us to discuss their role in the health care system. and then, new republic staff writer matt ford, who makes the case were dismantling the -- department. ♪ good morning, it is saturday, march 17, 2018, and just hours ago deputy fbi director andrew mccabe, who has been the frequent target of president donald trump sire, -- trump's ire, was fired by general jeff sessions days before his retirement was to go into effect. the firing came at the end of the week in which secretary of state rex tillerson also lost his job. meanwhile, speculations swirl around the base of other white house and administration officials, including national security adviser h.r. mcmaster, chief of staff john kelly, and cabinet members david shulkin, ben carson, betsy devos, and

ryan zinke he. today,asking our viewers are you concerned about shakeups at the white house and at the fbi? democrats can call. -- democrats can call (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also reach us on social media. , and oner at @cspanwj facebook at facebook.com/cspan. you -- jeff sessions fired andrew mccabe last night, a little after 24 hours -- a little before 24 hours that andrew mccabe was set to retire. sessions announced the decision in a statement just before 10:00 p.m., noting that both the justice department inspector

general and the fbi office that handles discipline has found that mr. mccabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the ,ews media and lacked candor including under oath on multiple occasions. it goes on to say that the move will likely cost mccabe a significant portion of his retirement benefits, though it is possible that he could bring a legal challenge. that is one of several actual and potential shakeups within the trump administration this week. we are getting your thoughts on that. robin is on the line, calling from cleveland, tennessee on a democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. a sickly, if you notice all of these -- basically, if you notice all of these things have one common denominator, and that is russia. i'm wondering how much -- hello? host: go ahead, robin. caller: i am wondering how much more is the american people

going to stand by and watch? it is obvious that he is compromised, and we are not being served by our congressmen. when are they ever going to step up and say hey, this man is obviously compromised? we lived by nuclear plants. no one is outraged by the fact that russia packed the nuclear pants -- hacked the nuclear plants. it is about to get really scary, because when is the congress going to step up and put a check on this president, because he is wailing in the wind? would you exactly like congress to do? these cabinet positions, these are folks that servant the pleasure of the president. he has the ability to remove any of them at any time. caller: well yes, he does. but he is basically getting rid of anybody with any common sense that knows knowledge about what is going on. he does not want the general's anymore. .he generals know too much

i can see your lips moving, i cannot hear you. it is too much. basically, the congress do need to a check on him. there are committees, the ways and means committee, different committees that can check him a little bit better than what they are doing. host: and a little bit more from the andrew mccabe story, a statement from andrew mccabe issued last night. it says here is the reality. i am being singled out and treated this way because of the actions iyed, the took, and the actions i witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of james comey. this was accelerated only after my testimony to the house intelligence committee can -- revealed i would corroborate director comey's account. the focus on me in this report became part of an unprecedented effort by the administration, driven by the president himself, to remove me from my position,

destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that i worked 21 years to earn. this attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort, not just a slander me personally but contained to the fbi, law enforcement, intelligence professionals more generally. it is part of an administration ongoing war on the fbi and the efforts of the special counsel investigation, which continue to this day. their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the special counsel's work. that is a statement by andrew mccabe as we get your reaction about the shakeups within the administration. mavis from fort lauderdale on our independent line. what you think? -- what do you think? caller: good morning. i think it is totally amazing that mr. trump -- this man has come into office, and if we are not careful, we are going to lose our country.

this man is doing the craziest sessions, and for mr. who is a little weasel, to talk about lying -- he has been in front of the congress and testified and lied about five or six times when he was giving his testimony. these republicans, they are just standing by mr. trump and he is just doing whatever he wants. always law fbi was and order, law and order, and only now that the fbi is turning to these five people, they are out to get everybody, they don't deserve this -- this is ruining peoples careers. -- people's careers. look at how many people have been fired under mr. trump. i am scared for our country. host: a little bit more from the new york times on the firing of andrew mccabe. it says in a statement released late friday, mr. sessions, the attorney general jeff sessions, said that mr. mccabe had showed

a lack of candor under oath on multiple occasions. the fbi expects every employee to it here to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability. i have terminated the implement of andrew mccabe, effective immediately. -- the employment of andrew mccabe, effective immediately. mccabe said the idea that i would -- this is an effort to discredit me as a witness. lucy on our republican line, calling from maryland. what do you think about the shakeups in this and ministries and, lucy? -- in this administration, lucy? caller: i think it is an indicator with this administration that it is very is a system and indicates that there are problems, significant problems, with the trump administration's system of government. symbol islican, our an elephant. i think it is ironic that trump's sons go and trophy hunt

