sunday and monday. we're thinking about him and the whole bush family. they conducted themselves with a sort of grace and dignity that makes the whole country proud. my thanks to phil, joyce, and jonathan for spending the hour with me. that does it for our hour. mtp daily starts right now with katy tur in for chuck. >> hi. if it is tuesday, is the doctor in or out? >> tonight taking the post of rob by jackson's confirmation. >> i'm looking forward to the hearings. >> will the personnel files of the president's personal doctor cost him his nod for va chief? >> i don't want to put a man through a process like this. it's too ugly and disgusting. >> plus there's no such thing as a stupid question. unless, apparently, it's about michael cohen. >> stupid question. >> and special election day in arizona. can the democrats rise up from the political ashes of an anti-trump cloud in deep red

phoenix? this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. >> good evening. i'm katy tur in new york. welcome to another cabinet controversy for president trump. the prognosis for dr. ronny jackson right now is not good. senate leaders postponed a hearing today to consider jackson's nomination to lead the department of veteran's affairs. the republican chairman of the committee and his democratic counterpart cited, quote, serious allegations against jackson who's currently the white house physician. according to multiple reports, the committee is looking at allegations that jackson allowed the overprescribing of drugs and drank on the job. and the ep is now reporting that a 2012 inspector general report

cited unprofessional behavior and considered removing him. this afternoon president trump left the door open for jackson to withdraw while speaking with reporters with emanuel macron. >> i told admiral jax an while ago -- admiral jackson a while ago, what do you need this for? i don't want to put a man through this process. it's ugly and disgusting. i wouldn't do it. what does he need it for? to be abused by a bunch of politicians that aren't thinking nicely about our country? i really don't think personally he should do it, but it's his. i would stand behind him. his decision. >> to be clear, that was the president suggesting the person he wants to hire shouldn't go through the job interview. it was basically a flashing neon sign pointing to an exit ramp. the president also said he wasn't aware of the allegations

facing dr. jackson. typically the president and his team vet their nominees to avoid these kinds of situations, or at least to have answers for them. for now, jackson indicated he still is plowing ahead with his nomination, but he didn't deny the allegations when pressed by our garrett haake today on capitol hill. >> reporter: dr. jackson, can you say anything about the allegations that have come out against you in the last few days? >> i'll just say i was looking forward to the hearing tomorrow. disappointed it got resjed. >> reporter: you've seen the allegations about overprescribing medications and drinking on the job. are you saying they're untrue? >> i'm saying i'm looking forward to the hearing so i can answer the questions. >> we should note two administration sources tell us prior internal white house reviews found nothing out of the ordinary involving dr. jackson. and jerry moran says dr. jackson

denied the allegations when the two recently spoke. even before the allegations surfaced, lawmakers had concerns about someone with no experience running a large bureaucracy, becoming the leader of the second largest bureaucracy in the government and they've been handed another nomination that doesn't appear to be fully vetted. >> based on your meeting with him so far, do you think he's qualified to lead the v.a.? >> the jury is out. >> the allegations that have come out against admiral jackson are very -- >> there were questioning about him to begin with, whether he has management experience. this is about the biggest bureaucracy there is that he'd be asked to manage and whether his experience lends itself do that. that's a real question. >> and those were the republicans. guys, jackson isn't the only current or prospective member of president trump's cabinet in the

spotlight. multiple republican leaders want reviews on scott pruitts, pompeo's nomination for secretary of state barely made it through a senate panel yesterday, and gina has pel's record on torture is under scrutiny. no secretary in the agent's history has ever gotten a vote in opposition. could dr.on ronny jackson be th first? i'm joined with a reporter who broke a story involving dr. jackson and garrett haake on capitol hill. i want to start with ken. the report from the ig from 2012 saying there was unprofessional behavior saying the staff felt like they were working for parents caught in a bitter divorce because the way dr. jackson was acting with a rival doctor? >> that's right. it basically describes a power

struggle in 2012 involving dr. jackson and a rival doctor at the time who was president obama's top physician, that there was a very high level of tensions between the two leaders of this unit. it provides some idea of what should have happened back then. it recommends that they should have considered replacing one or both of the senior leaders of the office of the physician to the president and the director of the white house medical unit. it also says there should have been clear lines of authority and responsibility needed. it doesn't get into any mention of overprescribing or drinking on the job. those questions have been raised as part of dr. jackson's nomination, but it does put him in the middle in the thick of a

