but tom cole is influential in the house republican conference. he is viewed as a pragmatist, someone who is making a pretty strong statement that it's time for president trump to apologize. now, this comes as a number of republicans are just frankly fed up with the white house's handling of the wiretapping issue. they believe that there's no evidence, they believe what the house and senate intelligence committees have been saying, there's no evidence of wiretapping, and that the president and the white house continuing to dig in is a major distraction and also hurts their credibility. one congressman, congressman charlie dent who i just spoke with as well, said that this does undercut the president's credibility and it really saps his political momentum. and i believe we have sound of charlie dent right here, take a listen to what he had to say. >> it's inexplicable. i've said that the original tweet accusing former president obama of wiretapping the current president's phone, apparently there is no evidence or any basis in fact. so i think he sh

joining me now to talk about this is congressman tom cole of oklahoma. my first question to you is where there is smoke, is there fire? >> obviously, there's plenty of people looking at this. we'll find out, i think in due course, whether there is. count me skeptical in the extreme there's much to this story. not unusual to meet with ambassadors. not unusual for ambassadors of other countries to be busy trying to find out what's going on in, you know, an important country like the united states. and, frankly, preliminarily post-election, there's a lot of relationship-building that goes on between the incoming administration and important countries around the world. again, i look at, this i just don't see anything sinister here. fair enough, people want to investigate, we'll investigate. >> congressman, when you meet with ambassadors, do you go to the embassy or in your office? >> usually in my office at their request. i don't have any business of my own to transact with an ambassador. they come up to the hill, they usually see a number of members. most o

and tom cole. also head press secretary josh earnest and chris coons on the fight to fill the supreme court. plus -- >> i'm going to try to find that middle, i'm going to try to talk with president-elect donald trump and find out if there's a pathway to common sense. he could really help this dialogue by saying, come on, people, that doesn't make sense. you're going to let a guy go to a gun show and a table and buy anything they want and not check them. i hope they would get involved. >> less than an hour after that appearance on "morning joe," senator manchin got a call. how that could play a role. >> i talked a lot in that block. i promise you i'm going to talk less in the next half hour. >> this is the stuff you know about so i allowed. i'm rusty. >> love your passion. >> good passion. a check on some severe weather. bill. >> severe storms, talk a little about winter continuing in the northeast as painful as that is. texas yesterday a lot of hail reports with the storms. we did have some hail da

i know tom cole. he's an institutionalist and cares about the presidency and doesn't think that the current president should imply that the preceding president broke the law for political purpose to help the hillary clinton re-election campaign. as abby pointed out very correctly that a friendly intelligence agency also broke british laws and american laws in doing this. so i think tom cole is sort of reflecting that, gee, you said something foolish, tweeted something foolish, you dug in deeper. would you get out of it already and apologize. you're president of the united states and probably going to be the president of the united states for three years and ten more months. that's the right math, i think. and it's bad to just let that sit there. >> abby, i think that president trump potentially could be an effective president. i think he has republican office holders very scared of him. i think he could do deals. i think he could be very consequential. is there anyone around him in the white house who

but we have a republican congressman who has been standing by with us, tom cole, listening in on his colleague talking about his other colleague. i'm curious, as you were listening to that, what is your reaction to what con agreeman adam schiff had to say i have a lot of respect for both gentlemen. i've worked with congressman schiff on a variety of issues and devon nunes probably as good a friend as i have in congress and does a great job. they have a prof but i'm confident they'll work it out and get to the truth. hopefully they'll have a chance to sit down. i think, you know, insofar as they've drawn conclusions, they tend to, when they see the same information, they quite often come to the same place. i just think they have to work through it. >> jenna: that's reassuring to hear. with a we're seeing obviously publicly is something quite different. we'll see what happens. we haven't seen any documents from either of them. i want to underscore that. that's a lot of theorys put out there publicly. the facts that really matter in this story have not been presented at least publicly.

