>> jon: thank you for joining us. "america's news hq" starts now. >> jenna: take care. >> melissa: we are now moments away from a final vote in the house on a plan to replace obamacare. years of promises from republicans and weeks of arm twisting from president trump all leading to this. hello, everyone. i'm sandra smith. house republicans need that magic number, 216 vote, to pass their health care bill. and after a closed door meeting this morning, they say they have the support to push it through the house. we have fox team coverage of the big day unfolding now on capitol hill. katherine herridge is standing by. we begin with mike emanuel. mike, will this pass? >> reporter: they say they have the votes. part of the closing argument here from republican leaders has been, it is up to them.

this is the opportunity to rescue their constituents from obamacare. all across the country and what's happening, what happened in iowa yesterday, where literally 95 out of 99 counties won't have any options for healthcare. this law is failing. this law is in a depth spiral. our bill rescues families by focusing on lowered premiums and putting people back in charge of their healthcare decisions. >> reporter: speaker ryan was on the floor appealing to his colleagues to keep their word to the american people and to vote yes on this bill, scrapping obamacare. sandra? >> sandra: how have democrats fought back against this effort to scrap obamacare? we've been hearing a lot from nancy pelosi just in the last couple hours alone. >> reporter: she has been pushing back hard. feeling somewhat helpless because republicans should have the numbers, assuming they counted properly. bottom line, democrats are saying this republican alternative will be bad for the

american people. they're ripping the republicans for going forward without a cost estimate from the nonpartisan congressional budget office. they are saying republicans will live to regret this vote. >> let me just say that they have this vote tattooed on them. this is a scar they will carry. so it isn't -- it's their vote. it's not the senate vote. it's their vote they are taking. >> reporter: and she mentioned the senate. first thing first. they have to pass the house. there's a lot of electricity in the air. lot of vip's milling around. you can tell a big vote is on the horizon, sandra. >> sandra: mike emanuel, thank you. a lot going on. joining us martha mccowan, anchor of "the story with martha." great to see you. we're expecting this vote to happen in the next 10 to 20 minutes here. a big deal. a long time in the waiting. what do you expect to happen? >> i couldn't help but watch

nancy pelosi saying how it would be a scar on republicans. clearly it was a scar on democrats in the last rounds of voting. they lost so many seats. healthcare was such a major factor. think back to the presidential election and those final weeks in october when the premium increases came through and it made a lot of voters look at obamacare and say, look, maybe i'll vote for these guys and see if they can come up with something better. now they have done that. i also think that when you look at how messy this process has been, we haven't seen legislation hashed out in many, many years. we're almost not used to seeing how the sausage is made. people don't walk away from it necessarily jubilant. although there's jubilation today because they think it will pass. it's because every side gives something up. it's not perfect. the senate side will be a whole different story. you got to get through this as we know. they got to finish this part first. you know, looks like they'll

have a good day. also do some football spiking at the white house. >> sandra: there are buses lining up taking members of the gop for a little celebration. i mean, it really, they're setting this up like they've got a slam dunk here. here's what the president just tweeted. these two tweets coming from the president saying, i am watching the democrats trying to defend the you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan and premiums will go down, obamacare lie. insurance companies are fleeing obamacare. it is dead. our health care plan will lower premiums and deductibles and be great healthcare. martha, when we say celebration, he was supposed to have left on his way to new york city. he's delayed that. >> he's not gonna miss this moment. >> sandra: you just mentioned, this is just the house. this is gonna go to the senate. this could look completely different after it gets to the senate. >> i spoke with the president last week at the white house. he talked ab the arcaic rules of the state. there's been some discussion

about being able to push through regular legislation with 51 votes. they have to do that one this way because they've got to get budget reconciliation on this to put it through with a simple majority on the senate side. so you're going to see a lot of re-engineering to make sure the long term economic on the budget isn't such that they cannot pass it through a reconciliation. it's fascinating to watch. there's been so much criticism for republicans and rightfully so, that they didn't get anything major done in the first 100 days. i stopped counting. we're at day 106 or something like that. it looks like they're gonna get halfway through. >> sandra: the $8 billion added for preexisting conditions, that was one of the big criticisms, big concerns coming from many republicans. is that the game changer here? is that how they got some nos to yeses? >> they had to be able to go home for the break and say, look, we went a long way towards maintaining some of those preexisting conditions in states that say they want the waiver and they're not gonna cover

those, this is the pool that will cover those preexisting conditions. it hasn't been scored yet by the cbo, so lot of speculation about whether or not it will cover them all. 90% of americans get their coverage from their employer or medicare. so this is a small slice of the american populous that is affected by this bill. but the way other people have been affected is that their premiums have gone up and their choice has gone down. so republicans are gonna have to prove, if they push this through, that your life gets better, your health care situation gets better over time or else nancy pelosi will end up being right. >> sandra: speaking of preexisting condition, let's listen to what tom price had to say about that this morning. >> the fact of the matter is the amendment that congressman upton and congressman long worked on will absolutely ensure that those who have preexisting illnesses and injuries and conditions, nobody falls through the cracks. the rug isn't pulled out from under anybody. we move in the direction of

