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Process for Repealing Obamacare, Who It Will Affect; Does Pence Disagree with Trump on Russian Hacking; Obama Delivering Mandate to Democrats on Obamacare; Schumer Will Fight "Tooth and Nail" on Supreme Court Nominee. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired January 4, 2017 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


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[13:32:50] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: After years of trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, Republicans finally have their chance. As they move full-speed ahead, some lawmakers, though, are worried it is all moving too quickly. How will the process move forward, and who will be affected?

We have our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta; and our CNN political reporter, M.J. Lee, as well.

M.J., give us a break down of what happens first?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Wolf, Republicans are not wasting any time on this. As soon as Congress convened yesterday, Senate Republicans introduced a budget resolution. This is a resolution that Republicans are referring to as the repeal resolution, and really the first step in getting the process started in repealing the Affordable Care Act. Now, the Senate just took a procedural vote to get the debate started, and this is a progress that could drag out for a couple of days.

Now, once that budget resolution is approved, we move to part two, and that is the budget conciliation bill. This is vehicle that will actually carry the language to repeal major parts of the ACA.

The reason Republicans are using this vehicle is because it allows them to go around the Senate filibuster, really only requires a Senate majority to get this approved, and this is something that will take some time, possibly weeks and months before President Donald Trump sees a bill on his desk.

Now, what is still up for debate, Wolf, is how many years Republicans want to actually delay the repeal from going into effect. The number we are hearing is two to three years.

Again, the big question too, of course, is how they're going to replace what they repeal. And this is something that could create some internal conflict and friction within the Republican Party.

BLITZER: Sanjay, this year, 6.4 million signed up for Obamacare. That's up from six million last year. So, who would be most affected if it's repealed? DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the

people that would be most affected are people who are insured as a result of the Affordable Care Act. And you could take a look at the numbers, I think if you do the math, overall, you have more than 20 million people. Then you add in the several million people this past year. Close to 30 million people would become uninsured if there's a full repeal. That's includes 4.5 million children, 7.6 million parents.

You know, as M.J. has written about as well, I think everyone is impacted by a potential repeal because there are patient protections in there, the cap, for example, and how much an insurance company will pay for you if you develop a chronic disease, for example. Those caps are gone. Those can be put back in place. Or if you leave your job and you are going to a new job, but you have an illness, are you going to be able to get health care insurance at an affordable price? That's something that affects everybody. Those are the most affected, but no one is probably immune -- Wolf?

[13:35:39] BLITZER: Sanjay, lots to assess. We will be doing that in the coming days and weeks and months, maybe even years.

Sanjay Gupta, M.J. Lee, guys, thanks very much.

BLITZER: Coming up, President Obama up on Capitol Hill delivering a mandate to Democrats over the health care fight. He was invited by Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley, who will join me live with details, right after this.

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[13:40:21] BLITZER: We have a transition-of-power alert. President- elect Trump made several staff announcements only moments ago. Katie Walsh will serve as deputy chief of staff over at the White House, assisting chief of staff, Reince Priebus. Rick Dearborn will serve as deputy chief of staff for legislative intergovernmental affairs and implementation. And Joe Hagen will serve as deputy chief of staff for operations.

President-elect Trump's skepticism about Russian hacking intelligence may be -- may not be shared by the vice president-elect.

Our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, is joining us with details.

Jim, what are you hearing about the vice president-elect's views on the hacking versus the president-elect's views?

JIM ACCOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's fascinating because there appears to be some space between Vice President-elect Mike Pence and President-elect Donald Trump when it comes to having faith in the intelligence community. A transition sources tells me that Mike Pence continues to have, quote, "a lot of faith in the intelligence community" as these questions are being raised about that tweet that Donald Trump sent out earlier this morning, talking about Julian Assange and his claims over WikiLeaks that the Russians did not provide them with that hacked information on the Democrats in the 2016 election.

It's interesting to point out, Wolf, at the press conference earlier this morning up on Capitol Hill, we heard Mike Pence sort of echo Donald Trump's criticism that we heard frequently out on the campaign trail about these past failures in the intelligence community. That's a not-so-veiled reference to the weapons of mass destruction or the missing WMD's in Iraq. When I went back to a transition source about this, the message was essentially don't read too much into this that, that Mike Pence still has faith in the intelligence community, that he still receives these briefings nearly every day from the intelligence community, unlike the president-elect who does not do that.

