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AMY GOODMAN: We have less than two minutes. President Trump is going to Miami today to announce the closing down of the opening of the relationship between Cuba and the United States, that President Obama started, after 50 years. Your response?

REP. KEITH ELLISON: More of Trump just dragging us back to the past, the failed past, that didnt work. Obama was right. We tried the separation, the blockade and thefor 50 years. It didnt work. And so, Obama, quite correctly, charted a new course. You know, and here we go again, him trying to repeal everything Obama stands for. Amy, can I mention something that Im working on that you havent asked me about?

AMY GOODMAN: Yes, go ahead.

REP. KEITH ELLISON: Well, you know, one of the things that Im working on now is something called Resistance Summer. It is an intensive engagement of Americans all over the country. Its part of the Democratic Partys effort to try to get back in touch with Americans around the core issues that were facinghealthcare, accountability in government, increase in wages, protecting Social Security. You know, and I just want to say, on June 3rd, we had 120 sites, all 50 states, and were moving in very aggressively to try to make sure that we are converting the Democratic Party into a real party of the grassroots. So, I just wanted to say that. If anybody wants to hear more about it, they can dial 43367 and type inand text "resist." And then they could stay in touch with what were doing.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, we covered the Peoples Summit in Chicago last weekend. Four thousand people came. Among those who addressed the crowd was Bernie Sanders. Is Bernie Sanders or you or other congressmembers going to introduce a major single-payer bill around healthcare?

REP. KEITH ELLISON: We already did. I mean, we just introduced a Medicaid for allMedicare for all. And were moving forward on that. We believe in that idea. And youll remember, John Conyers introduced HR 676 years ago. We believe in single payer. While were going to fight to protect and defend the Affordable Care Act, because the Affordable Care Act is an advance on where we were before, our sights are set higher. We aspire to, you know, a system where everybodys covered and everybody can go to the doctor. And thats what I believe the United States should have. We should join the rest of the world and cover all of our people.

AMY GOODMAN: Congressman Ellison, I want to thank you for being with us, co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, first Muslim member of Congress, deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee.

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Democrats Launch "Resistance Summer" Focused on Healthcare, Education & Social Security - Democracy Now!

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Porter Ranch) smiled broadly when asked who he thought would win the 56th annual Congressional Baseball Game.

America, he said with a laugh.

The charity game on Thursday night began on a somber note with a prayer and a moment of silence for House Majority Whip SteveScalise(R-La.) and three others who were shot by a gunman on Wednesday at the GOP team's practice for the event.

After the lawmakers on the Democratic and Republican rosters rose from their knees in prayer, fans and players quickly got caught up in the traditional rivalry at Nationals Park in Washington.Thousands of fansbooed or cheered when their partisan teamsmade a play, and pulled out their phones to film the Nationals' mascots the running presidents race around the bases. (Teddy Roosevelt won by cutting the final corner.)

Shortly after the shooting, coaches for both teams said they would go forward with the game. They seemed determined to show unity after agunman who appeared to be targeting Republicans unleashed a spray of bullets on the practice field in Alexandria, Va., and was eventually stoppedby police.

During the game, a Washington hospital announced that Scalise remained in critical condition. ACapitol Police officerwho was injured while helping stop the attacker threw out the ceremonial first pitch, hobbling out on crutches to a standing ovation.

Indicators of Wednesdays shooting were sprinkled throughout the stadium. Police were very visible at the event that sold a record25,000 tickets and raised $1 million.Many fans, including ones who identified as Democrats, carried signs that read "ScaliseStrong" or "GeauxScalise." Members of Congressfrom both parties wore Capitol Police and Louisiana State University hats to honor Scalise's alma mater.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) saidthere was a lot less trash-talking on the field this year and members spent more time checking on one another.

"The energy was very positive. Itwas one of unity and very sincere concern for Rep. Scalise. There was a lot of camaraderie," Aguilar said.

With a final score of 11-2, Democrats received the coveted trophy. Democratic coach Rep. MikeDoyle of Pennsylvania called Republican coach Rep. Joe L. Barton of Texas to the microphone and said his team wanted the trophy to be displayed inScalises office until the Louisiana congressman returns.

