the attack had left patrick shanahan's ex-wife unconscious in a pool of blood, her skull fractured and with internal injuries that required surgery, according to court and police records. two weeks later, shanahan sent his ex-wife's brother a memo arguing that his son had acted in self-defense." quoting from the memo, "use of a baseball bat in self-defense will likely be viewed as an imbalance of force, said shanahan, however, will's mother harassed him for nearly three hours before the incident." in an hour-long interview monday night at his apartment in virginia, shanahan, who has been responding to questions from "the post" about the incidents since january, said he wrote the memo in the hours after his son's attack before he knew the full extent of his ex-wife's injuries. shanahan said monday, meaning yesterday, he does not believe there can be any justification for an assault with a baseball bat. he now says he regrets writing that passage. "quite frankly, it's difficult to relive that moment and the passage has been difficult for me to read. i was wrong to write those three sente

the acting secretary patrick shanahan is pulling his name out of the confirmation process. is a new acting defense secretary to be named. until mark esper is named i guess patrick shanahan remains acting. >> let's get a reaction from our 2020 candidate. >> presidential candidate julian castro happens to be with us former hud secretary under president obama, former mayor of san antonio. secretary, look. we have escalating tensions with iran. we have an ongoing issue with north korea. we have no named defense secretary. we now have a new acting defense secretary. we're not really ever sure around here whether an acting defense secretary is meant to become the actual defense secretary. is there any concern that you have about that spot not being filled and basically john bolton who is the president's national security adviser seems to be setting military policy at the moment? >> one of the things that has been very clear from the beginning of this administration is that this president doesn't take being commander-in-chief as seriously as he should. look at alt vacancies we've

the president announced the move by patrick shanahan yesterday in tweets saying in part, shanahan hadecided newt go forward with his confirmation process so he could devote more time to his family and thanking him to his outstanding service. and the president announced he was announcing mark esperrer as the new secretarying secretary of defense. shanahan spoke to the post on monday and yesterday about the incidents which includes the arrest of his then wife in 2010 after she allegedly punched him in the face. as well as the separate arrest of his son in november 2011 after he reportedly hit his mother with a baseball bat. nbc news has not confirmed the post report which was based on interviews with shanahan, as well as court and police records. nbc news has also not reviewed any of the documents. in a statement, shanahan said it was, quote, unfortunate, that details from the post story were dredged up and said that continuing with the confirmation process would harm his children. before departing the white house for his re-election kickoff, president trump spoke about shanahan's withd

patrick shanahan had told the police he had never laid a hand on his wife but the police had been called to this residence. late yesterday shanahan put out a statement as well as two of his three children speaking about his wife, them speaking about their mother, and their very difficult family situation. they had not been in touch with their mother for some time. two of his three children being involved in that statement. so when we came in today, we knew that shanahan described by one of his closest aides was in a bad space. he did not want to put his children through this public situation where they might have to speak more publicly, where he might have to speak more publicly in a confirmation hearing about something that was intensely personal to his family. by all accounts, he was looking at all of this and deciding throughout today whether he wanted to put his children through that again. that's where we are right now on our understanding of the situation. but on the broader national security stage, here's the situation. he's the acting secretary of defense. he is scheduled to trav

can i play a little bit of your interview with patrick shanahan? take a look. >> does it affect your job at all? >> my mother asks me this question all the time. when are you going to be nominated? what i tell her is it's an honor and a privilege to serve our country, and i will serve in any capacity that the president sees fit. i don't wake up in the morning and think about whether i'm going to be nominated. i do the job. >> dana: let's get your thoughts on that. and then just a couple of months ago, the news that we have today, he has just submitted his resignation letter. >> yeah, that was to show how much he really wanted this job. he really did. going in, the thought was the problem might be that he was vice president of boeing, and there would be too many close ties with boeing, with all the defense contracts and everything else that happens with the pentagon. that was not it. it was this focus on domestic violence within his family. "the washington post" talked to him, as jennifer mentioned. it is important to point out that they arrested hi

