thank you for watching this hour of msnbc live. you can find me any time on social media @chris jansing. now, ali velvelshi. >> quite a speech at nato. have a great rest of your day, chris. backlash after the republican candidate in a montana special election is accused of attacking a reporter hours before voters head to the polls. the question is whether this is going to have any effect on the race. plus, more revelations in the russia investigation here at home. how the controversy is overshadowing the president's trip abroad. british leaders reportedly furious at the united states for alleged leaks in the manchester terror investigation. what uk's prime minister is expected to tell the president when the two meet later today at the all-important nato summit in

brussels. morning, everybody. i'm ali velshi in our headquarters in new york. let's begin with the fallout from what turned out to be a violent night in politics in montana that grabbed nationwide attention. voters are at the polls in a special election to fill the state's open seat. they are being barraged by news that the republican candidate allegedly body slammed a reporter. here's what we know. guardian journalist ben jacobs said he was trying to ask a question during an event in bozeman when he was grabbed. the alleged assault was caught on tape. here's the audio. >> cause you know you were waiting to make your decision about health care until you saw the bill and it just came out. >> we'll talk about that later. >> yeah, but there's not going to be time. i was just curious. >> i'm sick and oo tired of you guys. the last guy that came here, you did the same thing. get the hell out of here.

get the hell out of here. the last guy did the same thing. are you with the guardian? >> yes and you just broke my glasses. >> the last guy did the same damn thing. >> you body slammed me and broke my glasses. >> get the hell out of here. >> you'd like me to get the hell out of here, and i'd also like to call the police. can i get your guys' names? >> hey, you gotta leave. >> he just body slammed me. >> you have to leave. >> wow. this morning, fox news correspondent who says she witnessed the incident is backing up that reporter's account. >> i, myself,as standg about two feet from gianforte and jacobs when this happened. there was a table in between us, but i saw the whole thing. when gianforte grabbed him by the neck, slid him to the side, body slammed him and got on top of him, started punching and yelling at him. >> that really happened. now, several newspapers are pulling their endorsements. democrats are seizing the opportunity to try to sway

voters. nbc is in bozeman with the latest developments. garrett, gianforte has been sited with dismirren assaumisde. what is he saying about this. >> ben jacobs did call the police after that incident. he and gianforte and the independent witnesses from fox news were interviewed by the sheri sheriff's department here. sounds like gianforte's legal problems will end with the citation for misdemeanor assault in this case. the sheriff said the events don't meet what would be a felony assault case. talking about a fine, court appearance and possibly, possibly some jail time later. that'd be much further down the line. the political fallout is much worse for gianforte. right now, his campaign is standing by what's been their only comment on this really all together since last night. a statement they put out, which i'll read in a second. you'll notice other than the very beginning, bears little resemblance to the stories that were told by jacobs and the fox news reporter. the statement from the gianforte

campaign reads, tonight as greg was giving a separate interview in a private office, ben jacobs aggressively shoved a recorder in his face and asked badgering questions. he grabbed the wrist, spinning away from greg, pushing them both to the ground. it is unfortunate this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer bbq. the campaign is standing by this. they cancelled a number of interviews today, including with chuck todd scheduled for later today. i talked to a republican consultant last night who told me, look, cynically, they don't have a lot of other options. apologizing here doesn't do him any good. by sort of sticking by this and blaming the reporter, mayb just maybe, they can begin incr turnout today. >> not just that, many of the votes have already been cast. >> that's true. a lot of absentee votes come in

early here in montana. a lot of votes by mail. it is a big state. maybe as many as 60% to 70% of the votes have already been cast. i don't know if you can tell around me here, it was raining here. snowing earlier this morning. bad weather might keep people away from the polls today. republicans have been all in, ali, to protect this seat. gianforte was considered a weak candidate before this. he lost the governor's race last fall by about ten points while donald trump was winning the state by 20. they've been spending millions of dollars to prop him up, with visits from donald trump jr., mike pence. actually, donald trump recorded a robocall that came out just yesterday here. >> vote for my friend, republican greg gianforte, for congress. he's a wonderful guy, he knows how to win, he's going to win for you and i'll tell you what, the people of montana are going to be happy. >> all right. ali, republicans are just going to hold on tight here tonight, it looks like, and hope for the best. >> garrett, good to talk to you.

