kasie, thank you. kelly o'donnell, thank you. >>> just a reminder here. this is what president-elect trump told voters about repeal and replace, this is back in january. basically, it's the exact opposite of what he's saying today. take a listen. >> it will be repealed and replaced. it will be essentially simultaneously but will most likely be on the same day or the same week but probably the same day, could be the same hour. >> elise jordan is a former adviser to senator rand paul, matt cooper from "newsweek" and neera tanden from the center for american progress. good to see you. it would seem in almost six months we have gone exactly nowhere on health care. do you expect a bill or are we right back where we started? >> i think kasie had it right. it's pretty tough, it's on the skids now. there's a lot of division among republicans and i think when you have this many conservatives balking and this many moderates balking, there's just no deal to be had at the moment. >> i want to go back to something else kasie alluded to, the cbo score. they actually lo

kasie hunt, back to that immigration bill that's being voted on in the house today. give us a little more information about it and what exactly it will entail. >> the first one is referred to as katie's law for that 32-year-old woman who was gunned down while she was walking with her father along the san francisco waterfront, that very tour risty area, a shocking crime many republicans have said. and this bill would essentially increase penalties on people who had been deported and then came back into the united states who had criminal history. in this case, it was somebody who was a convicted felon who had been deported multiple times from the u.s., had come back, bought this gun and committed this crime. so this is something that democrats have actually said to their members, hey, we understand if this is something that you think you want to vote in favor of. it's a pretty emotional story, very difficult one, and so that we expect will actually pas with probably more votes than the second bill that is up for consideration in just a few minutes on the house floor. t

kasie first to you. let's talk about the president's take and a reality check on that, compared to what really happened on the hill. it was an incredible setback for mitch mcconnell. kasie let me interrupt you for a moment. we want to play a little bit more of president trump. >> i always say it. >> mr. president, yesterday said it was a hoax -- >> thank you all. thank you. >> thank you, please. thank you, please. >> he was asked a question about health care. kasie you pick it up there in terms of what happened with mitch mcconnell and what happened when the senators went to see the president, because from all reports he didn't know the details of this plan. >> andrea, what i learned from that spray that you just played right now of the president he filled in some of the blanks of what the issues are, that is more texture than i have heard him articulate previously about the contours of this bill, and of the negotiation that's currently going on among republican senators. what i can tell you here on capi

ha hallie jackson and kasie hunt with us. kasie, let me start with you. a friday deadline. that is possible? >> reporter: look, this is driven largely by some of the process that goes on here in the senate, namely that cbo score. so what essentially they are trying to do before everybody goes out for the holiday is negotiate whatever the big new contours of an agreement might be among republicans to try to figure out what that would be by friday. now, most of these senators, remember, are scheduled to get out of town probably thursday afternoon so a lot of this is going to be among the staff and back and forth by phone. i don't think you are going to see the kind of dra mat matic unveiling we saw last week but the idea would be come up with something new, we will send it to the congressional budget office, they can start looking at it while we go on vacation. then obviously everyone will go home, they will get assailed one way or the other by constituents. remember when this happened when the house bill, they went away, heard from people and came back and said we will vote

kasie, good to see you. ken for us in washington, thanks to both of you. we'll be taking the information you've given us as we watch the testimony tomorrow. >>> newly elected montana congressman greg gianforte is going to have to shift a few things around on his schedule. he was just sentenced to 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger management. he was also ordered to pay a $385 fine after pleading guilty to assaulting reporter ben jacobs who said that gianforte body slammed him to the ground when he asked him a question about the cbo score of the health bill. he had witnesses who backed him up. after a judge asked gianforte if he had caused injury to jacobs, the congressman said he did. the judge said he didn't want gianforte to take up space in the jail. >>> next, we're heading to moscow where thousands of russian protesters took to the streets against government corruption. hundreds were arrested including the organizer of the demonstrations. the arrests even got the attention of the white house press secretary sean spicer in today's brief

