senator susan collins is coming up next.he has a bill that says, if a state wants to keep obamacare, they can. if a state wants to experiment, they can. that's state flexibility. what about that bill? >> i think susan collins has made a tremendous contribution to this debate. again, we want to make sure that we get rid of these obamacare rules, regulations, taxes, that are make it impossible. so if maine, by the way, she comes from a great state, which has an invisible risk insurance system that says, we're going to pay for the catastrophic illnesses for the people that are catastrophically ill. what that's done in maine is lower the premiums for people with pre-existing conditions. we target the support for people with a pre-existing condition. that is the model we're copying in this bill. 1% of the people in the individual market drive 23% of the costs in health care in the individual market. 5% drive up almost 50% of the costs. we're saying let's target our support for that population so they get the peace of mind and get

>> i think susan collins has made a tremendous contribution to this debate.f maine, by the way, she comes from a great state which has an invisible risk insurance system that says, we're going to pay for the catastrophic illnesses for people catastrophicicly ill. what that's done in me he is lower the premiums for people with pre-existing conditions. we target the support for people with a pre-existing condition. that is in this bill. 1% of the people in if individual market drive 23% of the costs in health care in the individual market. 5% drive up almost 50% of the costs. we're saying let's target our support for that population so they get the peace of mind and get lower health insurance costs. that stabilizes the market for everybody else. we're looking at that maine mod model saying let's do that nationwide. if wisconsin wants to do something different, let them do that. so long as we maintain koej for people with pre-existing conditioning and give everyone equal access. >> it doesn't sound like -- >> these are important rules that we think are going to

of doing it to get more republicans on the same page so they know what's going on someone like susan collins was able to speak coherently about it other republicans are being pulled over in diners and

when susan collins is talking about. what republican governors across the country want. rstand what the people don't understand. people are going to get treatment regardless. might as well make it as official as possible. when you expand medicaid, you make it more efficient. >> that preexisting conditions are two big problems the senate is going to have with this. that is why. it's the bill that president trump celebrated so victoriously is not a bill american voters are ever going to feel the repercussions of. it's never going get passed to law. that would be a question. semp goi everyone is going to assume this is going to kill the republicans that voted for it. if they don't feel the impact of the bill, i don't know. >> i think if you voted for it, i can tell you, i'm here right now and got elected to congress because the democratic i ran against and floated for the tax increases when they went through the house. did not when they went through the final. and he and a lot of other democrats thoughts that would save them. still said it never would he gotten that far if h

i'm joined by republican susan collins of maine. she serves on the select committee on intelligence. senator, we had invited you on to talk about healthcare, and maybe we'll get to that, but i have to ask you about the shocking news moments ago that the president had fired the f.b.i. director. what do you know about this? >> well, judy, like every other american, i'm just learning about this news. i wonder in some way if it were the inevitable conclusion to decisions that were well intentioned by mr. comey that he made last july in which he held a press conference to announce his decision not to pursue an indictment against hillary clinton an went on the give his personal opinion in the case. he did so in a manner that was contrary to the policies of the deep -- department of justice, although i have no doubt that his intentions were good. this seemed to snowball in a way that led to the additional events last fall, and it embroiled him in a political controversy that had continued to this day. >> woodruff: he said at the time, sena

it's not going to be susan collins who makes that call. it's going to be really much more mitch mcconnell's decision about how to strategically deal with those two sort of big goals of the majority. >> speaking of mitch mcconnell, yes, mitch mcconnell will have the largest say in how quickly this moves, how this goes. he's also, betsy, he's one of the members of this working group of 13 senators that are going to be working through all of this, but what does it say that susan collins, who will be a key voice in this, other senators like bill cassidy who have been really skeptical of the efforts so far, they're not part of this working group in the senate? >> it suggests that this working group, whatever final product it produces, could potentially have a hard time selling that more broadly to the senate republican conference. remember, bill cassidy beat a powerful incumbent in 2014 in the midterms in large part because he pitched himself as a medical doctor -- >> that's a great point. >> -- who understood health care policy and could craft

