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ByKenThomasand Julie Bykowicz TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is deploy- ing an outside and inside strategy to fulfill his cam- paign promise to repeal and replace "Obamacare," seeking support beyond Washington before mak- ing an in-person pitch on Capitol Hill. Trump rallied support- ers Monday night in Lou- isville, Kentucky, alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., after meetings and phone calls in Washington aimed at steadying the troubled legislation designed to erase President Barack Obama's signature health care law. He planned to court House Republicans on Tuesday. At the White House on Monday, the president met with House Speaker Paul Ryan,R-Wis.,HealthandHu- manServicesSecretaryTom Price and Dr. Ezekiel Eman- uel, an architect of Obama's health care law and the brother of Obama's White House chief of staff, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Trump's aides and con- gressional Republicans spent the weekend trying to woo conservatives and moderate House mem- bers who have questioned the health care plan. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the House's No. 3 Republican and the leader responsi- ble for rounding up votes, wrote Sunday night to his whip team that the "next few days could define us for years to come." "There's no such thing as 'perfect.' Each of us has our own ideal plan, but if we want to advance our principles and fulfill our promises, this bold ap- proach achieves our objec- tives," Scalise wrote. Many hard-line conser- vatives have pushed for a more complete repeal of Obama's law, including its requirement that pol- icies cover a long list of services, which they say drives up premiums. They also complain that the GOP bill's tax credits cre- ate an overly generous ben- efit the federal government cannot afford. Moderate Republicans, meanwhile, have said the tax credits are too limited and would hurt low earn- ers and older patients. They also worry the plan would leave too many peo- ple uninsured, pointing to a nonpartisan Congressio- nal Budget Office analysis that estimated 24 million people would lose coverage over 10 years. Republican leaders were working on several revi- sions to the bill that would be considered ahead of the floor vote. The White House and House Republicans have agreed that the bill will be amended to let states im- pose work requirements on some healthy Medic- aid recipients. States will also be allowed to alter the entire federal-state pro- gram for poorer people so states would receive a lump sum federal payment to cover some costs — not an amount that's pegged to the number of benefi- ciaries in the state, as the current bill provides. STRATEGY Trump going outside for support on health bill By Eileen Sullivan and Eric Tucker The Associated Press WASHINGTON The FBI is investigating whether Don- ald Trump's associates co- ordinated with Russian of- ficials in an effort to sway the 2016 presidential elec- tion, Director James Comey said Monday in an extraor- dinary public confirmation of a probe the president has refused to acknowledge, dismissed as fake news and blamed on Democrats. In a bruising five-hour session, the FBI director also knocked down Trump's claim that his predecessor had wiretapped his New York skyscraper, an asser- tion that has distracted White House officials and frustrated fellow Repub- licans who acknowledge they've seen no evidence to support it. The revelation of the in- vestigation of possible col- lusion with Russians, and the first public confirmation of the wider probe that be- gan last summer, came in a remarkable hearing by one branch of government ex- amining serious allegations against another branch and the new president's election campaign. Tight-lipped for the most part, Comey refused to of- fer details on the scope, targets or timeline for the FBI investigation, which could shadow the White House for months, if not years. The director would not say whether the probe has turned up evidence that Trump associates may have schemed with Russians dur- ing a campaign marked by email hacking that investi- gators believe was aimed at helping the Republican de- feat Democrat Hillary Clin- ton. "I can promise you," the FBI director vowed, "we will follow the facts wher- ever they lead." Comey for the first time put himself publicly at odds with the president by con- tradicting a series of recent tweets from Trump that as- serted his phones had been ordered tapped by Presi- dent Barack Obama during the campaign. "With respect to the president's tweets about al- leged wiretapping directed at him by the prior admin- istration, I have no infor- mation that supports those tweets, and we have looked carefully inside the FBI," Comey said. The same was true, he added, of the Jus- tice Department. His confirmation of the Russia-links investigation was striking given