patient centered healthcare. >> sandra: so addressing those concerns obviously. is it safe to say, if i were to broaden this out, as we wait for this vote to happen, that the president is sroeing that he is delivering on those campaign promises? i mean, is this enough to declare a victory here? >> i mean, it's a victory for today, to be sure. there's been a lot of speculation that the art of the deal president was having a tough time pulling off a negotiation. he did get personally involved. he also spoke big language, as he often does, ab preexisting conditions. he said they're going to be better off than they were under obamacare. and that set some teeth on edge on the hill because people weren't sure if this bill would do that. so he did put himself on the line. he will definitely take credit for that, as we've seen him do before when they have this ceremony in the rose garden or whatever they're gonna do to show they had success today. >> sandra: it could be really close. 216 as i mentioned is the magic number here. mike emanuel was just reporting

that they're at 218 they think. >> this is very close, still. it's never over until it's over. so i don't think anybody is gonna breathe a big sigh of relief until they see that number roll over. >> sandra: we're trying to see what's on those buttons lining up to see what kind of celebration is being reported. peter ducey saying he's heard so much optimism as he walks the halls there, that they're expecting this is -- not going to be unanimous, but there will be much more than 216. it will be more of a shoe in than originally thought. so we'll see. this is gonna be a dale biter. >> they have to go back to their constituents and talk the talk. they've got to say basically they were able to keep those preexisting conditions. there's a lot of areas where hard core conservatives are not happy with the amount of government ownership of healthcare that this entire bill represents. this is not a repeal.

this repeals some parts of obamacare but not all of it. fact of the matter is, the united states government to a great extent is now in the healthcare business and once you've given a benefit to people in this country, it is next to impossible to take it away. i all think the approval numbers that we've seen for obamacare recently are partly because people have gotten used to their costs going up. they've gotten used to the fact they don't have a doctor they used to have. or they say this guy season my favorite, but they're okay. we're an incredibly accepting society. we get used to stuff. we roll with it. i think that's part of why you've seen those numbers of approval go up. if the situation improves for them, it will be great for republicans. if it gets worse, it will be terrible for them. >> very interesting. we'll be watching you tonight. the story with martha mccowan, 7:00 p.m. eastern time. awesome show. you do a great job. thank you very much for coming on. a big hour. as we keep an eye on the house floor, there it is, the fbi director james comey also back on capitol hill, along with the

nsa director for classified testimony about the investigation of russian meddling in the election. chief intelligence correspondent katherine herridge live on capitol hill. what are we expecting at this house hearing? >> reporter: well, thank you, sandra. the house intelligence committee is focused on two issues. incidental collection and unmasking. that is when the u.s. intelligence agencies are tracking a foreign target and in the process, they pick up the e-mails, phone calls and text messages of american citizens who are event identified. the fbi director and nsa director were last before this committee on march 20th. that was public testimony. this session will be behind closed doors and it will be classified. the idea is they can be more forth coming about some of the data the committee has been waiting for for over eight weeks time. the committee wants to know how many americans were caught up in incidental collection, who was unmasked and who authorized it.

what's key here is that there is an extensive paper trail. >> is it fair to say that very few people can make requests for unmasking? i can't make that request as a senator, can i? >> sure. it's a fairly small group of the consumers, which i am, of that small set -- >> national security council within that group that can make this request, or do you know? >> i don't know for sure. i think the national security adviser certainly can. >> reporter: one of things you hear privately from members of this committee is a deep sense of frustration that the unmasking of americans is very well documented, yet they've been waiting so long to get some hard data on what exactly happened at the end of last year, sandra. >> sandra: all right. president obama's former national security adviser, this also is big news, refusing to publicly testify when she was requested. >> reporter: well, susan rice is really at the heart of these allegations of unmasking, which republicans say was an attempt to spy on the trump administration and supporters of

rice say it was really an effort by the out going administration to do due diligence in light of russia's meddling in the election. susan rice told a senate committee that she will not be appearing monday, next week, at a public session. the argument she made is that it was too short notice and the invitation was not extended on a bipartisan basis. a member of one of the house committees who has dealt with rice before during investigations say there really are other options. >> she rejected an invitation. there are other ways to invite people. there are subpoenas. you shouldn't have to use them for the former national security adviser, but you do. the facts pick the witnesses. whether she likes it or not, she's a really important fact witness. >> reporter: susan rice has not told congress that she will not cooperate. in fact, her lawyer has said

she's willing to answer is questions, but it will have to be in a closed nonpublic classified setting. so the public won be able to hear some of the really dramatic exchanges we had yesterday on the hill with director comey and we may also expect monday next week. sandra? >> sandra: all right, thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. >> sandra: fox news alert. president trump just tweeting republicans will have a press conference at the white house if victorious. all eyes are on the house floor where we are told voting has begun on the revamped healthcare bill. we will wait on that vote. we will bring it to you and the results live when we have them.

