supports wounded veterans. he did his home works. whether you like the references or not. if you don't get them, google them. opening day starts in six, seven hours. cubs are first up in case you were curious about tuning in. >> i'm sure they are. >> thanks for joining us, everybody. i'm dave briggs. >> i'm michelle kosinski is. "new day" starts right now. trump fires his v.a. secretary in another white house shake issup. >> he is managing his cab let like a reality tv show. >> i think that the president should have whoepts. >> dr. jackson is qualified to run the v.a. >> these appointments reflect the president's priority on loyalty regardless of your

qualifications. >> i don't want to talk about pardoning michael flynn yet. we'll see what happens. >> they had asked about conversations at the white house about pardons. >> the president has the authority to pardon individuals but it hasn't been discussed. >> the question hinges on whether dangling includes obstruction. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is your "new day". it's thursday, march 29th, 6:00 in new york. here's our starting line. president trump firing his embattled v.a. secretary and tapping his white house doctor to replace him. the president insists dr. jackson is highly trained and qualified. but he has no real management experience. if confirmed, jackson will run the federal government's second

largest department with hundreds of thousands of employees. well over 300,000. and it is plagued by in efficiencies. "new york times" reports that former lawyer john dowd may have floated the idea of pardoning michael flynn and paul manafort as special counsel was building cases against both men. was dowd trying to influence flynn and manafort to keep them from cooperating with with the investigation? >> so robert mueller's probe has drawn a direct link between a trump campaign official and russian intelligence officials. a new court filing says former deputy campaign manager rick gates made frequent calls to a person the fbi believed had active links to russian spy services. so we'll get into that. in the world of entertainment, roseanne barr is back after two decades. her sitcom's reboot drawing

millions of viewers. it caught the attention of president trump. we'll tell you about the call he made to the show is's star. let's begin your coverage with abby phillip live at the white house with with our top story. abby. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. it seems like every week that goes by, there is another firing here at this white house, this time it's the former v.a. secretary david shulkin who is now out and replaced with the president's personal white house physician whose qualifications are not in question but certainly his qualifications to run one of the federal government's biggest and most trouble some bureaucracies are now in question. president trump firing embattled veterans affairs secretary david shulkin, the latest in a series of high-profile departures in the last month. sources tell cnn that chief of staff john kelly notifying shulkin of his termination in a phone call before the president made it public on twitter. his departure was expected after damaging revelations that he and

his wife used taxpayer dollars for a european trip, in which four officials told him not to take. in a surprise move, president trump tapping his white house physician navy admiral jackson as nominee to head the v.a. white house officials saw it he was pleased with how he handled questions. >> there is no indication whatsoever that he has cognitive issues. i told him if he got healthy, he might live to be 200 years old. he has incredible genes. >> reporter: he has been floating jackson's name but wasn't taken seriously. this as they face new questions about whether president trump offered to pardon two top

advisers at the center of the russia probe in exchange for their silence. the "new york times" reports that the president's former lead lawyer john dowd discussed the idea of mr. trump pardoning flynn and paul manafort with their lawyers last year if they were to be criminally charge in the special counsel's investigation. the "washington post" reports that these conversations took place last summer before manafort was charged with financial crimes and before flynn call the a deal with mueller in exchange for pleading guilty for lying to the fbi. the white house dodging questions, reading a statement from the white house lawyer ty cobb. >> no discussions are under consideration at the white house. >> reporter: even after reports is surfaced back in july mr. trump was considering granting pardz to those under investigation. >> the president has even inquired about the ability to pardon himself. >> reporter: as recently

azodies, the president leaving open the possibility of pardoning flynn. >> i don't want to talk about pardons for michael flynn yet. we'll see what happens. >> reporter: after six days of having no public events here at the white house, we will actually see president trump today when he travels to tout his infrastructure plan out in ohio. i guess it is infrastructure day here again, alisyn and chris. >> abby, thank you very much. let's bring in cnn political analysts david avalon and karoun demirjian. dr. ronnie jackson. reportedly the president floated this with some of his advisers. they thought he was joking or didn't think this would actually happen. but in fact, he trusts his personal white house doctor because this doctor travels with him regularly. he knows him forwardly intimately. and he has decided to give him

