kasie, the developments here coming constantly.om susan collins, but it is important. right? >> that's right, hallie. we were anticipating this is what she is going to say. significant. she is now on the record saying she is going to continue to oppose what republicans have been trying to do in repealing and replacing and now just repealing obamacare. she came out and said, look, i'm going to be a no on that vote to open debate on the house bill. this is mcconnell's plan to get to a repeal only vote. that the vote the president has been calling for and rand paul calling for. that is our first official no vote. we spoke to a number of moderate senators and people on the fence. so far most have been noncommittal. rob portman wouldn't say one way or the other how to vote. allowing the process to start to unfold, but he did say he doesn't support the house bill. and that things have changed since 2015 when they first,er when they voted on this version of -- >> i'll cut you off kasie hunt. mike pence talking about health care. >> not tr

kasie, stand by. kristen welker, also stand by for me if you can.ant to bring in senator chris van holland, democrat from maryland. senator, were you able to hear the president's comments there? >> i was. and it's very clear, the president has not read the senate republican bill. because it doesn't do any of the things he said it would do. which is why you have all the people who are a part of our medical system opposed to this bill. the doctors, the nurses, the hospitals. every patient advocacy group. the american cancer society. the american diabeties association, alzheimer's association. all of them. they're not republicans or democrats. and they're against this bill. so the american people are on to this bill. no amount of selling something that's a real stinker is going to persuade the american people to come on board. as we just heard, only 12% support it. and frankly, i haven't found those 12%, even though i've gone to trump territory in the state of maryland. so on this bill, even those who supported trump, i think see it as a betrayal. >> s

kasie hunt with us on capitol hill. kristen welker at the white house and eli stokols and politico susan glasser. kasie hunt, first to you at capitol hill. what is mcconnell's sort of last-ditch effort to salvage any sort of -- i can't even use the word "win" but to salvage anything out of this bust? >> salvage something, yeah. it looks -- there was a very contentious lunch here this afternoon where there was a lot of disagreement and argument about whether or not they should have a vote on this repeal-only plan. mcconnell came out to the microphones. first he said, yes, we're going to vote, then he said it was likely we're going to vote, then he said this is where i think the majority of my members are. it seems like there was a lot of disagreement about whether they should all be forced to go on the record about whether obamacare should be straight-up repealed. it seems like there are still developments ongoing here. they are scrambling to try to figure out what the plan would be, could be, are there other options. la

david nakamura, kasie hunt, appreciate it. here is more of what president trump had to say about the failed health care bill. well, they were not disloyal. they had their own reasons. i was very surprised when the two folks came out last night because we thought they were in fairly good shape, but they did. and, you know, everybody has their own reason. but if you really think about it, you look at it, and we have 52 people. we had no democrat support, which is really, you know, something that should be said. we should have had democrats vote. it was a great plan for a lot of people. we had no democrats aboard. we are 52 people. we had four noes. we might have had another one somewhere in there but essentially the vote would have been pretty close to, you look at it, 48-4. that's a pretty impressive vote by any standard. >> democratic senator maria cantwell of washington state joins us. she sits on the health care subcommittee for the senate finance committee. you just heard from the president. he said this would have been a r

our correspondent there, kasie hunt. kasie, where does this go from here? >> reporter: lester, the white house is taking a victory lap on this tonight. republican leaders acknowledge that they can't spike the football. that this is just the beginning. it's still a mystery exactly what is going to happen to americans' health insurance. there's a few options and there's going to be a lot of posturing this week on the senate floor. they plan to take a vote on that repeal-only bill that would repeal without replacing obamacare. but they know that that can't pass. they also plan to vote on that massive repeal and replace package, but they also know that they likely don't have the support for that either. so what happens? they're going to have to cobble together something narrower, a deal to simply repeal obamacare mandates, and potentially eliminate attacks on medical devices. but it's not clear that they can even make that deal. lester? >> kasie hunt at the capital, thanks. >>> president trump worked up his own drama in washington today off the fate of his atto

