bill cassidy is from louisiana. here's the exchange from one of his recent town halls. >> you are saying that the people here who are speaking out are asking questions about how c the care because they will be mostly affected are being cruel or a router speaking out. i will tell you it is rude. taking 22 million people lost their health in this country of who cannot afford it. you worked at the hospital for a long time. you know what people are like at their lowest. to step on their necks by kicking them off their healthck care, that his cool. what you need to do in louisiana is go and stand up for the people here and say we need our health care. [applause] >> i am doing my best to make sure that we can continuer thos coverage, care for those with preexisting conditions,. eliminate mandates and lowerthai premiums. that is what i'm working for. >> tom bevan, talk about bill cassidy's role here and his push with his own legislative effortp >> look, it's a perfect example of the position the republicans find themselves

as far as the health care bill goes, collins and cassidy proposed a bill way in the beginning and collins said if the affordable care act works in a particular state keep it. then cassidy, where it doesn't work, do a new proposal. that way people won't be left out in the republicans and trump have to take some of the responsibility for the aca imploding on itself. >> thanks for the call. let's give tom a chance to respond. the house is getting ready to come in here., >> look, for the first part, about the media, the color makes a point. trump has been a showman his entire life. it's something that up until a couple years ago nobody thought he would've had a chance to let alone run for president but win and take over the republican party in the process and beat 16 other well-qualified candidates who people thought this was the biggest, broadest deepest republican bench in a generation and he plowed through them with no organization, spending very little money, and so he's managed to take his formula, whatever you think of it from his time as a reality star and a businessman and parlay that

senator bill cassidy, who is also an m.d. thank you so much for swinging by the camera. i know you've got a busy day. >> thank you for having me e. >> before we get to your amendment, senator, how do you plan to vote on this repeal only that's coming up? yea or nay. >> repeal and delay, which gives congress a deadline. i've been so frustrated with this process, i think deadlines work. right now, my intention is to vote yes. >> to vote yes. and then on to the skinny repeal, and you, sir, were one of the senators to watch, more oz as a moderate, maybe the concern is with the death spiral that would -- i know hurt a lot of people. how will you vote on that. >> i'm voting for anything that continues the process. we can't stay in this no man's land where nothing happens, where everything is dependent. that's why we're putting up graham/cassidy. we think that's a way to get to 50 votes and maybe even get to some democratic support as well. we've got to move out of this kind of locked, nothing happens, don't know what happens next. >> right, but you imagine -- you mentioned, se

talk about bill cassidy's role and his push with his own legislative effort. guest: look, this is a perfect example of the top position the republicans -- tough position the republicans find themselves in. every single member of the house and senate have run on repealing and replacing obamacare. and yet, with the cbo score, with the legislation that came out, they are struggling on the coverage issue that people are going to -- republicans want to say, 15 million of those people are people who are currently paying the penalty under obamacare, they will not pay as they move forward, so they are not technically being thrown off health care, but they have been fighting an uphill battle in terms of the coverage issue. that is also with medicaid. that is something they have been struggling to square. they were put in office by constituents based on running on the idea that they were going to repeal this law, that it was a drag on the economy, it was bad but government in terms of health care, yet at the same time, they are now fighting public opinion in terms of tr

apparently lindsey graham and bill cassidy are introducing their own bill. the president is saying if republicans can't get a deal they should do repeal and replace separately. did the house go back and look at any other options? now that you passed something do you think you've done your part? >> as tempting as it is to comment on the senate's, i want them to get their job done. we did our job in the house. i look forward to the senate doing the same. >> would the house stay in session -- >> yes. if the senate is going to give us a health care bill, we'll stay and finish the health care bill. >> senator grassley is sending a letter to donald trump jr. asking him to testify about his meeting. should the president's son testify in court? >> any witness who has been asked before congress to testify, should testify. >> in public? >> i'll leave that up to others to decide, but anybody who is asked to testify to the senate should do that. >> a bill to reauthorize the faa could come to the floor as soon as next week. there have been some changes from the effort la

