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This is a rush transcript from "Fox News Sunday," July 2, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS HOST: Im John Roberts, in for Chris Wallace.

While President Trump fights to fulfill a major campaign promise, repealing and replacing ObamaCare, the administration scored victories this week on immigration and upholding the travel ban.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: They've been reviewed (ph). So, I think it was a great victory for the president.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Health care is working along very well. We can have a big surprise with a great health care package.

ROBERTS (voice-over): Well break down the president's agenda going forward with Marc Short, President Trumps director of legislative affairs. It's a "Fox News Sunday" exclusive.

(on camera): Then, with a growing number of Republican senators opposing the partys ObamaCare replacement plan, the president is now considering an immediate repeal and replacement later.

SEN. BEN SASSE, R-NEBRASKA: Every Republican in the U.S. Senate except for one has already voted for repeal in the past, let's do that first.

SEN. RAND PAUL, R-KENTUCKY: And now you have two bills, boom, you get it done in five minutes. The president seems open and interested in the idea.

ROBERTS (voice-over): Well discuss what Congress can do to repeal ObamaCare and get a replacement passed with Republican Senator Rand Paul and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.

Senators Paul and Manchin only on "Fox News Sunday."

Plus, the president shifts focus off of the agenda, creating a media firestorm with several tweets attacking cable news hosts. Well ask our Sunday panel if the president's tweets are hurting his agenda.

All right now on "Fox News Sunday."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: And hello again from Fox News in Washington.

Senate Republicans have yet to bring their ObamaCare replacement to the floor for vote. Some suggesting separating repeal and replacement as two different bills.

Well, now, a group of senators is calling on Leader McConnell to shorten or altogether cancel the upcoming August recess in order to make meaningful progress on several legislative issues including health care.

Joining us now to discuss the administration's agenda, President Trumps director of legislative affairs, Marc Short. And we should point out that this is Marc Shorts very first appearance on any Sunday show.

So, we are glad to have you here.

MARC SHORT, WHITE HOUSE LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS DIRECTOR: Thanks for having me.

ROBERTS: You are the man who is tasked with being the foot soldier between the White House and Congress in terms of getting the presidents agenda through, where are we really with health care?

SHORT: Look, John, were getting close. The American people know that ObamaCare is failing. They know that insurance rates have continued to skyrocket. They know that insurers are fleeing markets. And last year alone, 83 insurers have left the market. People know that this is a dramatic situation.

ROBERTS: So, how --

SHORT: It's a crisis. Where we are is the president this weekend is continuing to make calls to members to try to get the Senate package across the finish line. We believe that our package will help to lower premium cost, help provide better quality care for patients and returns the relationship between the patient and his or her doctor without the government being in the middle.

ROBERTS: So, when you say were getting, how close are you?

SHORT: Well, look, weve gone through a long process in the House and got it completed and passed in the House. We now are in the Senate where theres been obviously a lot of procedural delays in this process. We are at the point of scoring two separate bills throughout the course of this recess this week. So, we hope that we come back the week after recess, well have a vote.

ROBERTS: Lets talk about these two bills, because you mentioned this to me earlier in the week. Youve got two different bills, variations on the same theme, that are going to go to Congressional Budget Office for scoring. Whats in those bills?

SHORT: Well, so, whats in the bill is that it will help to get rid of the individual mandate. It will get rid of taxes to make this easier on the American people. One thing that raises rates so much, John, thats really less understood in America is when you're on individual exchanges. The mandates the federal government puts on are so ridiculous that men are forced to carry coverage for mammograms, women are forced to carry coverage for prostate issues, it's absurd. And the American people know this. Were going to get rid of many of those regulations and mandates to lower cost.

ROBERTS: What's the difference between the two bills that are going to go (INAUDIBLE)?

SHORT: One has an amendment, thats called the Consumer Freedom Act that Senator Cruz and Senator Lee have offered that will help continue to reduce those regulations. And one is being scored without.

But let's talk about the CBO scoring for a second, because CBO scoring has indicated when they initially scored ObamaCare that 25 million people will be on the ObamaCare exchanges. In fact, there are only 10 million. So, when the press reports that 22 million people are going to lose coverage, it's a ridiculous number. Of that 22 million, seven million --

ROBERTS: But the press has only reported what the CBO says.

SHORT: They reported what CBO says but the CBO credibility should be certainly -- should be questioned at this point. Seven million of those people are people that don't exist. Theyre people that is based upon a baseline that CBO put out in 2014, even though the actual number is way down here.

There's another 7 million people they say will choose to leave the market that they say are losing insurance. That's not losing, that's choosing.

