it's incredibly important that we night violate anybody's conscience. we want to protect the conscience provisions that exist. it's also important to appreciate that through community health centers the bill that's being proposed right now who allow greater access for women to health care in greater numbers of facilities across this land. and they have actually proposed more money for women's health care than currently exists. so i think they are working their best to address that issue. in terms of whether or not old plans that were available before might be available, absolutely. and we believe that the opportunity to provide a robust market, a robust choices for individuals across this land will be secured. again, that's one of the keys the bring down the premium costs of bringing down the costs for health coverage. we are excited about that and look forward to that coming to pass. >> mr. secretary -- >> if the new plan calls for repealing the revenue generating taxes and penalties but keeping

the entitlements, how is that sustainable? >> that's the work that somebody mentioned over here, the congressional budget office score. once the congress receives that score they will be working through that to make sure it is fiscally responsible. imagine, if you would, however, a system where the incentives within the system are all to drive down costs to provide greater choices and competition for folks and respond to the specific needs of patients. in so doing, what you do is actually get a much more efficient system for the provision and the delivery of health care. it's a system we don't have right now because the previous administration felt that the federal government ought to do all of this. and we've seen what came about when the federal government does all about that, that is incrng premiums, increasing deductibles, decreasing choices. you have a card that says you have insurance and you walk in and you can't afford what it is the doctor wants to do that's

trying to take care of you. this is not a item working for folks in the individual and small group market and in the exchanges. >> many complained that obamacare resulted in higher wait times in the emergency room. will this new bill cause that? do you have any idea on that? >> one of the things that the previous administration said was they were going to be able to drive folks away from one of the most expensive areas for the provision of health care. and that is the emergency rooms. in fact, they did just the opposite. and much of that is because of, again, the rules and the regulations that they put in place. from our perspective, we believe that if you -- if individuals are able to purchase the kind of coverage they want then they will have access to the kind of doctors and other providers they desire and won't need to be seen in the emergency room. they will already have the care. emergency rooms ought to be for emergencies not for the standard care that individuals tend to receive right now. we believe that if you put in place the right system then emergency rooms and the emergency physicians will be able to have the opportunity to

care for those individuals that appropriately present to their department. yes, ma'am. >> mr. secretary i'm interested in following up on your comment that it's important that no one vote on anything that violates their conscience. federal funding already can be used for abortions. are you saying that the administration has a position on the provision of birth control at these community health centers? secondly, is the administration looking to actively withhold funding to planned parenthood if they continue to provide abortions as has been reported? >> we are working through all of those issues. many of those were through the rule making proces we are working through at. that's not part of this piece of legislation. >> does the administration have a provision on birth control and access to it? >> what we are doing is working through the rules and regulations to see where the previous administration was, see how they did it and whether or not it needs to be addressed what we believe is important is

to define whether or not that rule or regulation actually helps patients or, and decreases costs or harms patients and increases cost. if it does the latter, we need to do away with it. if it does the former, we need to keep it. >> what was the issue of conscience you were talk about then? >> to make certain that individuals in the market are not forced to do things that violate their conscience. yes, sir? >> common people and the small businesses have been waiting for this new bill under president trump. so any message, sir, for them? >> well, i think that this is the culmination of years of work. it's the culmination of years of concern and frustration by the american people. they knew at the time that the previous bill -- previous law passed that it wasn't going to help them. they knew that costs were going to go up. in fact, we predicted at the time that costs would go up and

that access would go down. and so this is the culmination of years of hard work by the electorate, by the citizens of this country to say that we want a system again that respects patients and families and doctors in these decisions. one more. >> thank you mr. secretary. the president tweeted out earlier today that he believes that he is working on a plan to have drug prices come down by spurring competition. it tells a little bit about what that plan is going to be when it might be rolled out as part of these phases. second question, the bill includes a tax break for surance executives that make more than $500,000. you said this is about patients. why is that tax break important for this legislation. >> to the latter i'm not aware of that. i'll look into that. drug pricing is really important. so many individuals are now having significant difficulty being able to afford the medications they have been prescribed. it's not able to be addressed

specifically in the phase one because it's not revenue or a spending issue for the federal government. so it can't be in this phase one. but in phase two and three, which may be concurrent along with this phase one, but in phase two and three then we look forward to bringing solutions to solve the remarkable challenge that patients have across this land with the increasing price of drugs. i've got to run. you have got a guy right here who is going to answer all the rest of the questions. thank you so much. god bless you. >> thank you dr. price. let me continue on. the bottom line, i think that the secretary is making is that obamacare sought to cover 20 million people, and in the process it drove up costs for everybody, whether or not you are in the exchange or not. most people get their insurance through their employers. older populations through medicare. low income get their health care through medicaid. and veterans through tricare. what we are talking about here

is a very defined amount of individuals that we are trying to address and not affect the entire system. obamacare turned our health care system on its head to address the pool of individuals who don't fall into the buckets that i mentioned. our plan that we are talking about today with the house will ensure that those individuals receive the care they need if they want with affordable costs without sending rates skyrocketing. obamacare was a bill that served special interests and not the american people. these pages that were passed are filled with carveouts with over $1 billion on lobbying spent on the year obamacare was created. our bill, much smaller, only 123 pages, so far we are at 57 for the repeal plan, and 66 pages for the replacement portion. will undo this. half of it, 57 of those pages are the repeal part.

