WEBVTT - Anna Edney on Price's Private Plane Use

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<v Speaker 1>So the White House is travel headache. Well, it's growing

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<v Speaker 1>with new revelations about top officials use of military aircraft.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price that

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<v Speaker 1>he will pay back the US government for expenses associated

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<v Speaker 1>with those private charters he took and will now fly commercial.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's get the latest on this from Anna Eddie healthcare

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<v Speaker 1>um reporter. Are you healthcare reporter? Yes? Wow, you do

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<v Speaker 1>a lot. Yeah, healthcare reporter at Bloombergers. Which makes sense

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<v Speaker 1>because you covered Mr Price. Secretary Price. She joins us

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<v Speaker 1>from our news froman Washington I thought I wrote something

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<v Speaker 1>down wrong, and Anna, good to have you here with us.

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<v Speaker 1>He's gonna write a check for fifty one hundred dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought the bill was hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>You're right. That's the the estimate that politico who has

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<v Speaker 1>broken these stories came up with. And you know, when

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<v Speaker 1>Secretary Prices statement came out yesterday, it said, um, you

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<v Speaker 1>know he was going to write this check, and it

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<v Speaker 1>also made a note, um, taxpayers won't pay a dime

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<v Speaker 1>for my seat on these planes, and that kind of

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<v Speaker 1>got our you know, got me thinking, how how much

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<v Speaker 1>is that check actually going to be. So I think

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<v Speaker 1>that's where the divide is is he's paying for his

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<v Speaker 1>seat but not for the entire plane. Okay, who else

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<v Speaker 1>was on the plane? I'm assuming it was his staffers.

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<v Speaker 1>That's a great question, and we haven't exactly had that answered.

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<v Speaker 1>We do know, um or was it family members? Like?

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<v Speaker 1>Who was it? Right? Well, and certainly there were other

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<v Speaker 1>people on it, um, but that's not something HHS has divulged.

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<v Speaker 1>We do know from Politico that UM, Kelly and Conway, UH,

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<v Speaker 1>the advisor to the president, was on one of those

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<v Speaker 1>kind of most um I guess um infamous trips, which

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<v Speaker 1>was the jet ride to Philadelphia, which is only you know,

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<v Speaker 1>a very short hop from d C. UM. What are

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<v Speaker 1>the rules on members of a cabinet, um, officials of

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<v Speaker 1>an administration? What are the rules when it comes to

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<v Speaker 1>how they fly or are supposed to fly? So for

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<v Speaker 1>these these chartered flights, UM, you know, the they're supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to when considering travel, UM, take into account that they

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<v Speaker 1>should do it, you know, the most efficient way, but

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<v Speaker 1>also the most financially efficient way. Um, And so we did. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>Kathleen Sibelius was in the Bloomberg office earlier this week

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<v Speaker 1>and she's the former HHS secretary, and she said she

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<v Speaker 1>had only taken a charter flight once and that was

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<v Speaker 1>two very remote villages in Alaska that they couldn't have

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<v Speaker 1>gotten commercial there. So the idea was, you're only supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to use a chartered flight when there's just no other

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<v Speaker 1>options available. Secretary prices trips. Many of those on the

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<v Speaker 1>on the jet were, you know, within the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>so conceivably, you know, Alaska's in the US. But but

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<v Speaker 1>obviously Um has some remote villages where he was going,

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<v Speaker 1>was conceivably there were commercial planes. It's interesting too write

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<v Speaker 1>because in addition to him using some of those charter jets,

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<v Speaker 1>it said that he Health and Human Services Secretary Tom

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<v Speaker 1>Price Um now faces scrutiny for using military jets. Rerobably

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<v Speaker 1>put his total travel tab above a million dollars, And

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<v Speaker 1>I think I had read somewhere that the budget for

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<v Speaker 1>the military flights overall is something like four million dollars

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<v Speaker 1>or something. I don't know if that's correct, that I

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<v Speaker 1>had read that somewhere, But it like, who keeps tabs

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<v Speaker 1>on it? Or is it just everybody's supposed to kind

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<v Speaker 1>of keep tabs and do the right thing. Um themselves well,

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<v Speaker 1>there are two separate things going on. With the chartered flights.