i mean, you sort of want susan collins at the table. you want lisa at the table. k and said i do have ideological diversity there, portman's probably more in line with collins. but my goodness, you need those people to buy into this bill, so why not make them a part of that original process so they can get by on the front end. because they could be deciding a vote in terms of whether or not -- >> the process answer is that these are the chairmen or the big leaders of the relevant committee. >> that's the other problem. and there are plenty of women senators, deb fisher from nebraska, a lot of others, it is just -- it's optically terrible. it feeds directly into what happens last week in the rose garden. i bet that group suddenly looks different. >> you look at how the house bill went down. it didn't go down because of committee chairmen sort of fighting back . it went down because freedom caucus who were able to get a coalition together, in the senate when you have people like ted cruz and susan collins not in them -- >> and if you look at the issues that come over

you have a proposed a bill along with susan collins. i went to her website of some of the promises that are made. she said it keeps essential protections, prohibition of pre-existing conditions, exclusions. again, just so we understand where we're headed in your mind, do you think allowing states to get waivers from the community rating, does that achieve your promise of protecting people with pre-existing conditions? >> if you have a big pool, think about exxon mobile which probably has about 50,000 em moi yees and they are all in this plan with their families and spouse and children. if 20 people get liver transplants or other expensive illnesses it doesn't matter. within that big 50,000 risk pool, the expense that is associated with a very expensive procedure is spread out among the many, the younger, the healthier. if we could expand the risk pool, we take care of those with pre-existing conditions. i do think we should take care of those with pre-existing conditions. there should be a guaranteed issue and the way you adjust that co

i mean, you've got susan collins saying we're starting from scratch.ob portman doesn't love what this does to medicaid. and lindsey graham is saying view this with suspicion. tough road ahead? >> reporter: yeah, so you can tell senate republicans aren't warmly embracing what was sent over by the house, despite the house weeks upon weeks upon weeks of really difficult, complicated, arduous process to get them to that point. the reality, guys, is the senate's going to write their own version. it's their prerogative to do such things, and that's exactly what they're going to do. now, you mentioned mitch mcconnell, the majority leader here. he is really the central player here. he is going to be the one that has to figure out a way to get this through, to kind of bridge the divides that you guys are talking about, senators that come from medicaid expansion states that find what the house did to the bill absolutely important, marry that with senators who want to cut back even more on obama regulations than they did in the house. but you mentioned susan coll

same with susan collins, joni ernst from iowa, other republican senators. and look, i think if democrats have ideas, let's hear them and let's try and get a bill that we can -- that can come together and, you know, and get bipartisan support. i think that's the larger goal. i think what's unfortunate is that senate democrats, you know, their base is so dug in against donald trump and they're looking ahead to 2018 already that, you know, they've told their troops, line up and fall in line, whether it was the supreme court nominee or now health care. you know, they have to make the decision, do they want bipartisanship as well? >> angela? >> just really quickly. there are a number of missteps here. diversity, it shouldn't be placed at the feet of this working group. we know that the republican party's representation in the senate and pretty much writ large in the country is largely white and male. i think the bigger issue here is they had an opportunity to also include democrats, to brian's point, this should be a bipartisan solution, and it's not. they're al

there has been some pressure to put susan collins on that committee so she's obviously the republicanator from maine. you can get one female voice into this process but it is rather striking and it's somewhat perplexing because women do need to be represented when you're talking about health care. there's such different biologies of how women work and different set of concerns. having that voice is very important. >> i want to talk to you about economic impact of all of this. just speaking to congressman of california talking about this the largest transfer of wealth on our country. one of you colleagues has been writing about repealing the aca could threaten the u.s. job engine which we saw the jobs report on friday, we're in the middle of a boom right now. what type of hit? how big are we talking here? >> there's really become a double threat this legislation poses to republicans. number one is the economic threat that people do indeed start losing their jobs or paying significantly higher costs for their health care. nothing will hurt donald trump and republicans more at the ballot

. >> republican senator susan collins joins us to discuss the next steps. >>> and terror in manchester. >> but this attack stands out for his appalling, sickening cowardice. >> what kind of message president trump is sending with his latest remarks that condemn the terrorist action in the uk. >> i will call them from now on losers, because that's what they are. they're losers. >> this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. >>> good evening and welcome to "mtp daily." i'm chuck todd here in washington. good to be back. and since the last time i saw you, it's been revelation after revelation for the trump white house, on multiple fronts, surrounding multiple angles into the russia probe. all of these stories, the firing of james comey, president trump's meeting with russian officials, his disclosing of classified information during that meet, the drip, drip, drip of michael flynn who's now pleading the fifth, the possibility that someone inside the white house is now a significant person of interest in the russia investigation, oh, and i think at one point, calling james comey a nut job