elephants to satisfy their own thisy, and elephants -- environment, wild animals, human rights, it is always a last thought, an afterthought, or no thought. i am a really concerned republican right now. i think both sides, democrats, republicans should be working together instead of fighting, picking, being petty, and i think both sides, both republicans and democrats, need a diversity, ethnically diverse genderly diverse in order to make this system work and sustainable. thank you very much. host: debbie is on our democratic line, calling from flint, michigan. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i was very angry this morning that he fired mccabe like you did. -- like he did.

i think he has lost anyone's vote that works towards a pension. i retired from county government, and if my boss pulled something like this two days before i was done -- you have to wonder about the term lacking candor. if you live, they would have said he lied. ld if he lied, they wou have said he lied. lacking candor is more of an artful term. and to be lectured by jeff sessions, who has kerry president trump's water about honesty and integrity -- that is just funny. and for callers, all women, all saying this is ridiculous. people need to get off their fannies and take care of this. this is wrong. , andw a lot of businessmen nobody would fire somebody over twitter like you did with rex -- like he did with rex tillerson. and it was an attorney general report that a couple of weeks ago, the v.a. had to return

$122,000 for his wife strip all overseas -- wife's trip all overseas. half the time there they were sites using -- sightseeing. they are not draining the swamp, they are planting gardens there. host: i wanted to read a little bit more on the new york times about the justification for andrew mccabe's dismissal, the lack of candor that you mentioned. it says the inspector general, the impending inspector general for hisault mr. mccabe lack of candor in interviews with internal investigators. the report has not been released, but people briefed on and say the allegations revolve around disclosures to the wall street journal, which reported in october 2016 a dispute between the fbi and justice department over how to proceed in an investigation into the clinton family foundation. calling in from shreveport, louisiana, independent line.

are you concerned about the shakeups within the trump administration? caller: no, i'm not. hi, kimberly. what i would like to say, since you gave everybody a lot of time, the media has been faked the whole time. comey, christopher steele, the judge and the fisa. do you want me to keep on going? host: what is the point you are making, lisa? caller: we have a bunch of crooked cops up there, ok, and we are going to take our government back. thanks. host: let's take a look thursday at what white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders said, about president trump feeling that america's veterans are being well served by v.a. secretary david chilton. [video clip] -- david shulkin. [video clip] [inaudible]

>> does he currently believe that america's veterans are well served? >> the president has a large number of individuals that are working hard to make sure that the v.a. is helping veterans at the best level possible. we are continuing to review if there is anything we can do to improve on that system. as we make changes, we will let you know. have any personnel announcements, but every day we are looking for how to better assist them, whether it is through polity changes -- policy changes or personal changes, not just at the top level but across the board. we have made a number of changes within the personnel and are looking at how we can best or our nation better. angeles --he lost the los angeles times has a little more on the current situation surrounding secretary shulkin. it says that david chilton is struggling to hold onto his job as secretary of the department of veterans affairs, as he has

grappled with allegations of ethical missteps and mismanagement, as well as inside andivals outside the trump administration. white house officials they that president trump has made no decisions to replace shulkin, a holdover from the obama administration, but his tenure atop the second-largest federal department appears increasingly in doubt as trump moves to shake up his cabinet. our republican line from lancaster, ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. do you know what it is like here? it is sleet and rain. we have sleet and rain right now. i hope it goes away so i can go out later. i never quite know what i'm going to say when i go on the air, but i pray before i do. can you tell me, i know americans do not know most of the other languages, but how many russians that are in the top five part of the country --

top high part of the country, russia and china, how many of them know american, our language, and doing all these little things to the chinese and russian -- these horrible things to the chinese and russians, who translated what? answer do not know the to that questions, but do you have thoughts about some of the changes taking place inside the trump administration? caller: i think donald trump is wonderful and he is trying to do right by the country. look at what he wears, he always wears the flag pin on his shirt. you have to place principle before personalities. i do not know much about donald trump, but from what i see, he is cleaning it up. if he does not clean up our government, russia and china have us, that is it. i do not worry about it because i can see him. host: and more about the future