i want you to listen to tom cole, republican, talking about what should happen next. it's all well and good to say, donald trump does this and his base likes it and that's the end of the story. it's not the end of the story. he's a flue new president. here's a republican saying what should be done. >> frankly, unless you can produce some pretty compelling proof, i think the president, you know, president obama is owed an apology in that regard. because if he didn't do it, we shouldn't be reckless in accusations that he did. >> david? >> well, that's at the very least. i don't think we'll ever see donald trump apologize for everything. he has said, he was asked during the campaign, have you ever gretted ything, have you ever had to apologize? and he said, eh, after 70 years, no. so there will be no apology. this is a fellow who can never concede really doing anything wrong from his bankruptcies to his lies. it doesn't matter. i do think jonathan finer's point from early on is the dead-on thing. right now we have rex tillerson and others talking about going to war with

republican congressman tom cole supports the health care bill and joins me now. thanks for your patience for waiting. so much happening this morning. >> thank you, andrea. >> is there any chance the speaker would recommend to the president pulling this? >> i would hope not. i think it's still, it's very close. it's still winnable, could go either way. i think pulling it would be a mistake. >> what do you say to the freedom caucus members the budget hawks who say you'll not get any budget savings. we don't have a cbo support but de minimus savings for this and you're taking heat from angry constituents, maybe not in your district but in districts all over the country. >> well, i think you continue to work the process. look, there's no final thing here, unless you actually stop the legislation, and there's a lot of good things in here that conservatives like, getting rid of the mandates, making sure most of these decisions on the kind of plans you get are made at the state level, frankly, providing individual tax credits so people can purchase the plan that suits t

i want you to listen to tom cole, republican, talking about what should happen next. it's all well and good to say, donald trump does this and his base likes it and that's the end of the story. it's not the end of the story. he's a flue new president. here's a republican saying what should be done. >> frankly, unless you can produce some pretty compelling proof, i think the president, you know, president obama is owed an apology in that regard. because if he didn't do it, we shouldn't be reckless in accusations that he did. >> david? >> well, that's at the very least. i don't think we'll ever see donald trump apologize for everything. he has said, he was asked during the campaign, have you ever regretted anything, have you ever had to apologize? and he said, eh, after 70 years, no. so there will be no apology. this is a fellow who can never concede really doing anything wrong from his bankruptcies to his lies. it doesn't matter. i do think jonathan finer's point from early on is the dead-on thing. right now we have rex tillerson and others talking about going to war w

that's why he hear people like tom cole saying apologize and move on. >> forget about the credibility he has here, what about the credibility abroad and the credibility of spokesman who clearly went through so many verbal gymnastics to try to claim. it got him in trouble. >> trump never apologizes, that is his brand, he never backs down and never apologizes certainly not to president obama whom he said so many things about. what you hear from these republicans on capitol hill is an increasing sense of frustration, the house intelligence committee, the senate intelligence committee, bipartisan committees absolutely knocking down trump on this, and feeling really frustrated as manu said that they keep having to chase things. of course, they don't have to. they have the ability to just ignore him. but that's a weird place to be. >> it's hard to ignore him. >> they did on the illegal voters. mitch mcconnell was asked are you going to do an investigation into the election and the illegal votes and he just said no. they have a choice to ignore. >> go ahead, amy. >> it's one thing to say ign

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joining me the tom cole of the state of oklahoma. congressman, first, do you believe jeff sessions should recuse himself from any sort of investigation? >> oh, i think it would be wise given the controversy here. again, i find it premature to talk about an investigation, at least one that involves criminal activity. it's worth looking at what the russians are doing anytime, any place. i find it -- count me as skeptical that jeff sessions was manipulated with the russians or colluded with them. >> mike flynn has been forced to resign. we know that the russians tried to interfere with the election. why not have a very clear investigation and given jeff sessions had one, maybe two meetings or contact with the russian ambassador, why not clear the deck, recuse himself? >> look, my personal view is, there's a lot of hypocrisy going on in this whole thing. the president of the united states, president obama, you know, actually directly interfered in the british election going to britain telling them they are going to be at the back of the

let's discuss with republican congressman tom cole of oklahoma. does that put it to bed for you, what you heard from jeff sessions? >> it absolutely does. i think the hysteria, the desperation on the part of democrats is almost laughable. the idea that somehow jeff sessions was conspiring with the russians to impact the election is simply an unbelievable fiction. so, yeah, i think it's pretty much a tempest in a teapot. >> let's not get ahead of the implications. sometimes that makes it easier to dismiss the shorter questions, which is, he was asked a question about whether he had any contact with russian officials and he said no twice. that's not true. that means nothing to you? >> no, it wasn't, frankly. i think he understood that question to be did you talk to somebody about the campaign. look, it's not unusual for a united states senator or even lowly congressmen to meet with ambassadors. i do it all the time. we don't usually talk about anything to deal with campaigns. we usually talk about relations between our respected countries or some re