when you goat down to it our plan is 66 pages long. half of what we actually even have there. we'll undo the massive disaster and replace it with a plan to return health care back to the patient. as the president outlined in his joint address, he expects five core principles to guide congress through this health care process. first ensure that the american people with preexisting conditions have access to coverage. second, ensure stable transition for americans currently enrolled in the exchanges. third, provide more equitable tax treatment through tax credits for people who already don't receive tax advantage health care from their employer. i know that's something that secretary price was talking about to the vast number of people who get their insurance through their employer, they are getting it tax-free. they are not taxed on that benefit, which is something that is not afforded to people who are in the individual market who either run a small business or are sole proprietiors. fourth we should expand the power of health savings accounts

to return control to americans over their health care dollar and decisions. they should be able to choose the plan they want not the plan forced on them by government. finally we should give the state governors the resources and flexibility they need t make sure that no one is left out. this is the plan everybody has been asking for, the plan the president ran on and will save the system. it's culminated years of work that will undo the damage caused by obamacare while ensuring that all americans have peace of mine during this stable transition period. these are the principles for which conservatives have been fighting for for years. president trump looks forward to continuing the dialogue between the administration and the hill on saving the health care system. what is important to remember we are not going to be able to do this all in one bill. there are two other steps that allow us to get more of the president's plan accomplished after we pass this first important step.

the second piece is underway. that's what secretary price can do threw executive action. he is helping to bring stability to the collapsing insurance market. he will continue to enact policy changes in the regulatory and administrative space to achieve what the first step cannot because of the nature of reconciliati reconciliation. the third piece of executing the president's health care requires 60 votes in legislation. maybe, maybe more, depending on what we can do and when. that's how we'll move forward of the policies of purchasing across state lines, lower drug prices that just came up and repealing any of obamacare's premium spiking insurance market distortions that can't be done through this current bill. also yesterday in addition to speaking with israeli prime minister netanyahu the president will that separate calls with the prime minister of japan, abe. and south korean's acting

presiden dung both cls the president iterated the united states's ironcl cmitment to stan with japan and south korea in the face of the serious threat posed by north korea. he also emphasized that the administration is taking steps to further enhance our ability to deter and defend against north korea's ballistic missiles using a full range the united states's military capabilities. moving on to today's schedule, this morning the president had a call with the president of kenya. he will have a readout for that call soon. the president and first lady also announced the official reopening of public tours here at the husband. you may have seen the president stopped by to surprise greet some of the first visitors on their tour. we are looking forward to welcoming the american people back to what is faerksately referred to as the people's house. we are the world's only executive residence and head of state that also serves as a museum free to the people. visiting the white house is also an experience that is uniquely

american and we encourage all americans to come visit the white house, their house. also this morning the secretary of commerce wilbur ross held a press conference announcing that chinese zte corporation has announced a record high penalty after the company illegally shipped telecommunications equipment to iran and north korea. this is the largest ever imposed by the commerce department's bureau of security. pending approval from a federal judge the combined penalties between the commerce department, the department of justice, and the department of treasury would be the largest fine in forfeiture ever leveed by the u.s. government in such a case. this settlement tells the world that the days of flouting u.s. sanctions, regime or violating u.s. trade laws are over. president trump is committed to ending the disrespect of american laws and american

workers. back to the schedule for a second. this morning the president received his daily intelligence briefing. he had lunch with lindsey graham of south carolina who will continue to be an important partner as the president's nominee for the supreme court judge gorsuch begins the nomination process next week. he is leading a discussion with senator cotton, purdue and members of the white house sister staff. they are expected to discuss the merit based immigration reforms that the president mentioned at last week's joint address. later this afternoon the president will lead a meeting with the whip team. there will be a pool spray at the top of that meeting. the gather time is 3:20. he will be meeting with the president of the afl-cio. they are expected to discuss the importance of investing in our country's infrastructure and nafta renegotiations. there will be a pool spray at the top of thattet mooing.

this evening the president will visit with a group of boy scouts who in washington to participate in a tradition of sharing scouting commitment with key officials. the president will welcome at least two foreign leaders in the coming weeks. i expect additional announcements of additional leaders later. first, the german chancellor and the president of iraq. with that i'll kick it off with your questions. jonathan carl. >> sean, it's been a -- >> jonathan. >> you are out of practice. >> i know. >> thank you. i know. it's been a full three days since the president said that president obama had his wires tap his phones tapped at the trump tower. in those three days has the white house come up with evidence to prove that allegation? >> i addressed this multiple times yesterday. the president, we put out a statement on sunday saying we would have no further comment and we were asking the house and

the senate intelligence committee to look into this concern and report back. >> can the president just ask the fbi director if he tapped him? has he asked him. >> no he has not. we have gone back and forth. i think there is clearly a role that congress can play in the oversight capabilities. they have made it clear they have the staff the resources and the process. i think that's the appropriate place for this to be handled. i think if we were to get involved you would write stories how we are getting involved. there is no-win situation. the smartest way is to ask the house and senate intelligence committees who are already in the process of looking into this to look into this and other leaks communication. as the president said in a statement on sunday we believe that that investigation as well as the investigation of other classified leaks and other important information that threatens our national security be looked into by the house and senate intelligence committees. and then we encourage them to

