i want to try and track down senator susan collins and lisa murkowski to ask them about the planned parenthood provisions. it looks like this does defund planned parenthood that is something they had previously said might be a nonstarter. so, again, just trying to gather reaction initially here in the first hours after this has been released, but so far i would say more skeptics and more potential problems than there is praise. >> and, casey, interestingly, on the conservative side, as well

to chairman lisa murkowsky, chairman lamar alexander, chairman mike simpson, all the distinguished members of congress and honored guests who are here. welcome to a new era of american energy. a new era in american energy dominance. and welcome to an era defined by the pro energy leadership of president donald trump. we're gathered here today as further evidence of president donald trump knows that affordable abundant and reliable energy is the foundation of american prosperity. in fact since today one of the administration president trump has taken decisive action to unleash the unlimited potential of america's energy resources and we're just getting started. in one of his first acts, president trump approved the keystone and dakota pipeline and the dakota pipeline is up and running and the keystone isn't far behind. under the leadership of this president, cole mines are actually reopening in america. cole miners are going back to work and the war on coal is over. president trump's been rolling back the clean power plan, he's opening the way for more offshore drilling and president donald

about being rolten to the core, but didn't hear as much desperation from him as i heard from lisa murkowski to solve a problem. i wonder, where you think this center is? i think that senator murkowski and collins and portman, some -- it's not fair to call them all moderates but they were worried about the medicaid cuts and reforms. i wonder if you think there is in potential for a gang of eight compromise to happen around health care reform or if you think republicans are sort of committed to their policy position as sort of the party line democrats are to theirs? >> look, nicole, you're right. really, the senate is a very spontaneous place. mitch mcconnell has the tistle fl leader and these members can do what they want. if they are mode rat republicans who want to work with democrats encome up with their own version of things, they can do it at any time they want. if you ask the right question, are they united on making changes or united to making sure there's nothing done that baekens obama care, republicans know they want to do it, just don't know if they agree on the best way to do it.

lisa murkowski, rob portman, shelly moore capito, these are not moderates.servatives, but what they're indicating at least right now is some concern about what impact the bill is going to have on their constituents. lisa murkowski understands that in alaska there are thousands and thousands of people who depend on the affordable care act for their health care. shelly moore capito understands there are hundreds of thousands of people in west virginia who benefit from medicaid expansion so they can get treatment for opioid addiction. so they are in a position where they're susceptible to changing their votes because they actually care what impact the bill will have on their constituents. all these other republican members of the united states senate right now are demonstrating a commitment to ideology and giving tax cuts to the wealthy over the interests of their constituents. >> all right. we'll take a break. it's extraordinary. i spoke to a member of president trump's team last night who said we need to focus on our agenda, our agenda is what is winning thes

lisa murkowski of alaska. dead silent. then they were saying, by the way, i was against that bill. what do you make of that? >> not exact it will examples of history making courage. i think they knew if it would get pulled, they should at least get credit for being against and it i think they want to be in a position to get something for their yes vote when we come back after the break. the danger here is that the expectations are so low, 22 million people, that's a humanitarian catastrophe. if they come back and have a cbo score that says they only uninsure 15 million people, that those senators you mention condition say they've gotten a victory. we have to remind people that the republicans, including those senators, promised they would replace obamacare with something better. not something worse. the expectations game will be really important. >> i want to get your opinion on this. she seemed to have a willness to work democrats in a genuinely collaborative fashion. >> you still have folks had your choouks want to repeal obamacare root and branch. you have other folks saying may

especially for the moderate senators like susan collins and lisa murkowski.would deplan parenthood through medicaid reimbursements. just as it is tough for them, conservatives, it is tough for them for it to stay in the bill. you can see this being a last-minute point of contention for passing the final health care bill. >> benji, maybe we'll talk tomorrow again after looking at the article. that will do it for me at this hour. up next, "velshi & ruhle." see you back at the top of the hour at 1:00 p.m. eastern. eye drop approved for both the signs and symptoms of dry eye. one drop in each eye, twice a day. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. remove contacts before using xiidra and wait at least 15 minutes before reinserting. chat with your eye doctor about xiidra. and you're about in to hit 'send all' on some embarrassing gas. hey, you bought gas-x®! unlike antacids, gas-x ® relieves pressure and bloating fast. huh,

