. >> john king, yesterday i was interviewing john portman and he's a senator from ohio. he's just reelected so he doesn't have to worry about this for years and he was on the show to talk about opioid abuse. i was asking him about the fact that in the ehbs, which are the essential health benefits, if state no longer requires insurance companies to have them, that means drug treatment will no longer necessary be provided. are you not concerned about the health care bill? he said forget that. i'm concerned about what they're going to do with medicaid because medicaid is one of the main ways that people with dependency issues get treatment in my state. so republicans in the september are very aware of this and i don't accepts a ground swell of support, at least not right now. >> so. what happens now is let's assume the republican leadership check the votes and they send this bill to the senate. senate portman is a serious policy guy. senator corker was on another network saying we're going to take our time. the essential benefit is a huge concern to senator portman and the

portman. he was just reelected. john cornyn says we're going to take our time and it is going to take a while. so whether that momentum sort of peters out by the time senate gets to it, that's a key question. >> you're saying a lot when you say now is the hard part. it will be very hard as you lay it out to get to the senate. so let's talk about 2018. mark murray, what is 2018 going to be like for the republicans? how much risk are they taking? >> it would always be a pretty tough environment when your party drols white house and all of government. you are going to have a very hard mid-term cycle. and what we are seeing right now with this vote today, one, make sure that health care is going to be may be the dominant political domestic issue for the 2018 mid-term. but also it force someday republicans to take some very tough votes that otherwise, they might not have. when you look, of the 23 republican who's sit in congressional districts that hillary clinton carried in 2016, 14 of them actually voted for today's legisla

but i'm sorry, john bozeman is no one who wants to bash his own president. rob portman into the not just the anti-trumpers. tipping the point? >> no. the leader mcconnell went to the floor and said there will be no special counsel if i have anything to say about it. they realize the special counsel takes us deep into 2018 and makes russia an issue in the next election cycle. they don't believe there is anything there but if there is, they want the boil sliced. they want all the prosecutions done. >> shawn whitehouse was drawing a distinction. he is not for a special prosecutor. he would rather an independent investigation. saying if you bring in a special prosecutor, you start from scratch. it was an interesting argument and one of the few democrats arguing against it. >> and it is one of the things congress can get done on their own as opposed to a special prosecutor which would need to be appointed by the ag. the republicans may say they're disturb in the various e-mail statements. they're going to get pinned down by reporters on the hill. but the mentality has been t

portman, cory gardner, all these people that have a lot of varying interests. you also have this working group that they've put together, mitch mcconnell, john cornyn and then a bunch of kind of a cross section of the caucus from the medicaid expansion you have conservatives in there and think on that group is the moderate which gives some indication of how this bill is headed. >> host: they are having those discussions. how do you think the uproar about james comey might impact the healthcare timeline. it's just starting but it looks like the firing isn't going away anytime soon with the new fbi director that has to be appointed and democrats don't want a special prosecutor. people have to see if it slows down in the senate and how clogged up things get. >> host: kaitlyn with axios is with us, in turn at the "los angeles times" with us now in her role and will be the next 20 minutes or so. the line for independent. >> caller: when the president said you can keep your healthcare he didn't say the healthcare had to keep you the doctor, your doctor fire you, healthcare, keep blaming this guide for older people and the stuff that they've dealt with but why is it that

like collins and rob portman, corey toomey., pat they have interest, any three put together can kill the entire thing. this working e in group they put together and cornyn, onnell, john and a bunch of a cross-section f the caucus from medicaid expansion safety, conservatism there, missing from the group is collins ate like susan gives indication of which way the bill is heading. host: politically, they are discusss, how do you think uproar over firing of impact the might healthcare timeline or debate this week? i think it was distracting. you know, this was what the working on, but then of s comey caused all kind disdid you wantion in washington. didn't impact y it too much in the healthcare discussion in the senate is just like disruption around comey's fire suggest not going away any time soon with new f.b.i. director that has democrats nted and want a special prosecutor, we'll the to see if it slows down senate and how clogged up things get there. have questions about healthcare, call in, caitlin owens is with us of previously healthcare and staff reporter of morning correspondent national journal, reporter intern at the los angeles times, with us now role at axio

more moderate members like ohio's rob portman and lisa murkowski of alaska don't like the bill's cuts to medicaid. while some conservatives like john thune of south dakota worry it doesn't include enough money to help lower income people and seniors afford coverage. kentucky senator rand paul, meanwhile, has complained the bill directs too much taxpayer money to insurance companies. >> if your baby is going to die. >> reporter: after comedian jimmy kimmel's emotional testimony this week about his newborn son who has a heart defect, la will's bill cassidy, a physician wants to make sure people with pre-existing conditions can get affordable care. >> i wanted to pass the jimmy kimmel test. if a child is born and has tetralogy of fallot like this child has, that they will receive all services. >> reporter: concerns not just being expressed on capitol hill. gop governors weighing in on medicaid and subsidies for low-income people. >> there needs to be more changes in the senate, but what we have right now from a governor's standpoint in arkansas is really not manageable over the long term. >> the bottom line is even as the house's cong

john thune on an amendment to address that right now. medicaid, we have to make sure it works for the states that took the expansion. >> ohio senator rob portman not pulling any punches saying he has serious issues with the house bill. he said "i already made clear i don't support the bill as constructed because i can't to have concerns that this bill doesn't do enough to protect ohio's medicaid expansion population and those receiving treatment for heroin and prescription drug abuse". there's 52 republicans in the senate. portman and just about everybody else is really important, harris. >> the american public that voted like single issue on this is kind of anticipating that this is how it works, right? they go around around make some changes. people are not talking about are the democrats and all of the bipartisanship that they talked about was possible in all of this. it will be -- i'm curious to see how it works out. what is next in the senate? >> bottom line, those that have been talking about healthcare, i'm told they've talked for months on the senate side and what they'll do when they get a bill from the house of representatives. those