david martin reports from the pentagon. >> reporter: patrick shanahan and his wife kimberly divorced eight years ago, a year after a run-in with police which began with this 911 call. >> my husband's throwing punches at me. >> according to court documents he denied that, claiming she punched him, giving him a bloody nose. when the police arrived, she was charged with assault and the charges later dismissed. after the divorce, fights over money and custody of the three children continued. in 2017 his 17-year-old son beat his mother with a baseball bat. i was knocked unconscious twice, adding that her ex-husband has taken the position i have provoked the assault. the documents were all public when he was nominated secretary of defense in 2017, but a member of the senate armed services committee says they were never told. >> that there was something in this nominee's past, patrick shanahan's past, that was deliberately concealed or mistakenly covered up. >> reporter: two white house officials told cbs news they knew about shanahan's family turmoil when the president announced last month

it was clear that acting defense secretary patrick shanahan had hit a bit of a rough patch. there was a report during the d-day events that the president was seeking alternatives, and it was clear that his confirmation had stalled because the actual request for a confirmation hearing had not ever been sent up to the hill. then there was, just moments ago, a "usa today" article that broke news that the fbi was still investigating allegations of domestic abuse that came out of a very contentious divorce proceeding involving shanahan. so i think it's no surprise that the president decided that this was going to be a difficult confirmation hearing, and remember, the inspector general had to look into shanahan's involvement and by his former position at boeing, this has been a trouble nomination, really, from the beginning. it was clear that the president was losing confidence in the nomination. speaking of mark esper, he currently is the head -- the army secretary in charge of 1.4 million soldiers and national guardsmen. he has been leading that department and is a favorite of t

president donald trump had wanted to give acting defense secretary patrick shanahan the job permanently but after nearly 6 months on the job shanahan quit tuesday newspapers have published his family's history of domestic violence leaving shanahan with what he called no other choice i believe my continuing in the confirmation process would force my 3 children to relive a traumatic chapter in our family's life and reopen wounds we have worked years to heal ultimately their safety and well being is my highest priority. according to the washington post police arrested shanahan's wife for punching him in the face in 201-2011 shanahan son was arrested and charged for fracturing his mother's skull with a baseball bat the president long criticized for not vetting his top advisers called shanahan's departure regrettable i had heard about it yesterday for the 1st time i didn't know about it i heard about it yesterday it is it's. very unfortunate but senators didn't know any of this when they confirmed shanahan for deputy defense secretary in 27 teams and in light of the military's ongoing proble

the acting defense secretary patrick shanahan withdrawing his nomination for the permanent post and resigning the pentagon effective friday. amid reports detailing his contentious divorce which shanahan called a traumatic chapter in his family's life. president trump just said that he didn't ask shanahan to withdraw and that he only recently learned of the background issues. right now the president is on the way to orlando, a rally there officially kicking off his re-election campaign as a new poll shows him trailing some top democratic presidential candidates in florida. as he left the white house, the president again claimed plans for a deportation of millions of undocumented migrants starting next week. a claim that caught homeland security officials off guard. they say there is an operation in the works for next month. but on a much, much smaller scale. we'll talk about the breaking news and much more this hour with congressman dan kildee of the ways and means committee and our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. first let's go to our senior white house correspondent pamela

listen to the free c-span radio app or a tweet from president trump acting secretary of defense patrick shanahan who has done a wonderful job and has decided not to go forward to his confirmation process so he can devote more time to his family.

patrick shanahan then sought to manage the young man's surrender to police on felony charges. shanahan has served in an acting capacity at e pentagon since the end of last year, when james mattis resigned. late this afternoon, president trump spoke at the white house. >> i did not ask him to withdraw. he presented me with a letter this morning. that was his decision. we have a very good vetting process, but this is something erat came up a little bit the last short period of time, and as you know, pat was "acting," and so "acting" gives you mu a lot easier to do things. so that's the way it is. too ba >> woodruff: in a statement today, shanahan said it wasth "unfortunate a "painful and deeply personal" family incident was "dredged up." he also said he never laid hands on his wife. aaron davis is an investigative reporter for the "washington post," and in a series of conversations over the last 24 hours, he spoke with patrick shanahan about the domestic disputes holding uhis nomination. aaron joins us now. aaron davis joins us now. and welcome to the newshour. quite a story. wha

he spoke about patrick shanahan's exit and more as he was leaving the white house. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. speaking moments ago here at the white house. president trump claimed he found out just yesterday about the shanahan allegations. i then asked him whether that made his concerned about the white house vetting process. he denies there's any issues with the process despite shanahan now being one of multiple individuals withdrawing from consideration for a post after being announced. tonight president trump heading to florida to launch his re-election campaign but leaving behind turmoil as patrick shanahan announces he's stepping down. >> i didn't ask him to withdraw. he said it's going to be a rough time for him because of obviously what happened. i did not ask him to withdraw. >> reporter: trump tweeting he decided not to go ahead with his confirmation process so he could devote more time to his family. >> we put mark in. i think he will fit in very easily. >> reporter: an administration official tells cnn the white house has grown increasingly concerned that his messy div