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>> sandra: voting is under way on the health care bill right now on the house floor, president trump just tweeted this a few moments ago. if victorious, republicans will be having a big press conference at the beautiful rose garden of the white house immediately after vote. exclamation mark. certainly some optimism coming from the president as that vote is under way. growing evidence of a link between iran and north korea's missile programs, as we learn new details ab tehran's failed test launch of a cruise missile from a submarine earlier this week. jennifer griffin joins us live now from the pentagon. jennifer, what evidence is there that north korea and iran are sharing missile technology? >> reporter: well, sandra, when iran tested a ballistic missile in late january, the pentagon said at the time it was based on north korean construction and design. last summer iran conducted another launch of a missile

similar to a north korean missile. north korea's missile looks almost identical. just yesterday, iran attempted to test a cruise missile from an midget submarine, raising eyebrows here at the pentagon. the launch failed but the test used a north korean designed submarine. only two countries in the world operate that kind of sub. north korea and iran. midget subs operate in shallow waters where they can be sneaky. a midget sub sank a south korean friget in 2010. >> sandra: thank you very much. i'm gonna jump in here because we do have breaking news happening on the house floor with the vote on the revamped healthcare bill. we have seen the number pass that magic 216 mark that was needed for passage in the house. we cannot claim this bill passed until it is closed. at this time, it does appear they do have the votes to pass the bill. but we will have to wait until

the gavel comes down. guy, we are watching this unfold. it's looking good for the gop. can they claim victory yet? >> reporter: welsh in the big picture, no, they can't, but this is an important step, certainly. i think the gavel just came down. >> sandra: guy, i'm gonna jump in. the gavel came down. >> from california mr. rice, pass hr1644 as amended on which the yays and nays are order. >> hr1644. >> pass the bill as amended -- >> sandra: guy benson, you're still with us. we are told there are buses outside that are gonna take members of the gop for a celebration of some sort to the white house. the president just reporting that there will be one, in fact, in the beautiful rose garden, as he put it. there was a lot of optimism before this vote, before the gavel came down.

>> welsh let's not forget, just in march there was a big embarrassment and debacle on the house floor, where they ended up pulling a vote when they couldn't get the necessary tallies. a few compromises came together. now, just barely, house republicans have passed this first step. that's the key point, sandra. there's a long way to go. the u.s. senate, which is controlled by republicans, they're going to make probably significant changes to this bill if they pass anything. at which point either the house has to pass what the senate did or they go to what's called a conference committee and eventually to the president's desk. a lot of treacherous territory to cross between now and then, but, again, speaker ryan and president trump have been looking for a victory on this bill for months. this is a big legislative step, if not a full bore accomplishment just yet. >> sandra: all right. so we can confirm that the healthcare bill has passed on the house floor exceeding that 216 mark.

a celebration is likely to ensue now as we just heard from the president. you can see house members leaving on the steps of the capitol there. guy, what a moment this is. as we look at all thats has led up to this day, to this vote, as you were saying big picture, this goes to the senate. this will look completely different. what was the game changer here? because they didn't have the votes they said a week ago, two weeks ago. what was the game changer? we know upton came around. long came around. there was concern about preexisting conditions. what changed? >> the first big change, sandra, happened over the last few weeks and testify spear headed by the vice president, mike pence, who got representatives from the house freedom caucus on the right side of the republican party, and the tuesday group. they got together and put together a new package that gave states flexibility to possibly waive certain elements of obamacare regulations. that wasn't quite enough, which is why we saw the upton

amendment just yesterday, which put $8 billion more into stability funds and a high reufb pools that will help people with preexisting conditions. that number is $130 billion in aggregate with this bill. and so it took a number of different sticks and carrots along the way to bring various elements of the party. when you look at those who voted no on the republican side, many of them are moderates from top districts but some are conservatives saying this is not a full repeal. this does not go full enough. the key was to narrow that gap and get just to 216. they barely cleared it, but they did. >> sandra: all right. as you can see, members of the house walking down the steps there. peter ducey is standing by. guy, thank you very much. he's on the capitol steps where members continue to stream out after this vote. house passed the republican healthcare bill. peter, what are you seeing and hearing stp? >> reporter: so, what we're hearing off in the distance are

