>> sandra: and the chicken keepers say egg production has increased since the birds started to wear their sweaters. you can buy your own online. there you go. thanks for watching. here's shepard. >> shepard: it's noon on the west coast, 3:00 in new york city where some 50 million people in the surrounding area are preparing for a monster storm. up to two feet of snow expected in some spots with winds gusting to 50 miles an hour. the storm already causing travel havoc across the country. we'll have new forecasts that show that could be in for the worst of it all. a house committee setting deadlines for president trump to hand over evidence to support his claim that president obama tapped his phones. so far there's absolutely nothing. but his senior adviser kellyanne conway who we don't quote much anymore is noting that phones

are not the only way that people spy on people. for example, television. then she said your microwave. also waiting for an announcement from an accountant. they're getting ready to see how much the republican healthcare bill will cost. before you say we can't trust them, we can't trust them, donald trump has been trusting them and tweeting about them for years. how many people could lose their coverage? the cbo will estimate. the math could make or break the deal and the numbers could come at any moment. the white house says they have been wrong. shouldn't your employer know if you're at risk from a genetic disease? part of the healthcare law is part of genetic tests. privacy? let's get to it. and good monday afternoon from the fox news desk.

president trump is set to hold his first official meeting with his cabinet right now. it's happening as lawmakers are saying that time is up for the trump administration to back up the president's wiretapping claims. now the white house is explaining what they claimed president trump meant when he tweeted this a little more than a week ago. there was no ambiguity. look here. is it legal for a sitting president to be "wiretapping" a race for president prior to the election? turned down by a court earlier. a new low." the president different offer proof and won't answer questions and has not done so since then. he called for congress to investigate despite the fact that there's nothing to suggest what he tweeted was in any way connected to fact. a spokesperson for president obama has denied that the president or any other white house official ordered the surveillance. now the white house says president trump put "wiretapping" in quotes for a reason. >> he doesn't really think that

president obama tapped his phone personally. there's no question that the obama administration, there were actions about surveillance and other activities that occurred in the 2016 election. that is a widely reported activity that occurred back then. the president used "wiretapping" to mean surveillance and other activities. >> he used it regarding trump tower. now he won't answer. those in charge say it didn't happen. congressional members in his party are like where is the proof? one said put up or shut up and do so by today. the lawmakers asked for the information, not the white house. the top democrat says he does not expect to see any evidence. he said the only question is why the president would make up such a thing. >> there's one of two possibilities here. either the president deliberately for some reason made up this charge or perhaps more disturbing the president

really believes this. if six months from now the president should say that iran is cheating on the nuclear agreement, if he's making that up, it's a real problem. if he's not making it up and it's true, it's an even bigger problem because the question is would people believe him. >> shepard: the point is which part do you believe. sounds like they flipped a piece of paper in there from some alt right news site that was reporting some alt right radio guy and the president just treated it out. accused the former president of felonious activity. accused him of a crime with zero evidence. or if there is evidence, nobody has produced it and the president won't answer questions about it. it's not just democrats complaining now. john mccain pointed out the director of national intelligence himself testified there was no truth to the president's claim. senator mccain says president trump owes it to the american

people to back it up or back off. >> he has one or two choices to retract or 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. the president of the united states could clear this up in a minute. all he has to do is pick up the phone and call the director of the c.i.a.,national intelligence and say what happened. because they certainly should know whether the former president of the united states was wiretapping trump tower. >> shepard: it is that simple. after he read whatever he read, he could pick up the phone, call the people that asked for him and ask them. has he done that? we don't know. they won't answer. president trump's counselor, kellyanne conway, whose previous words have been up for debate, says she doesn't have evidence of wipe tapping and she's clarifying, she says, a comment that she made during an interview with a new jersey newspaper, the record of burgen

county. listen to the q&a. >> do you know if trump tower was wiretapped? >> there's a lot of ways to surveil these days. you can surveil through their phone, television sets, any number of different ways. microwaves that turn into cameras, et cetera. >> shepard: so she expanded it. the question is not just about wiretapping but other things. the camera in your tv is watching, whether the microphone in your phone is listening. was she suggesting that about trump tower? and microwaves that turned into cameras? microwaves don't turn into cameras. fox news cannot confirm microwaves heat food, cameras take pictures. microwaves don't have cameras. microwaves cannot turn into cameras.

