cannot say we're going to shift this to the house and senate and comment every day. that is the entire goal of asking them to look into it further. >> reporter: will you in the doj comply with the deadline? >> press secretary spicer: my understanding is they will but i would ask them their intention. i believe there are certain things they can and cannot do in terms of classification, but i would leave it up to the department of justice to answer for the department of justice.

>> reporter: how is the press making obamacare look good? >> press secretary spicer: when you see some comparisons talking about who is going to win and lose, it misses a lot of the competition that is going to take place. it doesn't talk about the increased choice. right now, as the president has noted and second price has noted, the third of all counties in five states, you have one choice. those analysis that are looking at how much you are paying in want, they don't take into consideration the competition that is going to occur, the choices that are going to occur appeared right now come you have one choice in a lot of places. you have no decision about how much you're going to pay and how much you're going to get. choice allows you to determine what scale of health care you need, what kind of package is good for you, your family or business. when you look at a lot of these analysis, when you open up various major papers, they make it seem so simple. it is, how much are you going to pay for this plan come how much are you going to get paid under the current plan, it misses in entirety of the whole process. which is that you do not have competition for your number one,

number two, in the bigger point that i think the president and a lot of others are getting to is the system is failing on its own. it makes it seem like it is all rainbows and puppies. at the end of the day, if you have a card and are getting a subsidy but not getting care, you have nothing. so walking into a doctor's office where you can hand them a card and say after a $5,000 tax subsidy, if that doctor doesn't take the care or the deductible is so high, you really don't have anything. so to do an apples and apples comparison, it is hardly an accurate analysis of what the current situation is. >> reporter: going back before about the plan not being done, the president said during the campaign within 30 days we want the plan presented butte obvious the it is undergoing comments, but if the president said that , does that point to a difference between technique and governing? >> press secretary spicer: that is different, the plan has been received but as you point

out correctly in your question, now becomes an aspect of the principals all discussing. different priorities, staffing levels, funding levels. the plan is here as we noted a few weeks ago. it is being reviewed. they are providing input from different members of the principles and national security apparatus to make sure that the pain continues to evolve and is able to attack isis in a way -- reported mike when is it actually going to take place? >> press secretary spicer: some pieces of it are in the sense that he has talked to commanders on the ground. if noted before some of the military action that has been taken, the authority given to some of the commanders on the ground. that is actually taking the fight to isis on a daily basis. i think the more holistic approach that he asked for will continue to evolve through the national security process, but make no mistake, we are on it right now. >> reporter: on the executive order this afternoon, do you have a new more duly make

numeric goal of reducing the size of government or saving a certain amount of money through the review of agencies? >> press secretary spicer: i don't know that director mick mulvaney has a target per se. part of the issue is you go through each one and evaluate them on the merit of what they do or do not do and whether or not they become bloated or duplicative or it frankly just outdated. or in need of technological advantage, but there is no set number we are driving down to as we review government. sometimes, you walk into an agency and realize that agency's mission is no longer relevant. or that it is duplicate of the three other agencies. or that there are too many people performing a function that no longer exist for a variety of reasons. that is why the mission is critical that director mick mulvaney was given the mandate to go out and get all of these different agencies and departments to review themselves and to provide feedback for him

as to where they can go. >> reporter: you had said previously that the republican health care plan would not be a one-size-fits-all approach, but the current plan preserves obamacare's health benefits requirement which literally defines government level insurance. what is the difference? >> press secretary spicer: the difference is choice. we tried to solve a problem, when i say we, i mean the government, back in 2008 and 2009, we tried and the issue was that you solve the problem for several million people being without healthcare assistance, we upended the system for everybody. you had an employer healthcare, medicare, medicaid, and it was the opposite approach. we went into solve a problem that a small fraction of americans had. we upended the entire system pushing premiums to go up and choice to go down for everybody. i think when you can institute choice and competition back in the system, that is something

that is going to benefit everybody. that is exactly the opposite of what is happening. >> reporter: does phase ii or phase 3118 those requirements? >> press secretary spicer: i think the administrative phase will look at a lot of those. phase three -- again, they can run concurrently in the house is looking at starting the legislation. dr. price has already started to recruit and look at a lot of the admin sheet of aspect of it as well to see how do we start to achieve and unravel some of the pieces that are there? instilling choice and competition allowing people to buy their insurance over state lines, allowing small businesses to pool, allowing the expansion of health savings accounts are all the kind of factors that are going to drive down cost but also having the insurance companies frankly be able to offer additional choices and options for people is in itself going to be a huge bonus. >> reporter: a lot of conservatives are complaining or

