-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com > that's > that' it forp thankth hand things overthankth to don lemon.things overthankth we finally learn the truth about trump's tapes. well, maybe. and the gop takes another shot at health care. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. president trump admits he's been stringing us along for weeks. surprise. not so much. he doesn't have tapes of his chats with james comey after all, but this is a much bigger deal than the president may think. and here we go again. the gop's health care bill hanging by a thread. republicans threatening to vote against it. president trump undercutting his own party suggesting the bill needs work. so let's get to all of it now, cnn's athena jones and manu raju will join us and cnn's senior legal analyst mr. jeffrey toobin is here as well. good evening to all of you. athena, let's take a look at the president's tweet. the president said "with all the recently reported electronic

surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, i have no idea whether there are tapes or recordings of my conversations with james comey that i did not make -- but i did not make and do not have any such recordings." so it took the president, what, 41 days to answer a very simple question. he, himself, first raised. are there tapes of his conversations with james comey or not? why and why now, athena? >> reporter: hi, don. well, exactly. this should have been a yes or no answer, yet there's been weeks and weeks of dodging. a senior administration official told cnn that it became clear that the president would have to answer this question today before tomorrow's deadline set by the house intelligence committee to turn over any tapes if they exist. so, that's why we're finally seeing an answer from the white house today. but, don, even that tweet there, that answer we finally got, that also raises questions. >> yeah, absolutely. i want to bring in david rohde, cnn global affairs analyst.

online news director at the "new yorker." thank you, sir, for joining us. question to you, the president still doesn't say there are definitively not any tapes. he said he didn't make any or doesn't have any. is this a parsing of words? >> i think it is and it's partly distraction to keep this threat hovering. he did this often in new york in the real estate world. tim o'brien, he's been on the a journalist, he threatened over and over, saying i have these tapes, i have these tapes as an effort to intimidate him. there were no tapes it turned out in that lawsuit, so this was a sort of new york real estate-style effort to intimidate james comey but i think it undermines the president's credibility. it could create some legal issues for him. i think there are absolutely no takes and this is all distraction. >> i think jeffrey toobin and i are in agreement, all along we were saying there are no tapes. >> there are no tapes. >> is this a distraction? >> i don't know if what the strategy is here, if there is a

strategy, and remember how much this backfired because the threat of tapes prompted comey to leak the -- his memos to his friend at columbia university which led to the appointment of the special prosecutor which is something the president didn't want. so, you know, in that respect, it was, you know, a disastrous move. in another respect, we are talking tonight about tapes rather than this health care bill which is very unpopular, and frankly, the less the republicans get that talked about, the better it is for them. so maybe releasing it tonight wasn't just because of the deadline tomorrow, but it was a way of distracting attention. i don't know what, if any, strategy was behind this whole tapes thing. >> quickly -- he's insinuating that maybe an intelligence official is maybe secretly taping him, can that be legally done? it can be done, but -- >> it physically can be done. think about it, the president of the united states is worried

about being tapped in the oval office? >> he did say obama was a bad guy and he tapped trump tower. >> you know, it starts to sound like bad science fiction. i mean, you know, he thinks he might -- you know, i don't -- i don't understand what the first clause of that tweet means other than just sort of blowing smoke. >> not meant to be understood, jeffrey. we keep analyzing and overanalyzing things. it's just lunacy. i don't think it's meant to be understood. >> well, if it's not worth to be understood, it worked on me. >> how do you make sense of the nonsensical? i want you to take a listen to the president's remarks about these tapes, some of them. >> that, i won't talk about, i won't talk about that. all i want is for comey to be honest and i hope he will be and i'm sure he will be, i hope. >> do tapes exist of your conversations with him? >> i'll tell you about that sometime in the near future. you're going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer. don't worry. >> david, he's toying with people, not just the press, the american people, also

