[Newton:] The U.S. Senate health care bill could be in trouble. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the plan would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026 than under Obamacare. Now, right now, it appears there are not enough votes to even begin Senate debate on this bill this week, and that's a problem. Scott McLean has more.
[Sen. Chuck Schumer , Minority Leader:] CBO's report today makes clear that this bill is every bit as mean as the House bill.
[Scott Mclean, Cnn Correspondent:] 22 million that's how many more Americans would be without health insurance by 2026 if the proposed Senate GOP health care passes according to the Congressional Budget Office. Like the House version of the bill that passed in May, this version would end enhanced Medicaid expansion, eliminate coverage mandates and allow insurers to charge older people more. And wore premiums would be down about 20 percent over the next 10 years for the average customer, those in the individual market would be hit with dramatic increases for services. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is scrambling to shore up votes for the bill, but these new numbers may not help.
[Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] Obviously it's not good news and so it'll have to be a factor. But the important factor is my state is a Medicare expansion state and so we have a lot of issues right now. The governor's initial impression of this that it's not helpful to his state.
[Mclean:] Senate Republicans unveiled their version of the Obamacare last Thursday to an underwhelming response by many in their own party.
[Sen. Dean Heller , Nevada:] This bill, this bill is currently in front of the United States Senate is not the answer. It's simply not the answer. And I'm announcing today that in this form I will not support it.
[Mclean:] Only two Republican senators can vote against the bill in order for it to still pass and as of Monday afternoon, at least five are opposing it. In Washington I'm Scott McLean.
[Newton:] Joining me now, political analyst Michael Genovese. He is also the president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. Thanks so much for joining us. I mean we kind of have to take a deep breath on a news day like today. And there was so much in the news that was both political but also substantive in a policy sense. If we start first with health care. It looks like that, as everyone said, even after seven years, the Republicans are saying, not yet. We need more time.
[Michael Genovese, Global Policy Institute:] Well, you know, this was a big test for Donald Trump. It was the signature issue of the Republicans going into the campaign. They voted against Obamacare 50 some odd times while Obama was president. And if they can't get this done they're in trouble. So for the President, the problem is he doesn't have enough leverage. He ran behind almost every member of the House and Senate in their own districts. And so he can't go to them and say, you need me to get re- elected. They can go to him and say, no, we pulled you in. And so the leverage that most presidents have and promise that if you support me I can bring votes in Obama had a little bit of it, Trump has very little of it. And so how does he bargain? How does he negotiate? What does he offer? He doesn't have a lot to offer right now.
[Newton:] Not only does he not have a lot to offer but he is running against what is a CBO, the budget office that is saying, look this is the way the numbers add up. I want to go to a tweet that he said, "Fact: when Obamacare was signed CBO, Congressional Budget Office, estimated that 23 million would be covered in 2017. They were off
[Genovese:] He's nasty.
[Newton:] by 100 percent. But only 10.3 million people were covered." What is interesting and we should add that Trump's own budget director claims that that Congressional Budget Office is partisan which even conservatives come out and said what are you saying? This is an arbiter of policy. What I'm trying to get at here is t every turn, the Trump administration seems to be undermining government, period.
[Genovese:] Well, that's kind of their mode of operation. They're concerned about what they call the deep and they think the intelligence agencies are out to get them; the Democrats who probably are out to get them. But he sees enemies at every turn. And I'm not trying to say he's paranoid but he seems very suspicious. He doesn't have that sense of deep politics that someone who's been in there for 30 years has who can go back and forth and argue. When he argues, he takes it very personally. If you throw something at him, he will turn it right back and throw it at you. So whenever Trump is confronted by something, he goes on the attack which is not a very good negotiating tool.
[Newton:] Ok. But Michael we keep saying it's not a good negotiating tool. Look, he's just had a really big victory in the Supreme Court. If this health bill fails, some people would say who cares. He didn't leverage a lot on it. He didn't stake a lot of his own capital on it. So in a sense, with his base and perhaps more, what he's doing is working.
[Genovese:] Well, his base is going to be with for a long time. But you can't govern with one-third of the population. And to say that, you know, well he didn't stake his presidency on it that was a big issue in the campaign. It was a big Republican issue. They have control of the House and the Senate and the White House. If they can't get this done, then they will appear to be at least to many people, inept, incapable of getting the simplest thing that they promised all along to get done.
[Newton:] And in the middle of all this we have these continued leaks, this continued investigation. I want to pick up on something that you said that was interesting. You try and use something against you try and use something against Trump, any mud that's flung at him, he picks it up and throws it right back at you. Case in point, a Trump tweet, you know, talking about in fact the fact that, you know, this whole issue of a collusion and obstruction. He's now turning it around on Barack Obama and the Democrats and saying that in fact, by not doing more with all of that Russia investigation before the election, starting in the summer of 2016 that they were the ones. He says that Obama he didn't in the tweet he says he didn't choke. He colluded or obstructed, and it did the Dems and crooked Hillary no good. There are the words colluded or obstructed the same words that the Democrats have been using against Donald Trump for so many months now. What do you think the impact of that will be? Not just on his base but if we're looking at, you know, Americans at large.
[Genovese:] Well, you know, when you were four years old in the playground someone called you a name. You say, no I'm not, you are. And that's what Donald Trump does. He needs to get past this because it keeps him in the background when he needs to be at the center of the argument. And the argument is about substantive issues. This is a nice distraction. He likes to attack President Obama and heaven knows President Obama dropped the ball on this. There's no question about that. President Obama's response was tepid and hesitant and he wasn't looking out for out for our national interest. But on the Russia thing, if you look at President Trump now, he's been in denial for most of his presidency, and instead of going after the Russian's he's become the cheerleader for Vladimir Putin. And so I think Donald Trump has a problem with there's no core to him. He'll respond to issues, go on the attack and gets easily distracted if someone throws mud, that's where he puts his attention.
[Newton:] It's interesting though in terms of what you say because at the end of the day, his supporters, his base is sticking with him. It will be really interesting to see some of those swing states as those races come up again in 2018 just kind of where voters are sitting on all that.
[Genovese:] And if the Obamacare repeal takes place. A lot of people in those states are going to suffer right. That's going to be the test to see if his base stays with him.
[Newton:] Yes. A lot on the line in the next few weeks. Michael thanks so much. We really appreciate it.
[Genovese:] Thank you.
[Newton:] Next on NEWSROOM L.A. an exclusive glimpse of the frontline in the battle against ISIS. Undercover footage from inside the Syrian city of Raqqa. You don't want to miss this. And just ahead a look at the high cost of the Philippines new war with ISIS militants on the country's home court.