thank you, kasis kasie. over to robert costa. let me pick up with you where kasie left off. they're going to scrap this thing and start over or tinker with the old plan that they essentially gave up on or at least pushed off. take us behind the curtain. you're one of the best-sourced guys in washington. what is happening right now? where is this going? >> good to be with you, hallie. the latter point, the more accurate one, based on my reporting at this moment, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is trying to get moderates and conservatives to come along. can he change how medicaid is funded with this bill? can it be a roll back with expansion where it's appealing enough to moderates that they're not hurting their medicaid-reliant states and with conservatives, can they feel comfortable with the way this bill goes after regulations in the affordable care act? will it cut enough of those regulations to get them on board? >> can i ask you about the mcconnell factor here? as kasie pointed out, they've been cautioned. people say he's wiley, crafty, a political animal. this wa

case kasie hunt, health care, the scavenger hunt. i'm guessing that's technically not totally accurate. there was this group of lawmakers that went in search of a health care bill. what did they find? >>er. >> reporter: id had a feel of a scavenger hunt but everybody knew whereo go and what to find. capitol er there. behind me is the building it's called the ford building that houses the congressional budget office. now, what we do know about this republican health care bill, it's being written in secret, basically, by a small group of republican senators spear headed by mitch mcconnell, essentially trying to canvass -- he's got 52 members. he needs 50 of them. so he has to figure out, okay, how do i cobble that together to try and get this passed next week. now, what that has led to is an effort to keep it behind closed doors because as we saw a little bit with the house bill, if you litigate this in public, things can fall apart fast. so they've tried to keep it to themselves. this has resulted in democrats, they took to the senate

>> kasie alluded to this. the amount of uncertainty around this repeal conversation and that's been coming out of the administration in terms of payments they may or may not make to insurance companies has created a very uncertain situation. when you're in the insurance business, uncertainty is something you have to price for. i think we're seeing the ramifications of that. i would also say for seven years democrats in leadership, president obama and otherwise have been saying we need to improve the bill. they're willing to come to the table and work on it. it was an overhaul of the health care system and technical changes always have to be made to a bill that big. they've been saying for years let's come together and improve on it. all we've heard back is repeal for seven years. now we're seeing problems created because of that. >> well, if you want to fix obamacare, and the problem they say they've identified is that premiums are going up -- >> premiums were going up before obamacare. >> going up consistentl

. >> kasie hunt, we appreciate the coverage from the hallway outside the scif. we are joined now by a member of the house intelligence committee. subject of a lot of talk and not for the greatest reasons. democrat from california. congressman, your feelings about what you saw from the senate si side. does it exist as a contrast to the work that has been going or will it be perhaps a motivator? >> good afternoon.

that's what we're looking for in the coming 24 hours, craig. >> kasie hunt there, thank you. kristen, do we know if president trump has seen the senate bill yet? >> reporter: the white house still won't say, craig. and yesterday sean spicer said that he wasn't sure. we do know that the president has been briefed on the contents of the latest version of the bill by his legislative team, based on my conversations with sources here. we also know that he's been in touch with leader mcconnell, vice president mike pence has been a big part of the meetings on capitol hill as well. but look, the president did potentially complicate this process for himself and for fellow republicans when he referred to the house bill as mean, as kasie was just talking about. said he wanted the senate version to have more heart. that's something that sean spicer did talk about yesterday in the briefing, presumably when it comes to how many people are covered and how much coverage is actually available to them. that type of rhetoric could potentially complicate efforts for republicans to get on the sam

. >> kasie hunt joins us from capitol hill. i wonder if you can add to some of this picture that hallie is painting of a president who views this effort as ongoing and viable. and who plans a big surprise when it comes to health care legislation. are they ready for that surprise on capitol hill? >> well, look, nicolle, i guess with this president you always have to be ready for a surprise but from what i can tell there doesn't seem to be at least at this point a major surprise brewing from the perspective of the republican senators who have been in the talks around all of this. you have had several who have said, you know, that the attempt here is going to renegotiate this deal by friday so they can get something over to the congressional budget office and vote again when they come back. there's been some skepticism i would say that that time line is realistic. john mccain said they'd have a deal on friday, and pigs could fly were his words. so, you know, i don't get the sense there's a brewing kind of grand bargain that the pr