suggesting that the president does not fully back the paul ryan health care plan. has the president spoke with paul ryan about the plan, and have they had any conversation about its future and congress? >> press secretary spicer: they have spoken, yes. i don't know when the last time it happened -- the president is fully committed to the program. you saw secretary price and director mulvaney out this weekend discussing it. they are committed to the plan for director mulvaney made it very clear this weekend as well that through the process, if we can find some ideas that make this a stronger, more patient-centered piece of legislation, that will ultimately benefit americans, we are going to do it. we are not saying that this is the only way forward. as it works its way through the house then to the senate, if there are ways we can enhance the bill through the legislative process, we are willing to do that.

would you like to know? okay. the president spoke to the chancellor of germany appeared they agreed due to the current weather that the meeting should be postponed. the meeting has been rescheduled to march 17th, this friday. same schedule of events on marc. >> reporter: if i can ask my question really quick. you spoke on behalf of the president, quoting him on the jobs report on friday saying they may have been phony in the past, but it is very real now. the question is when should americans sure do not trust the press? should they trust the press come as a funny or real when he says president obama was wiretapping? >> press secretary spicer: let's take it back, there are two things important about what he said. he does everything president obama went up and typed his phone personally. but i think there is no question the obama administration, there were actions about surveillance and other up to limit activities that occurred in the 2016

election, is a widely recorded activity that occurred back then peer the president used the word "wiretapping" to mean broadly as surveillance and other activities during that pair that is again something -- interesting how many news outlets reported that this activity was taking place during the 2016 election cycle and now are wondering where the proof is. it is many of the same outlets in this room that talked about the activities that were going on back then. >> reporter: on the same topic, the cbo report, did the president think it was real then and is phony now? >> jon: >> press secretary spic: what cbo report? >> reporter: the cbo report coming out, he said if you look at it for accuracy, that is misplaced, you said three years ago that it confirmed that obamacare was bad for the economy, so the bottom line is, was it real then and now phony? how you define accuracy? >> press secretary spicer: let's look at the cbo projection. their production on obamacare within 26 he would have 24 million people on a peer the

actual figure is 10.4 million people, less than half the number of people that it predicted would be insured were on it and it is declining. the only point is to make sure that people understand that if you are looking to get a bull's-eye accurate prediction, the cbo was off by more than half last time. this is not about what my understanding or belief of the cbo is. the last time they did that, they were wildly off, in the number keeps declining. so the question that needs to get asked right now are the frankly the awareness that needs to be brought up is if you look at a number tonight come you have to look through the scope of whether or not that number -- it was bad for the economy, that was right. you can glean that from the direction, impact it had. as far as their numbers go on a number of people that the number they predicted back that would be covered now, they were off by more than half. >> reporter: the question is when can we trust the president? >> press secretary spicer: you asked a question about cbo, now

you are conflating it to question the president. >> reporter: i asked about wiretapping first, answer the question is simple terms is when he says something, can we trust that it is real or should we assume that it is not? how can we believe it is real when you told us it was phony? >> press secretary spicer: i did not tell you that, peter. >> reporter: you said on friday that the president said the numbers were phony then, but they are very real now. how can we trust if you later say that it was something else? >> press secretary spicer: the difference is the president was talking then and now about job creation. the number of jobs. the issue he brought up and look what you are talking about is the percentage of people who are unemployed. there is no question that no matter how you look at this, whether you talk about 4.7% or 4.8% or whatever number you talk about, that number fluctuates by how people calculate who was in the workforce. peter, let me answer the question. you are not. let me answer. the bottom line is the percentage of people unemployed varies widely by who you are

asking in the way you do the analysis of who is actually in the workforce. the number of people who are working and receiving a paycheck is a number that we can look at. secondly, when you're asking about the validity of the cbo report, i again differ you to the cbo itself. the number they issued that would be insured in 2016 was 26 million people. the actual number is 10.4 million. it's not a question of our code ability, it is a question of theirs. do you have anything more? >> reporter: so the bottom line is can you state firmly that whenever the president says something we can trust it to be a real? >> press secretary spicer: if he is not joking, of course. hold on. your point is -- every time that he speaks, he is speaking of resident of the united states. >> reporter: like more than 3 million people voted illegally. >> press secretary spicer: he does believe it, thank you. >> reporter: i have a healthcare question but first