congressional investigators and the special counsel. >> he is, again, i think he's communicating with his base. the talk, this idea of there's somehow someone taping him, someone else in this tweet, it's this deep state theme. i think there's a method to what he's doing. i think there's distraction today to -- >> wait, wait, he's communicating with his base so are you saying that the base believes in conspiracy theories, that there is this whole deep state thing and -- >> it's a clear narrative he has, i think, hit on over and over again since he came in. it's part of the washington swamp. it's, you know, the intelligence agencies he listened to possibly in trump tower, and there's a deep suspicion of washington and i think he's playing on all that intentionally. >> manu raju, let's talk about your reporting. cnn is also reporting the president's efforts to get top intelligence officials to publicly say there's no collusion between his campaign and the russians. what can you tell us about that?

>> yeah, you remember, don, when dan coats, director of national intelligence, and mike rogers, national security agency director, were both testifying before the senate intelligence committee, they said president trump did not pressure them in any way to something they believe was improper or illegal but they would not say whether or not president trump asked them in any way to either pour water on the russia -- the trump stories, any collusion, those stories about collusion, as well as in order to -- whether or not trump asked them in any way to interfere with the fbi investigation into michael flynn. but what we have learned from sources that told me, our colleagues, dana bash and evan perez, that these -- the coats and rogers in classified settings told the senate intelligence committee, told, excuse me, members of bob mueller's team, that president trump, in fact, did ask them to do that. to actually publicly say that

there was no collusion between his campaign, trump's campaign, and the russians. and also, don, the president wanted him to -- them to actually clear his name in a lot of ways and say that he -- that the president, himself, was not under investigation. the president was frustrated, we are told, according to coats and rogers telling that the word that he was being told privately was not getting out publicly. now, both coats and rogers found the request, we are told, uncomfortable, that's how they relayed it to the investigators, but they do not feel that he ordered them to do anything but ultimately, don, this is going to be up to bob mueller's team and investigators on capitol hill to decide whether or not the president was trying to act in any way -- >> not how they -- >> -- to interfere with this investigation. >> and not how they felt, whether he was actually trying to do it. hey, manu, i have to ask you, tomorrow is the deadline for comey's memos to be turned over to the house intelligence committee. is that going to happen?

>> unclear. adam schiff earlier tonight actually told wolf blitzer they're in discussions to get the comey memos it sounded like with the special counsel's office. he wasn't very clear about whether or not he would get the memos by tomorrow. several committees i can tell you, don, have asked for those memos including senate judiciary committee. i talked to dianne feinstein. the top democrat on the committee asked for those memos. they want those as well. they've been in contact with bob mueller. they met with him earlier this week. it's unclear whether they're going to get them, but i can tell you these investigations, don, are moving forward. we actually learned today that john podesta, hillary clinton's former campaign chairman, the person who was, of course, hacked by the russians that led to the leaking of all those e-mails, he's going to be interviewed in a classified session before the house intelligence committee next week. these investigations are moving forward even in they may not be getting all the documents they want. they may not get that comey memo

b by tomorrow. >> athena, jeffrey toobin mentioned this, by tweeting about tapes, the president set in motion a series of events that now dog him. comey leaked memos, he wrote about their meeting. and now his administration is under investigation by the special counsel. has the president expressed any regret at all about this? >> not so far, publicly. >> quick answer is no, right? >> he was asked does the president refwret that tweet and she said today, i don't think so. but a republican ally of the president, someone close to him said if he doesn't regret it, he should, and that person said this whole episode is one of the worst things he's done because of the fallout having led to this appointment of a special counsel which is exactly what he had not wanted to happen. don? >> david rohde, do you see self-awareness on the president's part that he created this whole mess? >> probably not, no, i'll be honest. i think he hasn't changed. these tactics worked for him in new york real estate. he won the election and you'll see this over and over again.