we'll cover this with you in boseman for the rest of the day. garrett in boseman, montana. for more on this, i want to bring in our national political correspondent steve kornacki. we have the entire day for voters to head to the polls, but as garrett was saying, many votes have already been cast. what do you think happens now? >> that is the big wild card in this. the 11th hour surprise in politics. not really what it used to be in the age of early voting. these are the headlines folks in montana are waking up to today on election day. as garrett mentioned, a month ago, they mailed out more than 350,000 ballots to voters in montana. you can have the ballot automatically sent to you for every election. yesterday at the close of business, 259,000 had already been returned. that was before any of this came out in the news. typically, 80% to 90% they send out get returned.

what does that mean? you can expect about 300,000 votes by mail will ultimately be received. a lot of them were probably in the mail yesterday and today. 300,000 votes basically all of them cast before this news broke. what does that mean in the scheme of things? you can see the early vote, that 300,000, takes up a bigger and bigger share of all votes cast in every election. two of every three votes in montana last year were cast by mail. if that holds, two-thirds of the race has already been cast. if you're a democrat saying we hope this gives a last-minute boost, what are you hoping for? two things. number one, montana is a same-day registration state. you're not registered to vote, you can go to the polling place, register to vote and vote in today's election. secondly, if you got one of the mail-in ballots and it was sent to your house and you haven't filled it out, you can fill it out today if this news inspired you to. you'd have to bring it down to the polling station. it has to be there by 8:00 p.m.

tonight. you can't stick it in the mail today. wouldn't get there in time. those are the two wild kafrcard where democrats hope it'll help them at the end. >> i think what you said in the beginning is interesting. 11th hour surprise is just not what it used to be in politics. may be too late for that surprise. steve, great to see yo thanks very much. nbc's steve kornacki. the democratic congressional campaign committee is releasing a last-minute ad, going after gianforte, using the audio from the altercation as the back drop. >> you broke my glasses. >> get the hell out of here. >> jesus. >> get the hell out of here. >> nbc's mike is on capitol hill where republicans are speaking out about the incident. what are they saying? >> most of them are disapproving, ali, and it is an unfortunate event for them, both in terms of the substance and the incident that happened and politically, there is no question about i.t.

i spoke with members coming out of a closed door meeting of all republicans down in the basement of the capitol. most of them expressed disapproval and concern over what had happened. ali, there is always that undercurrent of resentment that many republicans harbor for the media. today, it's bubbling closer to the surface. representative duncan hunter of california, quoted by the associated press coming out of the meeting, said it is not appropriate behavior unless the reporter deserved it. >> whoa. >> down in the basement, we spoke with other members, as well. >> we didn't have body slamming when i went to school. i missed that course. >> i believe we should all treat the press with respect. >> the left has precipitated this tense, confrontational approach throughout the country in recent months. >> we've already talked a little about the political ramificati n ramifications, ali. they are concerned. before this incident happened, a

tidal wave may be rolling toward them. republicans coming in the 2018 midterms. we talked to charlie dent, the vulnerable republican from the counties around philadelphia. he is down playing this incident and the prospect of a gianforte loss. he said special elections are not indicative of how things will go in a year and a half. however, democrats are taking heart that their political prospects are certainly improving by the day. ali? >> mike, capitol hill, we'll check in later. thanks very much. president trump is in brussels for his first meeting with nato meetings. the 28 member nations are gathering for a meeting of ice and is a u.s. plan for the alliance to take a bigger role in the fight against global terrorism. this past hour, president trump and german chancellor angela merkel spoke at a ceremony outside of nato's new building for the memorial of article 5. an attack on one member is an attack on all members. the only time article 5 has been

invoked was during the 9/11 attacks. at the ceremony, a piece of the world trade center and a piece of the berlin wall were unveiled. the president was expected to publicly commit to article 5, reversing remarks he made on the campaign trail that nato was, quote, obsolete. but he did not do that. instead, he focused on nato spending, and he scolded the other members. >> i have been very, very direct with the secretary and members o ft allian -- of the alliance in saying nato members must finally contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations. >> in brussels, president trump is also holding several bilateral meetings with european leaders, including british prime minister theresa may. this as the uk reportedly could suspend intelligence sharing with the united states after information about the manchester attack was allegedly leaked

