you think. that's all the time we have left. follow low on twitter, i'll right back here tomorrow night, filling in for sean, hope you join us. hartrtrtha maccallum starts rigt now. >> martha: on day 83, the president dropped a 21,000-pound bomb to the seller promise that he made on day one. >> we will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth. >> martha: the full force of that message was felt in afghanistan where isis tunnels provide a network for terrorist terrorists. ♪ today, and the roosevelt room in

the white house, the president was asked a simple question and he answered and a way that revealed to build a message and negotiate on the world stage pretty listen to this closely, then we gotta great team of experts or to break this down. watch. >> did you authorize it? >> everyone knows exactly what happened. what i do as i authorize my military. we have the greatest military in the world and done the job as usual so we have given them total authorization and that's what we're doing. frankly, that's why we've been so successful lately if you look at what's happened over the last eight weeks and compare to what's happened over the last eight years on, you'll see a tremendous difference. we have incredible leaders in the military and we have incredible military, and we are very proud of them and this is another very, very successful mission. i don't know if this sends a message, it doesn't make any difference if it does or not.

north korea is a problem, the problem will be taken care of. i will say this, i think china has really been working very hard on. i have really gotten to like and respect as you know, president xi jinping. he's a terrific person, spent a lot of time together in florida. he is a very special man. we'll see how it goes. i think is going to try very hard. >> martha: that pretty much sums up today prayed we've got to go military experts to break all this down. a general jack keane and foreman navy seal. who has been busy today at the pentagon with the latest. >> this weapon is designed for psychological effect is much as anything. even its nickname, the mother of all bombs is designed to send a message. when the air force tested this weapon in 2003 at the start of the iraq war, the fuel from the explosion reached 10,000 feet into the air until it was never

used them come back. shortly after 7:30 p.m. local time in nangarhar province afghanistan, they dropped out massive ordnance air blast on with the white house explained was an attack on the ice as borders of pakistan. >> we targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used it to around freely. they take the fight against sizes very seriously and in order to defeat the group, we much take operational speech which we did. >> a dps guided bomb that is pushed out of the back of a modified c 1:30 aircraft. it's blast radius is 1 mile wide. the pentagon said the top general in afghanistan did not ask permission to conduct the strike, he already had those authority. the target of the explosion with a series of tunnels near a chain 35 miles south where the u.s. has a base on saturday, an american green beret was killed in that part of nangarhar.

staff sergeant mark de alencar of maryland, part of an isis clearing operation, u.s. military says the strike today was not in retaliation for the green berets death. the president announced yesterday after meeting with nato secretary-general at the white house that the national security advisor hr mcmaster is leaving soon for afghanistan. the top u.s. commander general don nicholson testified recently that he needs several more thousand u.s. or nato troops for afghanistan. there are currently 8400 americans on the ground there. >> martha: thank you very much. with more, former navy seal carl higbee who used to order air strikes like these during his time. good to have you here with us tonight. when you first heard about this who, does bomb is never been used, it was developed in 2003. >> never been used in combat for the effect that it creates so

much devastation to use this. i don't think people understand the magnitude of this. when you're standing what mile away from a detonation like this, it's going to knock your hat off. they need to understand the gravity. there are far better munitions that we could have used to target tunnels but this was here to send a message. >> martha: what message do you think was sent to? >> after eight years of obama's limp wristed foreign policy, donald trump is reasserting our self as a superpower that we are on the world stage and saying if you are our enemy, we are going to find you and you we are going to kill you. this is just a message. he wants everything on the table and he wants everyone to know i it. is he going to use a nuclear strike? it's not off the table. let's put it all out there. >> martha: you know these regions well. this is always in the same area that the network was just across the border, and and a lawless n that we've been dealing with with the taliban throughout the course of all of this home. it was a tweet that was sent out. let's take a look at what it says. it says: your thoughts?