. >> kasie hunt is joining us from capitol hill.you get a little on camera punk from paul ryan. i have heard that the democrats have things they can do to make sure that a recess appointment isn't even an option by not allowing the senate to go into recess. can you explain that and whether or not they're actually talking about having to deploy that if a recess appointment for a new ag becomes a reality? >> sure. i mean, look i have to say, i'm a little skeptical about a recess appointment because the reality i don't think it would be allowed in any way for a couple of reasons. first of all, the procedure that you're describing has become the norm. so the senate if they stay in session they're not technically in recess. and that's been standard operating procedure since barack obama was president really and a little bit more that. in this particular case it's not just democrats that are forcing that. either party can do it, any senator can force it. republicans are on board. they took a stand under the obama administration when he tr

kasie hunt with us as well.you we've gone back and forth a little bit today. i want you to go through what you did with me all of the questions that remain unanswered for you after reading jared kushner 11 page statement and after hearing from him today at the white house. >> so i'll pretend i'm an investigator for the senate intelligence committee or the house committee tomorrow. here are the things he still has to answer. number one, regarding that june 2016 meeting, he says he was bored or it wasn't of interest to him. what if they had come with the goods, they had come with substantial russian government support, either dirt on hillary clinton, would he have stuck around? would he have played ball? i think he has to answer that question. >> can i stop you right there? isn't that a worse scenario than the meeting actually being about adoption and -- isn't that a worse fact for him to say i was only there for dirt on hillary from russia. when i found out it was about adoption i bailed. >> totally. i think a mu

"kelly o'donnell, kasie hunt, thanks to you, as well. hugh hewitt, conservative radio talk show host, msnbc political analyst and host of a show here on saturday mornings. i wake up with him. and liz smith, democratic strategist. let me start, hugh, where chuck left off, which is that, look, already many of the things that the president -- president trump has gotten accomplished is to sign these executive orders and roll back things like climate change, other areas that obama put into place. but in terms of a party and in terms of what health care represents, and the whole idea that it was about getting rid of this, where does this leave health care and republicans right now? >> i think it leaves obamacare exactly where it is, churning through the democratic party with ten very vulnerable democratic senators who came from states that donald trump won up for re-election. and it's their worst nightmare in some respects. because lisa murkowski and john mccain, yeah, they did brand the republicans as people who will not deliver what they cam

kasie, we've got at least six republicans at this point. and these are the six -- i think we have a picture of them. these are the six who are undecided on the bill this afternoon. where do things stand now? where do they go from here? >> so that picture, craig, shows five moderate senators who have concerns, plus mike lee, a conservative. and we have been reporting that the president did call some senators from paris. we're working on exactly who that is. but based on the fact that mark meadows, the later of the freedom caucus, was aware of it, it's suggested it's conservatives. we know he has not spoken to rob portman. he's not spoken to lisa murkowski yet. so it looks like mitch mcconnell has been charged with trying to figure out how to get these moderates to stick together. stick with him. and that's rob portman, concerned about medicaid. it's really remarkable at this point it has held together. he has lost susan collins and rand paul, but so far the rest of the 50 are still hanging together and not out there in public saying negative

meanwhile, kasie hunt has been getting reaction on capitol hill.isten to what ted cruz had to say about this. >> washington is obsessed right now. it is the democratic talking point du jour. when i go back to texas, nobody asks about russia. you know how many questions i got on russia? zero. outside people are focused on obamacare, they are focused on tax reform and want to see a simple flat tax and abolishing the irs and regulatory reform. they want to see the federal regulations killing jobs lifted so we can have more jobs and opportunity. so it's just worth keeping in mind the absolute disconnect between the obsession of the washington media and where the american people are -- >> you're not concerned about possible collusion, the russians interfered with the election and that's the intelligence community -- >> you're being very persistent and i suppose that's your job. but let me point out the american people want the president to succeed. one of the saddest things to see is the president was traveling overseas to europe was meeting with our al