can we get an answer one way or the other about whether the president directed the department of justice to respond to this? >> press secretary spicer: no, he did not. i answered the question. >> reporter: so on healthcare, secretary price said on sunday that nobody will be worse off financially and more people will be covered than currently. with the plant you you guys are pushing. paul ryan acknowledge that people are going to lose coverage. so what is the goal here? you said you're open to modifications of tfinding a bet, is the goal that people not lose coverage or is the goal -- >> press secretary spicer: there is a false argument there which is that they have coverage. people have cards. they've been told they have things, but they keep walking end -- the president met with nine individuals this morning that were told they were going to get coverage from something. they are told they are going to have all of the subsidies. they walk in and do not get covered, they don't have the care they need peer there's a difference between walking around with something and saying you have a card then it saying you have care p that is a big big difference. right now, when you have a third

of the counties in this country that have one choice in going down and the number of insurers leaving markets, the system is collapsing. so the question has to be to everybody who is not with us on this is what is your alternative because right now the current system of obamacare is a feeling every american who has obamacare, and frankly, for those who don't have obamacare, for those who have employer-based insurance, those who have medicare come it's driving up the cost. in the case especially of those who have medicare, medicaid, tricare, they go to doctors offices more and more who are telling them they do not accept it. >> reporter: you're talking about quality and cost, i'm asking about coverage. >> press secretary spicer: that is the point, you're missing the point. talking about coverage, care is what matters. if you cannot get seen, cannot get a doctor to see you, then you don't have coverage. that is what this is all about. being told you have coverage but you cannot go see a doctor or you cannot afford to see a doctor is not coverage.

>> reporter: thank you. i have two questions. first, democratic leader nancy pelosi said on friday that every single democrat would vote against the american healthcare plan, the plan backed by members of the republican members of congress and administration. the freedom caucus in the house has come out for senator paul's plan. when one is simile does the arithmetic of democratic members and freedom caucus members, that is a majority against the plan. how does the administration plan to overcome the arithmetic? >> press secretary spicer: we will continue to work with members of the house and eventually the senate. i feel very good as the president continues to engage with members that we will have the votes necessary. i think speaker ryan agrees with that as well. we are going to have the votes for the path and move to the senate. >> reporter: the other question is this, and recent works, there has been considerable attention on the upcoming elections in the netherlands on wednesday than

france in a few weeks. the candidates get wielders of the netherlands was here for the cpac conference as representatives of marine le pen of france was here, many analogies were made between these candidates and president trump, and they offered words of praise for him or did so through their representatives. is he aware of these candidates in europe who invoked his name and image, and if so, what does he think about these would be trump and trumpettes? >> press secretary spicer: i don't have the answer to that. i think they will allow sovereign nations to have their elections without interference. >> reporter: and i follow up on peter's question? whether the president and director of mulvaney put a lot of faith in the congressional budget office, members of the senate well when they get, if they get legislation from the house. so my question is what does the

president and the administration intend to do to establish to the senator 's satisfaction that the numbers coming out of the congressional budget office which the president will question are not substantial and can be countered by other information? and other words, on be doing its own report, is the present relying on a think tank to calculate? some senators are already indicating they will hoodwink the cbo report. >> press secretary spicer: this is part of an ongoing discussion with members as far as philosophical, what do they believe, a lot of these aspects of this plan and keeping what they have supported in the past. obviously, they are going to look at the score, i get it, that is part of it. there are pieces of it that they may historically have more weight in than others but this is going to be, as i mentioned to john, an ongoing conversation with numbers of the house and ultimately the senate with respect to whatever comes out. in the same wave members for blight underscore last time, th.

i think we have to remind them that if this is what you are basing your vote on, you have to look at the historical context in which that information was provided. i think that is an important aspect to how they do it. i think there is going to be a ton of factors that people rely on as they do >> the president may be the one who tweeted this. can you just establish this for me, because i'm confused, the president did discuss what it is that he had in mind when he tweeted with the department of justice before the department? >> i'm not going to get into what the president knew or didn't know prior to it. we already commented on this multiple times. >> how does the department of justice not have any idea? >> i don't want to get into starting to parse what we knew an what