report back. >> do you believe that president obama -- >> i get that's a cute question to ask. my job is to represent the president and talk about what he is doing and what he wants. he has made very clear what his goal is, what he would like to have happen. and so i just -- i'll leave it at that i think we've tried to play this game before. i'm not here to speak for myself. i'm here to speak for the president of the united states and our government. jake. >> secretary price was asked by john whether the administration was able to make a -- for the american people right now who like their doctor and like their health insurance plan, is the white house willing to commit to them today that when this replacement bill is passed, if it passes, that they will on the -- at the end of that be able to keep their doctor and keep their health care plans? and secondly, just changing gears radically on china overnight issued some strong rhetoric promising consequences for the missiles system in south

korea. describe that. >> on the first piece, i think, look, one of the things that's important to understand about this process that's when different from when the democrats did it, you recall then speaker pelosi said you are going to have to read the bill to know what's in it. this is the bill. et cetera a right here. it's on the website. we are going through regular order. if you go to the house of representative's wets, speaker paul ryan's website, it's listed. everyone can read it and it's going to go through regular order. we are not jamming it down anybody's throat. it is going to gohrough a committee process. all parties involved, all representatives in the house will be able to put into it. i think that's the way to conduct this process. to do it to allow people to watch process happen in the committees, allow members of congress to have their input in it to make amendments, to see that we get the best bill that achieves the goal for the american people. when it was done the last time it was jammed down people's

throat. and look what happened. you had 974 pages that people struggled to read afterwards and figure out what had just gotten passed and the consequence were frankly devastating to the point about keeping your doctor, 234 a lot of cases you have lost your doctor. for a couple reasons. one they may not participate in the plan. they may not take insurance at all anymore. three, they may not take medicaid. and the list goes on and on about why they might not be there, or the plan -- the plan you got is no longer accessible. as the secretary mentioned one third of all counties in the united states no longer take medicaid -- excuse me -- have only one plan that you can choose from. so it is a fact right now that you, in most cases, you have no choice. in many cases, you have lost that ability. our goal is to actually add more choice and more competition. right now the government tells you you must have this plan or you will play a penalty, and within this plan here's what you have to have. we have lost the element of choice and competition in health

care. by bringing all of that back, i think there is a higher degree of likelihood that you are going to get the plan that you want ander going to get the doctor that you want because it will be your choice not the government's choice. that's a big, big difference. this plan was jammed down everybody's throat. and the consequences took the plans away, it took their doctors away, and it drove up costs. this plan allows more competition, more people to enter it, and the american people and patients to make a decision on what plan they want, if they have a plan and a doctor they like then they are going to choose a plan that allows them to continue with that doctor. but there is going to be more competition and more choice not less. that's what you have right now. with respect to incho, i think we addressed this yesterday. we stand shoulder to shoulder with japan and south korea in doing what we can to protect that region in particular from an attack from north korea. we understand the situation. we continue to work with them. as i mentioned the president spoke to both leaders yesterday.

we provided a readout of those calls. but we obviously understand the concern to china. but this is a national security issue for them. hunter. >> thank you sean. how concerned is the president with the situation between north korea and malaysia right now? >> as i said i think we are very well awarefhat' gng on in the region the president obviously had a conversation with, in particular, the acting president of south korea last night with respect to what's going on there. again, i'll refer that to the national security committee to give you further. cheryl bolden, cheryl? >> thanks, sean. >> sorry. i forgot you yesterday. >> i appreciate it. two then questions. one on health care. if the cbo scores this bill and it does not provide the amount of coverage that the affordable care act did, will the president still support it? >> well, i'm not going to get ahead -- secretary price mentioned this, let's not get ahead of the cbo going through

this. as i mentioned to zeke, one of the things it's important to understand, this bill has to be done in the phases that it has to to address the repeal part of it and the replace part of it. there are only certain thing we can do through reconciliation. and the regulatory piece that we can do through action that the secretary is empowered to do frankly under obamacare. and then third is an additional piece of legislation that addresses things. but there are cost saving measures that in competition aspects of this that have to be included in phase two or three because they are not allowed in the reconciliation bill. because of the nature of how reconciliation works on capitol hill. i think one of the things we have to understand is that how that score come out from the congressional budget office will depend whether they look at it specifically with just a phase one or whether they look at it in its totality. but i'm confident that if you look at what's going on right now, cheryl, it's unsustainable.

i mean, premiums in state after state, as dr. price mentioned, they are up 25% on average. arizona is 116%. oklama is in the 50s. minnesota is in the 40s. this iunsustainable for a family to continue to pay the premiums that they have. and for individuals, small business owners, et cetera. so the question is, can we allow people to go on this trajectory where more and more of their paycheck is getting eaten up in a plan that's frankly not giving them choice, doctors or plans that they want? this plan i think clearly achieves those goals a lot better. it gets the price -- cost contain men down. it gets price control under it. and allows doctors and plans to reengage in the marketplace as they were prior to this. and i think that is a major aspect. hold on. cheryl waited. >> from yesterday, i had a nomination's question. is there something that's preventing the white house from submitting the nominations of sonny purdue for agriculture and alex acosta for labor? >> i believe alex acosta was