bill cassidy. plus as north korea gets closer to a nuclear icbm, president trump reaches out again to chinese president xi. >> i'm sure whether it's on north korea we will come to a successful meeting >> we will ask our sunday panel if there's any way to stop kim jong-un in his tracks, all right now on fox news sunday. and hello again from fox news in washington. president trump is back at the white house after the g-20 summit where he seemed to get along better with russian president putin than some of our long time european allies. so where do we stand now on foreign hot spots, trade, and climate change? and what about a newly disclosed meeting in 2016 between the president's son trump campaign officials and a russian lawyer? in a few minutes, we will break it all down, with an exclusive interview with the white house chief of staff reines priebus. but first, let's bring in correspondent kevin cork at the white house with the latest. kevin? >> chris, no matter how far away the president travels f

bill cassidy. plus, as north korea gets closer to a nuclear icbm, president trump reaches out again to the chinese president. >> we will come to a successful agreement on north korea. >> chris: we wil to stop kim jong-un in his tracks. all ri "fox news sunday" ." and hello again from fox news washington. president trump is back at the white house after he seemed to t along better with russian some of our long-time european allies. so where do we stand now on foreign hot spots, t climate change? and what about a new lid meeting in 2016 between the president's son, drum campaign lawyer? in a few minutes we will break it all down with ainterview wite chief of staff. first let's the latest, kevin. >>esident travels from washington, for example, the 4,000 miles to hamburg, germany, it was one of the topics g-20 an coming out of the g-20. the presid again, this time talk about his meeting with president he said i strongly pressed twice about the elections, he vehemently denied it. i've already later we d

joining me now for more on this is senator bill cassidy. he's a republican and also a physician. you taenattended the lunch meet where the president told you we're very close to passing that bill? is that true? >> we have a margin of two, so yes, we're very close. part of the lunch and part of what we'll do tonight is see if we can go through those issues withstanding, see if we can find common ground. >> of the 4 that didn't, that's rand paul and mike lee, and then there were those who expressed concern that it would help people by cutting medicare and medicaid. where to win lee and paul, or is it going to put back medicaid money to win jeremy. when you talk to the colleagues and listen to them, they're concerned that this bill goes to traditional medicaid. those forms have not been aired out. they're based on legislation that i rote in 2012 called the prohibition of cap. you're right, there should have been a full implementation. my solution is, let's just pull that aside. if we pull out the traditional made cade treatment, i think you mig might. >> on that provided more kovrnl

bill cassidy. plus, as north korea gets closer to a nuclear icbm, president trump reaches out again to the chinese president. >> we will come to a successful agreement on north korea. >> chris: we will ask our sunday panel if there's any way to stop kim jong-un in his tracks. all right now on "fox news sunday" ." and hello again from fox news in washington. president trump is back at the white house after the g-20 summit where he seemed to get along better with russian president putin and some of our long-time european allies. so where do we stand now on foreign hot spots, trade, and climate change? and what about a new lid meeting in 2016 between the president's son, drum campaign officials, and a russian lawyer? in a few minutes we will break it all down with an exclusive interview with the white house chief of staff. first let's bring in correspondent kevin corke with the latest, kevin. >> matter how far away the president travels from washington, for example, the 4,000 miles to hamburg, germany

bill cassidy has been working on this drafting his own measures. how he plans to get his colleagues on the same page. >> bill: looking forward to talking to him. wasserman schultz caught up in a case of international intrigue and some saying our national security may have been compromised. >> we have actual criminal elements. this guy was arrested trying to flee the country. we have interference from foreign politicians. everything they failed to find in the russian investigation is staring them in the face. ♪ approaching medicare eligibility? you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. keep in mind, medicare only covers about eighty percent of part b medical costs. the rest is up to you. that's where aarp medicare supplement insurance plans insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company come in. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they could help pay some of what medicare doesn't, saving you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you've lear