kasie, you first.ith the president branding this bill as mean and heartless before they even got around to deal making with the different wings of their own caucus. >> i don't know that exasperated is quite the right way to describe it, but i think there is general fatigue and dismissiveness around how the president has been talking about this. i think republicans are fed up with it. i think every time he tweets or he talks about this it -- a lot of times it causes a great deal of damage. they're tired of us chasing them down the hallways and asking them about what the president has done or said today. whether it relates to health care or whether it relates to something else. i think -- i know that some of bob costa's colleagues at "the post" have done extensive reporting on this as well. there's a sense of being a little bit over it when it comes to president trump. >> so your paper had a great story in the title yesterday or today. i'm a little fatigued an exasperated. it was who's a afraid of donald

kasie, jared kushner is also talking to the senate intel staffers. he's not testifying before the committee. what's the distinction there? >> well, ali, i have sources telling me that the plan is to have kushner come in this month to talk to senate staff. but the question within the committee is, should they bring him in to do that without also demanding documents and demand egg take questions in some form from senators on the committee? so democrats on the committee are pretty adds mamant they don want him to receive these documents and will receive that testimony. so the committee itself seems to be moving forward at this point with this agreement. so we're trying to nail down exactly when it is that that will all kickoff. >>> we have to talk about the republicans. no matter where they land on this, there's more and more of this idea they are frustrated. whether they want to see the tapes if they exist or just in general. while the president didn't tweet during the james comey testimony, he had a lot to say since then. here's what lindsey graham ha

kasie with the corner. bing ham knocks it in his own goal. 30 seconds remaining in the game, kasie one last chance, gram with the great move but bing ham make it is save and this game ends in a draw. in boxing the pride of oakland knocked out search yay in the round to obtain his toilet. much more on these highlights tonight at 11:00. >> are a lot of warriors at the fight too. >> i know for sure kevin duran was there because i saw him leaving after the win. >> thanks anthony. >>> you . >>> tonight on abc 7 news at 11:00 a bay area woman who claims bill cosby sexually assaulted here shares her thoughts of his mistrial. >>> hundreds of animals discovered trapped in a moving truck in triple digit heat. >>> four legged friends blaifed the heat today and ran an okay is that call course. well's kor byes from all over, some dressed in cost document, there's wonder woman there, came to the beach to sniff, scratch and from run or waddle whatever you want to call it. some didn't want to compete but who would in this

i'll send it back your way. >> kasie hunt, thanks. president we have the best people and they ask the best questions and they exhibit the best hustle especially in those hallways. we apologize for the video quality. looked kind of since chris mathews threw down art history looked like water lilies. it can look a lot like an oil painting and that is a still a primitive technology which is our only way of getting live programming out of some of these hallways and we get a lot of signal breakup and we're sorry for that. it's not as the same quality as our usual high definition. but senator koontz of delaware stopping to comment unlike senator cruz of texas. interesting there. and nicolle wallace, quickly, before we get to our next guest, if they go to hillary clinton, everyone watching will know exactly what that's about. >> i don't think it helps donald trump. donald trump is his own best messenger when it comes to hillary clinton and donald trump doesn't need republican senators to use this hearing to, i guess in their minds, get on of

kasie? >> reporter: nicolle, if he has -- forgive me, we're keeping an eye on the news that's happening right over there. so from what i can tell, that -- the very least has not been made public yet but i do think, you know, it's very clear that many members of this committee have had sessions back through the confirmation process and are now watching him essentially have this, you know, we barely focused on this if light of all the other news, but the reports that sessions offered his resignation to the president and then was turned down. i think, you know, that will give you a sense of the fact that they know he is potentially in big trouble with the administration as well. and i think -- i wouldn't be surprised to see if democrats make sessions a particular target with jim comey. i mean, this -- sessions is somebody if you remember from the confirmation processes, he's been a very conservative so far as attorney general, very conservative record and a difficult record in some places on ci

