dr. ronny jackson. dr. jackson, you'll recall, made a name for himself, you might say, by declaring the president to be in excellent health. but i'm told by a white house official that some of these questions about david shulkin, ethical questions over at the va were becoming too big of a distraction for him to carry out the president's agenda when it comes to reforming care for our nation's veterans.

dr. ronny jackson is highly trained is and qualified. however, dr. jackson has no real management experience. if confirmed, he will run the federal government's second largest department which has hundreds of thousands of employees and continues to be plagued by in efficiencies. >>> all right. the latest white house shakeup is happening as the white house times is reporting that former lawyer john dowd floated the idea of pardoning michael flynn and paul manafort at the same time that the special counsel was building cases against both men. was dowd trying to influence flynn and manafort from cooperating with the investigation? if so, and the president knew, you have another big piece in what might be part of an obstruction investigation. let's begin our coverage. abby phillip live at the white house with our top story. good morning, ab. >> reporter: good morning, chris. another day, another turnover. another day of tumult here at the white house. this time it is the v.a. secretary david shulkin who is out and the president's personal physician comin

dr. ronny jackson that the president likes? >> he is very sharp and articulate.ot of energy and stapmina. >> we may have figured it out. as a doctor with no management experience the best to lead the second largest agency? more on the shakeup next. hi, i'm bo jackson. for years, i was the king of both football and baseball. but now that i'm getting older, my body is starting to slow down. that's because after the age of 40, your body produces less free testosterone, making it harder to get in shape. thankfully, i found alpha king from force factor. (avo) and now every man in america can claim a complimentary bottle of alpha king by texting buzz to 809-809. force factor was recently named gnc's breakout brand of the year, and alpha king is their latest scientific innovation. it contains an exclusive new male vitality ingredient to help boost free testosterone, delivering more energy and more lean muscle during workouts. soon everyone will notice the new you. i couldn't believe the results i achieved with alpha king. i feel like a new man, and you can, too! (avo) i

dr. ronny jackson. unsurprisingly the performance on tv had to do with the selection. dr. jackson's white house briefing said the president's health played a part in his decision. here's a little throwback thursday. >> no indication he has any cognitive issues. the president is sharp and articulate. a lot of energy and a lot of stamina. look at his vision. he can drive if he wants to without glasses. he washes his hands frequently. he uses purell. his overall health is excellent. he has incredible genes. he will remain fit for this duty or another term if elected. >> many eyes on the confirmation hearing which dr. jackson still faces. he is an active physician serving in the navy. in 2013, he was nominated by president obama to be physician to the president. dr. jackson has been named the replacement at the v.a. recently, but people have not taken it seriously. >> the nomination is not going over well with veterans groups. the executive director of the american veterans groups says it has come to a screeching halt. we are disappointed and more so we are concerned. conce

dr. ronnie jackson tapped to oversee 360,000 federal employees and a budget of $186 billion. ly no management experience. according to "the washington post," dr. jackson himself was taken aback when he got the news that the president wanted to nominate him and expressed hess tans in taking the job. shimon prokupecz is live in washington with our top story. >> rick gates, the former campaign official with trump has been cooperating, as we know, with the mueller team. what we're told is the mueller team has been primarily using rick gates for information about what they call the central mission of the investigation which has been russian interference and collusion in the 2016 campaign. the interesting thing here and perhaps significant development is that very early on, before gates had agreed to cooperate and when he was in talks with the special counsel to cooperate, they told him we're told they did not need him for paul manafort. instead, wanted to hear about what he knew about contacts between the trump campaign and russians. now, we may have a hint as to just how mueller h

dr. ronny jackson, a rear admiral in the navy. dr. jackson has no experience running a large agency. the department of veterans affairs is the federal government second-largest agency, with 360,000 employees. shulkin had been facing criticism for various ethics violations, including using taxpayer money to pay for his wife's airfare during a trip to europe last summer. but shulkin says he's actually being ousted because of his opposition to privatizing the va which runs 1700 hospitals and clinics. in a piece for "the new york times," shulkin wrote -- "they saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed. that is because i am convinced that privatization is a political issue aimed at rewarding select people and companies with profits, even if it undermines care for veterans." the push to privatize the va has been led by a group called concerned veterans for america which is funded by the billionaire conservative koch brothers. but other veterans groups, including the veterans of foreign wars and the american legion, have opposed the privatization plans. on sunday, senator