that's followed by townhall meeting with senator bill cassidy. at 8:00, political commentator pat buchanan talks about his new book on the nixon presidency. >> this week on "newsmakers," we are joined by kevin brady, chair of the ways and means committee. thank you for being here. we have with us in studio, richard rubin, tax policy reporter and mike debonis, congressional reporter from the washington post. mike will go first. mike: thank you for joining us. tax reform obviously the fiscal , situation. i wanted to start with health care. the bill you and your fellow chairman put together in the house is over in the senate and we saw a lot of interesting developments this week. i think there is a lot of questions about what is going to happen going forward in the senate and i wanted to ask you about one thing in particular we have seen this past week, which is more senators talking about changes to the taxation element of that bill. in particular we're hearing , senators saying we may not want to repeal all of the obamacare taxes, especially the 3

let's ask this guy, bill cassidy of louisiana who was in last night's meeting.nk you for having me. >> you seem optimistic now. a little more momentum you think. what changed last night that did not change after a million meetings about this. >> i think the president investing so heavily in getting something done and clear direction he wanted to replace associated with the repeal and making it clear that he wanted the white house to work with us to come to a solution we could all buy into it. in the meeting last night there was -- at some point we've been giving power back to patients and sta and states and moving power out of washington and to your kitchen table. that seems to resonate with republicans. >> he held a lunch with you guys, should he have done more of that earlier and you wouldn't be in the situation? >> i think the president is being respectful of the process. we know in life sometimes you have to struggle to get to a position where you're willing to make compromises that at the outset you weren't sure you had to make. the timing was perfect, just

no democrats are part of the grand graham-cassidy bill.d you're a member of the house, not the senate. are democrats willing to throw republicans a lifeline yet on health care, are you still going to let them flounder? >> we've been waiting for our colleagues to reach out to us, and hasn't happened on any issues quite frankly at this point. especially on the issue of health care. i can't believe what's happening in the senate, i do know they have a history of working sixes and aides to come together in bipartisan ways. i haven't seen them materialize, i know that some agreements said, we haven't seen them materialize. i do think there is a body within the senate who would like to strike a path forward. i know senator mcconnell has said, if unable to reach an agreement in their own party, they'll have to talk to democrats and work with democrats. since when is being bipartisan such a bad word? i hope at some point rather sooner than later, they get to the point where they can work together in the senate. >> leland: that brings up an importa

apparently lindsey graham and bill cassidy are introducing their own health care bill. and the president's still saying if republicans can't get a deal on a bill they should do repeal and replace separately. my question is, could the house go back and look at any other options? now you pass something as you have done your -- mr. speaker ryan: as tempting as it is to comment on the senate, waints to give them a space to get their job done. we had a promise to keep and we kept it in the house. like forward to seeing the senate do the same. reporter: can i follow-up. would the house stay in session through august -- speaker ryan: if the senate gives us a health care bill. we'll stay and finish the bill. reporter: senator grassley is sending a letter to don jr., donald trump jr. asking him to testify about his meeting. should the president's son testify -- speaker ryan: any witness who has been asked to testify before congress should testify. reporter: in public? speaker ryan: anybody who is asked to testify to the senate should do that. reporter: a bill to re-authorize the

. >> stand up for the people her >> and bill cassidy -- >> i am doing my best to make sure that we continueoverage, care for those with pre-existing conditions. >> facing heat from constituents republican lawmakers find themselves back home with no plan yet and no answers on how to replace obamacare. >> kelly o'donnell reporting. >>> health care will be at the forefront of the discussion on "meet the press" this morning. chuck todd will have an exclusive joint interview with delaware democratic senator tom carper, and louisiana republican senator, bill cassidy. "meet the press" airs at 10:30 right here on news4. >>> we will stick with politics and take you down to the race for virginia's next governor. the nominees are gearing up for the general election. republican nominee, ed north virginia. he rallied a crowd of supporters in springfield yesterday. gillespie will take on this man here, lieutenant governor. >>> warming up, going to get hot. talking the 90s. and we will see if rain can make its way into the firework watching plans. >>> spreading kindness one lawn at a time. how several you

