Flagstaff: Radioactive Uranium Truck Driver in Medical Distress: Endangerment on the Haul Route

The driver of a radioactive uranium truck, covered only with a tarp, was in medical distress, parked at a restaurant in Flagstaff today before noon. The deadly trucks are transporting uranium ore from the Pinyon Plain uranium mine in the homeland of Havasupai in the Grand Canyon, through Flagstaff and the Navajo and Hopi Nations, to the White Mesa Ute community in Utah. Photo by Shannonlynn Chester, Censored News.

Breaking News

Flagstaff: Radioactive Uranium Truck Driver in Medical Distress: Endangerment on the Haul Route

Article and photos by Shannonlynn Chester, Dine'

Censored News, May 8, 2025

French translation by Christine Prat

There is currently a truck hauling uranium with only a covered tarp parked behind Mary's Cafe in Flagstaff, Arizona on Highway 89.

The truck driver needed an ambulance. When I arrived, I was told he had been parked for a couple of hours already. It's 11:07 am and the truck is still there. This is a scary situation. This poses even further threats to the community in several ways. I've watched hundreds of individuals drive by in the time that I've been here watching this. Unless one is aware what these trucks hauling radioactive material looks like then everyone in this vicinity has unknowingly been put at risk.

The driver staggered back to his truck after being treated at the ambulance.
Screenshot from video by Shannonlynn Chester. 

The driver received EMT services then he staggered back to his truck and he was helped back in with a pat on the back. Even from afar, he does not look well! This is extremely concerning as he will potentially continue traveling north through many communities to White Mesa Mill in Utah.

PLEASE be aware, be vigilant and take extreme caution traveling on Highway 89 from Flagstaff along the haul route.

This isn't safe. There isn't any accountability to us, "the public" at all. What I watched unfold for over an hour and a half is extremely concerning and we should not be allowing this. 

UPDATE by Censored News

The Navajo Nation, law enforcement and the mainstream media downplayed the risks today to Navajos and everyone on the haul route. This comes after Navajo President Buu Nygren cut a secret deal with Energy Fuels for the uranium transport trucks to pass through the Navajo Nation.

Nygren released a statement about the sick truck driver. Nygren said the Navajo Nation EPA coordinated with the Coconino County Sheriff's Office and the Flagstaff Fire Department. The Fire Department conducted radiation scans on the truck and said that the radiation levels at the location were within safe limits.

Three other uranium ore trucks at the designated inspection site were allowed to pass and continue to the White Mesa Mill, Nygren said.

Energy Fuels notified the Navajo Nation EPA at 11:40 a.m. that the fourth truck -- whose driver was sick -- returned back to the Pinyon Plain Mine, Nygren said.

Coconino County Sheriff Bret Axlund said the truck driver had "flu-like symptoms" and refused medical transport from the site. An ambulance was called to the site, just north of Flagstaff, in the area of Hwy 89 and Townsend Winona Road.

Earlier, the Navajo Nation Council said President Nygren entered into a secret deal with Energy Fuels, without the knowledge or consent of the Navajo Council, to allow the uranium ore trucks to pass through the Navajo Nation from the Grand Canyon mine enroute to Utah.

More than 500 uranium mines and scattered radioactive waste remain on the Navajo Nation, which the U.S. never cleaned up after the Cold War, resulting in widespread cancer for Dine'.

An ambulance was called when the driver of this radioactive uranium ore truck became ill on the north side of Flagstaff this morning. Photo by Shannonlynn Chester, Censored News.

This uranium truck was returned to the Pinyon Plain uranium mine in the Grand Canyon after the truck driver became sick and an ambulance was called to the site, on the north side of Flagstaff. The deadly uranium transport route beyond Flagstaff passes through the Navajo and Hopi Nations before arriving at Energy Fuels uranium mill in the White Mesa Ute community in southeastern Utah. Photo today by Shannonlynn Chester.

