Transcript for Trump to end Obamacare subsidies that help low-income Americans

subsidize payments for poor and working class Americans. It will cut insurance coverage. Jon Karl has all the latest. Good morning, Jon. Reporter: Good morning, George. This is president trump's biggest move yet to dismantle Obamacare. If congress does not intervene it is a step that will mean higher health insurance premiums for millions of lower income Americans. In a decision announced overnight, president trump plans to stop making billions of dollars in subsidies that help lower income Americans pay for their insurance. They help about 7 million people defray the cost of their health insurance policies. It's the latest move by the president to do through executive action what he could not get congress to do, dismantle Obamacare. The cost of the Obamacare has been so outrageous it is absolutely destroying everything in its wake. Reporter: In a statement overnight the white house said it determined the payments are unlawful. The congressional budget office has said that ending them will immediately increase the number of Americans without any health insurance. The latest action by the president comes just hours after he signed an executive order designed to open the door for insurance companies to offer stripped down health plans. They would cost less but also cover less. Today is only the beginning. In the coming months we plan to take new measures to provide our people with even more relief and more freedom. Reporter: The move to end the subsidies was praised by speaker of the house Paul Ryan who said Obamacare has proven itself to be a fatally flawed law and the house will continue to work with the trump administration to provide the American people a better system. But democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and chuck Schumer Conde condemned the move saying it is a spiteful act of sabotage. Now millions of hard working American families will suffer just because president trump wants them to. The president is already out on Twitter this morning defending his move tweeting, quote, the Democrats Obamacare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. DEMs should call me to fix. As you saw in that statement from Nancy Pelosi and chuck Schumer the call is in saying that Democrats are horrified by this move. He think it will mean less -- fewer people insured and more people paying much higher health insurance premiums on the lower income side. Interesting use of the pass Taft. He stopped the payments. Now he said the Democrats should fix it. In another matter, chief of staff John Kelly for the first time coming to the briefing room saying I'm not getting fired. George, it's another one of those I've never seen anything like it moments here in the trump white house. There have been so many stories about discord and dissension in the west wing and about Kelly's deep frustration with his inability to control the president. But he came out and said it's not his job to control the president. That he thinks this is the most important job he's had, the most challenging job and he's not quitting or getting fired any time soon. Seemed pretty relaxed in the briefing room, Jon Karl, thanks very much.

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