sent up to the hill earlier today. we should have an announcement officially out -- sometimes there is a little bit of a lag, i apologize between my office -- and i'll check on sonny purdue. some of it is in coordination with the senate. pardon my time. trey? >> i have two questions for you. first will the president offer a correction to his tweet this morning that states that 122 prisoners when release by gitmo from the obama administration and then returned to the battlefield? you can take that first. >> obviously the president meant in totally the number that have been released -- on the battlefield that had been released from gitmo since individuals has been released. that is correct. >> my second question, is the white house concerned about the information that came out in wikileaks today that u.s. intelligence agency are potentially purposely providing vulnerabilities to tech products

here in the united states. >> i'm not going to comment on that. i don't think that has been ifly evaluate. if not, i wouldn't comment from here on that. >> i was going to ask about branding. the president in the put put his name on buildings and different products. when it comes to health care, does the white house feel like it should be known as trump care when it comes out? at what point do you think the transition should go away from obamacare into the new administration. >> as soon as it's repealed. i think that will happen quickly. as secretary price mentioned we are less concerned with labels and more concerned with actions and results. that's when our focus is is getting the cost down and the choice back that we mentioned. yeah. >> dhs is consideri separating families that are crossing the border illegally. how does the president feel like about. >> we don't get involved in that. that's a question better

addressed to dhs and i.c.e. >> on the obamacare care question, one of the criticisms on this is that there is still a de facto individual mandate because it allows insurance companies to increase premiums up to 30% if there is a gap in coverage. and i have one more. >> that's not -- i mean that's not -- i mean, the difference is under the current bill that's here, if you don't buy insurance, you pay a fine. under the current bill, you don't have -- there is nothing that mandates you to buy insurance. that's up to an individual. so i mean, by its very division it is not -- can't be considered that. what'sor second one? >> i mean, you don't think it is a defacto mandate in the sense there is a penalty in place as there is now? not by the government but by insurance companies. >> no. i think you answered your own question on that one. >> i have one more.

another topic. blaming the democrats in the senate for blocking the cabinet. last thursday the republicans actually called a recess early, adjourned early on thursday. previously called a recess the week before. does the president have any plans to call for the senate to remain in session and congress -- stay in session until they approve nominees and maybe also the repeal of obamacare? >> this isn't a republican issue. it's not republicans that are playing beat the clock on a lot of these nominees. i mean we've disssed this since the transition time. there were several nominee that frankly weren't even considered controversial by the standards of senate democratic leadership. and yet have been held up over and over again. i don't think that -- that's a very different scenario than going back and being with constituents which was on the senate schedule. i don't think that's a

synonymous thing. do we have michael med red is ready to go for our skype question? michael. >> sean, thank you very much. obviously today there was a emphasis on obamacare which is profoundly important to the american people. but it seems that too often in the last several weeks the administration has gotten distracted and media have gotten distracted by talk of wiretapping at trump tower or the president calling his predecessor a bad and sick guy, or criticizing the ratings of celebrity apprentice. do you think the white house could do a better job of focusing on the issues that really matter? the reforms that matter to the american people. rather than getting distracted in these subsidiary conflicts as we move forward into the coming months? >> thanks michael, you know, respectfully i would say we have been focused. we are here talking about obamacare and the need to drive down the cost and access for

health care for every american. i think that's a pretty significant thing to be focused on. yesterday we were talking about the president's effort to continue to keep the nation safe, to make sure the people around coming into the country who around here for peaceful purposes. the president has talked to almost 50 world leaders. he's had 30-plus executive actions on all sorts of stuff from regulatory aspects to things that will create more jobs. i think that's a fairly focused effort. that being said, i think, look, whether it was candidate trump, president-elect trumpr now president trump, the president has always made it very clear that -- not he made it clear but the voters made it clear that one of the things that they appreciate about him is his ability to be authentic and to speak forcefully and very directly with the american people. that's an aspect that i think was central to why he was elected is because he is not a canned politician that's going to give the same stayed answers

over and over again. sarah. >> going back to brent's questions, conservatives have started to call this obamacare light. president trump has promised to fully repeal obamacare, but this bill leaves a lot of structure of obamacare intact. if this is the policy that passes, is president trump confident in the future he can say that he fully repealed obamacare? >> yeah, absolutely. as i mentioned the first half of the bill that we put forward repeals it. there are three things. each phase we have talked about, face one face two and face three there is a repeal and replace aspect in each one. but republicans and conservatives have been talking about adding competition and driving costs down for decades now. selling across state lines. small business pooling. all of those things have been part of conservative plans for a long time. and i think instilling that competition in it, allowing more access -- i mean i think there is a big difference. there is no -- you know, we have for the longest time, if you are a conservative, i mean, you

think about this right now, that you have anyone who has an employer-based -- their job comes from an employer that gives them health care, they are getting a subsidy, they are getting a credit. they don't pay taxes on their health care and their employer doesn't either. that's a huge disadvantage to anyone who is a sole proprietor or owns a small business. frankly, to allow the playing field to be leveled, and allow small businesses which are frankly the job creators in this country, to allow entrepreneurs and self starters to got the same tax treatment that a fortune 500 company gets here is a very conservative principle. i think one of the things that's important sarah for all the people who have concerns especially on the right, look at the size. this is the democrats'. this is us. there is -- you can't get any clearer in terms of this is government, this is not. and i think that part of the reason the visual is important is that when you actually look at the difference, you realize