Energy Fuels uranium transport trucks, covered only with tarps, transport uranium ore from the Pinyon Plain uranium mine in the Grand Canyon to the White Mesa Mill in southeastern Utah. The deadly trucks begin the transport in the homeland of Havasupai in the Grand Canyon, and pass through the City of Flagstaff, and  communities of Hualapai, Paiute, Navajo and Hopi before arriving at Energy Fuels uranium mill in the White Mesa Ute community in southeastern Utah. -- Censored News

#endnuclearcolonialism #nonukes #keepitintheground #cleanupthemines #nomorecancer #haulno #protectsacredsites #defendthesacred

Celebrating Water -- 'Rumble on the Mountain' Powerful Music to Halt Uranium Mining in Grand Canyon

Hopi singer and composer Ryon Polequaptewa, spoke on the sacred cedar which lends itself to make the Hopi flute, and of the sacred space of Hopi, where there is "very little rain, but an abundance of life." Listen to his performance at Rumble on the Mountain. Screenshot by Censored News. Watch  https://www.facebook.com/edkabotie

Songs from the Water

Rumble on the Mountain 10: Native Voices of the Colorado Plateau in opposition to uranium mining in the Grand Canyon

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, February 3, 2024

Translation into French by Christine Prat

https://chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=8346

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona -- In a beautiful tribute, Ed Kabotie, Hopi, performed "The Trail," honoring those who have passed, making their journey among the stars, during the seven-hour Rumble on the Mountain at the Orpheum Theater on Saturday.

Statement of Family of Jacob Johns on Shooting

Jacob Johns photo courtesy family

Statement from Family of Indigenous Activist, Jacob Johns, Shot Last Week at Peaceful Prayer Circle

Contact:
Sabrina Chapa Sabrina@tiestolatierra.org

Anthony Diaz Anthony@newarkwatercoalition.org

https://therednation.org/statement-from-family-of-indigenous-activist-jacob-johns-on-shooting/

For generations, Indigenous Peoples have faced harm, death, and systemic oppression. Last week’s premeditated shooting is just another historical event in a series of systemic injustices in Indigenous history. This intentional premeditated act of violence was perpetrated against a peaceful prayer camp located at the proposed site for the reinstallation of the Oñate statue. This draws attention to the lengthy history of injustices against Indigenous Peoples by dehumanizing systems and divisive ideologies the community was protesting.

Arrest Warrant Reveals Details of Hate Crime at Onate Statue Prayerful Protest

Ryan Martinez with the weapon. Detail of photo by Albuquerque Journal.

Arrest Warrant Reveals Details of Hate Crime at Onate Statue Prayerful Protest

The Red Nation's statement: Shooter's gun jammed, planned to shoot others

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-red-nation-shooters-gun-jammed.html

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

ESPANOLA, New Mexico -- The arrest warrant for the man who shot Jacob Johns, Hopi and Akimel O'odham, reveals details of the attempted murder of the peacemaker at the prayerful protest of the rededication of the Juan de Onate statue.

The shooter aimed his gun at a second person before fleeing, driving in the wrong lane south toward Pojoajue Pueblo during the chase.

Earlier in the day the shooter made racist comments to the children at the shrine during his actions to disrupt the gathering.

Ryan Martinez shown wearing MAGA cap at gathering.
Witnesses said he was searching for security camercas
when this photo was taken at the event.

Ryan David Martinez, the shooter, was wearing a Make America Great Again, MAGA, red cap. After his arrest, Martinez laughed when shown a photo of him holding the gun that fired the shot.

Surveillance Balloons Over Winnemucca, Navajo and Hopi Lands

Aerostar helium balloon photo by Aerostar

Surveillance Balloons Over Winnemucca, Navajo and Hopi Lands

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Monday, August 21, 2023

WINNEMUCCA, Nevada -- A surveillance balloon was over Winnemucca today at 1:30 a.m., the same day that Paiute Shoshone announced that they asked the Nevada court to dismiss charges filed by Lithium Americas against those defending the Paiute Massacre Site at Peehee Mu'huh, Thacker Pass.