his colleague lisa murkowski was very impressed today. let's watch. >> would you be a pro possibility to make sure we start over? >> absolutely. the congress of the united states, whether you're a republican or democrat in the house or the jat, shouldn't we all be working together as a part of who we are as americans? we said no, we won't talk to democrats about a fix. we should be working on the other side of the aisle. >> that's the very impressive lisa murkowski. >> we're willing to talk about making sure that we deep premiums low. we're willing to talk about making sure people with pre-existing conditions are covered. but i'm not going to negotiate from a low point. i'm not going to negotiate, do we cut medicaid by $800 billion or $600 billion. that's not acceptable. >> today speaker paul ryan said the stake for republicans couldn't be higher. >> newt gingrich said if republicans get health care wrong, they lose the house. do you feel there's that much at stake? >> i feel it is the biggest signature issue we have. and it is the bigges

lisa murkowski, while she does not know when it started, i will tell you when.he day after barack obama was inaugurated or the day of the inauguration, when mcconnell said that he was going to try and make this a one term president, and they all told their constituents, when the health care came out, not to sign up for it. the health-care bill, aca, what have worked if everyone had gotten into a pool. republicans who are complaining it, and voted against rallied and got these people all riled up to go against it, and now they are seeing they will be .uffering they're having townhall meetings, rallying for it. they voted against their own and i think the democrats should negotiate with the republicans. not only the democrats, it should be doctors, hospitals, the insurance companies, medical -- everyone should get into this. do not know if you -- you do not know who has the right solution includeou everyone. they need to talk and figure out what the problems are. we all of the executives of the insurance companies get millions a year, which is far and above what t

i saw a quote from lisa murkowski. i'm not going to vote for a bill.e for a bill she's not read. everyone will get a chance to read the bill but there has to be some time when people get together and try to drive a consensus and that's what's going on right now. they obviously verbatim reached that point. once they do reach a point where they feel comfortable, they'll put the bill out there. if the democrats allow it, they'll go through a committee process. if they threaten to shut things down, what does that mean? you probably have to bypass the committee because they won't get committees to form because the democrats will block it, so they could be complicit in not getting the bill more light of day. >> there is this argument that there are 52 republican senators and in order to get both the ted cruzes and mike lees on board with something and the lisa murkowskis and susan collins of the world, the negotiations do need to be done behind closed doors with only republicans watching. >> yeah, that's not a good argument. it's an argument based upon hypoc

i want to try and track down senator susan collins and lisa murkowski to ask them about the planned parenthood provisions. it looks like this does defund planned parenthood that is something they had previously said might be a nonstarter. so, again, just trying to gather reaction initially here in the first hours after this has been released, but so far i would say more skeptics and more potential problems than there is praise. >> and, casey, interestingly, on the conservative side, as well as on the moderate -- moderate republican side, ron johnson telling our cameras that he does not call this obamacare repeal. i'm an accountant, businessman, not repealing obamacare, what he and rand paul seemed to be talking about. at the white house, peter alexander, the president has just spoken, he was much less involved in this. taking sort of a back seat, maybe mike pence and others, on his behalf. but he is now going to be selling it hard. >> i think you're right. i think tactically we have seen a difference in terms of the way this us w the white house. the first go round, they had a series of meetin

you had lisa murkowski and susan collins. susan collins has been a pretty hard no on this because of the medicaid rollback. they go home, they talk to the people in their district. it's probably going to be a long week for a lot of them hearing from their people is how do you cobble a bill together that appeases both rand paul, who want complete repeal of obamacare, and susan collins, who has elements of obamacare she wants in her state. what does that bill look like and how do you get there? >> you just don't, mike barni e barnicle. ure nev-- you're never going to. you keep susan collins without losing the freedom caucus and other people in the house. >> this is the better care wr k reconciliation act. that's funny in its own term. after speaking to several staff members yesterday, more then a few of them republican, is that the president of the united states in this, the hallmark of his administration is a nonparticipant. >> they told him to stay out of the way, right? >> yes. and that is astounding when you think of it. th