>> good luck. what they can do, they can put effort into stopping terrorism, stopping the atrocities that are being committed by the isis. the taliban in afghanistan is not operating on the geographical borders we recognize in afghanistan but they're on tribal borders. we do whatever he wants was up to us to deliver the ferocity like this weapon here to show them that we're not going to hide, were not going to let them get away and were going to stop them. >> martha: the presence is what i do is authorize my military parade we have the greatest military in the world and we have done our job as usual. we give them total authorization. how different is the mood in the military today under this president? >> 100%. i talk to them after the tomahawk strikes, many of which had some level of knowledge of that and they sold said this is what we've been waiting for. at the u.s. military is the most lethal machine the world has ever known and if you unleash us on bad guys, we will eliminate that problem 100% but you have to take the handcuffs off but president trump is doing and will continue to do. >> martha: thank you very much. carl higbee joining us this

evening. joining me now, retired four-star general jack keane in, and a fox news military analyst. thank you for being here. tonight you're listening to this conversation and to jennifer griffin, your thoughts on the mother of all bombs being dropped in this particular area and the message that it sends? >> first of all, it has to do with the notion of targeting the enemy there. they have a safe avon their hop operating with on the border. the message that came out on 9/11, don't permit safe havens and sanctuaries like we did in afghanistan with al qaeda. this is been there for 18 months. they had a concentration of troops in this area left on the sand, and this bomb actually is well-suited for this target because it creates blasts overpressure but as a thermal aspect of a bomb that produces incendiary fuel. this is a nasty weapon in this incendiary fuel permeates those tunnels in the bunkers that are underneath the ground quite

effectively. the nature of the target was actually driving this more than anything else. it's not a message for china or north korea or the iranians. as the commentators are trying to make out. this is a commander who's got tunnel vision palm intended here. he's focused in on killing isis. they would potentially have an outer region capability pretties focused on killing the taliban and he selecting the best weapon in his arsenal. i agree with your previous guests that what has happened here is president trump since january 20th for a couple days after it frankly, he gave the military new authorities read when you're already involved in conflict operations as we are in afghanistan and iraq. you can do air strikes as you see fit within your own rules that you're operating and you can conduct operations on the ground as you see fit. you do not have to come and ask a 30-year-old in the white house anymore for permission as they had to do with the old nsc that existed in the white house and that is a good thing. >> martha: that's what he means when he says we have given

them total authorization. you mentioned north korea, and the president was asked directly as a message? and he said i don't know if it's a message or not. although it may not be have been the reason for the mission, it clearly does send information to them about what we could potentially do to their underground nuclear facilities because my understanding that this bomb was designed in part to potentially go after iran's underground nuclear facilities, correct? >> we have another bomb that we use is a deep penetrator that can go very deep and it's classified how deep it can go. absolutely, not intended for that purpose but every time we do limited military attack like this as of last week, it always strengthens our diplomats hands. and that's the reality of it. we now have as you know as a result of the phone call last night who, to president trump we now have president xi jinping saying for the first time ever from a chinese president, 20

plus years that i'm going to work on d nuclear rising in north korea. if that rhetoric turns into action or results, that's a huge plus for president trump. >> martha: it certainly is in there so much discussion. there was a report this afternoon that was put out by nbc that said that we were prepared to take out north korea nuclear facilities it look like their fingers on the trigger prayed i should point out that our people at the pentagon say that that is wildly wrong, that that reporting is inaccurate. there could be the potential, to show or force in japan as well which is designed in part for the same purpose and this is the site that you see on your screen now that they they've seen some movement in an potentially north korea could be getting ready to launch another missile here. what's your take on all that? >> first of all, the

united states is not going to attack north korea because they are about to do a nuclear test or even if they're going to test and other ballistic missile. we've been having some effect on their ballistic missiles testing using cyber offensive operations, which have been reported in public sources and that's why some of these things are failing. the only time we would conduct a preemptive strike if we believed we had the deliver remains of a nuclear weapon on a ballistic missile that can endanger our allies, our bases or the united states, then we would do a preemptive strike and there, that strike would be more than the launch facilities. we would have to bring down artillery, we have to take down their nuclear sites and we would likely go after the leadership regime targets in pyongyang. that's war. it is not what were talking about. >> martha: understood. giving what we've discussed and the message sent to north korea both by the chinese and by the united states now, how likely do you think it is that they launch a missile over the course of this weekend, another test?

