mr. wilkie. >> senator brand. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. wilkie, thank you for your presence with us today. thank you for your service to our nation. i'm delighted to have you back to the conversation. when i judge whether the va is working for veterans, they do so by what is called casework, which is in veterans speak out for my stuff to solve problems at the numbers of the action says it suggests to me in order to make certain we and we receive our hope. right now we have 80 open veteran cases with a steady stream of 30 cases each month. you indicate in your statement that when the veteran comes to the va, you want him to employ a team. >> he or she ought not have to employ a team of lawyers to get the va ts. i want to commend you on that and i want to work with you to make certain that you have the best opportunity you can to get the va to a position of yes on behalf of those the department is created to serve. before you jump into a couple questions, i want to highlight a couple of things in construction, both at leavenworth and wichita

mr. wilkie. i wanted to ask you something. i have, will not say the name of the newspaper. but i'm going to have the person reporting the story called me up. i spent probably 15 minutes, maybe as much is 20 minutes on the phone with him to talk about you. somehow, that insight was -- and much of your recent work history was not at all reported. mr. chair, without objection, i would like to submit an article that actually provides context written in 2002 that provides context for a statement that was asserted in the "washington post". i think it was out of context. >> without objection. >> there something else i want to ask you. and this may require that you have an incredible sense of history and a great memory. hopefully you will remember this. it was a recommendation in the nda a couple of years ago. at the time you are my senior advisor. and the specific amendment was related to providing same-sex spouses with veterans and social security benefits. you recall how you recommended the vote on th

mr. wilkie's family. president donald trump: thank you to vice president pence, mattis,y of defense johnny isakson, -- johnny, you have been working hard. thank you very much. we are thrilled to be here for the swearing-in of our new secretary of veterans affairs, a very, very important position. robert wilkie. i want to congratulate you. fantastic. my administration has been focused on serving the men and women who make freedom possible, veterans. they deserve only the best and they will have it under robert wilkie. i have no doubt. the three of us have no doubts. robert is join today by his beloved wife of 28 years, julie. inc. you, julie. his son adam. his sister dana. nephew in. sister-in-law carla. and brother-in-law stephen and his wife susan. thank you for being here. we are proud of him. anybody not proud? let me know now. [laughter] president trump: robert wilkie is the proud son of an army veteran. raisedimately of us are on the base of fort briggs, north carolina. a great place. on his daily wa

mr. wilkie, i think of the right man for the job. senator sanders. >> and mr. chairman. thanks for being here. let me be blunt and tell you what my dilemma is. the veterans organizations in the veterans in the state of vermont are quite proud of the va. they feel everything being equal, once they get into the va they receive high-quality care. there is, to the best of my knowledge overwhelming opposition to the privatization of the va from the american legion, the vfw and all the major veteran organizations. we have a statewide veterans meeting a couple months ago and they all say varney do everything you can to prevent the privatization of va. the president introduced the budget that called for a trillion dollars cut in medicaid over a ten-year period. $500billion cut in medi-cal. we have a congress who wanted to and the affordable care act. we have a sentiment here that is not terribly in favor of public health or government run healthcare. and yet of course, the va for all intents and purposes is a socialized healthcare system. then on top of all that we have the form

mr. wilkie not only demonstrated he has experience and leadership from the va. he also spoke in depth how he shares the president's vision to put veterans first. senators isaacson and tester, the committee chairman and ranking member respectively expressed their support. the white house expects the senate to move quickly to confirm robert wilkie as next va secretary upon his return. with that i will take your questions. reporter: sarah? call on me before my husband. >> i did for the record. >> reporter: [inaudible] >> i will not commit to that, i will say i take a question. >> you got it. maybe two. i think this is a big moment. reporter: president tweet about it? the whole dynamic. i digress. during the campaign the president said i am pro-life. i will be appointing pro-life judges. is the president still committed to appointing pro-life judges? >> as the president said last week he will not talk to judges about specific cases. he is looking for individuals that have the intellect, right temperament, that will uphold the constitution. >> senator susan collins w

mr. wilkie's family. president donald trump: thank you to vice president pence, mattis,y of defense chairman

mr. wilkie's family. thankent donald trump: you to vice president pence, secretary of defense, chairman johnny isakson, -- johnny, you

mr. wilkie last evening and that's a step in the right direction of having someone in charge of the department of veterans affairs. but it will take a lot of work. having a new secretary doesn't solve the problems of the va, it's a constant effort to change the culture, bureaucracy and the nature. it's a huge place and when you talk about the things that would naturally occur in veterans health care, a walk-in clinic, access to health care closer to home, these are things of the va has traditionally thought about in terms of big buildings and big cities. big hospitals in big cities, not necessarily within the best interest of the veteran. in this case, the mission act, the things that is replacing choice, changes how the veteran can access health care not to the number of miles were a number of days it takes to get service. but here is the key, what's in the best interest of the veteran? that should be the standard all along. it's surprising as you look at things in the va that that has not been the case from the very beginning. >> harris: he obviously had lots of support in the audience, i wo

mr. wilkie will be responsible for overhauling the veterans affairs department. it is the second largest department in the government branch with over 360,000 employees. last but not least, there was a lot to recap, there is talk about military. the president highlighted fact yesterday they voted and will be increasing the pay of military personnel by 2.6%, and increasing the defense budget next year to 7 $16 billion. both increases on that part. back to you. melissa: kristina thanks. adam: former press secretary of president mike pence and member of the trump 2020 advisory board is here to join us. he talked about the confirmation of secretary robert wilkie to the va. there were nine no votes among democrats. this is the first time since this became a cabinet-level position, anyone voted no, is that correct? what does that say about the politicalization going on in the country? >> it shows you the far left that is in control right now in many parts of the democratic party are putting resistance over results. the secretary is immensely qualified for this. he actu