soledad: as the gop leadership e bill, a trio of republican women could control its republicans lisa murkowski, susan collins, and shelley moore cap atl states alaska, maine, and west virgthe head lobbyist for the is a former staffer for senator it is so nice to hah your organization originally suppor the aca, unintended consequences.h >> there has been a lot of good thamerica. we support unlimited caps, and we support getting rid oconditig conditionsthe problem is the und are reallys the goal of the was to get affordability and rural america, and we almost hit a new news big insurance companies are pullousoledad: it's not just bee ofthere's not so many people ina >> it is that. it's also a challenging rural americans per capita are poorer, older, and sicker. it might not be an ideal population fcompanies to want ta needy population, vulnerable when the pullout of these americans.ey are leav deductibles are going up and rising faster, and premiu faste, as well. soledad: there's a crisis in ruin new york where i live, if this hospital closes, it's terrible, but there are 15 that is not the stor

listen to what alaska senator lisa murkowski, another key, moderate, outstanding senator told my colleague, dana bash. >> i don't have enough information. i don't have enough data in terms of the impact to my state to be able to vote in the affirmative. so i'm trying to get the information. this is big stuff. and so making sure that we get it right is something that i have said is an imperative. i don't think it's asking to much to say give us the time to fairly and critically analyze these numbers. these numbers that we're talking about, these are men and women. these are our families that are being impacted. let's, please, get it right. >> reporter: senator murkowski not the only ones raising questions. and on some positive note if you want to take one from the cbo score, it included the senate bill would have $321 billion in deficit savings over the course of a ten-year period. that's more than $2 hubbe00 bil from what the house had. they have to match what the house had in deficit reduction to move the bill forward in the u.s. senate. that means majority leader mitch mcconnell has abou

now we're hearing lisa murkowski say let's work with democrats. we heard mr.cconnell say they're not even working with us. do you think that's going to happen? or are they rallying from inside their own ranks? >> i think if the democrats come forward and work with republicans, it's going to be something very similar to what mitch mcconnell said yesterday after the meeting at the white house. you know, if we have to go to senator schumer and work with them, then the republicans are not going to like whatever we end up coming up with, because many of our, our mean republican ideas, will not be included. democrats, anything that involves repealing obamacare will not be on board with that. i think if the democrats do get on board it will be because republicans decided to nix the idea of repeal. and simply move forward with changing and improving, as democrats and republicans -- well, not republicans, have said, we need to this point. >> molly, let me ask you about an interesting dynamic played here. you heard lisa murkowski earlier make reference to the fact that

susan collins, dean heller lisa murkowski, it gives them a very clear out here.u don't get the benefit of the sort of good news of the cbo report and the bad news of the cbo report really impacts the people you need the most to get the picture. >> i'm not sure the people on the right are going to be that much, either. >> right, they feel it goes too far even now. >> and it's hard to find the silver lining in this because you can go to a voter who can say they've been bashing the affordable care act for seven years, and after seven years, this is the only plan they can come up with, the one the president of the united states calls mean? what will he call this one, a little less mean? there aren't too many super superlatives that people want to name this bill. i think it makes it all that much more head scratching. >> the president had that reception in the rose garden when the house republican bill passed. now he has confirmed that, yes, the house bill was mean, even though house speaker paul ryan said he was misunderstood, he didn't really believe that. house spe

. >> lisa murkowski tweeting, "stop it, the presidential platform should be used for more than bringing people down." senator ben sass of nebraska, one of the first to come out strong, "please just stop. this isn't normal. and it's beneath the dignity of your office." others like senator susan collins and house speaker paul ryan criticizing the president for making a remark so ugly not long after saying everyone should be more kind and civil. >> the president did speak eloquently after the shooting of the congressman and others at the congressional baseball game. that's why i was particularly surprise surprised to see him revert to this kind of language. he clearly recognized that he has a role to play in uniting and healing the country. unfortunately, he threw some gasoline on the embers. >> youbl i don't see that as an -- obviously i don't see that as an appropriate comment. what we're trying to do around here is improve the tone, the civility of the debate. this obviously doesn't help do that. >> mika brzezinski herself told the president with the picture of a cereal box and tag line

host: you mentioned lisa murkowski.n article today focusing on her and what it will take for her to get kind and it bill once it emerges. .t won't be easy she has been willing to break with party leaders in the past. republicans tote oppose the confirmation of betsy devos. she says i can't tell you where my vote is going to be. we will be watching the votes closely. it's being discussed today and we want to hear what your message would be to those senators as they undertake those discussions. al is in california. republican. good morning. caller: they've got to work together on this. was 775.5 my policy now it is 1658. it has gone up. host: where can they work together? caller: they have to do something. it's not working. i was canceled by united health care in 2015 because they said it was cheaper for me to get health care on my own than for them to carry me. and gave me my money back now i'm paying 1658 a month for me and my wife and that's $19,000 a year. me and my wife only make 72000 and year. and he is in owensbor