kasie, walk us through this health care thing. now more time for the opposition to go after that threat. what is mitch mcconnell going to do here? >> well, hallie, the question rests on senator john mccain and his office saying he will spend this week in arizona recovering but telling "new york times" this could be more serious than initially appears. they might have to delay it even further. so, of course, thoughts with the senator for a speedy recovery. however, it is going is to impact what's happening here on capitol hill. and, look, you're right that this is something that everyone up here, the quote comes from lindsey graham. it's not like fine wine. this thing does not get better with time. that is, you know, that is the challenge that they're facing now. they've already put this off one week. they're going to have to watch and see how mccain does before they make any final decisions. what that means is that we may get more information from the congressional budget office about what this bill will include. you'll remember t

kasie, let me start with you. a lot of people have been saying they think a delay in the vote increases the odds -- decreases the odds they can have success with this. tell us a little bit about what you're hearing on capitol hill. >> reporter: well, chris, look. i think that the sense is that mitch mcconnell is hanging on by a thread here. he's essentially telling his members, keep your powder dry. don't come out against this thing and kill it before it has even a chance to succeed. there is a sense that if he is able to get this on the senate floor, the calculus will change a little bit. and that, of course, is that critical vote to open debate that we have talked so much about. but, look, the speed with which the leadership reacted to this announcement from mccain, i think there are a lot of people here who are very worried about mccain's health. everyone very hopeful, of course, that he does recover well, and returns. i think that's true for people on both sides of the aisle. but i think that how quickly the l

kasie, walk us through this thing. break it down. what's happening today? and do republicans have the votes to pass this latest hurdle? >> reporter: well, craig, we are outside here waiting for republican senators including john mccain. we anticipate in a couple of hours. right now republicans are walking into the capitol for that lunch meeting where they will talk about exactly how they are going to proceed here with this health care vote. we see senator john thune right over there on his way in. he of course a member of leadership. there have been some positive signs from leadership this morning that might point to this motion to proceed potentially going over a little bit better than maybe we thought this morning. rand paul tweeted this morning senate majority leader informed me the plan for today is to take um the 2015 clean repeal bill as i have urged. if that's the plan, i will vote to proceed to have this vote. i also believe we will be able to defeat the new spending bailouts. now, that is sort of a veiled reference to the big obamacare repeal and r

stan stand by, kasie, let's go to kristen at the white house. i don't know there's any truth that barron trump will be subpoenaed -- >> clearly the president is trying to be humorous. >> to the earlier point stephanie made, is there any sense of why this jeff sessions stuff has developed new heat to it? it was no see kretd he recused himself months ago. what's happened? why is the president all about this this week? >> reporter: i think, steph hits on a important point, this is clearly getting under the president's skin. russian investigation takes up the headlines and jared kushner, other campaign officials on capitol hill being called to testify and so i think he is feeling the heat and growing increasingly frustrated and feeling as though it is overshadowing his broader agenda. the question becomes, what's going to happen with attorney general jeff sessions, he's made clear he's not stepping down. he was at the white house yesterday and didn't meet with the president. but what exactly is going to happen here? the president continues to be tak

kasie hunt standing by for us on the hill. what else if anything did the vice president have to say? >> reporter: did not say anything else on camera, obviously. he's behind closed doors with republican senators where they are talking about health care. but i do want to share with you a statement that his office has now put out on the record from a spokesman about this meeting that donald trump jr. had with the russian lawyer with government ties. they say, "the vice president is working every day to advance the president's agenda. he was not aware of the meeting. he is also not focused on stories about the campaign, especially those pertaining to the time before he joined the campaign." i want to draw your attention to that last line, essentially saying, look, my hands are off of this, and i think that tells you quite a bit about how the vice president views what has gone on here and the distance he seems to be putting between himself and the president, very careful but very specific distance nonetheless. and i think very muc