of the v.a. secretary david shulkin, we are joined on the phone by leo shane, a capitol chief of the military times. thank you for joining us today. guest: no problem. host: to our problems exactly why secretary shulkin is under fire. -- a prettys been damning ig report came out 30 there werend some questions about how he had handled an overseas trip, whether his wife should have accompanied him, whether he should have accepted free tickets to the wimbledon tennis match. that seems to have snowballed into making public all sorts of internal policy and personality , and what we have seen from the secretary is some accusations that there are folks within his own ba and within the white house who are trying to force him out. that has led to a series of meetings with chief of staff daley, with -- chief of staff kelly, with veterans groups, and

now we are seeing rumors of possible replacements for the secretary. the white house has officially said he is still secretary for now, and they will let us know when the official policy changes. they are still pleased, but clearly this is hanging over the ofartment in a lot uncertainty as to how long he might last, and exactly what kind of trouble he is in with the president right now. host: leo, you mentioned meetings with other veterans groups. what are these organizations saying about shulkin? does he have their support? guest: most of the major veterans groups still do support him. they say look, this travel report is an unfortunate mark. he needs to learn from that. some of the drama at the department has been unfortunate and a distraction, but they look last year and say that was a wildly successful year for the department of veterans affairs, a lot of

pieces of legislation passed through. they like the progress he has made and say he is a reformer who is fixing the health care --tem and fixing a taliban accountability. we have seen a lot of op-ed from veterans groups in the past few comments saying look, it would be best to keep him in place. and i think they are afraid of the person who might step in. host: the washington post reports that fox news personality key texas -- p texas replaceged to david chilton, who has fallen from favor with the trump administration. tell us a little bit more. what do we know about him? was one of the leading contenders back in 2016, when the president was first looking to appoint his cabinet. surprisenot much of a to see his name service again. he has been involved in the veterans sphere for the past few

years. by all accounts, he has a good relationship with the president. somebody who the president has spent some time on the phone with, been at a couple of press events where pete was there and able to call on the president for quick interviews because of their relationship. we have also heard rick the secretary of energy's's name --'s name. he was -- secretary of energy's name. it is not surprising to see these names resurface, but for what it is worth the administration is saying right now that secretary shulkin is is still there, and i hope everyone can look past these reports and get back to the work of helping veterans. host: are there any other potential shakeups that could affect the military? perhaps secretary mattis, is his job intact? guest: he seems to be the one person whose name is not coming up that often. arguably thetis is

most popular of all the esesident's cabinet secretari right now now, and i have not heard any serious push there. he has a good relationship with the press and there are concerns about his availability, but the president has been very happy with his work. the president was at a marine corps base in california and talked about secretary mattis and got some big applause from the marines out there. secretary mattis being a former marine, so -- if there is anything to learn from the isretary shulkin stuff, it that secretary shulkin was seen as one of the safer cabinet secretaries for much of last year. frequentlyrump has had press conferences with him, he was the go to guy for good news when they talked about all the reforms that v.a., the accountability in the field system, new electronic health record systems. all that seems to have shifted in a short amount of time this year.

everything comes with a caveat of who knows? who knows what the next controversy might be and who might be out the door? , thank you for joining us today. guest: thank you for the invite. host: we are talking to our viewers today, getting your thoughts. are you concerned about shakeups at the white house and that the fbi? democrats can call (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . this is from florida on our independent line. what do you think. caller: you neglected to read the after your highlighted section, -- the next line, after your thelighted section, that fbi recommended the dismissal of andrew mccabe. this is between the fbi, their insiders, and the doj, and they recommended his dismissal.

all of the callers dumping on president trump, he has went on the recommendation of his own agency. i think that is important to point out. thank you. host: mark is on our line from new york city, democratic line. caller: hi, good morning. thank you for c-span. i just want to point out that it is very concerning about the shakeups in government, and this is what we get when people believe the false notion that government is run better like a business. government is not a business, and mr. trump is a complete amateur. never even held any political office, now all of a sudden he is running the most powerful nation in the world. it is a travesty. he wants us to believe that the media is all wrong and the fbi is all wrong, and everybody is wrong except for him. is really, really a horrible

thing to watch. i just want to say to the 30% of people who support this man, if you need surgery, why don't you go to a businessman to operate on you instead of a dr.? -- a doctor. i only want a lawyer or a person with a masters in political science to be running my government. thank you. host: thank you. new york magazine reports that president trump's chief of staff john kelly has come to the defense of one cabinet member under fire, hud secretary ben carson, saying that $31,000 for a table is not that bad a deal after all. the secretary of housing and urban development, ben carson, has come under fire for purchasing a $31,000 dining set for his own office and misleading the public about his involvement in the decision.