take a listen to what senator lisa murkowski said on alaska radio. >> yeah, i've got a proob with it.f i'm not going to see a bill before we have a vote on it, that's just not a good way to handle something that is as significant as an important as health care. >> those senator republicans, including lisa murkowski, including several who voiced these concerns are going to have to decide how to vote on this. republicans can only lose two of the 52 senators in their conference and still have an opportunity to pass it and the reality is this. they haven't solved these big problems b that they still have on these the yushl issues. and time is running out. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has made it clear to his counsel he wants to try and vote before lawmakers leave for the july fourth holiday. that gives him ten working days to try and get this done. where are democrats right now? they're upset, very upset. senate majority leader chuck schumer inviting mitch mcconnell, all republicans .all democrats to a meeting to have a lengthy discussion, negotiation, debate about health care.

you, he will, to need ted cruz and lisa murkowski? we will see how the numbers work out. want to back out on this a little bit. listen to what mitch mcconnell is asking his members to support. we know what this bill will do. it is pretty clear. you will see large coverage losses, 10-20,000,000. getwill see people will much higher deductible care. that's what people don't like about obamacare already. higher premiums because they are getting lower subsidies. so for any of them, it is very unclear if you have been listening to republican rhetoric what problems they are solving here. , you go to the think tanks and you talk to people you get a different story. but this bill, if it was actually incremented. you would see insurance markets collapse. they have no way to manage the risk pulls. you will see a lot of people leaving. a lot of people not affording what they had. they take the plan you get when you get subsidies which covers 70% and bring it down to 58%. they have more than a $7,000 to dockable. implementation of an unpopular plan. conventionalbeen a -- congressional

senator lisa murkowski from alaska, susan collins from maine. they are quite concerned about the medicaid cuts in the bill. who are pushing for more generous medicaid funding. on the other side of the caucus, you have more conservative senators like mike lee, rand paul, ted cruz pushing for more aggressive cuts. you can lose one side of the spectrum. it's a difficult balancing act trying to get everyone in the republican party to coalesce around the same bill. host: remind us the way this will be voted upon. how many votes will be needed to get this bill passed? guest: they need 50 votes to move it through the senate. they're using a process called reconciliation. where they can do anything that relates to the budget only needs 50 votes. they do have the to get 60 vote majority. they only have 52 members in the chamber and don't expect any democrats to vote for it. they're going that route. they only need 50 votes because if they do have a tie, the vice president can come in with the tie breaking vote. we don't fully know how the debate going to

we just had lisa murkowski tweet, stop it. the presidential platform should be used for something other than bringing people down. the white house doesn't agree with that. >> reporter: this is one of those moments where there has been such a sharp back lash from all quarters. and as you point out, these tweets have really overtaken press briefing. dominated the majority of it. and it is an agenda the president set himself to break down the tweets. she was pressed over and over again on the tone of the president's tweets. the fact that he was calling for unity several weeks ago in the wake of that tragic and devastating shooting that left majority whip steve scalise hospitalized. the president called for unity then. do these tweets not undermine that very important message? she went back to her key argument. that the president would fight fire with fire. as you pointed out, a number of inconsistencies in her statements. not only did president trump talk about this on the campaign fwral this notion that he is being criticized in

. >> saying quote do you know what the health care bill looks like republican senator lisa murkowski asked reporters, because i don't. murkowski was not alone on the republican side including the governor from utah one of the 13 members on the working group. >> i haven't seen the bill, it's becoming increasingly apparent in the last few days even though we thought we were going to be in charge of writing a bill within this working group. it's not being written by us. it's apparently written by a small handful of staffers for members in the senate. so, if you're frustrated by the lack of transparency in the process, i share your frustration. i share it wholewholeheartedly. >> are you satisfied with the health care right now? >> no, no. >> why not? >> he used to complain with the democrats on the affordable care act. now we're doing the same thing. >> let's dig deeper into this. capitol hill reporter from the hill, molly hooper. molly, good to talk to you this morning. what are the biggest concerns you're hearing about from members of the senate republican caucus? >> you're hearing peo