The surveillance balloon over Winnemucca shows no registered owner.

The balloon was in international waters northwest of Santa Barbara, California, lingering there, as shown on flight radar, before traveling over Winnemucca today. 

Honoring Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, Grand Canyon National Monument

Grand Canyon Condors by Jim Dublinski

Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition Celebrates Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument Designation

Article by Brenda Norrell

Information contact: Carletta Tilousi, Coordinator
Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition, carlettatilousi@gmail.com
Statements courtesy Anna Peterson, Conservation Communications
Censored News, August 8, 2023

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kooBdXto04

RED BUTTE, Arizona -- The creation of the new Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, Grand Canyon National Monument, will halt new uranium mining in the area. Regardless of the United States' assertion of land ownership, this land has been the homeland of Native people since time immemorial.

Native leaders spoke of their ancestors and said this is their going home place.

Havasupai Chairman Thomas Siyuja Sr., said, "The Havasupai Nation celebrates this historic moment in time, but we also pause for a moment to honor our tribal ancestors who started this journey long ago."

'It's Time for a Just and Equitable Transition' Dine' tell Arizona Corporation Commission: Photo Essay by Tó Nizhóní Ání

'It's Time for a Just and Equitable Transition' Dine' tell Arizona Corporation Commission

Photos by Tó Nizhóní Ání

(Top photo) At the Arizona Corporation Commission in Phoenix on Monday, Lorraine Herder and Edith Simonson, Black Mesa sheepherders and weavers, carry a sign that reads, "50 YEARS OF INJUSTICE. ACC: TIME TO GIVE BACK!" Lorraine and Edith, like many elders on Black Mesa, have seen tremendous changes during their lifetime. From the disappearance of the seeps and springs in their community to the lack of precipitation today. They are here to ensure communities like theirs get the Just & Equitable Transition they need.

Black Mesa youth holding a sign that reads "FIRST COAL MINING, NOW CLIMATE CHANGE."

.

Nicole Horseherder holding up a piece of coal while talking about it's history and impacts on Black Mesa and in the Southwest.

Chili Yazzie of Shiprock, New Mexico, shares his story and experiences of climate change and industry impacts in the Four Corners region and why JET is important for coal-impacted communities. "Ahéhee' Chili for your words and support!" -- Tó Nizhóní Ání

Runners arrive on Hopiland honoring Missing and Murdered Indigenous People

Photos by Western Shoshone Photojournalist Carl Bad Bear Sampson, as runners arrived on Hopi Nation.

On Monday morning, Jan. 20, 2020 runners passed First Mesa. MMIP Sunrise Prayer Run, Flagstaff to Window Rock on the Navajo and Hopi Nations.

.

On the run in Cameron

Photos copyright Carl Sampson, Censored News

Native People urge peace and friendship with Iran, demand U.S. get out of Iraq

Michelle Cook, Dine', who visited Iran on a friendship visit, urged peace and
diplomacy. Photos courtesy Michelle Cook.

Native People urge peace and friendship with Iran, demand U.S. get out of Iraq

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

French translation by Christine Prat

http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=5452

Native Americans rallied for peace today, sending a message of friendship to the people of Iran and demanding that the U.S. get out of Iraq, as they called out Trump for both assassinations and provocations for war. Dineh, Lakota, Pueblo and Tohono O'odham led the urgent call for peace and diplomacy to halt the tragedies of war.

Hopi and Japanese -- 'Water is alive! It has intelligence!'

Hotevilla sping water

Crystals formed from water of a Hotevilla spring and Hotevilla well on the Hopi Nation. "When a complete geometric crystal is formed, water is in alignment with nature and the phenomenon we call life. The crystals do not form in water that has been polluted by the results of our failure to remember the laws of nature.” From The Hidden Messages in Water by Dr. Masuru Emoto. Photos copyright by Masaru Emoto.

Water crystal from polluted water

 

Dr. Masuru Emoto, Becky Masayesva, and Vernon Masayesva at the April 28, 2004 event featuring Dr. Emoto’s talk.