the chief of staff, the fema director, homeland security, and the secretary of defense with patrick shanahanuickly. >>> senator, thanks for being back on the show. >> morning. >> let me start with former acting secretary shanahan. when did you learn about the family issues in his past? >> just recently when everyone else heard about it. a free press. >> you voted to confirm his as deppy. how did the senate miss this? >> it's not how did the senate miss this, how did the vetting miss this? it goes to show the vetting the white house does of its major nominees is really shallow and superficial. >> some of the reporting indicates pieces of this were in court filings, divorce filings, et cetera. is this not something that would come out normally during the vetting process or confirmation process? >> yes, and the fact that it didn't showed that the white house apparently doesn't consider this kind of information from vetting to be crucial. the fact is that this administration, or this president, nominates a lot of people because he likes them. you know, they're his personal physician as a nominee

kimberly shanahan says in court documents, patrick shanahan excused the behavior of their son, saying mr. shanahan has taken the position that i proskd the assault. nachkt, patrick shanahan did send a memo about the incident to his ex-wife's brother saying that his son acted in self-defense and that will's mother harassed him for nearly three hours before the incident. she fueled the situation by berating him repeated lid in his rom. shanahan later said in court filings that he wrote that to help plan for his son's legal defense. there is no excuse for what will did to his mother. will's actions were unquestionably wrong but i am his father and love him unconditionally. shanahan who thanked his hearing during his confirmation hearing as defense zbleekt liked to acknowledge my three children who accompanied me here today. kayla, will and jack seated bhind me. >> today says it's bus of them he pulled his name out. he wrote a statement saying i believe my continuing in the confirmation process would force my three children to relive a traumatic chapter in our family's live and reopened w

violence at the center of this controversy. >> my husband is throwing punches at me. >> reporter: patrick shanahanife at the family seattle home in 2010. his wife kimberly shanahan called 911. >> he's been hitting me. i don't need a medic but i need you guys to get him out of the house. >> reporter: police report shows his wife insisted patrick hit him and struck her several times in the stomach. yet responding officers found kimberly did not have any visible marks on her. police also noted in the report patrick had a black eye and a bloody nose. patrick denied hitting her saying that she was the aggressor according to police. patrick shanahan told police his wife threw his clothing out of their home and tried to light it on fire. he said she struck him multiple times in the face. his wife was arrested and charged with assault. though the charges were later dropped. one year later, another violent incident in the family. in november 2011, the couple's son william shanahan brutally beat his mother with a baseball bat. she was left with a bloody head wound and a fractured skull according to the poli

jill stepped down from the board after he entered the 2020 race. >>> acting defense secretary patrick shanahan withdrawing for consideration for the permanent job. shanahan's son attacked his own mother with a baseball bat. shanahan strongly defended his then 17-year-old son arguing in a memo two weeks later that the teen was defending himself. shanna happen told the post he later regretted that memo and that the self-defense claim was false. >> an administration official tells cnn shanahan was fully vetted. the white house was generally aware of the domestic abuse claims. even though shanahan himself was never arrested, there was growing concern his ex-wife would publicly accuse him of domestic abuse. shanahan's withdrawal raises key questions about pentagon leadership and comes just as tensions are escalating with iran. cnn's ryan brown has more. >> reporter: good morning, michelle and dave. this most senior shakeup at the pentagon amid increased tensions in iran, acting secretary of defense pat shanahan stepping down announcing he will resign effective sunday we're being told. and this shak

services committee says they were never told. >> that there was something in this nominee's past, patrick shanahan'st, that was deliberately concealed or mistakenly covered up. >> reporter: two white house officials told cbs news they knew about shanahan's family turmoil when the president announced last month he would nominate him as the next secretary of defense. today president trump claimed he just found out. >> i had heard about it yesterday for the first time. >> reporter: announcing his resignation, shanahan said, "continuing in the confirmation process would force my three children to relive a traumatic chapter in our family's life." a sad story which leaves the country without a confirmed secretary of defense. >> to have no secretary of defense at this time is appalling. and it shows the chaos in this administration. >> reporter: the president says he will probably nominate his current secretary of the army, mark esper, to be his next secretary of defense. esper happens to be a west point classmate of secretary of state pompeo. maurice. >> dubois: okay. david martin at the pentagon tonight.