this huge responsibility of the second biggest agency in the government. >> this is an agency with $186 billion budget, over $300,000 employees. i'm sure he certainly did well defending the president on on air at length after the physical. some of the particulars may come up in confirmation hearing, as chris was saying earlier. it is not a criteria for running this kind of brureaucracybureau. this is a president who also wanted to nominate his personal pilot to run the faa. this is who do i know, who is nearest, how about you. >> even the way we were describing it. he knows him. he likes him. he travels him. since when does that equate run with run 377,000 people, hundreds of billions of dollars will float through that thing. and we know it has been failing at its mission for generations.

it is so sensitive and fundamental. are those the qualifications? i know the guy. he liked him. he told people i weigh 233 pounds. and he wears a uniform. is this enough? >> it is important criteria. he feels like he can get along with him and feels like the guy is praising him not just with puff. this is a doctor who sevened three presidents. he is a nonpartisan. there is a little bit of words of legitimacy. >> as a doctor. serving as a doctor. >> exactly. you could make the argument that some of the biggest problems have to do with health care. so maybe he would be sympathetic. sure. he's going to get grilled in confirmation hearings. i would not assume this is going to take him.

unless we find something of his positions or experience that really lets us know he is going to actually potentially be a detriment to this department, republicans in congress and the senate are inclined to give him the pass. >> that is like a false standard now. basically they go along with anything. you have to scrutiny the choice inspect of that. if we just go on what they'll vote for, really anything goes. >> one of the big issues at the department is what are they going to do in terms of the number of veterans able to see private doctors. that is a big question. we don't know where he stands on that. the fact that he is awe doctor. he has been in uniform a long time. could give an interesting perspective. it will be interesting to see where he stands on issues that will dictate how efficiently the department runs, where the funding will be coming from and what will we do going forward with this agency that has serious is problems the last few years. >> here's how the current v.a., the one who was just fired,

describes the problems in a income times op ed. unfortunately the department has become entangled in a brutal power struggle, with some political appointees. these individuals who seek to privatize veteran health karas an alternative to government-run v.a. care, unfortunately failed to engage in relationic plans regarding who will care for the more than 9 million veterans who rely on the department for life-sustaining care. he is sounding the alarm on the way out. >> and trying to say this is largely about a policy debate. to some extent it may be. also will somebody who wasn't about white house in-fighting, which the president rewards. >> and we got somethibusted for european vacation. >> governing by gut has a bad track record when it comes to major decisions.

this is another example from the president. who is nearby, who do i like, you like you. >> who has complimented me. who likes me a lot. let's just remind people of what dr. jackson said when he was telling the press about president trump's glowing health record. >> there's no indication whatsoever that he has any cognitive issues. the president, you know, he's very sharp. he's very articulate. the president's health is excellent. it's genetics. >> oh, genetics. >> there you go. >> yeah. look, as perhaps he too is a little bit astounded by the lifestyle the president keeps. >> 233 pounds? >> i think it was 239. >> but for the cheese burgers in bed. >> i weigh 225 with the same height just for a sense of scale. >> what are we supposed to do

with that. >> let me help you. that is a surprisingly low number that he weighs maybe 15 pounds more than i do. >> muscle mass -- >> are you guys doctors or did you sleep at a holiday inn express last night? there is plenty of goo on me too. it's more dad bod than anything else. he's an admiral. with admiral rank that is a designation being an admiral with a level of experience and expertise they say transfers into capability of this type of management experience. do you buy that? >> it's probably not sufficient for running an almost $200 billion budget. he has no doubt a charming guy with an impressive personal record. but this is a different skill set is. it speaks to the president's judgment. he wanted to nominate his personal pilot to run the faa.