and i think part of the day was playing, again, on conspiracy theories and distrust of washington and conspiracies against the president by intelligence agencies. i agree with jeff, it's distraction to not talk about the negative aspects of the health care proposal today from republicans in the senate. >> we're going to -- >> don, i can tell you on the hill, i was talking to a number of republicans about the tapes and the tweet and everything and they're exasperated, not quite sure why they went through this entire episode and lindsey graham told me today, perhaps the president will finally learn that his words actually matter. of course, we've been hearing that from a lot of republicans for a long time. we have not seen any indication the president is stepping back particularly from tweeting. >> i can read jeffrey toobin's mind right now, don't hold your breath. >> you're a psychic, don lemon. >> thank you, all, i appreciate it. when we come back, is the tale of the tapes one of the worst things the president has done? that's what a senior administration official is saying. and can he get past it?

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the president finally admitting today what most of us suspected all along, he doesn't have tapes of his conversations with james comey. that's after stringing us along for 41 days or so. it all started with this tweet on may 12th, the day after "the new york times" reported on details of the president's dinner with james comey. "james comey better hope that there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press."

and that led to nearly six weeks of the white house spinning its wheels. >> did president trump record his conversations with former fbi director comey? >> the president has nothing further to add on that. >> said that you had no idea whether or not there was a taping system in the oval office. could you try to find out? >> sure, i'll try to look under the couches. >> do tapes exist of your conversations with him? >> well, i'll tell you about that maybe sometime in the very near future. >> he'll let us know. everybody has to wait and see. >> the president made clear in the rose garden last week he'd have an announcement shortly. >> i think the president is going to address that in the week ahead. >> the president has said he will make an announcement on this. >> boy. finally, the president put his staff out of their misery today with this tweet. "with all the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, i have no idea if there are tapes or recordings of my conversations with james comey but i did not make and do not

have any such recordings." so why play this game? a game that backfired pretty spectacularly? here to discuss, cnn contributor michael d'antonio, author of "the truth about trump." so let's get to the truth about trump. the fact is, the truth is that the president and the white house took 41 days to finally say he did not record his conversations with james comey. why this dog and pony show? why do such a thing, michael? >> you know, the first thing that comes to mind for me, it's a lot easier than being the president, you know? if you go out there and issue these tweets and you get everybody talking about it, and then you let mitch mcconnell carry the ball for you in the senate and watch while everybody scrambles to try and figure out what's going on, it's more amusing and this is one of the things that one of the president's folks said about it today, was that he was amused by

this. now, it does a terrible disservice to jim comey. i mean, nobody thought of him as dishonest until the president suggested, well, maybe he is because there could be tapes, let's see if he lies or not. and it does a great disservice to the country because it erodes our confidence in the president and then imagine what the security community is thinking right now. are they supposed to be pleased that the president suggested that even now maybe they're recording something? because that is the word that came out later on today is, well, the spin is the president doesn't know that there's not any recordings because, perhaps, the so-called deep state is doing that to him now. >> the deep state would have access to the oval office, still, and i guess the secret service and the security at the white house would not have swept the oval office for bugs and recording devices so he wouldn't -- okay. that makes complete sense.

that was sarcasm, by the way. >> don, this -- this is a terrible thing for us to now have to worry about whether we can trust our own intelligence agencies. you were talking about the problem of conspiracy theories in the previous segment. and i don't think americans need to be encouraged to have belief in conspiracies when the russians have already disrupted our election and tried to sow concern about whether we can trust anything. again, this is the guy who went around during the campaign saying the system is rigged. >> yeah. >> so there's just so much chaos and chaff being thrown in the air that it's really hard for any of us to know what's true. >> it's interesting to me because, you know, talking about so much about love of country and all of that, and if you love your country, don't want to deceive. i'm not saying he is intentionally doing it, but why would someone do that, you know, love of country, then deceive people and then think it's