through u.s. officials. >> i will be making clear to president trump today that intelligence that is shared between law enforcement agencies must remain secure. >> for more on this, kelly o'donnell is in brussels. i don't know what you thought we'd talk about, kelly, but i was listening to that speech with a little surprise, after the warm reception in saudi arabia. the warm reception in israel. i thought we were seeing nice president trump. he got to nato, and the chiding and the scolding came back. >> well, this is donald trump trying to put pressure on the members of the nato alliance. 23 out of 28 countries that do not keep to the pledge of 2% of their gross domestic product for e shared defense. soe definitely saw a tough tone from president trump. those who had expected he'd make a much more explicit endorsement of article 5, you laid out what that is, attack on one is an

attack on all, he did not do that. senior white house officials tell us team here that his mere presence is an endorsement of article 5. to say something more would have been redundant. i think others might interpret that differently, that there were other leaders looking for that kind of exples sicit suppo for nato. instead, we saw the president talking about the financial pressure that's put on american taxpayers by countries that do not pay their fair share as he sees it. also commenting on the spectacular new building that is the new nato headquarters, saying, i won't ask what it cost. that is president trump. of course, the builder as well as the president wanting to know about the cost of this elaborate new headquarters. i think one of the things that stands out today is a theme from the president's criticism of leaks in the united states came out very dramatically with the british prime minister, theresa may here, who has spoken a number of times just today about her concerns about shared intelligence from the uk services with american law

enforcement. so the white house has given us this statement in the president's name. it goes on to say this, the alleged leaks coming out of government agencies are deeply troubling. these leaks have been going on for a long time and my administration will get to the bottom of this. that gives you a sense of it. i'm going to pause and toss it back to you because the ceremony is going on. >> kelly, we'll keep an eye on that over your shoulder. thank you. kelly o'donnell live from brussels. i want to bring in republican congressman chris stewart of utah. former air force pilot. thank you for being with us. >> good to be with you. >> we heard president trump's evolution on nato. he called it obsolete when he was a candidate. then he declared it no longer obsolete last month. i guess everybody was hoping to sort of, you know, put a bow on that today, saying if anybody attacks a nato country, we're there. he didn't quite go that distance. what do you make of it? >> well, i think all of us agree

nato is one of the most important alliances we've had over the last two generations al. i've flown with them, exercised with them and know how important they are. i've been frustrated over the last few years when they haven't met their financial commitments. they just for too long have relied on the america's security umbrella. i think they can do more. i think they recognize they can do more. most have committed that they will. i'm actually pleased that the president is putting pressure on them to do that. >> right. i guess though, congress, for instance, generally speaking, when the other side doesn't agree with you, you don't take your marbles and go home. we have seen that happen a couple times. the issue here is, i think you can say that you stand for article 5 and the mutual defense of all nato countries and continue to tell the others to pay their bills. >> yeah. i think that's exactly right. again, most of them recognize that they can and should do more. >> yeah. >> the president has been very public about that. there's examples in the campaign rhetoric that's probably a little overstated.

but many of us in congress, once again, have been having this conversation with our nato friends and allies for a couple years now. pressuring them to do that, i think, is helpful. >> let me ask you about what kelly o'donnell said to us about british prime minister theresa may saying this morning she's going to confront president trump over u.s. officials leaking information of the manchester terror attack. we're hearing reports about how some officials in the uk have already stopped sharing intelligence with the united states. this is now the second ally we've upset over intel sharing. the first one reportedly being israel when president trump shared intelligence with russian officials in the oval office. what do you make of this? >> look, almost every day, i talk to the media about leaks. this has been going on and it is disgusting. whether about the russia investigation, the trump administration, whether about intelligence that's shared with us. some of these people have to be held accountable. my heavens. some of this stuff is, frankly, criminal, and yet we see none of them being prosecuted. it is very frustrating for those of us who worked in the

intelligence community. our national security, who has seen these activities. the president, i think, has got a problem and, frankly, the administration generally and the intelligence community generally has got a problem with people who don't honor their security agreements and that sacred honor. we have to keep this stuff private and secure. it is something i think we have to address. >> congressman, good to talk to you. thank you for joining us today. >> good to be with you. thank you. >> congressman from utah. for more on the president's meetings in brussels, i'm joined by the former u.s. ambassador to nato and now the president of the non-partisan chicago counsel on global affairs. thanks for being with us. >> my pleasure. >> president trump used this speech to tell nato members they needed to contribute more money to the alliance. in an op-ed in the financial times, you've written more spending will provide for greater capabilities and the security situation demands an

