i go to the va. that is it. st: ok, let's hear from mark in bronx, new york, a recipient of va care. caller: i am very happy with the va care.i go to the bronx in the, the hospital bronx, and i have called before about this. i get excellent care there. i like the fact that there are only veterans there. i do not want to see my local privatized. i just had an operation for prostate cancer. i just got the blood test back. they are negligible. there is nothing. also foro there psychiatry. medicated.rly i can see where someone in montana or anywhere, not just montana, but anywhere who has trouble getting to a va that is near them, where it might be privatized and they might be able to go to other places, i like the fact everything is in one building. my medical care, physical therapy, psychiatry care, glasses, urology -- everything is in one building. i am very happy there. host: if people don't have that access like you do, does giving them more options to visit the local doctor make sense? caller: absolutely. there

many innovations, in american medicine, have come from the va. t implantable cardiac pacemaker, taking aspirin a day to ward off heart disease. things where we put a sensor in your brain and move a prosthetic arm. advances in prosthetics and others. also the va trains 70% of doctors in the country. we have relationships with 1,800 medical schools. so who's going to train these doctors? who's going to do that research? in addition to those doctors who do that research, and do that training, also provide care to veterans. and the veterans as a result get great care. so privatizing the va is not a good idea and as i said, the majority of veterans and veterans groups don't want it. >> and there is pressure on that subject which is animating some of the politics around the va. >> certainly there is. >> because of the complexity of the va, because of its size, because of the importance of its work, frankly, honestly, because of the unusual fact there is bipartisan support for the va and va policymaking tends to be of a bipartisan nature which is a freak

it was removed from the va website. was told that i was not allowed to go out and talk to the press about this. look. i went to a conference in europe that the u.s. has attended for 43 years, all about veterans issues. >> you mix personal and professional, fair? you took half the time for personal? >> no, absolutely not. >> it was -- >> 40 hours of meetings and lectures with our allies. >> you went to wimbledon. >> 100% of the meetings were attended to. i went to wimbledon on a saturday. i went to see some sites in the evenings, after. we didn't miss a single minute of conference. everybody, every american has their weekends. >> i understand that. >> there was no misuse. there was no mixing. this was simply i didn't sit in my hotel room after hours on my private time. we went out. we walked outside the hotel and saw sites. >> do you believe if you were carrying out the president's agenda fully at the va that this would not have been a fireable offense? the president, would he have kept you on? do you believe would you ha

there were other jobs of the va. the cemetery, benefits. but from what i understand, that nominee does have good qualifications and this will all come out in the vetting process. i think the president is going to show that he made a wise choice. leland: we haven't heard from admiral jackson as he makes his rounds on capitol hill and conceivably through the confirmation process is going to have to lay out his priorities for the va, what he thinks is wrong, how he plans to fix it. what would you tell him and what you want to hear from him as somebody who knows the va so well? what is a need to save you that you'd be comfortable with? >> the first is this ongoing battle between the privatizers in the public sector. i think he's going to have to rely on the fact and realize while they can't be all things to every veteran, that veterans choose to use the va. again, the president is going to show. leland: i'm confused that i don't understand the answer. what is the need to say he's going to fix? what is the need to layout that is going to fix tha

. >>> now some stunning allegations tonight for the president's choice to run the va and a name for him. the candy man and physician ronny jackson already under fire for having no experience to run an organization the size of the veterans affairs. now he's facing multiple complaints about his temper and temperament and dispensing drugs without prescriptions. some of that news was broken tonight at the last broadcast from the veterans affairs committee which has suspended confirmation hearings for him. don tester is the ranking democrat. we spoke to him in the last hour. >> i understand he had a nickname. >> he was the candy man because he handed out prescription drugs like they were candy. >> the white house doctor is nicknamed, among some people at the white house, the candy man. >> that's correct. that's what we were told. >> that's not a nickname you want in a doctor. >> that's not a nickname you want in a doctor, and when you consider we have a problem with prescription drugs in this country, it's not someone you want running a committee. >> he appeared drunk at a meeting. in which

