-As we've seen repeatedly over the last few months,
when the Trump administration is confronted with facts
that don't support their agenda,
they try to discredit the sources of those facts,
and right now, they're using that same strategy
on healthcare.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
Of course, since basically the beginning of his campaign,
Trump has tried to undermine the press
as the source of information.
In fact, even when he's making small talk with world leaders,
he can't help but make sarcastic comments about the media.
On Tuesday, he held a photo op in the Oval Office
with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia,
and it was super awkward.
[ Camera shutters clicking ]
-They're very nice people.
-We hope so. -[ Chuckles ]
[ Audience laughs ]
-Are you guys in the White House,
or on a terrible first date?
[ Audience laughs ]
-[ As Trump ] Do you always wear that thing on your head?
-[ As bin Salman ] I do.
Do you always wear that thing on
[ Audience laughs ]
[ Normal voice ] Of course... [ Cheers and applause ]
Of course, Trump dislikes the media
because they often report basic facts
that challenge his world view for the same reason
his administration now dislikes the Congressional Budget Office,
which released a damning report
on the Republican healthcare plan on Monday
that projected the bill would cause
a stunning 24 million Americans to lose coverage.
Now, that might seem like a disaster,
but House Speaker Paul Ryan actually tried to spin it
as a positive, prompting skepticism
even from straight-laced Fox News anchor Bret Baier.
-If you read this entire report, I'm pretty encouraged by it.
I'm excited about this analysis.
And I'm really, actually, frankly encouraged.
-Mr. Speaker, if you're
what's a CBO report you're
[ Audience laughs ]
That's the closest Bret Baier has ever come to saying,
"Bye, Felicia."
[ Audience laughs ]
Also, Paul Ryan,
you're encouraged that 24 million people
will be thrown off their insurance?
Is that really the word you want to use,
or are you thinking of a different E-word?
-Excellent. -There it is.
[ Audience laughs ]
So how can Paul Ryan say he's encouraged by this report?
Well, he makes several misleading claims.
For example, Ryan says the report confirms
that the bill will lower premiums,
which is technically true, but only for young, healthy people.
Older people would see their premiums skyrocket.
In fact, the CBO report finds that the average 64-year-old
earning $26,500 would see their premiums go up from $1,700
to $14,600 a year.
So get ready to start running into your grandpa
working at Subway.
-[ As old man ] When I was a kid,
12-inch Italians weren't even allowed in the country!
[ Audience laughs ]
[ Normal voice ] So, Paul Ryan has chosen the strategy
of trying to make the CBO report sound positive,
and what about Trump and his surrogates?
They're just saying we shouldn't believe the CBO at all --
Like CNN commentator and Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord,
who tried to discredit the CBO report
by making an analogy that didn't quite hold up.
-We don't know what the weather's gonna be.
It's gonna snow, but how much? I mean, we don't know.
We don't trust weathermen, you know,
so why should we trust the CBO?
All right, first of all,
the reason we don't trust weathermen is because
they have names like Dallas Rains or Storm Tornado.
[ Audience laughs ]
And second of all, in this analogy,
if the CBO is the weatherman,
then that makes Donald Trump this kid.
-Dewpoints in the 20s and near 30 degrees
across central Mississippi.
Well, hey there.
-I don't know what's going on, but Zayn doesn't know.
Are you sure? Are you crazy sure?!
-[ Chuckles nervously ] Well... -Ca-caw! Ca-caw!
-We've got a little bit of interesting things
going on right now. -Ffft! Pbht!
-Take a look at what's going on right now.
You want to point out the weather right now?
-Yeah, there are farts everywhere and toots!
I don't even know! It's crazy!
[ Audience laughs, applause ]
-You can laugh...
You can laugh, but Donald Trump
just made that kid Secretary of Weather.
[ Audience laughs ]
And then yesterday, White House Spokesman/Hostage,
Sean Spicer, also tried to discredit the CBO report.
Spicer tried to claim that the new GOP bill
was only the first part of a three-part healthcare plan,
meaning the CBO's report was inaccurate
because it didn't take into account
future legislation that doesn't exist yet.
And he kept using one word in particular.
-The comprehensive nature of the three-pronged plan...
In prongs two and three...
Doing the first prong of this...
On the first prong alone...