let's sit down with bill cass dane susan collins.on't agree with many phases of their startup plan, but that should be our national goal. chris: the trump budget was released this week. here are some of the key increases in spending. for the military increase by 10.1%. border security by 6.8%. but epa has 31.4%. and n.i.h., the national institutes of health by 18.2%. >> compassion needs to be on both sides of the equation. you have to have compassion for the folks who are paying it. chris: senator durbin, i know you are going to bash the trump budget. but don't we have to cut spend at some point? are we going to just keep piling up the national debt? senator durbin: that's an important question. i don't believe you make america great again by cutting medical research to the lowest level in 12 years. i don't think you make america great again by saying to families it's more expensive for your children to borrow student loans. and cutting back on infrastructure. if we are going to have at priorities. let's look at things that are impor

susan collins has been in the senate for quite some sometime.he senate for quite some time. to me it's bad optics, but it's also bad from a policy perspective in what we're talking about is women's health care. maternity leave. >> i think we're not giving these senators, republican senators, enough credit if we're assuming that only the senators in that room will have a voice on health care. they are going to have to reach a consensus among all republicans. they have a very thin margin for error. they can't be losing republican votes on the compromise that developed and susan collins has already proposed health care reform package with bill cassidy so i'm sure that's part of the discussion whether she's in that room or not. >> i think just in general. i think you are better off -- this is not a paul martin is thing. i think you are better off in the room. >> rebecca, chris and david, thanks to all of you. >> a claim that the united states and south korea were plotting to kill north korean president kim jong-un with a bio substance. grain free, s

three republican senators, john kane susan collins joined all democrats in voting to keep that regulation from the obama ministration. also today, senators talked about president trump firing fbi director into. minority leader chuck schumer called for special prosecutor to investigate times between the top campaign in russian government. mack irvin, objected to this saturday's meaning that all committee meetings and hearings had to end at 11:30 a.m. eastern senator durbin said he objected to the committee's meetings because of the fbi director's firing. the official business before the senate today is the nomination of robert the president's nominee to be the us trade representative. a little earlier, martin heinrich, talked about today's vote on methane regulations. here's a look. >> mr. president, i am proud that the senate voted to reject an effort to overturn common sense protection to reduce methane waste. it was three years ago that satellite images from nasa revealed that there was a giant cloud of methane. about the size of the state of delaware sitting over the four corners regio

the bill is introduced with susan collins, which got four cosponsors. >> chris: will get into that. > would meet that families needs and i think it should be a place we go and those families are asking us to address those issues. >> chris: how should americans regard the house built? >> senator cassidy: the senate will have its own product, we will go to conference. but i think the senate part, i'm hopeful, will be more likely to address their needs. >> chris: sentaor durbin, i know what you are going to say, the cbo certainly indicates that problem with the repeal and replace but obamacare has its own problems. you heard senator cassidy mentioned some of them. blue cross just announced this week it has lost $100 million through 2016 and it's going to pull out of it the exchange. 25 counties in they may have no insurer at all. >> senator durbin: we should have an administration that supports our health care system. what the trump administration has done since day one is to find ways to cut off the sport for our current health care system, lack of advertising to bring new people on boa

republican susan collins, who's among the most bipartisan members of the senate.g, just 1 of 2 senate independents. he does caucus with the democrats. both happen to be from maine and they join me now to discuss whether the two sides can ever get along. welcome to both of you. >> thank you. >> it is going to be pollyannaish. you are going to say the right things about bipartisanship. but what are the hurdles to bringing common ground back to the case where a politician might see it as a reward, not as a duty that the voters will punish? senator collins, you first. >> there are two big hurdles. one is the rise of ideological-driven groups, on both the left and the right, who are requiring 100% compliance with 100% of their views, 100% of the time. and the threat for members is that if they don't comply, they will face a well-funded primary opponent. the second factor is that the polarization in washington in many ways reflects the divisions in our country. more and more people are living with people who have the same views that they do, they're accessing news outle