tom cole, deputy whip, said unless there's compelling proof, president obama is owed an apology from president trump. what we understand now is that proof is not there, nothing that would support this. do you agree that president trump should apologize to president obama? >> i'm going to quote my father, bob hurd, something he told all of my friends when they got married -- it never hurts to say you're sorry. i think this goes for this situation, for the situation with our british friends. our intelligence cooperation between the u.s. and the british is one of the strongest that we have, and it never hurts to say sorry to your friends. >> do you wish he had taken that opportunity today when he was given it? >> well, he's the president of the united states. he can do what he thinks is in his best interest. but this is something that will probably linger. and the issue of privacy in the united states is important, is tantamount in protecting civil liberties. privacy is an issue that's important in europe. this debate will create unintended circumstances as we discuss future intelligenc

jason chaffetz andidarit issan and tom cole and paul labrador. democrats calling for session's resignation. >> he's proved he's unqualified and unfit to serve in the position of trust. >> for the good of the country attorney general sessions should resign. >> i will reserve judgment until i look at what he said. if if he did this wilfully he is step down. >> lou: our guest said the dems have no credibility and the this is one of the most honorable men. joining us a forme trump campaign and deputy manager and citizen's united. david, good to have you with us. this is something quite to witness. people have a awful low view of washington d.c. and to watch this attempt to exploit politically a man of immense character and integrity and stature is gut wrenching. >> it is troubling, lou. i disagree with with his staff that told him that he is recuse himself. he's done nothing to put himself in a position of of not overseeing the investigation. it is a dire contrast to what happened in the last administration. this man is saying that the appearance, ju

also congressman tom cole and dave bratt and kevin brady will join the conversation this morning. welcome to "morning joe." it really is friday, right? are we good? >> guaranteed. >> it's friday, march 17th. i do not put that in quotes. it is actually friday. joe is wrapping up his family vacation. he'll be back on monday morning. with us today is senior political analyst for nbc news be and msnbc mark halpern. donny deutsche is with us. political writer for "the new york times" nick confessore and kasie hunt is in washington. a great group. >> she is the only one wearing a hint of green on st. patrick's day! >> you guys! >> she is so cute. >> i have a small hint of green on this tie. >> that doesn't do it, nick. >> i messed up. i'm just glad i know the day of the week at this point. i've had kind of a long one. >>> this morning, the white house is standing by president trump's claims of being wiretapped by a former president obama, despite leaders of the senate intelligence committee saying there is no evidence of this. in a joint statement, the top republican and democrat on the

congressman tom cole told reporters frankly unless you can produce some pretty compelling proof, then i think president obama is owed an apology and the conservative "wall street journal," i couldn't believe the editorial right in the middle of the page was this, as for mr. trump's accusation, white house spokesman sean spicer says, he stands by it, mr. trump would be wiser to say he fired the tweet in anger and walk it back. an apology can be good for the soul and a presidency. >> no, absolutely, look, this is a week in which his own ambassador to the united nations appearing on the "today" program yesterday, very outspoken in her new role, nikki haley criticizing the russians relentlessly when pressed by matt lauer as to whether when she says those things she is reflecting the president's thinking says, oh, i don't know. i don't know about that. so, what's -- >> what does that mean? nikki haley did that. >> what's the international government supposed to deduce from that. when the u.s. ambassador to the united nations speaks, she does not necessarily reflect the thinking of the man

i think that's the responsible thing to do. >> congressman tom cole, i appreciate you being with us on a crazy news day. thank you. >> thank you. >>> i want to go back to kasie hunt now. our headline at this hour is that there will be no vote on health care today. kasie, that is significant. >>. >> reporter: that's right. multiple leadership sources tell c news there will not be a health care today after spear paul ryan worked very hard to set this deadline and get his members where they needed to be. they have not at this point crossed that threshold. they do not have the votes to go forward today. they have postponed this. we're told that there could still possibly be a vote on friday, but the scheduling and plan to move forward is not clear. we know republican leaders are set to meet tonight at 7:00 p.m. to chart the path forward here. that's going to be after the meeting of the tuesday group. that's the more moderate members of the republican conference. those of whom have said they're going to vote no, invited to the white house today at 5:00 p.m. so, that, of course, it is next s