real tough situation in the white house and calls into question his leadership capabilities. >> ken, let's talk about the vetting process. that sort of thing would usually come up in the vetting process when you're trying to install somebody as a cabinet secretary. no? >> absolutely. it speaks to the lack of vetting process we've seen here so far. as you may remember, dr. jackson was kind of like a surprise pick for v.a. secretary. his name hadn't been floated prior to that, and there wasn't a lot of reviewing from what we can tell of his background. the president has a very got rapport with dr. jackson. he believes in him. he spoke about that earlier knead. in terms of his ability to run the v.a. which is a sprawling organization. it's an agency that's had a lot of trouble in the past, that draws -- calls into question his ability to do so. >> the white house says the president wasn't aware of any of these allegations. why was the president not aware

of this when he's the president's nominee? >> that's a good question. we were able to review this report and it's really not clear how far up the chain of demand it has gone. whether it was something that the president was able to review before he made the nomination. it's really unclear how long they've known about these allegations in this report. >> garrett, where do things stand on capitol hill? i know you talked to dr. ronny jackson earlier today as he was going from meeting to meeting. he didn't deny the allegations when you asked him about them. >> he didn't specifically deny the allegations. he only asked that he have a hearing and have a chance to discuss them more fully. the ap's reporting creates a separate problem for dr. jackson in the existence of the ig report, i have him on tape today saying there is no i.g. report related to any of the allegations against him. he apparently told a senator the same thing. it's the number two republican

on the veteran's affairs committee. i cannot imagine he will take kindly to being misled if, indeed, that's what dr. jackson was doing by denying the existence of this report that the associated press has now found. you played some of the republican senators offering some of their concerns about dr. jackson. most of those were from folks we talked to earlier this morning. as the day wore on, i don't get any sense those folks felt more favorably inclined toward him. we're in the same position we saw with mike pompeo where if democrats as a group decide that dr. jackson is not a suitable pick, republicans can't afford any defection. and right now republicans are just as concerned as democrats about this new allegations that really surfaced late thursday and over the weekend. >> a v.a. secretary has never gotten a vote in pop situation before. this could be the first time. tell me how this nomination might be different for lawmakers

on capitol hill than, say, secretary of state or defense secretary. >> well, there's a couple of different factors in play. first, the veteran's affair committee likes to work in a bipartisan manner. typically you might even see the chairman and the ranking members decide yes or no, up or down, that they're going to support someone and you'd see the committee vote following the recommendations of the chairperson and the ranking member, and so today, the fact that the chair, a republican, and the ranking member, a democrat, sent that joint letter to the white house asking for more information suggests a block of problems, not a single senator problem here. and second, which we've been talking about for quite some time, dr. jackson's resume is unlike almost anyone who has run an organization like this. typically you see a hospital executive like david shulkin or a general who has led a larger organization within the military. that's not reflected in dr. jackson's background.

>> we're just reporting right now peter alexander is reporting that a white house official has told us that dr. jackson did meet with the president today in the oval office. that official is calling it a positive meeting. ken, last question to you. when i was watching this press conference that joint press conference with macron and the president was saying he told dr. ronny jackson he didn't have to do this, it's a disgusting process. it seemed to me there was a big neon sign pointing to a six-lane exit ramp for dr. jackson. in your estimate administrati, chances the nomination goes away in the next 24 hours? >> it seemed to be that the president was laying the groundwork for dr. jackson to withdraw his nomination. sources tell us within the white house that there is a wait and see going on. they'd like to see if dr. jackson could, perhaps, survive the next 24, 48 hours, see if he

could come out of this situation in a better position, perhaps, reschedule a hearing, but the question is does this report, these findings from back in 2012 make that more difficult? and as garrett points out, if he's suggesting to senators that he knew nothing about an i.g. report and yet, he appears to have ordered this up in 2012, that could be a big problem. >> ken thomas and garrett haake, thank you. joining me now is a member of the senate of the veteran's affairs committee. thank you for being here. >> good to be here. >> we got word confirming the allegations against dr. jackson include improperly dispensing drugs. being drunk while traveling on the job and a hostile work environment. have you heard that? >> i have. i don't have first-hand