the FBI's historic reluctance to dis- cuss its work. But Comey said the intense public in- terest in the matter — and permission from the Justice Department — made it ap- propriate to do so. Comey said the collusion inquiry began last July as part of a broader probe into Russian meddling in American politics, meaning Trump was elected presi- dent as associates remained under investigation for pos- sible connections to Russia. Clinton allies on Monday contrasted Comey's silence during the campaign with public comments he made last year when closing out an investigation into Clin- ton's email practices and then, shortly before Elec- tion Day, announcing that the probe would be revived following the discovery of additional emails. Many Democrats blame Comey's public updates with stok- ing worries about Clinton's trustworthiness and turn- ing voters against her. Comey acknowledged that "some folks may want to make comparisons to past instances" where he and other officials were more open, but he said those were about concluded investigations. In the current case, it's not clear how long it will take for the FBI to decide if a crime was committed, but counterintelligence investi- gations are known for be- ing complicated and time- intensive — and for fre- quently concluding without charges. Comey would not commit to a timetable. Regardless of the out- come, the investigation is unquestionably an unwel- come distraction for an ad- ministration that has strug- gled to move past questions about ties to Russia. The White House tried anew Monday to distance itself from two former senior members of Trump's team, Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn, who have been un- der scrutiny for foreign con- tacts. Rep. Devin Nunes, the California Republican, told Comey that revelations about the investigation had placed a "big gray cloud" over people trying to lead the country. FBI INVESTIGATION Comey: Trump-Russia links probed, wiretap claims bogus MANUELBALCECENETA—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS FBI Director James Comey, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday before the House Intelligence Committee hearing on allegations of Russian interference in the 2016U.S. presidential election. By Deepti Hajela The Associated Press NEW YORK David Rocke- feller was the last of his gen- eration in a famous Amer- ican family that taught its children that wealth brings great responsibility. Even as children, he and his siblings had to set aside portions of their allowances for chari- table giving. That lesson lasted throughout his life; to mark his 100th birthday in 2015, Rockefeller gave 1,000 acres of land next to a na- tional park to the state of Maine. R o c k e - feller died Monday in his sleep at his home in Poc a ntico Hills at age 101, accord- ing to his spokesman, Fra- ser P. Seitel. He was the grandson of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller and the youngest of five sons and one daughter born to John D. Rockefeller Jr. He was also the guardian of his family's fortune and head of a sprawling network of fam- ily interests, both business and philanthropic, that ranged from environmen- tal conservation to the arts. Unlike his brothers Nel- son, the governor of New York who hungered for the White House and was briefly vice president, and Winthrop, a governor of Arkansas, David Rocke- feller wielded power and in- fluence without ever seek- ing public office. Among his many accomplishments were spurring the project that led to the World Trade Center. "No individual has con- tributed more to the com- mercial and civic life of New York City over a lon- ger period of time than Da- vid Rockefeller," said Mi- chael Bloomberg, a former mayor and fellow billion- aire. "I have long admired his commitment to the city, which began with a dollar- a-year job working as a sec- retary to Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. During my time in City Hall, he was always there for the city when we called." Unlike his other broth- ers, John D. 3rd and Lau- rance, who shied from the spotlight and were known for philanthropy, David Rockefeller embraced busi- ness and traveled and spoke widely as a champion of en- lightened capitalism. "American capitalism has brought more benefits to more people than any other system in any part of the world at any time in history," he said. "The prob- lem is to see that the system is run as efficiently and as honestly as it can be." Rockefeller graduated from Harvard in 1936 and received a doctorate in eco- nomics from the Univer- sity of Chicago in 1940. He served in the Army during World War II, then began climbing the ranks of man- agement at Chase Bank. That bank merged with the Manhattan company in 1955. He was named Chase Manhattan's president in 1961 and chairman and CEO eight years later. He retired in 1981 at age 65. 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