>> kasie hunt at the capitol. thank you. >>> thousands of police officers converge in a church in new york to remember an officer assassinated by a gunman last week. the 48-year-old mother of three was only the third woman in the new york city police department to be killed in the line of duty. nbc's ron allen tonight with the emotional tribute. >> i love you, mom. >> reporter: officer familia's three children, mourning their mom. >> words can't explain how i feel right now. >> reporter: hailed as a hero. thousands of officers from across the country and as far away as australia, paying their respects to a girl from the neighborhood, the youngest of ten. first to graduate college. always determined to serve. first, nursing, and later in her 30s realizing her dream of becoming a cop. murdered the night of the fourth of july in a police command vehicle by an ex con on patrol who police say was mentally ill and angry at cops. >> i want her legacy to be full of love. love is what we have to do. >> reporter: familia is

>> kasie hunt thank you. the collapse of the health care plan is failing to deliver on a key campaign promise, with other items on the agenda stalled and the fights don't get any easier from here, as our chief white house hallley jackson reports. >> reporter: the buck stops somewhere else. >> i'm not going to own it. >> reporter: that's despite gop control of the white house and both chambers of congress, and despite the president's 2013 tweet on leadership. quote, whatever happens, you're responsible. if it doesn't happen, you're responsible. >> i can tell you the republicans are not going to own it. >> reporter: it's been months since president trump hit the road to talk about the republican push to repeal and replace obamacare. never really selling the latest plan, with most americans never really backing it. not even in places that propelled the president to his election night win, so-called trump counties. there, only 12% of people supported the gop health care plan. including just one in four trump vote

>> nbc's kasie hunt. thank you for that. want to bring in the house minority whip, congressman steny hoyer. let's start with health care if we can, congressman. obviously it's not just mitch mcconnell under pressure. he's putting pressure on his members. the white house, the president putting pressure on their members. what's your sense there on the ground? can mitch mcconnell hold on to his votes? >> i don't think so. one update that i've had that i think kasie said that portman said he was undecided, portman is being reported by the "national journal" as saying he's no on the motion to proceed and no on the bill as it stands. i'm not surprised at that. the changes that senator mcconnell has made still put at substantial risk millions of people in terms of their health care coverage. it doesn't -- it puts at risk pre-existing conditions being covered. it puts at risk a lifetime in annual limits maybe reinstated. as kasie pointed out, this cruz/lee al tern goi-o-i-n-g to lead to people who have any kind of an illness to only

kasie. >> thanks so much.d luck today asking questions that use language that the nuns would approve of. i want to go to both of you. kathryn, you have written quite a bit about reince priebus. how do you think he does in this survivor white house? >> he's in a very difficult situation. it was interesting one person we didn't hear from yesterday after this new yorker story dropped like a bomb was reince priebus. we really have not heard from him much in recent days. he is someone, in this white house, the president likes having a lot of people in influi influential people. there's a lot of senior aides and mid level people who have walk in privileges. he's been in a position where it's hard for him to control these moving parts but the arrival of scaramucci elevates his problems. he's there saying he has a direct line to the president. he can fire people and has been directly threatening priebus. >> the breitbart conservative outlet had a headline saying there is now the scaramucci show. is there any risk for

kasie hunt is nbc's capitol hill correspondent.asie, i couldn't help but notice your tweet this morning where you said today will be one of those days where you get a front-row seat to history. what do you mean? >> reporter: well, steph, this is going to be a historic day on capitol hill. we very rarely go into really any vote on the senate floor let alone one as potentially far reaching in impact as repealing the health care law without knowing what's going to happen. and right now we just don't know where the votes are going to come out and obviously you have the added drama of john mccain, a bona fide war hero, coming back to the hill right after starting this battle with brain cancer, so we are waiting of course for him to get up here. and potentially cast the deciding vote to start debate on this repeal. this really is do or die for republicans and a campaign promise they've been making for seven-plus years. it's going to stay a lot about mitch mcconnell. he has so much on the line today. he has a reputation as being a legisla