dr. ronny jackson, admiral jackson, works inside the white house. revered by many people.choice to be va secretary? >> i think that's for the senate to determine through the confirmation process. he has the president's confidence. and as i understand it, he had the confidence of president obama as well. >> as a physician. >> for -- physician of -- that he had in the white house. now he's going to be the head of a very large agency, second only to the pentagon. and certainly he should surround himself with those who understand how large organizations work. >> absolutely it is the senate's job to confirm this person, though you've been mentioning you're doing district work, i know congressional office is one thing they deal with a lot, constituent services and veterans concerns. in that vain, do you think from what you see he's got the bureaucratic experience, the managerial experience to handle a department with 377,000 employees? >> his experience has been as a physician, but i wouldn't exclude the possibility that he would be a fine secretary. we have a veterans hospital

dr. ronny jackson. dr. jackson, you'll recall, made a name for himself, you might say, by declaring the president to be in excellent health. but i'm told by a white house official that some of these questions about david shulkin, ethical questions over at the va were becoming too big of a distraction for him to carry out the president's agenda when it comes to reforming care for our nation's veterans. now, that distraction, that shake up over there at the va pales in comparison to the big, very big legal questions facing the president tonight. the white house press secretary, sarah sanders, she tried to avoid answering basic questions today, whether the president has ever considered issuing pardons for former campaign chairman paul manafort and former national security adviser michael flynn. sanders also offered up the same denials in the stormy daniels scandal, which the president appears to be hiding prefer dei day now. >> good afternoon. >> reporter: dodging nearly every question coming her way, white ho

dr. ronny jackson who has been the president's pick for v.a. secretary. time with dr. jackson's glowing report on the president's health. watch this. >> at the time of examination, the president was 71 years and 7 months young. his resting heart rate was a cool 68. his weight a svelt 239 pounds. he has a gorgeous 44 inch coke bottle waist. legs that, well, they seem to go on forever. >> oh, my gosh. so how do you think this nomination is going to go? >> certainly not as smoothly as david shulkin's nomination went when he got 100 voting for him in favor. this is i think going to get much more scrutiny in terms of ronny jackson's experience, preparedness for this job, second biggest agency in the federal government obviously. and what his credentials are in the past that makes him the right manaperson to manage the e bureaucracy. i think you will see a ton of scrutiny applied. >> and just being a doctor, shulkin is a doctor too and he ran hospitals. it is not like we need somebody to better diagnose the veterans who are using this. there is home loans, all

dr. ronny jackson. if this president really does pick cabinet officials from the tv machine, dr. y jackson has not been all over tv like his colleagues. he's a navy admiral. he has made just a few tv appearances, but it was a memorable one. >> good afternoon, everyone. to start with, what i'm going to do is read to you the summary of the president's physical vitals as follows. age, 71 years and seven months at the time of the exam weight, 239 pounds, a history of elevated cholesterol and on a low dose of crestor. the president is very healthy and will remain so for the duration of his presidency. okay. with that he'll tai'll take som questions. >> can you tell me how a guy who eats mcdonald's and all those diet cokes and never exercises is in the shape that you describe. >> i would say genetics. it's just the way god made him. >> can you imagine the president watching that? the only thing he heard was good genes gen genes, blah, blah, blah. he is a rear admiral in the navy, served in the white house for the past three administrations. he is by all accounts beloved in that position

dr. ronnie jackson. reportedly the president floated this with some of his advisers. they thought he was joking or didn't think this would actually happen. but in fact, he trusts his personal white house doctor because this doctor travels with him regularly. he knows him forwardly intimately. and he has decided to give him this huge responsibility of the second biggest agency in the government. >> this is an agency with $186 billion budget, over $300,000 employees. i'm sure he certainly did well defending the president on on air at length after the physical. some of the particulars may come up in confirmation hearing, as chris was saying earlier. it is not a criteria for running this kind of brureaucracybureau. this is a president who also wanted to nominate his personal pilot to run the faa. this is who do i know, who is nearest, how about you. >> even the way we were describing it. he knows him. he likes him. he travels him. since when does that equate run with run 377,000 people, hundreds of billions of dollars will float through that thing. and we know it has been