amusing and put out conspiracy theories? it's a question from me. a couple questions. michael, the white house denies the president was playing a game. but you say president trump made the false claim because he understands the power of merely suggesting recordings exist. explain that. >> well, you know, he did this to tim o'brien who's often on cnn talking about his experience with trump, the businessman. donald trump said, well, there may be tapes of my encounters with you, tim. and then they went to court to litigate a case about his book. in the end, tim o'brien and his publisher prevailed, but the whole purpose was to scare the writer and scare the publisher and somehow suggest that there was something -- some evidence of wrongdoing on his part. you know, when i met with then-candidate trump five or six

different times, i brought my own recorder, i brought a witness, and he brought a recorder because this game of is this exchange recorded or not is something every journalist in new york city knows that donald trump the businessman used to play. >> well, that's as a businessman. when you're the president of the united states, it's a whole different -- it's not a game anymore. the national security, the country, you know, whether or not there are recordings in the white house, that goes -- the american people have a right to know about that and it would also -- it can either back up what he says or it can deny what he said. and that's what brought nixon down. tapes. so i think it's important to the country. it's not amusing. >> the strange thing is, we still don't know. >> yeah. >> now he said, i don't possess any tapes, i didn't record anything, but he's not saying that recordings don't exist. and that's like me saying that i didn't see godzilla on my way to

the studio tonight, but that doesn't mean he's not going to be out there when i go home. >> or that he doesn't exist. i have to ask you, a republican who spoke with the president this week tells cnn that president trump has been amused at all the obsessing over this. is this something to be amused about, again? >> it absolutely is not amusing to me, and i don't think it's amusing to most americans. i'm still waiting for donald trump to become my president as well as the president of his base. and it's all well and good to say, i'm playing to this 38% who will never abandon me, and i understand that. politics is to some degree a team sport, but he's also the president of the united states, and i want him to succeed. i want the country to succeed. and i don't see that he's making that effort to reassure the 62% who have doubts about him. >> well said.

thank you, michael d'antonio, always a pleasure. >> thanks, don. when we come back, do all the president's actions add up to obstruction of justice? and what does special counsel robert mueller think of all of this?

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president trump raising questions about special counsel robert mueller's impartiality tonight. listen to what he says to fox news. >> should he recuse himself? >> well, he's very, very good friends with comey, which is very bothersome, but he's also, we're going to have to see. we're going to have to see in terms -- look, there have been no obstruction, there has been no loose collusion, there has been leaking by comey, but there's been no collusion, no obstruction, and virtually everybody agrees to that. so we'll have to see. i can say that the people that have been hired are all hillary clinton supporters. >> here to discuss, matthew whittaker, executive director of the foundation for accountability and civic trust. former nixon white house counsel, john dean.

a cnn contributor and author of "conservatives without conscience." he said the last part, by the way, gentlemen, welcome to the program, didn't he say he fired comey because of his mishandling of hillary clinton? that's interesting. is he laying the groundwork for something here? what's going on? >> excuse me. >> he may be trying to start discrediting the special counsel. that would be a sort of a standard procedure for him. he's certainly throwing out suggestions here he's not going to get a fair shake. i don't think there's any conflict of interest. this man is above reproach in his dealing with the law and his whole background shows he's very careful about these things. i'm sure he cleared it with his firm before he departed and took the assignment. >> matt, do you think he's hinting that mueller may find himself out of a job? >> i don't, but i think it's very interesting, you know, i've been on your show several nights and i have usually been the only

one that says there is no evidence of obstruction of justice or collusion, and i am -- so i'm surprised when he says it's almost unanimous that folks believe that's the case. but nonetheless, i mean, i do still believe that, you know, there is not enough evidence here to substantiate obstruction of justice claim. certainly criminal, anyway. then, you know, there is no evidence, we would know by now as much leaking as there has been that there was collusion between the trump campaign and russian officials. >> are you saying that the investigation should not happen, should not continue? or shouldn't go to its natural conclusion? >> no, i think the investigation is going to continue. i think bob mueller, as i said many times, is a well-respected lawyer with a lot of important -- >> all right. i get what you're saying, but saying that you don't believe there's any evidence and saying that the investigation should or should not continue, that's two separate things. correct? >> well, because i'm a former prosecutor, i know how investigations go, and i know that what we know publicly,