ted cruz, bill cassidy and john mccain. after that, we open up the phone lines and take your calls live about what you think of the future of the health care law. you, the consumer, should be able to choose what health care you want to buy. if you want to buy a plan with all the bells and whistles, with all the mandate under title i, you can buy that planned. they will be on the market and they will have significant federal taxpayer money behind them. on the other hand, if you can't afford a full cadillac plan, you should be able to buy another plan that meets your needs. consumer freedom option gives you the consumer choice whether to go with the full cadillac or a skinnier plant that's a lot more affordable and for a lot of consumers that may be much better than having no coverage whatsoever. >> what happens if it does not? we see two different paths. senator mcconnell saying you have to work with democrats to shore up the insurance market. you president trump saying we should move to the repeal and replace option. what i

number of the senate have said, the bipartisan bill may only be the option left. >> i sat down with bill cassidy in louisiana and asked them what does it take for the two parties to come together. >> if you introduce the bill, we have time to read it and hold hearings and discussions and talk to cbo directors and if we can go through that and have chance in the committee, we would end up with a much better plan. >> when does the recess hit? >> i think we hit it. >> senator cassidy, your side of the isle? >> i agree with some of what tom just said, we need governors involved, i want to call governors on both sides of the isle include mig oing my own. which was a concerted efforts to reach across the isle. gayle lewinski, she says if democrats do not sign on the bill and they get to keep what they have now which is the 5% haircut, they're not serious about working with others. now, there is a political article yesterday, chuck schumer, the author were speaking of how senator schumer got all 48 senators in line and you cannot cooperate and etcetera, until democrats say they were to sign on the act.

the cassidy team telling us that discussions on the health care bill are in full effect. ersion of the health care bill. we're going to be monitoring that closely, but in the meantime, james freeman from "the wall street journal" editorial page, he is the assistant editor. he is a fox news contributor. and he scrambled down here to join us which we very much appreciate. ashley: there he is. melissa: james, so what do you think about this? it does prove they're working. we had a senator with his own plan. he was holding out for more. got called away to the white house to go to talk to try to work on things. what do you think? >> i mean i think this will end upcoming together. i hope what is happening at the white house, is that the president or maybe the congressional leadership are saying to these kind of weak need senators like rob portman of ohio, shelley more capito of west begin i can't, this is entitlement reform. this is not mean. it is fair to the taxpayers. you're not cutting anyone off health benefits. years from now slowing rate of growth, including this question

. >> neil: something tells me that when louisiana senator bill cassidy was planning a town hall meeti meeting, he wasn't looking for fourth of july fireworks to come so soon. planning sessions like that in their home communities, this is going to be the rule of thumb. 39 such rallies spread across nearly a dozen states. it goes something like this. we don't like what you're doing and we are going to protest pretty much any attempt at trying to explain what you're doing. sometimes for members in a district that aren't even from that district. but it also comes at a time when the heat is up over tweets from the president of the united states. those are made up featuring a made-up wrestling event. these are real. as ed henry can tell you, very scary. hey, ed. >> this is exactly why mitch mcconnell tried in vain to get this healthcare bill passed before the holiday. he knew the pressure would increase on republicans as they headed home for parades and town hall meetings. over the weekend, liberals were warming up by attacking president trump with what they call impeach trump rallies. now

republican senator bill cassidy, a fgds, calls that idea -- a physician, calls that idea a non-starter this from iowa's gop senator chuck grassley, "52 republican senators should be ashamed that we have not passed health care reform by now. we won't be ashamed. we will go from majority to minority." one thing is clear, republicans can't seem to get on the same page when it comes to reforming health care. listen to senators ted cruz and john mccain on the prospects for getting a deal done. >> if you shut out the adversary or the opposite party, you'll end up the same way obamacare did when they rammed it through with 60 votes. we don't have 60 votes. to my view, it's going to be dead. >> if we can't get this done now, i agree with the president. let's honor the promise on repeal and spend more time to get it done. i believe we can get it done. i think there's an agreement. my objective for the last six months helping lead the working group on health care has been to reach consensus to bring together and unify the republican conference, and the wei way we do it is focusing like a laser.

