. >> host: what are the biggest challenges secretary robert wilkie will be facing? >> guest: robert wilkie was born monday is va secretary. he has a lot of challenges to take on. this is a time of major change at the va, not just its leadership. congressman the last year with major bipartisan reform bills. if i could hone in on one of those, the admission act will change the private-sector care program, closely watched process. the veterans choice program was created in 2014 to allow veterans to go into the private-sector for care if they lived far from a va facility or made an appointment and a lot of veterans said that was really strict and inflexible so congress passed a bill to fix the program, streamline it, make it easier for veterans to go into the private-sector and look at a lot of factors making the decision and it allows the va secretary to have one year to implement that so wilkie is going to lead that implementation. it is a closely watched process because people are concerned about privatization at the va. that is one thing we have to take into conside

what are the major challenges secretary robert wilkie will be facing? guest: he was sworn in monday officially. he will have a lot of challenges quickly. it is a time of major change. the last yearpent passing major bipartisan reform bills. missionhem, the v.a. act will change the private sector act which will be a closely watched. the veteran's choice program was created to allow veterans to go into the private sector for care if they lived far from a v.a. facility. a lot of veterans have said that has been strict and inflexible. they are looking to make it easier for veterans to go into the private sector and look into factors into making those decisions. it allows the v.a. one year to implement that. will lead that implementation. people are concerned over privatization at the v.a.. interview withst fox news yesterday and holland and on that. he is aware of that. congress passed other changes to the g.i. bill, caregiver veterans appeal for benefits. there are all these things he will have to take on. the multibillion dollar project to implement a new

robert wilkie served in the pentagon under donald rumsfeld, worked for condoleezza rice it had yearsperience on capitol hill and now he may have his toughest assignment yet. >> daily walk to high school with the woman who is now his wife, he passed by the fayetteville va hospital which were the inscription the price of freedom is visible here, made a big impact. >> reporter: this assignment is personal. his father was wounded after multiple tours of vietnam. >> he came back to us weighing have of what he did when he left. i watched his recovery. it was agonizing. >> reporter: the problems were spotlighted after a series of scandals were exposed when it was revealed that veterans were put on secret wait lists and dying while they waited to see doctors. amputees from the wars in iraq and afghanistan were denied wheelchairs. >> the story of a triple amputee who applied, a triple amputee was rejected. why is the va still turning amputees in afghanistan and iraq catastrophically injured, still turning them down? >> process culture. a culture in some respects that looks at a patient is a g

i want to thank robert wilkie for joining us. you are doing a great job.t the vets are very happy and i hear a lot great reports. along with senators john bozeman , richard blumenthal, bob casey, chris murphy and pat toomey. andrew presented of matt gaetz and john larson, thank you for being here. representative matt gaetz and john larson, thank you for being here. we are gathered here to honor a great warrior, sergeant john award him our nations highest and most revered military honor. would you all please join me in welcoming the wonderful family that i just met in the oval .ffice, the chapman family please stand up. >> [applause] pres. trump: and to his beautiful wife, valerie, who agrees that he was a very brave man writes from the beginning. right, you knew that? this day has brought special meaning, exactly 26 years ago, you married john. today it is our great honor to share his incredible story with the world, so thank you very much. appreciate it. and your daughters, madison and breanna. we award your dad the congressional medal of honor. i know he

secretary robert wilkie for joining us. you are doing a great job. the vets are very happy. i have been hearing a lot of great reports. thank you very much. along with senators john bozeman, richard blumenthal, bob casey, chris murphy, and pat toomey. and representative matt gaetz and john larson, thank you all for being here very much. thank you. appreciate it. we are gathered together this afternoon to pay tribute to add fallen warrior, a great warrior, technical sergeant john chapman , and to award him our nation's highest and most revered military honor. would you all please join me in welcoming a wonderful family that i just met in the oval office, the chapman family. thank you. please stand up. [applause] pres. trump: and to his beautiful wife, valerie, who agrees that he was a very brave man right from the beginning. right, you knew that? i know this day has truly brought special meaning. exactly 26 years ago, you married john. today, it is our great honor to share his incredible story with the world, so thank you very much, valerie. appreciate it. and your daughters,

robert wilkie was sworn in earlier this week.vely with national security correspondent jennifer griffin about the challenges ahead. >> when robert wilkie raised his right hand and agreed to to to serve as the next veterans affairs secretary, he did so knowing he was entering a storm front. he is the fourth head since a nationwide scandal rocked the v.a. for years ago, involving secret weight lists, systemic neglect, and veterans dying while waiting to see a doctor. >> this is an institution that has been buffeted by continuous body blows for a number of years. >> political sniping and inefficiency continue to plague the second largest government department that is supposed to serve 9 million veterans. >> when i walked into the building, i heard some of the people who work in this building talking about how bad morales and that was while i was waiting in line for security. what are you going to do to tackle the bad morale? >> i fall back on my military life in order to be a commander, you had to walk your post. there are 370,000 e

veterans affairs secretary nominee robert wilkie testifying at his senate confirmation hearing. >>> executives from t-mobile and sprint testify that a senate hearing looking into the proposed merger. it would form the country's second largest wireless carrier. they talked about how the deal would affect that of element of 5g technology. the merger is awaiting approval from the justice department and federal communications commission. this a senate judiciary subcommittee hearing is two hours and 20 minutes. >>> welcome to this hearing on this subcommittee on antitrust competition policy and consumer rights. before we start, i want to thank our ranking member and for her staff and their outstanding assistance in preparation for this hearing. i want to thank the chairman of the full judiciary committee for his support for this hearing. after senator clover shire and i each have an opportunity to give opening remarks, we will hear from our panel of witnesses. we will be hearing from each one of you. i will introduce each one of you briefly before that happens. then, after each of you has had a cha