mr. wilkie was nominated to replace david shulkin fired in march. watch live coverage of the debate at 3:00 p.m. eastern and the senate confirmation vote at 5:30 p.m. eastern all on c-span2. >>> today nasa administrator jim bridenstein and to two nasa administrators talk about the space program on the 60th anniversary of the agency. from the center for strategic and international studies, live coverage starts at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3, online at cspan.org and on the free c-span radio act. >>> supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh continues to meet with senators on capitol hill. follow the confirmation process on c-span leading up to the senate confirmation hearings and the vote. watch live on c-span, watch any time on cspan.org or listen with the c-span radio app. >>> and now a discussion on russia's interference in the 2016 election. hosted by the atlantic council. this is just over an hour. >>> we had a wonderful session with senator john warner. i run the atlantic council. we put together today's events at the ask of senator warner. senator

mr. wilkie he has dedicated his life to serving his country with honor and pride. erience in the department of defense. built bridges across the aisle, he has alienated some people and explains why nine democrats voted against his nomination yesterday including many considering presidential runs. cory booker, kamala harris, elizabeth warren and bernie sanders. the white house tells us today the president will focus his remarks on a totally positive message of the pro-defense, pro-veteran, pro-america but the most important part of his visit in kansas city today comes probably not at the vfw convention but at a fundraiser that he will be attending afterwards for josh hawley, the attorney general of missouri trying to inseat claire mccaskill from missouri's senate seat. hawley is a strong candidate running in a state where there trump won in 2016. here he is on "fox & friends" this morning. >> claire mccaskill won't support him on any issue or meet with judge brett kavanaugh. >> one thing to keep in mind missouri's reputation as a bellwether state. it voted for winner

mr. wilkie was nominated to replace david shulkin fired in march. watch live coverage of the debate at 3:00 p.m. eastern and theat

mr. robert wilkie who was sworn in yesterday as the new secretary of veterans affairs.ll consolidate, strengthen community care programs into single program to remove overlap and expand eligibility for family caregivers in a program that chiefly benefits veterans of all wars. he wants to give veterans access to walk-in care at other hospitals. provide flexibility which they can do so he will spell it out minutes from now. we're back minutes from now. only about 80% of your part b medicare costs, which means you may have to pay for the rest. that's where medicare supplement insurance comes in: to help pay for some of what medicare doesn't. learn how an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by united healthcare insurance company might be the right choice for you. a free decision guide is a great place to start. call today to request yours. so what makes an aarp medicare supplement plan unique? well, these are the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp and that's because they meet aarp's high standards of quality and service. you're also getting the gre

robert wilkie will be replacing mr. shulkin. t >>> toughks this morning nttween the u.s. and iran. meanwhile, presirump is dealing with new fallout from the russia investigation. tracie potts has the latest developments from capitol hill. >> reporter: never ever threaten the united states again or you will sufesr the conseque the likes of few throughout history have ever suffered before. that is president trump's tweet just a few hours ago afteran leader promised the mother of all wars. but the public is notit happy how president trump is dealing with another nuclear nation. 51% disapprove ofow he's handling russia in the new nbc news/wall street jrnal poll. his overall job approval remains steady. mr. president, they meddled in the elections, they stole podesta's e-mails, they t meddl dnc, we could be next. >> they will better at it.and be >> reporter: they are responding to a secret court warrant releasedy the justice department used to spy on trump alviser carter page. the presidentls it a scam. the government thoht page was being recruited by russia. >> we can now confirm that

mrs. hemsworth had a blast. >>> back in italy, sarah jessica parker and matthew broderick took a family vacation in portofino, enjoying an ocean dip and getting a little shopping done with 15-year-old son james wilkie> also in portoino, jennifer aniston taking a break from shooting her new netflix movie "murder mystery" with adam sandler. adam brought his family along on location and soaked up some sun while his co-star kept hydrated poolside. and showed off some toned abs in a bright blue bikini. >> listen, this is vacation goals, everyone still ahead here -- >> ryan reynolds tells "e.t." the real story how he got brad pitt and celine dion to join "deadpool 2." >>> plus, where we just spotted brad at work with leonardo dicaprio. >>> and "mamma mia" sequel is a hit. >>> closed captioning provided by -- ♪ >>> that is leonardo dicaprio and brad pitt on the l.a. set of their upcoming quentin tarantino film "once upon a time in hollywood." >> as many of you know, brad makes a cameo in deadpool 2. ryan told me the real deal on how it all came about. >> don't call it a comeback, >> i was told all he wants is a cup of coffee. and i said like a franchise or just one individl coffee. and i was told one indi

mr. wilkie will soon assume. i'm sure he has no illusions about it -- we certainly don't -- but this is a hard job that he has in front of him, a very hard job. the v.a. has yet to fully recover from the series of events that is collectively known as the phoenix scandal, the choice program has been a mess from its very interception, in my view, continues to frustrate so many veterans. yes, we all acknowledge there have been improvements in the veterans benefit administration, but claims processing still takes way, way, way too long and providing a claim remains a sore point. and then to make matters worse, our veterans and the field staff are stressed by persistent reports of fatigue and in-fighting within the v.a. central office. some of these reports are as current as fresh as last week. and you think about the folks out there. when you're in the field, really nothing good comes out of dysfunction from the central office the media accounts out there is suggesting that the misfunction is reaching new heights. so