this is what big government does. it crowds out competition. it drives up prices. it stifels entrepreneur and innovation, doctors leaving the mark, more and more people not taking medicaid or tricar. that should concern people when you have got veterans that can't -- most of the time medicaid and tricare are tied together. when you have those systems not accepted by doctors, that means the lowest of our -- people on the low income scale and people who served our country have fewer and fewer choices. that alone should be a problem and concerning for many people. but the premium spikes are another problem. even if you are on the exchange you are seeing over and over again that happen. you are also seeing young people decide they would rare pay a penalty because the cost of those basic programs is out of reach for a lot of young people who just entering the job market. but, again, i think the greatest illustration of the differences in the approaches is that size. our bill, which is a tenth of the size, does repeal what their bill just did in massive

government bureaucracy. that is a big difference. jim. >> i just want to ask youings you had the health and human services secretary out here. you just talked about this is a republican bill, this is the democrat bill. is that the president's bill, his health care bill. >> that is a bill we have worked with with congress. we feel good about where it is. we are looking forward -- as i mentioned the president's meeting with if whip team to encoure them to support and it build it out. i'm not trying to be cute re i think it's not his bill or their bill. it is a bill we have worked on together. we are proud of where it stands now. the big difference jim is unlike before as i mentioned when the democrats jammed it down people's throat and said, waited to get that 60th vote with senator kennedy still around and then basically said literally you will have to wait and see what it looks look before we passed it. we not only posted it for everybody to look at, but by sending it through regular order. not just for a house vote but second up threw committee

process allows delts, republicans, independents alike to offer up amendments and suggests. the house will work as well. we will continue to give guidance and thoughts and suggestions but i think the president's core principles are what is going to guide us as we head through the hill and the house skpoo into the senate. >> one follow up on jonathan carl's question. the president made a serious allegation over the weekend. i think we would be remiss if we went through this briefing and not try to get you on camera to at least offer some evidence. where is the evidence? where is the proof that president obama bugged president trump? >> well, i answered this question yesterday on camera, on your air. just so we are clear -- i know this is now will be twice. i made it clear yesterday. >> since yesterday. since yesterday is there any new proof, any new evidence. >> it is not a question of new proof or less proof the answer is the same. there is a concern about what happened in the 2016 election. the house and senate

intelligence committee have the staff and the capabilities and the processes in place to look at this in a way that's objective and that's where it should be on. frankly if you have seen the response especially on the house side as well as the senate, they welcomed this. let's let the senate do their job, and the house -- excuse me -- intelligence committees. and then report back to the american people. >> will the president will draw the accusation? >> why would he withdraw it until it's adjudicated? that's for we are asking for them to look at this -- >> no -- for raising this accusation. >> absolutely not. he wants them to look into wiretapping, other surveillance and as i mentioned the other leaks threatening our national security. you are seeing the leaks happening over and over again that come out throughout the administration, throughout government that undermine national security. i think the appropriate thing to do is to ask the house and the senate to look into it. glen thrush. >> sean, so to follow up on the follow-up, in terms of -- you were given an opportunity on air

to say whether or not the president still supported director comey. does the president support director comey and then a quick follow up. >> i have no reason to believe he doesn't. now to the non-follow up. >> have you seen any evidence yourself? has the evidence been sheared you or other senior members of the staff as to why he made this particular accusation? >> as far as me, no, i'm not in a position that that would be regularly part of my daily duties for the president to sit down and do that. that's probably level above my pay grade. as i mentioned i think the president believes the appropriate place for in to be adjudicated is for the house and senate intelligence committees who are the clearance, the staff, the processes to go through and and report back. >> did he share it with -- >> i am not going to get -- as the president said in the statement that he issued on sunday, we are not going to have

further comment on this until until this matter is resolved. yes. >> two quick questions. just a follow up on the follow-up. does the white house feel that it's appropriate -- you say you wantt to be adjudicated by the congressional committees. >> right. >> but the president made declarative statements on twitter. >> right. >> i guess is the white house position in a the president can make declarative statements about a former president basically committing a crime, and then the congressional committee should look into that and basically prove it? >> it's not -- i take issue with -- it's not a question of prove it. i think as i said now five times to the follow-up to the follow-up. it's not a question of proven it. it's that they have the resources and the clearance and the staff to fully and thoroughly and comprehensively investigate this. and then issue a report as to what their findings are. >> but president trump's twitter

statement shouldn't be taken at face value about what -- >> should it should. of course. why -- no. as i mentioned to jim it's not that he is walking anything back or regretting, he is saying they have the appropriate venue and capabilities to review it of the margaret -- i'm sorry. >> on the obamacare replacement, you have said that it will be in phases and that you are going to need additional legislation. just to clarify, are the cost savings that you guys are projecting -- >> right. >> -- that dependent on phase three on the national competition plan? >> it's not dependent. i think in order to see it fully come to fruition yeah you have to see all parts of it. but the way that it was passed didn't allow for -- the way that it was passed is almost the same way that we are going through this now, which is they passed certain things, then the secretary of health and human services at the time was granted significant regulatory authority

