A new red line? The White House Monday night put Syria on warning that if the government engages in another chemical attack, Bashar al-Assad and his military will "pay a heavy price," while President Trump tweeted minutes later about a Russia "Witch Hunt!"
THE TAKE with ABC News' Rick Klein
Do senators even want "the closer" in this game? It's not just the distractions "witch hunt" talk and Syria threats that are rolling out with equal apparent presidential focus but the lack of any discernible White House ideology that has, or should have, Republican senators concerned. President Trump has been for just about every iteration of the health care bill. Now he wants lawmakers to have faith both that he will stay committed to the latest Senate version of the bill which, like every other version, breaks multiple presidential promises -- and stand by them to defend their votes as...what exactly? The efforts of his outside political arm have been neutral, at best, so far, and could wind up being downright harmful to efforts to pass a bill. The president has so often blamed others for his political problems: former President Obama, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, the intelligence community, Congress, Democrats, some Republicans, and, of course, the courts. The courts have now given him some of what he wanted, on the travel ban. Republicans have the power to give him his top legislative priority this week, on health care. Now, though, the president needs his allies to trust him. That means trusting Trumpism over all else, a tough argument to make under the best of circumstances.
ANALYZING THE CBO ANALYSIS
A health care bill gets judged in how it treats the most vulnerable, and the CBO carries grim news for the sick, the poor, the elderly and women in general. Younger, healthy people could save real money. But older Americans who are buying their own insurance, especially in rural America, could see skyrocketing prices: a 64-year-old making roughly $57,000 a year would see his or her annual premiums rise by nearly $14,000, the CBO report says. If women want maternity care, the price would go up in about half of states. Because of the Medicaid roll back and shrunken subsidies, the CBO estimates that among those just above the national poverty line, almost 40 percent of adults aged 30 to 49, would have no insurance at all by 2026, under the Senate bill. Governors of all stripes know they would have to pick up the pieces -- and the checks if the bill passes. Governors John Kasich, R-Ohio, and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., will be in Washington talking on the topic today, on the heels of a bipartisan National Governors Association request for the Senate to take more time, ABC News' MaryAlice Parks writes.
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY
A Republican and a Democrat governor -- Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper -- are teaming up against this Senate health care bill and holding a news conference in D.C.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I try to stay out of politics. I don't profess to be a political savant," Ivanka Trump to Fox News on whether she advises her dad on his Twitter habits
NEED TO READ with ABC News' Adam Kelsey
White House says Syria could be planning another chemical attack. In a statement released Monday night, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the United States had found "potential" evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was preparing to conduct an attack similar to the one carried out April 4 that killed dozens of civilians, including children. The White House did not provide any specific evidence to support the claim. http://abcn.ws/2rWorBo
Carter Page questioned by FBI in probe of Russian election meddling. The FBI has conducted extensive interviews with one-time Trump campaign adviser Carter Page as part of the federal investigation into possible Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, Page has confirmed to ABC News. http://abcn.ws/2rVeZxR
Trump claims Obama "colluded" on Russia, without citing evidence. President Trump said that his predecessor Barack Obama "colluded or obstructed" in regard to Russian interference in the U.S. election. "The reason that President Obama did NOTHING about Russia after being notified by the CIA of meddling is that he expected Clinton would win and did not want to 'rock the boat.' He didn't 'choke,' he colluded or obstructed, and it did the Dems and Crooked Hillary no good," Trump wrote. http://abcn.ws/2tMxciN
WHO'S TWEETING?
The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the key political moments of the day ahead. Please check back tomorrow for the latest.
The rest is here:
The Note: Will the real Donald Trump please stand up on health care - ABC News
- North Korea Wants to Convince the World It Can Nuke Hawaii. Donald Trump Is Happy to Oblige. - The Intercept - May 3rd, 2017 [May 3rd, 2017]
- Does Donald Trump Have Dementia? - The Root - May 3rd, 2017 [May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump's peculiar obsession with authoritarian leaders - Chicago Tribune - May 3rd, 2017 [May 3rd, 2017]
- 'South Park' Creators Skirt Donald Trump Next Season Because Monkey Running Into Wall Can't Be Made Funnier - Deadline - May 3rd, 2017 [May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump Has Been Lying About The Size Of His Penthouse - Forbes - May 3rd, 2017 [May 3rd, 2017]
- This is the best news Donald Trump has had in a while - CNN - May 3rd, 2017 [May 3rd, 2017]
- AFT President: Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump Are Dismantling Public Education - TIME - May 3rd, 2017 [May 3rd, 2017]
- The Donald Trump Zone of Uncertainty shows up in the health-care debate - Washington Post - May 3rd, 2017 [May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump Predicts Mideast Peace Is 'Not As Difficult As People Have Thought' - Huffington Post - May 3rd, 2017 [May 3rd, 2017]
- Make America Great Again! | Donald J Trump for President - May 3rd, 2017 [May 3rd, 2017]
- Donald Trump Rage Tweets Against Media For Taking Seriously His Tweets - Deadline - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Roger Stone: I Hooked Up Nigel Farage With Donald Trump - Mother Jones - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Accused leaker Reality Winner called Trump an 'orange fascist' on Twitter - CNN International - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's Approval Rating Is Better Than Bill Clinton's at This Point in His First Term - Newsweek - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- London, Qatar, Donald Trump: Your Tuesday Briefing - New York Times - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Escalates Qatar Crisis - HuffPost - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- How Donald Trump Shifted Kids-Cancer Charity Money Into His Business - Forbes - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- No, Donald Trump doesn't have 110 million people following him on social media - Washington Post - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Donald Trump is the best 2020 recruiter Democrats could hope for - CNN - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- It's Time to Demand Donald Trump's Resignation - RollingStone.com - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- A brief history of Donald Trump's feud with Sadiq Khan, London's first Muslim