Photo: Water crystal responding to positive words. 

Hopi and Japanese gathered on Hopi land to share this truth in 2004: Water has intelligence and responds to positive and negative words.

Water is alive

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

On Hopi land in 2004, Vernon Masayesva, executive director of Black Mesa Trust, and researcher Dr. Masaru Emoto, chief of the Hado Institute in Tokyo, spoke at the Hopi Veterans Center and revealed the secrets and science of the intelligence of water.

During the Hisot Navoti (Knowledge of Ancestors) Masayesva showed amazing film footage, revealing startling transformations in water crystals when exposed to music and written words. Emoto’s photographs reveal water crystals, under high magnification, have drastically different forms from different water sources. Further, Emoto shows that water changes its expression as a result of human actions.

When water is exposed to the music of Mozart and Beethoven, crystals expand and become more beautiful. These crystals resemble diamonds, with flower buds blossoming on their points, as the music plays. Emoto explains that water carries and responds to the vibrations of music. He reveals even more amazing research, showing water responds to the written word.

When clear tubes of water are placed over positive and negative words, the structure of water crystals change. Water crystals increase in beauty when placed over the word “peace,” but are transformed to dark and ugly crystals when placed over the word “war.”

When water is placed over the word “let’s,” the crystals expand and increase in beauty. However, when water is placed over the word “must,” the crystals become ugly with a dark green center. Emoto says water is letting us realize the hidden power of words.

During the gathering for the defense of pure water, Jerry Honawa, Hopi elder, said, “Water has intelligence.”

Masayesva said, “If you are happy, you will have happy crystals; if you are angry, you will have angry crystals.” Masayesva also shared the history of the Hopi people, revealing their destiny intertwined with the earth and its mysteries.

“According to Hopi, long ago there was nothing but water from the beginning of time. This is what we call the First World of Hopi. “Life was created from water, from the land, from the sun.” When life was first created, it was beautiful, a perfect circle. On Hopiland today there are areas of perfect seashells, proof that this land was once underwater as Hopi are told. There are perfect fossils here, he said.

“Where does coal come from? It comes from plants. Everywhere you go, you see dinosaur tracks. This must have been a beautiful place at one time.”

In the First World, there was balance, harmony and peace. This balance and harmony, however, was destroyed in the Third World because of man and his greed. The ancestors began searching for a safe place to begin a new life. Bird was sent out and returned with news of this place.

“Through the bamboo, they entered the new land,” Masayesva said. “It is a metaphor, we don’t really know, but we came from somewhere where there was bamboo.” When the people arrived in this new land, they thought they had left evil behind them. But after a child died, they realized that evil had come with them. Those with the two hearts had come. “Evil is necessary to understand what good truly is,” Masayesva said.

The people knew they had to learn from the destruction of the Third World and not return to those ways. They wanted to create a new way of life. The Hopi people were not led by politicians, they were led by priests, often the poorest man in the village who denied himself everything for the benefit of his children.

In this new place they found a man who grew beautiful corn. It was Ma’sau, guardian of the land. Ma’sau said it is a harsh land, but if the people were willing to live Ma’sau’s way of life, they could stay here.

Ma’sau told the people, “If you follow this way of life, you can stay here forever.” Ma’sau showed the people corn, a gourd of water and planting stick. “He said if you decide to stay here you must help me take care of this land, then you can stay.”

Ma’sau told them that others are coming. “They will claim everything when they come, even the oceans, the air and the stars.” Ma’sau told the Hopi people to migrate to the four corners of the world, then return here to Black Mesa. The gourd to carry water was also a revelation, showing that water here is not infinite, it is limited.

Masayesva said the colors of the corn represent the colors of all mankind, yellow, purple, red and white. The sweet corn also represents the ancestors and the purple the heavens. Corn, too, gave Hopi a new way of life, and meant that the people no longer had to search for food every day, leaving them free for other things.