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<v Speaker 1>They those you know, stopped at Secretary Price, they didn't

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<v Speaker 1>go above him to the White House for approval. The

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<v Speaker 1>White House said they don't, um, they don't deal with those.

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<v Speaker 1>With the military flights, Um, it's been reported that those

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<v Speaker 1>are something that the White House does as sign off on.

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<v Speaker 1>And so there are two separate tracks here. Some on

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<v Speaker 1>the White House new aboutins on that that they didn't. Okay, um, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's still a lot of money. It's a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of money. So the to get back to your earlier point,

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<v Speaker 1>the um it's political estimated about five hundred thousand for

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<v Speaker 1>the military flights, so it would be a million total

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<v Speaker 1>for his his charter jet flights that he's paying back

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<v Speaker 1>or not chartered for chartered end military right now, he's

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<v Speaker 1>paying back about fifty two thousand. And I know this

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<v Speaker 1>may not be your Bailey Wick, but EP Administrator Scott

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<v Speaker 1>Pruett also joining attention, reports that he took private or

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<v Speaker 1>military plans at least four times, costing taxpayers more than

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<v Speaker 1>fifty eight thousand dollars. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinki charted a

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<v Speaker 1>domestic flight on a plane owned by energy executives and

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<v Speaker 1>other reports said, and then of course we have Treasury

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<v Speaker 1>Secretary Stephen Minutions travel earlier this year. Uh so interesting.

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<v Speaker 1>UM so I guess is Price safe? First of all,

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<v Speaker 1>well he keep his job. That's a great question, I think.

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<v Speaker 1>Hearing um a few days ago when President Trump was

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<v Speaker 1>asked this, and you know, he said he wasn't happy

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<v Speaker 1>with the secretary, and when asked if he would be fired,

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<v Speaker 1>he said, we'll see. Yesterday, um, Secretary Price told us

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<v Speaker 1>and he was um at an event on influenza shots.

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<v Speaker 1>But some reporters I was there were able to ask him,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, do you think you will be fired? He said,

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<v Speaker 1>I think I have the confidence of the president because

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<v Speaker 1>didn't um. Uh Sara, Howkaby didn't you kind of hedge

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<v Speaker 1>it was it yesterday? In the process? She did? Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>she she she also kind of had the will see mentality. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>so there's that. That's still that possibility is still pretty

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<v Speaker 1>large that he could go. And just to be fair,

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<v Speaker 1>it's forty seconds left here. Um. Past administrations under the

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<v Speaker 1>White House defended the use of the military jets, saying

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<v Speaker 1>the administration has reduced the number of such flights by

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<v Speaker 1>officials compared with the Obama administration's first eight months. To

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<v Speaker 1>be fair, just got about thirty second. How does it

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<v Speaker 1>Do we have any idea how this this rival stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is comparing to past administrations. I only know, um what

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<v Speaker 1>we heard from from Kathleen Civilius at HHS on the

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<v Speaker 1>on the chartered flights. I'm not sure yet on the

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<v Speaker 1>military flights, but um, certainly it's many more chartered flights

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<v Speaker 1>on on the Trump and then for the Obama's HHS secretary, right,

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<v Speaker 1>it would be nice to know who else was on

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<v Speaker 1>the planes and whether or not the U. S taxpayer, you, me,

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<v Speaker 1>and everybody else gets reimbursed for it. A lot out there, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot out there. Anna, Thank you so much for

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<v Speaker 1>following it for us and breaking it down. Anna Edney,

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<v Speaker 1>healthcare reporter at Bloomberg News, joining us from our DC bureau.

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