>> brennan: welcome back to nice "face the nation" i'm margaret brennan. we're back with vermont independent senator bernie sanders who is going to be asking some tough questions of that next nominee the v.a. secretary. the v.a. says average wait time at some facilities can be as long as a hundred days. president is not happy with the speed of reform there. what is the source of this problem? >> the v.a. is largest integrated health care system in the country. and as i said previously if you ask the veterans organizations they by and large think the v.a. is providing good quality care. margaret, there is a lot of attention paid to the v.a. because it's a government agen agency. but i got news for you people all over this country when they want to get to a doctor they need hospital care, they don't get in the very next day. i am sure that there are some

v.a. facilities with waiting time is too long. that has got to be addressed. there are other v.a. facilities, for example, i know here in vermont that if you're dealing with a psychiatric crisis, emotional crisis you get in that day. that's pretty good. the v.a. does a lot of good things, it has problems, we have got to improve the v.a. but i think we've got to listen to the veterans of this country not privatize it. >> brennan: senator, you also sit on environment committee you've been harsh critic of the epa administrator scott pruitt, he is facing number of questions about ethics and these new reports that he rented residence here in washington, partly owned by the wife of a top energy lobbyist whose firm did business with the epa. do you think your committee should hold hearings on this? >> i do. but i think the issue goes well beyond that problem. the issue goes to the fact that vast majority of people in this country understand climate

change is real. it is already doing devastating problems throughout our nation and throughout the world. yet we have a president and a head of the epa who do not even recognize reality of climate change, let alone need to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel, sustainable energy. you got a guy who is head of the epa now who is nothing more than a front man for the fossil fuel industry. and that is a very serious problem and congress has got to stand up and oppose that line of policy. >> brennan: i imagine you oppose the lowering of emission standards that the administration is expected to announce this week? >> of course. what we have got to do is understand that we have over the last number of years made success against air pollution and against water pollution. we have made some success in transforming our energy system. the idea to go back and listen

to the short term needs of the coal industry or the oil industry makes no sense to me at all. here is the truth. what the scientific community is telling us is that climate change is one of the great environmental crisis facing this planet f. we don't get a handle on that we're going to leave this -- a plan tote our kids that is not healthy or habitable. we have to address that. the trump administration is moving in exactly the wrong direction. >> brennan: sir, you have been critical of the israeli government decision to use lethal force against demonstrators, wounding over 700. the trump administration has stopped short of calling on israel for restraint. should they explicitly do so? >> yes, they should. gaza as i think everybody knows is a humanitarian disaster. the unemployment rate there is beyond comprehension. and there is just enormous

unrest. the function of the united states government should be right now sit down with israelis, sit down with the palestinians and figure out how we can rebuild gaza. also to tell israelis when you got tens of thousands of people protesting they cannot overreact and the idea of 15 other so people being killed and hundreds being wounded is to me unacceptable. >> brennan: palestinians g did boycott a meeting at the white house to talk about rebuilding gaza. senator, thank you so much for your time. we'll be right back with our political panel. ♪ this is what our version of financial planning looks like. tomorrow is important,

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>> brennan: now for some platal analysis michael crowley senior foreign affairs for politico. shawna thomas the washington bureau chief, david frum senior editor at "the atlantic" and david nakamura covers the white house for the "washington post." thanks for being here on the holiday. shawna, the president out tweeting this morning about immigration. he says no more daca deal. what is happening? >> well, number one, there wasn't really much of a daca deal, i think you can see especially from the appropriations process and omnibus that democrats didn't push it. republicans don't seem to have way to get there. also it's in courts, basically. he's pretty safe saying there's

no daca deal because there wasn't. i think the other interesting thing he said that they need to go to the nuclear option which we have heard the president's say getting rid of basically the filibuster in congress in the senate. this is also something that senator mcconnell has said i'm not for that. i think this is stuff we've heard from the president before and this is how he's spending his easter. >> what's interesting, too, with no daca deal, wasn't just democrats that lost something in protecting young undocumented immigrants, but also the president. only got 1.6 billion for border wall he knows it. i think there's -- conservative base for him to get started as much as they pitched the idea they're going to use that get started on some of the wall immediately the president is frustrated he didn't get more of the wall. i think now he's going to be a political issue come this fall i think trying to set the ground work that he wants to move forward as hard as he can on tougher immigration. >> david, the president link understand as well to the future of the free trade deal in mexico and canada.

