Here's what's trending in politics around Georgia and across the nation on Thursday.
1. Trump says he would never have hired Sessions if he knew he was going to recuse himself
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would never have nominated Jeff Sessions to be attorney general if he had known the former Alabama senator was going to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump, in an interview with The New York Times, said Sessions should have told him before he took the job, "and I would have picked somebody else." Trump also said that special counsel Robert Mueller would cross a red line if he investigated Trump family finances unrelated to Russia while heading the special investigation into interference in the election.
2. Trump to GOP senators: Find a way to replace Obamacare
President Trump summoned Republican senators to the White House on Wednesday to tell them not to leave Washington on their usual summer break, but to stay in town and work to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Forty-nine of the 52 GOP senators made the meeting. Georgia's Johnny Isakson was a no-show. He is reportedly ill. There could be a "clean" vote on repealing the ACA, or Obamacare, next week, though support for that measure seems to be eroding. Georgia Sen. David Perdue told reporters, "Obamacare has failed. My only concern is that we've got to fix the situation we are in. People back home are hurting. If we can't get this bill on the floor to vote on a repeal, we'll have to talk about what the next steps are."
3. McCain diagnosed with brain cancer
Sen. John McCain has been diagnosed with an aggressive type of brain cancer. Doctors removing a blood clot from behind McCain's left eye last week, discovered the cancer after testing tissue in the region. McCain, who twice ran for president, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive form of cancer. Doctors say the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, Vietnam prisoner of war and 30-year member of Congress is considering the next step in treatment, including radiation and chemotherapy. McCain is 80.
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