[Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. We begin with breaking news. As the clock ticks down to President Trump's 100th day in office, sources are now telling CNN there may be a possible breakthrough in the talks over health care. You'll remember just weeks ago, an agreement seemed dead and then some after the president and the Republican Party failed to get to yes on a plan to replace Obamacare. Never even taking the bill to the House floor for a vote because things unraveled so quickly. Well, now, signs of life. The White House pushing a new round of negotiations and the various factions within the Republican Party appear to be making some kind of progress. Is that what the president was hinting at when he said this Tuesday?
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States Of America:] We are going to have a big win soon, because we're going to have health care, and I believe that's going to happen. And you know, there was no, like, loss with health care. This is just a constant negotiation and the plan is getting better and better all the time.
[Bolduan:] Let's get to the state of play right now, though. CNN's national politics reporter, M.J. Lee is here with much more. So, M.J., lay it out for us. Where exactly is the compromise, if we can call it that, and who exactly is on board right now?
[M.j. Lee, Cnn National Politics Reporter:] So, there are signs of a possible breakthrough on health care, emphasis on possible. What we know is that leaders of this Tuesday Group as well as the House Freedom Caucus have been in talks over the Easter recess to try to revive the first failed health care bill that was pulled from the House floor. Now, what the members are trying to work on now is a deal that could potentially bring on board 18 to 20 new yes votes from the House Freedom Caucus. Now, I just spoke a little while ago with Republican Congressman Tom Cole, and he tells me that the differences have narrowed, and this thing is very much alive. Now, just to walk you back a little bit, remember, it was exactly a month ago that the House bill was pulled from the floor because leadership could not get enough conservatives as well as moderates on board to get to the 216-vote threshold. Now, clearly, the White House's thinking at the time was that if we do not get it done this time, there will not be another try. That thinking has shifted and we know that Vice President Mike Pence has been very much involved in trying to have more conversations with members of the House Republican Conference. Now, there are some serious obstacles heading into next week. As you know, Kate, members have to deal with the problem of funding the government, and that is sort of their first priority. And we also know that the existing split between the conservative faction as well as the moderates, that continues to sort of be a problem as they try to get to the 216 votes. So, we'll see if any sort of real breakthrough comes before members come back next week Kate.
[Bolduan:] Yes, where deadlines haven't helped them in the past with this new administration, it seems they're setting now more deadlines on themselves. Let's see where this goes. M.J., great to see you. Thanks so much. Things are moving rapidly on this, but they could also stop quickly. Let's talk about it. Jon Selib is here, former chief of staff to former Senator Max Bachus of Montana. He was a key player in writing and passing Obamacare way back when. David Drucker is also here, CNN political analyst and senior congressional correspondent for "The Washington Examiner," and Alice Stewart, a CNN political commentator and Republican strategist. So, Alice, first to you. As you're reading the tea leaves and you're talking to all the whispers going on in Washington, are you ready to say you've got a breakthrough?
[Alice Stewart, Cnn Political Commentator:] We certainly have some progress. I'll go that far. Look, right now there is a call going on between the more conservative wing of the Republican Party, the House Freedom Caucus, and the Tuesday Group, which is the more moderate, and they're trying to come to a consensus on this massive bill, and they feel as though they're closer. One of the key holdups is what is called the limited waiver, and this would be, if they come to agreement on this, it's great progress. This would allow states the option of opting out of certain aspects of this bill. There is also the overall marketplace, which continues what is very popular amongst people, which is allowing kids to stay on their parents' health insurance until they're 26 and also keeping in the pre-existing conditions option. And right now, from what I'm hearing, Mike Pence, while he's busy with foreign policy, he is really driving this train here, making sure that they get something on the table. They would like to have a victory or some signs of victory before they get to 100 days, and this would be a good step forward in that process.
[Bolduan:] Right, but exactly, they wanted this victory back in March, though, Alice. I mean, David, isn't some of what we're laying out here as the possible points of compromise, aren't these the exact issues that tripped them up the last time? What do you sense is different?
[David Drucker, Cnn Political Analyst:] Well, what I know is different is that in talking to people that have been involved with this, they do believe that they are coming together around an emerging framework for a compromise. What they caution is that they don't know how this is going to be received by rank and file members within the various factions of the House Republican Conference
[Bolduan:] Which is a huge deal, right?