there's not enough for a case, but certainly bob mueller has all the power of the federal government now to conduct an investigation and he may turn over things that we just haven't heard about yet. >> and the investigation is not just about collusion. there are a number of things and some of it has been of the president's own making because he tweeted out things that led -- that made that happen. so, matt, i want to ask you, tweeting after six weeks that there are no tapes, what is the president playing at here? what's he doing? >> well, as i put those two tapes together, i see a president, first of all, that knew comey was already talking to the paper before he tweeted, and also it almost looks like an invitation for whoever was taping those meetings to share those tapes with the public. but he did admit that he didn't have the tapes and i -- you know, i find it very interesting that he has found this to be amusing because, obviously, there's many of us that think this has not been -- less than amusing and the lawyers in the room are hopefully telling him

to quit tweeting. >> interesting. the question swirling around the white house is, did the president obstruct justice? this is for you, john, and here's what -- how the statute reads obstruction in any activities. "corruptly or by threats or force or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct or impede the due administration of justice." so, aside from the vaguely threatening tweet about tapes, comey testified that president -- the president told him to back off the flynn investigation. now the dni director, dan coats, national security -- director of the national security -- national security agency, mike rogers, they say that president trump asked them to deny any collusion with the russians. why isn't that obstruction? >> well, i don't think we have obstruction yet, either. i have to agree with matt. there's a pattern that's

developing and one of the most troublesome pattern i see is that he is dissembling and if you remember what happened to nixon, actually it happened to clinton, too, when they got into impeachment territory, is it was the lying that got them there. not the obstruction. nixon didn't leave office because he obstructed justice. he got caught in a final lie that lost his support and so he packed it in and left. but there are hints of a pattern here where he keeps doing things that i think in the non federal criminal law sense, rather in the impeachment territory, could result in obstruction which is a very different standard than the criminal law standard. >> matt, what do you think of that? why isn't this obstruction? >> well, first of all, several of the acts are constitutionally

permitted, you know, his conversation with james comey about the mike flynn investigation and together with firing of director comey, those are both well within his power of the executive. these asking the dni and the -- and others to sort of support him and to publicly state that, you know, that he hasn't -- there was no collusion, i think is just, you know, his pattern of he doesn't believe he did anything wrong. you heard that in the clip from earlier in the show that he just is -- i'm sure he's flabbergasted at this point in time that the people that he has put in place and nominated and have been confirmed to serve him are not doing what he feels they should be doing to support him. >> well, with him saying -- i want to read it again, because it says, "obstruction is any activity that corruptly or by threats or force or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct or impede the due administration of justice." so saying i hope there better not be any tapes, that's not a threat? >> the statute is very broad,

don, but the standard in the criminal justice system, the federal criminal law sense, is very high. you've got to show that he's got a clear criminal intent and that isn't necessarily obvious here, but if you translate that again to the political context, because he can't be indicted as a sitting president, anyway, it's only going to come up in the sense of impeachment. nixon was impeached for interfering with the fbi and his general public dissembling or part of his bill of impeachment. this is what can come around and be a problem for trump if this ever, as i say, goes to impeachment. >> every time we say that, the articles of impeachment were being drawn up but he resigned, correct? >> that's right. >> okay. thank you, gentlemen. i appreciate it. thank you, matt, thank you, john dean. >> thank you. when we come back, details of senate republicans' secretive health care bill are released only to have key gop leaders say no way. so is this the end of obamacare?

after the break. whoooo.