knowledge. that's what i hear. now that you're referencing the i.g. report, that's more problematic to me. to have a report that focusing on an intense rivalry that dr. jackson had to the point where the report suggests that either one or both of them being removed, it raises huge questions in my mind as to whether he can lead an agency with over 350,000 employees and a $200 billion budget. >> that's the managing aspect. again, this is the second largest bureaucracy, but i have to say it sounds like a pretty big deal to have your colleague confirming that he's improperly dispensing drugs. we have an opioid crisis in the country. i'm not sure if it was those drugs in particular. being drunk while traveling on the job? i mean, he's confirming the allegations. excuse me. >> that's right. >> confirming the allegations, that's a pretty big deal for the senate. what are your thoughts on

whether this nomination goes through? >> the president really left -- for the president to say it is up to ronny jackson whether he wants to go to the process says to me the white house is not going to be putting forth a great deal of effort to support their nominee. this is their nominee. it's just in my view, crazy. apparently they didn't vet him very well, and all of these allegations are coming out to the point where you have both the chair and the ranking member of the veteran's affair committee writing together because this is a committee that likes to work in a bipartisan way. and particularly to support the secretary of the v.a. which is a huge position that has responsibility for millions of veterans. >> the committee also wants information dating back to 200 6. do the concerns, the allegations go back that far? >> if they do, that's what i heard.

the fear 2006 popped up, but who knows? so we have 2006 coming forward. we have 2012, i.g. report. obviously we need a lot more information, and i'm glad the ranking member and the chair of the committee sent a letter saying we want more information. >> who are you hearing that from, the 2006? >> that was in one of the news reports. this is why we need more time. we need more information, because there are all of these allegations being put forth. they're very concerning. and i would say the i.g. report is something that we can definitely look at and read and judge for ourselves what's going on, but obviously we need information as to the other allegations that are very serious. >> does this give you concern or any pause for the vetting process in general within the trump administration? are you happy so far with the various picks for cabinet positions and how they perform their job? i mean, i'm looking at scott pruitt facing a number of

allegations as well. >> zinke. we have an education secretary who doesn't even believe in the public schools, public education. we have a secretary of of hud who had no experience. yes, i have serious concerns not just to the executive branch appointments but the judicial nominees also have not been terribly well vetted in my view. >> i just want to be clear. your knowledge of the jackson allegations just come from news reports? >> right now, yes. >> how is that possible? >> because i do not have firsthand knowledge, but i want to be able to ascertain what's really happening, but i would say that the i.g. report is an independent source that i would want to look at and read. but -- >> but senator, you're on the committee. how do you not have access to this information? >> because this information just came out on thursday and friday. >> got it. so if you think -- if this stuff

pans out and you do an investigation, do you think dr. jackson should withdraw his nomination? >> i would not be surprised if he does withdraw his nomination, but on the other hand, if the nomination goes through and we have a hearing, he'll be a very much scrutinized as to his -- these allegations as well as his suitability for the job. this is a huge position. and we want somebody who can get as much of the support of the committee as possible. as you mentioned, all of our v.a. secretaries have had pretty much unanimous support from the committee. that's the least we should expect. and the way things are going, we're not going to get that with this nominee. >> just for the record, dr. jackson has served multiple presidents. president bush and president obama. and he's got an lot of glowing recommendations. three former v.a. secretaries have praised him as qualified. could they be wrong? >> yes. this kind of information can

prove them all wrong. obviously if there have been adequate vetting, this information would have been made available to us much sooner than on practically the eve of his nomination hearing. which had to be postponed or cancelled. >> senator, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> and we've got more on the cabinet controversies ahead. plus french president emanuel macron's trip to washington is about more than handshakes. their differences on iran were on full display today as president trump threatened iran.

you might take something for your heart... or joints. but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember.

sure. mom,what's up son?alk? i can't be your it guy anymore. what? you guys have xfinity. you can do this. what's a good wifi password, mom? you still have to visit us. i will. no. make that the password: "you_stillóhave_toóvisit_us." that's a good one. [ chuckles ] download the xfinity my account app and set a password you can easily remember. one more way comcast is working to fit into your life, not the other way around. welcome back. tonight immediate the midterms. it's special election day in arizona. this is another special election that could serve as an early morning sign this november. no matter which candidate wins today. the race is in arizona's eighth congressional district. it pits democrat tiperneni

against lesko. president won this district by 21 points in 2016. it's unlikely that democrats will flip it. but we are keeping a close eye on the margin of victory do to the see what it can tell us about democratic enthusiasm. we've seen double digit improvements by democrats in special congressional elections in the trump era from montana to pennsylvania. we'll see if the pattern comes tonight. we'll have more on this race plus a deeper look at the midterm environment and the enthusiasm gap coming up. we'll be back in 60 seconds.