increase in spending by all the allies. but such spending is meaningless unless tied to a clear sense of what nato is for. where are you going with that? what is nato for? >> nato is a collective defense organization in which, under article 5 of the nato treaty, that all 28 members have signed, including the united states, an attack against one is regard as an attack against all and commits everyone to come to the aid of thatountry orhose countries that are attacked. it is a fundamental commitment that every president from harry truman until barack obama has reaffirmed, has said is unbreakable, that the commitment is unwavering. given the campaign and what had happened during the campaign, in which donald trump called the alliance obsolete, the leaders of nato were standing there at nato headquarters hoping to hear those words of reaffirmation. it didn't happen. >> it didn't happen. let me -- >> that was a problem. >> ironically, the only time

article 5 has been invoked is when -- during 9/11. the united states has been the only one to have to need it. but in theory, given the world in which we live, our european allies in nato are more likely to need to call upon nato for mutual defense. why are they hesitant to pay their full share? >> well, the threat they perceive is pretty recent, in the sense that russia had declined as a military power after the end of the cold war. there was less of a fear about security. after the russian invasion of ukraine and its annexation of crimea, nato came together in a summit in 2014 and for the first time committed at the level of heads of state and government to spend 2% of gdp on defense. to do so for those countries who weren't doing so within a decade. you can't turn defense spending on on the dime. you have to do this in a more

gradual way. it probably can go faster than just in the decade that was decided then. that is something that president trump and, indeed, every president since harry truman has urged the allies to do. but in the end, just spending money without also knowing what it is that you're trying to do, and recognizing, for example, the very real sacrifices europeans have made in the fight against terrorism, in afghanistan, is important. it's important to recognize the solidarity and that we stand together as an alliance rather than just lecturing them and forgetting to reaffirm that fundamental commitment. >> former president obama was in europe. he spoke with german chancellor angela merkel. here's what he said. >> in this new world that we live in, we can't isolate ourselves. we can't hide behind a wall. >> president trump, of course, is talking about building actual walls. how are nato leaders -- we saw their expression when president

trump made that comment about everybody paying their fair share. how are they dealing with the culture shock that's come with this u.s. administration change? >> well, i mean, this is not the first time that an american leader has come to nato headquarters and told them to pay. >> for sure. >> i spent four years at the nato table there banging on the knee to pay more in defense. what i think they were surprised about is not the lecture on defense spending. they've heard it before. what they were surprised about is the fact that russia was barely mentioned. this was all about terrorism. that he was lecturing them not only about dealing with terrorism and spending but on immigration, where there are deep divisions within the alliance. and on the core issue, whether or not we stand shoulder to shoulder when it comes to our collective defense, the united states will be there, on that, he was silent. i think it is the combination of the absence on the one hand of the reaffirmation of the core of the alliance and the u.s. commitment to it, with the kind

of lecture he presented, that i think is going to leave many of these leaders deeply unsatisfied. >> good to talk to you. thank you so much. former u.s. ambassador to nato and now with the chicago council on global affairs. up next, the new reaction to the cbo score on the revised republican health care bill that would leave millions without coverage. we'll dig into the hard numbers. we're waiting for paul ryan to speak live. he is expected to address that cbo score and the situation in montana. we'll bring you those remarks live when they happen. my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollarsach year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet?

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time for our fact checking segment for fact's sake. on the new cbo score related to the new house health care bill, the house passed plan could see a rewrite in the senate after tough analysis by the non-partisan krocongressional budget office, which is headed by a republican at the moment. the number of uninsured versus had we stayed with affordable care act, 2018, 14 million more will be uninsured. 2020, 19 million more people will be uninsured. out to 2026, 23 million more people will be uninsured versus what would be the case under obamacare. 2026, under obamacare, there'd be 28 million americans uninsured. under the american health care act, or trumpcare, 51 million people will be uninsured by 2026. this is where the rubber hits the road.