dr. ronny jackson. th problem here is -- bedid sort of a dive into the v.a. yesterday on vice news tonight sw becouldn't find anything that looked like management for dr. jackson in terms ounning anymore kind of large organization or even small organizationeally. so while he may be a a very goo doctor, it's h see how he's going to go into something as large as the v.a., something that david shulkin had been a part of before,n' d successfully get through his term as v.a. secretary and do anything. and he's going to toews if a a lot of questions and also about privatization. most people around town trip it is that idea of pvatizing the v.a., sething that some outside parties definitely wants, that that was why he waso not goingurvive there. the other thing you have to remember is the v.a.ituge. as 351,000 full-time employees. it is, i believe, the second largest organization behinds the defense department. >> it is. shawna: lots and lots of hospitals and out-patient assignments. it isly basic a bank swell. -- as well. it gives loans it is unclear how dr. jackson

dr. ronny jackson. and we have no idea where he stands on privatization.e i've never read anything he said on that subject if he has commented on it. again, he was beloved within the obama white house and the trump white house as well, but you have concerns about the managerial experience. why? >> well, because this is a huge agency. it has had a number of scandals and challenges over the last few years. we have a lot of returning service men and women who are coming back from having served overseas. a lot of cases of ptsd and mental health issues. and we need somebody who understands how to manage and make this different operate better. >> so your vote is to be determined at this point. >> i want to hear what he has to say. >> let's shift gears if i can, obviously it was sunday night, feels like a lifetime ago, that we heard from donald trump who alleges that she had a sexual relationship with president trump and then was threatened basically into signing a non-disclosure agreement. first of all, do you believe her? >> i watched her interview. i thought s

dr. ronnie jackson? >> i can't answer that question.ent has his desires and opinions and every person has the right to pick who they want to be there. i will tell usec tear shulkin was in front of us a couple times just recently, maybe a couple weeks ago and he was asked a question numerous times about privatization or if he's been forced or pressured to do so. he said no. i will tell you within the administration and also within the veteran population, veterans are none a monolyth. there are certainly veterans who desire more private care or privatization and there are veterans that want to keep the va as it stands now. me personally, i think it's the duty of government to protect and take care of our veterans afterwards. they have to have the full responsibility. however, there are circumstance, and in my area we have the fastest growing veteran population in the nation, so there is more need for partnerships to deal with the care that's needed for that veteran population. there should be more private care available to veterans. howev

dr. ronny jackson who coincidentally said there year the president was just one pound shy of obesity.ennifer ruben of the "washington post." there's a pattern here. there's a bunch of patterns. one is leaving shulkin out to dry which he likes to do. two is not firing him in person and three picking someone that he knows personally. >> and someone who has gilded the lilly to put it mildly on his behalf. a fourth would be someone who has absolutely no qualifications for the job simply because have you been a doctor does not mean you're qualified to run mammoth bureaucracy with embedded management issues. he hasn't been a hospital administrator or run a large organization. way back when when the senate used to consider its job serious and would go through a vetting process they would say to people like this i'm sorry, you're not qualified for the job. what trump knows is that the republicans in the senate will rubber stamp just about anyone he sends up there. he will send up anyone and he will send up someone who has no qualification other than the fact ha he's personally loyal and willi

dr. ronny jackson. he is perhaps best known for his effusive praise of his parent's good health. >> i think he will make it for duty for the remainder of this term and the remainder of another term if he's elected. >> how does a guy that eats mcdonald's and all those diet cokes and never exercises is in as good a shape as you say he's in? >> it's called genetics, i don't know. to answer your question, he has good genes, that's the way god made him. >> the president was impressed with his performance and how he handled himself on camera factored into getting on the job, which is managing 370,000 employees, provide ing health care to millions of veterans, something the outgoing secretary david shulkin grappled with for better or worse. i spoke to him before air time. mr. shulkin you said you accomplished a lot in your time at the va and you think you got let go because of your opposition to privateizing the va. why do you say that? >> i think since i have been secretary we have gotten a lot done in a bipa

