Sanders' Health Care Fight "A Struggle For Who We Are"; Gillibrand: It's Really Important to Admit When You're Wrong
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Bernie Sanders today bringing back a new version of his healthcare proposal, Medicare for All. This is the Democratic presidential candidate just last hour unveiling an updated proposal that would put every American under a federally funded healthcare system, free of private insurance companies. It adds new provisions for long-term care and under the Sanders plan, premiums and deductibles would disappear, as would co- payments with a possible exception, the senator says if you purchase brand named drugs. Senator Sanders' new bill already backed by four fellow senators competing with him for the Democratic presidential nomination.</s>SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not just an idea that Kirsten or Jeff or I and few others thought of. This is a struggle for the heart and soul of who we are as American people.</s>SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This has to become the next social safety net. It has to become something that is there for you no matter what.</s>KING: CNN's Ryan Nobles up on Capitol Hill. Here is one of the big questions being asked, not just by Republicans, Ryan, but Democrats as well, how does Senator Sanders plan to pay for this and how much would it cost?</s>RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And John, frankly, there's no good answer for that. And Senator Sanders at this event today which really essentially amounted to a pep rally did not take any questions so we didn't get the chance to pin him down on exactly what the dollar figure would be for this massive overhaul of the American healthcare system. But they did release a summary of this new bill. The expansions that it includes and they do have a section in that conversation where they talk about the financing of it all. And this is how it reads, quote, there needs to be a vigorous debate as to the best way to finance our Medicare for All legislation. Unlike the Republican leadership in Congress, which held no hearings on their disastrous bill which would have thrown 32 million people off of health insurance, we will continue to get the best ideas from economists, doctors, nurses and ordinary Americans to guarantee healthcare as a fundamental right. And this isn't really that big of a surprise, John. Sanders has spent a lot more time talking about the potential savings that the average American would enjoy if this healthcare plan were put into place. He doesn't talk a lot about costs, but some estimates of the 2017 plan put the price tag as much as $32 trillion over 10 years. John?</s>KING: That's a big number. Ryan, appreciate the live reporting from the Hill. Let's bring the conversation into the room. I don't mean to be snarky but -- so this is an idea, not a plan, right? If you have a plan, you detail how you're going to pay for it, how long of a transition, what would happen. The -- he has the idea that this he believes the best way to go, but how do you sell it if you can't -- whether you're a liberal voter, an undecided independent voter, a conservative voter, here's what it is going to cost you, here's how it's going to fix your life, here's what's going to cost the government.</s>OLIVIER KNOX, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, SIRIUSXM: I think this is exactly how you sell it. You go out and you say I'm going to be listening to all the stakeholders, I'm going to listen to my colleagues, to doctors, to economists. Basically, it's like his fund- raising model, right? It's join me to build this thing. I think that's exactly how you do it. You know, if people feel like they have -- they're going to have a voice in shaping this program, maybe they'll be less concerned about having, you know, this -- I don't want to call it one-size fits all but this sweeping overhaul of healthcare.</s>KING: I should have welcomed at the beginning before you jumped in, Laura Barron-Lopez from Politico joins the conversation. Please.</s>LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, POLITICO: Thank you. Yes. Well, it's early stages, right? We're nine months out from the first content so Sanders is putting this marker out there right now trying to get ahead as much as he can. He's already seen the party start to shift towards him. There's a number of progressives in the House that are on board with Medicare for All, but we also have to see how the new Democratic majority handles this stuff. They may have very different views than Sanders. We already have seen Pelosi, Rachael's reported on this, Politico's reported on this, has thrown cold water on Medicare for All. And there are number -- there's an emboldened blue dog caucus that is not for this, they want something different. So there's a lot of options on the table that Democrats can pursue.