for all the noses that stuff up around pets. there's flonase sensimist. it relieves all your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. and all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. flonase sensimist. ♪ with expedia you could book a flight, hotel, car and activity all in one place. ♪ welcome back. let's bring in our panel. jonathan alter, kaitlyn huey

burns, and john pothorts. >> why are you adding more intros? >> i didn't write it. >> let's talk about ronny jackson. a senator is going through the allegations on npr as he knows them, and they're pretty extensive. 20 plus military personnel said they received improper prescriptions of sleep aids or wakefulness meds. jackson was repeatedly drunk while on duty caring for the president and jackson was belittling and abusive toward staff. his nomination is going down the toilet. right? how do you survive that? >> in any other administration -- >> drunk while treating the president. >> but the president doesn't care. so in any other administration, his nomination would be dead, and it probably is, but you can't say for sure in this administration for the same reasons that dictated his being

named to the post in the first place. he had no business being named to this post much less not being vetted by the white house beforehand. he has no management experience. it's like saying that you're going to have your barber run the defense department. >> let's be very clear. these are allegations, and he's gotten glowing approvals and reports from past administrations. >> right. what was so stunning today, i think, is the president essentially giving him an off ramp on live television basically saying that well, he can decide, but if it were me, i wouldn't go through with it. he also raised the question. he said, is it really worth going through all of this to serve in this post? how can you recruit a viable candidate for this? this is the v.a. we're talking about. this is care for veterans, health care for veterans. the most respected members of our vote. this is an agency that is under a lot of scrutiny and pressure, of course, known for a lot of

failure. you're talking about someone leading an agency that is core to a lot of folks. a very tangible issue for a lot of people -- >> a big deal for a lot of folks. >> it's health care. it's massive. >> it's a huge deal and the head of the v.a. who became the secretary for veterans affairs was an obscure figure in american politics. i think now ronny jackson is the most famous person who will have been mentioned in connection to the job. i thought the amazing thing the president said was nobody knows how to run this agency. it's too big. if you pick the head of the largest hospital or hospital system in america, it's tiny. no one can run -- >> hold on. >> he could pick anybody because no one knows how to run it. that's what the president said. >> this is a president who ran on this idea that he would pick the best people. he was the best person to hire the best people. and when i would talk to people who voted for donald trump, that is exactly what they would say.

oh, he might not know anything but anything, but he'll hire the people that do, and this is not just ronny jackson. he has scott pruitt facing a number of allegations of misusing tack payer dollar -- taxpayer dollars. zinke, price, ben carson. >> there's a word i learned. i should have known it. you probably knew it. a greek word that means government by the worst. so obviously -- >> john brennan tweeted it. right? >> in ancient greece they'd have a bunch of losers in government. they had a word for it. it is every administration has its clunkers. it's impossible to avoid that. but in this administration, it's like almost every one of them is incompetent. >> and the thing with this particular position is that

shulkin was on the ropes for so long. you had such a long runway to vet someone to replace him. it was the worst-kept secret in washington and here that he was going to be replaced at some point. so the fact that you have no vetting, the president picking someone that he just generally liked, it raises questions. whether or not these allegations are true, the fact that they're coming to right in the way they are. >> the fact that there are no answers from the administration. if hay had done vetting they'd say we looked into this. here's what we found. >> let's talk about vetting. there's two purposes. one is to ensure you're hiring somebody who is fit for the job. and the other is a political one which is to protect the president from embarrassment if the nomination is bad. but what happens when you have a president who can't be embarrassed? there is no vetting, because it is an unnecessary -- in this white house, that is an unnecessary feature of governance. trump cannot be embarrassed. he cannot be humiliated or

shamed by the decisions, and to they're -- he's like let's pick ronny. they're like if you want him, go ahead. >> he can't be embarrassed when it comes to naming somebody, but he can be if he thinks it's going to hurt his image. that's why he may be cutting him loose. i think the thing that ronny jackson is most vulnerable on is the drinking. donald trump prides himself on the fact that he has never touched any alcohol. his brother died from alcoholism. and so he takes that really seriously. >> let's remember why he likes ronny jackson. he likes ronny jackson because ronny jackson took to the podium in the white house briefing room and said he did so great on his cognitive medical exams, i've never seen anyone, 30 out of 30. he was amazing. and so trump's like you did great for me. let me give you something. >> what does it say about this president, though, that what matters to him most is how