kasie? >> reporter: that's right, andrea. i have not known senator mccain for nearly as long as you have, but i can tell you halls of this place would not be the same without him. i think he is very much a force and a presence that makes a real difference around here every day in a lot of different ways. so obviously i think everyone here both sides of the aisle very much holing him in their thoughts and prayers as he recovers from this. >> one other word about him. he has been working nonstop. this armed services chairman has taken on himself with some of his colleagues to circumnavigate the globe in the last six months just to try to reassure allies that this new president is not as uncertain about, you know, military and foreign policy as he sometimes signals on twitter. so he has been a reassuring influence around the world for months and months since this election. >> reporter: and absolutely indefatigable as well. ask lindsey graham, a much younger man, what it's like to keep up with john mccain's schedule when he goes

kasie hunt, nbc news, new york. >>> there is concerning news tonight about congressman steve scalise, who was wounded last month when a gunman opened fire during congressional republicans baseball practice. scalise underwent surgery today to treat an infection after he had to be readmitted to the intensive care unit at a washington, d.c., hospital. officials there saying the procedure went well, but he remains in serious condition tonight. >>> there is a dangerous combination of scorching heat and raging wildfires across several states in the west tonight where a large earthquake also struck today. first responders facing a number of unfolding emergencies including mandatory evacuations now in colorado. nbc national correspondent miguel almaguer with what's at stake. >> reporter: this is what crews call unprecedented fire conditions -- flames leaping 125 feet into the air wednesday. so close to homes in breckenridge, colorado, evacuations remain in effect for 463 homes. >> we were on alert, yes. and we're still on alert. >> reporter: today some progress and relief for jay beckerman wh

>> i think what kasie was saying is key. this gets into a really arcane procedural stuff. >> exciting. you know i love arcane procedural stuff. >>> i eel try to make it as unarcane as i can. but think about this, the whole debate this summer, you have a bill that passed the house and a lot of people in the house said the senate will eventually change it. that's how they got republicans to go along with it there. then you hit the logjam because their own folks would not vote to bring that house bill um to even start debate on it. well, if you want to go the route that mitch mcconnell wants to go right now, he needs to bring that house bill that he couldn't get the votes for, he's got to bring that up. that's got to become the starting point. a, you have to get republicans, you have to get basically consensus from republicans, that you know what, that thing we would haven't a debate on, we'll have a debate on it. then you have to do this amendment that kasie is talking about, a whole question of whether they could get consensu

you know who may know, kasie hunt on the hill for us. answers or am i putting you in a bad spot here. forcing you an answer that senators don't even know for sure. >> hallie, right now influx with this. we know the leader said earlier this week for a vote there's nothing in the reporting i've done this morning that suggests that that plan has been altered in any significant way at this point. just to clarify and he'll speak typically early in the week, mid-week means wednesday and and if i think if you were to see a vote tomorrow, i wouldn't necessarily be surprised. but, again, we don't know exactly yet what is on the schedu schedule. now, what we do know is that leadership is pressing their rank and file members to vote to allow debate on health care in some form. that, of course, is with this procedural motion is all about. take a look at how john thune put it over the weekend on one of the sunday shows. >> whether which camp you're in you can't have a debate about either unless we get on the bill. we need a yes vote. that's the only

>> kasie hunt at the capitol tonight, thank you. >>> russia is retaliating against the u.s. for the new sanctions passed by congress over the kremlin's meddling in the 2016 election. while president trump has yet to say whether he will sign or veto those sanctions, moscow has already responded by seizing u.s. diplomatic properties. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel has more. >> reporter: from above it hardly looks like the kind of place to be at the center of a diplomatic row between washington and the kremlin, but the russian government said today it's seizing this unassuming retreat for american diplomats and a storage facility the embassy uses. the american country house outside moscow is now gated shut, and over the next month and a half, russia says it will be sending hundreds of americans home. putting a cap on the number of americans who can serve in this country at 455, the exact number of russian diplomats who serve in the u.s. it's russia's punishment for sanctions passed overwhelmingly by congress. >> the united states of america needs to send a stro