chants of shame from a protest that's been going on for the last hour or so. some anti-healthcare protests. it's extraordinary. congressman duffy, we have congressman duffy coming down. tell me right now, how does it feel to have just delivered on one of the biggest, if not the biggest, campaign promise? >> on the promise we made for the last seven years we're on step one. we're trying to help people who have been crushed with raising premiums. democrats are doing this na na stuff. they've thros house, the senate, the white house because of obamacare. now we're gonna fix it for the american people. >> reporter: if this is just the first step, how big a victory is it? >> it's a huge victory. the senate couldn't act until we passed this bill. so this a huge step in moving forward for the american people and getting a health care system that will look out for the american people and families

instead of bureaucrats in washington. we're excited. >> reporter: i see people getting on the buses to the white house. >> those who voted yes. not any democrat, but republicans, we can head over and have a session with the president. >> reporter: is this something, is there champagne on the bus? >> i don't know pitch heard there's champagne, but i haven't confirmed it. i heard. it's rumor. >> reporter: thank you, congressman. congressman duffy a yes vote. a long time supporter of president trump. you can see the republicans are walking out here, coming down to these buss that are marked with capitol police insignia on the side. we do expect within the next 20 minutes or so, they are going to head down to the white house for basically what is a victory lap going down pennsylvania avenue for a stop with the president who promised to repeal and replace obamacare and then come on back. you heard from congressman duffy there, sounds like there might

be some kind of party for the gop members who just came through on something that they said to do, that they set out to do. >> reporter: peter, as you know, moments before we found out the outcome of this vote, the president tweeted that republicans, if victorious, will be having a big press conference at the beautiful rose garden of the white house immediately after the vote. that's where members are heading. let me know if you grab anybody else and jump in here, as i tell you the vote was 217-213. this was a nail biter, as expected, and extremely close. 20 republicans voted no. all democrats voted no. and the gop, i'll remind you, could have only lost 21 vote, otherwise this effort would have failed in the house. peter, looks like there's excitement there. we heard cheering on the house floor after the vote came down. >> reporter: right. inside, lots of happy cheering. outside, of course, there is a

protest does not look like it has grown. it is a protest that you see a lot of. they have many professionally made signs. they're just a little bit out of view because of these buses that we don't always see. but something else that's important about the buses being here. you don't see something like this. you don't normally after the last vote before recess, you normally don't see any kind of delay in these members leaving the white house floor and then going to the airport. they get there as fast as possible. so this is an important visual, clearly. two bus loads worth of visuals that these members want to have. they want to have these pictures of them standing there next to president trump in the rose garden while he talks about the first successful vote to repeal parts of obamacare. >> sandra: peter ducey, you're cutting out on us there. by the way, we're going to have republican leonard lance, a

congressman who voted no just now. he will be joining us in a few moments. meanwhile, as we continue to witness this vote happening and members of the gop exiting the capital, guy benson, political editor for town hall.com, richard fowler, radio talk show host, joining me to react. richard, let's hear from you. >> well, this is a big victory for the republicans. but this is a sad day for the american people. here's what we know is in this bill that's bad. not only do we have the preexisting conditions which bad. we'll talk about that. another part that's bad is the chunk that they took out of the medicade money. now, lot of people when they think about medicade, they think that money goes to poor people so they can get health care. that also goes to elementary schools and middle schools so they can pay for psychologists and social worker. >> sandra: because this has happened and this is passed, how are democrats going to fight back? >> well, this is not about democrats fighting back. this is about doing what's best for the american people. now this bill goes to the senate

where there will be a lot of changes, right? this house bill i would argue is pretty bad. that's why we don't have a cbo score. we haven't polled it with the american people. there's a lot of missing pieces here. they rushed it through to i believe the detriment of the republican party. >> reporter: what does it say about momentum, guy benson, for the white house, for president trump? having this revamped bill now passed? >> i think there's two things. first, politically, that's why the republicans put this vote on the floor so quickly today. they want to get momentum going and give the president a big win. but also i think it's been herding c these votes together. they finally had a moment in time where they had 216, or in this case 217 in hand, they said let's go right now. i understand the impulse. i will agree with richard. i don't like voting on such a

big bill with no score from the congressional budget. i don't like how this process looked. i think richard is unfair on some of the merits. i think what's hurting america is the failure of obamacare, and we can debate that. certainly there will reasonable objections that can be raised on either side of the aisle to the process that brought us here. then again the republicans have been talking about this for seven years. they finally had an opportunity to advance the football. this is not a touchdown. this is arguably a first down with more steps to come. they saw that opportunity. they seized it. >> i agree with guy a lot on this. i think they gained about ten yards on this play. now, i think the political play here is this. you're going to see moderate republicans who have tough re-elections say, wait. this is moving a little too quickly. and i think you'll have some traditional republicans that say

they're moving too fast. there was no markup. there was no subcommittee. there were no amendments. this was not usual order in this house. i can guarantee you this. there will likely be usual order in the senate to slow this bill down and work on some of the changes. i also think the affordable care act is not perfect. i don't think any democrat will tell you that it is. we should work on fixing it. the idea of a full gut repeal, rolling back medicare expansion, putting this shaky upton amendment on preexisting conditions. it should all make the american people nervous. >> sandra: some would say that was a game changer that $8 billion to address the concerns about preexisting conditions. we are waiting on democrats who will be holding a presser to react to this healthcare bill passing in the house. of course, we'll all be curious to see what they have to say and what the path forward is for them. is it fair to say the republican party came together in this moment?