dr. ronny jackson, that is.you'll remember him from his stored appearance at the white house in january when he gave the president, an avid lover of fast food, a clean bill of health and said he had incredible genes. >> explain to me how a guy who eats mcdonald's and all those diet coax and never exercises is as good as shape as you say he's in. >> it's genetics. some people have great genes. i told the president if he had a healthier diet he might live for 200 years. >> dr. jackson has an impressive and lengthy resume, also served three administrations as a white house physician. but he's never run a government agency, let alone one as big as beleaguered as va 6789 it employs 36,000 people. it's been playground by charges of mismanagement for years, report after report has cited a long list of failures. so as a man with no experience in management qualified to fix what's been broken for decades. this is the director of government relations for vote vets.org. you know the stats, but hold on a second. the preside

dr. ronny jackson, the president's personal physician. he came into the public spotlight, you'll remember, just a couple of months ago in the white house briefing room when he was talking about the president's physical condition. >> there is no indication whatsoever he has any cognitive issues. the president, he's very sharp, very articulate, a lot of energy and stamina. look at his vision, he's 71 years old, he can drive if he wants to without glasses. he washes his hands frequently. he uses purell. he has incredible genes. i think he'll remain fit for duty for remainder of this term and the remainder of another term if elected. >> reporter: that is a string of sound bites from a press conference, more than an hour long. dr. jackson essentially describing the president as just a bit short of superman, saying his health is outstanding. now, it is certainly raising some questions, though, about his management experience. he's well liked. he was president obama's physician as well. this is a third administration he's worked for. but in term

dr. jackson, ronny jackson will become the next cabinet official to have to get confirmed. we're looking at three separate sets of confirmation hearings in april when the senate gets back. shulkin got confirmed 100-0. this will not be as easy for his replacement but the veterans affairs committee has a lot of democrats on it who are up for reelection including john tester who's the ranking member of that. this is not somebody who wants to pick a fight with president trump a few months before he has to get re-elected in a state that trump won. the confirmationle won't be nearly as ugly but it's just one more thing the senate will have to balance as the resolving door here continues to turn. >> in terms of what the president sees in ronny jackson, what drew him to him, a lot of people have been noting that press conference that dr. jackson gave a few months ago where he offered a very robust endorsement of the president's physical and mental health. do you have any insight into what it was that drew the president to him for this post? >> reporter: we haven't heard a lot from

is about serving the president a clean bill of health trump as an element of the white house dr ronnie jackson will become the new head of veterans affairs dr jackson has no experience managing an organization especially one with a workforce of more than three hundred thousand sources inside the white house say it was how dr jackson delivered the president's check up results that got them to job take a look. in summary the president's overall health is excellent he would benefit from a dike that is lower in fat and carbohydrates in from routine exercise regimen he has a history of elevated cholesterol and is currently on a low dose of crest or in order to further reduce his cholesterol level and further decrease his cardiac risk we will increase the dose of this particular medication it's called genetics i don't know it's a some people have you know just great genes and you know i told the president that if you had healthier god over the last twenty years you might have to be two hundred years old. all right so there you have the future head of the veterans affairs department in the united sta

dr. ronnie jackson, the president's personal physician, stepping into that role potentially if he's confirmed. he has no experience. so this is troubling development on a variety of different fronts. >> okay. let's move on to hope hicks with you, rick. because the "new york times" has the article on the void her departure leaves in the white house. it says, quote, there is a palpable worry among those in the west wing about who the president will now confide in, and how many other people might be able to pull him back now that hope hicks is gone. is hope hicks getting too much credit here or is there no one else who can fill those roles? he would call out, hopy, hopeis ster, and she would go running to him. is there no one else that can do this? >> a lot of people have a hope hicks who is there to do whatever needs to be done and quickly and main discretion. those relationships are built over a long time. no, i don't think she's immediately replaceable. the per tpupbgtry roles, sure, a lot of people can do those. you really do want someone that you can trust. he had a relationship over a long

dr. ronny jackson, the president's choice to replace shulkin, is the white house physician. >> absolutely's fit for duty. i think he will remain fit for tty for this term and even for the remainder of another term if he's elected. >> glor: jericka, you point out that shulkin was the sole obama administration holdover. why did he fall out of favor with president trump? lk reporter: well, shulkin did veliver some victories for this president, including a new law that would make it easier to fire underperforming v.a. officials. are's where shulkin and the president did not see eye-to- eye, on how to best provide healthcare for veterans. the president was focused on a system that would allow veterans stem tose private doctors, whereas shulkin wanted to work ul improving the v.a. system iternally. jeff? >> glor: jericka duncan at the gite house. jericka, thank you. now to developments in the investigation of russian meddling in the u.s. election and whether anyone in the anesident's campaign was gnvolved. for the first time the special tunsel has revealed a connection between the campaign and