Prong one of three prongs...
But the second prong of this...
So, prong two is actually fairly easy to do.
The third prong... This piece of this prong only...
Without looking at prong two and three...
-Wait, is "prong" Sean Spicer's safe word,
and he forgot to tell everyone? [ Audience laughs ]
Prong! You guys, prong!
I'm gonna go back to the Oval Office, but prong!
[ Audience laughs ]
Of course, as usual, Trump is doing a complete 180 here,
because he used to love the Congressional Budget Office
when it suited his needs,
tweeting about the CBO at least 13 times to criticize Obama.
The only constant in all of this is that Trump likes something
if it agrees with him and he hates it if it doesn't.
Take for example the monthly jobs report.
Trump famously used to call the unemployment rate "phony,"
but now that he's president,
he's bragging about the jobs numbers.
So how does the White House explain the flip flop?
Sean Spicer had this to say last week.
-I talked to the president prior to this,
and he said to quote him very clearly.
They may have been phony in the past, but it's very real now.
[ Laughter ]
-Oh, my God.
[ Audience laughs ]
We're so pronged.
[ Audience laughs ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
Even when Trump makes a claim in his own words,
like when he accused President Obama
of wiretapping him, we can't be sure
if we're supposed to actually take him literally.
Remember, Trump tweeted, "Terrible!
Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower."
And "President Obama was tapping my phones in October."
And, yet, when Spicer was asked if Trump had any proof
that Trump was indeed wiretapped,
Spicer responded with this.
-He doesn't really think that President Obama
went up and tapped his phone personally.
The president "used the word wiretapped"
in quotes to mean, broadly,
surveillance and other activities.
-Because what is "wiretap" if not a cool slang term
that means a bunch of different things like,
"We should wiretap some molly"
or "I want to wiretap dat ass."
[ Audience laughs ]
Now, today, the Attorney General Jeff Sessions,
who would know if there was any evidence of wiretapping,
was asked if he had provided any such evidence to the president,
and he seemed flustered.
-Um...
Look, um...
The answer is no.
Um, but, um...
-[ As Sessions ] Well, you better get that man
some sweet tea and a porch to sit on,
because he is sweating more than a gator in a boot store!
[ Audience laughs ]
[ Normal voice ] So, Trump's own attorney general
couldn't give us any evidence,
then there was the Republican overseeing the investigation
in the House, Devin Nunes,
who offered a similar argument to Spicer,
claiming Obama didn't personally go to Trump Tower
and put in a wiretap.
-We don't have any evidence that that took place.
I don't think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower.
President Obama wouldn't physically go over
and wiretap Trump Tower,
so now you have to decide, as I mentioned to you last week,
are you gonna take the tweets literally, and if you are,
then clearly the President was wrong.
-Stop telling us Obama didn't physically go to Trump Tower!
Nobody thought that!
[ Audience laughing ] [ As Obama ] Uh, hello!
I'm here...
I'm, uh, here from A.T. and, uh...T.
[ Audience laughs ]
[ Normal voice ] So, sometimes Trump is pro-CBO,
other times he's anti-CBO,
sometimes he says the jobs numbers are phony,
other times says they're real,
sometimes he says things in quotes,
other times he really means them,
but one thing we do know
is we can't believe his promises on healthcare,
like when he promised during the campaign
that he wouldn't let people suffer as president,
using one favorite phrase over and over again.
-I said, "Nobody's going to be dying
on the street if I'm president.
-Did you say you're a liberal on healthcare?
-I will not let people die on the streets if I'm president.
People are not gonna die in the middle of the street.
People are not gonna die on the sidewalk.
You're not gonna let people die
sitting in the middle of a street.
-Why does he think people are walking out
to the middle of the street to die?
Must...make it to street!
[ Audience laughing ]
Sit down in middle of street!
And die with dignity!
So, Trump made huge promises on healthcare
that he clearly had no intention of keeping.
His bill would cut Medicare and kick millions off insurance.
If it passes, we're all gonna need a safe word.
-Prong. Prong. Prong. Prong.
Prong. Prong. Prong. Prong. Prong. Prong.
-[ To the tune of "Thong Song" ] ♪ Prong, p-prong, prong, prong ♪
[ Audience laughs ] That's been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]