>> the president is revealing to many the true cost of donald trump's unpresidency. what triggered was -- about emerging issue in the conservative press. movement of some hundreds of people, through mexico, hoping to get to the united states border then make request for asylum. reminds us of the rush to the border from in 2014 but were triggered by president obama's daca executive orders. he made it clear going to be easier to stay in the united states. to try to take advantage of that. that was brought to an end with the cooperation of mexican law enforce the. mexico is -- must be a partner in defending the country against illegal immigration. if you ailly yen nature them. much more nationalistic, radical mexican president who will not cooperate. which trump is a cost of the

trump presidency. >> brennan: this isn't the only trade deal with other issues facing that country. the president also the free trade deal with south korea this many was settled if they didn't do or go along with what he's asking for with north corey. >> he boasted that he had leverage over south korea. seems like he's still on track to meet with the nor korean leader king junk unin may. built you think at this time u.s. and south corey would be hugging each other closely, show north koreans that you can't divide up america's alliances in the region, instead trump chosen this opportunity to go after them economically to renegotiate trade agreement. interestingly i think that some of the concessions he got from the south koreans i've seen compliments from unexpected

corners. he may be feeling that he's on to something here. he may be feeling like he can push it farther. that he's going to use this moment for economic gain as well as security gains. but it is very counter intuitive that you would be pressing south koreans at such a critical strategic moment on economic issues. >> david nakamura, the joint exercises, have been delayed to accommodate the olympics, that was also a little bit of give to north korea. >> i think what this administration is trying to signal if donald trump does have coordinated strategy lot of people believe it but that they learn from mistakes of the past in negotiations with the north. maybe easing up on some of the military cooperation with south korea or hard line sanction, is that have been imposed. this administration has gone farther on sanctions unilaterally and through united nations. they're pushing to keep these things throughout any negotiations until the north shows some specific examples of

actually moving towards nuclearization. that is a big if and well down the line, people say we need to keep the pressure on this maximum pressure idea. >> administration is strategic idea is easier and cheaper to kick your friends than enemies. it's easier to kick south korea. it's easier to bully mexico than work on actually getting mexic mexico's help to help with the border. that appeals to trump's instincts. to describe this at centers gee, series of impulses that are driven by search for weakness and divide. >> there's no -- problem is, we are isolate can china to certain extent with our conversation about trade. that isolates who we know is going to meet with the north koreans. the chinese met with the north koreans before we met with them.

it confuses the situation a lot. i can say that about almost everything that comes out of the trump administration that the rest of the world is confused. >> isolating china was strategy that's why we have the partnership and effort to build pacific arrangements that could weaken china, contain enhance american strength. one of the important friends. >> and japan. >> japanf there's any world leader that has tried to get close to trump is prime minister in japan. he's coming to try to talk about north korea set some guard rails. i think the japanese have seen the risks of closing up too much to trump. >> brennan: on russia, michael, pretty significant action by the white house they said they expelled not diplomats but russians undeclared intelligence officers, russia took another action in response. were you surprised see this kind of thing? >> i was a little surprised,

particularly because it came on the heels of president trump calling president vladimir putin congratulate him on re-election in an election process that was widely seen as anti-democratic and basically a sham i think, freedom house described it as a sham. so did senator john mccain. purple president trump called putin as david said, trump ignored talking points that were handed to him, do not congratulate putin. what has become increasingly clear, there is a two track american approach to russia. there is that trump administration which has actually been taking some relatively tough measures, i think a step that didn't get enough attention was trump's decision to sell anti-tank missiles to ukraine which was proposal that president barack obama feared would be dangerous escalation. >> brennan: his national security team emphasizes that. >> absolutely. at the saw time time you have president donald trump who

continues to try to reach out to putin to befriend putin and trump has this logic supposedly that says you have tough policy wise but extend your hand personally to try to somehow find some kind of common ground. we just have to live with that reality. >> russia media has not been contradicted while 60 individuals were expelled that the quota of russians who are allowed to be in the united states has not been reduced. so, it is 60 people will go, 60 new people will come not as tough a measure. >> brennan: russia's cap on our diplomat is different. not the first time that president trump didn't listen to the national security team. the syria announcement, withdrawing 2,000 troops suddenly. >> right. >> brennan: caught many -- y surprise including the pentagon and other advisors who said that we're thing you can do, may have had some success in defeating isis and taking their territory but setting conditions for their re-emergence of another extremist group.

some even point to barack obama withdrawing troops from iraq and setting the stage for isis to take land in that country. >> brennan: that was campaign talking point. >> trump campaigned hard against terrorism. also sees, those, the idea that we have military missions around the world as flaw of previous administrations on both sides of the aisle. that hits his instinct to withdraw troops. to do it at campaign rally, get applause lines without setting the stage with your national security cabinet going against their advice does not make sense. the same way he sort of accepted this negotiations with north korea in face to face meeting surprised everybody in the way he came out with that. i think it's a hard way to run your national security. >> one of the things people haven't focused on right after he said the syria thing in ohio he also complained about trillions we spent in the middle east, spend money more on schools here if we didn't spend those trillions in the middle

east. had me thinking that, what does that say to our military? what does that say about what they're doing, job that they're trying to carry out, ability to try to get syria back to some attempt at stability. i was also struck because we had someone die in syria. >> master sergeant jonathan dunbar died of ied on the same week that trump is saying these things. >> freezing funding that is used to move. >> exactly. we have to leave it there unfortunately. so much to talk about as always. i'd like to thank our panel for coming in on the holiday we'll be back in a moment. at&t has a network with thousands of best-in-class security experts. which means...