flattering a person can be toward him? >> period. >> you really need an answer? i mean -- >> i'm serious. >> he's a child king. >> i think the answer is, again, this is the -- you're saying he might pull the plug because he's -- he understands embarrassment. i'm saying he cannot be embarrassed. he says he wants ronny jackson. no one there will say to him or says to him wait two weeks. let's make sure that he didn't so and so didn't kill somebody with his car. it's like i want him. that's fine. >> so and so -- >> because he's not defensive of his reputation, you can't expect the people under him to be wildly defensive of his reputation. >> i will say going back to what this pgs is, you mentioned the president campaigned as someone who hired the best people, but also someone who would be there for veterans. he said as much today. i think by having someone -- there is bipartisan reaction here. there has been democrats opposed to a lot of the nominees.

this is an issue that is striking on both sides of the aisle. republicans very concerned because, again, as we were talking about this is an issue that's tangible to folks and important to a lot of people. >> donald trump, i got to say, didn't put out a lot of policy papers during the campaign. he did put out a veterans care paper. that was relatively early on. that was one of the issues he took more seriously than many of the others from almost the start. we are going to come back. we'll talk about this more. john, kaitlyn, and john. too many johns. john, kaitlyn, and todd. voters head to the polls in another special election. we're live in phoenix with how the outcome tonight could impact the potential blue midterm wave.

would president trump pardon michael cohen? the president called it a stupid question today, but is it really? and don't miss us this weekend as we go into depth on michael cohen. what does he know and how loyal is he to the president? don't miss "headliners" on msnbc. it took a whole lot more. that's why i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. everything.

and that 2% cash back adds up to thousands of dollars each year... so i can keep growing my business in big leaps! what's in your wallet? with a $500,000 life insurance policy. how much do you think it cost him? $100 a month? $75? $50? actually,duncan got his $500,000 for under $28 a month.

less than a dollar a day. his secret? selectquote. in just minutes, a selectquote agent will comparison shop nearly a dozen highly-rated life insurance companies, and give you a choice of your five best rates. duncans wife cassie got a $750,000 policy for under $22 a month. give your family the security it needs at a price you can afford. ♪ when i first came to ocean bay, what i saw was despair.

i knew something had to be done. hurricane sandy really woke people up, to showing that we need to invest in this community. i knew having the right partner we could turn this place around. it was only one bank that could finance a project this difficult and this large, and that was citi. preserving affordable housing preserves communities. so we are doing their kitchens and their flooring and their lobbies and the grounds. and the beautification of their homes, giving them pride in where they live, will make this a thriving community once again. ♪ welcome back. if it's tuesday, somebody is voting somewhere. and as we've said today that somewhere is arizona.

joining me now from phoenix is arizona native msnbc vaughn. vaughn, you're following the races out there. 150,000 ballots were already cast before today. what is the early voting telling you about how this race might end up? >> reporter: we know how the parties break down at the end of the day. 40 % of the early ballots are from republicans. 20 from democrats. the other 23 are independents. let's say tipirneni, the former e.r. physician. three children that went through local schools. she had a campaign. what does she have to do to win? let's say she gets 95% of democrats and 15% of republicans. with those numbers, she'd have to win 70% of independents at this point. the numbers are large to

overcome, but it's something when you talk here, to some voters on the ground, it's something we should pay attention to. i don't think it's out of the blue that she could pull off something here. >> i spoke to hiral tipirneni on my 2:00 p.m. show in fact she was pushing back against much of what her rival was saying. she's not for border security funding. she was talking about smart funding. in terms of democratic enthusiasm, even if she does not win tonight, or tomorrow if the count goes on that long, what would democrats were a win in terms of enthusiasm on the ground there? >> reporter: well, we should note the west valley, these are the western suburbs of phoenix. they opened their first field office for the democratic party for the first -- they are operating out of. they've tripled the number of

precinct committees from last year alone. the amount of enthusiasm from an activist level is high. even if they don't pull out tonight, if they can get it within five to ten points, that's a big difference from when trump won by 21%, they think that gives them hope heading into november. >> you know phoenix well. you're from the area. does it feel different? >> reporter: if you told me a couple years ago when i left arizona i'd be covering a race in the west valley, 80% of the ballots are people 55 and older. it's different is the conversation around education. around guns. there's a lot of frustration among republicans that said here in the state that at the state level the legislature is not taking action over these decades in which they've watched really republican legislatures as they say, falter and not stand up. it's a little too late for them. they said they're considering