let's talk about premiums. this is a little tricky. under -- compared to what the premiums would be doing under obamacare, by 2018, trumpcare preem plum premiums will be 20% higher. 2019, 5% higher. 2026, 4% to 20% lower than under aca. don't let anyone tell you premiums are going down. they're never going down. this is just going to be a lower increase by 2026. what i want to show you is how these premiums have been increasing. we were projected by 2026 to see 5.5% increases per year under obamacare. under this, the increases per year are going to be 4.4% to 5.3%. when i say it's lower, they're still actually going up. one quick thing, medicaid changes. so many americans get their health care through medicaid. there's going to be $834 billion

in less direct spending to medicare. 14 million fewer enroh llles. these are the poor and indigent. joining me now is austin, a professor at the university of chicago and the former chairman of the council of economic advisers in president obama's administration. >> thanks for having me. >> people right now who have insurance would lose it. the justification i've been hearing is that because they're not forced to buy insurance by obamacare, people will have the freedom to not buy something ey don't want tobuy. what do you make of that? >> first of all, i think the summary statement of this cbo score is, this thing was a blood bash for that bill. you can see perfectly well why they wanted to pass the bill before they saw this score. i do not think that anyone would have knowingly voted for that bill, or at least a lot of

people would not have voted for the bill, had they known this is what was going to happen. i think the argument that you're going to have 23 million people choose not to have health insurance when the prices go up, that they're going to have to pay, when a bunch of people with preexisting conditions are going to find, like in the old days, that their insurance company cuts them off, is somewhat of a joke. while there might be some 26-year-old who chooses not to buy it, the core reason why people are choosing not to buy insurance under this new plan is that it is way too expensive because they've messed up the system. >> all right. one of the reasons i wanted to talk to you about this, you're not particularly a health care expert but a money expert. you understand the economics and you were there when this was being built. republicans constantly say if they don't do anything, obamacare is collapsing under its own weight. just yesterday, blue cross blue shield of kansas says it is

pulling out of individual exchanges in missouri and kansas. through 2016, the ceo said we've lost more than $100 million and it is unsustainable for our company. an official at the kaiser family foundation tweeted that blue cross blue shield of kansas is the only exchange insurer in much of western missouri. it could leave 25 counties without coverage. what is the argument to republicans who say, look, it is falling apart? >> well, certainly if you light something on fire, it gets hot. what they're doing in many of the states is actively discouraging people from signing up and then saying, look, no one is signing up. so the exchange is falling apart. donald trump is making that even worse by trying to add considerable uncertainty to the insurance companies and threatening that they're going to cut off the subsidies, cut off the fundg, and they're going to do things that undermine the foundation of the system. now, in all the markets, we want

more entry, not less. for sure, there are some markets where there are problems. there are others where there are not really big problems. and the system is working. but to make the argument that there are problems with obamacare, therefore, let's light it on fire and let's replace it with something that's going to be dramatically worse doesn't make any logical sense. >> austin, we're going to toss it over to paul ryan. good to talk to you. thank you for being with us. here's paul ryan talking about cbo and the budget. >> it is staggering to consider the different forms that child exploitation can take. it could be a coach or someone close to you. or it could be a total stranger on social media acting alone as part of a global operation. together, republicans and democrats are taking action to protect the most vulnerable and punish those who abuse them. with these initiatives, we will go after child sex offenders,

and we will make sure that survivors have the highest protection under the law. second, ahead of memorial day, we are tackling bipartisan challenges. we're taking bipartisan action to help our veterans and their families. it is especially good news we are making progress on fixing the long-standing problems with the va claims backlog. so many of us in congress have been working on this for so many years, dealing with our own constituents and their problems. veterans have bills to pay. they have families to support. the last thing they should deal with is endless bureaucracy. unfortunately, that's what's gone on with the va with this claims backlog. so if you've been involved in congress working on these caseworkers, it is just heart wrenching to see a veteran who needs health care get stuck in this claims backlog. the initiative that the house passed this week with bipartisan, unanimous support, will expedite the process so

veterans can have peace of mind and we can get rid of the claims backlog. lastly, i want to talk about a health care report. it is from the department of health and human services. the department of health and human services released an analysis that says that since obamacare went into effect, average premiums have more than doubled nationwide. since obamacare went into effect, average health care premiums have doubled nationwide. remember, remember when president obama promised that his health care plan would lower the typical family's premiums by up to $2500? under obamacare, average premiums have gone up by nearly $3,000. this law did not drop people yuyum -- premiums by $2500, they've gone up by nearly $3,000. just yesterday, a new shoe drops every week on obamacare it