</s>KING: And --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But also --</s>KING: -- that part of the pushback comes from the idea that if we are starting with a blank slate, a lot of Democrats would say this is the way to do it they believe. If you're starting with a blank slate. We're not. We're starting with a largely employer-based system in the United States and our government. If you just want to look, this is from America's health insurance plans, 512,000 health plan employees in the United States of America. Insurance-related employees, nearly a million. Total payroll for them, $33.5 billion. This is a big chunk of the American economy. Remember in the ObamaCare debate if you like your plan, you can keep your plan? That turned into a big stumble for the Democrats then. Listen to Senator Sanders this morning on this question, what happens to private insurance companies?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what happens to those insurance companies after your plan is implemented?</s>SANDERS: Under a Medicare for All we cover all basic healthcare needs, so they're not going to be there to do that. I suppose if you want to make yourself look a little bit more beautiful, you want to work on that nose, your ears, they can do that.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So basically Blue Cross Blue Shield will be reduced to nose jobs?</s>SANDERS: Something like that.</s>KING: Can you sell that?</s>CATHERINE LUCEY, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Well, I think one thing to think about, though, is, you know, all these Democrats are competing to run against President Trump. And they saw that in 2016 President Trump very successfully ran on big ideas and not a ton of specific policy proposals. So, I think if you're looking at that landscape and that you're looking to voters who want this sort of broad proposals and ideas, I mean, I think people are calculating that.</s>RACHAEL BADE, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Just a few weeks ago, you know, we saw Kamala Harris say the same thing, you know, private insurance would disappear. Then there was a ton of blowback on her and she actually walked it back. And these are sort of things that Speaker Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are very concerned about that saying things like your private insurance will disappear, that that is going to repel swing voters that they need and that actually carried them to the majority in 2018. Democrats ran on protecting pre-existing conditions. They ran on making sure that ObamaCare could be the best that it can be. They didn't run on Medicare for All. And there's a lot of --</s>BARRON-LOPEZ: And Republicans see an opening here.</s>BADE: Exactly.</s>LUCEY: Very much so. They see that, you know, you're proposing effectively repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, aren't you? I mean, that's the line you're going to hear from Republicans now. And after, you know, a rocky couple of weeks in healthcare, they feel pretty good at running against this idea.</s>BARRON-LOPEZ: Right, but I think that Democrats really are on strong footing heading into 2020 on healthcare. I mean, As you said, this is why they won the House. And so they really want to stay on message with this. I don't think that the argument from Republicans that, oh, you're going to repeal and replace ObamaCare is going to be effective against Democrats. We may see Pelosi try to move quickly on something that would have to deal with lowering prescription drug prices. I think that's where they think they could be most effective heading into 2020, rather than having a showboat on Medicare for All.</s>KING: Right. And to the point of the Republican argument, you see the Republicans testing their lines. You had a good one there, you know, now you guys are for repealing and replacing this. This is Kellyanne Conway, the president's counselor this morning on her take on the Sanders proposal.</s>KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: We want to make sure that people understand Medicare for All means choices for none. When people hear government insurance, you can't just hear insurance, you have to hear the word government. You don't want government more involved in one of the most intimate parts of your life, your healthcare portfolio.</s>KING: Medicare for All means choices for none.</s>KNOX: Two messages in American politics, change is needed, change is scary. We know where everyone is lining up ahead of this, right?</s>KING: It's going to be fascinating to watch. And again, Senator Sanders has some support. This is going to be one of the big debates, first then Democratic primaries then we'll see. And speaking of those Democratic primaries as we go to break, remarkable moment from our latest CNN town hall with the presidential candidates. Here is Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on whether she's mended fences with Hillary Clinton after suggesting her husband should have resigned over the Monica Lewinsky scandal.</s>GILLIBRAND: For me, Secretary Clinton is still a role model for all of us, and my views on her husband is very different, and I've said all I'm going to say about that.</s>ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Has she given you advice on this presidential campaign?</s>GILLIBRAND: Yes, she has.</s>BURNETT: She has?</s>GILLIBRAND: Yes.</s>BURNETT: So is it a sense of -- you feel like she understands or she has forgiven you?</s>GILLIBRAND: You would have to ask her that.