as president trump heads to orlando to kick off his 2020 re-election campaign and a story why patrick shanahan is no longer in the running for the job. >>> not trump. the home town paper in orlando said president trump would have to cure cancer for them to even consider backing him. the author of the editorial will join us. and plus images of guns, threats that a storm is coming, the social media posts of the man who tried to shoort up a federal building in dallas and how he may fit a new frightening pattern. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> welcome to "the lead," i'm jake tapper. we begin with breaking news. any moment president trump is going to be departing the white house and heading to his official re-election campaign launch in orlando, florida. but he will be leaving behind some upheaval here in washington. he announced his acting secretary of defense is pulling out of the senate confirmation of congress process and his final day at the pentagon will be friday. yet another example of the quite turbulent trump administration eclipsing what campaign advisers hoped to be a blem

questions accusing the white house of not doing proper vetting, that this information about patrick shanahan and his past and family issues and divorce matters should have been brought forward, and i asked senators about the fact that shanahan was confirmed by an overwhelming margin in 2017 for the deputy position. that's one of the reasons he was able to work as an acting secretary of defense for so long because he was already senate confirmed, and that process went on what we think would be in a normal fashion. there are questions and questionnaires and personal interviews and all kinds of things related to that and senator dick blumenthal of connecticut said that he wants to see an investigation now because he believes there is a possibility of a criminal activity here to withhold that from the committee, meaning not telling the truth, perjury, that kind of thing, or some sort of willful coverup. he raised the specter of that kind of misconduct, not knowing where that would go but saying that should be investigated because the committee, the armed services committee, deserves the right to

as i just said, aaron davis, patrick shanahan is saying he "never laid a hand on his wife." what information do you have about that? >> on thantt co we do have his word and her word. and she says that hehe puher in the stomach. he says that, "i never laid a hand on herment. her." he said that again to me las night and this morning, absolutely not. 0,is particular episode in 201 he describes as he's laying in bed sleeping or close to it, and she comes in and punches him i the face. he's seeing stars but doe't react. but they kind of know each other-- it seems they know each other's buttons. he lays there trying not to react. she throws clothes out the window, tries to set them on fire. e ese are messy, horrible situations all y through. >> woodruff: and the following year, his children have, as yu reported, moved in with the former wife. >> right. >> woodruff: in another parto of thentry. and then the son, the 17-year-old son and the wife get into an argument, and the son ends up, as we described beatinh his mo with a baseball bat. patrick shanahan arrives in town soon after

acting defense secretary patrick shanahan abruptly withdrawing from the confirmation process. shanahan disclosing a history of domestic violence incidents involving his family, and now questions tonight about the vetting process. did president trump know? the decision to step down comes amid growing tensions between the u.s. and iran and just 24 hours after the pentagon announced it would be sending an additional 1,000 troops. abc's chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz leading us off. >> reporter: acting defense secretary patrick shanahan delivered the stunning and unexpected news to the president in the oval office this morning. he would be withdrawing his name from the confirmation process. although the president did offer to defend him. >> he's a terrific person. and it's a difficult time for pat. but he's going to take a little time off for family service and for working things out. >> reporter: and it is his family that is at the center of shanahan's resignation. the acting secretary saying in a statement, "i believe my continuing in the confirmation process w

thank you, caitlyn. >>> acting defense secretary patrick shanahan withdrawing now for consideration for the permanent job. his decision comes after new reporting from the washington post about a violent family incident when shanahan's son attacked his own mother with a baseball bat. shanahan strongly defended his 17-year-old son arguing in a memo two weeks later that the teen was defending himself. shanahan told the post that he later regretted that memo and that the self-defense kwlams false. >> shanahan was fully vetted and the white house was aware of the claim. shanahan's withdrawal raises key questions about pentagon leadership and comes just as tensions are escalating with iran. cnn's ryan brown with more. >> reporter: good morning, michelle and dave. this most senior shakeup at the pentagon amid increased tensions with iran, acting secretary of defense pat shanahan stepping down, announcing that he will resign effective sunday we're being told. and this shakeup comes as president trump has said he is seeking to avoid war with iran while the u.s. simultaneously is deploying thousa