next thing he will have his chauffeur run the transportation department. mr. president, are you listening? >> it was supposed to be the best of the best. shul kip was not a doctor. at least this guy is a doctor. i don't know how that has anything to do with the management of an organization. many of the people who manage hospitals aren't doctors. that's what shulkin did. he managed hospitals. >> if you want somebody sympathetic to some of the problems. >> right now there is a question of where emotionally do you stand on all of this. if you bring in a businessman with no ties to the military maybe you get somebody who is like privatization is a good idea. clearly shulkin said it was a bad idea and would be a

boondoggle. maybe if you had someone with more confidence in the system to provide this sort of health care that is shulkin is saying is the better approach to management, you might have a better option. about you we don't know. that's the point. we don't have any sort of resume on jackson's part as to how he runs massive organizations because he hasn't done it before. >> look at the sheer tonnage of turnover. in march alone, national security adviser, national economic adviser, transportation secretary, communications director, go on and on. this is not a well-oiled machine. >> look, the v.a. should be of specific sensitivity. we have paul rycoff coming on. they have real concerns. we'll get his take on what they think about this and what has to happen going forward. >> thank you very much. so a new report says the former top lawyer for president trump discussed pardons for paul

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special counsel bob mueller was building cases against both men. let's discuss. we have john avlon and cnn legal analyst michael zeldin who worked with mueller. counselor, let's start with you. you start with the so what. when does it not become okay? >> when it is not okay when he suggests a pardon would be a quid pro quo for them not testifying against the president in any way, shape, or form. if he is just talking to them generally speaking without the implication that it is intended impact their testimony or their willingness to cooperate with mueller, it is a little bit more benign. but if this impacts the president, we can make a deal, that's corrupt. >> the white house is pushing back on this, as you know. the president has said we're not considering a pardon.

his lawyers, current lawyers who haven't been fired saying we're not considering a pardon. >> the president has said, not talking approximating that yet. there's a lot of weight on that yet. was this designed to create incentive to not cooperating with mueller. manafort is fighting tooth and nail. it is constitutional. there is very little ability to check that. the question is can that be used to dissuade witnesses. this is another chapter in the increasing thick et of complications facing the entire administration and the fact that his legal team is in freefall. >> correct me if i'm wrong, but it would lead the same category of analysis which is can the president do this? yes. but does his intent in doing this matter? how you get into a sticky wicket. you would have to show not that

he was just talking about pardons but there was a quid pro quo, an offer dangled. >> john dowd has tweeted inappropriately and said publicly that the president cannot be charged with obstruction for doing something he has a constitutional right to do, something hotly debated among constitutional scholars. we had dershowitz on air saying exactly the same thing. but whether he can be charged for pardoning someone he can be charged with abuse of office, an impeachable offense. irrespective of whether he can be indicted, whether he can obstruct justice, if he does something with a corrupt intent with the intention of interfering with mueller's investigation or shaping witness

testimony, that is abuse of office that exactly the shy crime and misdemeanor that alexander hamilton had in mind when writing the federalist papers. >>. >> let's talk about this now. there is now, according to special counsel's office, a direct link between the trump campaign and russian intel officials. so people have been waiting for dots to be connected. here are some being connected. this is a court filing from special counsel's office in the sentencing of alex van der swan, a dutch lauren tangled in all of this. here is the court filing. the lies and withholding of documents were feeler to the special counsel's office's investigation. that gates and person a were directly communicating to september and october 2016 was tert tphepbt to the investigation. federal bureau of investigation special assisting the special counsel's office assess that person a, the russian, has ties

to russian intelligence service, and had ties in 2016. during the first interview, van der swan stated that gates told him person a was a former russian intelligence officer. john? >> that would be a direct connection. we have a lot of smoke in the connections between the russians and the campaign, efforts to influence certainly. we found out, for example, 2.0. this is somebody who worked with gates allegedly, and manafort. if the lawyer knew and if they knew, that becomes material. it is not just positive collusion but certainly an attempt to influence. if they were communicating, if it was influencing decisions, rhetoric, it is significant. cnn first reported this filing and the fact that it is in a filing is significant.