seems. just yesterday, blue cross and blue shield announced it will pull out of 32 counties in kansas and missouri. this will affect 67,000 people. citing all the losses it's taken over 2016, the company said, and i quote, this is unsustainable. this is exactly why we are on a rescue mission. between premiums surging up and choices going away, obamacare is on an unsustainable path. look, the blue cross blue shield plans are the non-profits. they're typically the last standing in a market. when they're pulling out of states like kansas and missouri, we have a problem on our hands. this law is in the middle of a collapse. we need to bring down the cost of coverage. we need to revitalize the market so that people have real choices and real access to affordable health care. that's what our plan will do. so we're happy to get you a copy of the report if you need it. if you want, hhs.gov to see it for yourself.

questions? >> [ inaudible ]? >> first, let me just say, physical altercations, there's never a call for physical altercations. there is no time where a physical altercation should occur with the press or between human beings. so that is wrong and it should not have happened. should the gentleman apologize? yeah, i think he should apologize. i know he has his own version, and i'm sure he's going to have more to say, but there's no call for this, no matter what, under any circumstance. the people of the state of montana are going to decide today who they will send to congress. >> if he wins, will you see him? >> if he wins, he's been chosen by the people of montana, who their congressman is going to be. i'll let them decide who they want as their representative. that's not our choice. it is the people of montana who choose that.

chad? or jake. jake then chad. >> you have a choice whether he is part of your conference. you'll make a choice, whether or not to accept him. is this the -- >> the choice we made -- i do not think this is acceptable behavior. the choice is made by the people of montana. >> explain something to me. so you haven't sent the health care report to the senate. got the cbo report. you said it was good news. why are rank and file republicans basically beating the living tar out of the cbo? you are the budget committee chair. i understand the issue. >> by the way, i've seen both parties beat the living tar out of can cbo for years. i've been doing budgeting around here a long time. i think what it is, the 23 million claim, there's more than what that sounds like. what i'm encouraged by is the fact that cbo said we hit our budget target and then some.

the bill is in compliance with reconciliation instructions. what i'm encouraged is what the cbo says is we'll be able to drop premiums. we can give the states like wisconsin the plflexibility to t pri proceed y premiums down. a study came out yesterday from hhs saying premiums have doubled in america because of obamacare. people can't afford this. so what cbo just told us is the reforms we put in this bill will help lower premiums. so i'm very encouraged by that. i think what members are frustrated with is what's behind the cbo analysis, about who gets insured and who doesn't get insured. if you leave it up to a person's choice, they'll make a choice. if the government is going to stop people from buying something they don't want to buy, they won't buy it. that's basically what cbo is saying. i thinkclarity on

that has people frustrated. >> why do people -- >> but the deficit reduction part is important. your side embraced that. when it came to 23 million, they said, no, it was -- >> i just explained it. >> following up on the cbo report, it did find that preel y -- premiums on average would go down, but in the markets that employed the waivers, they believed there might not be any access for the group -- >> let me explain what this means. >> it would go up for older and sicker people, as well. >> if a state takes a waiver, then a state, in order to get the waiver, has to have a risk system in place. we have experience with this where i come from. we had a risk pool. maine had great experiences. they had risk sharing. a state has to have a risk system in place. that risk system is specifically designed to make sure people with a catastrophic illness,

somebody with a preexisting condition, also gets affordable health care. what we have learned through experience is if we target resources at the state level and at the federal level to help make sure we subsidize cat st catastrophic illnesses, you lower the premiums for everybody else. it is smarter. what obamacare tried to do is force younger, healthier people to pay way more for their health insurance than they otherwise would have paid. that would cross subsidize everybody else. guess what? it didn't happen. it didn't work. they're not buying the health insurance. as a result, the health insurers are collapsing. blue cross blue shield is pulling out of missouri and kansas. aetna is pulling out nationwide. iowa has nothing left. there's no plans left in iowa because obamacare collapsed. it is collapsing. so what we're saying is let's be smart about this. what do we want?