fox news now confirms. today kellyanne conway said she was speaking in general terms. she was not talking about trump tower at all. the question was about trump tower. chief white house correspondent john roberts is live on the north lawn. the camera microwave will get you every time. >> i can confirm, shep, having been in trump tower, there's a couple microwaves that i have seen down there in the basement where the deli is. the white house refusing to specifically answer any questions regarding this. certainly the president has had ample opportunity to, though he sort of hit away from the press the last few weeks, when he was asked about this during a couple pool sprays last week, refused to any answer any questions about it. he will likely get asked about it this afternoon. so far nothing specific. the latest evolution is the press secretary saying the initial tweet about "wiretapping" meaning he didn't

believe his phones were tapped directly but there were other forms of surveillance being used against the folks there at trump tower. listen to what the press secretary said. >> the president was clear in his tweet that it was wiretapping. that that stands a whole host of surveillance types of options. the house and the intelligence committees will look into that and provide a report back. >> but the statement about quotations being around "wiretapping" would be in contradiction to a second and third tweet that the president said the words "tapping" and "tapp." so squaring that cycle might be difficult. the white house says they don't know in the justice department complied with setting up evidence to them. today was the deadline for that. they did say they believed the justice department would comply.

they added that the president has not asked the department of justice to act one way or another in this particular matter. shep? >> shepard: john, the president making big promises when it comes to the gop plan to replace obamacare. that as we wait for the congressional budget office to release its estimate on the price tag for the plan. in addition, the estimate for how many people it will cover and won't cover. the president speaking at a listening session on healthcare. he said if the gop plan becomes law, it will be "a thing of beauty." >> we're not going to have one size fits all. instead, we're going to be working to unleash the power of the private marketplace and let insurers come in and compete for your business. you'll see rates go down down and plans up, up. a lot of choices. you'll have plans that nobody is even thinking of today. >> shepard: president trump said it would take a year or two for costs to go down because "that's

the way it works." the budget report is expected to come at any time now. the house speaker, paul ryan, said he expects the report to show fewer people will have coverage. he says that's because the plan eliminates the government mandate on people to buy insurance. the white house today argued there's a difference between having coverage and getting quality care. >> people have cards. they have been told they have things. the president met with nine individuals this morning that they're told they would get coverage for something. they're told they would have these subsidies. they walk in and they don't get covered. there's a difference between walking around with someone and saying hey, i have a card and i have care. >> of course, the plan is just that for now, a plan. it's still working its way through congress and still facing huge oppositions from many republicans. >> this bill cannot pass the senate and i believe it would have adverse consequences for

millions of americans and it wouldn't deliver on our promises to reduce the cost of health insurance for americans. so i would say to my friends in the house of representatives, with whom i serve, do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass senate and have to face the consequences of that vote. >> shepard: walk the plank. the senator said lawmakers could fix the plan but it would take a lot of carpentry. john roberts at the white house. john? >> we understand, shep, the congressional budget office numbers may be in our hands as early as 4:00 p.m. they do mean a lot for the white house, particularly this idea of selling this new american healthcare act, even though the white house is trying to play down the numbers. the reason why they're so important, the costs come in lower than that of obamacare, republicans will take that to the public relations bank and tell people hey, we're giving you something of quality. call it quality, whatever it ends up to be, at a lower price. if the numbers come in as the

speaker is expecting them, lower in terms of the number of people expected, democrats will run around screaming loudly about the fact this will take coverage away from people. the speaker did add that he believes the lower cost of health care will bring more people in than obamacare could. the white house has for a week now been down playing the importance and really the accuracy and credibility of the budget office. sean spicer saying look how far off their assumptions were on obamacare. >> if you're looking to get a bulls eye prediction, the cbo was off by more than half last time. this is not about my understanding or the belief of what the cbo is. the last time they did this, they will wildly off. >> even mick mulvaney said the congressional budget office should spend their time doing something else other than scoring bills, which is what they do. like telling a microwave to do something other than heat food.