>> they're going do something. this is the father of north korea, kim il-sung, they're going to have a milestone celebration, some sort of provocative event. i'm sure the chinese would like them not to do it in. if they don't do it, that would be an indicator itself that the chinese have had some impact on them. but the likelihood is that they will do it. we've got the carrier strike group up there sending a message to north korea but is also to reassure our allies in the region that this is president trump's military now, he is the commander-in-chief, he's going to back you up. that's what that forces therefore and that is a very loud message, particularly in south korea politically unstabl unstable. corrupt president there was impeached, but they're stronger north korea. a new president coming, likely less corrupt i hope but also predictably kind of soft on north korea.

so we are strengthening the spine of the south koreans is another reason for that carrier strike group that's up there. >> martha: and you look at the afghanistan bomb today and the meetings that we saw with the egyptian president and with the jordanian leader who, this coalition has some leadership now it appears and can be coming together in short order. thank you very much. general keane, always a pleasure to have you with us. so tonight, the media zeros in on what's calling a big policy reversal from president trump. but as is flip-flopped? governor huckabee says no way and a strong response for the president's critic, he joins us in a moment. and attorney general jeff sessions announcing the other day that "the trump era is a new era," for his department pretty so what does that mean at justice? will show you exactly how trump doj is making the lynch era a thing of the past. >> today's ceremony should be seen as a clear message to the gang members and drug dealers

terrorizing innocent people. your day is over. a new era of justice begins, and it begins right n

>> martha: a new theme

emerging, donald trump as flip flopper. some are saying maybe that's not a bad thing. watch. >> some people are accusing donald trump of flip-flopping, but what if he is flopping to the correct position? is not a good thing? >> i want him to flip flop off of some of the positions he was holding. >> of a president changes some positions when he takes office because the reality of governing is different than the reality of campaigning. >> actually think in most cases, the evolution, the shift has been in a positive direction. >> martha: so what does that mean a four trump supporters? joining me now, former presidential candidate and fox news contributor governor mike huckabee. good to see you tonight as always. some trump supporters might look at that crowd and not be too pleased that there please. what you think? >> it's always looked different from the stands that it does when you get down on the field and ask they are at the line of scrimmage and playing the game paired what donald trump is experiencing is what anyone experiences the first time they get into the chair, into the sea

and start governing. there are some realities to face. he hasn't changed his core conventions pretty he said he put america first. he dug on sure has. we feel like were threatened, our interests are threatened, he doesn't mind pulling the trigger. he is bringing jobs back, he's building the wall, his doing the things like appointing a supreme court justice who is a constitutionalist. i don't say that is flip-flopping. he is understanding that his job is that of a pragmatist, not an ideologue because he ultimately has to achieve something and get results and that's what he's doing. >> martha: when you watch this shift that we've seen in on the foreign policy stage, the most significant one, throughout the entire course of the campaign, he set on day one i am going to mark them as a currency manipulator. that he has a meeting with president xi jinping and obviously he has a complete 180 on the way he feels about that and now russia is on the hot

seat, does that surprise you? >> i think i'm a little surprised by that relationship that he developed so quickly with the president of china but look, that's a good thing. i don't think because the chinese are going to push us over, he still sang were going to have fair trade, were going to make them play the same rules that we do. the fact is he's building a relationship and that's how you make that happen pretty is putting pressure on china to deal with north korea. that's a good thing. is also showing that he is no chump when it comes to russia. all this nonsense the democrats have been saying about his he's too cozy with them and tillerson is, did that ever change connect it's colder than a siberian winter day in the relationship between russia and the united states right now because we're not letting russia just push us and the rest of the world around like they did under the obama administration. >> martha: the camp that supported him fervently is a little bit upset with some of what they're saying. they feel like when i talked about spending a trillion

dollars in the middle east and getting nothing for it, they look at some of these actions and i know he said that they're talking about putting more troops on the ground in syria, it's a fine line between blocking some of these things in order to keep everyone on board, winning over some of the mainstream media folks as we saw a moment ago. is he going to lose some of those who feel very strongly about these things? were going to talk about those people in just a moment. >> martha: the number one rule of politics is you gotta make ten friends every day because you're going to lose seven of the ones that you had, and that's a reality, so donald trump is never going to make anybody happy including the people who supported him but at the same time, his job is to lead america and nobody can question whether or not he is showing true and genuine leadership and i think all americans can be grateful for that. >> seeing those approval numbers creeping up and it's going to be interesting to see the next round i think when all of this is absorbed. thank you so much governor. great to see you as always. >> thank you martha.