ROBERTS: And yet --

SHORT: And take another 4 million people in Medicaid and they say that's 4 million people who get Medicaid today will choose, if they don't have a mandate, to leave. That's 18 million people right there, John.

ROBERTS: And yet, you keep on submitting these bills to CBO for scoring because I know thats the process.

But let me ask you about this, this idea to repeal ObamaCare and then replace it at a later date. This is something the president even suggested. Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Rand Paul of Kentucky are both suggesting it. Will that even fly because Leader McConnell is saying, thanks but no thanks?

SHORT: Well, look, John, just in December of 2015, 49 current senators, as Ben Sasse has told you, 49 of the senators supported repeal. And if provided --

ROBERTS: Because they knew it would never become law.

SHORT: Well, I think that's a pretty tough messaging to go back to your constituents and say, I actually voted for it because I knew it wouldnt become law. I think they are pretty committed to knowing how much ObamaCare is failing. The last 15 or 18 months, it's only gotten worse. Premiums have only gotten higher.

In Nevada alone, two more insurers pulled out this week. So, now, in 18 counties in Nevada, 14 have no insurer next year. It's a true crisis and we need to do something about it.

ROBERTS: Yet, Dean Heller is saying, no way Im signing on this bill.

SHORT: Well, you know, look, I think Dean Heller voted for that repeal effort and the way that we look at is to say if the replacement part is too difficult for pulpits to come together, then let's go back and take care of the first step in repeal.

And even those 49, there's another member, Todd Young from Indiana, who when he was in the House voted for the bill, too. So, you have 50 members on record having voted for that recently. So, that's an option.

And then, at that point, if you've repeal it, you can come back with a replacement effort that could be more bipartisan.

ROBERTS: Are you concerned, though, that if you did do it in two pieces, you did replace first, then you did replacement later, that you might end up with repeal and never get around to replacing it?

SHORT: Look, John, we stated in our preferences is to pass the bill the Senate has right now. Thats what we think needs to be done. We think that help solve many of the problems Americans are facing.

And there are other legislative vehicles going on at the same time. Just last week the House passed Med Now which helps to limit the amount of lawsuits. So, it helps us to actually lower premiums. So, there's actions going on. This is not a one-size-fits-all.

ROBERTS: Senator Schumer is saying, hey, come work with us. Listen to what he said earlier in the week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-NY, MINORITY LEADER: I challenge them again: invite all of us to Blair House, the first day we get back from recess. If you think were not serious? Try us.

Democrats are ready to turn the page of health care. When will my Republican friends realize it's time for them to do the same?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Marc, the president says over and over again that the Democrats are nothing but obstructionists. Were not going to get a single Democratic vote to repeal and replace ObamaCare. There's the offer from the Senate majority leader.

SHORT: John, the Senate -- the president is absolutely right.

ROBERTS: The Senate minority leader, right.

SHORT: The president is absolutely right. They have been obstructionists. Weve heard from senators who have said, look, we know the markets are collapsing. We know people are losing insurance. It's devastating our state.

I can't be with you on repeal because that was one of President Obama's signature accomplishments, but we can be with you on replace. So, if this is the route we go, then there's that opportunity.

But it's quite just ingenuous I think for Senator Schumer to talk about getting together when today, right now today, we had 49 members of our folks that we put up for Senate confirmation approved. At the same point in Obama's administration on July 1st, he had 179. We have one quarter -- what Senator Schumer has often said rather disingenuously is to say its because we are not getting nominees. We have 133 nominees sitting in front of the Senate right now waiting to get hearings in order so they can get confirmation.

So, Senator Schumer might talk about bipartisanship, but he has no interest in bipartisanship whatsoever.

ROBERTS: So, back to the Republicans. So, weve got Sasse and weve got Rand who are pushing this idea of repeal first, replace later. Yet, at the same time, you got Senator Cruz of Texas and Senator Lee of Utah who are saying, well, we've got some other ideas. And they are trying to process forward.

Are you worried that theyll push it so far to the right that you're going to lose a lot of those moderates that you need to have?

SHORT: No, not at all. We support Senator Cruz and Senator Lees efforts. This is similar to efforts that transpired in the House and we think it's perfectly appropriate, his amendment. And so, we hope it's part of the process and bringing everybody together.

ROBERTS: Tax reform, the president has been many, many times that you need to do health care first so you get a bigger pot of money for tax reform. The Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says, no, we can probably do tax reform without doing ObamaCare reform first. Which is it and what's the timetable for this?

SHORT: John, we looked at them both this year, thats the bottom line. We plan to get health care completed in the summer. We looked to move to tax reform in the fall. We look to complete it before the end of the year.

ROBERTS: And do you need to do health care reform first?