john kelly defended the purchase as a wise long-term investment. he said it sounds like a lot of money, but to put it in context, he asked the reporter how much they think the chair they are sitting on costs. probably beit would worth hundreds of dollars, but it will last a long time. you rationalize the $31,000 outlay by saying the table could last for 82 100 years. jim in fort lauderdale, republican line. are you concerned about shakeups in the trump administration? caller: absolutely not. the biggest shakeup is being perpetrated by the democratic party. they will not allow the president to fill out his administration. that is probably the biggest shakeup of all. of people combination who are really in the wrong place and the wrong job, and they got their job is a political favor. for the were wrong

position. in the case of tillerson, you think you are going to call the president a more on and stick around? give me a break. in the case of gary cohn -- these were two hive -- two high-profile men. cohen said he was probably leaving after the tax cuts came through, and that is what happened. in the case of the fbi, we have a scandal beyond anything that has ever been perpetrated on the united states. of particular, the biggest one i think is yet to come out. and that is the relationship tween peter strauch and judge contrariness, a fisa -- judge a fisa judge. they were conspiring together to unmask people. tos is all going to go up the obama white house, and i hope obama is able to make his first black president, his for himtand long enough

to escape prosecution himself. thank you very much. oh growth,from missouri, independent line. what did -- oak grove, missouri, independent line. what do you think? good morning, kimberly. you are quite an impressive speaker, i love your other programs. concerned about what is going on, the shakeups. i'm really concerned about the way they did andrew mccabe, a potential witness in mueller's case going on there. as long as donald trump in the vein inuse, the moral this country is cut and we are bleeding out. as long as he can get rid of people, they are going to prove -- people that are going to prove he is rotten, and some parts need to be shaken up, like

betsy devos. spending public school money on special individuals is not right. trumpk as long as donald can keep throwing his power [inaudible] and we are becoming more like russia every day. host: more about the uncertainty looming over the white house and this rumored shakeup the ones we have already seen. it said no one was hired at the white house on friday. at least not as of :00 p.m., which was news. -- 11:00 p.m., which was news. speaking to temp down the sense of never-ending dysfunction, fromdent trump restrained any firings by tweet. his chief of staff delivered a buck him up message that no heads will roll -- for now. department,ce

attorney sessions -- attorney general jeff sessions hired andrew mccabe late friday night. that was widely expected, but of lack of any revolution any reports of coming firings has left the president's top advisers in limbo and has undercut their authority. some aides say they wake up each morning, wondering if they will still have a job by the end of the day. john is on the line from florida on our democratic line. hello, john. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. know, the firing of mccabe is absolutely outrageous. imagine anybody doing that, but with these guys i can imagine it. little boys and girls are bad, these guys are evil. anybody who went to school learned about checks and balances. we have a guy in congress, paul ryan, that is sitting around and

twiddling his thumbs, and he has all the power to keep these crazy people in check before they get us into a real serious war. thank you. host: kurt is on the line, calling from brown's mills, new jersey. independent line. what are your thoughts? caller: i am kind of amazed, i am definitely independent. nows all in for obama, and i started looking at the other side. i cannot vote for hillary because it was obvious, obvious that she was not telling the truth. but this show is all based on gossip. the news has turned into such a i just -- asand far as the fbi goes, oh my gosh. they are going to pay, they are going to be covered up. how can we live our life from

gossip? the host: there -- host: there are things that are not speculative at all, like the firing of the secretary of state and the fbi director, and the president himself has said he expects other changes within his cabinet. caller: you know, every administration has -- we call because -- this happens all the time. it is moving real fast .ithdrawal -- with trump he is going to get angry, nobody likes him. i voted for him and he won, so i get angry every time we smash his family, smash him. be careful, he is going to win again. thank you. host: more from the new york times about andrew mccabe. it says mr. mckay was the fbi's second in command during one of the most of all to us -- s in theus period