that allowed her to do certain things at the time to implement pieces of obamacare that we now have to act backwards and go almost in the same steps to do what the did toay it out, we've got the repeal it, and then we've got the replace it with the plan that's going to do the same. certain things can be done in the same way. certain thing can't. it literally depends how that was done. john frederick. >> sean, in the replacement plan, it says that the states that accepted the medicare expansion money would continue to be funded. so what is the message you have to republican state legislators that thought they were fiscally responsibility in rejecting medicaid expansion in their states and now they didn't get -- they didn't get the federal dollars on either end? what is your -- >> i think what we need to do is to make sure, as the president

said in his statements, as secretary price did, we have got to make sure that we continue to protect people through this transition process, let the bill work its way -- but this is the first time as we address the medicaid portion of this, this is probably the first time that we've really he is addressed an entitlement aspect of something in almost 30 years. i think we have got to let this piece of it work its way through the house. but there is -- remember, one of the things that happened through the medicaid expansion was the goal has always been of medicaid to help people who were disabled or poor or met a specific number of criteria. for the first time in obamacare we expanded obamacare -- or the administration did, rather, to able bodied individuals in a way that had never been done before. and it was not a specific class. that's led largely to the ballooning costs. i think a lot of the reforms that will be contained in this bill will address. that but i think we have got to let it work through the process. alexis. >> i want to ask you two communications questions on two

topics. because the president gave hielf a middle grade on commicatn let me ask you about the experience that the previous administration had when obamacare was going through its own phases. the president -- president obama said that the opposition that the opposition to the legislation was able to seize the opportunity while it was being legislated to create public perceptions about what was in the legislation. my question is on aca, what is the president going to do to improve his communications to be out there explaining what is in the bill, to work with lawmakers? that's the first question and then i'll ask you the next one. >> thank you. on the first one, as i mentioned, he is continuing -- he has had and continues to have significant outreach to members of congress. he has talked to health insurers. we have read out a lot of the activities in the last couple of weeks in literally just within an hour he is going to sit down with the house deputy whip team to talk about the legislative piece of this in the house.

so this is going to be a very aggressive laser like focus this administration over the next, you know, month or two to get this thing through the house and then moved over to the senate. but there is a big difference, aelectionis. what we are doing is vastly different. they were expanding government, promising people something. and i think what has happened is there was a lot of -- there was a lot of difference with how they approached the topic of right now the american people, no matter where you are, you understand the state of our health care, the cost that you are seeing and the lack of choice that you are now presented with. in many cases you realized it when you were going to see the doctor or loved ones going to see the doctor that they are not getting -- not able to get in, either not taking the medicare or the exchange insurance they got, the costs are going out of control. i moon one of the things that dr. price mentioned that is so apropos is having a card doesn't mean you have rns zhao. it's likend thatting somebody a

blank chec i didn't mean you have money. it means youe a check of i think what we've seen over the last few years with obamacare is you can have an insurance card but that doesn't mean someone is going to take it and sure doesn't mean it's going to be affordable. there is a big difference between having card and having health care that's afford lk. and that's the difference that we are trying to solve right now. i think -- so when it comes to communication i think one of the things that is really helpful is part of the sell is done for us. the american people understand the state of their health care. they understand how much they are paying for it. they have gone to see a doctor oregon to a hospital or had a notice from their carrier saying we are no longer part of this. or their employer says, hey, whatever your particular carrier is is no longer available, we are switching you into this. for so many americans, health care is a very, very real part of their daily experience because they are caring for themselves or dealing with an an men or dealing with children or a loved one or someone else in their family where they are seeing firsthand the devastation

and the disaster that obamacare has caused them in their personal life. so i think there is a welcoming of this effort. and i think it is a lot easier for us to go in -- because we don't have to explain the problem. people are living it. i think for them to understand, what we are giving you is more choice, greater competition, we're incentivizing more people to be part of the process and we are going for driving down costs and roomiums. you had a second. >> my second question on communications had to do with the president's assertion with the wiretapping. >> yeah. >> because the white house wants this now to be handled by the legislative branch and in confidence and in classification can we count on the president to himself while this investigation is going on to cease and desist using twitter or any other public venue to make accusations that are in public but he will not respond to in public? >> with respect to this particular situation, i'll ask that, and i'l get back to you on th. john gizzi.

>> thank you, sean. >> just getting back to the question of if one likes his or her health care they can keep it. in 2013 congressman fred upton then chairman of the house -- committee offered legislation that put precisely those words into law. and it received the, et cetera votes of every republican member of the house and between 40 and 50 democrats, and then it died in the senate. would the administration support a revival of the upton amendment? in other words putting the right to keep one's health care plan and doctor, if he or she liked it today? >> i mean, i think that's the goal. i don't want to start talking about what we are going to -- as we go through the process -- we have now put our stamp on this and sent it to the house. it will work its will as amendments come up through regular order our team will weigh in on those with our staff. the president is meeting with whip team today. i don't want to start saying we are going to support this or

that amendment now. generally speaking obviously the goal is to make sure people get a plan that they like that's affordable that meets what they need to have met, they shouldn't have to have a one size fits all government instilled health care system that doesn't offer any choice or frankly isn't tailored to the needs that they have. i think that's an important thing. john. >> sean, right now you are two votes short of passing repeal and replace in the senate because you have got four republican senators who are saying they can't support the bill because of rolling back the medicaid expansion. what do you say to those senators who are concerned people will lose coverage it doesn't provide enough stability to people who rely on medicaid for their health care? >> two thing. we are at day one of the we are going to go through the house first. so we have got a little bit of time. i think as we go through that process these senators, and not just the additional two, but i think and hope that we'll get additional ones that recognize thou those people, you know, as i have said over and over again