he doesn't note what it takes to be a good head of the va. people because i like him or because he says nice things about him or because he says he passed the mental test. this is nonsense. but it has very serious ramifications because these are real people's lives. everyone knows the stories about veterans waiting in line to get medical services dying. it's an atrocious abuse of his power to appoint people. frankly, the senate for one should stand up to him and reject this candidate. they are serious about going through with him. >> to jennifer's point there as a list of a few of the people that had to step down when prior misconduct. the chief of external affair americorps, the president's personal assistant escorted off the white house. rob porter who was accused by both ex-wives of domestic abuse. there's a pattern here. there are it seems to me, the president talks about veterans and how important they are. what conclusion can you draw about the importance of them to him based on this process? >> well, i mean, look, he has no governing ag

but writing in the va times, the evidence is more than enough to warrant shulkin's termination.? >> well, look. i've been really clear, everything that i did was done properly, it was preapproved by our ethics team. >> would you do it any differently? >> i think what the igs office found was that some staff member made some problems in some of the paper work that they had put through. so i think that this was a political exploit of this ig report in order to accomplish the job of trying to get a change in leadership. >> so you've described dr. or admiral jackson who's been nominated to replace you as a friend, as a patriot, you have said you'll do everything you can to help him if he's confirmed. he has not the kind of experience that a lot of people who care about veterans would like to see in a nominee. this is the second largest government agency in the entire country. would you -- are you encouraging members of the senate to confirm him? >> well, look, the senate has to make up their own mind and it's important to follow the process which is to do a proper vetting and i don'

yee sent a letter to the va stating the connection was more likely than not. that did the trick. last year, three years after his first diagnosis, the va finally approved michael's disability claim. but, he can't forget the hundreds of other fellow soldiers still waiting. and the hundreds more that don't know. >> the veterans aware there is an issue, that is why we are here talking. >> reporter: in san francisco, allen martin, kpix5. >> the va admits now about 700 patients with michael's kind of cancer have passed through the agency's medical system in just the last 15 years but fewer than half submitted any claims because they didn't know there could be a possible link to their time in vietnam. >>> sky five was up earlier today and gave us some beautiful pictures in and around mount diablo. one thing you can notice here, the ground is still plenty green. things have not turned golden or brown yet because we had a lot of rainfall in march and april. it has not been dry long enough to turn things down. that is a februaryish picture, we are looking good on a friday in and around mo

him and his management with the goal of privatizing the va. so told chris hayes he spoke with president trump just hours before he was fired. >> when is the last time you spoke to him? >> i spoke to the president yesterday. >> what was that conversation like? >> we spoke about the progress that i was making, what i needed to do from a policy perspective to make sure that we were fixing the issues in va. >> wait, that's before you were fired? >> that's correct. >> you spoke to him. he made no mention of the fact that he was about to terminate you? >> that's correct. >> and then you found out via tweet? >> right before that, the chief of staff kelly gave me a call which i appreciated, gave me a heads-up. and so -- but that was much after the phone call. >> white house staff are now playing catchup in defending shulkin's would be successor, ronny jackson after being blind sided by trump's announcement. they planned to announce wednesday that ed leave the administration and be replaced by robert wile at the defense department until a nominee was fo

ronny jackson's allegations to head the va. the nomination is putting the spotlight on the nominee and the vetting question. hearings the question, why didn't the white house know more about jackson's record ahead of time. i have a great team to help to break it down. first, i want to understand where things stand. this is supposed to be the day that ronny jackson headed to capitol hill. instead, in damage control mode, jackson was abusive to his staff, improperly handed out prescription drugs and was even drunk on the job. i have to say again, these are allegations. the latest word from the white house is that jackson is not planning to withdraw his nominations. in fact, doubling down, face-to-face with the president last night during which the two agreed that jackson would fight the allegations. the white house backed him up with this statement, quote, dr. jackson's record as a white house physician is impeccable. he has improved unit morale, received glowing reviews and promotions under republican and democrat presidents. and