susan collins and lisa murkowski that are up said about planned parent hood and medicaid.they're not for sure yesterday, are they? >> right. they're on the other end. >> shepard: the more moderates. >> yeah. they're conservative. they think this is obamacare light. they want it to be a full repeal. you have susan collins that is very moderate. senator murkowski that is moderate. planned parenthood is in the bill. it's not clear if it will pass with senate rules. it's in limbo. but susan collins said she's concerned about that it's absolutely not a necessary part of the bill in her words. >> shepard: in reading through here, there's what amounts to a trillion-dollar cut in capital gains taxes. mainly on rich investors. it appears that that is being made up for how? >> not totally clear yet. there's different funding being moved around. there's a lot in there still being picked through. >> shepard: yeah, there is. there's a lot more to be heard on this, especially from susan collins and lisa murkowski. we'll wait for that. the rub is, if you appease the more conservatives, t

senator lisa murkowski wrote, stop it. the presidential platform should be used for more than bringing people down. and sarah huckabee sanders said he's a fighter. >> i think the president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts by people on that program. he has been very clear when he gets attacked, he will hit back. i think the american people elected someone who is smart, tough and a fighter. that's donald trump. and i don't think it is a surprise to anybody that he fights fire with fire. he is not going to sit back and be attacked by the liberal media, hollywood elites, when they hit him, he'll hit back. >> hollywood elites. i'm joined by andrea mitchell, and katy tur, eugene robinson, and charlie dent of pennsylvania. i want to go to katy tur. you've had to deal with this president -- i should say our president, you've dealt with him in the same ring atmosphere where he is very close to you in terms of his swing, his reach, his punch definitely this surprise you today at all? >> no. it isn't surprise me. do

more moderates like lisa murkowski, susan collins and of nevada upheller for a tough reelection fight in the state of nevada and the proposed cuts to medicaid or something they are uncertain with. the nonpartisan congressional budget office will have to score this. what they do score it, i would anticipate that whether or not moderates are able to get on board, that will weigh heavily on their decision. vonnie: kevin cirilli of a chief washington correspondent. we really appreciate your reporting on this health care. here is somebody who knows about conflict. i wanted to bring in former senate majority leader george mitchell, not a partner at the law firm dla. and famous for brokering peace deals in northern ireland and also doing a lot of great work in the middle east. welcome. a lot of chatter about how the senate has changed. the supreme court nominees and up and down vote potentially for the health care challenge. has a dozen a change significant since your time as majority leader in the late 1980's and early 1990's? >> yes, it has. less cooperation, less bipartisanship and more p

some of the more moderate republicans like susan collins or lisa murkowski among others will go along with that? >> i hope not. that is our hope. for people like susan collins, lisa murkowski, a few others who really care about what's going to happen to the people in their own state and to rural hospitals in their state, i hope that they'll step forward and be very clear on what they will find acceptable in the senate version. >> senator, thanks as usual for joining us. >> thank you. >> let's get some reaction to all these developments from the republican side. republican congressman mark sanford is joining us live from south carolina. thanks so much for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> the president tweeted this today. i'll put it up on the screen one more time. i am being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director. witch hunt. senator dianne feinstein has just released a blistering statement about the president's tweets in which she says among other things, quote, the message the president is sending through his tweets is that he believes

sara: you can look at more moderate senators like lisa murkowski or susan collins, who have voiced concern medicaid expansion and what it would mean for people in their state, and just the medicaid cuts we were talking about earlier. then you look at the other end the party, rand paul or ted cruz, these are people who want to see significant rollbacks, who think obamacare is not being dismantled enough. you might see give from either of those ends of the party where you might expect to lose someone. thatt is a delicate math mitch mcconnell is working with, that he can only afford to lose two votes and he's trying to satisfy the interest of 52 senators. david: clearly we are looking at an very important next couple of weeks in terms of health care coverage. hank you for joining me. ♪ charlie: jane jacobs championed the diverse and -- diversity and vibrancy of city life. 1969 book captor the ballet of the good city sidewalks. she famously faced off with robert moses over conflicting visions for the future design of new york city. the new york times once noted that they made almost perfect an