here, if we do nothing, they are going to be in a very, very worse scenario than they are now. for and more people -- if you are on medicaid, which serves so many low income americans, they -- as i mentioned they have a card. and that card does not allow them to go to doctor after doctor. they are saying we are not going to take medicaid or tricare anymore. i would ask those senators what what are you going to help us work on a bill that will get them insured again. for too many americans they have got a card but they don't have insurance. i think that's a big distinction to may be. they are the ones who have the problem right now. they have got a medicaid card and nowhere to go. what we need to do is make sure that low incom americans, veterans, small business owners, individuals who desperately need health care have options and affordable. >> sean -- sean -- >> one other piece of this. you can bring down the cost of the insurance itself through new

efficiencies in the system, selling across state lines but the biggest driver of the increase in health insurance cost is the skyrocketing cost of medicine. >> right. >> what in this overall plan do you propose to do to either cap the rise or even bring it down? >> right. i think you -- the secretary mentioned this, but the cost of prescription drugs -- >> that's one small component. >> no. it's not it's a big fact for a. >> when you are paying $50,000 out of pocket to get a accident -- -- >> drugs is one part of it. but -- >> fair enough. when you talk about procedures or drugs the biggest thing that's missing in this equation is competition. we are down to one plan in many place. there is nothing for these places to compete. >> there is plenty of competition between hospitals. >> that's fine but if they know they are going to got the same reimbursement rate. if they know there is only a

limited number of plans. right now there is a lack of competition in the industry. i get it may be one part of that but you are right that all over medicine, procedures and such -- there is a reason he met with drug executives and talked about getting those cost down. there is a multifaceted approach at how do we instill competition, how do we drive down costs. but you are right we have got to do more to get the cost of that down, of the procedures, to allow different options. everything that -- it's the same way, again, think about your insurance. right? one of the things that was driving up costs in the past was people were exercising the option of going to the emergency room over and over again for their primary care. what happened is that you saw all of these, quote, unquote, clinics pop up from around and insurance carriers actually made it cheaper in terms of copays to go see that than an emergency room, driving people to somewhere that didn't continue to drive up costs clog up -- that competition alone saved

plans money and helped keep costs down. we have got to instill more competition in medicine, jennifer. >> can you give us an update on the effort to roll back regulations. regulatory reform task force identified any to be rolled back and repealed? >> i think they have had their work cut out for them. they started -- as the president has met with different industries and companies, corporations, associations, that is a constant subject of discussion, which is those regulatory aspects of our economy that are keeping companies from growing and expanding and hiring. and so i know that the domestic policy team and others have been working on that. and if i can get further updates on specific legislation, or -- excuse me specific regulatory action i'll get back to you. halle? >> two topics for you. one is just with us i'm trying to get clarity on something my colleagues have tried to follow up on as well. you said the president stands by

his tweets saturday morning that president obama ordered this wiretap. you have also said that the administration wants congress -- let me be clear. you said found out this information. you said he wants congress to investigate. some of the members of congress asked him to come forward with that information. why would he want congress to investigate something he already has. you talk about resources and time, why waste it? >> it is not a question of waste, it is a question of appropriateness. >> if the president is sitting on this information that he found out, he is n directing or asking or recomnding that the intelligence communities look into this. they have resources and staff, but why extend that's resources and staff if this is something the president has. >> i think there is a difference between directing the deputy of justice which may be involved in an ongoing investigation and asking congress as a separate body to look intoing?

and add credibility to the look. adds an element that wouldn't necessarily be there. if we were directing the department of justice for example, for example. again i think we have made it clear how he wants this done and where we go from there. >> second question, millions of americans are working on their tax returns right now. will the president commit to releasing his tax returns for this year? is he still under audit for his past returns? >> my understanding is still under audit and i'll full up on the question. >> how do you understand what we have seen on the growing number of cases at the canadian border of canadians born and raised in canada with valid passport being stopped at the border and being told just to go back. they won't let them come in in the u.s. >> i'm not aware of that. i think that should be addressed to the department of homeland security. >> do you think it is a misunderstanding of the messages sent for immigration. >> i don't know. that's a good question.

probably best directed to dr. swan, the secretary of the homeland security. >> is the white house going to keep its promise to withdraw from the paris climate agreement? and our understanding is there are some divisions of opinion. rex tillerson wants to stay in. steve bannon wants to get out. what's going on? will you keep the promise? if not, why not. >> i think that's something i will be glad to follow up with you and everyone. i don't have anything on that that i am aware of. i'll get back you top. mike? >> i have an unrelated question but i have an reted question and i also want to follow up on something alexis had asked. she calked with the communications strategy. will the president sell this bill? will he speak to the public about it? will he answer questions about it? >> that's a good question. i think we are going to have a comprehensive strategy. men's from now the president is going to engage with members of the house whip team to talk to them. i understand that. but -- i no, and i understand that.