>> yeah, i think so. and just to go back, the upton amendment that you mentioned was $8 billion. that's $8 billion additional ear marked to help people with preexisting condition. the overall number is closer to $130 billion over ten years. so there's a big difference there. so, yeah, look, i think richard's point on the senate is correct. what you have to remember is reconciliation is this tool that the democrats used to pass obama care in 2010. it's a budget thing. a budget maneuver. that means because republicans are using the same thing here, that means that there will be unlimited amendments offered in the u.s. senate. there will be a lot of debate and a lot of votes. >> sandra: richard, guy, thank you. well, the healthcare bill has passed in the house. the 216 votes needed was exceeded and met with 217 votes. we are awaiting president trump at the white house. he is set to hold a news

conference to celebrate the passage of this healthcare bill. chief white house correspondent john roberts live in new york city where the president will be later tonight. john, looks like he put his plans on hold a bit today but an of this vote. what's the white house reaction to today's healthcare vote so far? >> reporter: good afternoon, sandra. to continue with the football analogy since they're flying around, i think the way the healthcare bill evolved was the ohio state philosophy, three yards and a cloud of dust. if you look at the way this went through the process, the president made some head way then it kind of collapsed. then he made a little more headway then it looked like it wasn't going to happen. yesterday morning was the break through when congressman fred upton and billy long came over to the white house and said, you know, mr. president, we're really concerned about making sure that people who have an established medical condition, preexisting condition, can get health insurance. we've got this idea of how we can do it. that was kind of the break

through moment. the president saying go for it. i like it. their nos turned to yeses. that's how you got to 217. for president trump, it really is i think a testament to his tenacity. never say die attitude, as we went into the easter recess. everyone thought this thing was dead. but as i have said before in the princess bride, billy crystal said it, there's a big difference between dead and mostly dead. turns out this bill was only mostly dead. over the course of the easter recess, the president let the two sides that were at odds talk amongst themselves with him just being on the other end of phone call if it was needed. and they came together. then that final push yesterday morning. and here we are now. >> sandra: what a moment, john roberts, thank you. let's get to peter ducey where members have been streaming out after this vote. peter, who do you have? >> reporter: thank you, sandra. congressman steve caine from iowa. at the last minute, how many no

votes ended up switching to yes, or undecided switching to yes? what do you think it was? was it pressure from the vice president? was it pressure from leadership? how did they get it across the finish line? >> they did ab everything. it was a very very intense whip operation. just myself, for example, within a 24 hour window, i had two calls from the whip, one from steve bannen, one from vice president pence and one from president trump. >> reporter: how was the steve bannen pitch different than paul ryan's pitch? >> we have a different kind of friendship on that. but steve bannon and i talked about the politics of this. what it means to the president. what it means to our country. that has been consistent from each of the voices. but i'm standing here today representing 39 counties in iowa. 99 counties in iowa altogether. i know you've got iowa roots. 94 of though 99 counties have no individual market today because

obamacare has melted down. so that's indicative of what's happening across the country. if we don't do something, obamacare has collapsed in my state and it will collapse in many other states. this is the best we can get. i do believe that. everybody worked hard, peter. >> reporter: the white house was asking you for a favor. are you going to go to the white house and ask them for something in return? >> no. as a matter of fact, i never make any deals and i never link any other issue with the one we're talking about. if the issue has merit, i'll support it. if i doesn't, i'll oppose it. i'm going to the airport because the secretary of agricultural will be in my district. the president has been straight up with me and many others. i think that this team, it's a very heavy lift. what we should have done is brought the full repeal of obamacare in january. that would have passed unanimously among republicans. getting to that place would have reduced and eliminated a lot of

these negotiations that tried to keep part of obamacare. they ended up keeping some of it. i regret that, peter. >> reporter: back to you in new york. >> sandra: thank you. congressman leonard lance is standing by, congressman from new jersey. thank you for joining us, congressman. i know it's been a busy day for you and all the members there. 217 votes. 216 were needed. you were not one of those yeses. why? >> i don't think this billowers premiums for the american people. and i think that we should have demanded that the democrats come to the table and help solve the problem. and i agree with my colleague congressman king that the exchanges are not doing well, particularly in states like iowa, where congressman king is a member of congress. i think the democrats have a responsibility to come to the table on this bill, i would like to have seen a cbo score first. >> sandra: so you think it was rushed? >> i think we should have waited for a cbo score. that doesn't mean we can't begin the process before there's a