SHORT: We need to do both, John. The American people are getting crushed by the ObamaCare taxes and we need tax reform in this country because we need to get the economy growing again. It has suffered for far too long and dismal growth ever since the recession in 2008-2009. What will provide growth is tax relief and were going to get to it this year.

ROBERTS: One of the big issues is whether or not you do tax reform thats deficit neutral so that after 10 years, it can become permanent or whether it's more important to do tax cuts first. So, which part of that is more important, deficit neutral or getting the tax cuts?

SHORT: Whats most important is get the economy growing so people get back to work.

ROBERTS: So, that means tax cuts?

SHORT: That -- in our mind, that means tax relief. But there's also an idea that Senator Toomey has put out that suggests that the budget window can be moved from 10 years to 20 years, which I think is an attractive option to allow us to do that. But we are focused on getting Americans back to work. And, John, that's why unemployment today -- because of the many regulatory relief that this president provided, it's down to 4.3 percent. The lowest it's been in 16 years.

ROBERTS: I want to ask about the presidents tweets, because it's not necessarily in your wheel house, but it does kind of crossed into your area because youve got have to deal with all those folks on Capitol Hill who very often are rolling their eyes over what the president tweets and have said, Mitch McConnell has said he's not particularly fond of it. We saw with Susan Collins and others said about the presidents tweet regarding Mika Brzezinski.

Does he make your job more difficult with what he does?

SHORT: Look, John, I don't recall during the presidential campaign, many members in Congress being excited by the presidents tweets and he won the campaign. Congressional approval rating is about 11 percent or 12 percent right now. The president knows that he needs to get around the mainstream media to get his story out.

And part of that story is actually what we've accomplished on Capitol Hill. This is the first administration to get a Supreme Court justice confirmed in the first 100 days since 1881. He signed 42 bills into law to date. Fourteen of those under Congressional Review Act helped to roll back the burdensome Obama regulation.

ROBERTS: So, youre saying its not a problem?

SHORT: It actually helps to now -- the CRA repealing much of that legislation has enabled the economy to save $18 billion in compliance cost. We just passed the V.A. Accountability Act, the president signed and delivered on yet another promise to the American people. He signed the omnibus bill that begin to rebuild the military and to build the border wall.

ROBERTS: So, despite diverting from his agenda or so, it would seem at least in the public view from time to time, you're still getting done what you need to get done?

SHORT: Were getting done what we need to get done in record pace. And the American -- the president is focused on returning jobs to the American people.

ROBERTS: Theres one other thing I want to ask you quickly before we run out of time here and again, this isnt in your wheelhouse but it does cross over to some degree. This election -- the commission, the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity that the president has set up, secretaries of state of at least 27 states have said, were not going to give you the voter data that you want because we don't think that this is a legitimate quest. And to some degree, some secretaries of state are suggesting that the president is just seeking to legitimize the claim that he made earlier this year about the fact that he lost the popular vote because of massive election fraud.

What do say to the secretaries of state, including some Republicans like Delbert Hosemann of Mississippi?

SHORT: John, there's nothing more important than ensuring the integrity of the American vote. One man, one vote. The vice president of the United States is leading this commission. It's a bipartisan commission.

This information is publicly available, but wouldn't be great if the secretary of state were willing to apply and be part of this to ensure the voter integrity of the United States? I don't think that's too much to ask.

ROBERTS: Well, Mississippi secretary of state, again, Delbert Hosemann, has invited you all to jump in the Gulf of Mexico, which at this time of year wouldn't be a bad idea.

(LAUGHTER)

ROBERTS: Marc Short, thanks for joining us today.

SHORT: John, thanks for having me.

ROBERTS: And welcome to the Sunday show.

SHORT: Have a wonderful Independence Day.

ROBERTS: Thank you. You, too.

Coming up next, Senators Rand Paul and Joe Manchin on where things stand on health care reform in the Senate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Efforts to repeal and replace ObamaCare stalled this week when Republicans delayed a vote on their plan, putting it off until after their return from the Fourth of July recess. Will they have enough votes, though, to pass the bill?

In a few minutes, well be joined by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. But first, joining us now is Republican Senator Rand Paul, whos among a group of Republicans opposing the current bill, and has some ideas on how to get repeal and replacement through.

Senator Paul, good to talk to you this morning.

Let me start off with a tweet that the presidents in earlier, which was actually what convinced her to come on the July 4th weekend. The president tweeting, quote: If Republican senators are unable to pass what they're working on now, they should immediately repeal and then replace at a later date.

The president appears to be listening to you. You mentioned this to him on Wednesday, though your colleague from Nebraska, Ben Sasse, is also claiming credit for this. But Senator McConnell has said thanks, but no thanks.

So, will this idea even fly?

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