. >> reporter: louisiana republican senator bill cassidy. >> i am doing my best to make sure that wenue coverage, care for those with pre-existing conditions. >> reporter: facing heat from constituents, republican lawmakers find themselves back home with no plan yet and no answers on how to replace obamacare. >> kicking them off their health care at this point is proof. >> that was kelly o'donnell reporting. meanwhile, the standoff continues in emergennew jersey. the state government shut down after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a new budget by friday night's deadline. governor chris christie signed a state of emergency making sure essential services stay up and running. parks, camp sites, ferry service and the state motor vehicle commission are all closed. calling the shutdown embarrassinging and pointless. >> the speaker's inactions are inexcusable and inconveniencing everyone living in our state and visiting our state. >> vincent prie it to is accusing chris christie of holding the state hodge. they are in session. >>> still ahead on "today in the bay" a special meetin

bill cassidy got a taste of what's in store? >> i want to know if you're going to vote for this health care that interrupt has right now, and what can you do to stop this foolishness. >> the fight to stop senate republicans from ever passing their health care bill starts this weekend, next. ♪ pressure... i feel it every day. but at night, it's the last thing on my mind. for 10 years, my tempur-pedic has adapted to my weight and shape, so i sleep deeply... and wake up ready to perform. ♪ nothing performs like a tempur-pedic, and our july 4th event is the perfect time to buy one. save up to $500 on select tempur-pedic mattress sets. find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic.com if there isn't a combined repeal and replace plan, i'm writing a letter to the president this morning urging him to call on us to separate them. >> now he probably didn't need the letter because the president was clearly listening and watching. tweets minutes later, quote, if >> the fight to stop senate republicans from ever passing their health care bill

louisiana's bill cassidy said that's a nonstarter. >> a nonstarter.i'll tell you it will be uncertainty in the insurance market. premiums will rise. he gets all the power to people who don't believe in president trump campaign pledges, who don't continue to cover in care for preexisting conditions and gives them a stronger hand. it betrays pledges. >> republicans will likely work with democrats to fix obamacare with the health insurance market. but the august recess three weeks away, that would push health care reform along with other big-ticket items to later this year. adding to the time crunch, treasury secretary stephen hitchens says the administration is planning to release his tax reform plan until september. >> webpages they were absolutely committed to getting tax relief done this year. it's critical for economic growth. we need to get back for 3% or better gdp. our plan is to have a full-blown release of the plan in the beginning of september been able to vote in getting this passed before the end of the year. >> will also see the cbo analysi

. >> kennedy: meantime, lindsey graham and bill cassidy release their own proposal today.t would redirect much of the federal funding for obamacare to the states to use for health care spending. we have a lot of issues going on here and there are several senators who are trying to work it out and move it into a more free market, including senators cruz and lee and also, lindsey graham and bill cassidy have their own solution that would allow states to have more control over their health care dollars. is there a solution in here somewhere? >> charlie: the problem is that basically, rand paul is right. at the end of the day, there is still going to be a lot of obamacare in this. there may be a lot of good ideas out there and there are a lot of good ideas out there. if it still has -- if it's still a government run health care, it's still obamacare. that is a huge problem, there are some things that are very appealing about it, but at the end of the day, -- >> melissa: better is better. >> harris: if you go to what the bill has in its language, it's better. if you get there,