conditions, eliminate mandates and lower premiums. , the only way you get there is through the bill susan collinscontract with the voter is through that bill. steve: you were on with jimmy kimmel. kimmel became part of the national debate on health care and with his son born with a heart problem and preexisting conditions you detailed a moment ago. we run a little snippet from the show where you went back and forth. >> the jimmy chem medical test i think no family should be denied medical care or emergency or otherwise, because they can't afford it. can that be the jimmy kimmel test? [cheers and applause] s that oversimplifying it? >> you're on the right track, if that is close as we get works great in government. got to be able to pay for it. that is the challenge. steve: that is the challenge. people want good health care doesn't cost as much as this stuff does. >> totally. there are different ways to lower the cost of health care. it has to be adequate. only thing shopped is something knot adequate, someone gets in a car wreck, premiums this paying went for nothing. you have to lower the premi

and lisa markowski, both susan collins and rand paul said this week the house bill is dead, but fore thinks it leaves too much of obamacare intact, she thinks it takes too much of obamacare away. how does the senate craft a bill that satisfies these two wings of the party when you have this incredibly small margin of error? >> of course we should remember democrats faced big divides when they passed the affordable care act as well, and when you deal with something that is as big and complicated as the american healthcare system, you accepting things that they start out thinking aren't acceptable. the thing that republicans have going for them is that they have been, have made this promise for seven years as they said and there is a big impetus to deliver on it, and i don't know if they will be able to deliver on it or not but there are going to be huge consequences for delivering or not delivering on it and that may be the best argument that republicans have going forward. >> dickerson: michael, what do you make of the president, his signature talent he said he would come to washing

it's also all white men in our ad and we will see susan collins get added but she should've been addedpanel from the beginning. as senator cassidy alluded to, whatever bill comes out of the senate has to pass the jimmy kimmel test and jimmy camel went out wednesday night and have an emotional impact and we have to combat that and have a bill where we can have a talkshow host making americans angry thinking republicans are trying to kill them before you can put that in the celebrity box with has to go back to the house which will be more conservative on many issues because they have now worked their way forward and brought those moderates in, and the freedom caucus members have done the hard work that faces the senate. you can evoke the name of jimmy kimmel but you have to do the same kind of work and make it palatable to go back to the house. i hear you, trying to help evan out with how you bring it all together, but when i see diane feinstein and some of the democrats say if you take repeal off the table we'll talk, is that really true? are they really going to jump ship and vote with

you have people, susan collins on one side, rand paul, -- >> sean: susan collins doesn't want to defundnned parenthood. >> i have always loved your wrig writing. the nixon white house wars, dividing america forever. look at just in the last week, things that were said by stephen colbert and bill maher. i don't support boycotts. i believe in freedom of speech, vials, vicious people have attacked his 10-year-old son -- the presidents. the wife of the president, repeatedly attacking the daughter of the president in vile ways. there's a divide now in america that it may be more distinct than what you are describing in this book. >> there is irreconcilable conflict because the wars in the '60s have been finally decided. these tax on trump, nixon had the worst press of any president in history until trump. my hometown -- a bolshevik code of -- i tell you, what when they successfulk down richard nixon, i think they're trying to break donald trump. we all talk about bringing this country together. i don't know how you do it. >> sean: i think he has to defend himself. >> he should not allow hims

then you had susan collins the senator from maine saying no, we need to start from scratch. whole new fresh approach. a lot of problems with the bill's coverage and also the fact it defunds planned parenthood. about ten senators that you put. >> risk pools created in maine. you mentioned republican senator susan clinics had her own response. listen to this. >> i've heard a lot of talk about the maine hi risk. indeed it was a success in maine for the 18 months or so in which it operated, but for the package of the aca and it can be part of the solution, but it maine we had definite revenue streams supporting the high risk poll. that is why it worked. >> reporter: as the health care issues moves to the senate, are the republicans prepared to take it on the same way it came out of the house. i know you've been reporting that speaker ryan is looking to pi pivot from health care to tax reform. what does he have in store. >> to answer your question, the first part is yes, the senate is running this working group of 12 folks, but susan collins is not in the working group. there are

susan collins is willing to work with some of the democrats.et it do this and if you can get it to the house. >> sean: i have always loved your writing. "the nixon white house wars, dividing america forever." look at just in the last week, things that were said by stephen colbert and bill maher. i don't support boycotts. i believe in freedom of speech, vile, vicious people have attacked the 10-year-old son of the president, the wife of the president, repeatedly attackingl the daughter of the president in vile ways. there's a divide now in america that may be more distinct than what you are describing in this book. >> there is irreconcilable conflict because the wars in the '60s have been finally decided. these attacks on trump, nixon had the worst press of any president in history until trump. he has an establishment of a against him. 4% of the vote in washington, d.c., my hometown. a bolshevik could've -- i tell you, when they successfully took down richard nixon, i think they're trying to break donald trump.yo we all talk about bringing this