The planting stick represents tools or technology, which can be used for good or for destruction. There was a time when smallpox nearly eliminated the Hopi people, with only 300 Hopi surviving, Masayesva said technology can prevent and cure illness today, but it threatens to end humankind with the production of nuclear bombs. Nuclear power and travel to distant planets have resulted in dangerous “god-like powers.”

The waters–aquifers, springs, lakes, rivers, oceans and glaciers– work in harmony to sustain life. Hopi believe the aquifers breathe, breathe in rain and snow and breathe it out. The springs are the breathing holes. Humankind is a participant in water-life; mankind’s thoughts influence whether the rain and snow comes.

Of the world’s water today, Masayesva said 97 percent is seawater and 2 percent is bound in glaciers. Only1 percent is available for drinking.

However, America is a nation of waste. “We are a throwaway society. We think we are never going to run out of anything.”

Masayesva said the people must honor their trust as guardians of the water and land.

“If we don’t, we will break the circle.”

Watch as water changes shape, responding to words of love and words of hate. From Dr. Emoto:

.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=au4qx_l8KEU

In the news: The Faces of Water: Black Mesa Trust hosts Japanese researcher

FLAGSTAFF, (Ariz.), May 25, 2004—Black Mesa Trust hosted a well-attended presentation by Dr. Masaru Emoto from Japan on April 28 at Cline Library at Northern Arizona University. The evening began at 7 p.m. with a Hopi welcome song, and a prayer offered by Hopi elder Jerry Honawa.

Dr. Emoto talked about his work with water crystals over the past decade. He has discovered that water is directly affected by human words, thoughts, and actions, and that water will show those effects when it is frozen into ice. Water exposed to Classical music, words of gratitude, or prayers, will form beautiful, complete crystals. Water exposed to negative words, raucous music, or anger, either will not crystallize at all or will form incomplete or distorted crystals. Dr. Emoto illustrated his talk with slides of water crystals formed when water from different sources was frozen under various conditions.

At the end of the evening Black Mesa Trust Board member Rueben Saufkie presented Dr. Emoto with a piece of Hopi overlay jewelry, a gift from the Water Clan.

“We were honored to host Dr. Emoto,” said Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva. “His work helps to show how critical it is to preserve our water resources and to use them properly. What Dr. Emoto has discovered about water is perfectly in keeping with what our Hopi elders have told us all along.”

This evening presentation followed the April 26 Black Mesa Trust Honoring Water Reception and Benefit Auction held at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

R. Carlos Nakai played solo flute, and the Moencopi Elderly Program prepared and donated traditional Hopi foods, including patupsuki (bean and hominy stew), somiviki (sweetened blue corn meal wrapped in corn husks), piki, roasted parched corn; and hohoisi (traditional tea), as well as tamales.

Volunteer assistance was provided by Anna Masayesva, and donors of art for the auction included Winter Sun, Northland Publishing, Leonard Selestewa, Babbitt’s Backcountry, Tsakurshovi, and R. Carlos Nakai. Black Mesa Trust is a grassroots organization dedicated to preserving the N-aquifer for future generations of Hopi and Navajo children.

The Trust is planning its 3rd Annual Water Fair on Hopi for October, and in September the Trust will host a water visioning workshop for tribal and religious leaders of the Colorado Plateau tribes.

Organizations supporting Black Mesa Trust include Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Oxfam America, WaterKeeper Alliance, Environment Now, Grand Canyon Trust, Arizona Ethnobotanical Research Association, Indigenous Water Institute, Sacred Land Film Project, Earth Island Institute, Wild Angels, Seventh Generation and the law firms of Shearman and Sterling and The Shanker Law Firm.

For more information about Black Mesa Trust, visit www.blackmesatrust.org.

Article copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News

Trump meets with tribal leaders: Snakes crawl out to sell out the people, sell out the land

Photos by the White House On Wednesday, President Donald J. Trump hosted a tribal, State, and local energy roundtable at the White House. He was joined by Governors Paul LePage, Kim Reynolds, Pete Ricketts, and Bill Walker, along with State and tribal leaders from around our great country, the White House said.