louisiana senator bill cassidy is one of the few holding town hall meetings. he talked with constituents in baton rouge, louisiana, along with state and federal officials who answered questions about flood damage and recovery efforts. senator cassidy also discussed the health care law replacement bill. the town hall ran one hour. [applause] >> we are going to talk about many things. one thing i want to make sure we address our concerns people have about recovery from the great floods of 2016. that said, we have folks here that have resources, or at least explanations. i want to ask them to speak first. then i will ask different people to comment. we are going to go around. if at any point you feel like you would be better off talking to fema than listening to this conversation, i will consider it more appropriate that you stand up and walk over and speak to fema because we need to have your needs addressed. also, before i go forward, is my staff around? or are they still circulating? i have three beautiful woman back there. what's your name again? genevieve? a

david: let's turn to chaos inside the beltway with senator bill cassidy. he joins us now. this is double loss for you, not only are you a senator interested in passing some kind of health care reform bill but you're a doctor. i am wondering as a doctor what will happen to health care considering we'll go along with the status quo or death spiral of obamacare? >> we won't continue status quo, when people are paying $1700 a month, $2500 a month or more, status quo can not persist. obviously difficult to pass something without any democratic cooperation, but blue state senators have people in their state paying $30,000 a year for premiums. david: right. >> we'll get to a point where we replace obamacare. david: how long? what will be the breaking point that gets us there? >> individual market will have to happen relatively soon. the medicaid in 2020, states will be responsible for 10% of their cost to the medicaid expansion. most states will not be able to afford that. it may be 2020 comes medicaid. but those things which are not sustainable will gradually be replaced. david:

listen here, senator bill cassidy holding a town hall today. this is louisiana, weighing in on all of this. >> vote against that hideous bill. [ applause ] >> what you need to do is a louisianan is go back to washington, d.c. and stand up for the people who are here, saying we need our health care. [ applause ] >> this is our democracy in action. thank you all for contributing to that democracy. thank you. >> vote no! vote no! >> the saying is this is what democracy looks like. is it as simple as all republicans love repeal? >> first of all, i think it's good that bill cassidy is having a town hall unlike other republicans. it was senator cassidy who came out last month and said whatever bill the senate puts forward needs to pass the jimmy kimmel test in that it can't be an immoral and uncompassionate bill, which the bcra absolutely is. in terms of repeal, we're recognizing a lot privately within the republican party. the reality is it's going to be repair. only 17% of americans think the gop should go it alone on health care. 65% believe they s

bill cassidy got a taste of what's in store?> i want to know if you're going to vote for this health care that interrupt has right now, and what can you do to stop this foolishness. >> the fight to stop senate republicans from ever passing their health care bill starts this weekend, next. [ indistinct chatter ] [ intense music playing ] it's here, but it's going by fast. the opportunity of the year is back: the mercedes-benz summer event. get to your dealer today for incredible once-a-season offers, and start firing up those grilles. lease the gle350 for $579 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. you're in the match app. now tap on the new missed connections feature. it says i've crossed paths with kate six times this week. that is a lot of times. she's cute too! yea! how did i miss her? you didn't. match picked it up for you. check out new missed connections on match. start for free today! choicehotels.com. badda book. that's it?. he means book direct at choicehotels.com for the lowest

senator bill cassidy a doctor with a great plan of his own for healthcare going forward. if you want to be inspired, you want to be a better parent, you i want to be a better person. larry winget. brand new book. he will get you fired up. will not wear a tie. often wears a hat. please do not miss a minute of "fox & friends." please, i big of you. get dressed. ♪ bp engineered a fleet of 32 brand new ships with advanced technology, so we can make sure oil and gas get where they need to go safely. because safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better. heather: welcome back to "fox & friends first." unqualified and unelected. democrats reigniting the war on women with fresh attacks on ivanka trump for sitting at the g-20 table. so is this more manufactured outrage? here to debate g.o.p. strategist and former g.o.p. congressional candidate and liberal commentator john hopkins university professor wendy. thank you both for joining us this morning. >> good morning. heather: noel, i will start with you. do you see a problem with this? >> no, i don't see a probl

senators who say a bipartisan bill might not be such a bad idea, democrat tom carper and republican bill cassidy. >>> plus, dignity of the office. that presidential tweet storm aimed at two