>> martha: so the timing on the president's shift and tone and policy is being seen by some as no coincidence. the change comes as white house chief strategist bannon's influence appears at least in this moment, and these things can abend flow to be waiting a bit. trump pointedly telling "the wall street journal" this. bannon is a guy who works for me, he's a good guy but i make my own decisions. i don't have people making decisions. joining me now, attorney robert barnes who writes that if bannon goes, so too does the trump presidency. good to have it with us tonight mr. barnes. that's a pretty strong statement. why did you say that? >> stephen bannon as representing the core of the new voter that trump attracted. a lot of them are former democrats, a lot of them are independent, the sort of working-class northerners from northern bane of their northern minnesota where he made extraordinary interrupts. and bannon represents that and there's a reason why the mainstream media has waged a five-month war on stephen bannon

more than have anyone else in trump's team, because he is so essential to communicating directly to those voters. president trump says he's his own strategist. he is, but that doesn't mean you don't need other great strategists and that's what stephen bannon is. everybody sent trump to washington knowing it was a swamp. they knew there was a lot of gators in that swamp. trump himself is a great gator hunter, but stephen bannon is the troy landry of gator hunters and you can't give that up without losing his ability to drain the swamp. >> martha: the opposite, the polar opposite is jared kushner and ivanka trump, who have a very different way of doing things. but they appear to be more moderate and more conservative in a way about -- and i mean that in the sense of being more restrained perhaps in some of what they do. you are not -- what you think about that, that switcheroo? >> can you them imagine jared kushner out the middle of the bayou as a gator hunter? it doesn't work.

he would be gator bait. it's not a world that is his world. it is stephen bannon's world. stephen bannon took breitbart from a blocked one of the top 50 sites in the world. he took a struggling august campaign of president trump to being president trump. he someone that knows the mainstream media is very much the enemy of the people. jared comes from a very different world, from the wall street world, the new york world and that's a valuable contributor within the white house. >> martha: the supporters of that camp would say but the beginning. back of the presidency, they didn't get too far. we ran into two different judicial roadblocks on extreme vetting which is something he felt very strong about, didn't go over well. the president's approval numbers tanked, that he the health care debacle. they feel like he is connected to those failures and they want to move onto successes which the president appears to be good doing the past couple of weeks. >> there is advantages to definitely succeeding but it depends on what price that comes with it and if it comes at the price of losing the core constituency who is impassioned

to support gave him the presidency in the first place, it endangers his presidency long-term. that doesn't mean he can devalue other speakers in the room and other voices in the room, but right now stephen bannon is the only voice that represents that constituency, and if he is relegated, that whole constituency is relegated. traditionally, that does not work well for presidents to lose a key part of their base going into the presidency. >> martha: you made the right call on president trump winning in the first place and now you're issuing kind of a warning to him in terms of his constituency. good to have you tonight mr. barnes, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> martha: still ahead, some big changes on the domestic policy front for the trump administration as attorney general jeff sessions looks to overhaul the doj. how he's attempting to dismantle the obama era justice department. does this department look very different today, and the trump administration taking its hardest line yet against the man behind wikileaks. again, former top fbi officials

discusses why he thinks the probe into russia and the trump campaign ties is a fishing expedition and that somebody expedition and that somebody should go to jail because of it when this bell rings... ...it starts a chain reaction... ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business, from the largest financial markets to the smallest transactions, by sensing cyber-attacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected. that's the power of and.

>> time to call out wikileaks for what it really is, a

nonstate hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like russia. he claims to harbor both in admiration for america and the idea of america. but i assure you the man knows nothing of america and our ideals. >> martha: cia director mike pompeo today went after wikileaks. assange, called him a tool of the russian government. the ties between russia and the trump campaign. one time an informal advisor candidate trump carter pages now the focus of new reports that he was a target of a search by the obama administration. so this morning, he's made a noble of appearances in last couple of days was passed on this in terms of his talks with the russians. watch this. >> you can't say without equivocation that you didn't discuss sanctions. >> someone may have brought it up. i have no recollection and if it was, it was not something i was