bureau's history. he oversaw both investigations into the trump campaign and hillary clinton private he knelt server -- clinton's private he mail server, and public we contradicted the white house on national television over whether mr. comey had lost the support of rank and file fbi agents. the piece goes on to say as recently as thursday, even as the white house said it left mr. mccabe's fate in mr. sessions hands, it left little doubt where the president stood. it is well documented that he has had some troubling behavior and by most accounts, is a bad actor, said white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders . we are getting your thoughts about the shakeup. bill is on the line, calling from erie, pennsylvania, on our republican line. what do you think? thank you for taking my

call this morning. i was sitting here thinking -- a fellow called in about a businessman not running our country, and we better be reminded how many trillions of dollars in debt we are and how we got there was not by a businessman, it was by a bunch of politicians. that is my first point. this russia collusion, i think the american people are just fed up with hearing it. i think if the government and the politicians, and the fbi was looking for hillary's emails, as they emails, as hard did for a collusion for 14 months, we probably would be at the end of this thing. is it is very, very obvious, the party read -- the part that you read before you took my call, it is very obvious they are covering up emails and somebody is lying. if we would spend as much time looking for those emails -- and one comment about those emails,

i hear a lot of people calling in locally here as well on your shows, and they are saying that donald trump has mental health problems -- well, if somebody smashes eight iphones with a hammer and bleaches them, doesn't that nullify for mental illness as well? i would like to hear more people -- everyone is passing over these emails. i want to get to the bottom of that. we had a lot of conversation going on. thank you for taking my call. steve is on our independent line from greenwich, new jersey. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to reiterate a very important point here, that the firing of mccabe came out of two sources. an obamahe ig report, appointee, and second, the office of professional responsibility within the fbi, which is a bunch of career people. they are not political people. so the narrative that somehow this is a trump lyrical action

against -- political action that ifthe fbi is c-span wants to be honest here, they need to reiterate that point. and they slapped down and reiterate the point that the narratives that obama was born was false. this is something that all of us americans should be worried about. liberals, conservatives, it does not matter. if you really care about the country, we need to be very concerned about the supposedly premier law enforcement agency in the country becoming roque and acting -- rogue and acting politically. host: are you satisfied with the actions attorney general jeff sessions has taken within the fbi to address concerns you have about its functioning? well, i am not satisfied with what he has done so far.

i think we need a second prosecutor. -- prosecutor to look into aigebe and stork and p and all the other people who were connected with the fusion gps and the dossier that steal's -- he basically admitted that it was a fairytale. fortunately, you have some liberals like jonathan turley and allender schlitz who are taking this -- ellen dershowitz who are taking this very seriously. but this is not a political game, this is serious. the wall street journal reports that president trump is making his self felt in a nevada senate race. after he ended a nasty interparty toolbar persuading a republican running a populist, unabashedly pro-trump campaign to abandon his efforts to unseat

senator dean heller, the republican from nevada, this year. the challenger said friday that he would seek the nevada house seat instead, removing a major headache for gop strategists looking to preserve or expand the 51-49 republican senate majority in november's midterm elections. a republican primary could have boosted democratic hopes to snatch the seed. he was approached wednesday and asked to make the switch. fromis on our line pennsylvania, democratic line. what do you think about the shakeups? caller: well, i was not impressed, to say the least. i believe the reasons that were given for mccabe being fired was that he was not completely forthcoming and that he was not candid.

there is an old saying about the pot calling the kettle black, and then we have mr. sessions. when he was called in front of the senate under oath, he could not recall. he could not recall this, he could not recall that. i do not recall. he was not forthcoming, he was certainly not very candid. way, thisk -- by the is the chief law enforcement officer of the united states, and he cannot recall all of these things? he should not be in that position. but he probably will not be in that position long because trump will get rid of him and he is ready to. -- when he is ready to. this is my opinion, i think the reason that jeff sessions did this is that he is trump's lapdog. he does not want to be ridiculed anymore by trump like he has

been in the past. he does not want to be called mr. magoo. and finally, the way this firing was done, you take somebody who has served in the fbi by 20 years -- were 20 years, -- 420 years, firing20 him within two days of when he would retire and take his government pension, it ready much stinks. line,richard's on the calling from texas on our republican line. are you concerned by the shakeup? caller: no. trump was elected to go to washington to shake things up and get rid of the status quo. his first year is over. year,d call it a training and i think it will put a lot of federal employees on notice. if they want to be zealous or independent, so -- that is my comment.