score. but by the time the bill reaches the full floor, i think that we should have had a cbo score. but i do think the democrats have a responsibility to come to the table because the exchanges are not in strong shapes across america. >> sandra: well, we are waiting to hear the democratic response on all of this. they're expected to hold a press conference. as we know, the president, president trump, is treating this as a celebration. he's invited those who voted yes on this in the house to the white house, to the rose garden, for a celebration. what are your thoughts on that? >> i certainly think the president worked hard on this issue. i'm sure he will continue to work hard. and i think that he has invited democrats to work with him. so far they've chosen not to do so. i favor policies across state line, tort reform. i'm sure the president is interested in those matters. and i hope that the democrats

will come to the table. not on here on capitol hill, but in the white house as well. >> sandra: all right. congressman lance, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> sandra: we want to get back to peter ducey. we have seen members have been streaming out. jim jordan is there now. >> -- are you saying a lot of the changes you just vote on are about to be changed again? >> you can never speculate what the senate will do. there are a lot of good guys over there who are gonna work hard to fulfill the promise we made to the american people, which is complete repeal. >> if there are major changes like some senators, rand paul said he doesen want to vote for anything that doesn't totally repeal obamacare. is there any possibility that it passes? >> we will look at it, peter, when it comes back. we got to see what comes back. what we know is this is pretty darn good. doesn't fully get there, but it was good enough and a big step and i think the best bill we can get out of the house.

i gotta run. >> appreciate it. >> sandra: that was congressman jim jordan from ohio and our own peter ducey standing by. just spoke with the congressman. what more are you seeing happening there? peter? >> reporter: sandra, we're seeing that not everybody is trying to go right on down to the white house. there are members heading back to their offices. some members heading for the airport. it is a scramble now for some of these members. something that's interesting just now while one of your guests was speaking. some of the members are coming down waving to these protesters that from this view, you can see for the first time. they're over there across the buses. lot of usual suspects in terms of the signs. they seem to be, many of them, professionally made. they also have very well coordinated chants and protest leader. but they were chanting "shame shame shame." some of these republican members came out and they were waving. i saw a couple members of congress taking pictures or

video of the protesters. obviously, these protesters are out here yelling "shame" but there were enough republicans inside who said yay, that there's really nothing these protesters can do for the rest of today. so it is kind of -- it's about as chaotic a scene you ever will see outside the u.s. capitol. these are the buses that members have been loading up on for the last 20 minutes or so, ever since the gavel went down. some were trickling out. we do expect a departure to the white house, a very well guarded moth motorcade. two bus loads worth of members of congress any minute now. sandra? >> sandra: do you know what's gonna go on on the buses? they're heading to the rose garden. we know that. the president invited them for this celebration. he did so before the vote ever happened. >> reporter: we can actually -- sandra, why don't we just try to see if we can get closer to the

buses. maybe somebody can tell us what's in there. i know they like to keep us on the side lot. if they know we're live, maybe they'll give us a break. they've got the protesters. they've got all these cameras trying to take some photos. and then, it's hard to tell. they've got some tinted windows. we can ask this officer. can we just take a quick look inside the bus? definitely no? sorry. thank you. >> sandra: always worth a shot, peter. >> reporter: we're gonna have to wait to know. this is a little bit different of a view. right up at the top of those stairs. they're on the house floor. there they are on their way to the white house. >> sandra: we're told those buses will be heading to the white house to meet with the president in the rose garden, then they'll go back on the buses and deliver them right back to capitol hill. thank you. standing by now tom mcarthur.

congressman, thank you very much for jumping on and joining us in the moment. what is this moment mean for you? you have been on the front lines of this fight. >> well, sandra, yes. you know, it's an interesting moment. i'm certainly glad that we got this done. i think it's critical for the american people. i'm very mindful that there are a lot of americans that are unsure and afraid, and my focus is on trying to help people understand what we really have done. forget the fear mongering. what we've done is protected an individual insurance marketplace that is on the verge of collapse and we've done it in a way that will protect people that have insurance today, especially people with preexisting condition, and we've done it in a way that will bring premiums down for everyone else. i'm grateful we got it done today. now it's time to get it over to the senate. >> sandra: all right. as we're speaking to you, we are watching the buses filled with members heading to the white

house. they just pulled away. so we'll continue to keep our eyes on that. meanwhile, this was a very narrow passage of this bill. 217 yeses, 216 were needed. what does that tell you? >> i'm not sure what that -- i always knew it would be a close vote. and i think there are people that might have voted yes if it was necessary. but i don't know that it means anything. the important thing is that we've passed it and it's a start now for getting this problem fixed. >> sandra: you say a start. a start it is. although there's a celebration that's about to happen at the white house. it heads to the senate next. what happens there? and will it make it through? >> i surely hope so. even today we've heard news that aetna has pulled out of market. i heard this morning the state of iowa said 24 of 29 counties