what do we all want? we want everybody who doesn't get health care from either medicare or medicaid or from their job, about 11% of americans, we want them to get access to affordable health care. we think the smart way to do this is don't force young families to overpay for their health insurance because we're finding out they're not. they won't just buy it. let's let people buy insurance that's priced competitively. give people more choice. have more competition. let states be innovative like my state was before obamacare. let's support directly to the people with catastrophic illnesses. subsidize those who have these severe illnesses so they get affordable, comprehensive coverage. they don't go bankrupt if they get sick. by doing that, we free up the marketplace for everybody else so they can get even lower premiums. that's what the waiver is all about. giving states the flexibility to do this. that's why i'm actually comforted by the cbo report, which shows, yeah, we'll lower

premiums. we have two problems to solve here. we have to get premiums down and make sure people with preexisting conditions can get affordable coverage. >> you're disagreeing on the cbo's conclusion, that premiums would in fact go up for the more sick? >> i just answered your question. >> yesterday, the treasury secretary called for a clean debt ceiling increase. it was rejected but also wants something done by august to address the deficit. where do you stand? >> we're talking with members on this. it wouldn't be -- every treasury secretary says this and every treasury secretary needs to say this. i expect nothing less from a treasury secretary. they all should say that. they all do say that. we're going to be talking with our members and with the administration on how we resolve the debt ceiling. the debt ceiling issue will get resolved. the timing is what, i think, is the newsworthy thing here. receipts aren't what people thought they were, and that's why secretary mnuchin is moving the timetable up. we're looking at the new timetable.

>> last question. >> follow up quickly, nice to see you. >> nice to see you. >> specifically on the -- i don't hang out here often. on the cbo specifically, the language they use when it comes to premiums, despite the additional funding, those sicker americans would face extremely high premiums. how do you ensure the sicker americans with preexisting conditions they won't be priced out and it won't be unaffordable? >> what the cbo report doesn't state is states put their own part of this, as well. this is what this analysis, i think, forgets. which is, we are, for the first time ever, proposing to put billions of dollars from the federal government for risk systems in states. whether it is a risk pool, reassurance mechanism or risk sharing. now, what's important to note is states do their own part of this, as well. so in wisconsin, for instance, we had an assessment on all the health insurance plans. we had an agreement among providers that we would -- they would have certain fee schedule th agree to. i think maine had an assessment

on the health insurance plans. the pot making is, you don't look at the risk pool idea federal alone. remember, the states will also do some of the lifting. the states, like in my state, we'll have an assessment on plans, if they choose to do that. they'll have an agreement with providers. we will have federal resources and state resources, which taken together, will improve the situation. we had a very successful risk pool in wisconsin. our insurance commissioner, deputy insurance commissioner testified, as much. it was very successful and didn't have a dime of federal spending. it had no federal money whatsoever. what we're saying is let's do more of that. let's have these states put together their own risk systems like they had successfully in the past and let's, on top of that, add federal financing so it is even better. that's the point we're trying to make. >> just to put it -- to be very clear about this, you're saying the states will be able to afford to do enough so that the cbo's projection of extremely high premiums --

>> yeah. that's the whole thing. you have to give the states the ability to customize solutions in their areas. the health insurance provider network in wisconsin is different than in new york. let alone new mexico, texas and california. or maine. give these states the ability to customize support, and now for the first time ever, we're going to add federal dollars to this. we just think it is a lot smarter to directly subsidize the care for people with catastrophic illnesses. 1% of the people in the individual market draw 23% of the cost. that's just 1%. let's just, as a society, agree, at the state level and the federal level, we're going to cover those costs, the extra costs. we're going to put resources in there. if we do that, we do two things. peace of mind for people with preexisting condition and catastrophic illnesses. innovation at the state level so it can be done the right way, so it works in that state.