secretary to leave over travel expense controversy trump wants to replace him with the white house dr ronnie jackson a south korean delegation is on its way for high level talks with north korea and the demilitarized zone that separates the two countries they're expected to finalize the details of kim jong un's meeting with south korean president. next month and this comes just days after kim surprise visit to beijing where he met the chinese president xi jinping several prisoners have been killed in a riot at a jail inside a police station in venezuela tear gas was also fired at family members demonstrating outside the facility in cariboo state they're demanding to know what happened to the prisoners. the man accused of killing six muslim worshipers at a mosque in canada last year has changed his plea twenty eight year old alexander bissonnette originally denied six charges of first degree murder and six if it's tempted murder bissonnette stormed the québec islamic cultural center in january two thousand and seventeen and shot at people gathered for prayers gunmen have attacked a hotel in central m

some of the media wanted a full meltdown mode when president trump nominated rear admiral ronny jackson to replace drdavid shulkin secretary of the veterans affairs department this week. some commentators accusing him of not having enough management experience. others ignoring qualifications, simply calling jackson trump's doctor. donald trump jr. responded to one outlet by reminding bbc he was also president obama is a doctor. his outrage justified. let's welcome tonight's panel. jessica tarlov, senior director of research at bustle.com. larry o'connor, opinion editor at "the washington times." and kayleigh mcenany, spokesperson for the rnc. >> hi, shannon. >> shannon: to give you an example of this, dr. himself who writes for "the hill," a health care columnist, says, "trump replaces veteran secretary david shulkin, larry? >> it's an outrage. they made it sound like this was donald trump's cardiologist from the mid-'90s or something. this is a man who served admirably in the navy as an admirable. admiral. he served multiple presidents. this whole thing about his qualifications, frankly, given how t

dr. ronny jackson kept rising to the top of the list. w the process is the normal senate confirmation process. many don't think that dr. jackson, the combat medic, is in any kind of disadvantage because of his lack of experience in bulky bureaucratic office buildings. >> we've had bureaucrats or individuals that understand -- kind of have the experience and the resume of hospital organizations or in the case of the obama administration general eric consecki to run the nda. >> and mr. shulkin said the trump administration wants to turn it into a privately run operation. he says -- >> president trump just a few minutes ago hinted at some big changes coming. >> we're going to have choice at the v.a. we're going to have choice for these great people. you're also going to have choice with jobs. you're going to have choice with jobs. our veterans will have choice. you're going to have choice with jobs. >> as the only obama administration man in the cabinet, shulkin is the odd man out and now he's out of a job. >> shepard: and the development in

dr. ronny jackson, the next nominee. everybody i talked to, he's beloved by everyone who knows him.s the most universal liked person in washington, but he clearly has no experience running any large organization of any kind and there's this crushing perception that he's not capable of doing this job. i'll show you a couple reactions, one long time republican lobbyist gave a two-word prediction for jackson's chances of being senate confirmation, harriet sena senate. >> a lot of veterans groups don't even know this guy. they're totally unfamiliar with him. as we look ahead to the confirmation process, there's going to be very tough questions about the democrats, his views on health care, his familiarity with benefits and member kworia services and hundreds of other things the v.a. does. right now it's tough to handicap, we don't know what people could be opposed to. we know by all accounts, he a very good white house physician and several presidents and their staff, liked him in that role. it's a big question mark to see what is he going to say, how can he survive the confirmation pro

dr. ronnie jackson made a name for himself earlier this year, remember when he gave the president that growing bill of health? watch this. >> he had great findings across the board, the one that stands out more than anything is his cardiac health. that's objective data. he has a lot of energy, a lot of energy and a lot of stamina, it's called genetics, i don't know. some people have great genes, the president he's very sharp and he's very articulate when he speaks to me, my day to day interactions with the president. the president is very intact, very sharp. >> he just missed the olympics my goodness just last month president trump talked about him being from central casting. was that his golden star to becoming va secretary. what are his qualifications to run the second largest agency. >> this is case study with how president trump chooses people. if you look at bolton, de geneva. if you look at larry kudlow and now with the white house physician here getting a big promotion, what do they all have in common? they all have excelled at going on tv and defending trump in the most over the top wa