>> shepard: it can. it can be a camera. i know it, a white house spokesman said it could. president trump has tweeted quoting the congressional budget office as the reason for his outrage, pleasure or displeasure 12 times that we can see in recent years. more politics ahead. up next, i'll talk to a political reporter who says asking congress to investigate wiretapping claims may have been a big mistake. also, blizzard alert. the latest forecast for tens of millions in the path of a massive storm. somebody is going to get two feet, they tell us. who is that? whoever it is, we'll let you know in just a moment. and they can get their microwave out and plow the driveway with it. because -- you know.

ancestrydna can reveal your true irish roots, even if you never knew they were there. with a simple dna test, you can discover if you're irish, or one of 25 other ethnicities. save 10% through sunday. >> shepard: more on lawmaker's demands for the trump administration to hand over ed that the obama administration

wiretapped trump tower. he claimed that the former president wiretapped trump tower. the top democrat and republican on the house intelligence committee have asked the white house to hand over information by today. emily gooden is with us. the managing editor for real clear politics. we have met no republican with evidence, no head of fbi or national intelligence that only thinks there's anything. it's only the president. he's supposed to put up or shut up by today. >> what we saw in the white house briefing, sean spicer was slowly trying to shift responsibility to the justice department, saying it was the justice department that was asked for evidence and the justice department asked to give the evidence. this came from president trump and it will be on president trump to deliver. >> shepard: there's a problem when you start asking for investigations, isn't there? >> absolutely. you know, this distraction that

president trump was trying to cause, has become a distraction for him. they asked for this investigation. the white house and ordered to stop talking about the tweets asked congress to investigate this. they have. they want proof. the president is the only one with proof. >> shepard: and at this moment we're not talking about russia, the connections, why so much smoke, why so many trump officials and former trump officials lied about talking to the russians. did general flynn lie to the fbi about it, what is paul manafort's connections. all of these questions unanswered and we can't get any information, that is off the table. if the investigations happen and they find there was nothing from the very beginning, what do you get besides a so what and another subject change? >> you're exactly right. the one thing to mark on the calendar is march 20th. that's the day that james comey

goes before the house intelligence committee to testify and will likely have to answer a lot of the questions you just mentioned. >> shepard: can't the president say -- give it a never mind? they're clearly trying to switch this off to justice even though it came from the president, just the president. he's trying -- his spokesman trying to shift it away. can he stop this investigation in the same way that he seems to have started it? >> he can retract his claims. butn't i do foresee him doing that. >> shepard: and he can't just say, no investigators, no investigating. changed my mind. thanks. just hear what i say. don't look at it. that's it. >> no, that's the only way he can stop it, to retract it. we've seen republicans say he has to give proof or retract his claims. when you lose your own party on this, you're in trouble. >> shepard: during the course of the investigations, could they bring in general flynn to ask why he was telling untruths with

connection to the russians? could they talk to jeff sessions? what could they talk to? >> any of those and all of the above. congress has the power to subpoena people and subpoena anybody relevant to an investigation, particularly if this comes it when fbi comey testifies. >> shepard: very interesting. emily goodin. thanks. >> thank you. >> shepard: we're bracing for a blizzard around here. if the national weather service is right, it will be the biggest storm of the season with up to two feet of snow in some spots. so often you hear that the two feet is snow is in the hills where not a lot of people list. it's bad not bad for millions of people. this is different. we'll look at where the storm will hit the hardest. that's next from the fox news channel. various: (shouting) heigh! ho! ( ♪ ) it's off to work we go! woman: on the gulf coast, new exxonmobil projects

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>> shepard: there's breaking news on fox news channel. the president of the united states, donald trump, meeting with his cabinet for the first time. sean spicer says it's his full cabinet except for two vacancies. secretary of labor and action culture. the white how is giving us a taped meeting, this is as close to live as we can get. here's the president as they play the tape back in real-time from the white house. >> hello, everybody. i'm proud to welcome everyone to our first official cabinet meeting. i want to begin by updating the

public of the severe weather situation. i've been receiving the latest information on the blizzard forecast. we're in good shape. we're prepared. everybody in government is prepared and ready. the entire northeast it seems is under a very severe winter storm warning. let's hope it's not as bad as people are predicting. usually it isn't. chancellor merkel and i have just spoken and postponing the trip until friday. she will come friday. we look forward to that. that will be a very good visit. i've spoken with my homeland security advisor who has spoken with the acting fema administrator and instructed him to make certain that the federal government is ready to provide assistance to the states that need federal help. fema and the federal government are ready to assist. they are literally waiting by

