Interview with Representative Steve Cohen
COSTELLO: Next hour, Republican lawmakers are expected to unveil a plan to replace Obamacare. Senators Bill Cassidy and Susan Collins leading the charges, promising that their proposal would give more power to states, individual states, increase affordable access to insurance, and cover millions who are currently uninsured. Collins and Cassidy will need to get Republican leadership on board first. With me now to talk about this is Democratic congressman Steve Cohen. Welcome.</s>REP. STEVE COHEN (D), TENNESSEE: Good morning.</s>COSTELLO: Good morning. So are you open to this replacement plan?</s>COHEN: Well, I think if they want to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which helps over 20 million people get insurance and is insurance reform of steroids, they need to have a replacement immediately present. And they don't have a replacement. And it can be -- it can be improved, there's no question about it. And the wonderful thing is the Republicans didn't talk about having national health care policy at all other than Mitt Romney in Massachusetts back in the '90s. And now since President Obama and the Democratic Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, they are now wanting to replace it with something. So the Affordable Care Act has caused the Republicans to realize America was the only industrialized country in the world without a health policy for all of its people. We will have a health policy, I presume, or they will suffer greatly at the polls. It's important that all people have access to health care.</s>COSTELLO: So do you believe there will actually be a plan to replace Obamacare, or will they make it seem like it's a new plan but they'll just fix what's wrong with Obamacare?</s>COHEN: Well, I don't know what they're going to come up with. They're going to have a problem. They say they like, and I think all Americans like, not having preexisting conditions prohibit you from getting insurance. Most Americans like not having lifetime caps or yearly caps on your insurance. And women who of course participated in a historic march the other day, can't be discriminated against because of their gender. And children can stay on their parents' health insurance until they're 26. If the Republicans like these things and want to continue them, and the American people do, they're going to have to have revenue to do it because it costs money. There's this equation. Just like when you have -- if you have coverage, you have to have corresponding premiums. And if you don't have a subsidy, which we've had, you've got to find some other method to pay for it. And nothing happens for free. And I don't know if the Republicans can do that. There is a certain group there in the Freedom Caucus that won't vote for any additional expense or any additional revenue measures. And so it's going to be difficult for the Republicans to do it. Certainly they can't do it without Democratic help.</s>COSTELLO: Well, we'll see what this new plan specifically entails a little later today. I wanted to talk to you about the huge number of protesters who crowded into the mall, the huge numbers of women marching across the country. There was so much energy and passion there. And a lot of people are today wondering if that will continue or if it was just a one-off. What do you think?</s>COHEN: I think it will continue. I participated in a march in Memphis. We had about 9,000 people. I almost -- I was very emotional about it because I haven't seen such a turnout since the civil rights days. And people were very concerned. They want to express themselves and they did it well here in Memphis. They ended it at the National Rights Museum where unfortunately Dr. King was slain. The women of this country are in jeopardy. The bill tomorrow, which is the 44th anniversary of "Roe v. Wade," the Republicans are bringing a bill that would threaten women having an opportunity to get an abortion coverage in even private insurance. And they're going to try to do so much in this bill to limit women's rights to not take into consideration the health of the woman. One of the first initiatives of this administration apparently is going to be to repeal the Violence Against Women grants. And that's been an important, important provision in federal law to help states protect women who have violence --</s>COSTELLO: So, Congressman, if those things happen, what would you like to see from these people who protested so passionately over the weekend?</s>COHEN: They need to stay active. They need to protest in Washington and other places when these events occur, because I think the president is very concerned about his ratings and his ratings will be going down even more than the 34 percent who approve him now. They need to write letters to the editor. They need to be involved in social media and try to get the truth out. There are no alternative facts. There are truths, there are lies. Sometimes there's spin. But alternative facts don't exist. There's no such thing. I think sometimes we're in an alternative universe, and it's a scary situation. But they need to try to set the truth -- put the truth out there on social media and letters to the editor and they need to register as many people to vote as possible. And they need to get involved in NGOs that are going to help people whether Planned Parenthood or ACLU or Southern Poverty Law Center and Sierra Club, who will be going to court and take actions like the gentlemen right now because of the terrible ethical breaches that are occurring now, threatening the emoluments clause of the Constitution. The conflicts of interests with the Trump family are great. And right now I think with what we're doing we're putting China first, Russia is right up there with them, and we're third. We're not in first place. We're not America first. We're putting Russia and China ahead. I'm concerned for America's perspective in the international community where we've been a leader in advocating for human rights and democracy. And we need to continue doing that.</s>COSTELLO: I have to leave it there, sir. Congressman Steve Cohen, thanks so much for being with me this morning. Coming up in the NEWSROOM, Samsung now says it knows what caused their phones to explode last year, but some tech experts disagree.