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>> brennan: would salt down recently with united nations high commissioner filippo grandi. providing protection distribute aid, managing settlement program. his organization has identified over 65 million displaced people worldwide. we spoke with him about three major refugee crises. muslims leave burma cross into neighboring bangladesh. syrians trying to escape inside that country. and congolese in the democratic

republic. we're in the midst of the worst refugee crisis since world war ii. do you have the resources you need? >> not enough. not enough. not only that but we need of course humanitarian resources to address the basic needs, food, medicine, shelter, protection, especially for the most vulnerable women, children. but we increasingly need with this protracted crisis, the average -- these days is maybe 15-20 years. >> in a refugee camp? >> or in refugee situation. that is the nature of the crisis. >> brennan: in terms of political leadership the president has capped number of refugees with the united states will resettle here on the u.s. mainland of about 45,000 for 2018. does that concern you to see

those caps? >> we are discussing this matter with the u.s., we hope that once this analysis of the vetting procedure is completed, once measures are taken to more robust already. then we can talk about larger figures again. >> brennan: i want to ask you about some specific cases. in burma, there are 700,000 people who flooded into bangladesh which is itself one of the poorest countries in the world. >> not only poor, but couple of times. the area of bangladesh where they have flooded in is extremely exposed to climate phenomena like monsoon, rains like typhoons like flooding. it's a very fragile area from the environmental point. >> brennan: to see images from that area and food scarcity, men

clamoring for bags of rice. infants, babies, dead in their mother's arms because of what they have fled just to get to these camps. are you seeing advocacy from the united states on this issue? who do you even meet with in the trump administration? >> when people in the state department that are responsible for refugee assistance have been very active. >> brennan: there's no one running that program right now because there hasn't been someone appointed. >> but the professionals, the officials that are have been working very hard on response. it's not a very well-known population. not very well-known cause, but i think that is growing. at least that can help in the response. we need to find the solution. that's the most difficult, back in their country, back in burma. >> brennan: in syria just past the 7th anniversary of that

war. is the refugee flow slowing down at all? >> the refugee flow has many people exiting syria to the neighboring countries has slowed down awhile ago because the borders are practically closed. europe having closed borders two years ago this has provoked chain reaction. >> brennan: no where to run. >> for syria there's no where to run outside the country. we've seen on the other hand and because of that, big increase in internal refugees. >> brennan: there's no solution for that in sight. do you feel there's global fatigue when it comes to donating or support for these refugees? >> there might be. also a mat are of sheer numbers. i have to travel the world, and every time bring a new situation

which requires funding. but what can i do? i often say that we have become unable to make peace. >> brennan: you're going as you said to political capitals sort of door to door asking for help for all of these crises. how do you prioritize africa? where does that fall? >> it's difficult, because africa is far away. africa is the continent that is perhaps the furthest away from the rich country. and in an era of mobility, when refugees become visible when they come at the doorstep, it's more difficult for people who don't get to that doorstep. and remain refugees or displaced far away. >> brennan: they're not seen. >> they're not seen. they're in visible. africa has never been at the center of the strategic interest of the big powers unfortunately.

of course there are many important interests there as well. it is more difficult to make the case for african refugees, but i would argue it should be equally compelling. i think it's fundamental message that i would like to leave behind for those who listen, those who watch is remember that refugees are not -- should not be seen as threat. refugees are people who are fleeing from unimaginable threats. >> brennan: must frustrate you when you hear the president only speak about refugees in the context of national security threat. >> what i think government does not have responsibility to ensure that population movements including refugees do not bring insecurity. we see the progress. that's why we support controls, but fundamentally somebody is assessed as being refugee he or she should be received, should

be gave protection that this person has lost in his or her country and uncountries like united states should be given the opportunity to millions of refugees have done. >> brennan: it's not easy to resettle in the u.s. >> well, it is still the largest resettlement program in the world. like i said once this issue of vetting has been clarified i hope that the speakers can rise again. >> brennan: no promises yet on that? >> ongoing discussion. >> brennan: we'll be back in a moment. if you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse. help stop the journey of gum disease. try parodontax toothpaste. ♪ hey allergy muddlers: are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool?

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>> brennan: that's it for us today. we hope you have a happy easter and pass over and until next week for "face the nation" i'm margaret brennan. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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