that's certainly with his replacement at the va, dr. ronnie jackson. this performance caught the president's eye. >> who eats mcdonald's and diet cokes and never exercises, is he as good as shape as he's in? >> it's called genetics. i don't know. some people have great genes. i told the president if he had a healthier diet he might live to be 200 years old. i don't know. he has incredible genes. >> you knew dr. jackson. >> a fine man. >> fine man, fine physician, service in iraq. getting a lot of questions asked about his experience. >> dr. jackson really is a fine man. i know many attacked his integrity after that press conference. an honest public servant. you have to call into question whether this is somebody who has the capacity to take on the second largest bureaucracy that exists inside the federal government, an agency challenged even under the most competent leadership. it seems that donald trump is interested in rewarding loyalty than competence for our veterans at this critical juncture. >> things are going great at the va with all the experi

but the president picked him for the va job. admiral jackson's confirmation hearing was scheduled to take place the day after tomorrow but now, tonight, looks like that's off. axios was first to report over the weekend about rumbles thereby might there might be a problem. they were growing concerned about the prospects of admiral jackson being confirmed and not just because of his lack of leadership experience. they reported, specific concerns about jackson's professional conduct in the navy had been taken to the ranking democrat on the veterans committee, john tester. a source briefed on the situation told axios that the white house is looking into these complaints to see if they are legitimate or simply politically motivated slurs on his character. what are these concerns and complaints exactly? nobody's really spelling it out but cnn and politico are both out with new reports confirming what axios woaxios -- reported over the weekend. we're not getting specifics but the way cnn puts it is, quote, committee members have been to

if the va were privatized, it would only benefit a select few, like big hospitals and providers at theves. and these concerns were heightened after trump's former va secretary david shulkin said he was fired, because he refused to go along with privatizing the va. >> shulkin alleged today he was fired because he did not want to privatize va care, in essence, because you refused to dismantle the va. he claims he fell victim to a power play by trump's political appointees. quote, "they saw me as obstacle to privatization who had to be removed. >> seth: the good news for shulkin is every time trump removes an obstacle, it comes back as an even bigger obstacle. trump removed james comey, comey wrote a book. trump removed michael flynn, flynn flipped. if trump had a mole removed, it would be testifying before congress a week later. [ laughter ] now trump could have chosen a number of qualified people to replace david shulkin at the va, someone who has experience running a massive bureaucracy would have been a good start. but instead trump went with white house doctor and navy rear admiral d

along with other stories like the va scandal that you mentioned. so i really do think that if you were to read this book, especially if you had the -- pauline kail problem, allegedly said she didn't know anybody who vote for nixon, if you were in that camp with donald trump, this book would hundred you understand what was happening that would make people frustrated or angry around america that you may be insulated from if you have had a fairly prosperous life. one is actually also health care, story that has permanently touched you. >> guest: that's right. open up about my story in the book. >> host: i'll read some of is here. talk about it. >> guest: that's right. it's -- i planned those word carefully because it's hard to tell your own story, easy to tell the stories of others or at least it felt easier. my own story, i'm bracket 2 positive. puts me at an 84% chance of breast cancer in i lifetime. learned this ten years ago, eight years ago, feels like a decade ago. when i was just 22 years old and talk about health scare and the loss of innocence

. >> i came to the va because the men and women of the country fight for us and don't give up. i came to fight for our veterans and i had no intention of giving up. there would be no reason for me to resign, i made a commitment, i took an oath. >> melissa: then white house director of communications appeared to confirm that he was ultimately fired. >> general kelly called him and gave him the opportunity to resign. obviously they key is that the president made a decision. he wanted a change in the department of veterans affairs, he felt it was time. >> melissa: mike emanuel is live in washington with the details. my? >> david shulkin says he was not expecting to be fired, he said after a phone call with president trump, he made plans to meet with the president before his time in the administration suddenly and abruptly came to an end. >> we spoke the day he sent to the tweet out. just a few hours before and we talked a lot about issues in the va that were important and how we could continue to make progress on policy issues. we set up a meeting for the next day where i was goin

him and his management with the goal of privatizing the va. kin also told chris hayes he spoke with president trump just hours before he was fired. >> when is the last time you spoke to him? >> i spoke to the president yesterday. >> what was that conversation like? >> we spoke about the progress that i was making, what i needed to do from a policy perspective to make sure that we were fixing the issues in va. >> wait, that's before you were fired? >> that's correct. >> you spoke to him. he made no mention of the fact that he was about to terminate you? >> that's correct. >> and then you found out via tweet? >> right before that, the chief of staff kelly gave me a call which i appreciated, gave me a heads-up. and so -- but that was much after the phone call. >> white house staff are now playing catchup in defending shulkin's would be successor, ronny jackson after being blind sided by trump's announcement. they planned to announce wednesday that ed leave the administration and be replaced by robert wile at the defense department until a nominee