there are hundreds of people potentially for kasie to talk to every day. i suspect you'll see her face again. >> somebody who wasn't on capitol hill but at the white house yesterday. >> a long-time friend of president trump's is causing an uproar. he says the president is considering firing the special counsel appointed to lead the fbi's you russia investigation. chris ready is the president of news max media and was at the white house yesterday. >> i think he is considering perhaps terminating the special counsel. i think he's weighing that option. >> chris ready is going to be sitting down with kristen welker in about an hour. white house press secretary sean spicer tells nbc in response, mr. ruddy never spoke to the president regarding this issue, to which ruddy responded this morning, spicer issued -- i love he calls him spicer. spicer issued a bizarre late night press release that, a, does not deny my claim that the president can considering firing mueller and, b, says i didn't speak to the president about the matter, when i never claimed to have done

so it's a little bit of a complicated chess match going on over here. >> kasie, some reporting on theke they were hung out to dry by the president that then called their bill mean. is there any undercurrent on the hill of feeling like they have their president in their party rapidly responding and not in a good way to their own legislative efforts? >> i think that there was some frustration around those comments. i talked to mark meadows on friday. he have the one who led that conservative revolt. they seem to be coordinating pretty closely with the conservatives in senate, with ted cruz, rand paul and mike lee. if they vote yes on this, you might see the house conservatives say, okay, fine, if it's a bill that ted cruz could vote for, it's a bill i can vote for. i think that's what's going on behind the scenes from an optics perspective. my sense is that, you know, essentially the senators went to the president and said, we can't vote for something that does this, so the president has been out there basically saying i want to cut a deal so let's change it, let's make it less mean. i

joe. >> thank you so much, kasie.t the baseball practice reported, and we had been seeing this earlier this morning over the past 20, 25 minutes and did not want to report it until we were sure. but congressman desantis says that the shooter at the baseball practice walked up to us and asked whether it was republicans or democrats who were practicing out there. so if that is the case, it was targeted -- politically targeted. mika, though, the alexandria police, you have a report about the suspect and where he is right now. >> in custody. we're hearing the suspect is in custody. it is half past the hour. we want to recap what we know of these fast-moving breaking developments. congressman steve scalise, the house majority whip, has been shot by a gunman who opened fire at a baseball practice in alexandria, virginia, just outside washington, d.c. he is said to be in stable condition. congressman mo brooks, who was there, said several other people were also hit, including two law enforcement officers. congressional aides

kasie hunt, talk about the republicans on the hill behind you. this has been, again, of all the tumultuous weeks, we thought the week with him shoving aside members of nato was bad and trying to arm wrestle the president of france, we thought that was embarrassing. we're finding out he's, of course, cutting outlines from speeches when he was speaking to nato. is there any crack in the resolve of these republicans to be known for the rest of their lives as trump republicans, as trumpists, as enablers of donald trump, as people that are engaging in the coverup of an investigation between potential ties between russia and the president of the united states' administration. any cracks in that wall at all? >> joe, i think that you are going to be able to see on the screen plain as day on thursday part of the answer to that question, if they really are going after james comey on these questions that the president doesn't really want them to be talking about. i think right now there's still this underlying sense of fear. i think all those things you wal

joining us from capitol hill, nbc's kasie hunt.om washington, mika, vice president for third way national security program, and a former staffer in the house intel committee. kasie, let me start with you. a lot has happened since we last saw james comey on the hill. he's been fired. he cleaned his yard. sent a letter to staff saying i'm okay, don't worry about me. but we've also heard a lot from this president about him. he told the russians that he feltle felt less pressure to work with them, called him a nut job, called him crazy. i imagine jim comey will go to this test mope moatestimony and game plan. who's running on the republican and democratic side in terms of getting ha they want to know out of him at the substantive level? >> reporter: look, i think that's right. this is clearly somebody who's gone into the previous -- he has done marathon sessions up here on capitol hill. i think obviously the most interesting thing about his most recent set of testimony, he showed he's not infallible. he made a not insignificant mistake