senator susan collins and rob portman, congressman jason chaffetz, darrell issa, tom cole, raul labrador. democrats as expected went a step further to cynically and cravenly exploit the political moment calling for sessions' resignation. >> he has proved that he is unqualified and unfit to serve in that position of trust. >> for the good of the country, attorney general sessions should resign. >> i want to reserve judgment until i have a chance to study exactly what he said. certainly, if he willfully misled the senators, yes, he should step down. lou: our first guest says the dems have absolutely no credibility on the issue, and the republicans need to stand together against the obvious political witch-hunt taking place with one of the most honorable men in washington, their target. joining us tonight is david bossie, former trump campaign, deputy manager, the citizens united president and fox news contributor. david, good to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. lou: this is quite something to witness. people have an awful low view of washington, d.c. but to watch this attempt to

here's conservative congressman, tom cole. >> i see no indication that that's true. it's not a charge i would have ever made. frankly, unless you can produce some pretty compelling proof, then i think the president, you know, president obama is owed an apology in that regard. >> so andre, i think you can safely assume that the president will not apologize, but do you think it's going to strain his relationship at all or his ability to get things done with the folks on capitol hill? >> i don't believe so. i think he has a clear message. i think the people are still behind him that wanted substantial change in washington. and i think the folks in washington are a little concerned about donald trump's popularity and him going into their district and uniting folks to say we want something done back in washington. i think at the end of the day they'll be much more concerned about that than anything else. >> charles, he's expended a lot of political capital on this. do you think it matters so much when you have republican house and senate and you're in the white house, do

congressman tom cole, you know him. he said that president trumpos president obama an jolapology f what he called a reckless claim of wiretapping, do you agree. >> if the president is saying that is true, that extends it. i again, we haven't come to the conclusion. so we'll let the facts take us where they are, but i haven't seen any facts in this case. i'd like them to share them with us. >> the white house today also insisted that it -- it offered no apology to the british government for accusing the intelligence agency for spying on the president at trump tower during the campaign under orders from president obama. the president and the white house press secretary were citing a report by judge andrew napolitano, a fox legal analyst. was that a mistake to utter those words from the podium of the white house and for the president again to repeat that report by judge napolitano? >> well, i hope that people understand that just one account of one news story, particular when some of these are just by anonymous sources, th

speaking of apologies, republican congressman tom cole said this today about president trump's allegations against the former president, president obama, allegations that he was wire tapped by the former president. listen. >> well, i see no indication that that's true and so it's not a charge i would have ever made and frankly, unless you can produce some pretty compelling proof then i think the president -- president obama is owed an apology in that regard. >> with the hearings early next week on monday the house intelligence committee is going to have open hearings on all of this. if there's absolutely no evidence outside of some baseless news media reports, do you see the white house finally admitting the president was wrong? >> based on past patterns both before and after the election, no, frankly. you already have president trump's own attorney general of course republican, his appointee, saying there's no evidence. you have the republican speaker of the house saying there's no evidence. you have republican and democratic leaders in both the house and senate intelligence committees sa

. >> if he's wrong about this allegation, congressman tom cole said that president trump owes president obama an apology. do you concur? >> i would like to first get to the bottom of this before saying what should be done. i don't know the basis for president trump's assertion. that's what i wish he would explain to us on the intelligence committee and to the american people. i do believe he owes us that explanation. >> senator susan collins, republican from maine, thank you for coming on the show and sharing your views. >> thank you. >> when we come back, tomorrow is a big day in washington. hearings begin for supreme court nominee neil gorsuch and james comey testifies on russia and the election and t ♪ (music plays throughout) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ for my constipation, my doctor recommended i switch laxatives. stimulant laxatives make your body go by forcefully stimulating the nerves in your colon. miralax is different. it works with the water in your body to hydrate and soften. unblocking your system naturally. miralax. donai am going to takey's care of everybody... everybody's goin

congressman tom cole told reporters frankly unless you can produce some pretty compelling proof then i think president obama is owed an apology and the conservative "wall street journal," i couldn't believe the editorial right in the middle of the pain was this. as for mr. trump's accusation, white house spokesman sean spicer says, he stands by it, mr. trump would be wiser to say he fired the tweet in anger and walk it back. an apology can be good for the soul and a presidency. >> no, absolutely, look this, is a week in which his own ambassador to the united nations appearing on the "today" program yesterday. very outspoken in her new role nikki haley criticizing the russians relentlessly when pressed by matt lauer as to whether when she says those things she is reflecting the president's thinking says, oh, i don't know. i don't know about that. so, what's -- >> what does that mean? nikki haley did that. >> international government supposed to deduce from that. when the u.s. ambassador to the united nations speaks she does not necessarily reflect the thinking of the man who sent her