dr. ronny jackson, who at the white house is heading up a team of about 20 doctors and nurses and health assistants in the care of the president and vice president. and he's going to the second largest bureaucracy in our government, second only to the pentagon that is just renowned for its dysfunction. it's like a recipe for disaster. >> phillip, the departure of shulkin was corleoneesque. it speaks to the out of nowhere dismissal of him yesterday. >> we spoke yesterday. we spoke about what i need to do from a policy perspective. >> that was before you were fired? >> that's correct. >> you spoke to him, he made no mention of the fact he was going to terminate you? >> that's correct. >> and then you found out via tweet? >> mr. kelly gave me a call, which i appreciated, but that was much after the phone call. >> so while not a dead carp inside newspaper, inside a bullet proof vest, that's the kind of thing that can spread anxiety among employees. >> despite the fact this wasn't totally out of the blue. he seems to have prepared an editorial in "the new york times" that got in really quickl

dr. ronny jackson. >> a man, who understands medicine. he understands the military. >> reporter: he's the doctor made famous by his marathon press conference about the president's physical and mental health. >> some people have great genes. >> reporter: there's some concern that dr. jensen make have -- may have a tricky confirmation ahead. the white house says that type of experience hasn't necessarily yielded the best results in the past. >>> veterans of the vietnam war are being celebrated across the country today to honors those who served in -- and sacrificed during the longest conflict in america's history. 45 years since comeback and combat support units withdrew from south vietnam. nearly 50,000 american troops were killed during the war. thousands more were considered pows or listed as mia. the war involved five presidents and covered nearly 2 decades. >>> a special lapel honoring their military service. these pins for those inactive duty. the front of the pin says vietnam veterans. on the back, we see the inscription, a grateful

dr. ronny jackson was taken aback when he got the news. he is taking over $186 billion budget and 377,000 employees. >>> new questions about epa administrator scott pruett. it says his 24-hour security in washington extends to some of his personal trips, including a family vacation to disneyland and sporting events. we begin with cnn's shimon with a top story. new insight about what robert mueller might have. >> reporter: good morning. we have been told, the team has been primarily using rick gates and was involved in the trump campaign for information about the central mission of the investigation which has essentially been russian interference and so-called collusion in the 2016 campaign. and what's interesting here is that we're told that early on when rick gates agreed to cooperate he basically told -- mueller's team told him they didn't need him for paul manafort and instead wanted to hear what he knew about the contacts between trump campaign associates and russians. in a recent court filing, as you know, shows in some ways how rick

dr. ronny jackson, the next nominee. everybody i talked to, he's beloved by everyone who knows him.e most universal liked person in washington, but he clearly has no experience running any large organization of any kind and there's this crushing perception that he's not capable of doing this job. i'll show you a couple reactions, one long time republican lobbyist gave a two-word prediction for dr. jackson's chances of senate confirmation, hair yet mierss. and my first reaction was omg, that's still my reaction. and the replacement has no experience. va is the hardest to manage. we think the white house has aal order ahead of it. the "new york times" reports privately several white house aides acknowledge his lack of experience could be problematic. even john brennan said i know and respect dr. jackson, terrific doctor, navy officer however he has knighter experience nor credentials to run the very large and complex va. this is a misguided nomination that will hurt both a good man and our veterans. this is how it's being received for a guy who everyone loves. >> not a great vote of c

dr. ronnie jackson is the doctor who gave the update on the president's health.exactly are his qualification to head the vm? i know he was the doctor to the last two presidents. but it is a massive organization. it is a massive management task. >> reporter: it does always help to praise the boss and i don't think that was a remote possibility that this was part of this. i was told by a white house official that part of the decision was doctor jackson's performance at that briefing. they are saying and insisting that dr. jackson did not get this job because he was heaping praise on the president's health. but the president liked dr. jackson handled himself with reporters and that was part of t as for the doctor's qualifications, a white house official pushed back and said wait a minute, dr. jackson is qualified to run the va if you take a look at his medical background. and dr. jackson was praised by previous administrations. but i don't think it ever hurts you to praise the boss and we heard a lot in that briefing about that. and apparently the president liked wh