kasie hunt on the hill, pete williams on the nominee for the fbi director. kasie, this hearing, again, nominally about the reauthorization of the fisa, of the foreign intelligence surveillance act. a lot of trump-russia, too, though. what are you hearing from lawmakers? >> reporter: craig, this story, of course, changed dramatically after that washington post report about dan coats and this reported request from the president to talk to jim comey about the russia investigation. that of course we have seen republicans and democrats focus on throughout the course of the morning during this hearing. an democrats, of course, at times agitated about these intelligence chief's refusal to basically say anything, to provide a legal justification for why they weren't answering questions, whether this conversation took place, whether there was executive privilege, et cetera. so i think here what you saw broadly from these intelligence chiefs was a refusal to answer questions or give details about this. john mccain on the republican side called the difference between w

kasie hunt is on the hill where this story goes today. a lot to uctalk about on where e gop goes on democrats. listen. >> i wish we were doing his on a bipartisan basis. i think it was a mistake saying we were going to do this partisan. that's where we're at. we'll do our partisan bill. democrats do theirs. we're not going to fix all these problems and then maybe, maybe everybody will sit down and let's long term fix the health care system. >> so, kasie, at this point wishing for bipartisan roughly the equivalent of wishing for a new puppy and a pony and a unicorn, too? >> well, hallie, look, i think there may be some truth there to what senator johnson said in that. the political reality for republicans, they don't want to be seen failing on this bill. they are going to continue to try to get an agreement on this major piece of legislation. but, the reality is that politically the democrats learned this the hard way. when you own health care. when you do it without the other party's support, that can really come back to haunt you. and de

that one more news nugget that came out of kasie hunt talking on john cornyn.said tomorrow, he also plans to ask comey about hillary clinton, the loretta lynch meeting and the actions he took to clinton's use of a private e-mail. thanks to all of you. up next, i'll be joined by congressman lee zeldon who had dinner with the president just last night. did the conversation with james comey come up? iddle of the nigh. hold on dad... liberty did what? yeah, liberty mutual 24-hour roadside assistance helped him to fix his flat so he could get home safely. my dad says our insurance doesn't have that. don't worry - i know what a lug wrench is, dad. is this a lug wrench? maybe? you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. there's nothing more than my vacation.me so when i need to book a hotel, i want someone who makes it easy. booking.com gets it. and with a book now, pay later feature, i don't have to pay for anything when i book. visit booking.com. booking.yeah. he came to the world justin the usual way

but it would also provide money to fewer people than obamacare as you heard kasie talk about.ight from benji, what we have been talking about, more gradual phase-out of medicaid expansion but deep cuts to the program itself. this is setting up a serious showdown on capitol hill. democrats obviously not happy as you heard nancy pelosi talk about. we have been talking about how we're most curious to see how senate moderates respond to that and conservative members of the senate like ted cruz and rand paul and mike lee. we have it on this network over the next few hours. stick with us. that does it for us, thank you for watching. following all of that with my colleague ali velshi and stephanie ruhle. >> it's about 145 pages of the bill. >> speed reading. >> we're going to speed read. i'm ali velshi, good morning. >> i'm stephanie ruhle. i'm not sure i can get through this but let's get started. >> always tierrific to be able o leave the washington swamp, phony witch hunts against me. everything going. we won last night and even the worst of them said that was a big win for trump.

>> kasie hunt at the capitol tonight, thanks. >>> we can't lose sight of the fact that while lawmakers do battle over all this in washington, there are real people with very real problems across this country left in suspense over the future of healthcare. many are caught between the uncertainty of how the republican plan will affect them and the dwindling choices and rising premiums under obamacare. nbc's gabe gutierrez has the impact far beyond capitol hill. >> reporter: it was the letter single mom sara halfacre dreaded. >> your current humana health plan will not be offered. >> reporter: her insurance company, humana, dropping the bombshell that it was pulling out of kentucky's obamacare exchange. this wasn't the first time you got a letter like this. >> no. >> reporter: we were with her last year when her previous insurance company did the same. >> i don't know if i'm going to have coverage, which doctors i'll go to, which pharmacy i'll get my medication from. i don't know. >> reporter: in a written statement in february humana said it was leaving the exchanges because of further s