offering or someone was asking for. >> martha: former fbi assistant director in charge and former senior advisor to the new york governor on counterterrorism, good to see you tonight. we have heard quite a bit from mr. page of the last couple of days. what do you make it? into think it is relevant? to think he was instrumental in anything during the course of this campaign? what's your read? >> first off, for your viewers out there who are perplexed about all of this stuff that's going on, this business of collection particularly of national security and former counterintelligence is highly highly classified, number one. number two, you have to have a need to know. it's a concept of working a particular case and don't really need to know. regardless of your clearance, you can see the information, so here we are. the fbi is the investigative agency for foreign counterintelligence, master of security, the primary agency in

the united states. the national security council, nsa, the cia have absolutely no investigative responsibility inside united states at all. the fbi would get a pfizer warrant and if he was in fact covered by a pfizer warrant, i can tell you after many years of experience with that, no pfizer judge is going to approve something that isn't pretty sick and pretty full of probable cause. whether or not the probable cause is the real or unreal, i have the highest respect for the agency that would write this affidavit so i don't know the answer to that. >> martha: do you think it's odd that he is talking so much and given the fact that he was under the surveillance, his obduracy trying to clear his name but as you say, they wouldn't have gone after him unless they felt pretty certain that they needed to collect the discussions that he was having and on the other side of that, i know you also want to make a comment about susan rice and

wyatt, and i think that's where you going to the need to know. why she would've unmasked the names of these individuals, which she and others are now claiming was completely routine. >> the government can do these surveillances because there's a lot of rules. there's a lot of guideposts. there's a lot of ethics that have to be involved in. this isn't willy-nilly, this isn't fishing. this is not what it is. particular in the case of nsa, these authorities that are here to protect this country are at great risk because i believe what's gone on in the last year or so. the willy-nilly fishing expedition, where did general flynn's name comes from? where did carter pages name come from quebec who unmasked those names? to unmask those names commute to go back to the agency, the fbi or nsa with the justification that's based on some sort of national security. you just can't go back there regardless of who you are. they with the president himself

could, but the national security advisor has to have some kind of a reason why. >> susan rice essentially said that when she goes to these documents from time to time, there's something that catches her attention and she goes back and has to have that person unmasked so she has a full understanding she's in the white house about what communication was of this foreign entity that was under surveillance and why they were talking to an american citizen. she claims that that is quite typical on the fact that devon nunez said he was alarmed by those unmasking's, other entities now say doesn't add up, doesn't make sense. what do you think? >> that's a job the fbi. the job of the fbi to investigate what this is all about. to know the names and the legitimate investigations which is the only investigations they conduct. someone in the national security council to conduct any kind of investigation, they get briefed them.

this business, "the new york times" above the fold, a ranking of offices the intelligence community are recently retired, first all this blah, blah, blah information about people. you know how sacred it is in our constitution to protect the privacy of u.s. citizens, particularly under these acts. if you have a u.s. citizen, you must instantly minimize that conversation unless you have justification to continue it based on national security, and even then it has to be documented. even then, that name is mast. so it's a lot of hyperbole what the people are saying about that. that's not how it works. >> martha: thank you so much. good to see you tonight. >> good to see you martha. >> martha: then candidate trump vowed that he would reform the veterans administration. it was very high on his list and tonight, it is clear that it is time to get to work on this as

we get through "the first 100 days," there's a stunning report of a terribly mismanaged va hospital just miles away from the white house which needs some attention. some big policy changes from the justice department as the attorney general jeff sessions looks to make good on president trump's campaign promises to restore law and order and move his agency away from the policies of loretta lynch and eric holder. we'll hear from richard fowler who will debate this com

>> i will work with and appoint the best and brightest prosecutors and law enforcement officials to get the job properly done. [cheers and applause] in this race for the white hous white house, i am the law and order candidate.