>> zeldin, you're still a couple of steps short. i don't know why they call him person a. it is just hard to announce. the name is out there. it begins with a k. it's just hard to pronounce. why were they talking to him? what was it about. as you know, michael, there are lots of people in that part of the world and around that government and sphere of influence who could get lumped into being an operative for the russian intelligence government. what do you need to know to believe this to be more than just an odd relationship? >> you would have to know what the content of the communication was. was it an effort to work with the campaign to influence the the outcome of the on election. these conversations occur at the same time or shortly after paul monfort is meeting with the same person who ran his kiev office

about the dnc hacks. so you have the conversation about the dnc hacks in july, august, and these conversations in september, october. and then clear connections between this fellow and the russian intelligence services which are closely tied to putin. so there is a line that is being drawn. what is so interesting to me is why this was put in almost gratuitously in the van der zwaan memorandum. so there is a message that is being sent here by including this in this obscure filing around swrapb tker zwaan. it must be something which says to manafort, look, manafort, we have more information than you could possibly know that would lead to your conviction. gates will be testifying now about a russian connection

between you and intelligence officers. it's time to come home and cooperate and work with us. >> john? >> just remember this reality check. presidential campaigns don't usually have multiple contacts with foreign powers, let alone foreign intelligence agencies. that's what we are starting to see. >> coming up in the next hour, we will talk with former trump campaign manager core kwr hray lewandowsky and heather nauert. >> history unfolding on the korean peninsula. the leaders set to meet face-to-face. breaking details, the stakes, next.

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north korea an dictator and south korea's president will hold a summit next month. these two nations only held talks twice since the korean war in the '50s. the agenda will include denuclearization and improving interkorean yann relations. night vision video of a nighttime raid to kill isis fighters in afghanistan. the pentagon says the operation resulted in the death of an isis core son command or. they are focusing on the ability to recruit foreign fighters. a funeral will be held today for stephon clark, unarmed 22-year-old gunned down in his grandmother's backyard. they are preparing for more protests after a week of demonstrations. sacramento kings have a security

plan in place. ahead on "new day" we will speak with the lawyer for clark's family, benjamin crump. and the head of one of the groups tells us why they have concerns next. ♪ ♪

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plus get up to an $800 cash bonus when you open and fund a new account. ♪ all right. it looks like we will have a new v.a. secretary. there will have to be confirmation. let's talk about some of the qualifications of president trump's picks. his nominee is white house physician dr. ronnie jackson. he's an admiral. as far as we know, he has no management experience. paul rieckhoff is the founder and ceo of the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. iava.

he said firing a v.a. secretary is easy compared to finding someone who can effectively do the job. as always, good to see you, brother. thank you for your service. happy easter. >> back at you. >> the v.a. has had some improvements. shulkin pointed out in his good-bye letter they went from 45 is satisfaction to 70 satisfaction. there has been huge turnover at the top. what is your concern now? >> well, here we go again. since i got home from iraq in 2004, this is the third v.a. secretary to be fired in scandal. we had jim nicholson under bush. here we go again. it is a lot of tumult, upheaval. the v.a. is a monster for any leader to try to manage effectively. when the changeover happens, it is disruptive to the front line veterans who depend on it for care. the trend in the last decade and

a half is something that can't be overlooked. >> he is an admiral, ronnie jackson. he has worked for different president administrations. they are listing those as qualifications. he's an admiral so don't worry about experience. he has worked for republicans and democrats so don't worry. >> let's take a step back. general shinseki was chief of staff of the army. it took him a couple years to get the handle on how to run the v.a. just because you're a soldier doesn't mean you're qualified to be secretary of defense. nobody really knows who he is. is he an empty vessel. at the have strong views on reform the v.a. the senate, house, time for you to step up and grill this guy and figure out if he is able to care for our agency.

