hewitt, host on the salem radio network, nbc capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt, malcolm gladwell and katty kay. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >>> good sunday morning and a happy july fourth weekend to everybody. and one day late, how about a happy canada day to our friends watching from over the border. >>> who knew health care could be so complicated? mitch mcconnell had a simple plan, draft a republican only repeal and replace bill, do it behind closed doors, pass it quickly before the opposition could get organized. then go home for the fourth of july holiday with the party having made good on a key campaign promise. well, one by one republican senators began to announce their opposition to the bill helped along by a budget analysis that said 22 million fewer people would wind up being covered and that projected medicaid spending would fall 35% over the next 20 years. then president trump made life more complicated for mcconnell by suggesting repealing now and replacing later. last night in an event honoring veterans here in washington, the president focused on attacki

salem radio network, >>> well, we are back. panel the here. hugh hewitt, host of the salem radio network, helen cooper, eliana johnson and nbc news political analyst, democratic pollster cornell belcher. welcome all. i want to start by watching the dramatic moment on thursday night when senator john mccain sank the last gasp so-called skinny repeal of health care. it's like watching, perhaps if you're on the right side of the aisle, it's like watching the seahawks throw that interception in the super bowl, but here it is. you see john mccain going up to get the attention of the clerk, get the attention of the clerk. and then you hear the gasps when they see the thumbs down. you have elizabeth warren there clapping. look at mitch mcconnell's sullen look and cassidy, thune, rubio, they're all sort of sunken there. you didn't need words to know what happened there, hugh hewitt. this is a defeat that has a lot of mothers and fathers, is there not? >> yes, it's an ernest byner fumble if i use my analogy. it was so unexpected. three republicans voted for the status quo, senators collin

. american express open. >>> morning, glory, i'm hugh hewitt. monday through friday, hear me on the salem radio network and its affiliates from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. eastern. saturday mornings i'm here on msnbc. in the second part of today's program, i'll be talking with a couple of new media superstars, political columnist anna marie cox, and perry bacon jr., senior writer for 538. one of the leading analytics in politics website available today. first there is perhaps no one better to talk to about the state of the world as it exists today than a novelist -- specifically, perhaps the best-selling thriller writer at work today. daniel silva is the number-one "new york times" bestselling author of 20 books. the last 17 of which concerned a character named gabriel alon. a key figure in the life of israel's secret service for the past many decades. silva's latest book, "house of spies," goes on sale monday in book stores across the land. of course on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and familiar platforms. "house of spies" focuses primarily on the jewish state's battle with isis and its terror m

, host of the salem radio network, eliana >>> we are back here with our panelists. welcome all. i want to start by watching the dramatic moment on thursday night when senator john mccain's bill call, watching perhaps if you are on the right side, it is like watching the seahawks throwing the interception in the super bowl. you see john mccain coming up and getting the attention of the clerk and you hear the gasp when you see thumbs down and look at mitch mcconnell and cassidy and rubio, they are all just stunt in there. >> you did not need word to know what happened there hugh hewitt. >> it was so unexpected. look, three republicans voted for the status quo. senator collins and mccocaine and murkowski. this was a decision to stand pat. people's medical situation do not wait for the regular order of the senate. i think unless they decide that they got to get the conference and take the best to fix this, they have not serious. >> this goes baack before trump. >> a bill does not become a law by pass whatever you can and write it. >> no, that's not regular order. >> that's not how it shoul

voted no, three key votes. here joining us now is hugh hewitt and the hugh hewitt show on the salem radio network. steve murphy joining us as well. hugh, you've had some time to digest this now. what do you think happened? >> well, they couldn't hold the caucus together. it was a disaster for the republican senate republican and it rests on collin, murkowski and mccain. there's always a back story. senators mccain and mcconnell have been going at each other for a long, long time. mccain and mitch mcconnell was right and that law was struck down at unconstitutional. though they are friendly colleagues they've been at lagger heads for a long time which came to a boil again on thursday night. >> two different philosophies if you will to governing and to voting there in the senate from mitch mcconnell and john mccain. >> yes. >> go ahead. >> he's a conservative pragmatist. >> jon mccain is a maverick and there's a great difference between them. >> steve, what do the democrats do right now? you saw chuck schumer raise his hand and say, don't overly celebrate here democrats? >> the democr

to a group of veterans organized by evangelical calls and the conservative salem media group. look at what he did at this veterans event. >> the fake media is trying to silence us. but we will not let them. because the people know the truth. the fake media tried to stop us from going to the white house, but i'm president and they're not. [ applause ] >> sounds a little bit like chris christie, i get to go to the governor's mansion because i'm governor or the governor's beach house. they're not president, i am president. is that how a president runs a country, by saying the ones that aren't with him, he doesn't need to represent? >> this has been his strategy since day one, it targeted his base and supporters. the media, we are very easy foil, not terribly well liked in some corners. president trump has been harping on this over and over again because it's a message that clearly resonates with some people he is trying to target. >> let's put this aside because i'm getting a little tired of talking about the president and whether or not he wants to attack the media physically or metapho

show on the salem radio network that bears his name. hugh, i'll start with you the same way i started with our other guests. remotely surprised? >> no. i think sean had a very difficult hand dealt to him from the beginning. i have to correct one thing steve kornacki said. first time i've ever heard steve be off. sean lasted longer than george stephanopoulos did. who, in fact, sean lasted 47 days longer than george stephanopoulos. and that happens when a new administration with a bunch of people who don't know how washington works lands in town. and usually the press secretary is the guy who crashes and burns as he tries to pick up for everyone. it is good reporting, i think, from the "new york times," that sean was offered a job, as george stephanopoulos was, in the west wing by president trump, and chose not to take it, fearing being in the position of number two to mr. scaramucci. now, anthony scaramucci is a very smart guy. harvard law school, trained, made a lot of money on wall street, charismatic on television. but i think sean believes, and he's a friend of mine, so dis