And on that transition, call earlier this morning, Wolf, Sean Spicer was asked about all of this, and he emphasized that Donald Trump has faith in the data that is being collected by the intelligence community. He just questions some of the conclusions that are being drawn.

Now, we should also point out Obamacare was obviously the big subject on Capitol Hill when Mike Pence was up there. I'm told by a transition source that Mike Pence made it clear behind closed doors with House Speaker Paul Ryan that they are going to be looking at regulations, Obamacare regulations, on day one of the Trump administration. That this would be an executive order that Donald Trump would sign starting to un-do some of these regulations. But at the same time, they stress to these lawmakers, Wolf, that they're not going to be un-doing Obamacare overnight, that this repeal process may happen immediately. When I say repealed, in the short-term, but over the long-term, it's going to take many, many months to fashion a replacement bill. And at this point, the contours of that bill are a mystery -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Certainly is.

Thanks very much for that. Jim Acosta reporting.

Let's get some more on President Obama's efforts to rally Democrats to save his signature health care plan.

Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley, of New York, is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. He joins us from Capitol Hill.

Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

REP. JOE CROWLEY, (D), NEW YORK: Thank you, Wolf. Great to be with you this afternoon.

BLITZER: How would you describe the tone and the message that President Obama delivered to the Democrats up on Capitol Hill today>

CROWLEY: The tone was very positive. There was excitement to see the president in kind of an unprecedented way as he's leaving public office, and ready to join the ranks of a private citizen again. But understanding -- thanking us for the accomplishments that we achieved together over the last eight years. And recognizing the challenges that lie ahead of us, in terms of what to expect from the Trump administration that will be coming in, and with the Republicans who bought the House and the Senate.

BLITZER: Sources say the president floated the idea of calling any replacement health care plan Trumpcare. What can you tell us about that? What did the president say about that?

CROWLEY: Well, I've heard that expression used elsewhere, that if somehow Obamacare is replaced by some type of Trumpcare, but the president said we have to wait and see just what that means. What we do know what they like about the Affordable Care Act or the Trump -- or the Obamacare, is they like that people under 26 can stay on their parents' insurance. They like that preexisting conditions can no longer prohibit someone from getting insurance. The lifetime caps will be lifted. They like all the sweets. They just don't like any of the vegetables that they have to take before they get to the sweets.

We know how easy it is to tear something down and how difficult it is to build something. That's what the president reminded us of as well. We made a lot of achievements here.

And what's really, Wolf, on the minds of the American's people, what their priority is to have affordable quality health care, not to see it taken away. So far, what it comes down to is the president-elect's office is moving towards eliminating or taking away some of those benefits.

[13:45:11] BLITZER: Because the president-elect fired off a series of tweets this morning, blasting Obamacare. Let me read one of them: "Massive increases of Obamacare will take place this year and Dems are to blame for the mess. It will fall of its own weight. Be careful."

How do you respond to that criticism that Obamacare is a failed system?

CROWLEY: It's very difficult to govern by tweet. I think -- I hope the president-elect learns that sooner rather than later.

I will say this, Wolf. They've controlled the House and Senate for quite some time now. Have made no effort whatsoever to improve the Affordable Care Act. They've had 60 votes to undermine it, to overturn it. That's not what the American people expected. Can changes be made to improve the act? They certainly could have. They choose not to do that while they've been in charge here in Congress.

Now they have everything. They have the presidency, the House and the Senate. When they make their move, they're going to own this issue. And it will no longer be on our plate. It will be on their plate. And the American people - I said before, their expectation is that they have affordable, quality real insurance, health care insurance.

BLITZER: What did the president say about trying to use some of the so-called Tea Party tactics that were used against him and get Democrats involved in this fight against what Donald Trump and the Republicans are planning to do on Obamacare now.

CROWLEY: I know that we in the House plan this weekend, on the 7th, and throughout the weekend, 7th of January, throughout this weekend, to hold events in our districts calling attention to the good qualities of what the Affordable Care Act has presented to the American people, the positive aspect of it. And on the 17t h of January, both the House and the senate and other entities around the country will be using that as a day of action to call attention to the positive aspects, again, in the Affordable Care Act and what the Trump administration are going to be being attempted to do to undermine them and to take them away from 20- plus million Americans who now have affordable health and quality health insurance for the first time in their -- for many of them, in their lifetime.

BLITZER: Interesting that he is recommending going to that Tea Party playbook, if you will, to get some action.

Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

CROWLEY: You got it, Wolf. Thank you.