secretary. >> president said today that this process, that the va secretary might deal with here in the senate might not be worth it. he seemed to be suggesting that perhaps he would withdraw. have you gotten that signal yet from the white house? >> i haven't gotten a signal yet. we're waiting for a signal.

of the american legion to -- you go into va hospital's across the nation. the process is we are doing town hall meetings, talking to the staff of the hospital's finding whistleblowers and doing all that work. through those efforts we find out that the va hospital is a system we are saving. i am meeting veterans from all over the place and meeting all the veterans who live in world areas, --rural areas. we need to have a choice option. we hope that the funding gets therefore the choice option because we need that option to be there. when you look at the va hospital's and what we have accomplished as far as prosthetics, traumatic brain stress,, post-traumatic when you think about all the physicians practicing in the u.s. today that they have had some of their training nav a system that is a worthy of taking care of our veterans. we owe them that. commander, i want to ask for moment.ulkin the constant headlines about whether he would be fired or not for a month or not -- or longer. you came out and said you supported him and in recent weeks you had gone silent

as john reported a moment ago, the president's pick to run the va is saying he will stay and fight, but he hit a roadblock on capitol hill as allegations whirled about possible misconduct by the president's personal doctor. national security correspondent jennifer griffin reports from the pentagon, specifically what is delaying rear admiral ronny jackson's confirmation. >> the allegations involve a series of whistle-blower complaints that came to light last week reportedly involving excessive drinking, questionable prescription practices, and creating a toxic work environment. >> looking forward to rescheduling the hearing. >> rear admiral ronny jackson caught president trump's eye when he presented the results of his physical in january. >> i told the president if he had a healthier diet over the last 20 years, he might live to be 200. >> his nomination followed the president's abrupt firing of the first va secretary david shulkin, a respected hospital administrator who fell out of favor after an inspector general report chastise him for accepting wimbledon tickets for his wife which c

all of that falls under the va secretary. and i think he needs to be properly asked questions about how he would take care of those functions. >> thank you, gentlemen, i appreciate it. >>> when we come back, sarah sanders says the white house supports freedom of the press but with one really big caveat. start with water that has a lot of dissolved solids. pour it through brita's two-stage filter. dissolved solids remain? what if we filter it over and over? (sighing) oh dear. thank goodness zerowater's five-stage filter gets to all zeroes the first time. so, maybe it's time to upgrade. get more out of your water. get zerowater. get more out of your water. i recommend my tempur-pedic to nigheverybody.ver. the most highly recommended bed in america. now ranked highest in customer satisfaction with mattresses by jd power. visit tempurpedic.com to find your exclusive retailer today. dray, when he was younger, he loved to smile; and we knew he would need braces because his teeth were coming in funny. this is the picture that was on

we're still looking at accountability and reforment within the va tlachlt is t. op concern. we still care about not just the health care that needs to be dealt with within the va, but also other benefits like education benefits. there's a lot more the va does. it also manages the national cemetery administration. there is a lot more the va does for veterans for our care after our service and that's really where -- it's not just the trump administration. it's all administrations who love to have us there and love to use us as props but don't like to necessarily make sure that we have the care that we need after the fact. >> me list yashgslissa, i appre insight. we're out of time. this is a conversation we'll be having. that will do it for this week. join me back here next sunday at 5:00 p.m. be sure to join us on social media. stay tuned for "meet the press." this is the ocean. just listen. (vo) there's so much we want to show her. we needed a car that would last long enough to see it all. (avo) subaru outback. ninety eight percent are still on the road after 10 ye