that a term, i call it trump's firing squad is getting warmed up on getting rid of people up there. host: all right, and today at the u.s. capitol, the u.s. flags are flying at half staff after the death of one of its own, .ongresswoman louise slaughter according to an obituary in today's washington post, congresswoman louise and n slaughter,louise a folksy liberal who championed women's rights for over three decades as in the democratic -- a democratic congresswoman and became a top speaker for nancy pelosi, as the first and only woman to lead the powerful rules committee, died march 16 at a hospital in washington. she was the oldest sitting member of congress. the death was announced by her fitzsimmonsff, liam . the daughter of a blacksmith in

a kentucky coal mine, congresswoman slaughter traced her lineage to real boon, and attacked -- daniel boone, and attacked her opponents with marksmanship accuracy and a charming grin. she is a combination of southern politeness and -- mourning for her today as the flags have been flying at half since news yesterday spread about the loss. dan is on our independent line from georgetown, massachusetts. what do you think about the shakeups in the trump administration? well, i think that we should all, we all should expect the shakeups. that is what he said he was going to do.

agree that is -- it is all in the trump administration, but more government. i just want to point out here be, under the obama administration, our government, reallyith the fbi have got a lot of power for themselves. there was a whole bunch of incidences where the fbi was caught setting up terror plots within our country so they could, in turn, go and bust the ed up to doey groom the terror plots. these are things they were engaged with and were doing, and they were worded. -- were not get reported. they did not get much press time , andid not get any trouble

this was in the obama administration. i think we look at how the government has seized power and control in the people -- from people over time in the past couple of administrations, there is going to be quite a reeling back here. mccabe the firing of before he gets is very generous government pension hopefully will send a message that look, when you work for the fbi, when you work for the government in these positions that should be independent, that is how you need to act. i listened to james comey several times on the floor, the house and the senate. i could not believe what this guy was talking about, how he felt and how he could not sleep at night and the decisions he had to make to do the right thing. what is he talking about? he is not the decider. he should be doing his job.

host: ok. michelle is on our democratic line from maryland. what do you think? morning, kimberly. i had to call in. -- believeot the 30% of our populace that continue to support this dictator we have in the white house. he is clearly a manchurian candidate. i want to send my condolences congresswoman slaughter's family. i had not heard the news of her passing, and she was always very entertaining to watch. thank her for her service. but what is happening to our country, and the support of congress and 30% of the american people are giving to donald trump is scary. newshe influence of fake and the influence of the fox news on our politics is truly

scary. when we look at the propaganda in other countries, we have that going on right in this country, and people that are not looking at the facts. these career people that --ported these that supposedly supported this firing, i am sure they did because they are in fear of their own jobs. and the pressure the white house is putting on these people to support this dictatorship, i put --creed in the collaboration cooperation of those other career professionals to this mccabe firing -- headlinesso surrounding the other shakeups this week. secretary of state rex tillerson, the daily beast reports that according to the chief of staff, tillerson was in the restroom when he learned of his firing. reports gathered at the white house -- reporters gathered at

the white house friday were stunned when chief of staff john kelly shared a very embarrassing story about outgoing secretary of state rex tillerson. the reporters were there with senior white house officials for an off the record meeting with kelly, who was attempting to tamp down speculation about an impending administration -- and ministering of staff person. said tillerson was suffering a stomach bug, and was kelly brokeet when the news of firing to him. about changesned in the trump administration? caller: well first, happy st. patrick's day to you. no, i am really not, because he is the president. it is his legacy on the line. he is going to be judged eczema of years from now, not the amount offires -- x

years from now, not the people he fires or hires. and what is the guys name -- mick may, mcrae? mccabe? host: andrew mccabe. caller: right. if i was fired by jeff sessions, jeffppears to me -- sessions does not seem that vindictive. if i was fired by him, i would be really worried. i get the impression that mccabe might be in some serious trouble. are one thing, but jeff sessions does not seem like that type of person, in my view, that would hold any vengeance. he seems -- host: is it possible the president has tweeted and expressed his pleasure with andrew mccabe for some time. is it possible that jeff sessions, also a cabinet member who trump could fire, was doing this in order to please the president? think thatl, if you

