| | | | Trump makes his health care pitch to the GOP's right wing | | As two House committees continued a grueling, all-day markup of the House Republican legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, President Donald Trump began a full-court press to get hesitant conservatives behind the plan -- hosting a meeting and an evening of bowling while planning trips to Kentucky and Tennessee in short order.
Courting the GOP's right wing: Trump met this afternoon with a slew of members from the key conservative groups that could make or break the health care bill. The attendees, according to a White House official: David McIntosh of the Club for Growth, Jim DeMint of Heritage, Tim Phillips of Americans for Prosperity, Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks, Mike Needham of Heritage Action and Jenny Beth Martin of Tea Party Patriots.
Trump has even invited members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus to go bowling at the White House -- and presumably talk about legislation between rolls. (House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady wasn't invited -- but says he wishes he was.)
The scene on Capitol Hill: As the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees mark up the GOP plan, Democrats are pulling out delay tactics -- from requiring a committee clerk to read the full bill to using a procedural move to get extra time to rail against the plan, charging that the GOP bill would curtail access to health coverage and enrich insurance companies and CEOs. They're also hammering Republicans for failing to wait until the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office details the exact impact of the bill.
Hospitals and doctors oppose the bill. A key paragraph from The New York Times' Abby Goodnough, Thomas Kaplan and Robert Pear: "On Wednesday afternoon, all major hospital groups, including the American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Catholic Health Association of the United States and the Children's Hospital Association, came out against the Republican bill. 'As organizations that take care of every individual who walks through our doors, both due to our mission and our obligations under federal law, we are committed to ensuring health care coverage is available and affordable for all,' they wrote. 'As a result, we cannot support the American Health Care Act as currently written.'" | | Obama irked by Trump's wiretapping claims | | Former President Barack Obama and his aides responded with disbelief when they learned of President Donald Trump's Saturday morning tweets accusing his administration of wiretapping Trump Tower, sources tell CNN's Jeff Zeleny and Kevin Liptak.
It's a slight difference from The Wall Street Journal's Carol Lee's report that Obama was "livid" over Trump's accusations.
Presidents Trump and Obama have not spoken since Inauguration Day, when Obama welcomed Trump for coffee in the White House and accompanied him to the US Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony. | | "All I can say is that the country needs an answer to this." -- Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, threatening to subpoena intelligence agencies for evidence that would prove President Donald Trump's claims that he was wiretapped by former President Barack Obama. | | | Probe into WikiLeaks' publication of CIA documents | | CNN's Barbara Starr writes: A federal criminal investigation is being opened into WikiLeaks' publication of documents detailing alleged CIA hacking operations. Officials said the FBI and CIA are coordinating reviews of the matter.
The documents published so far are largely genuine, officials said, though they are not yet certain if all of them are and whether some of the documents may have been altered.
One of the biggest concerns for the federal government is if WikiLeaks publishes critical computer code on how operations are conducted, other hackers could take that code and cause havoc overseas.
And Trump is concerned: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump is "extremely concerned" about WikiLeaks' publication of CIA documents, though he declined to confirm the authenticity of the leaked materials. | | | Marching outside the Capitol: House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi held an event for International Women's Day on Capitol Hill, wearing red in solidarity with those around the country who are participating in "A Day Without A Woman." The day purposely coincides with International Women's Day in order to tout the social, economic, political and cultural political successes of women. "A Day Without A Woman" organizers picked red as the official color of the movement. | | 4 things you might have missed today | | Melania Trump's approval ratings are way up: Her favorability rating is up 16 points since her husband was sworn in as President, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday in CNN's COVER/LINE newsletter (you should subscribe to that one, too).
Comey says there's no absolute privacy: Speaking at a Boston College conference on cybersecurity, FBI Director James Comey told the audience, "There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America; there is no place outside of judicial reach." More from CNN's Mary Kay Mallonee and Eugene Scott.
Congress targets visa program: Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle signaled Wednesday they've had enough with a visa program as it currently stands -- a program that has been key to at least one Jared Kushner business venture. More from CNN's Tal Kopan.
Huntsman to Russia: Former Utah governor and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman has accepted President Donald Trump's offer to serve as the next ambassador to Russia, several senior administration officials told CNN.
A reminder that in 2012, Trump tweeted this about Huntsman, then coming off a stint as US ambassador to China: | | | Ivanka Trump's D.C. landlord is a Chilean billionaire suing the US government. ... First lady Melania Trump hosted an International Women's Day luncheon. ... Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, who worked for weeks to schedule a meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss the cost of prescription drugs, emerged from the session today confident his message was received in the Oval Office. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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