nbc's kasie hunt tonight on what's in the bill and what's not. >> reporter: senate republicans with no room for error tonight. hours after unveiling a new healthcare bill, two gop senators have already said they won't vote for it. >> this bill doesn't repeal obamacare. >> i've been very vocal about my concerns. >> reporter: senator majority leader mitch mcconnell has to convince every one of the 50 remaining republicans to vote yes or the bill fails. what's your bet on whether mitch mcconnell can pull this off? >> well, he's good. he's pulled more than one rabbit out of the hat. >> reporter: to try and win over moderates still on the fence, the new bill includes $45 billion to fight the opioid epidemic, $70 billion more to stabilize insurance markets and help lower income americans pay for care and keeps some of obamacare's taxes on wealthy americans. >> everybody is looking for an idea that is more republican and does not run into the concept you're taking money from poor people to give it to rich people. >> reporter: but the new bill doesn't restore any of the deep medicaid cuts. and

nbc's kasie hunt reports on the big incentives being offered to some. >> reporter: the new republican healthcare bill hanging on by a thread. now sewn together with backroom deals. the bayou bailout, sunshine sellout and the polar payoff, each aimed at a single republican senator still on the fence about whether to vote yes to repeal and replace obamacare. >> i'm not going to make any decisions on procedure or process until i've done my homework here. >> reporter: senator lisa murkowski was a no on the last draft, but this version tweaks a formula to give alaska special access to a $132 billion pot of money. 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 governo

kasie talked about whether democrats come to the table.n working group but the big wild card here is donald trump. and at the white house yesterday, after this news broke that the health care bill was dead, trump himself said that he wanted to let obamacare fail. and as someone who administers the health care law, the hhs, cms department, there's operational control they can have to facilitate the failure. if you step back an think about it it's a political strategy with a great morality deficit. essentially what they're saying is we'll allow people to suffer in the individual market, potentially in medicaid, so that we can compel democrats to come to the negotiating table and they're being overt about it saying this is the strategy and we hope that democrats feel enough pain that they come and negotiate. i don't see how this works. if you're out there declaring that's a strategy, how then do you pin it on the democrats? >> coming up on "morning joe," president trump held three hours of meetings with vladimir putin and never once was there

nbc's kasie hunt reports on big incentives some are being offered. >>> the new republican health care bill hanging on by a thread, now sewn together with back room deals, bayou bailout, sunshine sellout and polar payoff. each aimed at a republican senator on the fence about voting yes on republican health care. >> i'm not going to make any decisions on procedur here. >> senator krakowski was no on the last draft. this version tweaks a formula to give alaska special access to $132 billion pot of money. florida has a special carve out for marco rubio, and so does louisiana for bill cassidy. 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. we'll see. >> reporter: with two republicans opposed, mcconnell can't lose any more republican votes if he wants to keep the bill. vice president mike pence pitching republican governors worried about losing medicaid money. >> this your chance. the senate health care bill restores medicaid to its original purpos

kasie hunt has more. >> after seven years of making promises, the republican effort to repeal and replace obamacare is dead. >> when we finally get a chance to repeal and replace, they don't take advantage of it so that's disappointing. >> this has been a challenging experience for all of us. it's pretty obvious we don't have 50 members who can degree on a replacement. >> mitch mcconnell's new plan to vote to repeal without a replacement is already in trouble. three women republicans announced before lunchtime they were opposed with just 52 republicans in the senate, it's on track to fail. >> you are not on board with mitch mcconnell's new plan here? >> i do not support the new plan. i think it has many of the same flaws as the old plan. >> reporter: obamacare's individual insurance market has struggled with premiums up 20% just in the last year. >> let obamacare fail. it will be a lot easier. i think we're probably in that position where we'll just let obamacare fail. >> reporter: what would that mean for the 12 million americans who buy their insurance on the individual markets? the tur

