[Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] Now, that process was not enough for then- Congressman and currently the vice president, Mike Pence, who in early 2010 tweeted: "It's simply wrong for legislation that will affect 100 percent of the American people to be negotiated behind closed doors." And that was right, what Congressman Pence said. And it's right now, as was this from then-Congressman, now Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Tom Price quote "With Democrats discussing health care in secret, they're sacrificing the trust of the American people." Or, for instance, Senator Orrin Hatch, now the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, who wrote back then quote "The real bill is currently being written behind closed doors in the dark corners of the Capitol." I could do this all day, frankly. But what about today? What does Hatch have to say today, such as, for instance, this month when he was challenged about whether his committee would hold a public hearing?
[Unidentified Female:] Will there be a hearing? Democrats have been invited to participate in this process, and we are open to all ideas and suggestions.
[Sen. Orrin Hatch , Utah:] Well, I don't know that there's going to be another hearing, but we have been invited you to participate.
[Tapper:] The only thing that's changed is the party affiliations of those behind closed doors and those locked out. If you apply a principle only to your opponents, it's not a principle. It's just a cheap partisan attack. Senate Republicans say a bill could go to the Congressional Budget Office for analysis as soon as this week. CNN's Phil Mattingly is live on Capitol Hill. And, Phil, Republicans want estimates from the CBO before a vote. That would leave them with about seven or eight working days before the July 4 recess. Is that enough time to debate such a huge piece of legislation?
[Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Jake, the most interesting element probably of the last week or so is the number of Republicans who have voiced their own unease about this process, acknowledging it's too secretive, acknowledging particularly rank-and-file members have no idea where this is all going to end up, despite the fact that senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced today that there would be a working draft available to everybody on Thursday. And there still are major key outstanding issues, major issues that need to be resolved before Thursday. An interesting element here is really twofold, Jake, first off, the frustration about the process, and second off, that they're not there yet. Take a listen to this.
[Unidentified Male:] But when the Affordable Care Act came through, so- called Obamacare, fellows, just give us a sense of that process compared to...
[Mattingly:] Jake, one of the elements here is when you talk to people like Senator John McCain, very frustrated with the process, very sarcastic with us all day today, but not willing to acknowledge that they will stand in the way of the process moving forward. Here's kind of the cold reality here. If three Republican senators out of 52 tell the Senate majority leader, look, we need to slow down, we need to wait until after we have full amounts of time to digest the bill or have a hearing on this bill, then that would be what would happen. The only goal here is to get 50 senators in line. And if three say no, then they don't really have an option. Up to this point, despite the frustration we've heard publicly, no senator has actually come out and said that. And another key element here, as I noted, they don't have final agreement on some of these key outstanding issues. Short of that, it's tough to figure out how they are going to get 50 votes. But one thing was made clear by the Senate majority leader today, Jake. They're moving forward. They expect to have a CBO score at some point next week. And they expect a vote on this as well.
[Tapper:] We haven't seen a draft of the legislation. In that, we're no different than Senator Mike Lee. But Republicans aides are saying that being considered are deeper Medicaid cuts than the House bill. Is that getting any pushback on Capitol Hill?
[Mattingly:] No question about it. Look, this is something that conservatives look very favorable towards, and it's how they would peg the growth rate. As it currently stands, at least in the House legislation, it would be pegged to inflation, plus or medical inflation, essentially. What the Senate is actually considering right now is pegging it to just inflation. Now, the House bill, Jake, would cut $800 billion over the course of 10 years. That has moderate senators concerned on its own. The Senate bill, if it were to follow through with this proposal that I'm told is on the table right now, would cut it a lot more. You talk to senators like Rob Portman of Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, they made very clear today that they don't think they can support something like that. So, the big question is, will that be taken off the table before that discussion draft leaves the premises or at least comes out on Thursday? And obviously we're keeping an eye on Democrats, too. You kind of highlighted their frustration through all of this. They don't have much of a role here. They can try and slow things down. They can try not and draw attention to the process. And that's pretty much what they're doing. Today, we had senator Cory Booker, Senator Brian Schatz and Senator Chris Murphy actually go on a scavenger hunt of sorts over to the CBO office trying to track down some of the drafts of certain provisions of this legislation in order to get some sense of what's in the bill. They failed in that process, just as just about everybody in the Senate has up to this point. It looks we're all going to have to wait and see until at least Thursday morning what's actually in the bill.