kasie hunt is standing by to talk to us on capitol hill. kasie? >> brian, nice to see you. although terrible circumstances, obviously. i'm here with congressman rodney davis of illinois. sir, you witnessed the terrible events that unfolded. where were you when this all started? >> i was up to bat. heard a loud noise, what i thought was a construction site dropping a loud piece of metal. the next thing i heard was, r , "run, he's got a gun." i ran into the dugout, with others who made it there before me, and realized it wasn't the best place. dispersed out for more severe a -- secure areas. witnessed something i never thought i'd witness. going to a baseball practice for a game we do for charity. >> how long did it last, would you say? how long did it feel to you it lasted? >> i don't know. i'll wait for the report to come out on how long it lasted and how long the response took. but anything is too long. i felt like it was an hour, when you're running away from gunfire, and also trying to make sure that your situational awareness is there, too. >> you got a little scraped u

kasie, pete, hallie, thanks to you. house speaker paul ryan was asked about who it would be appropriate for president trump to fire robert mueller. here's what he had to say. >> in the best case for the president is to be vindicated allowing this investigation to go on thoroughly and independently. the best advice is let robert mueller do his job. >> john is former acting director of the cia and msnbc national security analyst. nick confessore for "the new york times" and ary melber msnbc's chief legal correspondent. we've heard about the legal part of this and rosenstein say he doesn't see any justification for it. you heard what the speaker of the house had to say. and you also heard, i thought was fascinating, the white house would love to be talking about anything else and yet you a close friend of the president, other people close to the president, coming out and it seems to be that there is an effort to discredit robert mueller now and one of the points that they make is that he started to build his team and it's

nbc's kasie hunt has details. >> reporter: after a devastating delay -- >> shame on you! >> reporter: -- protests and arrests as republicans head back into secret negotiations to try and crack a new healthcare deal by friday. a last-ditch attempt to transform one-sixth of the economy with just republican votes. >> we'll continue working so we can bring legislation to the floor for debate and ultimately a vote. >> reporter: the president today -- >> we could have a big surprise with a great healthcare package. >> reporter: but after seven years of promising to repeal obamacare and six months of gop control of the white house and congress, a new reality is starting to sink in. >> if we don't reach agreement by friday, it's probably the end of a sole party effort for healthcare. >> reporter: senator john mccain, asked if a friday deal could happen -- >> and pigs could fly. >> reporter: mccain is one of several republican senators already asking for a bipartisan bill. >> i have said all along that i thought we should talk to the democrats from the beginning. >> that's what we

ashley parker, a white house parker for "the washington post," ken dilanian and kasie hunt who covers capitol hill for us. ken, i want to start with you. i wonder in light of comey's testimony last week and his answers about jeff sessions, it seems to suggest to me that he knew exactly why jeff sessions had recused himself from the russia investigation. if you think that the senate intel committee will be in possession of the same information by the end of the day tomorrow? >> well, we know they already are because after that public testimony, james comey went behind closed doors and briefed the senate intelligence committee. our sources are telling us that he discussed this april 2016 event at the mayflower hotel and talked about some reporting that the fbi and the intelligence community is aware of that suggested there may have been a private encounter. now, jeff sessions denies through a spokesperson has denied that there was any private encounter at that meeting between him and the russian ambassador, sergey kislyak. what i'm watching for tomorrow is whether he's going to repeat t

our kasie hunt has late details. >> all: health care is a human right all day, all night! >> reporter: republican senators under fire at home today. >> senator toomey, do the right thing. show up and give us healthcare. >> reporter: with the senate republican healthcare plan finally released, democrats trying to keep up the pressure. >> this is not trying to be overly dramatic. thousands of people will die. >> reporter: tonight another blow to the bill's chances. >> this is the bill. >> reporter: nevada republican senator dean heller saying he's a no. >> i'm announcing today that in this form, i will not support it. >> reporter: the first moderate republican to oh foes it, because he says the cuts to medicaid go too far. he's joining four conservatives who are saying no because the bill doesn't go far enough to repeal obamacare. but three no votes and the plan fails. >> well, they're also four good guys and they're four friends of mine. i think that they'll probably get there. we'll have to see. >> reporter: on capitol hill today signs there's room to negotiate. mark meado