. >>> acteding defense secretary patrick shanahan is out hp he has decided not to go forward with his confirmation process, so he can devote more time to his family. trump also announcing markess per is shanahan's replacement. the white house is concerned over issues of shanahan's appointment. gloria borger joins me now. who saw this coming? >> this was coming for several days. what shanahan's personal situation is, is very sensitive, it involves his family, his children. he had been in an extremely contentious divorce years ago, there had been allegations of domestic abuse, police had been called to his house. when they arrived pat shanahan had shown signs he had been struck and abused by his now ex-wife. there were situations with all three children. he's given interviews. he said in a statement last night, i never laid a hand on my then wife. it looks by the initial statement shanahan had been a victim of domestic abuse, there were also signs the wife had had some issues and problems. these statements say with alcohol and substance abuse. all of that said, what has happened in the

earlier the president tweeted this announcement, that his top acting defense secretary, patrick shanahanng the nomination as defense secretary because he wanted to, quote, devote more time to his family. shortly after the announcement shanahan released a statement saying in part, it is unfortunate that a painful and deeply personal family situation from long ago is being dredged up and painted in an incomplete and therefore misleading way in the course of this process. i believe my continuing in the confirmation process would force my three children to relive a traumatic chapter in our family's life and re-open wounds we've worked years to heal. ultimately their safety and well-being is my highest priority. i'd welcome the opportunity

as we mentioned, back in washington a lot of people were caught by surprise today when patrick shanahan took his name out of consideration to be the permanent secretary of defense. "the washington post" reports that in the months he has served as trump's acting defense secretary, shanahan has worked to keep domestic violence incidents within his family private. the post reports, quote, his wife was arrested after punching him in his face and his son was arrested after a separate incident in which he hit his mother with a baseball bat. public disclosure of the nearly decade old episodes would retraumatize his young adult children, shanahan said. shanahan spoke publicly about the incidents and interviews with "the washington post" on monday and tuesday. bad things can happen to good families and this is a tragedy really. shanahan said dredging up the episode publicly, he said, will ruin my son's life. "the post" cites court and police records from florida and seattle about the incidents cited in their report. we should note nbc news has not seen the same documents. earlier today president

so incame patrick shanahan. patrick shanahan with not a lot of experience in this sort of thing at all came in and said famously the pentagon will not be known as the department of no. he was largely in lock step with the white house, especially john bolton. mike pompeo, the secretary of state. there were complaints that john bolton would go and talk to his subordinate, going around the chain of command. let's talk about where we've been and where we're going in a very important department especially given the high tensions in the middle east. michael o'hanlon is here for analysis from the brookings institute. michael, thank you. >> shepard, good to see you. how do you feel about where the defense department has been for the past six months without a confirmed defense secretary and where it seems to be going? >> first, i'd say it's regrettable we haven't had a confirmed defense secretary. this is not a good way to do business. second, we've been lucky. we've had general joseph dunford. he's in his fourth year. i

janai, back to you. >>> now to the surprise announcement from the acting defense secretary, patrick shanahanhimself from consideration to take the job permanently. >> shanahan is disclosing a history of domestic violence around the time of his divorce nearly a decade ago. as we hear from martha raddatz, this is sparking new questions about the trump administration's vetting process. >> reporter: acting defense secretary patrick shanahan delivered the stunning and unexpected news to the president in the oval office this morning. he would be withdrawing his name from the confirmation process. although the president did offer to defend him. >> he is a terrific person, and it's a difficult time for pat. but he's going to take a little time off for family service and for working -- working things out. >> reporter: and it is his family that is at the center of shanahan's resignation. the acting secretary saying in a statement, i believe my continuing in the confirmation process would force my three children to relive a traumatic chapter in our family's life and reopen wounds we have worked years t

president donald trump had wanted to give acting defense secretary patrick shanahan the job permanently but after nearly 6 months on the job shanahan quit tuesday newspapers have published his family's history of domestic violence leaving shanahan with what he called no other choice i believe like continuing in the confirmation process would force my 3 children to relive a traumatic chapter in our family's life and reopen wills we have worked years to heal ultimately their safety and well being is my highest priority. according to the washington post police arrested shanahan's wife for punching him in the face in 20102011 shanahan's son was arrested and charged for fracturing his mother's skull with a baseball bat the president long criticized for not vetting his top advisers called shanahan's departure regrettable i had heard about it yesterday for the 1st time i did know about it i had heard about it yesterday it is it's. very unfortunate but senators didn't know any of this when they confirmed shanahan for deputy defense secretary in 27 teams and in light of the military's ongoing pr