>> martha: that was the law and order candidate as he said from the rnc last summer and now president trump is working on fulfilling that. attorney general jeff sessions working to overhaul the justice department one piece at a time in bringing a new era that reverses some of the work that was done by the former attorney general and the head of the department eric holder and the rhetoric lynch. immigration, crime, police reform, all of those taking center stage for jeff sessions now. trace gallagher takes us inside from our west coast newsroom tonight. >> attorney general jeff sessions has said repeatedly this is a new era. this is the trump era and the ag is working at breakneck speed to make sure the new department of justice is as advertised. watch. >> this department of justice will defend and enforce lawful orders of the president consisted with the core principles of our constitution. >> last month, president trump

gave a clear direction to reduce crime in america, not tolerate a continuing rise in crime. >> the border is not open. please don't come. >> because immigration tops the list, sessions is now calling for u.s. attorneys to step up the prosecutions of illegal immigrants and to answer critics who say immigration courts are already backlogged, the ag wants more immigration judges and he wants those judges to visit the prisons as a way of speeding up the deportation process. as for crime, the eternal general said the best way to lower the violent crime rate is so left the morale of police officers. to do that, jeff sessions wants to review all police reform activity including a year-long federal investigation by the obama administration of the baltimore police department that found a pattern of unconstitutional treatment of the city's black residents. they agreed on extensive reform measures and sessions was to put those measures on hold to make

sure they align with his crime reduction plan. in the voting rights case, the obama doj required voters to have i.d. was intended to suppress the minority vote. the trump doj as to federal judge to dismiss that claim saying a new law is in the works. last year, former and attorney loretta lynch for bid schools from disseminating against transgender students, the new attorney general probably withdrew that guidance meeting public schools no longer have to allow transgender students to work use the bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. >> martha: is only 83 days and pretty he's been busy. thank you very much. to debate this, supporter president trump, richard fowler, nationally syndicated radio show host. good to have you here. police reforms is where we can start here. your thoughts on what jeff sessions has done so far?

>> it's been 83 days of horror from this attorney general. clearly he is to set up some sort of nationalist utopia where police can get away with anything, where muslims aren't allowed into the country, where transgender students don't get the protections they deserve and where minorities don't have the right to vote. that is the world that jeff sessions wants and to be honest with you martha, the viewers might not like it at home, i am not having it. it is not what the justice department is supposed to be. for decades, it has been the department set up for everyday americans. under jeff sessions, stands up for private prisons, stands up for the far right extreme agenda and it hurts everyday americans. >> martha: that is the argument from the left no doubt. jeff sessions, you're basically saying just a mean, nasty man who wants to hurt people and discriminate against people. >> i don't know him, he could be a nice guy. his policies are awful. i don't know him. >> martha: horror is what you said. the other side of this and i

imagine you're going to present some of this is that he is trying to return the power to the states, that this is a government that is about allowing states to do the work at their own level whether it comes to bathrooms or their police forces and to keep the federal government out of that. david? >> i met jeff sessions at the st. louis debates. he's a gentleman, his soft-spoken, but he means business and part of making america great again according to him as restoring the rule of law. you talk about the police officers and there were a lot of consent decrees established during the obama administration where the federal government takes over police departments. they did in baltimore and look what happened. all those officers who were prosecuted, all those cases were dismissed. a total disaster. the prosecutor himself is now facing malicious prosecution charges. there's immigration, no longer is there going to be catching replace.

these immigrants, illegal immigrants are going to be detained in detention centers and taken to immigration courts and have their day in court. when it comes to bathrooms, there is going to be permission of individual states to decide whether they're going to let men who believe their women into the ladies room and vice versa. that.of states are no longer mr. obama got his claws into it. >> david, clearly you are trying to spin this in some weird sort of way but here's the truth. it wasn't for the obama justice department, kids in north carolina wouldn't be able to go to the bathroom of their choice. if it wasn't for the obama justice department, the races police department of baltimore would not have been prosecuted. it goes beyond the freddie great craze. let me finish my point. what we saw in baltimore, what we saw in ferguson, what we saw in many, many police department's across his country's patterns and principles and practices of violating our constitution.