try to me now as louisiana senator and doctor, bill cassidy who has his own health care plan.senator, welcome back. >> thank you. >> chris: you are one of the few republican senators or congressmen to hold an open town hall during this last recess. you got a near full on healthcare. let's take a look. >> was rude is taking 22 million people off of healthcare. [applause] you can afford it. you know what people are like at their lowest so by stepping on their next by kicking them off of their healthcare. >> chris: strong message to follow. has he went around the state of louisiana last ten days, how concerned our borders? how concerned are folks when they read and obviously this fellow was aware of the cbo report that tends a million people could lose health insurance under the plans republicans are putting forward. >> there were concern. your hearing arguments of foxing listen campaign $1700 a month for insurance before obama care was pain 800 and i have 6000-dollar deductible per family member. for you folks with disabilities were concerned they will lose their coverage for th

. >>> we are going to have senators lindsey graham and bill cassidy and join me live ton health care effort. that is coming up. stay with us. >>> also, any moment now, we are expecting to see president trump and president macron sitting down for a bilateral meeting. the two leaders and their wives met this morning. president trump and macron exchanging another handshake. i'll leave you to decipher how it compares to the last handshake. sarah murray is standing by, traveling with the president. we saw the greeting and saw them touring around. what are we expecting today? >> reporter: they are in a more formal, bilateral meeting. this is where the substantive stuff will happen. counterterrorism, strategies for dealing with syria. they are areas where president trump and french president emanuel macron see the world in a similar light. what was not listed as a key topic is climate change. it's certainly something that could come up. this is a place where the two world leaders differ. as always, with president trump, you never know what is going to come up in bilateral meetings. he might

. >> joining us now, senator bill cassidy of louisiana.enator, thank you very much for joining us. we've had some very interesting discussions on health care, a few hours away from mitch mcconnell unveiling what he's going to do here. can you give us a preview of where you think this is headed today? >> well, we will hear about the bill. we'll discuss it around 11:00, 11:30, speak to it even longer at lunch. i'm providing lunch today, good seafood from louisiana, so i'm looking forward to the lunch, and we'll hear the cbo score early next week. there will be amendments being prepared that i think the amendments may make this bill hopefully more acceptable to those who are still concerned about it. and we'll see. >> we know you're going to approve of lunch, the question is will you end up approving of the health care bill, senator. ted cruz, senator cruz of texas is offering an amendment which would allow states to opt out of basically some of the essential health benefit guarantees as long as they also offer a version of sort of the obamac

and bill cassidy is going to the white house today. other advantage that this bill has, it's sort of the next last serious republican idea that's been committed to paper. but hasn't been scored by the cbo or voted on yet. but the cbo is looking at it now. so it could be kind of the next serious idea to get a good look. >> well, there's also this bipartisan plan that's being introduced today, what, by a coalition of 40 house republicans and democrats. what's that about? >> reporter: that's right. so this plan also has things in it that republicans and democrats really each like separately. it brings those cost-sharing payments under the purview of congress instead of the president. it sets up a fund to help stabilize markets. it gets rid of things like the medical device tax, which is so unpopular. really on both sides of the aisle. but the thing working against that is, it's a house plan. and speaker ryan has made it very clear that the house isn't really interested in diving back into this fight. although it is interesting that today

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working closely with lindsey graham and bill cassidy on the issue. r, you've been on the hill all day. does this revised health care bill have the support, in your view, to come to a vote? >> i don't think it does yet. but as you mentioned, senators bill cassidy and lindsey graham are working on an amendment that i think if added to the mcconnell bill, i think mitch mcconnell made some improvements. i think he's trying to listen to his members. now i would argue that he needs to listen to the nation's governors, and that's what they're doing, talking to governors. they're talking to medicaid directors. they're trying to make sure we can hand off the ball. this is what the grant caddie bill does. instead of trying to fix -- he mentioned several things he's trying to fix with obamacare. stop trying to fix something that shouldn't be fixed at the federal level and really just send a large block grant back to the state, try to mimic what republicans successfully did with bill clinton, i might add, in 1996 on welfare reform which i worked on which was, let