dr. ronnie jackson, to head up the agency. it certainly speaks to the small agency of advisers he's surrounded himself with. he wants someone he's comfortable with as he looks to reshape his presidency. dr. jackson became most known when he walked into the white house briefing room and said this about the president's health. >> there is no indication whatsoever that he has any cognitive issues. the president is very sharp, he's very articulate. a lot of energy and a lot of stamina. he's 71 years old. he can drive if he wants to without glasses. he washes his hands frequently. he uses purell. the president's health is excellent because his overall health is excellent. he has incredible genes. i think he'll remain fit for this term and maybe even another term if he's elected. >> certainly all of that was music to the president's ears. important to point out that dr. jackson also was the physician for president obama but has indeed become very close to this president. and it was a surprise to virtually everyone here when he was ta

dr. ronnie jackson, who has been nominated to replace secretary shulkin, whether he has the management kmops to lead the v.a. it's leading the son into another contention round of fights. >> your view? >> i think she is right that the complications on capitol hill will did he havely be ones that the white house will have to pace. i think though you can never predict what president trump will do next he has made so many changes just in the last few weeks you get the impression that maybe he's getting the team in place that he wants to have. in addition to posts that require confirmation at capitol hill he is also bringing in a new national security adviser, a new economic adviser. they will not require confirmation. but it does have the feel of a brand-new team going into the next few months. >> now, the attack -- moving onto the send topic that jeff was reporting on, amazon, the idea is that -- is it taking advantage of the united states postal service? we have seen this president hit out on a similar topic space in december. this is not necessarily new coming after the united states postal

dr. ronnie jackson, who trump has nominated to replace shulkin is a u.s. navy admiral who was appointed white house physician back in 2013. he briefed reporters on trump's first physical exam has president. the president's overall health is excellent. the president is currently very healthy and he will remain so for the duration of his presidency. he's very ar particular ewe a lat when he speaks to me. i've never known himself to repeat himself around me. >> how a guy who eats mcdonald's and all those diet cokes and never exercises is in as good of shape as you say he's in. >> it's called genetics. i don't know. some people have great genes. i tell the president if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years, he could live to be 200 years old. >> according to the associated press, jackson's name was not among the roughly two dozen candidates the white house has been reviewing. some on capitol hill are concerned about jackson's qualifications, given his lack of experience running large organizations. national political reporter for axis jonathan swan twe

dr. ronny jackson. >> jackson, who led an emergency medical unit in iraq has personal chemistry with thedent, but no background in big management. . >> the biggest unit he had managed was the 40 some odd medical people in the white house. he has his work cut out for him. >> if confirmed, jackson would take over the government's second-largest agency, a be heem yot that handles everything from health care to burials, chronically plagued with challenges. among the challenges, determining whether to allow the veterans more access to health care, but shulkin opposed saying it was a brutal power struggle in the va writing in the "new york times," it should not be this hard to serve your country. the va has seen improvements with average wait times for a primary care visit down. still, the number of veterans waiting for care nearly doubled as the number of appointments and patients like allison bush grows. >> it's not an easy wait, not when it's affecting your everyday life so badly. >> thank you to peter alexander for that report. >>> coming up, former va secretary david shulkin will be a gue

dr. ronny jackson. >> right. the choice of dr jackson was, really, i think, a surprise to most of us. there were-- the people who the president was consider, the names were tightly held. we know that jackson is a rar admiral and the president really likes people in the military.nc it's actuallylear, though, whether he-- hs still on active duty, so the question is will he retire? beuse v.a. ailian job. will he retire? or will he seek a waiver as former national security adviser h.r. mcmaster did, from the congress to continue serving in un active-duty capacity. he has not rn a large organization likv.a. few peple have. it's 370,000 employees. and the other thing we don't know about admiral jackson are his views on privatization of v.a., which i think is kind of the biggest ho-button policy issue now that is really under debate, which is how much private care should veterans in the system be allowed to seekid outhe system? >> woodruff: well, a number of questions which we'll all be seeking answers again, this news just broke within the hour. lisa rein with "the washington post." thank y