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Congressional Baseball Game is played a day after shooting - Los Angeles Times

Democrats regained their mojo on Thursday night at Nationals Park with a commanding11-2 victory over the Republicans at the 56th annual Congressional Baseball Game.

But with the tragic shooting during the Republicans team practice the daybefore, esprit de corps was themain game plan for both teams, dispelling for at least a night, the clouds of highly charged partisanship that has plagued both sides of the aisle this year.

In a final touching conclusion to the game, the Democrats team manager Mike Doyle turned over the coveted Roll Call Trophy to Republican manager Joe L. Barton to place in Majority Whip Steve Scalises office until he made it back to Congress. Scalise was one of five wounded in Wednesday mornings shooting in Alexandria, Virginia.

Though the Democrats bats were hot throughout the night, they also capitalized on some costly GOP defensive errors.

The sobering shooting that left Scalisewith a grievous hip wound and in critical condition in a hospital bed did not seem to deter the mood and revelry of the players and fans. An unexpectedly large crowd of close to 25,000 turned out to enjoy a night of bipartisan camaraderie the very spirit the congressional baseball game is meant to invoke.

A few pregame events were bipartisan crowdpleasers.

Before the first pitch, Democratic and Republican fans joined in cheers as both teams took to the field in a moment of prayer for Scalise and the four other victims.

Game On: Video Highlights from the 2017 Congressional Baseball Game

Another cheer erupted when the announcer informed attendees that some of the proceeds from the charity game will go toward the Capitol Police Memorial Fund. Some attendees wore navy Capitol Police caps in honor of the two officers credited with preventing more casualties during the attack, despite being wounded themselves.

The next cheer came when Scalises name was called out during the team introductions. Both Republican and Democratic fans gave the missing GOP leader a huge standing ovation.

Former Yankees manager Joe Torre also got a cheer when he presented the baseball to injured Capitol Police officer David Bailey, who was wounded by shrapnel during the attack. Bailey then threw this years ceremonial first pitch.

The spirit of unity continued as Senate and House leadership announced the start of the game following a pre-taped welcome video message from President Donald Trump.

But competition is the name of the game and this was evident at the start as Pennsylvania Rep. Ryan A. Costello, lead batter for the Republicans, walked, stole second, made third after a ground out by Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, and stole home during Texas Rep. Kevin Bradys at bat.

Democratic starting pitcher, Rep. Cedric L. Richmondof Louisiana, seemed to struggle throughout the first inning and GOP pinch runner, Rep. Chuck Fleischmannof Tennessee, took advantage, stealing second after a wild pitch and also scoring on two more.

Democrats entered the bottom of the first with a 2-0 deficit.

But CaliforniaRep. Raul Ruiz immediately answered the Democrats call with a powerful single, and later stole second.

North Carolina Rep.Mark Walker, the GOP pitcher, then walked California Rep. Jared Huffman, opening the door for Richmond, arguably the best player in the history of the game, to load the bases with a de facto bunt.

Democratic Rep. Tim Ryanof Ohio tied the game with a double, allowing Ruiz and Huffman to score. Colorado Rep. Jared Polis hit, though called out at first, allowed Richmond to score, pulling the Democrats ahead,ended the first inning with a 3-2 lead.

The second inning began with a solid single from GOP catcher, Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis.

As the top of the inning continued, Richmonds pitching was both shaky and solid. After striking out Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk hit a single off of him, allowing Davis to third.

But another wild pitch allowed Loudermilk to steal second. Then Richmond struck out lead batter Costello, stranding Davis at third and Democrats retained their one-point lead.

Solid defensive play by Republicans resulted in a short at bat for Democrats as the second inning ended with the same score, 3-2.

Bats went quiet for the Republicans in the third inning and later ones. But not for Democrats, who blew open the inning with a few hits and capitalized on a few GOP defensive errors.

Richmond, thanks to an error at first base, hit a double. Polis then batted him in with an RBI single, advancing the Democrats, 4-2.

Walker later walked Connecticut Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, hitting him with a wild pitch. California Rep. Pete Aguilar then hit a double, allowing three more runs. Democrats ended the inning with a solid 7-2 lead.

Both offenses were unproductive in the fourth inning, the highlight being the mid-game Washington Nationals Presidents Race. (Teddy took the checkered flag.)