voting for a democrat. >> i met vaughn hillwayard at a trump rally when he was a knew b -- new reporter and so was it. how far we've come. let's bring back our panel. democratic enthusiasm is what we keep talking about. democrats don't need to win. look at how much they've closed the gap in the ballots. do you think that this idea that the democrats are building up a giant blue wave is getting a little overstated? >> i do. i just wrote a piece about that yesterday in "the daily beast". i think it is. take the special elections. if there's a special election, the money comes in big time from all over the country. and the democrat can be competitive. in a local race you have to have money to win, and in presidential politics not so much, but if you're running for

congress, if you're underfunded, it's hard to breakthrough and win. in the special elections, the democrats are getting funded. crowd sourced from all over the country. but when 435 of them are running in november, you're not going to be able to crowd source and compete as well with the 40 $0 million that the koch brother's network is going to put into the election. >> the republican party is still raising a lot of money. >> they are, but if you look at the last quarter, democrats outpaced republicans in most house and senate races across the country. they have momentum. republicans i talk to say they're meeting their target numbers in the special elections that republicans are. democrats are overperforming certainly. but republicans are hemorrhaging independent voters. that's the target group. that's where the anti-trump sentiments are kind of filtering in. i was talking to people in arizona today. not so much for the house race but the senate race in november. that's a long and divisive primary and the democrat is

running really with no opposition. and having basically several months to define herself. that could be a pickup opportunity down the road. >> a wave, if we're talking about a wave. if a wave happens, a lot of this doesn't matter. in other words, money doesn't matter. a wave is a national move where anyone bending, everybody bends the same way. so you have a national pattern that defeats local realities, let's say. so even if there isn't a wave, however, the democratic challenge for winning the house is not vast. democrats need to win 23 seats. this is a midterm election. republicans control the presidency and both houses of congress. in almost every midterm election over the last 40 years, the party out of power has done as well or better than democrats need to do whether there was a wave or not. when there's a wave, that means 60 seats, 50 seats, 40 seats.

if that happens and one of the things that could happen tonight is let's just say that the democrat wins in arizona. that will be panic. that will be -- that is the -- >> is that like jumping ship on donald trump, republicans? >> it won't help them to jump ship on donald trump. that would be they're done for. that's the it's unlikely, but if it happens you might see retirements and oall of that. >> you've already seen retirements. >> 46 retirements. i agree. i think it's more likely there's going to be some kind of a wave, but democrats are getting awfully docawfu awfulawfu awfully cocky. they're distracting themselves. they need to focus on job one, the house. a lot of them don't even know about the competitive house races in their areas. >> it's also important to note there's a difference between the house map and the senate map. the senate map is very favorable for republicans. >> yes. exactly. all right.

stay with us. the latest on the health of former president george h.w. bush when we come back.

ancestrydna has 5x more detail than other tests... ...and it's now on sale for just $59. it can lead you on an unexpec ted journey... ...to discover your heritage. get ancestrydna for just $59. the lowest price of the year. welcome back. we're monitoring the condition of former president george h.w. bush in texas. he was admitted to the hospital one day after the funeral for his wife, former first lady barbara bush. the former president contracted an infection that spread to his blood. today those familiar with his condition tell nbc news the

former president is doing a bit better. a spokesman said mr. bush is responding to treatments and is recovering. the former president is 93 years old. he has a form of parkeninson's disease and has been hospitalized due to respiratory problems over the years. we'll be sure to update you on his health as we get them. in the meantime, we'll be right back. vo: gopi has built her business with her own two hands.

each unique piece comes to life in the same way... a messy, sloppy, splattery way. but now she's found a way to keep her receipts tidy, even when nothing else is. brand vo: snap and sort your expenses with quickbooks and find, on average, $4,340 in tax savings. smarter business tools for the world's hardest workers.