that's a bill i have with susan collins, republican of maine. there's a reason unions have been running the programs for so long, they work. we need to make sure veterans can get good jobs in the come home and the skill they have learned fighting overseas are needed over here. we need to bring down the cost of four-year college and is the burden of student debt. if billionaires can refinance their second homes and their planes, i think our students should be able to do the same. [applause] many paths. every person in this country deserves a clear path to a good job. as your great island, tom phil sackett and tom harkin who have preached so many times, these paths could use some clearing and rural america. for the poverty rate for children is actually five points higher than urban areas. warehousing is hard to come by, you know that. and where it is harder to stay in business. it is time for us to make a real commitment to our rule communities by expanding broadband, by supporting our farmers, building affordable housing and taking on rural pover

. >> as did susan collins.er side of the aisle democrats largely unified in calls for a special prosecutor. here was senate minority leader chuck schumer last night. >> this investigation must be run as far away as possible from this white house and as far away as possible from anyone that president trump has appointed. >> president trump ready to fire back on twitter. quote crying chuck schumer stated recently i do not have confidence in james comey any longer. then act so indignant. hash tag drain the swamp. >> cnn learned federal prosecutors issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of former national security adviser michael flynn. they are seeking flynn's business records from colleagues who worked with him on contracts. this signals a significant -- these subpoenas a significant escalation of activity in the fbi investigation into possible ties between the trump campaign and russia. investigators have been examining how flynn handled disclosures about payments he received from clients to foreign governmen

one key republican vote, maine moderate susan collins, says the senate will return to the drawing board. >> the house bill is not going to come before us. the senate is starting from scratch. we're going to draft our own bill. i think we will do so and that we will come up with a whole new, fresh approach that solves the legitimate flaws that do exist with the aca. i would like to see us put together a bipartisan group to solve this problem. >> that is refreshing. health and human services secretary tom price defending the house bill on cnn's "state of the union." price rejected the congressional budget office estimate of huge cuts to medicaid, claiming spending will actually increase, and he says states will have more flexibility to care for medicaid patients in a "better way." >> house members after voting for repeal are now back home in their districts, some already facing angry town halls like idaho congressman raul labrador, rilling up constituents with this comment. >> you're band-aiding people on medicaid, except dying. you are making a mandate -- >> no, we don't want anybody to

said the moderates like susan collins to have an indication of which way the bill is heading.think >> of the firing my age impact of health care time line or the debate. >> it is distracting for girl working on that disruption of his talk was all kinds of washington butpact probably not too much with the health care discussion but that looks like the discussion is not going away anytime soon. because the democrats won a special prosecutor.itlin ow >> no is the time to call-in previously a the staff reporter from the national journal and a the "l.a. times" now she is with us with her role at axios and will be over the next 20 minutes. g >> caller: good morning for girl. of president obama said you keep your health care in their representative in your state if you keep blaminglt witn the sky with they dealt withwhio the guy in the house white house now he is a mistake he is a liar.av have a great day. >>guest:. >> there will always bed winners or losers you could feel that. >> it isn't always predictable.eople wo but that people would lose their plans that is something that day and are

going forward and one of the republicans at the snort of a lot of battles is the maine moderate susan collins who also sits on the senate intelligence committee. earlier today she did not like the democrats' approach and is not thinking that's a good idea and is supporting her name behind two other names, mike rogers, former congressman special agent as well as merrick garland, president obama's former choice to sit on the supreme court. i talked to her about those names as well as the demand to -- from members of congress to release those trump tapes, if they did actually occur. here's what she said. >> i thought that was a terrific suggestion. no one could argue that he was beholden to anybody in any way, and he would bring integrity and independence to the position. >> reporter: what about your colleague john cornyn, too political to have him in the spot, do you think? >> i think the world of john cornyn and he would be a great choice in normal times, but we're not living in normal times. >> reporter: the president suggested he may have some tapes of their conversation. should the intellig