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senate republicans finally unveiled their long-awaited health care bill today, but not everybody is -- even in their own party -- is onboard. >> i just didn't run on obamacare lite. i didn't run on replacing it with more government programs. i didn't run on allowing the death spiral of obamacare to continue just to subsidize with taxpayer money. >> holding a vote this next week would definitely be rushed. i couldn't imagine, quite honestly, i'd have the information to evaluate and justify a yes vote within just a week. >> this current draft doesn't get the job done, but i believe we can get to yes. i believe we can get this done. there is an agreement to be reached. >> so here to discuss, cnn contributor jason kander, cnn political commentator, jason miller, and here we go. it's like the house all over again. jason miller, you first. president trump already signed his support to the bill. here's what he tweeted. "i am very supportive of the senate health care bill. look forward to making it really special.

remember, obamacare is dead." but right now, as you saw, there are four republican senators who say that they oppose this bill. ted cruz, mike lee, ron johnson and rand paul along with three more republican senators who are concerned and are seeking changes. what do you think, jason miller? >> well, don, there's a big difference between saying that they're absolutely opposed to this bill and this reform in any way, shape, or form and there's no chance they can ever get there or it's not there yet an they're using it as a leverage point and want to see a couple of additional tweaks or changes or even concessions as they work along. so i think the senate bill did a couple really smart things where it made it a lot more palatable, i believe to moderates. did a couple things i believe also will get conservatives onboard, but fundamentally as we saw yesterday with the news of anthem blue cross, blue shield pulling out of indiana and ohio and wisconsin, obamacare is

absolutely imploding. i think they're taking the right steps. ted cruz, in particular, i think has a couple really good ideas for some reform and hopefully adopt a few of them and get them onboard. >> let me ask you, jason. the president said it was mean and a son of a you know what. i think he wanted this to be a less harsh bill than came from the house. so it sounds like ted cruz and others are wanting it a much more stringent bill so how can they do this and get the moderates -- they're going to lose moderates if they do that. >> excellent question. the two aren't mutually exclusive of each other. for example, the senate legislation, what it does is have a slower phaseout period of obamacare, obviously appeals to the moderates. it also shifts up the tax credit structure so it goes based on income and not on age, which, again, that appeals to more of the moderates. with conservatives, it slows down the rate of inflation with medicaid, so it's -- it increases medicaid inflation, not medical inflation plus one. but also, here's where i say they're not mutually exclusive

of each other, what ted cruz is suggesting is we actually go and do some things that will bring down the costs of premiums. so, for example, if a carrier is in a market and they have a plan that meets all the specifics that you have to have to be eligible as one of the obamacare plans, they can also have additional plans that will appeal to other folks who maybe don't need everything in the first one. they can buy a much cheaper plan, therefore, bringing down the premiums. so that's not a conservative or a moderate type debate. that's more of just a free market principle and that's how we get more folks lower rates. >> all right. all right. all right. i hear rand paul, i hear ted cruz, saying, i mean, rand paul said it, i did not sign on for obamacare lite. i mean, jason, they got some explaining. they got their work cut out for them. he's saying, oh, the two are not mutually exclusive. the way i read it, i'm not, you know, i'm not that familiar in the ways of washington. if they go the way ted cruz and rand paul, what they want,

they're going to lose -- they can only afford to lose, what, two republicans? >> they should be a lot more concerned about the fact they lost the american people on this. i mean, you know, on the house bill, it was 16%, 17% of the american people supported it and they're arguing this is slightly less horrible? this is a health care bill that results in a lot fewer americans having health care. it is a health care bill that takes health care away from americans. i mean, i don't think you got to be a rocket scientist to look at that and say that doesn't make for a very good health care bill. >> you think the bigger challenge is going to be back home with their constituents rather than just other members of the senate? >> i think their job is to listen to the american people, recognize, hey, the american people are not interested in this. so what they're trying to do, they're trying to pass this before they have to go home and face people, right? which is sort of like when you were a kid and you had, like, a really bad idea for something you wanted to do and you knew if you asked for parents' permission, they would say that's a really bad idea so you hurried up and did it and acted like you had no idea. but these people are actually shaping the health care system