Trump meets with tribal leaders: Snakes crawl out to sell out the people, sell out the land

Trump pushes for toxic legacy

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
Dutch translation by Alice Holemans at NAIS
French translation by Christine Prat, video with French subtitles at:
http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=4137

WASHINGTON -- President Trump -- using tribal sovereignty as a trump card -- says he will unlock vast treasuries of resources in Indian country -- naming "coal" specifically.
"We love Indian country, right?" Trump said during a roundtable with ten tribal leaders on Wednesday.
Trump said he is now targeting "untapped resources of wealth." This comes as he targets Indian country with more mining, the lifting of environmental protections, and more radioactive dumping, as in the case of Yucca Mountain. 
Trump said his intent is to "usher in a golden age of American energy dominance," while ignoring staggering rates of cancer and respiratory diseases in Indian country from coal-fired power plants and Cold War uranium mining.

Trump's push for exploitation of Indian country resources, comes as the United States and State governments push to steal Indian water rights.
Trump, ignoring the long legacy of death, disease and brutal relocation resulting from coal mining and coal-fired power plants on Indian lands, told Indian leaders about coal mining, "It’s been really restricted, the development itself has been restricted, and vast amounts of deposits of coal and other resources have, in a way, been taken out of your hands.  And we’re going to have that changed." 
At the conclusion of the roundtable, Trump was asked whether he believes climate change is a hoax. Trump ended the meeting without answering the question.
The following elected leaders in Indian country were at the roundtable:
Chairman Alvin "AJ" Not Afraid, Crow Tribe
Chairman Luke Duncan, Ute Tribe
Councilman Kevin Frost, Southern Ute Tribe
Gov. Bill Anoatubby, Chickasaw Nation
Speaker LoRenzo Bates, Navajo Nation Council
Chairman Herman Honanie, Hopi Tribe
Chairman Mark Fox , the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (Fort Berthold, North Dakota)
Chief Gary Batton, Choctaw Nation
Chairman Jo Anne Battise, Alabama-Coushatta Tribe
Chairman Aaron Payment, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Video below: Trump ignores question on climate change, and whether Trump believes climate change is a hoax.

The White House
June 28, 2017
Remarks by President Trump and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry at Tribal, State, and Local Energy Roundtable