that was kasie hunt reporting. >> and the president wasted no time reacting to the four gop senators who could block him from a win. >> they are four friends of mine and i think that they will probably get there. we'll have to see. health care is a very difficult situation. >> a vote on the bill is expected by the end of next week. >>> now to that severe weather that left a path of destruction as what was tropical storm cindy now depression terrified stranded vacationers. >> very scary to be laying in bed and the house just shaking all around you. >> the storm spun off a tornado which hit fairfield, alabama with 120-mile-per-hour winds destroying buildings and sending debris flying, look this shard of wood that nearly impaled a woman. fortunately there were no serious injuries from the storm. a liquor store there was demolished but oddly enough, two shelves were amazingly left standing right there relatively undamaged. in pennsylvania, the storm unleashed massive flooding and led to one man's death after he was sucked into a drain pipe. the floodwaters even knocked train cars off the

nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt has the latest. >> reporter: outside the capitol today democrats trying to stand in the way of the gop plan to repeal and replace obamacare. >> healthcare's a right not a privilege. >> reporter: but there's not much that they or the pint-sized superheroes they brought in to help draw attention can do to stop it. with just nine days before the senate is expected to vote and leave for the july 4th holiday, no public sign of what's in the bill. >> if i don't get to read it, i don't vote for it. if i don't get to study it, i don't vote for it. >> reporter: washington lobbyists are seeing early drafts, but republican senators say they won't see the full bill until around breakfast time tomorrow. from there, where it goes comes down to a handful of republicans. it won't pass if only three vote no. robert portman of ohio is at the center of a critical piece of the negotiations, how to help people struggling with opioid addiction. >> some people are getting treatment currently under expanded medicaid in particular, which is a change in the afford

kasie, what are you hearing on the hill? >> reporter: we talked briefly and i have not talked yet to any of the republicans that we consider to be key votes on this measure and instead we're getting people basically ducking our cameras. john mccain, richard burr refused to say anything. we did speak to senator pat roberts of kansas and he said this was a difficult bill under difficult circumstances but that he wants to move forward with this. i think -- >> let me stop you for a second -- >> reporter: we are sifting -- go ahead. >> chuck schumer -- this will happen all day i think. chuck schumer is speaking on the senate floor. >> under the senate bill, republicans will take millions off their medicaid coverage and then starting in 2025, the plan will institute even more medicaid cuts and each year those cuts get deeper than the year before. within ten years of this new funding system, the cuts to medicaid could total hundreds of billions of dollars above the more than 800 billion the house bill already cuts from the program.

>> kasie hunt at the capitol, thank you. >>> now to the scandal that is rocking the very top levels of the vatican. one of pope francis's top advisers, cardinal george pell, third-ranking official in the holy see, is facing sexual abuse charges. he says he's innocent, and we get details from nbc's kelly cobiella at the vatican for us tonight. >> reporter: he's the third most powerful man at the vatican, but tonight cardinal george pell is a defendant in a criminal case. >> i'm innocent of these charges. they are false. >> reporter: police making the bombshell announcement in pell's native australia overnight. >> cardinal pell is facing multiple charges in respect to historic sexual offenses, and there are multiple complainants relating to those charges. >> reporter: the cardinal is now taking a leave of absence. the vatican said pope francis regretted news of the charges for decades-old actions. the detail of the charges against pell haven't been made public because of a gag order in australia, and aside from the morning statement the cardinal himself, who lives here just steps from th