. >> tom cole and others have called on him to apologize as well. if comey gets up there and says, senator, that the president lied, that there is nothing to this, should he apologize? >> i don't think that the president should apologize for that based on what jim comey says. other agencies are looking into this, to determine if anything was done. >> when should the president apologize? should he ever apologize for saying his predecessor committed a felony? what's it going to to take for you to say, yes, indeed, he was wrong and should apologize? if it's not jim comey, who is it? >> obviously, like i said before, there are a lot of intelligence agencies that are involved in wiretapping. i guess once we have a clear picture that none of them were involved, probably the president should step forward and say he's now convinced it's not the case and make the appropriate apologies. but i don't think he feels that he's there at this point. >> do you agree with the senator? >> i lost sound on the senator. >> you did? >> i think the president should apologi

you know, i was talking to rep tom cole, who is a deputy whip as well. he said right now we don't think we are at the magic number of 216, but we'll be working through the weekend, through next week, and ultimately if it needs to happen, maybe president trump should come up and talk to the house republican conference up on capitol hill to make his final pitch, but they're getting closer. when you look at who is the speaker right now, paul ryan, this could be the -- they're trying to get the votes here. >> this is really shaping up as the ultimate test of paul ryan's leadership, and i do agree with molly. i think it is very, very tight right now. i think republican leaders are confident that they are getting closer to the threshold that they need, but i don't know that they're necessarily there yet. is this group wants to see an even more aggressive assault on the affordable care act. the question is can he compromise that paul ryan, that president trump, that other republican leaders come together around on wednesday when this goes to the rules committee

we have the sound from tom cole, republican congressman. are republicans taking this, taking these questions as an attack on the legitimacy of trump's victory and is that at all clouding how they address this issue in public? >> i mean sure. some are taking it as an attack on the legitimacy of this victory. i think the administration takes a lot of this as an attack on the legitimacy on his victory. here's the thing, unless you're just a brainless partisan, unless you're mindlessly triable, you should be outraged at the russian intervention in this election and you should want a thorough and comprehensive accounting of exactly what happened. and what we can do to stop it. i mean of course, now some of it we know rnc, dnc could have tightened it it's i.t. security a little bit, but as far as the full dimensions of russian involvement here, americans of both political parties should want to know, and they should want to know what putin's intentions were. what his intentions are in the future as well as we can disearn that. i think this is an

tom cole said chuck was, quote, spectacular making the sale. we'll see. we're now just one day away from a vote that could change the face of health care in this country. president trump bringing his patented brand of hard sale to capitol hill. trying to coax reluctant republicans to vote for the american health care act, repealing obamacare. in an all hands, closed-door meeting for all republicans the president said, quote, a loss is just not acceptable. he called out mark meadows by name. meadows the chairman of the ultra conservative freedom house caucus. hours later the president repeated that call for party unity at the national republican congressional committee dinner. >> the american people voted for historic change. and they also voted for serious action. the american people gave us clear instructions. it's time to get busy, get to work, and to get the job done. these are the conservative solutions we campaigned on. and these are the conservative solutions the american people asked us, as a group, to deliver. >> white house rule committee takes u

. >> if he's wrong about this allegation, congressman tom cole said that president trump owes president obama an apology. do you concur? >> well, i'd like to first get to the bottom of before saying what should be done. i don't know the basis for president trump's assertion, and that's what i wish he would explain to us in the -- on the intelligence committee and to the american people, and i do believe he owes us that explanation. >> senator susan collins, republican from maine. i will leave it there. senator collins, thank you for coming on the show and sharing your views. >> thank you. >>> when we come back, tomorrow, big day in washington. hearings begin for supreme court nominee neil gorsuch and fbi director james comey testifies on russia's role in the 2016 election and those wiretap claims made by president trump likely will come up. we'll be right back. constipation,diarrhea, gas or bloating? she does. she does. help defend against those digestive issues. take phillips' colon health probiotic caps daily with three types of good bacteria. 400 likes? wow! try phillips' colon healt