Roosevelt Room
11:41 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you all for being here.  Very much appreciated.  We welcome you to the White House.  Have you all been to the White House before?  Have you been here before?
Q    Yes.
THE PRESIDENT:  That’s good.  Well you guys have been -- most people say no.  I’m very impressed with that count.
I’m thrilled to be joined by Governor Paul LePage, Kim Reynolds, Pete Ricketts and Bill Walker, along with state and tribal leaders from around our great country.  I’d also like to thank Secretary Perry and EPA Administrator Pruitt -- both here also -- for their work to help the United States achieve true energy dominance.  And that’s what’s happening.  We’ve made so much progress with respect to energy just in the last four months.  It’s been an incredible journey, I will tell you.  We’ve learned a lot and we’ve made a lot -- we’re here to talk about how we can create new prosperity for our citizens by unlocking vast treasures of energy reserves, which we have a great deal -- far more than anyone understood.  
I’m proud to have such a large gathering of tribal leaders here at the White House.  I look forward to more government-to-government consultations with tribal leaders about the issues important to Indian Country.  We love Indian Country, right?
Many of your lands have rich, natural resources that stand to benefit your people immensely.  These untapped resources of wealth can help you build new schools, fix roads, improve your communities, and create jobs -- jobs like you’ve never seen before.  All you want is the freedom to use them, and that’s been the problem.  It’s been very difficult, hasn’t it?  It will be a lot easier now under the Trump administration.
For too long the federal government has put up restrictions and regulations that put this energy wealth out of reach.  It’s just totally out of reach.  It’s been really restricted, the development itself has been restricted, and vast amounts of deposits of coal and other resources have, in a way, been taken out of your hands.  And we’re going to have that changed.  We’re going to put it back in your hands.
These infringements on tribal sovereignty are deeply unfair to Native Americans and Native American communities who are being denied access to the energy and wealth that they have on their own lands.  Many of our states have also been denied access to the abundant energy resources on their lands that could bring greater wealth to the people and benefit to our whole nation.  We’re becoming more and more energy dominant.  I don’t want to be energy free, we want to be energy dominant in terms of the world.
From my first day in office, we’ve taken swift action to lift the crushing restrictions on American energy.  Scott Pruitt has done an amazing job, an incredible job, in a very short period of time, and most people love him.  There are a couple that don’t but that’s okay, right?  (Laughter.)  We’re also putting our people back to work by doing this.  
Today’s conversation is a chance for these state, local, and tribal leaders to discuss how we can cooperate and support them even more in unleashing these domestic energy reserves.  They’re tremendous reserves that we never appreciated, we never understood, but now we understand them very well.
I’m confident that working together we can usher in a golden age of American energy dominance, and the extraordinary financial and security benefits that it brings to us.  So this means not only the Native Americans but all over the country.  And we're seeing it more and more and it's happening more and more.
I just also want to tell you that, yesterday, we had a tremendous meeting with the Republican senators -- met on healthcare.  And the meeting went really well.  We're talking about a great, great form of healthcare.  Obamacare is dying.  It's essentially dead.  If you don't give it the subsidy, it would die within 24 hours.  It's been a headache for everybody.  It's been a nightmare for many.  
And we are looking at a healthcare that would be a fantastic tribute to our country; a healthcare that will take care of people, finally, for the right reasons, and also at the right cost.  It would be a tremendous reduction in costs from what Obamacare is.  Yesterday, in Alaska, a great state, they had a -- it was announced a 216 percent increase.
So we have a plan that, if we get it approved -- it's very tough.  Every state is different, every senator is different.  But I have to tell you, the Republican senators had a really impressive meeting yesterday at the White House.  We had close to 50 of them.  We have 52; we need almost all of them.  That's never easy.  But we had, essentially, 50 show up for the meeting, and the other two are on our side.  I think we're going to get at least very close, and I think we're going to get it over the line.  There was a great, great feeling in that room yesterday.
And what also came out is the fact that this healthcare would be so good, would be far better than Obamacare, and would be much less expensive for the people, and actually much less expensive, also, for the country.  So those are a lot of good factors.
So we'll see what happens.  We're working very hard.  We've given ourselves a little bit more time to make it perfect.  That's what we want to do.  I think this has a chance to be a great healthcare at a reasonable cost.  People can save a lot of money.  We get rid of the mandates, we get rid of so much -- got rid of a lot of the taxes.  All of the bad parts of Obamacare are gone.  Essentially, it's a repeal-and-replace.  And I look forward to working with the Republican senators over a short period of time.  I know Rick is very excited about the healthcare that we're talking about.
SECRETARY PERRY:  Actually, having these governors sitting around the table is a great example of it.  And one of the things that -- I know Kim and Paul, they'd like to be able to put healthcare into place that they helped write and their citizens help write because I know these -- I don't know Bill that well, but my bet is he's the same.  You give him the authority to take care of their citizens, they can have more people covered and do it at less cost.  I am quite confident --
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we're sending a lot of it back to the states where it belongs.  And this will be something really special if we can get it done.  Always tough.  It's probably the toughest subject from the standpoint of approval because every state is different.  Every state has different needs.  We have a tremendous opioid problem, and some states are more affected by that than others.  But overall, I have to tell you, this will be a tremendous plan.  It will really -- you're going to have a lot of very, very happy people in this country if we can get it done.  
So we're working very hard on healthcare, and I think we're going to have a great answer.  And hopefully, we're going to have it soon.  And we will keep you informed.  Thank you all very much.  Thank you.
Q    Mr. President, can you talk about the Medicaid cuts in the healthcare bill?
THE PRESIDENT:  It's going to great.  This will be great for everybody.
END
11:49 A.M. EDT