>> martha: the department of justice, eric holder went right down there and prosecuted the case to the full extent of the law. they did not find any guilt. they said let's do a big evaluation of the police department and what you have in many cases and there's no department matter what agency is perfect. there are people who entire police to permit is racist is really over the line. >> the patterns and principles that officers are constitutionally against people of color. point dismissed. [all talking at once] >> if states mandate that boys have to use the boys room and girls have to use the girls room -- goes bigger than that state law is discriminatory. just to say that black people sit at the back of the bus. if you say that trans people

can't be in the bathroom that they choose, it's like saying the black throughout the back of the bus. >> martha: at something for the court to decide and so they shall but he believes it ought to be at the state level rather than at the federal level. gentlemen, thank you. you can believe what you believe on both sides. that's the way it goes. thank you very much. so coming up here, nearly three years to the day after the phoenix va scandal blew the lid off veteran abuse. another massive scandal is unfolding tonight that we have to share with you. this time, a troubled facility is right near the capital building so no excuse for this to be happening where people say they want to clean the set. afghan war veteran and executive director of concerned veterans for america mark lucas is here with his thoughts and what used with his thoughts and what used to happen and

you won't see these folks at the post office. with his thoughts and what used to happen and they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. get a 4 week trial, plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. wheni broke almost everyent bone in both my legs. when i came home from the hospital i needed to be able to recover. tempur-pedic allowed me to do just that.

because i don't have the average body type anymore i feel like my tempur-pedic really conforms to my body shape. power is not giving up, it's choosing to thrive. tempur-pedic sleep is power. find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic.com

>> martha: president trump as a candidate vowed to clean up the va and there is work to be done. tonight, new outrage over reports of the va hospital in washington, d.c., that is putting bets at risk. it comes nearly three years to the day after the horrible reports of dozens of veterans who died to wait to get care at the arizona va hospital and that's where this debate begins.

mark lucas is a veteran of the war of afghanistan and director of concerned veterans of america. what's happening at this hospital? >> it's unfortunate. less than 3 miles away from the white house and from the headquarters of the va, you've got the washington, d.c., va hospital who is under investigation for just mistreatment of veterans, for the fact that they're not being held accountable, and this is three years almost to the day of the anniversary of the phoenix ba weight scandal and it just shows you the va still has significant hurdles to cross in order to bring that type of accountability that's needed, and we had concerned veterans of america stand shoulder to shoulder with president trump and va secretary to bring account ability to the va. >> martha: give us some examples as people can get a sense of what's going on here. >> it's unfortunately that they were inspecting 25 facilities and over 18 of them were found to be not sterile. we had close to 200 veterans

whose cases were canceled. they're supposed to be visited with the va doctor. they weren't able to be seen. not only are we having access problems with veterans but also care as well. >> martha: one of the things i just want to get, the accountability issue. you want to get something passed that would allow them to fire people, which is one of the biggest problems that has confronted this, right? go absolutely and the inspector general is saying that veterans are in imminent danger. this is a phrase that we as veterans are used to when deployed. we should never have to face imminent change or when we receive care here at home. senator marco rubio's va account ability ask, the va supports this bill, so does the va secretary and a host of veteran service organizations. that's why we are urging senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and chuck schumer, to make this a number one priority. let's bring this to a vote, let's put this on the president's desk.

veterans are being failed over and over again and if we can't be able to be served properly in washington, d.c., less than 3 miles from the white house, how can we be sure veterans are receiving good care anywhere across the country? >> martha: we hope the white house is listening and that they hear your plea and that they will bring their attention to it. a very important issue and some that we know the president has been passionate about making a difference in. so thank you so much. good to see you tonight. we will take a quick break. the court of the night is coming up next, and it's a good one. we will be right back. we will be right back. stay with us. if you have medicare parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything. and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare

doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. these types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. rates are competitive, and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. remember - these plans let you apply all year round. so call today. because now's the perfect time to learn more. go long.

>> martha: on this day in 1743, the third president of the united states was born. centuries later, thomas jefferson's words of wisdom hold true in the wake of the turmoil that we see around the world today. this is our quote of the night. "peace and friendship with all mankind as our rises policy and i wish we may be permitted to

pursue it, but the temper and folly of our enemies may not leave us in our choice." we salute him and his >> tucker: good evening and welcome to "tucker carlson tonight" ." forget the explosion of a single tomahawk mission demark missile today. the u.s. dropped the mother of all bombs, that is literally its name. the most powerful explosion ever, the weapons used -- there are a lot, in contrast to the previous one. watch. >> everyone knows exactly what happened. what i do is i authorize my military. we have the greatest military in the world. we have done its job as usual. we've given them total authoriz