and you lower premiums for everybody else because the insurance does not have to cover the catastrophic illness. it can cov the basic health insurance needs and you stabilize the markets. look at what wre looking at right now. not only is this an unstable individual insurance market, we have a collapsing individual insurance market. that is why this is a rescue mission. thank you very much, everybody. appreciate it. >> interesting comments from paul ryan. going to take some of them. he started by talking about gianforte, the republican candidate in montana who allegedly body slammed and threw a reporter to the ground, breaking his glasses. he said there is no reason for violence between people, particularly not with members of the press. he said he should issue an apology. he has not done that, by the way. he's not issued an apology. it is noteworthy that a super pac that supports paul ryan, the congressional super pac leadership fund, has donated $2.6 million to greg gianforte's

campaign. that's number one. number two, he was talking about health care. he kept making references to these high risk pools that states will be able to establish by saying that we should not directly subsidize those with catastrophic illness. they're only 1% of the population and drive so much of the cost. he made references to wisconsin and maine having high risk pools. i studied these. they don't work. virtually nobody joins them because the cost of insurance is too expensive. yes, it lowers the cost of insurance for everyone else, which is why when you look at the cbo score, you see potentially lower premiums going forward, past 2026. but a lot of people won't have insurance and those who need it for catastrophic illness won't be able to afford it. that's what i have to say about that. coming up, msnbc investigation finds president trump may not be keeping up with the campaign promise to donate profits from foreign governments that are made to his hotels. msnbc's chief legal correspondent ari melber breaks it down when we come back.

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treasury. this way, it is the american people who will profit. >> that was donald trump's attorney back at that very unusual press conference in january before he took office announcing his plan to avoid violating the part of the constitution that bars foreign gifts to u.s. presidents for very good reasons. msnbc maintained documents showing that donald trump is not tracking all of the possible payments and is instead suggesting that it is up to those governments to self report their business they do with the trump organization. joining me now is arie melburg. and sheila who focuses on wall street economics if let's start with you, what have you found out? >> they said they would track value and donate all of the

profits. we found evidence they're not doing that. it is not our attempt to identify individual travelers that have not identified themselves as being a representative of a foreign government entity. so, if they want to receive fife, fine, that could be a big problem. they ban foreign gifts and it goes to how is reported. the trump organization is a paying from his pockets. we never had a president try to run a company this large while being president, and we're being told by the trump organization that they're not going to tell us what governments are funding them and what is going into his pockets.

>> i thought to myself, it is weird. from an accounting perspective, it is kind of hard to figure all of that out, i don't think it addressed the problem, but can the trump organization even figure out when foreign money is coming in? there are tourists, some are b lobbyis lobbyists. >> it was clear early on they were not taking is seriously. he came saying he was going to run the government like a business, but in the business world corporate culture and ethics come down from the top and we have seen example after example of hedge funds, banks, enron, if you have the leaders at the top taking a less than fair attitude, it trickles down and everyone below them follows their lead. the trump administration seems to be moving in this direction where you have people taking this casual attitude. >>. >> i think everyone thinks we're

not really keeping track of it so we' n going to. >> ihink he was told early on he could become president without releasing his tax returns, and now he learned he can wave all of this away and hopefully people are not ask to many questions. >> but you and your team don't let people get away with this, did you get one? >> the trump organization says they take their ethical obligation seriously, and the larger response is they're not going to do anything until the court makes them. we don't know if there is a strikts line line -- strict line. they were disappointed to learn the trump organization thinks it is impractical. and they are looking for a submission of all of the items that you received or anticipate

receiving it is true that the president has morely way, but every other person, cia, diplomats track every gift they get. they said we don'tment other countries exercising influence this yay. >> thank you for staying on, the author of a book called "black edge. we'll take a break and i'll be right back. plan for tomorrow? plan for tomorrow? at kpmg, we believe success requires both. with our broad range of services and industry expertise, kpmg can help you anticipate tomorrow and deliver today.

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thank you for watching this hour of msnbc. i'm handing it over to an degdr wich mitchell. >> a republican candidate is accused of assaulting a reporter on the eve of today's special election. >> i'm sick and tired of you guys. the last time you came in here you did the same thing. get out of here. >> moments later that reporter spoke to msnbc reporter chris hays. >> it's just strange and mortifying. i am used to being blown off and i'm always terribly uncomfortable being part of a story and now that became the story.

>> a missed opportunity? at president trump's first nato summit, he lectures the veteran leaders about paying more of the costs. >> 23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they're supposed to be paying for their defense. this is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the united states. >> and intel, the white house promises to crack down on leaks after the brits call out the bombing investigation. >> i will be speaking to him that the intelligenc shared between law enforcement agencies must remain secure. >> i'm andrea membershiple in new york. president trump in