dr. ronny jackson, he's a naval officer who served in iraq and was president obama's doctor, as well. in fact, he served over three administrations. he has no experience managing bureaucracies. you'll remember him though as the doctor who gave president trump a glowing bill of health during this memorable briefing back in january. >> age 71 years and 7 months at the time of the exam. height, 75 inches. weight, 239 pounds. he would benefit from a diet that is lower in fat and carbohydrates and from a routine exercise regimen. he has a history of high cholesterol. the president is very healthy and be remain so for the duration of his presidency. >> can you explain how a guy who eats mcdonald's, all the diet cokes, never exercises, is in as good of shape as he said he's in? >> called genetics. i don't know. some people have great genes. you know, i told the president, if he had a healthier diet the last 20 years, he might live to be 200 years old. i don't know. he has incredibly good genes. it's how god made him. >> other questions as part of your exam, about the president's mental fitne

dr. ronny jackson to replace the shulkin, a navy rear admiral, a surprise choice to lead this sick government second largest department. he has served as white house physician over the past three administrations. recently jackson has been criticized by some after giving a glowing report on the president's health. >> some people have great genes, i would tell the president that he could love to be 200 years old. >> the president has heart disease. those numbers qualify him to have heart disease. it clearly needs a planted dry and prevent heart problems down the road. >> in a statement, president trump said admiral jackson is highly trained and qualified. one of the first g.o.p. lawmakers to call for shulkin's ouster applauded the move. dr. shulkin came from within the v.a. and did nothing to clean up the culture of bureaucratic incompetence that is to find a leadership at the v.a. i am convinced that only someone from outside the v.a. can clean up the v.a. the president named robert wilkie, the pentagon's undersecretary of defense for personal and readiness, to serve as the acting v.a. secreta

dr. ronny jackson, certainly interesting. he knows the president very well. as he physician.see the president as often. the question is, the president, we've known for a long time. you've did not all the reporting. it is a troubled agency. for all the time we've focused on the hr aspects of the function there, the core of the agency is a problem. and i am told the president is disturbed by this and he wants some changes there. so we'll see what happens. we have been waiting for this for some time. all the reporting you're doing, we were talking earlier. you suggested it might happen while you were on live television and that's what happened. >> and here we are. as we reported, myself and my colleagues, this has been going on for some time this decision by donald trump to replace david shulkin who served as undersecretary of health under president obama comes against the wishes of most of the nation's major service organizations. i spoke with a number of people yesterday. they were expecting to meet with secretary shulkin tomorrow. they say they believe he has been a good ally

dr. ronny jackson, a rear admiral in the navy. dr. jackson has no experience running a large agency. he is trump's doctor. the department of veterans affairs is the federal government's second largest department, with 360,000 employees. shulkin have been facing criticism for various ethics violations, including using taxpayer money to pay for his wife's airfare during a trip to europe last summer. in a "new york times" op-ed published wednesday, shulkin said he is actually being ousted because of his opposition to privatizing the veterans affairs agency. he wrote -- "they saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed. that is because i am convinced that privatization is a political issue aimed at rewarding select people and companies with profits, even if it undermines care for veteterans." in sacramento, california, the family of stephon clark is holding his funeral today, as massive protests continue against the police shooting that killed the unarmed african american man in his own -- his grandmother's backyard. he was shot by sacramento police 20 times on march 18.

ronny jackson get confirmed? after weeks of twisting in the wind, veterans affairs secretary is the latest cabinet member to go. the president hopes to replace him with the own white house physician, dr. ronny jackson. unlike others fired in recent weeks like the secretary of state and national security adviser, dave's not going quietly. he was at odds with some over the privetization of the va engulfed in scan dal over using taxpayer dollars to a trip to europe with his wife. >> nothing improper about the trip. i think this was just really used in a political context to try to make sure that i wasn't as effective as a leader moving forward. >> reporter: writing an op-ed in the "new york times" today saying as i prepare to leave government, i'm struck by a thought. it should not be this hard to serve your country. trump, nominate the dr. jackson working as the top white house doctor in 2013 tapped by president obama, but jackson won mr. trump over saying the 71-year-old president was in, quote, excellent health. >> some have great genes. i told the president that if he had a healthier diet over 20 year, he could be 200 years old. i don't know. >> reporter: cnn learned some of the pre