mayor - Washington Post - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Donald Trump has a lot of feelings about fame - CNN - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Is Never to Blame - New York Times - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Donald Trump will do whatever it takes to distract you from the Comey hearing - CNN - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- President Trump's Approval Rating Hit Another New Low - TIME - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- The Potemkin Policies of Donald Trump - The Atlantic - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Jeff Sessions committed the one sin Donald Trump can't forgive - CNN - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- James Comey just went nuclear on Donald Trump - CNN International - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton and the true cause of Donald Trump's legitimacy crisis his own actions - Salon - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Proposes Covering Mexican Border Wall With Solar Panels - Futurism - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Tell Your Senators: Don't Let Donald Trump Take Our Cuba Policy Backwards - The Nation. - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Wrote a Cookbook - New York Times - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Donald Trump is destroying America's standing in the world and may end up destroying the world - Salon - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Donald Trump hasn't tweeted in a very long time - CNN - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Experts: Trump's Comey Firing 'Possibly Lawful, But Awful' - NBCNews.com - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Karl Rove, Erick Erickson slam Donald Trump - Salon - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- The Real Scandal Is Still Russia - Slate Magazine - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- 5 times UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn slammed Donald Trump - Politico - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- 9 questions Donald Trump needs to answer at today's news conference - CNN - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- So is Donald Trump secretly recording conversations or not? - CNN - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Watch Donald Trump Throw Binders Full of Highway Environmental Reviews on the Floor - Slate Magazine (blog) - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- This week in Donald Trump's conflicts of interest: Kushner may have problems, but Trump's hotel raises lots of questions - Salon - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat: Donald Trump looks like Mussolini but can be overcome - Salon - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- This One Tweet May Lead to Donald Trump's Impeachment - National Review - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- Fact Check: Donald Trump's Claims About Infrastructure - New York Times - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- The Worst of Donald Trump's Toxic Agenda Is Lying in Wait A Major US Crisis Will Unleash It - The Intercept - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- Boy Scout James Comey is no match for Donald Trump - Washington Post - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- Justice Department: Trump Can Take Payments From Foreign Governments - TIME - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Marc Kasowitz, Donald Trump's lawyer, has clients with Kremlin ties - The Denver Post - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Yes, Donald Trump is an incompetent buffoon but he's still a major threat to democracy - Salon - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Democrats bet on Trump in Virginia governor's race - Politico - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Will Donald Trump's anti-Muslim words on travel ban hurt his case? - USA TODAY - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's State Visit To The UK Now In Doubt - HuffPost - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Jr.: There's 'no ambiguity' in my father's orders - CNN - June 11th, 2017 [June 11th, 2017]
- Ivanka condemns Donald Trump's 'vicious critics' - BBC News - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Surrogate Lays Out POTUS Case For Sacking Special Counsel Robert Mueller - Deadline - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Russia, Theresa May, Donald Trump: Your Tuesday Briefing - New York Times - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump in Wonderland: Literally everything our president says and does reflects the opposite of reality - Salon - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Is Turning Young Voters Off the GOPand Maybe Forever - Daily Beast - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Trump's Own Tweets Help Kill His Government's Travel Ban, Again - Fortune - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's Approval Rating Sinks Further As Disapproval Hits Record High - Newsweek - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- When Jeff Sessions met Donald Trump: The origins of an alliance now strained - Washington Post - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump just held the weirdest Cabinet meeting ever - CNN - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Donald Trump to mayor of island sinking due to climate change: Don't worry about it! - Salon - June 14th, 2017 [June 14th, 2017]
- Trump son tweet connects shooting to NYC 'Julius Caesar' play - CNN - June 14th, 2017 [June 14th, 2017]
- Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump Jr. rush to blame Kathy Griffin and the left for baseball shooting - Salon - June 14th, 2017 [June 14th, 2017]
- Donald Trump's Biggest Mistake Might Have Been Getting Elected - Vanity Fair - June 14th, 2017 [June 14th, 2017]
- Congress Shooter Is Dead - TMZ.com - June 14th, 2017 [June 14th, 2017]
- Trump faces first big domestic moment - Politico - June 14th, 2017 [June 14th, 2017]
- Tiny mark on Melania Trump's birthday card to Donald Trump sparks wild theories - AOL - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Is Now Facing Three Emoluments Lawsuits - Slate Magazine - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Play Video - TIME - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Donald Trump Blocked Me on Twitter for Telling Him He's Not as Cool as Witches - Newsweek - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Senate passes Russia sanctions bill, pushing back against Trump - CNN - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Australian leader is on the hot seat for making fun of Donald Trump - Washington Post - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Flattery is Donald Trump's cocaine he's addicted to it - USA TODAY - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Moving to Scuttle Obama Legacy, Donald Trump to Crack Down on Cuba - New York Times - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Donald Trump doesn't get the special counsel investigation. And he's never going to. - CNN - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Memo to Donald Trump: The election ended 219 days ago. You won. - CNN - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Who in the White House Will Turn Against Donald Trump? - The New Yorker - June 17th, 2017 [June 17th, 2017]