have the skeconservatives who a pushing hard to move that to the right and caught in the middle, susan collinsnd mitch mcconnell cannot lose more than two votes in order to get this. and you add to that the senate rules which actually prohibit how much they can do by sir sum venting filibuster, so it it's unclear. >> mcconnell is a magician. you have the party restrictions and the rules about does this impact the deficit. let's go through for some of the big controversial changes. if the senate gets this, some of the things they don't like could cost millions of people their coverage. we're going to wait until it gets scored by the congressional budget office. higher premiums for older americans. the caps on medicaid spending. 52-48. he has tea party members saying this doesn't repeal obamacare. this has way too much government in it. then moderates who says the house bill is just not fair. >> the senate is starting from scratch. we're going to draft our own bill and i'm convinced that we're going to take the time to do it right. i don't think that low income women should be denied their choic

senator susan collins of maine has expressed some concerns.he did so again in an interview this morning. take a listen to what she had to say. >> the house bill is not going to come before us. the senate is starting from scratch. we're going to draft our own bill. i think we will do so and that we will come up with a whole new fresh approach that solves the legitimate flaws that do exist with the aca, where we've seen in some markets insurers fleeing. but it will also keep some of the benefits of the aca. my goal is to actually expand coverage for those 28 million americans who still lack coverage today despite the aca. >> so you heard senator collins echoing some of her colleagues, her republican colleagues, who said that they're going to start over in the senate which is what you might expect them to do. they'll bring together their own version. you also heard her talk about how she wants to expand coverage. we're still waiting for the score of this bill from the congressional budget office, but the score of the earlier version said that two

on the lighter side, senator susan collins quipped to reporters, "can we have a crisis-free day? that's all i'm asking." >> if president trump did reveal classified information to the russian diplomats, critics might call it reckless and irresponsible, but in fact, it is unlikely he broke the law here. that's because the president has broad authority to declassify government secrets and can even do it by merely stating something in a public setting. listen to the reaction of former cia chief james woolsey, who served for a period of time on the president's transition team. >> we have to distinguish between what's legally permitted and what is wise. it is legally permitted for the president to declassified something, even if he does it quickly and without giving it much thought. there's not a legal requirement on that. but it's not wise to do that. >> now under the heading of political irony, remember the president in many of his key supporters have a history of going after others who allegedly disclosed sensitive information. here's how speaker paul ryan, tweeting about hillary c

get this done and find a way to drive it through his conference but i think the key thing is is susan collinsship is the most important of all. she's not in the working group but she's probably the most important person in the senate on this front and which way she goes will make a huge difference in the outcome. that's why i think the relationship between mcconnell and collins is super important. >> you mentioned susan collins not being in the working group, the independent minded republican from maine, there's not a single woman in the working group, yamiche, the 13 member health care group consists of men only. why not put one of five republican women in the senate on that panel? >> i just had a conversation with a republican aide about that maybe a couple hours ago and he told me that in some ways it's because mitch mcconnell doesn't think this was a problem. he saw this as 13 white men coming together to pass health care in this country and thought this is what america looks like, this is what the government looks like. i should tell you, that's coming from a republican who told me that'

louisiana senator bill cassidy and maine senator susan collins.hey drafted a patient freedom act which would give the option of keeping obamacare or forming a new alternative. four additional senators have signed on to this plan. as you can see, one is a former governor, three are considered fatherly moderate. i sat down with them this week. >> you get the first bill out of gate. and i think a lot of us that have followed this debate closely were swlokd this working group came out and neither one of you were on it. >> well, the leader has the right to appoint whomever he wants. the leader has brought us into some of the discussions now and i'm really not that concerned about who is on the working group. we do have our own bill. we have six people on our bill. six republicans. we've had expressions of interest from moderate democrats. and i'm hopeful at the end of the day that we're going to be able to craft a workable alternative to the house bill that doesn't leave people behind. that lowers premiums. that will be a far better piece of legislatio

one is let's see what the senator from alaska and susan collins, the senator from maine, what role theyy. they were very vocal last time around about the affordable care act and they tend to be more to the centrist side. let's see what the likes of marco rubio and ted cruz do. they have aspirations in 2020. i know donald trump won't get a challenge people say, but i think he will. if not then in 2024. they're young man. there are 10 democrats in states that trump won, and they may have to moderate where they're at and not be with their democratic party. >> so you think some democrats in the senate potentially could vote with the republicans? >> because the senate bill is going to look a lot different than the house bill, so it might be enough for them to actually vote for it. >> look at someone like joe manchin. >> of west virginia. >> yes, where trump won by double digits, who has supported donald trump on some initiatives so far. >> as you know, there are 52 republicans in the senate, 48 democrats. if three of those republicans, whether lisa marcowski, susan collins, one more, if they