we are a country at war. folks come back every single day. they don't even know if he is up for the task. >> when you are hearing the vetting, will you come out against? >> they were very vocal about shulkin. the veterans groups are holding the line on privatization. >> let's talk about that. shulkin says in his good-bye letter. he says false allegations, whatever. he's gone. it doesn't matter anymore. >> yeah. >> but he says this is about privatization. there are those in this administration who believe that is the key. reduce or replace the v.a. by putting -- letting veterans get out in the private. the private sector does everything better for government. it will be better for our veterans. >> this is the bigger political fight that goes back years. shulkin's legacy may not be his team at the agency but what does he do now? veterans lines have held the line on privatization saying

they don't want it. most americans are open to it. the economics don't work and the effectiveness doesn't work. here in new york state, most private hospitals aren't ready for veterans coming in. >> not ready in terms of capacity? >> yeah. this has been a political pipe dream for some. but there is another sign. some of it is profit driven. $250 billion at the v.a. that is a massive amount of money that a lot of on kpgz, organizations, interests want a piece of. they want to see if they can do it better. some want to line their pockets. veterans have to be the key here. they should be "the voice" that drives the conversation. not even the president. >> now, maybe as a plus side if you have someone that the president likes, right, and by all accounts he does, it may be easier to get his ear. we saw what happened with the

omnibus. everybody was going for their pork. the last big deal before the midterms. we get it. you guys had a deal they were banging out about really needing reforms for the v.a. it didn't make the cut in the omnibus bill. maybe if you have someone who thinks is his guy, maybe you don't get cut out. >> that shouldn't be a driver. that is a problem for the president, not the secretary. the president watches cnn. he has to get on cnn and appeal to the president, that's what they should do here. this is not easy. this will be a very complicated thing. can't wave a magic wand and fix v.a. they say they are going on to clean up the v.a. the same they did as washington. this is the biggest challenge facing the president. can you really make this one work? this is below the radar. it means life and death for men and women who serve. often it's a breaking point. >> do veterans believe that the v.a. b the best model of

how to care for injured veterans. >> for some. it is not one size fits all. it is inconsistent. quality of care is rated high. folks who do get into care generally say it's good. but getting into care is too much of a problem. remote or rural areas. women don't get the care. this has to be dragged forward into modern times. changing v.a. secretaries over a couple years, doesn't make it easier. >> what do you want american people to know right now about the point of struggle for veterans? >> don't forget about this. something in washington will happen and this go to the way side. this is about our politics. this is about whether special interests will cut out veterans voices, grassroots voices, veterans services organizations.

can we rise up and keep them accountable. >> thank you, my friend. happy easter. >> you too. >> "hope springs" eternal on opening day. whatever that means. are you ready for or some baseball? the "bleacher report" is next.

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>> opening day for major league baseball is here. will the yankees win their 28th world series title this season? andy scholes with the "bleacher report". they are always a contender. always a contender. >> we'll see. houston astros might have something to say about that. >> pish, pish. >> they have a good chaps to have a good season.

"bleacher report" brought to you by ford, going further so you can. a pair with rookie of the year aaron judge. most publications, including "bleacher report", are predicting the yankees to win the world series this year. but that is probably more material for the houston astros after winning more than 100 games last season and the world series. they are poised to be even better this year. hey, if you want to skip out on work or school early today to watch some baseball, mlb has you covered. they posted this excuse note to instagram. alisyn, you don't need an excuse. you'll be off in time to watch the games all afternoon. >> goody. that's great news, andy. thank you so much for that. all right. so the ratings for the roseanne reboot were huge. and president trump apparently took notice. he called roseanne barr a real