Richmonds command was in full force throughout the fifth and the remaining innings, quieting the GOPs bats once again. He led a major offensive charge in the fifth for the Democrats, starting the inning with a powerhouse triple.

TexasRep. Joe L. Barton, the Republicans team manager, then pulled starter Walker, putting in PennsylvaniaRep. Patrick Meehanas relief.

But errors continued to dog the GOP as a throwing error by Meehangave Democrats another run(and a de facto double for Polis).

Meehan then walkedCalifornia Rep. Linda T. Snchez, a favorite among the Democratic fans.

California Rep. Nanette Barragan, the only other female player, also took to the plate in the fifth inning, promptingcheers from Democratic fans and hitting a single and an RBI.

The Republicansseemed tired by the end of the fifth inning, with the Democrats solidly ahead 11-2, a comfortable lead that held to the end of the game.

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Democrats Reclaim Congressional Baseball Title, Bipartisanship Rules - Roll Call

Members of the Republican team pray before the annual Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Joshua Roberts / Reuters

"It would've been awful to have what happened yesterday, which was bad enough, and not to be able to get together with your colleagues and do this," Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona., said.

By Thursday evenings first pitch, organizers had sold close to 25,000 tickets and sponsorship doubled overnight, according to the games organizer Meredith Raimondi.

The game raised more than $1.5 million for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, Washington Literacy Center, the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation and the Capitol Police Memorial Fund in honor of those injured in the line of duty during Wednesdays shooting.

Describing themselves as much tougher and resilient after the attack that united them in the way only survivors of mass shootings know too well, members separated themselves from yesterdays tragedies and zoned in on the game.

The thing about it is the game has always been so raw, so partisan, but in good nature though, Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, said earlier on Thursday. We tease each other and we trash talk.

On the field, it was back to normal partisanship, especially after the Democrat's most valuable player, Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-Louisiana, almost hit a home run.

Conaway said its weird that a game purposely driven by the enthusiasm of a divided fan base is driving a sense of unity, adding that he hopes it can continue off the field.

And it did. Members like Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, were spotted taking selfies. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, donned a Louisiana State University hat, while Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, wore the university's jersey in honor of Scalise's home team.

Scalise staffers wore blue "Team Scalise" shirts and waved a number of signs for their boss. One notably read, "Don't Stop Scalisin."

Jack Barton, Rep. Joe Barton's 10-year-old son, who hid under a car to avoid bullets during the shootout, was seen running into the field to pick up foul balls.

The Democrats' bats overpowered the Republicans, 11-2, to broke the 39-39 series tie.

Though they won the trophy, Democratic manager Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pennsylvania, gave their opponents the winning prize so it could remain in Scalise's office.

Barton, a Republican from Texas and the team's manager, accepted the trophy and then joked that his players "wouldn't be this nice next year."

Politics aside, the members agreed that, regardless of game play, the country is better off when the nation is united.

Somebody asked me who do you think is going to win tonight?', said Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, who witnessed yesterdays shooting. I said America.

CORRECTION (June 16, 12:09 pm) An earlier version of this article misstated the location of the hospital where Rep. Steve Scalise was transported after he was shot. He was taken to MedStar Washington Hospital Center in the District of Columbia, not to a hospital in Virginia.

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After Shooting, Baseball Brings Democrats and Republicans Together - NBCNews.com

As Republicans have been casting about for legislation to eviscerate the Affordable Care Act, Democrats have offered a consistent message in public: If the GOP drops its demand for repeal, well work with them to improve, or fix, the current law.

Exactly how Democrats would change the bill they enacted seven years ago is less clear. Lawmakers have floated a range of options, from tackling the cost of prescription drugs, to setting up a reinsurance program to shore up Obamacares flagging exchanges, to reviving the idea of a public option that would compete with private carriers and drive down prices.

But party leaders have chosen not to endorse a specific set of reforms, in part because Republicans have shown little interest in considering their ideas and in part to avoid distracting from their more urgent imperative to save Obamacare from destruction. Were not in the majority right now, and our whole focus right now is to keep them from sending us back to a time when insurance companies could sell plans that provided nothing and people found themselves just in a terrible bind, Senator Patty Murray of Washington state, a member of the Democratic leadership, said in an interview.

Are Senate Republicans Really Doomed on Health Care?