here's what susan collins a moderate had to say. >> the house bill will not come before us. the senate is starting from scratch. we're going to draft our own bill. i think that we will do so and that we will come up with with a whole new fresh approach that much s solves the legitimate flaws that do exist. i would like to see us put together a bipartisan group to solve this problem. >> we won't get you to weigh in on the likelihood of a bipartisb bipartisan bill coming out of the senate, but how if at all what comes out of the senate will resemble what the house passed? >> it won't. and that's why i think the celebration was grossly premature. whatever emerges from the senate on pre-existing conditions, on medicaid, all this stuff will probably not win enough support in the house. the house has to approve whatever a conference committee does. so because of all this back and forth wheeling and dealing, i still think chances of getting an obama care replacement are less than 50/50. >> we know we saw congressman labrador's town hall, he was basically booed for saying that acces

moderate senator susan collins of main mane and angus king of rhode island says there's hurdles preventing middle ground, jim. >> president trump baulk with if he would lake a stark warping to attend the nuclear program. >> today, trump abegin refused to rule out military action as response to north korea continued defense with deputy record. it is part of the efforts to develop a long range nuclear war head capable of hitting the united states. like the previous three tests it failed and came only hours afte tillerson warned united na nation's security council waiting to curb and thread catastrophic consequences. h. r. mc master called it acts of on defiance and position. >> and military option and help make what you're doing diplomatically and economically and sanctions viable to be able to resolve this problem short of what would be as president said a major, major war and human tear yai ian catastrophe. >> and officials long believed china as regime closest ally and biggest training partner is in best position to pressure kim j jung-un. chew 23450ez can put brakes on this do i not beli

up next, republican senator susan collins and bill cassidy.ed about the future of the republican agenda. first, hampton pearson with the cnbc market wrap. >> thanks. retail plunges with fears consumers aren't spending enough to support strong economic growth. the dow ending down 23 points. the s&p down 5. the nasdaq finishing off by 13 points as well. macy's falls 17% after reporting weak earnings. the retailer posting earnings of 24 cents a share and revenue up 5.34 billion. social media company snap chat taking 21.6% a day after the parent of snap chat reported a huge loss. the stock slid $4.96 to close at $18.02. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. what new gu? what new gu? i hired some help. he really knows his wine. this is the new guy? hello, my name is watson. you know wine, huh? i know that you should check vineyard block 12. block 12? my analysis of satellite imagery shows it would benefit from decreased irrigation. i was wondering about that. easy boy. nice doggy. what do you think? not bad. ykeep you sidelined.ng that'

first, susan collins, a republican on the intelligence committee. collins: we in congress and the intelligence committee in particular have a special obligation to follow the evidence wherever it leads, and to make sure that we have the facts here that means we need all of the memos that director comey wrote after any meetings that he had with the president. it means that we need his direct testimony. after all, there's a big difference if the president said to him, "look, i fired mike flynn yesterday, i think he suffered enough" versus the president saying "i'm ordering you to end that investigation." we just don't know yet. laura: on the democratic the best is on to a point intial counsel that will not be subject presidenton from the of the united states. the president has already been alleged to interfere with the investigation, fired the director. >> are you saying you have lost confidence in the fbi's ability to carry out an investigation? >> if there was any investigation, there would be a challenge if it is fully independent of the white hous

go to xfinity.com/myaccount >>> joining us now, republican senator susan collins of maine.. great to have you here in washington. >> great to be here. senator, obviously, the big news is a special counsel. what's your take on it? how important is that move? >> it is important. if you look at the justice department regulations, i think it's clear that the deputy attorney general made the right call. >> right. >> one of the criteria is whether or not it would be in the public interest. gin allhat's gone on, how could you conclude otherwise? >> what's been your biggest concern over the past week, week and a half of turmoil out of the white house? >> well, it's the steady, drip, drip, drip of stories and allegations. and i worry that the allegations and the speculation are getting ahead of the facts. >> uh-huh. >> we have a lot of anonymous sources. we have a memo that no one has seen but it's been read from. >> right. >> and that's why we need the special counsel to take care of the criminal aspects but we also need the senate intelligence committee to continue its investigati