now have zero choices. no insurers are willing to write there. a third of u.s. counties are down to one insurer. my own state, we're down to two. premiums are going up 58%, 68%, 100% in some areas. and the system is heading to a place where the people who have insurance today will have nothing. so we have to fix this. i just hope the senate can work as quickly as it can to approve the bill, make changes if they see needs to change. certainly not a perfect bill. i just hope they act quickly and we can move this forward. >> sandra: you authored a key amendment, the macarthur amendment. really credited for reviving this overhaul. can you explain to us what exactly ended up in that amenment, the macarthur amendment? >> well, i was trying to do a few things. one, the essential health

benefits had come out of an earlier version of the bill and i thought that was a mistake. so i restored the essential health benefits so we had a robust federal standard. then i tried to give the state some flexibility. i wanted to make certain that we protected people with preexisting conditions, but i wanted to do it in a way that didn't jack up everyone else's premiums. that is what is sinking this marketplace. people cannot take 50% and 60% increases year after year. we're up to now 23 million americans who don't have insurance, who are paying penalties. and so that's the needle i was trying to thread, sandra, to protect people with preexisting condition, to protect the most vulnerable. we've done that. but also allow other people's premiums to begin to come down so they can afford to buy insurance. >> sandra: what do you expect the senate to change? >> oh, i don't know. you know, i have talked to individual senators.

i don't have a real sense of the way they'll look at this as a body and what they might need to adjust. >> sandra: you said this is a win for the american people. can you look within your own party, is this a moment where you saw members of your own party coming together, as we did see a lot of disagreements over this? >> well, yes. one of the things i like ab our party is it's energetic. we have vigorous debate about things. this was certainly not planned through. there were a couple false starts. but we ended up with a much better bill. i really commend the committees that were involved. they did a good job. but i think it's even better now. >> sandra: all right, congressman macarthur, thank you for joining us. >> thank you, sandra. >> sandra: john roberts is live in new york city where the president will be heading after speaking at the rose garden. we are awaiting that moment, john. >> reporter: we are. that's coming up at 3:30. we've known about this for ab an

hour, but we are able to report the president will be coming out with those members of congress after the successful vote in the house on the healthcare bill at 3:30 this afternoon. clearly this will be a victory lap for the president. that's why he's delayed his arcaic rifle in new york city. he will probably not be leaving washington until about 5:00. but, you know, talking with congressman macarthur there, what was instrumental in shaping the whole future of this was the discussions that congressman macarthur had with congressman mark meadows, the chairman of the house freedom caucus, over the course of the easter break. this was a completely different approach by the president. the white house had been encouraging a vote. when it failed, just before the easter recess, they failed to bring it to the floor, the president said, okay. i'm just gonna sit back and let the two sides who are in such sharp disagreement with each other talk to each other. that's where you got the beginnings of a change here that

was palletable to the tuesday group and the freedom caucus. you had congressman upton and congressman long who were saying we can't vote for this thing because there's no guarantees that people have preexisting conditions will be able to get health insurance. that's when the break through moment happened yesterday when congressman upton and congressman long proposed an $8 billion fund to go to the states to help pay premium support for people who are in high risk pools. now, there is some question, and charles schumer, the senate minority leader raised this, as to whether or not that particular provision in the amendment might run afoul of what's called the bird rule. this is a reconciliation bill. there's only so many things that you can change in an existing bill. they all have to do with spending and the budget. this one little adjustment they made here may run afoul with that. i know the macarthur and meadows amendment was run through the senate budget committee to make

sure the language would pass muster in what's called the bird bath, sandra. but throwing this extra little piece in, not sure where it's going to go in the senate, but it's very likely that the bill that makes it to the senate floor will look substantially different than this one. >> sandra: we were waiting on a response from democrats. they are holding a press conference following the vote, john. nancy pelosi said on the gop healthcare bill, they walked the plank. >> reporter: well, this is the same leader who, don't forget, a few years ago said we have to pass the bill to find out what's in it. i mean, you can look at either side of the political fence and know that maybe everybody doesn't have everything that there is to know about something before they go ahead. yesterday sean spicer was suggesting that it's impossible to calculate how much money is needed for these people with preexisting conditions, which

sort of raised the question, how do you know that $8 billion is enough if you haven't really had anything to base a calculation on. we'll see going forward. the senate is said to be the greatest body in the world. they'll have a lot of thoughts going forward. >> sandra: all right. the revamped healthcare bill has passed in the house narrowly. 217 yes, 216 needed. john roberts needed. guy benson, richard fowler, they are back with me now. based on everything you are hearing and seeing, guy benson, your thoughts? >> i'm struck by your interview with congressman macarthur from new jersey, that member of the tuesday group, the moderate. his tone, i think, was exactly right. there were americans anxious about health care. obamacare is collapsing. this bill has all sorts of information coming around. they're not sure what's coming next. i think macarthur showed