here's nbc's kasie hunt on how it all played out. >> reporter: after seven years of promising to repeal and replace obamacare, a stunning delay and a major blow to president trump and his republican party. they don't have the votes in the senate. >> we will not be on the bill this week, but we're still working towards getting at least 50 people in a comfortable place. >> reporter: republican leader mitch mcconnell retreating after he had promised over and over again he'd hold a vote before july 4th. mr. leader, is your effort to repeal obamacare dead? >> no. no. we're continuing to talk about it. it's a very complicated subject. >> reporter: a complicated bill written in secret, released to the public just five days ago to immediate outcry. first from conservatives who said it didn't go far enough. >> i just didn't run on obamacarelite. >> then moderate republicans worried about deep medicaid cuts. >> not the answer. it's simply not the answer. >> reporter: the non-partisan congressional budget office estimated 22 million more people would lose health coverage under the bill. still, the

kasie hunt has details. >> reporter: forget public hearing and months of debate, republican senators are deciding the fate of health care coverage for millions. over lunch behind closed doors, twice a week on the second floor of the capital. they are supposed to vote on the obamacare repeal bill in the next two weeks but right now the process shrouded in secrecy. >> if you get a copy, will you send me a copy? >> reporter: the man that will carry it out needs a copy, too. >> you haven't seen it? >> reporter: democratic lear mitch mcconnell says the gop has no plans to hold. senate republicans are rewriting a house bill that barely passed last month but this week the president told senators the house bill is quote mean and moderate senators at fault. >> i cannot support a bill that terminates insurance for 23 million people who need it. >> reporter: they are trying to change it to get a majority of 50 votes, discussing keeping more of the medicaid expansion and protections for people with preexisting conditions. it matters for people like sarah, a breast cancer survivor. under the gop

nbc's kasie hunt brings us inside the ter: room. >> sittic in the same seat where fired fbi director james comey appeared just five days ago,o, today attorney general jeff sessions defiant, addressing the -- >> a suggestion that i i participated in any collusion that i was aware of any collusion c with the russian government to hurt this country, is an appalling and >> reporter: but the t sharpest moments, de democrats going after jegz for not answerings w questions about his conversation. >> you're impeding this investigation. >> sessions relyingw, on what he sauce was long-standing justified department practice about notst d revealing confidential>> information. >> i am not the stonewalling. i'm falling the historicc policies of or is the ifte department of justice. theor >> reporter: he made the palace -- don't't leave me alone. after comey says the president directed him to drop the michael flynn investigation. >>>> c denying that he th claimed silent. >> id believe the next day it was expressing concern about being left alone with the president that in itself is notot problemati

lester. >> kasie hunt tonight, thank you. >>> while all that was playing out today, the future of the special counsel in the investigation has been called into question. will he stay on the job or not? this comes after a friend of the president says he thinks mr. trump is considering removing mueller. we get the latest from white house correspondent kristen welker. >> reporter: president trump under fire among that he is considering firing robert mueller. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: the suggestion raised by the president's long time friend, chris rudy, the white house saying rudy never spoke directly to the president about mueller. rudy acknowledging that but doubling down. >> you read the art of the deal, keep all your options open. do i think he will actually fire him? no. i do think it has been an option? yes. >> reporter: is it because of top officials at the white house? >> i already said i will not reveal who my sources are but i felt confident saying it. >> reporter: republicans say getting rid of mueller could be devastating after james comey firing. >> i think the be

our coverage starts with nbc's kasie hunt. >> reporter: health care for 22 million people hanging in the balance. that's how many could lose coverage in the next decade over the senate healthcare bill. according to the congressional budget office. for the senators deciding how to vote, it's millions more uninsured than many had hoped. >> if you're on the fence, i'm not so sure this report helps you much. >> obviously, it's not good news, and so it will have to be a factor. >> reporter: brian schatz tweeting cbo confirms this thing is a bleep sandwich. the cuts to medicaid will help save $321 billion over the next ten years. that gives mitch mcconnell more room to negotiate even as he faces protest in the ranks. >> i'd like to delay the thing. no way we should vote on this next week. >> reporter: ron johnson is one of five republicans who say they'll vote no without changes. only three no votes would sink the bill. and many are still undecided. are you a yes on the healthcare bill vote? have you decided yet? >> no, i read it this weekend. there's still focusing on it. >> reporter: the