in the country and doing this in order to just push through a giant tax -- >> all right. this is what i'm hearing from both republicans and democrats. they say just let him do it and see what happens. and that's when they're going to realize that most people aren't onboard for this, they're doing the wrong thing, or at least doing it in the wrong way. >> my attitude is, a whole lot of people are going to get hurt if this happens so it just can't happen. >> jason, what do you think about that? >> i think a whole lot of folks are being hurt right now with the way that obamacare is imploding. what we see on the republican side is we see both moderates and conservatives coming together, and offering up solutions and i think they're going to have ultimately they'll have a good plan they go and pass out. there's going to be plenty of time for debate next week, they'll have the cbo scoring done. there's nothing that's being done in the dark. this will be out -- >> everything is done in the dark. >> no, this -- of course, you're not going to go and share with the other side here's what we're working on with the bill until we go and present it. >> these aren't -- >> now we have the bill, now everyone will go and debate it,

but no one can argue and say obamacare is doing great right now, no one can say that it's okay that all these providers are pulling out of states and upwards of a third of all folks who are living -- a third of all counties in the country only have one provider. >> why can't you just work on what is wrong with obamacare, fix that and keep the parts that are good? >> well, because, i mean, fundamentally, the structure is broken. i mean, everything from the way that subsidies -- swapping out to tax credits i think will be better. i think the entire construct, i mean, you talk about the penalties that are basic -- keeping employers from -- >> you can fix that, can't you? if you work on the parts that are good, this is bad and let's jettison that? >> right now it's a jobs killer. look at the fact, 103% increase in premiums since 2013 -- >> can't you fix that part of it? >> i don't think it's as simple -- >> kicking people off. >> i don't think it's as simple as a sentence here and there. it's a fundamental overhaul,

that's what they're doing right now. >> go ahead, jason kander. >> you can't do the right thing and keep your campaign promise at the same time. that's what they're facing here. look, at the end of the day what they're really saying is, they're saying there are some problems with obamacare. well, a lot of those problems right now are because the president of the united states is actively working to undermine and kill it. he keeps saying it's dead. he's trying to kill it. let's say for a moment that you accept everything jason miller just said. i don't. let's say you agree with everything he just said about obamacare. there is no way in the world that the solution to that is to rip health care away from 23 million people. that just doesn't make any sense at all even if you bought everything that he said. >> jason, i'll give you the last word. >> look, the -- >> i meant the other jason. >> -- other side of obamacare is absolutely failing and quite frankly, i mean, i think the democratic party is really the existential moment right now. we see how they weren't able to get it done in georgia 6th. they done have any ideas, no solutions. michael moore was right, at least the republicans are coming up with some ideas and bringing

it to the table. >> jason, i mean, jason kander said this has nothing to do with -- what does it have to do with the health care bill, republican versus democrat? most people want politics taken out of this. they don't care if it's called the obamacare or trumpcare or the affordable care act or the, what was the new one called? the health -- >> better care? >> whatever that is called. no one really cares what it's called. they just want it fixed. >> absolutely. that's what the republicans are trying to do. >> not about democrats and republicans when 17% of the country thinks it's a good idea. >> okay. thank you, all. we'll continue this conversation. when when come back, president trump taking credit for thousands of new coal jobs but the real jobs numbers show his figures are drastically exaggerated. look who's here. look who's here. remember that? kamau bell, he visited coal country to check out how people there are feeling and he joins me next. should he sashay away? does he get the job as the fashion model? good to see you, brother.