. >> if he's wrong about this allegation, congressman tom cole said that president trump owes president obama an apology. do you concur? >> i would like to first get to the bottom of this before saying what should be done. i don't know the basis for president trump's assertion. that's what i wish he would explain to us on the intelligence committee and to the american people. i do believe he owes us that explanation. >> senator susan collins, republican from maine, thank you for coming on the show and sharing your views. >> thank you. >> when we come back, tomorrow is a big day in washington. hearings begin for supreme court nominee neil gorsuch and james comey testifies on russia and the election and the wiretap thank you! imagine if the things you bought every day earned you miles to get to the places you really want to go. with the united mileageplus explorer card, you'll get a free checked bag, 2 united club passes... priority boarding... and 50,000 bonus miles. everything you need for an unforgettable vacation. the united mileageplus explorer card. imagine where it will take you. y

cole of oklahoma, a deputy whip told me, this is a test over whether republicans can move from being an opposition party to being a governing party. he said we still have to pass that test. >> woodruff: finally, john, what do they say at the white house? what is your read on what is at stake for them? >> a lot at stake. not only is this the first legislative initiative on the president's part. not only does he say this would clear the way for tax-- the tax cut legislation and the infrastructure legislation to come that he promises this year, but also this is a president whose whole image is based on success and deal-making. and if he fails on his first time out, the question is whether that image is tarnished. >> woodruff: well, all eyes are on the places where the two of you are tonight. john yang at the white house, lisa desjardins at the capitol, thank you bo >> woodruff: in the day's other news, british police identified the man who drove a car into pedestrians near parliament yesterday and fatally stabbed a police officer, before being shot to death. officials called it a lone-w

this is hysteria is how one republican said it this morning from tom cole. are democrats going too par? >> democrats are concerned and are expressing them. this wouldn't keep being a news story if trump administration officials didn't continue to mislead congress, the press, the public. this keeps coming back into the public eye. this thing with sessions today. had he just disclosed he met with a russian official, that wouldn't have been such a big story, although it is odd, he's the only member of the armed services committee to have done so. i can tell you, i've done a lot of these hearings with attorney general holder and others, they would have been expecting that question, prepped for that question and for him to give that answer when he knew it was coming, leads you to believe he's likely misleading the committee. even if you give him the benefit of the doubt and say he wasn't thinking in that context, when they got the written question follow-up, that was the time to clean it up. it's the kind of question heavily vetted. look at the schedules. make su

oklahoma congressman tom cole. good to see you sir. >> great to be with you. leland: i was taken by a quote you had earlier on cnn, you said i would not want to be the republican that derails the train. i'm assuming this is the train of health care. the question is, is that a threat? is that a promise? what happens to these republicans who say it's just not enough? >> it's certainly not a threat, frankly, ap i agree very much with what brian had to say. we're going through a good process and this bill has gotten better as it's moved through the committee process. he mentioned the work requirement and we had additional amendment that you'll see in rules committee next week, it's targeted toward people that are 50 to 64, to try and help them with a higher tax credit than they might have received under the initial proposal. again, it gets better as we go along, but i think there's a political imperative here and our voters did send us here to repeal and replace. and this is a plan that the president endorses. he's been very open to changes in it, he wants to work

republican congressman tom cole said this and i quote i don't favor cutting nih centers for disease control. you are much more likely to die in a pandemic than a terrorist attack so that is part of the defense of the country as well end of quote. mrs. carr in your testimony which i hope every member of congress reads, you point out that we need to devote more funding to this critical research and we need to make sure in cases like your sons which have little or no federal funding devoted to them today. mr. spicer did not make his quote. less funding is not a cut. president trump proposed increasing the pentagon budget by 54 billion dollars next year alone. our committee had a hearing last week, just last week on how the defense department is wasting tens of billions of dollars but for some reason cancer research is decimated rather than trimming the bloated defense budget. i believe there are few investments more significant than the investments we make in biomedical research. the work of nih is transformational. but the power to turn ideas into cures. the idea that there is a possibility,

. >> tom cole and congressman herd said if there's no evidence, the president should apologize. do you agree with them? >> that's up to the president to decide how to handle it. i have a journalism degree. i believe in the truth and getting it out there and letting people decide. >> let's talk about the health care bill. right now, there's a tug of war going on between republicans, not only the house and the senate, how it usually is, but members of the house. is the president going to have enough votes if it comes up on thursday? >> i think he will. it will come up on thursday. we are finishing up work on it. we worked on it over the weekend. as you know, the president was engaged on the weekend. there were people going down. he's been working -- he's the closer. he knows how to put it together. he's got great negotiating skills. we are coming together with it. we are adjusting things that came out of cbo. we looked at what they say. how do we fix this and where do we adjust? >> you made changes on medicaid. if the bill passes in the house because of the changes you made, win o