moderate, people like senator lisa murkowski and susan come lins. collins. you take a look at really why this potentially has a political matter for people like senator jean heller. from nevada who is up for reelection in 2018 in a democratic state of nevada. pull up his statement. he said, at first glance, i have bill's impact the onthe nevadans who depend medicaid. if it's good for nevada, i'll vote for it if it's not. come down to to the wire. congressional budget office referee has yet to score it. this bill is facing intense from all sides of the republican spectrum. joe: shannon, from the white perspective, is the white house currently making any active efforts to sort of move along as kevin described. sort of difficulties or is it for now, they're just letting to see how it plays out in the senate? open toare leaving this negotiation. they are not giving any sort of throwing the weight of the white house behind this bill. out and said, it's up for negotiation. sarah huckabee sanders said something similar. wouldn't say whether or not the president has

could it be susan collins, lisa murkowski, a wild card. flake from arizona, cory guardner from colorado, one vote could sink it. that's one thing to keep an eye on. and the politics of this. if republican dozen succeed in passing this, if they succeed in implementing it, take a look at this. the history of how parties take a price for touching health care. three times in the last 20 years. in the '90s. democrats had the advantage in our nbc news poll, a 48-point advantage when bill clinton came to office over republicans. then they proposed what they called hillary care. they lost 39 points. it came all the way down to 9. publics won the congress. then barack obama came to office. his advantage was 31 points. obamacare and it dropped down 7. this is our brand new poll. look at these numbers. democrats had an advantage of 7 points at the end of last year's election. republicans put their plan out. that democratic vac more than doubles. it jumped to 17 points. what is the advantage? if you're the party in office, you touch health care, democ

. >> reporter: and fellow republican lisa murkowski who tweeted "stop it."ntial platform should be used for more than bringing people down. the white house press briefing with questions about the president's tweets. >> the president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts, by members on that program. i don't think that it's a surprise to anybody that he mights fire with fire. >> reporter: the episode would seem to put first lady ladies and gentlemen trump -- melania in an awkward position. she had said she would fight cyber bullying. have you thought about what you would like to do as first lady. >> i would focus about social media in this 21st century. what's going on is very hurtful to children. to some adults as well. >> reporter: we asked the first lady's office about the president's tweets and got this response from her spokesperson, quote, as the first lady has stated publicly, when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back ten times harder. so no indication at this point that the first lady considers this an examp bullying. jonathan kar

lisa murkowski will come to the same place. politically for rand paul, mike lee or ted cruz, we need to root and branch, get rid of obamacare, this bill is not going to do that, because it is by necessity a compromise. so there's just hard and fast views that i'm not sure will change and this is not mitch mcconnell with five seats to play with or four seats to play with. it's two seats to play with, so i think if you were a betting person, in my opinion, as of today, it's less than 50/50, though that doesn't mean it's zero or ten. it's more than that, but certainly less than a 50/50 shot. >> chris, david, and karoun, much mo are ahead to discuss with you guys. >>> breaking news, the white house is warning syria is possibly preparing for another chemical weapons atack. they're warning assad that his regime is going to pay a "heavy price" if they do it again. that being a chemical weapons attack like we have seen in the past. cnn's barbara starr is live at the pentagon, she has breaking details. what can you tell us? >> good morn

host: the optics the other day of the president meeting with the 50 senators, he was flanked by lisa murkowski, susan collins, some say that was intentional, to say that he's on their side. the moderate faction of this debate over health care. then this tweet this morning. guest: right. they certainly were setting up that seating arrangement to put certain people next to the president in that event the other day. but i don't know where -- and i'd be fascinated to know where this full repeal tweet came from . i don't know, sitting here, what president trump was watching on television this morning. i don't know if there was a panel discussion on fox and friends that led to him tweeting that. i do know that senator ben sass from nebraska is sending a letter to president trump dated this morning actually. calling for just what was in that tweet. so i don't know if there was a conversation that led up to that letter or not. but that certainly seems like it had to have come from somewhere because we hadn't really been #fullrepeal ort of line from anybody in the last several weeks. host: what is happ