Yet the lack of a Democratic alternative also stems from a central disagreement about whether the ACA needs a legislative fix at all. Democrats have accused the Trump administration of sabotaging the law administratively by refusing to guarantee the payment of cost-sharing subsidies to insurers and by sending mixed signals about whether it would enforce the mandate that people buy insurance or pay a tax penalty. If the administration simply implemented the law as intended, they say, Congress could stand down. Theres a very good chance that its sustainable if you just do those things, said Representative John Yarmuth of Kentucky, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. Murray told me she absolutely believed the law could stand on its own if the Trump administration implemented it properly.

Other leaders in the party, however, suggested to me the law was not quite as stable. Insurers had been pulling out of the Obamacare exchanges before the November election, and while these Democrats do not agree with Republican characterizations that the law is collapsing, they argue that Congress needs to act at least to stabilize the individual market. The individual market, if youre not buying through an employereven if you do get a subsidyis pretty unstable, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee last year, said in an interview. I do think some legislative fixes would really send signals to the American public, as well as the stakeholders, that were serious about finding improvements.

Kaine and Senator Tom Carper of Delaware on Wednesday introduced legislation to create a reinsurance program to help insurers offset the cost of covering older, less healthy customers. That type of programwhich provides payments to insurers that enroll high-cost individualswas originally part of Obamacare until it expired last year, and Republican legislators in Minnesota and Alaska have embraced the idea as a way to stabilize insurance markets in those states. Thats something that should have some bipartisan appeal, Kaine said.

The Democratic ideas fall roughly into two categories: proposals that might attract support from Republicans as part of a short-term fix if the repeal effort fails, and those that will only be viable if the party can retake one or both chambers of Congress in 2018. Murrays renewed call for a public insurance option which would compete with private insurance in the marketplacealmost certainly falls in the latter bucket. Democrats fell a few votes shy of including a public option in the 2010 law, but the idea faces staunch opposition from Republicans and insurance companies who see it as a slippery slope to a completely government-run health-care system.

A push to allow the government to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare and Medicaid would likely run into a similar blockade. But the proposal has had an unlikely ally in President Trump, who earlier this year took meetings with Democrats and pharmaceutical companies after calling for increased competition to bring down prescription costs. Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the cost of prescription drugs was the biggest complaint hes heard from constituents about health care. Democrats, however, suspect Trump isnt serious about confronting Republicans who have long opposed the idea of allowing the government to negotiate prices. Weve never heard from the president again on this issue, said Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island, a co-chairman of the partys policy and communications committee.

Pallone said Congress should also consider boosting the subsidies it provides to consumers under the ACA, either by increasing the income level eligible to receive them or adding to the aid itself. We have to make sure that the tax credits or subsidies make insurance affordable, he said. Yet as Pallone is the first to acknowledge, its hard to see Republicans switching from trying to repeal the law to agreeing to make its benefits more generous. Were kind of in this never-never land, he told me as I pressed him for ideas that Democrats could offer. I just want to keep stressing that there are no bipartisan discussions. Its nice to talk about, but I think its really importantand Im sure you are going to stressthat this is not real.

If Republicans were to launch a bipartisan effort, the more difficult decision Democrats might face is whether they would be willing to sacrifice parts of Obamacare in exchange for preserving and possibly strengthening the rest. Sometimes more begrudgingly than not, they have agreed in previous years to delay certain taxes in the law and change or repeal smaller policy provisions that proved controversial or unworkable. On that front, Yarmuth broke with many Democrats by calling for the repeal of Obamacares requirement that large businesses offer insurance to their employees. I dont think its necessary, he told me. He said he thought it was a good idea at the time but that studies have shown that companies had not, as some predicted, opted to pay a fine instead of providing insurance. Instead, many had reduced employee hours to get around the mandate. So its actually hurt working families, Yarmuth said. Scrapping the mandate, he said, would eliminate one of the negative, adverse effects of the Affordable Care Act.

All of these Democratic ideas will be mootat least in the near termif Republicans can pass their own health-care overhaul through the Senate on a party-line vote. But despite reports of progress in the last week, the likelihood of failure is still nearly as high as the likelihood of success. And if Republicans cannot deliver on their promise of repeal, the health-care spotlightand some of the burdenwill return to the Democrats once again.

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How Democrats Would Fix Obamacare - The Atlantic