[Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. As Congress returns from a week-long recess, during that week, Senate Republicans' health care bill somehow became even less likely to pass. In fact, several Senate Republicans are now declaring the bill dead. So what now? CNN's Ryan Nobles is live for us on Capitol Hill. Ryan, is there any momentum between Republicans in the Senate to throw this bill out and start fresh?
[Ryan Nobles, Cnn Washington Correspondent:] Jake, not enough for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to change course, at least not at this point. And even as he continues to plow ahead, there is indeed some growing concern about the prospects for this bill.
[Sen. Joni Ernst , Iowa:] Then, we disagree.
[Nobles:] Tonight, after a week of hearing from their constituents
[Unidentified Female:] They absolutely do not care if people are covered or not.
[Nobles:] Senate Republicans are back in Washington, greeted by protests as they tried to revive their health care reform push. But it appears the week outside the beltway is not making the process any easier.
[Sen. Susan Collins , Maine:] The one and only issue that came up no matter where I was time and again was health care.
[Nobles:] At least 10 Republican senators remain opposed to the health care bill in its current form, and they are senators from both the conservative and moderate wings of the party. The difference in viewpoints has many left wondering if a grand deal can be brokered.
[Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] In my view, it's probably going to be dead. But I am I've been wrong.
[Nobles:] Despite the differences in opinions, Senate leadership is not giving up yet. Mitch McConnell is hoping his members will find a way to come together.
[Sen. Mitch Mcconnell , Majority Leader:] We're in a big discussion among ourselves, that is, the Senate Republican conference, about the way forward.
[Nobles:] McConnell continues to offer tweaks to the bill as he brings the conference together. Those changes have not revealed, even to most members. But tweaks alone may not be enough to convince those who are the most firmly opposed. [on camera]: At this point, do you think a complete overhaul is necessary to get to a yes?
[Collins:] I do need a complete overhaul in order to get to yes.
[Nobles:] Meanwhile, the White House is sending Vice President Mike Pence to attempt to rein in wayward senators. He spent time with Missouri's Ray Blunt over the weekend and this morning went on conservative radio to promise a deal will get done.
[Mike Pence, Vice President Of The United States:] This will be a historic step toward reversing the disastrous and collapsing policy of Obamacare. And I promise you, the president and I have not stopped working.
[Nobles:] And while President Trump did tweet about health care, telling senators not to leave Washington without passing a, quote, beautiful new health care bill, a White House official tells CNN the president currently does not have any plan to play a large role in selling health care prior to his trip to Paris on Wednesday. Democrats who don't have the votes to stop the bill are keeping up the pressure. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his leadership team sent a letter to McConnell asking them to consider fixing Obamacare in its current form.
[Sen. Chuck Schumer , Minority:] When using bipartisanship as a threat is your only argument, it's time to move on.
[Nobles:] But it is ultimately Republicans that will need to strike a deal. And even though they have time, optimism is not running high.
[Sen. Bill Cassidy , Louisiana:] Clearly, the draft plan is dead. Is the serious rewrite plan dead? I don't know, I've not seen the serious rewrite plan.
[Nobles:] And the White House director of legislative affairs, Marc Short, telling reporters today that the administration still supports the bill in its current form and that the president remains active in this debate. Jake, he did concede, though, that Democrats are better organized on the issue of health care and that Republicans need to do a better job of getting out their message Jake.
[Tapper:] All right. Ryan Nobles on Capitol Hill for us thanks so much. I'm joined now by my political panel. So, let's go back to that Trump tweet. Some you might call it subtle encouragement. I cannot imagine that Congress would dare to leave Washington without a beautiful new health care bill fully approved and ready to go. What do you think it would mean, Bill, if Republicans left for the August recess without having passed the Senate Republican bill or some health care bill?
[Bill Kristol, Editor At Large, The Weekly Standard:] They might be better off politically in passing a bill that's not so popular that actually then become law and go into effect, then they can say they did their best, very complicated. They'll probably have to do a bipartisan fix for the Democrats of some of the particular problems of the Obamacare exchanges and say, we're going to come back and take a look at it. At this point, I honestly think just politically, it's probably the best thing that could happen for the Republicans.
[Tapper:] To let it die.
[Kristol:] Yes. Start over.
[Tapper:] What do you think, Adrienne?
[Adrienne Elrod, Former Director Of Strategic Communications, Hillary For America:] Look, I think we knew that when Mitch McConnell did not bring this bill to the floor before they went home for July Fourth recess, that this is going to lessen the chances dramatically that this bill would get passed. I mean, I agree with Bill, Democrats are willing to come to table and work with the Republicans to get something done. There are plenty of things that need to be done to improve on Obamacare, but we're not going to repeal the bill. And you saw members like Susan Collins who are even detracting more and more away from this bill. You're seeing the conservative wing of the Republican Party who are less and less inclined to also support it because they don't think it goes far enough. So, again, I'm never going to count Mitch McConnell out.
[Tapper:] Yes, you shouldn't.