the phones and ready to go. everybody should listen to their state or local officials who will be providing regular storm updates. take that advice very seriously. this cabinet is here to serve and protect the american people. that's what we're doing. more so than anybody would understand. the folks in this room have done an amazing job, whether it's security or anything else. i want to thank general mattis, i want to thank -- who is now secretary mattis, general kelly, who is now secretary kelly. they've done outstanding work. you see what has happened. all you have to do is watch. big difference. unfortunately, not all of our cabinet members could join us. we have four empty seats, which is a terrible thing. because the senate democrats are continuing to obstruct the confirmation of our nominees for

the department of labor, the department of agriculture, the director of national intelligence and the united states trade representatives. somebody that i want very badly. in the midst of getting going, they won't approve somebody who is highly qualified. everybody understands that. the main victim of this partisan obstruction is the american public. yet in spite of this, we've assembled a great team and already made historic progress in delivering results. we're rolling back job-crushing regulations at a faster clip than ever before by far. we're seeing companies like exxon, walmart, intel, ford, fiat chrysler, so many others announcing they will keep and create tens of thousands of jobs in the united states. many, many companies are not

moving now, which normally they would have been out of here a long time ago. they're not moving. they understand there's going to be consequence. if they move, that's fine. there's consequences. first two job reports that have come out since my inauguration, we've added nearly 500,000 new jobs. right after this meeting, we will be signing a new executive order to begin the process of re-organizing the executive branch to make it less wasteful and more productive. we're also working closely with the house and senate republicans to repeal and replace obamacare. obamacare all of a sudden the last couple weeks is getting a false rap, that maybe it's okay. it's not okay. it's a disaster. people understand that. it's failed. it's imploding. if we let it go another year, it

will totally implode. i told the republicans, why don't you let it go another year? that way everybody will really understand how bad it is. it would be the wrong thing for us to do and for the american people. the house plan will expand choices, lower costs and ensure healthcare access for all. we're negotiating with everybody. it's a big fat beautiful negotiation and hopefully we'll come up with something that will be really terrific. i want to thank paul ryan and everybody. mitch, everybody. they're working around the clock. ultimately the big beneficiary will be the american people. we'll have a really great healthcare plan. we'll send congress a budget request that will include one of biggest military increases. general mattis is upset about that it will be fully paid for. okay?

fully paid for. i saved a lot of money on the jets, didn't i? didn't i do a good job? more than $725 million. he's very happy with me. the first full month of my administration, following the issuance of my executive orders, illegal immigration on our southern border feel but 40%. i want to congratulate general kelly. the same time, i've issued a presidential memorandum directing department of state and the department of homeland security to undertake immediate steps to enhance our vetting process. so we're further enhancing our vetting process. we want people in our country that love our country and have the potential to love our country and our people. that's who we want. my administration will work every day to serve and protect our great citizens, and we will not rest until the job is done. so this is our first cabinet meeting. i hope this is going to be a

historic cabinet meeting. historic in the sense that we're going to do a fantastic job for the american people for our country and for the future of our country. thank you very much. we'll see you later. thank you. >> shepard: mr. president and his first cabinet meeting as he just said. he spoke at the beginning of the six or so minutes there about the storm that is headed to the east coast and a bear it is. live pictures now. milwaukee, wisconsin, where it's starting to come down. this is no sign of what is to come. look at the temperature outside our headquarters here in new york city. right now at 3:29, it's 32 degrees. this time tomorrow, the weather center she guests it will be feels like five degrees. which cities will get how much snow? the predictions are in. we have them for you next from the national weather service.

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>> i'm lea gabrielle with the fox report. isis trapped. that's what a state department official is saying as u.s. backed iraqi troops push into western mosul. any terrorists will stay will die. the iraqi army says they're taking control of the last road out of the city. the islamic state's final strong hold in iraq. a new video shows police spraying a fire hose at a man. the man pulled out again of gasoline and lit a cigarette. a trial starting today for a man accused of playing pokemon go in a church in russia. he is facing seven years of prison of inciting hatred. they say he posted a video on a blog showing him playing the game. the news continues with shep after this. tech: at safelite, we know how busy your life can be.

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>> shepard: fox news extreme weather alert. if you live in the eastern half of the united states a huge