is the most important thing in his life, to please the president. his integrity is all he has. he does not seem to me to be a person that would have no integrity. if the president wants to fire him, i am sure he knows the president can fire him, but that would be his major decision. as far as firing mccabe, he has to live with himself also. jeff sessions seems to be a kindhearted person to me. [inaudible] he just does not seem to have a bone in his body that is vindictive. i would be worried if i was mccabe. host: and in other news, the front page of the new york times says president trump has joined in on a lawsuit seeking to keep the suitporno star of in u.s. court, says president trump weighing indirectly -- in directly on the stephanie

clifford hayes were the first time. he claimed that the actress who alleges she had an affair with confidentiality agreement at least 20 times, exposing her to damages of at least $20 million. president trump's lawyers fired two motions on friday, in a wasic legal fight, that started last week. that is when stormy daniels sued to get out of the agreement that she had struck to be paid $130,000 to stay silent about the affair that she alleged to have had with the president starting in 2006. president trump formally joined his legal team's response to the suit in a motion filed friday to move the case from state court in los angeles, where ms. clifford filed her claim, to federal court. we will continue to talk to you about the recent shakeups within the trump administration and those that could be on the horizon. wanda is on our independent line

from westbrook, maine. what are your thoughts? beginning to think that america is starting to look like an apprentice reality show, and i am wondering what our ratings are, because i feel like trump had made a good choice with tillerson. that is pretty much all i have to say. david is calling from flint on our democratic line. what do you think? caller: good morning. you are one of my favorite hostesses. i'm glad to see you are a this morning. i think it is just awful. i think it is the worst decision, i feel bad for that guy. i would hate it if i worked all those years, doing all that hard work and somebody that just got to be president took all my pension from me over me not agreeing with the right wing fanatics. i think it is awful. life, wanted this

man to run the united states ever. is up to us good americans out here to get this man out of this office in the next election, and start the united states to being the leader of the world. host: i just want to ask you a question. you said you would not want to be pushed out right before you lost your pension, but at the same time there was an inspector general report that found that andrew mccabe was not fully during ang investigation, one of the biggest investigations the fbi was conducting. is that not grounds for dismissal? caller: no, no. we have to wait to see what the material was. it is going to come out in the news and in the paper and stuff. i think it is all political. whatever donald trump, whatever and he gets. and his backers, the 35% that

believe everything he says, will go a long with him, -- along with him, killing you and me and anybody else who stands in his way, and will continue host: to say that he did the right thing. -- to say that he did the right thing. host: in the washington post, the story says the eu is targeting american goods. the eu made public a 10 page list of american products that are potential targets for retaliation if president trump refuses to exempt the allies blocked from his new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. the list, which offers the most detailed view to date of the likely target for eu action includes products selected for maximum political impact in the united states. among them are bourbon, a specialty of mitch mcconnell's home state of kentucky, cranberries, which grow in paul ryan's native wisconsin,

from floridaice and tobacco from north carolina, two swing states. they are trying to wake up american legislators, who are the only ones in government who can influence the president on this issue, such as a trade expert at the peterson institute for international economics. henderson, kentucky on our independent line. what do you think about the shakeups within the trump administration? caller: good morning, and thank you for taking my call. i think that mr. trump is incompetent. i believe that mr. tillerson brought some semblance of balance to the administration. iran or north tacticalplayed the imagery that putin did, there would be all kind of talk about those countries. on there was elected mutism

the part of mr. trump. he was selectively mute. he had no response whatsoever to the number one enemy to america, especially to the gop. the shakeup is due to the gross and competence-- of mr. trump, and the impulsive decisions that he makes because he has noticed -- no experience, no desire to learn. he was so critical of obama golfing, but he has broken the ,udget of the secret service traveling the country golfing. his children make deals against the american taxpayer -- on the bill of the american taxpayers, and he is using this to gain nothing but economics and to spread hatred. host: tim is a republican calling from alabama. what are your thoughts about the moves within the president's administration? saying that, i was if they fired mccabe, and jeff

sessions fired him for lack of candor, and jeff sessions went before the congress twice, and he was not forthcoming. he was not candid in his statements, and he lied before congress. he should have never been nominated as the attorney general. went to therump canadian president and said something about the deficit, and comes back and told somebody to theat he did lie canadian president about the deficit. if you want to talk about candor and honesty, there is nobody in this administration that has been honest. jared kushner has lied and lied and continued to lie.