tonight president trump speaking out about the sudden departure of his acting defense secretary patrick shanahan >> it's a difficult time for pat, but he's going to take a little time off for family service and, and for -- for working, working things out. >> reporter: the abrupt exit comes just as usa today reports the fbi has been examining a violent domestic dispute from 2010 between shanahan and his then wife kimberly as part of a background investigation where both claimed to police they had been punched by the other. shanahan, a former boeing executive, told usa today i never laid a hand on my then wife and the "washington post" reports, there was another domestic incident in 2011 between kimberly and the son william. the teenager used a baseball bat to brutally beat his mother leaving her unconscious with a fractured skull. two weeks later shanahan wrote a letter saying will's mother harassed him nearly three hours before the incident. shanahan now telling the post, i have never believed will's attack on his mother was an act of self-defense or justified i don't believe violence is appropr

president trump tweeting out that patrick shanahan has decided to withdraw from the confirmation process for defense secretary, pentagon had, to -- head, to spend more time with his family. shanahan withdrawn from the confirmation process. it was supposed to take place today. the army secretary will be the new acting pentagon chief. chief mark the army actingill be the new secretary. a twist at the june fomc meeting. the white house explore the legality of demoting fed chair jay powell in february, according to people familiar with the matter. speaking to reporters, larry kudlow today said demoting powell is not currently under consideration. the white house today is not considering demoting the chairman of the federal reserve. >> that is correct. but i will not confirm that we ever did. i just don't want to comment. a lot of press stories, allegations. i will not comment on that stuff. particularly because the allegation is at least six months old or longer. vonnie: joining me to discuss the story and the right cap for the fed is john hermann. comment onl, let's what larry kudlow said.

in the pentagonr this mng after another shake-up at the defense department acting secretary patrick shanahan is on his way out, g thdrawins nomination to head up the pentagon after allegations of past domestic violence surfaced. secretary of the ay mark esper will now take over as acting defense chief amid-escalating tensions with tehran nbc's peter alexander has more >> reporter: president trump speaking out about the sudden departure of his acting defense secretary patrick shanahan >> it's a difficult time for pat. but he's going to take a lite time o for family service and and for working things out >> reporter: the abrupt exit comes just as "usa today" reports the fbi has been examining a violent domestic dispute from 2010 between shanahan and his then wife kimberly as part of a ckground investigation where both claimed to police they had been punched by the other shanahan, a former boeing executive, told "usa today" "i never laid a hand on my then wife." and the "washington post" reports there was anothe ir domesticident in 2011, this time between kimberly and the couple's then 17-year-

great. >> meanwhile, we're waiting to hear more about who will lead the defense department after patrick shanahanis name for the position. he was acting secretary of defense. shanahan had run into questions ability his home life after the washington post reported his wife had been arrested after a domestic dispute call to police a number of years ago and his son also faced domestic abuse issues accused of attacking his mother in a separate incident. nbc has not independently verified those incidents but shanahan says the incidents were quote a painful and deeply personal family situation from long ago and he doesn't want them dredged up at a hearing. we're watching what's happening with hope hicks. we do expect to get a transcript within 48 hours. we'll be talking about it on twitter. you can follow me there. >> all right. thanks, scott. you know we told you yesterday taco bell was offering a big bargain for golden state warriors fans? it was hoping to give out free tacos yesterday but they both crashed and taco bell says it's because the company was experiencing more traffic than normal. when yo

allies patrick shanahan had been the acting defense secretary up until yesterday and so as these situation was escalating with the ran and trump was huddled with his room with his advisers the acting secretary of defense shanahan was literally preparing to walk out the door for the last time which he did yesterday now the man that has been tapped to replace him mark as for is the current army secretary previous to that he had served in the gulf war but he also did quite a stint as a log for the defense industry most in congress are seeing asper though as a capable replacement someone who likely will be senate confirmed but he has quite the challenge ahead of him during shanahan's tenure leading the department of defense there was a marked setting bath in its influence of the pentagon in advising the president about these foreign policies and we saw a. an incremental rise in the power of a national security council which we know is led by hocks like john bolton and so now a lot of questions are resolved whether asked for will be confirmed and if so how he will work to again gain that influe