[Tapper:] All right, Phil Mattingly on Capitol Hill for us, thank you so much. One of the Democrats speaking out on the Senate floor last night and again this afternoon was Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who joins me now from Capitol Hill. Senator, thanks for joining us. In response to complaints about transparency, the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said that there will be quote "ample opportunity to read and amend the bill." Your response?
[Sen. Jeff Merkley , Oregon:] Hi. Greetings, Jake. Pleasure to be with you. I got to tell you, it's incredible secrecy that we're engaged in. And I heard that clip that you had with Senator Hatch saying that we're welcome to participate. I believe Senator Thune said we are welcome to the meetings. So, I have got my RSVP card here. I have already signed it. I just need to know what the date is and what the location is, because, despite the invitation, so far have absolutely no idea how to participate. This is the secret 13 holding these meetings and deciding what's going to happen in health care in America with absolutely no committee hearing, no opportunity for the public to weigh in. This is not the way a legislature is supposed to operate in a we the people republic.
[Tapper:] Looking back on it, did Democrats make a mistake by not opening the process more open and having more debate and having more openness and transparency when Obamacare was being written?
[Merkley:] Let's count the ways that we were open. In the Senate alone, we had over committee meetings, roundtables and walk-throughs. We considered over 300 amendments in a public setting. We considered over 300 Republican amendments. We adopted over 100 Republican amendments. We went to the floor with 25 days of debate. People held town halls back home. The public weighed in. It was about as lengthy a process as you have seen in modern United States history. This is the opposite end. This is zero, zero, zero.
[Tapper:] Isn't this an example of elections having consequences? The Republicans control the Senate, and it does seem, according to many polls, that Americans do want Obamacare overhauled, if not replaced.
[Merkley:] Well, just I would invite to join me on my town halls out in Oregon. This weekend, I was in four conservative counties, four red counties, completely open town hall. Everybody knew about them. And people came out. And they terrified, absolutely terrified of this secret process and what might happen to their health care. So, I think it's very clear, whatever polling there might have been in the past, right now, the Trumpcare is creating enormous anxiety and opposition at grassroots rural America.
[Tapper:] What do you think Republicans could do that would satisfy you and your Democratic colleagues? Even if there were public hearings, you would still oppose their efforts to change Obamacare or undermine Obamacare on such a grand scale.
[Merkley:] There's so many ways that the current health care system can be improved. So, what I would like to say, at a minimum, one month for the public to weigh in, one month for the two committees to hold hearings and take expert testimony, one month for us to hold town halls and discussions among ourselves and offer amendments in those two committees. Then bring it to the floor. That's not too much to ask.
[Tapper:] So, there are problems with Obamacare, you acknowledge, and, as you must know, premiums are rising up to 30 percent in your home state of Oregon. What changes would you make, if you could make them right now?
[Merkley:] The first is that there has to be a lockdown on cost- sharing. Companies are bailing out of states because the president will not commit to cost-sharing. That's the difference between, say, a 7 percent and a 30 percent rise in the cost of health care. Second of all, a company can't go into a new market without re- insurance in case they get a disproportionate share of sick individuals. And the Republicans destroyed the re-insurance program in Obamacare. And so those are just two examples of ways that currently the administration and my Republican colleagues are undermining the exchanges. And, by the way, those exchanges were the Republican idea for health care. Marketplace, where private companies compete, that was their idea. But they chose, on a completely partisan basis, to instead just try to undermine a presidency, rather than do the responsible thing and work together to make health care that will serve, affordable quality health care for every American.
[Tapper:] Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, thank you so much. Good luck with that RSVP card.
[Merkley:] You're welcome. Thank you. I'm hoping to get that date and time.
[Tapper:] Georgia is on Republicans' mind and Democrats' minds tonight, as voters head to the polls in the most expensive U.S. House race in American history. But will the results be a referendum for either party? Stay with us.