[Drucker:] Well, of course, once it's presented, because what Republicans are trying to do, and John will understand this, Alice will as well, of course, is they're trying to keep everything that people like about Obamacare and remove everything that people don't like, and that creates a real policy conundrum. We will know more on Saturday, possibly, after House Republicans convene in a conference-wide conference call a couple days ahead of returning to Washington from their spring break, and that may tell us where they are. But don't forget, Kate, if they're able to come together on this in concept, it's still going to have to go into legislative language. I'm sure a lot of people will want to see a CBO score, and we'll see if it's able to sort of survive all that and get to a point where they can actually vote on it.
[Bolduan:] Jon, take us I don't know if you're having, again, some fun flashbacks here, but take me inside. You've got basically a couple members who think that they've reached some kind of formation, formulation that kind of, like, threads the needle, even though these are topics that were discussed that they could not get to yes on the first time around. How does this play out in your mind? You've got members talking to each other. Then they have to go back and talk to the various factions, and then they need to come back to Capitol Hill. There seems to be a lot of variables that could happen before they get there.
[Jon Selib, Former Chief Of Staff To Senator Max Baucus:] I think that's absolutely right and look, let's go back to the fundamentals here. This bill, at least what's being discussed and what we know about so far, is fundamentally the same bill that was being discussed before. There are massive Medicaid cuts that are going to make governors very unhappy, including Republican governors
[Bolduan:] Which are making some moderates very unhappy.
[Selib:] And many moderates very unhappy. And actually something that a lot of very conservative members of Congress have gotten a lot of guff for when they've gone back and done town halls across the country. So, that's still a massive problem for them in gathering votes. And you know, allowing states to opt out of essential benefits, they can say that they want to keep protecting people with pre-existing conditions, but if you get rid of these essential benefits, you know, you're going to allow insurance companies to sell plans that don't cover things like hospitalizations or pregnancy or other things that
[Bolduan:] Maybe, yes, I mean, maybe?
[Selib:] Maybe.
[Bolduan:] And that's part of it, right. But again, this is stuff that tripped them up. It's something if it isn't the details of the bill, it seems, Alice, something has changed here. Do you think that something is maybe what Jon was pointing to right there? Do you think that it's the pressure on them? Maybe did they go home to their districts and were scared straight by their constituents that they want to see them get something done?
[Stewart:] There was a willingness on all sides, Kate, to get something done the first time, but it just wasn't right. I know that the House Freedom Caucus members, they campaigned and they promised all of the Republicans campaigned and promised on repealing and replacing Obamacare. They told their constituents, this would mean lower premiums and greater access to care. House Freedom Caucus members didn't feel that was part of this first plan on the table. The MacArthur amendment, which they're discussing now, they feel is a better step in that direction. They're not concerned about getting pushback here in Washington. They're not concerned about whether or not President Trump tweets angry things about them. They are concerned about going back to their districts and their constituents being frustrated. And what they heard when they went back, their constituents were thankful they stood firm against this first option, and they are encouraged by what they're seeing with this new amendment, and that's what their number one priority is. Everyone wants to come to yes. This is what they campaigned and won on. It's just a matter of how they got there.
[Drucker:] Kate, I do think there is some outside pressure from the fact that the Obamacare health care system right now does have a lot of pressure on it where you have insurance groups pulling out of markets, you have premiums that are rising. Republicans are going to have to address that one way or the other, because politically, it no longer works to blame Obamacare now that they're in charge of all of government and they have campaigned on doing something about this. So, that is I think a pressure that is real, that could be driving this.
[Bolduan:] And here's the other complicating thing. We have to leave it here. The complicating thing is when they come back, they've got other problems to deal with, keeping the government funded. So, where that plays into negotiations, they've got bigger problems because the Senate could be facing a bigger issue. I don't know if that's a bigger issue now that I think about it, keeping the government funded or getting their health care promise through. I'll leave that to you all to decide. Great to see you, Jon, David, Alice. Thanks, guys. Thanks so much.
[Stewart:] Thanks, Kate.
[Selib:] Thank you.
[Bolduan:] Breaking new details on Bill O'Reilly's exit from Fox News a day after Fox News fired him amid sexual harassment allegations. The question now, how golden is your parachute? That's next. Plus, how's this for irony? The judge that Donald Trump attacked during the election for his Mexican heritage, comments that even Paul Ryan called the textbook definition of racism, well, that same judge is now presiding over a major immigration case against the Trump administration. That's ahead. And President Trump continues to stare down North Korea. Startling, new images, though, are also coming out of a North Korean nuclear test site showing people playing volleyball. Not kidding. What does that mean? We'll be right back.