i'm going to put you on the list and lisa murkowski on the list.g senator collins on the list. can you name -- it's make believe, they don't have to go to any meetings but who would be the gang of eight on health care in the senate? >> there's so many people. >> i only need three. >> well, you know obviously you want to have senator murray and senator alexander involved because they're the heads of the committee. >> okay. >> or perhaps they'd be running a different process. people that have traditionally been involved in these kinds of issues senator shaheen is a personal favorite of mine and then there's some great people who are -- who understand this issue like senator mccain. we have got, you know, claire mccaskill. >> i only needed eight. >> i can give you many. >> but do you know how many americans would root for you if eight senators from both parties -- the kinds of people you're talking about, people with a record of bipartisanship and a whole lot of women by the way were on that list, i think women may have been behind averting the last s

we serve our paschi and susan collins -- lisa murkowski and susan collins.hey do have very different needs here. their needs are sometimes at cross purposes. changes that the conservatives want to see -- they want to see that states have had more chances to opt out, giving people guaranteed benefits and insurance plans. they want to make it so it is a lot easier for states to say, here is a bare-bones plan, it doesn't attempt for pre-existing conditions, doesn't protect for charging more, or covering maternity at all. they say there are young and healthy people who went cheap -- want cheap plans. they want to make those available. but that makes other people really worried because the more cheap plans that are out there, the more likely it is that the entire insurance market will have less protected plans. there are changes that could be made over the weekend. they are changes that could be made next week. there is a balancing act that has to be done by mcconnell's office to make sure they don't go too far to the right or too far to the left. the other thing

because even if you turn to yes, there's still the potential of moderates like lisa murkowski and susan collins could be no. >> everyone expect this is current draft for there to be significant changes and the majority leader and the staff rolling it out, they said this is the discussion draft, this is the first draft, there will be significant changes. we'll have to continue having a negotiation. everyone will have to give. that's the only way you can get at least 50 out 52 republicans. the only way to get to yi is if everyone is willing to give some and the keys are focusing on principles that bring us together. two principles that bring us together are the keys to getting agreement. number one, lowering premiums, if premiums go down it's a win for everyone -- a win for conservatives and moderates and the men and women we represent but number two another principle that ufies everyon is state flexibility. letting states have far more flexibility. so for example with medicaid letting each individual state letting plans care for the most vulnerable. letting a more moderate governor like

working to change the minds of the people would be ted cruz, senator ron johnson and probably lisa murkowski. we'll see what happens with the others. >> to you on that point i was going to mention, so he's going to need crews, he's going to need herkowski, you think. >> it's easy to get deep in the weeds on this and we'll see how the numbers work out. i want to back out on this a bit. listen to what mitch mcconnell is asking his members to support at the moment. we know what this bill will do. it's clear. you can see very large coverage losses, 10 million to 10 million. we don't know the cpo score but that's my guess. you will see the people left will get much higher deductible care. this bill moves people into plans with much higher deductibles, much more co-pays and many cases higher premiums because they're getting lower subsidies. so for collins and murkowski, any of them, it is clear if you have been listening to republican rhetoric on obamacare care as i have what problems they're solving here. i can tell you with my secret washington decoder ring on, you go to think tanks and talk to

the other side you have more moderate senators like lisa murkowski. she said when garrett hick caught up with her, after the bill had been released, she had yet to see it. we had seen it before she had. she did not sound pleased. we're still waiting to get reaction from her and her colleague susan collins about the provision in there to defund planned parenthood. that's something they said might be a serious sticking point for them. the broad reality here, craig, is that there is some truth to what senator schumer said about unwillingness to trumpet what has been a major campaign promise. it has been very difficult today to get republicans to talk about this. now, mitch mcconnell has been, of course, selling it. he was on the floor saying, look, obamacare is collapsing. we absolute li have to do something. this is a bill that can potentially get all our members on board, we're very excited about it. i have had some trouble otherwise trying to corral people willing to say this is something they're very excited about. senator pat roberts told me it's th

and lisa murkowski has been a -- of planned parenthood. that was thought to be a nonstarter for her. she said straight up, anything the republicans are doing needs to be done in a way that improves care. and so an effort to strip funding for planned parenthood which has to do with their involved abortions, she said anything we're doing on health care bill should be to improve care. >> we're going to have an executive from planned parenthood on today to discuss those matters. while this is wraeking news, a surprise to some, if you could count, this wasn't a surprise. tov to have this vote on thursday with five republican senators, another eight or so saying no, mcconnell could not afford to lose those kinds of numbers. sean spicer wants a right bill. that was the hurry in the first place? >> a feeling on capitol hill rk really always when dealing with big legislation that the fast e you can get it done, the better. ep something that's going to be this contention. the more you send senators home to take fire, the harder it is to get done. we