this is step one, mike. there is a lot of time as i mentioned we expect to be dealing with this for the next several week. there will be plenty of opportunities for the president to engage with the public and speak about that. it's going to be a comprehensive plan we will discuss. we have had i can't tell you how many administration folks, members of congress flooding the broadcast and radio air waves today, both nationally and in local markets. we were very, very active throughout the country getting out the word on what we're doing and why we're doing it, from national broadcast shows to cable, to radio. we had a very, very aggressive start to this effort. we are working with the house in particular. we are continuing to start really engaging with the senate. but this is going to be a comprehensive effort working with the house and the senate to get this thing done, and other partners, doctors, and outside groups that share this concern. as i mentioned earlier, one of other folks that there is a -- you know, there is a need by

companies and corporations who are feeling the weight of additional costs to join us in this effort. and i just want to -- you know, this is obviously something that needs to get dealt with. the escalating costs are having a significant impact not just on our economy but on the ability of people to get hired. or frankly, people who are hired lose their job because the cost of health care is not allowing, especially people in the small and medium sized businesses to coop up with those costs. with that, thank you guys very much. i look forward to seeing you -- >> sean. >> congressman meeting with the president. >> ascertaining i had that unrelated question. >> i am a sorry. that's not fair. mike gets his unrelated question. >> will the trump administration continue the obama administration's practice of releasing publicly -- >> we are currently evaluating our procedures in that. and when we have an announcement i'll let you know. april i will have a read out on our schedule for tomorrow. >> meeting tomorrow with the president --

>> once it's confirmed i will let you know officers and then everybody else. thank you guys, have a great day. >> sean spicer give his first on camera briefing in about a week. i'm katy tur here in new york. it is 2:54 on east coast. much of that briefing was dwoelted to the affordable care act and the bill that the house gop has offered to replace it. their version, called the american health care act. we are also getting the first briefing from the state department being done by mark toner, not by rex tillerson, the secretary of state. and governor mike -- or vice president mike pence talking to members of the republican party on the hill today about this health care bill. joining me is kasie hunt, harold ford jr., alley very well shy, joe walsh, to give a lightning round to talk about what we just saw in that briefing.

also notable, that he, sean spicer was asked repeatedly about donald trump's claims that president obama was wiretapping him and trump tower during the campaign. so joe walsh, i want to go directly to you. halle jackson had perhaps the best question of that whole briefing if you ask moo. she asked, if donald trump the president has the evidence that president obama retapped him during the election, why would he not just give it to congress instead of forcing them to investigate to find out what he says he already knows? >> katie, it makes no sense. trump comes out saturday and screams to the world that obama did it. and then all of trump's people ever since are saying we are not going to talk about it until we find out if obama did it. i mean, that's crazy. and katy, think about this, if donald trump was told by somebody like a james comey or somebody that obama did order the wiretapping, he never would have sent out a tweet like that.

i mean you and i know that. so they have handled this backwards. he made a mistake. >> kasie hunt, you are on capitol hill. you just spoke to vice president mike pence. what is he doing there right now? >> we are still talking about health care up here katy, that bill that republicans unveiled, the american health care act, which sounds a lot on the tongue like the affordable care act al though maybe it's just me. but it's running into some trouble here for the reason that a lot of people are seeing -- conservatives are seeing element what have they say is the affordable care act in the framework that republicans have unveiled. you have people calling itbook light. heritage action says it doesn't repeal obamacare straight up. i talked to the vice president briefly about that. specifically about conserve tis, because frankly he was one of them in the house for a long time. and it's likely he would have been on their side of their argument or certainly possible anyway were he still a he member of the house. he said look it's still very

early in the legislative process we still have back and forth to do but at the end of the day it is the right framework for republicans. it strikes me this bill has already had a difficult first 24 hours of life between conservaves onhe houseide saying it's not conservative enough and moderates saying we are not comfortable with it. it is a possible death grip. >> the aca, the affordable care act and the american health care act. >> the losers are the young, the sick -- the losers are the sick, the elderly why and poor. fundamentally this gives more advantages to the wealthy people the struggle that the conservatives are going to have with this you have to get a lot of people into the pool who insure those who are sick. no one has been able to square that circles. you don't want to force people into insurance but unless you have a lot of people wanting to buy insurance this kind of

system doesn't work. >> you made the point that the affordable care act is very big and the new one is very small. >> the old one is 2,000 pages. and the new one issest 100. it is the new one makes references to the old one. it is a silly comparison. >> halle jackson, as i said you had the best question of the whole briefing. run it through with me. >> katy, i didn't hear you. a couple of questions that i asked sean spicer, one related to the issue the administration keeps talking about, that they would like to see the house and senate intel intelligence committees investigate any accusations of wiretapping, the accusations that president trump leveled against former president obama saturday morning. after saying he had just found out information that this had happened. the question posed to press secretary sean spicer on if the president has this information which he indicated he did in that tweet saturday morning and

if the administration was standing by that tweet which sean spicer said the president is, then why could congress then need to investigate if this information already exists? the press secretary talked a little bit about the issu i have to listen to the vshage again, the transcript, but he talked about credibility and the idea there is a separation of powers as well. we also talked a little bit about the idea that hey we are in tax season, tax day is just over month away. will the president release his returns from this most recent year? the president secretary said he would got back to us. and then is the president still under audit for past returns? the press secretary confirming he indeed is. >> a separation of powers, and they don't want to be perceived as directing congress to investigate in a certain way. harold ford is this going to dog them much longer? >> it will. the question by halle and the other young lady spelled i out. i think the health care the governors will be the ar about iters, where the r