humility and reassurance. i think other republicans ought to take notes on his example how to talk about this. i'm not sure this is the best moment to be cracking beers, clinking champagne glass and high fiving. there's a long way to go. i think there are a lot of things in this bill that are good. i think obamacare is failing. but macarthur i think found the right tone. >> sandra: to be sure, we don't know there's any champagne involved, but we do know there's been a bit of a celebration planned and the president is standing by at the white house waiting to welcome those who voted yes on this bill. richard? >> well, i think john roberts just previously asked the right question. when sean spicer said yesterday, we're not sure exactly how much money we're going to need to deal with those who have preexisting conditions. that's a big deal. that's what makes this bill so scary. when you think about preexisting conditions, most people think

about cancer survivors. it also means a mother who had a c section. these are people that will fall into this quote unquote high risk pool even though i would argue a mother with a c section is not high risk. which is why this house bill is so problematic. i think guy is 100% right. you don't pop open the beer and pop champagne for the 50 yard line. you pop it when you get to the touchdown. i don't know if this bill in current form will make it to the end zone. >> sandra: all right. you are seeing a live look at the rose garden outside the white house. chairs are set up awaiting members of the house after that vote has occurred. we are told the president and other lawmakers will be delivering remarks in the next hour. the white house says that the president will not be taking questions, to be noted. i also want to show you this response. republican senator lindsay graham on today's passage. he says today's house vote where every democrat voted in opposition, also shows that democrats in congress are

committed to protecting obamacare. they refuse to face up to the fact that obamacare is on the verge of collapse. until they accept this reality, i believe they will refuse to work with president trump and republicans on healthcare reform. guy? >> yeah. that's exactly right. the democrats made a giant mess and lied their way into it that the republicans campaigned on and won to try to fix. that's step one of the process today. i do want to quickly go back to what richard said on preexisting condition. the reason spicer and others say it's so difficult to calculate is because in the republican bill, people are protected including with the provision that they can't be charged more than anyone else. things do not change very much for most of those people under this bill. it's only in states that might ask for waivers and then get granted waivers that people might need additional help if they are not continuously insured. we don't know which states are gonna ask for them, which states

are gonna get them. that's part of why the calculation is difficult to do. >> sandra: all right. >> i hear that, guy. >> sandra: i want to point out what we're looking at on the screen. these cameras are outside the white house. the buses have arrived carrying members after this vote has happened. the health care bill passing in the house. i also want to show you this. richard fowler, you can react to this. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said, kwoerbgt obamacare has failed the american people and must be repealed and replaced. today's vote in the house was an important step. we are closer to giving our constituents freedom over the increased cost and broken promise of obamacare. richard? >> two points. guy is right. we have to see which states opt out. second point here is this. i think republican mitch mcconnell in that statement lives in this world that eight years ago or more than that, before the affordablecare act it

was just peaches and cream. but our health care system was a mess, an utter mess. the affordable care act do the perfect fix? no. did it make it a little bit better? absolutely. does the affordable care act need to be fixed? yes. any democrat would tell you it needs to be fixed. but we will not repeal it. we will work on, if republicans want to have a conversation about fixing the law, let's fix it. this bill that was passed today is trying to take us all the way back to prior to the affordable care act where it was the wild wild west, where health insurance companies ran free. >> not true. >> i guarantee this. the first state to opt out of this bill passage will be the state of texas. all those individuals in the state of texas who have preexisting conditions will not have coverage. >> sandra: we got the response from texas senator ted cruz saying our work goes forward in the senate where we should continue to improve the bill. i am optimistic we will get the job done and honor our commitment to provide more choices for consumers, put

people in control of their health care and more importantly lower premiums. guy? >> so, it's just not true that people in states that seek waivers won't have coverage if they have preexisting conditions. the republican bill that just passed requires insurers to take people on who have preexisting conditions period. it also mandates that anyone who has coverage and continuous coverage cannot be thrown off that coverage or charged more, including people with preexisting conditions. that's another layer of protection. then for people uninsured and have preexisting conditions even under obamacare which was supposed to fix the problem but hasn't, they must have access to a high risk pool into which this bill places almost $130 billion. >> sandra: all right, guys. richard, guy, we've got to leave it there. thank you for standing by through this breaking news. as you can see, a loft activity at the white house. president trump will be at the rose garden of the white house, little bit of a celebration is planned there. he will be speaking about the

house vote to repeal obamacare. it has passed. we will be right back. all finished.

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>> republicans score a win in the house passing a bill to repeal and replace obamacare. it's not the end of the fight. it's the beginning of a new battle. as hard as the house was, the senate could be tougher. we'll see what happens next and how this bill could affect your coverage. from pre-existing conditions to why older americans could pay more and changes to medicaid. plus, how this could affect the health insurance you get from your player. president trump set to host a news conference in a matter of minutes. we'll have that live. i'm