bill cassidy is pushing his own proposal, advocating for simpler approach.we have more. >> reporter: senate leadership is working hard over the fourth of july read -- resource to see what they can do to make it reach 50 votes to pass the healthcare bill. >>> the problems that the list of people who do not support the bill is growing. the thing that more changes will have to happen to get them back on board. mitch mcconnell was hoping to introduce a revised version of the healthcare bill. but even among the skeptical republicans, it is not clear what they would look like or full be enough. >> the draft plan has been in serious rewrite. we don't know what it is. clearly, the draft is that. is a serious rewrite plan dead? >> white house chief of staff, reince priebus, says that there working hard to get at least 50 votes. they said that they will be able to get a past, even if it means delaying the august recess. >> i think you're seeing members of the senate putting their wish list together. >>> if anyone can get it done, mitch mcconnell, president trump, work

. >> last week in baton rouge, louisiana senator, bill cassidy held an event to talk flood relief. >>ow do we provide health care for all americans, in a way which meets their need. >> one voter told them, exactly what he should do with his vote on health care. vote against that hideous bill. >> so, so -- >> reporter: senator cruz is scheduled to speak here in north texas tonight. the subject, veterans health care. but james, protesters are expected. >> in mckinney, texas, thank you. >> the cbs "overnight news" will be right back.

senators who say a bipartisan bill might not be such a bad idea, democrat tom carper and republican bill cassidy. >>> plus, dignity of the office. that presidential tweet storm aimed at two msabc anchors. >> i'm appalled. this is the president of the united states. you don't attack women. >> reporter: why does the president seem more interested in fighting the media than fighting for his legislative priorities? >>> and new reporting that could suggest the first real link between russians and the trump campaign. joining me for inside analysis are hugh hewitt, host on the salem radio network, nbc capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt, malcolm gladwell and katty kay. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >>> good sunday morning and a happy july fourth weekend to everybody. and one day late, how about a happy canada day to our friends watching from over the border. >>> who knew health care could be so complicated? mitch mcconnell had a simple plan, draft a republican only repeal and replace bill, do it behind closed doors, pass it quickly before the opposition could get organized. then go home f

we have republican senator bill cassidy of louisiana, he's a physician. and you may remember he coined the term, the kimmel test as a standard for american health coverage. senator, thanks so much for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> what are you guys voting on next week? >> well, it isn't so much that we don't know what we're voting on, we don't know in which the sequence we will vote. just the process is the first vote will be to take up the house bill. that is just the process. >> but when you say the house bill, do you mean the repeal only, no replacement, the repeal only bill? >> new york cio, the repeal -- >> oh, you mean the original house bill. >> ahca. >> ahca. >> now, that is a process because bill haves to originate on the house side and come over. that's just how you sequence it. what is at issue is what will be the bill after that. the amendment if you will that would replace that. >> because the people aren't happy with that one. >> no, they're not. but on the other hand you cannot take up the issue without first voting on that bil

florida has a special carveout for marco rubio and so does louisiana for bill cassidy. it's all orchestrated by senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. >> he's pulled more than one rabbit out of the hat. i keep asking him if he feels the fuzzy ears of another one in there somewhere. so we'll see. >> reporter: with two republicans already opposed, mcconnell can't lose any more republican votes if he wants to pass the bill. vice president mike pence today pitching republican governors worried about losing medicaid money. >> this is your chance. the senate healthcare bill restores medicaid to its original purpose. >> reporter: in west virginia where one in three people relies on medicaid -- >> it's terrifying for me as a mother. >> reporter: christy judd's son was born with a rare genetic condition and needs round the clock care. she's waiting to find out what this will mean for her family. >> if we lost medicaid, we would fight with everything we have in order to make sure we were able to keep ethan at home with us. >> reporter: kasie hunt, nbc news, the capitol. >>> turn