quickbooks. backing you. so let's promote our spring travel deal on choicehotels.com like this. earn one free night when you stay just twice this spring. allergies. or, badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com mr. president, what about michael cohen? are you considering a pardon for him? >> thank you very much. stupid question. >> not happy. time now for the panelists. god, he was not happy with that question. he could barely contain himself. he really just wanted to say stupid question. >> the cohen question is getting to the president and the question is why he's concerned about cohen and the possibility of cohen flipping. we still don't know what this is

all about. right? but the fact that the president is so concerned about it, there's also been questions about pardons. the president has been giving out a few of them in recent weeks and raising questions about what kind of message what message he's trying to send. >> they won't say no we would not ever pardon someone for a crime. >> there was an interesting develop which is that jeff session, the attorney general, said he was not going to recuse himself from the cohen matter which is important because it suggests that where the cohen investigation is going, in the justice department's eyes is unconnected with the russia investigation. >> we'll see if that pans out. we've been told the back off sochl th some of that reporting. that could end up be the case and would make the president happier. >> it's only about his business

practice. >> can we not just -- are we making a big leap saying they are in any way trying to tie the president into this? is that a leap? >> i don't think we don't know. we're all paid to pretend like with do. we haven't seen the warrant. >> we're not paid to pretend like we no something. >> not pretend just speaking for myself i probably speculate about where things are going for i should. i want to focus on one trivial thing. when trump brushed the dandruff off of macron's shoulder. it's like when he said to larry king, you've got bad breath. the really serious thing is that it's kind of macron's last

attempt to try to save this iran deal. if he can't convince trump to move past this may 12th deadline, we could be on a collision course with iran. europe is terrified of this. ten years is what the deal calls for. to try to take us into a crisis by blowing up this deal would be one of the worst things done. >> it's not just him that wants to do this. there are some high profile republican senators that are advocating for it as well. >> and mike pompeo. >> there's real chorus of people saying you've got to get out of this. does that make it so, i don't

know. what do you think of that? >> i think there two things going on. one is i think it's a terrible deal and if there were a strategy beyond not signing the waiver and blowing up the deal, if there were a procedure that had been laid out in place to where we go once we extra indicate ourselves from it, that would make me a lot more confident the policy wads thought there. it's extremely badly timed thing to have the iran thing blow up. in the mideast you have a country that is six months to a year away from being able to develop one.

that just seems irrational. >> you have macron coming in and he's being very chumbhrmy with president. either way if he doesn't go back to france with an assurance from the president he's not going to get out of the iran deal, what does it say? donald trump is a great negotiator and not going to negotiate something he doesn't want or he's someone you cannot negotiate with? period. >> macron wants that and wants to be a player on the world stage. going to the u.s. is a big deal for him. we have seen in other decisions that the president like kind of does something. he campaigned against this deal but has been pushing it back. he was saying we can build upon

this. >> jonathan, i forgive you for hijacking our past panel. that's because you are so well color coordinated today. purples. springtime in new york. unwrapping the art of the official state gift.

alright, i brought in high protein to help get us moving. ...and help you feel more strength and energy in just two weeks! i'll take that. -yeeeeeah! ensure high protein. with 16 grams of protein and 4 grams of sugar. ensure. always be you.

we use our phones the same way these days. so why do we pay to have a phone connected when we're already paying for internet? shouldn't it all just be one thing? that's why xfinity mobile comes with your internet. you can get up to 5 lines of talk and text included at no extra cost. so all you pay for is data. see how you could save $400 or more a year. and get $200 back when you sign up for xfinity mobile and add a new line of unlimited. xfinity mobile. it's a new kind of network designed to save you money. click, call or visit an xfinity store today.

in case you missed it, you're not supposed to lock a gift visit in the house. the state visit is forcing us to cast that aside. gift horse, open wide. it's a long and proud tradition and the gifts use -- and the gifts used to be pretty epic. teddy roosevelt got a zebra and a lion. richard nixon got a panda. president bush received 300 pounds of raw lamb. president macron presented president trump with a sapling from a french forest. it's a lovely gesture but it's no zebra. do you know what we gave them in return. a chair. not a chair. a piece of a chair. a part of a chair.

a piece of upholstery set into a gr frame. they will give them a photo album which is really more than an iou than a gift. we can do better white house. let's make gift giving great again. next time give the whole chair or maybe really fancy lint roller. that's all for tonight. chuck will be back tomorrow with more mtp daily. the beat with ari melber starts now. tonight our top story is a big one. what bob mueller was looking for when he had the feds raid paul m manafort's home. the office rarely leaks but we have evidence of how he's runts hu hunting evidence. it shows when mueller sent agents to raid paul manafort's home they were seeking evidence on the infamous 2016 trump