people need to remember that the va consists for more pieces than the health care piece and that's as but saying that somebody should lead the veterans affairs because they're a doctor is equivalent saying a mortician to lead the va because the va oversees all the federally managed cemeteries. this is a humongous agency. it involves labor relations. it involves over 330,000 employees. it involves a budget of well over $200 billion. there are over 1,000 facilities across this country. and yeah, it is a big job. there are a lot of mayors of mid-sized cities with fewer constituents than the va does employees and there is a lot going on and debate over privatization. and veterans, look, we are, you know, in chorus opposing those efforts to see our va health care system privatized. what we want to see, though, is a va system that's strong, fully funded, that's fully staffed and that is equipped through infrastructure investment to make sure that we all have access to the health care we earned. >> the republicans taken aback by dr. jackson's nomination. do you think he's going to have a di

jackson's nomination to run the va comes with a whole bunch of fallout. his current job. because of the scrutiny he received as a cabinet nominee, we've now learned a whole bunch of new stuff about ronny jackson's time as the white house physician and his time in the white house medical unit. unprofessional behavior he is said by his colleagues to have exhibited on the job is laid out in the 2012 i.g. report. also a list of jaw-dropping allegations against him from 23 current and former colleagues in that office including accusations of repeated drunkenness on the job. ronny jackson's tenure at the white house medical unit is turning out to be a whole new scandal that we didn't know about before. before he got this nomination. and it blew up. we don't know yet how this new scandal will play out. we don't know if the pentagon will now do its own investigation into what exactly has been going on with these active duty military personnel in the white house physician's office. so that's part of the fallout. does he stay as the president's doctor? a second bit

>> look, david shulkin, things were improving at the va. and i don't think there's really a lot of dispute to the claim that david shulkin was forced out because he wasn't being aggressive enough in bringing about the destruction and privatization of the department of veterans affairs. >> you think that is ultimately the issue, that the trump administration wants to privatize the va? >> absolutely. >> and what would the -- why would that benefit the va, to privatize it? >> oh, it wouldn't benefit the va at all. and it would not benefit veterans at all p. a privatized va equals worse benefits for veterans. but who this would benefit are private health care providers who stand to make millions and millions and billions of dollars. there are 9 million veterans in the va health care system right now. and if all of a sudden they were all being sent to the private sector with a voucher and a pat on the back, that's a lot of money going -- a lot of tax dollars going out of the va and into the pockets of millionaire and billionaire hospital executiv

of the biggest hospital corporation of the world and it's peanuts compared to the va. nobody has experience. you know it is a big monster. and i'm really proud of the job we've done for the va because we got, we're working right now on choice and really big. but we got rid of so many rules and regulations that made it impossible. we're really doing great at the va. steve: right. >> but i want somebody that is going to be great. he would have a done a great job. tremendous heart. these are all false accusations. these are false. they are trying to destroy a man. by the way i did say welcome to washington. welcome to the swamp. welcome to the world of politics. steve: sure. >> for jon tester to bring up stuff like candy man and kinds of things he was saying. well, you know, these are statements that are made. there is no proof of this. and he has a perfect record. he has this beautiful record, unblemished. his son is a wonderful boy, goes to annapolis at the top of his class, one of the finest cadets for him to be doing this to this man and his family, i think jon tester

jesse, let's talk about the va. this is something you are passionate about. ea we brought in the private sector and it didn't work. i think there are elements of the private sector that is hurting our vets. what do you think? >> we need the opportunity for veterans waiting for treatment, pending surgeries, that the va cannot manage to see private care. i don't necessarily agree everybody has to run to private care. at some point you have too guarantee the va will endorse that private care at an equitable rate. a lot of veterans have used private care and have not been able to get their physicians reimbursed. what they do well is agent orange and traumatic brain trauma. charles: thank you very much for your service and for coming on the show tonight. president trump has some kind word for north korea's dictator, but he remains tough when it comes to complete denuclearization. if yor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough, it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed

and he has diligently worked against the va stonewalling him all the time and without his efforts, againu wouldn't know my name. elizabeth: you know, you had brought up an interesting point, you said 15 years ago there were, what, 900 va administrators. today, how many are there, sir? >> close to 10,000 and very few of them contribute to actual clinical work. the overhead is just tremendous and i would not see that in the private sector. you need more worker bees and less supervisors. elizabeth: that's sort of what-- that's what i'm going for here. with would the florida congressman go in that direction? if so, what would he be up against? >> he would be up against the va bureaucracy who has been hard on the last three secretaries to say the least. but i really do think that he could drain the swamp there and get the job done and get the focus back. and in terms of, you know, the va, they still have a nationwide mismatch between their ability to deliver care and the demand for it. probably 60 to 70% of veterans like going to the va, but if you live in flagstaff and you have heart trouble