this, assistant that don't get vetted, and look what happens when you don't vet. >> reporter: patrick shanahan withdrew his name from consideration to be defense secretary just hours after a report revealed allegations of domestic violence within his family. "the washington post" reporting in 2010, police were called to the shanahan house to find him with a bloody nose. both he and his wife kimberly accused each other of physical violence. police arrested only shanahan's wife. he later dropped the charges. and in 2011 police were called after shanahan's then 17-year-old son will got into a violent altercation with his mother. the arrest report says will grabbed a baseball bat and struck his mother on the back of her head. shanahan says, i believe my continuing in the confirmation process would force my three children to relive a traumatic chapter in our family's life and re-open wounds we have worked years to heal. the white house is now facing new questions about why the allegations didn't surface when shanahan was nominated as the pentagon's second in command and again before he was named ac

pam to you first, you have new details on patrick shanahan's exit. was it his decision to leave this post? >> i'm told by administration officials that it was his decision. he reached out to president trump this morning and told him he wanted to take his name out, he didn't want to go through with the confirmation process and he wanted to resign. out of respect for his family, he wanted to spend more time with his family. all of this came about as more details came out about his messy divorce with his now ex-wife. they met in the oval office yesterday, and then the reachout was this morning where he gave him the news, and i'm told by the source that shanahan began to see the writing on the wall as these details came to light about these violent incidents within his family, and he didn'ten want to go through this long messy confirmation process, he felt like this was just the beginning. at the same time, i'm i'm told president trump had second thoughts about shanahan in recent weeks, he didn't quite fit the mold of what he wanted. he has a business ba

acting defense patrick shanahan informed turkey last week but training of pilots will end jul. that turkey will not be allowed to take final possession of four -- four f-35 aircraft abroad. hong kong picking up the pieces tonight when day after clashes between police and protesters grew violent. the demonstrations erupted over proposed legislation to allow criminal suspects to be sent to mainland china for trial. the question for hong kong now, what is next? benjamin hall has the story. >> hong kong has ups and downs but the anger has not. the controversial extradition bill has led to concern but not counsel. and they will not rest until it's revoked. now many wait nervously to see how china responds. in the past, they have targeted at those who have protest. >> this, i have here certainly. peer of speaking out. fear of my company being connected to politics, but i must face these fears. >> benjamin: this text have a generation making it harder for the state. demonstrators gone mad. both to protect themselves from gas and pepper spray but also to thwart special recognition syst

>> lawmakers are demanding an explanation why patrick shanahan shanahan's past abuse allegations remainede the investigation by the fbi. many democrats are questioning the vetting. john mccain's former staff director says lawmakers were kept in the dark about shanahan's nearly decade old violence accusations against this now ex-wife. the. >> it should have happened a long time ago. >> mark esper has bipartisan support. >> i think we are better to have a confirmed secretary of defense. with regard to mark esper we all know him. i think we would be better off by far to have a secretary of defense actually confirmed by the senate. >> i hope that they get him up to the senate and get him confirmed as soon as possible. it matters to have a fully confirmed secretary of defense. reporter: he takes over as acting defense secretary monday. liz: president trump crow aiding doubt over u.s. force over oil tanker attacks in the oman golf. this as six oil tankers were attacked near a shipping point near the strait of hormuz. a navy investigator presented what he says is evidence of iran's involvement l

months marc esper is a former arms industry lobbyist and will replace acting defense secretary patrick shanahan in our other headline sudan's leading protest group says it has accepted a plan for a transitional government put forward by ethiopia's prime minister ahmed scald for sudan to immediately form a joint military and civilian government for the next 3 years this would include a council with 7 civilians 7 members of the military and one person approved by both sides at least 3 people have been killed in syrian government as strikes on rebel held areas of the country's north rescuers found 2 children among the dead syrian government has been bombarding it lip since april. in georgia protesters have gathered outside parliament in tbilisi for a 3rd day a protest has been peaceful after a violent clashes on thursday between police and protesters the unrest r.t. when russian politicians said a governor of gave a speech in the georgian parliament in russian. we'll have more on all those stories in the news hour that's coming up at 2100 g. in about half an hour's time do join me then. eleanor me

iran is responsible for these tanker attacks but we did hear from the acting defense secretary patrick shanahan earlier on friday and he says the focus now going forward is to build international consensus for those claims the united states had trouble building consensus when it withdrew from the iran nuclear deal even its closest allies decided to remain in that pact and that caused some tension with allies as well as iran now we're hearing that the united kingdom is supporting the united states claims and shannah heads shanahan said that moving forward the entire administration is committed to building more support for their point of view. because you can tell we have it here in the situation they're in because it's not a us situation the focus. for myself and that's rebuilding. capon pale is to build international consensus to this international problem as all the you are very aware of the department of our rules to set the conditions for diplomacy. that i would share with you and this is part of the conversation that we all have transparency in getting intelligence to see if we have the big