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president trump nominating the white house doctor, his personal doctor now, ronnie jackson, to be the new veterans affairs secretary is. david shulkin, the latest to be shown the doctor as president trump has now shed half of his senior staff since taking office. joining us now on the phone is cnn political analyst and "new york times" weiss correspondent maggie haberman. good morning, maggie. >> good morning. tell us your reporting about how it came to pass that dr. jackson is now the president's pick to pick the v.a. >> trump likes dr. jackson personally quite a bit. what you are seeing once again is that he really prefers personal chemistry rather than

their curriculum vitae. a lot of people are concerned in the white house how he will do in confirmation hearings. but the president really likes company, likes talking to him. by monday afternoon the president was speaking about this to a small number of people in the white house. again, it should not be decried i guess the president for his second year on people he personally feels comfortable with is an example. >> do we know anything about whether or not dr. jackson has ever managed anything? >> my understanding is no. i suppose i could be be corrected.

this is a very troubled one he will be taking over and a major question is whether he can do that. >> let's talk about hope hicks's departure. today is her last day. she was by the president's side even before he was president. she is a trusted friend, confidante and aide. why the holdup in naming who would be the next director of communications? >> i think a couple of reasons. john kelly is not sure what he wants to do. i think there are other people weighing in such as jared kushner and ivanka trump. she is essentially a right hand to this president. she is somebody who he bounces things off of.

there's not a huge rush. but in the meantime, there is this aggressive campaign by a couple of people to try to get it themselves. >> who do you have? handicap it for us? who is in the running? who is in the lead? >> look, i think the person who the president wants to have take it is kellyanne conway. not clear that she wants to do that. he wants her in that role for quite some time. there are people who think she would help calm down the temperature about the number of people who work in the communications department. the other two main contenders are the treasury very well

liked. neither of the people have a relationship with the president. >> okay. let's talk about roseanne barr. there was the roseanne reboot last night. it has come back after so many years. it got huge ratings. so let's watch a little clip of it. >> how could you have voted for him, roseanne? >> he talked about jobs, jackie. he said he would shake things up. this might come as a complete shock to you, but we almost lost our house the way things are going. >> have you looked at the news? because now things are worse. >> not on the real news. >> oh, please. >> well, they are just touching all the hot button issues. roseanne plays a trump supporter in the show and she's in real life a trump supporter. and you have some reporting about what president trump feels about this and what he did. >> sure.

he is quite television obsessed and his supporters who are portraying him in a good light and defending him, which happened on the revival of the roseanne show. at some point he called her and congratulated her on how good the ratings were. thanked her for doing the show. you heard that clip that you played supposed to be embodying a lot of the real life issues. he took time-out to thank her for it. >> it is an interesting trend with roseanne too. we are seeing the older shows come back. you know what would be perfect for now? all in the family. >> oh, yeah. >> all in the family. >> great idea. >> because we have gotten away from these types of families in entertainment. we see all of these shoes that are about the new families and the modern era. they folded that into roseanne. they have a diversity of characters in it. but they are getting back to that thing. you say he is ratings obsessed.

what have you heard about the $22 million number for "60 minutes" watching stormy daniels, that interview. how has that resonated around the white house? >> i mean, look, he is not talking about that or even mentioning it. he has talked about her credibility. saying this is not real. she's not his type. and sort of the usual playbook. at the white house, they are trying really hard not to talk about this. he is not obsessing about it the way they have obsessed about many things. people can read into that as they will. it is not going away. the longer it keeps up the likelier that he hits back. >> whoever thought stormy daniels would get more people than donald trump did in his first big interview after he won for the president of the united states. i think he had $19 million.

stormy daniels beat him. >> news flash. people like salacious stories. >> true. i just didn't know that much. >> maggie, thank you very much for sharing your reporting with us. >> thanks, guys. thanks to our international viewers for watching. for you cnn talk is next. for u.s. viewers, "new day" continues right now. we'll never have to use those words. >> every nine days there is a major firing or resignation. and march has been particularly bloody. >> secretary shulkin, it seems as though there is a real policy battle going underneath the is service. >> he is not hiring qualified people. he is hiring people who look the part. >> if there was a quid pro quo, it could get him into trouble. >> it is in conceivable to me that sophisticated lawyers would have that problem. >> take out your cell phone. does this look luke a gun. >> the city of