The Note: Will the real Donald Trump please stand up on health care – ABC News

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.

Read the original here:

The Note: Will the real Donald Trump please stand up on health care - ABC News