we have had firm condemnations from the senate, lindsey graham, susan collins, lisa murkowski and others, lynn jenkins, jeb bush has come out. the president has a lot of people saying, this business of getting involved with personal tikes private citizens is beneath dignity of the office of the president. he is not got the republicans behind him on this one. >> at the doesn't. it has been striking how forcefully a number of republicans have come out and said things like, just stop. this doesn't neat standard of the presidency. house speaker paul ryan went even further to say, there doesn't fit within what we're trying to do. to try to foster a spirit of unity and less divisiveness in our political culture. what is notable is that the president's tweet undercuts some of what we've heard from the first lady who has made it her agenda to take on cyber bullying. his daughter ivanka trump who said she was surprised about how vicious the climate is in washington. so the president running counter, to so many not only capitol hill but the white house it's as well. >> again, kelly, this is not a

the female senators, susan collins and lisa murkowski, they're focused on what they think is best for their constituents and whether or not they think that the substance of this health care bill is going to get to a point that's good. the president's behavior is not a surprise to them, and i don't think -- i think that they're grown-up enough to focus on what matters and not focus on a distraction like the president's tweet. >> i mean, okay, but -- okay, first of all, there's two observations here. one is just that we've all fallen over ourselves to say nice things about sarah huckabee sanders. i do think that's just interesting to note that, like, these supposed attacks from the liberal media, like, everybody's trying to actually be quite generous to her in the role she's in. number one. number two, to these republican senators who keep coming out and they're so dismayed by trump's language, listen, criticizing him for his behavior and his rhetoric is really nice, but they keep lining up to support his policies. they keep lining up to support his reckless and dangerous behavior as le

lisa murkowski, susan collins. dean helder helleler. they worried a bill could throw people off their insurance and increase premiums. on the line, health care for 23 million people. like priscilla spence who didn't have insurance before obamacare. >> if i don't have insurance and i can't get taken care of and i don't get to see a specialist, i could die. >> reporter: but so far, it's impossible to know. americans might only have a few days to figure it out. >> who knows what is in that bill. this is a political houdini act. they'll have just over a week to read it before the senate plans to vote. president trump at least is telling associates he thinks the senate version will have more heart than the house bill. lester? >> casey hunt at the capitol tonight. >>> we turn to breaking weather news. a tropical system inching up the gulf of mexico has intensified into a tropical storm. cindy is on track tonight to bring flooding rains and high winds along the gulf coast by thursday morning. warnings are up for millions of americans. al roker

lisa murkowski of alaska. ron johnson of wisconsin. people who are very supportive of repeali ining obamacare, but don't think they're ready for a vote now. is there something to that? >> this is a process that senator mcconnell worked through. obviously he'll call the vote just like the speaker in the house. we'll keep making sure we get there. end of the day, the results matter. not necessarily the process. we want to fulfill the promise republicans are making, that the president has been making we're going to lower premiums and improve access for americans and get it done the right way. as this process moves forward, when the votes are there, the senate will call the vote. >> reporter: how deep into the policy and the problems that some of his fellow republicans have is the vice president getting? how much is he trying to problem-solve on the policy to get those votes where they need to be? >> i think working with senators on both sides, in terms of the caucus and where they are and what their specific issues may be. as a former gov

question at this point is what will happen with moderates, like senator susan collins of main, and lisa murkowskihave not yet committed one way or another. >> ezra, the four she mentioned, and heller and flake, mitch mcconnell has to do this dance with everyone. >> he does have to do this dance with everyone. and the question is what are different people's policy bottom lines. it's important to step back and look at the bill in context. you have the moderates saying they should do more to protect medicate caid. this bill actually over time has deeper medicaid cuts than the house bill. the house bill over time put medicaid on a growth rate on how much medical costs grow. it's actually a much deeper cut to medicaid, but the cuts don't begin for longer. what you're getting is more plausible political deniability and less policy protection. why, if you said you want to protect medicaid that would be your bargain, i don't exactly know. on the other hand, you have the conservatives is what they wanted was the architecture of affordable care act gone-- the regulations, the entitlements, the guarantees,