BLITZER: A quick programming note to our viewers. Monday, Chris Cuomo will host a town hall with former Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders. They'll be taking questions from the audience. That's this coming Monday, January 9th, 9:00 p.m. eastern, only here on CNN.

We'll be back in a moment.

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[13:51:35] BLITZER: Welcome back. President-elect Donald Trump is steadily making his final nominations but there's one major position seldom talked about right now, the Supreme Court justice. The new Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was asked about that earlier today if the Democrats would oppose a nominee.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: We are not going to settle on a Supreme Court nominee. If they don't appoint someone who is really good, we're going to oppose them tooth and nail.

It's hard for me to image a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support that we could support. So, you're right.

RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: So you would do your best to hold the seat up?

SCHUMER: Absolutely.

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BLITZER: That was last night, actually.

With us, Jeff Zeleny, our senior Washington correspondent; and April Ryan, the White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Network. She's also the author of brand news book - there you see it -- "At Mama's Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White."

Jeff, first of all, Democrats, what can they do to - let's talk about a Supreme Court justice nominee realistically.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chuck Schumer can say that, and many Democrats likely agree with him, but the reality here is that there are 10 Democrats up for re-election in 2018 from states that Donald Trump won. We can't say that enough. And several of them may have a different view than the Senate Democratic leader from New York, who can be re-elected as long as he wants. The reality is a lot of these Democrats are in tough seats and do not want to be seen as obstructionists. They more Senators on both sides, really, the Democrats, they do not want to be painted as obstructionists. They don't think that would be a good thing. I think it matters who he appoints, no question. If it is someone who is unacceptable, they will try to block it. But if it's someone more acceptable, I think Chuck Schumer will have a hard time corralling the Joe Manchins of West Virginia, for example, and some other. But they need eight Democrats to all Republicans --

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BLITZER: Right.

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ZELENY: It's not a simple thing.

BLITZER: It's not simple, April. There's 52 Republicans in the new Senate, 48 Democrats. But in a nomination for the United States Supreme Court, you can have a filibuster, so you really need 60. So, you need a bunch of Democrats who are going to jump over and help out, assuming all Republicans stay in line.

APRIL RYAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORK & AUTHOR: Assuming. But here is what's happening right now. It's about the fight. The Dems want to show they have fight after the loss they had. I hear you, what you're saying, but at the same time, when people are talking about they don't want to be seen as obstructionists, they also want to make sure the party looks like it is forceful and fighting. And I think we're going to be in a new time of activism. I'm hearing it in the Democratic Party, in civil rights communities everywhere, especially when it comes to the Supreme Court and other positions that Donald Trump has appointed.

BLITZER: Yesterday, at this point, Cornell William Brook, the head of the NAACP, and other representatives of the NAACP were sitting in the Mobile, Alabama, office of Senator Sessions, who has been nominated to be the attorney general. Do you anticipate more of that?

RYAN: Oh, yes, definitely. Again, I said activism. I believe there are several trains of thought. Activism for things you don't like, and there's going to be times when you find common ground. But there is a crossroads. But what I believe is going to happen, particularly with Sessions and HHS and Education, people are going to try to stop. And when it comes to Sessions, he is known, for people like Congresswoman Sheila Jackson, who said he started out as a segregationist, that's one big strike. Then he voted against voting rights. That's another big strike. And he is going to be the person who will vet a Supreme Court nominee as well as a federal judge, so they're going to really push against this.

[13:55:12] BLITZER: The problem they have on the cabinet nomination is it just takes 50. Because you have the vice president, who is president of the Senate.

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BLITZER: So it just takes 50. They have 52.

ZELENY: And the Democrats have themselves to blame for that. And Chuck Schumer, in fact, yesterday, told our own Dana Bash that he regrets that. He wishes Democrats would not have changed those rules. But it does take 50. So I find it hard to image that most of the cabinet nominees don't get confirmed. There may be something out there. That's what these hearings are for. These hearings are going to be very important. But elections have consequences. And we're going to see those play out --

RYAN: There's going to be a big fight

ZELENY: -- this month.

BLITZER: Elections certainly do have consequences.

Once again, April, congratulations on the new book.

RYAN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: "At Mama's Knee" --

RYAN: Yes.

BLITZER: -- it's a very personal recollection of what's been going on.

Appreciate it very much --

RYAN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: -- April Ryan and Jeff Zeleny.

Up next, a battle on Capitol Hill over the future of Obamacare. President Obama and Vice President-elect Pence, they both meet with their party members. Much more on that, next.

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[14:00:08] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me.

We begin with the dramatic showdown on Capitol Hill --