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the president loves to talk about beautiful coal and coal jobs. and it got him a lot of votes in yes coal country. kamau bell fook a trip to appalachia and he joins me now. coal -- how are you doing by the way. >> doing good. staying busy. sorry i didn't shave. >> the covee. >> i'm working hard. working hard. >> coal country has been in the news the whole presidential campaign. and it still is. you went to kentucky, right. >> yes. >> for your show. and this sunday it aires by the way. look at a clip and then kamau and i will talk about it. >> this is coal country and coal is one of the three things people thing about in appalachia and along with abject poverty and the moef deliverance. the movie i was tricked. >> what stereotype do people have about this area of the country. >> we're not educated we don't have teeth. we don't have teeth. >> people think you're not

educated don't have teeth. >> yeah guardian but deliverance stereo type. you will find that. let's be clear it does exist. >> i ain't going to lie. >> my favorite line from that movie. he sure got a pretty mouth. well that's -- i mean they were talking about deliverance. everybody uses it. it's amazing, though how many people are driven in the thinking about stereotypes but folk in coal country they're up against it economically. >> this is a part of the country the coal industry gave people their great middle class jobs and above that. it was a good way to make a living. hard way to make a living. but because of where they are in that part of country when the coal industry slows down. where i went it's not near a major highway. there is not industries talking about moving there. there are people there working hard to create other

opportunities. but the president instead ever saying i'm getting coal jobs back which a lot of them -- they want jobs they know coal is not good for the environment. he should say we're figuring out a way to create new industries or support the industries bubbling up. >> this is hillary clinton lost but she said we need retrap it she didn't say it right she was honest with them. >> that's a whole another show. >> whole another show. >> wrong message. >> you mentioned jobs and the president. judges last night i took credit for a lot of jobs there. take a look. >> we've ended the war on clean beautiful coal. and we're putting our miners back to work. in fact you read about it. last week a brand new coal mine just opened in the state of pennsylvania, first time in decades.

decades. we've reversed it. and 33,000 mining jobs have been added since my inauguration. >> so in reality cnn money looked at the numbers. a mine is opening in pennsylvania. but with only 70 jobs. and 32600 jobs in the mining category only 1,000 coal mines jobs the rest in support jobs largely oil and gas industries. so do you think people there think the president is helping them? >> i mean i think there is a sense -- the thing i learned about the season of united shades there is parts of the cy desperate for help np there are a lot of people without jobs and dprit por help. they know the mountains surround thenl still have coal and because they go there is no other industries give us the jobs back. but i think the president as we no he is lying about as he just lied he bide lied about those. >> interesting and algae a

family member miep greater was the ice man and would drop the block at the door but then they invented ice machines and refrigeration became the norm and didn't have the jobs anymore they didn't yell at the president more -- it was innovation took over they had to do something else. >> yeah if i remember black. >> you think that makes a difference. >> black people don't expect the government to give them jobs. i'm not saying every white person does. there are some people people feel like they have the earn the jobs and some people stev it there are people in appalachia feel like these jobs are gone we need to figure out a way to create new industries they need the support same way people in south side of chicago. >> just quickly, a big turn here. bill cosby did you hear his represent elvis he was talking about -- he is going out now and -- salt in wound are

townhalls on sexual assault? ? you knew that? that's not ha good -- go home, bill, just go home. just go home. >> do you think it's trolling our is it real. >> i mean i think. >> they say it's real. >> who knows anymore. but i would like to believe you put the message out there you find out that's not a good idea. i don't think that's the best use of anybody's team especially when you talk about what i read was specifically how to avoid being accused of sexual assault. which to me is like only oj simpson could kohl up with a plan like that. that's not a good look. and it also it creates tremendous -- these people -- women who have been wronged and feel wrong appear can't pursue legal means because the statute of limit aches is up itless feels like mocking them. >> next time you come on you should say how you really feel. >> and i'll shave. >> thank you always a pleasure good to see you don't miss united shades of america with kamau bell sunday night at

10:00. more on bill cosby in the next hour and interview with one juror who says they were deadlocked from the very start. plus the president admitting he doesn't have tapes of the meeting with james comey. so why did he start this whole thing in the first place? singlee you could find the right hotel for you at the best price? there is. because tripadvisor now compares prices from over 200 booking sites... ...to save you up to 30%... ...on the hotel you want. trust this bird's words. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices.

trump's tale of the tapes. this is cnn