there will be more shakeups, because there is going to be more lies. host: and the washington examiner is reporting that experts are not concerned about the security of the u.s. power grid. this even after russia targeted it, according to a report this week. adversaries are successfully gaining intelligence to sabotage the u.s. power grid, but remain far away from actually pulling off a whole field attack. the trump administration, for the first time on friday, publicly accused russia of targeting the u.s. power grid with cyberattacks. since at least march 2016, russian actors targeted government entities and multiple critical infrastructure sectors, including the energy, nuclear, commercial facilities, water, aviation, and critical sectors.ring the hermit homeland security -- the a joint statement

department of homeland security said in a joint statement, but they are far from limiting any kind of full attacks on our systems. james is on the line from north vernon, indiana, democratic line. what do you think about the recent firings and potential more firings that could be ahead in the trump administration? caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. do not understand everything that is going on with this administration. ever since trump has been in, he has not been honest with americans, and it really does not make any sense with all the shakeups. andrew mccabe being fired, i agree with the last three guests. with jeff sessions, he went to congress and he could not recall anything. it was i don't know, i don't

know, and to me it seems like the president is worried about what mr. mueller is going to find, and mr. mueller's investigation should continue so that us american people can know what really happened, but it does not seem like president trump wants us to know what happened. he wants to cover it up. host: steve from charlottesville, north carolina, independent line. what do you think? caller: thank you for taking my call. i think trump is trying to send a message, which is if you come after me, i do not care who you are, i will ruin your life and your career. this is a message to the fbi. and i find it quite disturbing that he can do this to a man. no fan of the fbi or some law enforcement, but i tell you, this is sad. thank you. host: and another headline from

the washington post today, a black man beaten in the charlottesville attack has been acquitted of assault. the black man was brutally the united right in charlottesville, and was later charged with assaulting a white nationalist. he was acquitted friday. he was found not guilty by charlottesville general district judge -- on assault and battery. -- if harrisolina had been convicted, he would have faced up to a year in jail and a $2500 fine. line fromublican santa ana, california, very early. good morning. hello.

i am very happy that andrew mccabe got fire. comey isty, j edgar dirty. all of these guys work for us, the taxpayer. if they break the law, they should get fired. if we broke the law, we will lose our life. we would be in jail or worse. we do not have the money to fight all the lawyers that they would send after us, so i am so happy that a message is finally being sent to all of these dirty politicians and career bureaucrats. if they do not obey the law, they are going to get fired and lose their stinking pensions that we pay. they work for us, the taxpayers. so i am really happy that donald trump is there, draining the swamp and scaring these people, these nancy boy people that think they can do whatever they want to do and be immune from the law. right.ll

coming up, we will have a discussion on shakeups in the president's national security , andwith gary schmitt later we will take a look at the role of community health centers with dan hawkins. but first, this week newsmakers interview the house budget committee's top democrat, john yarmouth. he talked about the legislation and a student march in washington and in other cities planned for next saturday. [video clip] next saturday, we will have tens of thousands, perhaps more kids and allies, parents coming to the march on washington, the march for new gun laws. appetite from democrats to force a question on part of this bill, what do you kids coming to washington about the democratic result forcing action here? we have done virtually everything we know how to do.

even in taking over the floor of the house in the summer of 2016 and trying to shut the place down. that was just to get a vote. it and all of the tools available to us. and nothing has worked yet. i don't think the spending bill is an appropriate place for that but at some point -- the reason daca became such an important issue with the spending issue was because we had deadlines. that is not true of gun violence legislation. we are going to keep pushing for this. the caucus talks about it every week. something to unveil this week. i'm going to start wearing a button with the f on it which represents my rating from the national rifle association. so that people will understand

that we are proud of having those ratings. of honor.t is a badge i hope i will get a lot of my colleagues to wear them as well. i think i will. it is very exasperating. however, that these young people are going to make a difference because not only are they passionate and brilliant and articulate, but they are also not partisan. they have succeeded in taking this debate out of the partisan environment and that will ultimately make a big difference. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us now is gary schmitt. geary is a former executive officer of foreign intelligence advisory board. he is codirector of the center for security studies at the american enterprise institute. he is here to talk about the recent changes in president trump's national security