nbc's kasie hunt has a reality check at the six-month mark. >> reporter: the promises were bold -- >> i guarantee we're going to build that wall. repealing and replacing obamacare. rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels. >> reporter: and the claims are brash. >> never has there been a president, with few exceptions, in the case of fdr, he had a major depression to handle -- who has passed more legislation, who has done more things than what we're doing. >> reporter: but what's the reality for president trump halfway through his first year in office? in a word, it's been tumultuous. within days of his swearing in, president trump signed executive orders temporarily banning immigrants from six predominantly muslim countries. pulling the u.s. out of the trans-pacific partnership. ordering the construction of a wall on the border with mexico. the travel ban was quickly blocked by the courts, though months later the supreme court upheld most of it. >> a partial victory for the administration. >> reporter: sitting on that court was associate justice neil gorsuch appointed by president trump

we get the latest from nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt. >> we all know this is likely to be a very long night. >> reporter: voting is under way tonight as senate republicans try to pass something, anything, that would roll back parts of obamacare. the pressure so intense republicans are preparing to vote yes on a skinny repeal bill on the condition it never becomes law. >> not only do we not replace obamacare. we politically own the collapse of health care. i'd rather get out of the way and let it collapse than have a half-ass approach where it is now our problem. >> reporter: president trump egging them on on twitter but also reportedly issuing threats. "the alaska dispatch news" writing the trump administration threatened to punish alaska after republican senator lisa murkowski voted against debating health care. >> i'm a pretty, pretty strong and independent individual. i listen to the input from all sides. >> reporter: tonight republicans are worried the skinny bill would have an outsize impact. the plan would repeal the individual mandate to buy insurance and part

kasie hunt, let's go to what happened on capitol hill with health care.ell, what went down? >> well, you saw them take and it was set up as this giant moment, let's not lose sight of the fact that this really was simply to start talking about how to repeal health care on the senate floor. mccain obviously hugely the focus, very emotional just going through with john meacham and he essentially argued, look, we're not doing anything here. and i think he captured very much the feeling among republican that the senate is really stuck. now, what's going to happen next, they are going to start talking about this. overnight there were nine republicans that voted against what's called the bcra. essentially their big deal they've been working on for weeks, it would have taken 60 votes to pass. it didn't. we're expecting today they'll take a vote that will be an amendment, a clean repeal, leaders don't believe they have the votes for that either. they would need 50 votes. there's still this open question about what's going to happen next. it seems they're going to

>> kasie hunt at the capitol tonight, thanks. >>> tonight, six weeks since he was critically wounded by a gunman on a baseball field in virginia, house majority whip steve scalise is out of the hospital, after several surgeries and time spent in and out of intensive care. doctors say scalise has recovered to the point where he'll now transition to inpatient rehabilitation. >>> now to rising tensions between the u.s. and north korea and also between the white house and the state department amid concerns that kim jong-un's regime could launch another missile test as soon as this week and even develop a nuclear-capable missile by next year, secretary of state rex tillerson who has had tough words for kim jong-un, is firing back at rumors he might be on his way out amid friction with the president. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has that story. >> reporter: tonight an alarming new intelligence assessment on north korea warning the regime could have a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the u.s. mainland as early as next year, two years sooner than previously though

nbc's kasie hunt has the latest for us tonight. >> don't kill us! >> reporter: republicans feeling the heat over healthcare. activists staging loud protests in more than a dozen house and senate offices. at least 80 demonstrators arrested. republicans still huddling behind closed doors, trying to thread the needle between conservatives who say the first draft of the bill wouldn't fully repeal obamacare and moderates who thought it went too far to slash medicaid. congressional sources tell nbc news they're hoping to reas to sweeten the deal for both sides, but moderate republican senator susan collins telling nbc news today that's not good enough. >> i don't think we can fix this bill by doing a tweak here or a trim there. it needs a complete overhaul. >> reporter: collins is under pressure from both sides, liberal groups spending millions on the airwaves. >> so when you vote on the new healthcare bill, think about what's right for maine. >> reporter: back in washington, the president tweeting this morning, i cannot imagine that congress would dare t