coming up saturday morning, stars and stripes reporter nikki wrestling discusses top issues facing robert wilkie. then house editor david wasserman talks about that how the -- outlook for the midterm elections. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal, live at 7:00 eastern sunday morning. join the discussion. "q&a,"night on congressional historians richard baker, donald richie, and rate smock. >> one of the questions i hear people asking all the time is this the most uncivil time in history? >> it has to be close, if you were to pick another period, the years leading to the civil war, came to the member senator because he disagreed with what he said. there are a lot of senators who cheered on that house member. >> there is a musical about the shooting of alexander hamilton. he was shot by the sitting vice president of the u.s. that is pretty dramatic. we have had terrible political times. >> there was one role in 1858 -- one brawl that had 80 members rolling around on the floor fighting one another. pulled hismembers wig off during the fight. someone else yelled " they him"t -- they sculpalp

and stripes reporter nikki wetterling discusses top issues facing new veteran affairs secretary robert wilkie and political report how senator dave wasserman talks about his outlook for the upcoming midterm elections. he sure to watch c-span's washington journal live on subsequent :00 eastern saturday morning. join the discussion. we have found out over the last two years that many of the narrative that were introduced in the 2016 election were not of american origin. that they were crafted by foreign intelligence agencies outside of the united states. announcer: sunday night on afterwards, former military intelligence officer malcolm nance and his book "the plot to dip -- to destroy democracy." propagandare slow warfare techniques used by russia. but which could never keep pace the the news media world of 1960's, 19 70's, 1980's, even the 1990's. it is only one social media came to the height of its power, the ability of you to pick up a fake or fourd in fact three or 10 other people inside your facebook channel, or your twitter feed, then they would do the same thing in a daisy chain ancrea

we have a new head of the va, robert wilkie. what are your thought about that?ouple of our va clinics here in kansas and rural america. i'm exciting, i'm proud of what this congress has done and what this president has done for the veterans administration. we increased funding 40 or 50% compared to a decade ago. we're giving veterans more choices. we're increasing competition. there is lots of good things happening for our veterans. put our money where our mouth is. we funded $70 billion for 7 million veterans that would be comparable what we're paying for medicare patients as well. so i think we're going in the right direction. david: what about the idea the president said they deserve, veterans deserve a choice? they should get a voucher they can take either to a va clinic or to a private doctor? are you in favor of that idea? >> absolutely. anything that gives american citizens more choices and increases competition is going to be good. it wasn't too long ago that the patient satisfaction rates in veterans hospitals was under 30, 40%. now they're bragging the

incidentally, as gus mccrae he is robert wilkie. peter: favorite city? james: new york and christmas time. being innothing like manhattan during christmas time with the music and echoing down the streets. the skating rink, christmas tree. fortunately, i do not live in new orleans, i would will it -- i would wait 600 pounds if i did. there is really good food. peter: cats or dogs? which is your favorite? pick one. or neither. do you have a cat? do not like cats? which would you pick? a dog or a cat? james: a dog. i would have a dog. peter: you're a dog person? james: i have had a succession of messy hounds. they are not the most intelligent. peter: but they are sweet. james: they just love you to death. the last one i had was my companion. during my first wife's death. it was a southern hound dog, i named him bubba. i would take him for walks, cars would go by, horns would blow, people would holler hey bubba, talking to the dog. peter: next one, line or elvis presley? you know patsy cline. so we strike out on both of those. sushi or barbecue? james: barbe

i also want to thank va secretary robert wilkie for joining us. you are doing a great job.ets are very happy. there's been a lot of great reports, thank you very much. along with senators john bozeman, richard blumenthal, bob casey, chris murphy and pat toomey and representative matt gaetz and john larson. thank you all for being here very much. thank you all very much, appreciate it. we're gathered together this afternoon to pay tribute to a fallen warrior, a great warrior. technical sergeant john chapman, and to award him our nation's highest and most revered military honor. would you all please join me in welcoming a wonderful family that i just met in the oval office, the chapman family. thank you. please stand up. [ applause ] and to his beautiful wife, valerie, who agrees that he was a very brave man right from the beginning. right? you knew that. i know this day has truly brought special meaning. exactly 26 years ago, you married john. today is our great honor to share his incredible story with the world, so thank you very much, valerie, appreciate it. and your daugh

wilkie, do we, also was online with that same approach. the internationalist wing of the upper publican party was also aligned with some of those same economic interests. robert knapp, he aligned himself with midwest manufacturing interest. those interest were extremely trepidation us about the idea that they would face economic competition from abroad, based on lower wages and closer access to resources. so when roosevelt begins to move forward with his economic agenda in the 1930s, again, sorry about this, bypassing the 1940 trade agreement, the party splits over this, this very specific economic engine of growth. taft and others opposed it. they were anti-free trade come in between the 1930s and early 1950s, robert taft was -- would go in front of any group that would have them and say over and over again, the republican party is opposed to free trade. it was that explicit. we do not support free trade, it's not good for the american people, it's not good for american business, it's not good for the american standard of living. i guess he meant american wages. so the big divide in the republican party, from the 1930s into the mid-1940s, was over trade poli