listen to the free c-span radio app or a tweet from president trump acting secretary of defense patrick shanahan who has done a wonderful job and has decided not to go forward to his confirmation process so he can devote more time to his family. he'll be naming secretary of the army mark esper. i have confidence in him and know he'll do a terrific job. >> mike pompeo spoke to reporters earlier about ongoing military teches with iran. his remarks came from the command headquarters in tampa, florida. >>> good afternoon, everyone. thank you all for joining me here today. i had a good evening and a really good morning. i spent time getting briefed by generals at centcom and general clark and his team at socom. the purchase of my visit was to come down here and visit and make sure that the state department and the department of defense were across a whole broad range of issues and we discussed the ongoing tenth in the gulf and if we're to deliver on the president's diplomatic objectives we have to be tightly woven with general mckenzie, and general clark to make sure they were doing just that. we had

. >> as news broke tat the confirmation of acting defense secretary patrick shanahan would not go forward secretary of state mike pompeo was paying a visit to u.s. central command headquarters in tampa, florida, where he spoke about usa. iran relations. >> good afternoon, everyone. thank you all for joining here today. i had a good evening and a really good morning, spent time getting briefed by generalsmic kensy and his team and yeneral clark and his team. the purpose of my visit was to come down here and make sure the state department and department of defense were deeply coordinated across a whole broad range of issues. we certainly discussed the ongoing tension in the gulf, but we talked about a much broader range of issues. if we're to deliver at the state department on the president's diplomatic objectives, we have to be tightly woven with our military, and i appreciate their team spending time with me and my team today to make sure we were doing just that. we had extensive conversations about technical operations and strategic levels of work between our two organizations to make su

but is a former arms industry lobbyist and will replace acting defense secretary patrick shanahan. well now to sudar and leading a protest group that says that it has accepted a plan for a transitional government put forward by ethiopia's prime minister r.b.a. ahmed's called for sudan to immediately form a joint military and civilian government for the next 3 years now this would include a council with 7 civilians 7 members of the military and one person who is approved by both sides. here in the u.k. police say they will take no further action after being called to the home of farce johnson a leading candidate to take of the conservative party offices were asked to investigate reports of a domestic incident after a neighbor claimed to have heard a loud ulta cation involving screaming followed by slamming and banging during an interview event in birmingham johnson downplayed the incident saying that the audience wasn't interested in what happened john johnston is a political reporter at politics home and said this incident could affect his campaign what this will do is this is goin

patrick shanahan has withdrawn his name from the nomination process.ington post" and others have unearthed nearly decade-old information of domestic violence within his family. should the white house have caught this issue? should the fbi have caught this issue? should the senate have caught this issue when they confirmed him as deputy defense secretary? joining me now is angus king. senator, thank you for being with me. the stories about what went on in the shanahan family are terrible and my heart goes out to them. the issue for the country is how is it that the senate didn't know? when the senate confirmed him as deputy defense secretary, how is it that that this information wasn't discovered to come out then? >> first, let me share how that process works. we go through a hearing process. we meet with the candidates individually. but the fbi report only goes to the chair and the ranking member of the committee. it's difficult for the members of the committee to see the details of an fbi report. i looked at the one on brett kavanaugh because i made a

. >> reporter: acting defense secretary patrick shanahan said that directive was not carried out. according to shanahan, the tarp seen in this report was put there for maintenance, not to cover the mccain name. it was removed before the president arrived. acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney insisting neither he nor the president were aware of the request. >> the fact that some 23, 24-year-old person said can somebody look into moving it? that's not an unreasonable thing to ask. >> seriously? >> it's not. >> reporter: the president, who has attacked john mccain for years, told reporters this week whoever gave that directive was doing him a favor. repor sanghe attacks have caused more pai >> he is so obsessed with the fact that he will never be a great man like he was. >> reporter: secretary of defense patrick shanahan said he didn't know about the incident and would have never authorized it. he says he still needs to gather information about what happened, but he did call the late senator's wife, cindy mccain. tara palmeri, abc news, the white house. >>> there are now t