all of that falls under the va secretary. i think he needs to be properly asked questions about how he would take care of those functions. >> thank you, gentlemen, i appreciate it. >>> when we come back, sarah sanders says the white house supports freedom of the press but with one really big caveat. ♪ experience a blend of refined craftsmanship... ...and raw power. ♪ new innovations... ...and a tradition of excellence. luxury... ...and performance, engineered to take the crown. presenting the all-new lexus ls 500 and ls 500h. experience amazing, at your lexus dealer. no one thought much of itm at all.l people said it just made a mess until exxonmobil scientists put it to the test. they thought someday it could become fuel and power our cars wouldn't that be cool? and that's why exxonmobil scientists think it's not small at all. energy lives here. ♪ most people come to la with big dreams. ♪ we came with big appetites. with expedia, you can book a flight, hotel, car, and activity... ...all in one place. ♪ everything you need to

tom tillis who is a member of the va committee. there are reports that republican support for the confirmation is dwindling. is anxious to answer the charges. team coverage tonight, kristin fisher will have details on rudy giuliani's efforts to wrap up the special counsel investigation. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge reports on james comey and his friendship with a law professor who had a special deal with the fbi. was a line crossed. we begin with it henry on the latest on dr. jackson. >> fox has confirmed donald trump met with rear admiral ronnie jackson and is hanging in for now mid-reports that the white house is bracing for the possibility that he will throw in the towel. i spoke tonight with rob shah and he says the president supports jackson but added, quote, we are prepared for anything. that was jackson who told reporters many of these new allegations are not true after sen. jon tester, top democrat on the committee released a summary of conversations with former colleagues, most of them still in milita

as the secretary of the va, you are the top of the food chain. if you start treating your people, and we have a problem with morale in the va. and i will say this, the veterans of this country deserve better than that. our vetting is not through yet. still have more information to gather. if this turns out to be solidly factual, then we have a big problem with admiral jackson. >> do you have doubts that it is not factual? >> not yet. >> so in terms of alcohol, from what your sources are saying, there were times when he was not able to function in his job. >> that is correct. and other times when he was inebriated and wasn't called upon to do his job. >> were there times when he was inebriated and not able to do his job? >> we had a good conversation yesterday, chief kelly thought these allegations could be made up and the truth is that he was concerned about them not going through the chain of command. i believe these people did go through the chain of command and didn't get the results and when the nomination came up, they came to us. we didn't

and the va, by everybody's assessment, needs some work. and if you have a person in that position that has issues that you're talking about in your opening, plus the additional issues about his management style, with eeve got some huge problems. >> if you have trouble managing a office as small as the medical office in the white house, exponentially larger in the v.a., hundreds of thousands of people. >> it becomes a huge problem. we have to get the best person we possibly can in the va to take care of our veterans. it's an obligation that we make to the people who sign up and serve in this military. and so that's why getting to the bottom of these accusations is critically important. and there should be no -- there should be no stone unturned. >> so was he vetted by the white house before the president made this decision? >> that is a really good question, anderson. it doesn't appear that he was. >> it's one thing to be vetted as the medical officer. it's another to be vetted to take on this management responsibility. >> you're exactly rig

ronnie jackson with his nomination to the va. in parking lt, this is sort of problem of the white house's own making. there was not an effort to vet him before president trump made that nomination. trump knows jackson very well. he's been his personal physician at the white house for a while now. they have a close bond and relationship. he thought he'd be good fit at the va without looking into his background that white houses traditionally do when they're putting forth cabinet nominees. >> this is indeed a story about vetting. i want to start with how ronnie jackson likely earned a spot deep inside the president's heart. let's watch ronnie jackson at that donald trump health briefing back in january. >> with president trump's consent, i released the following health information. vitals as follows. age 71 years, height 75 inches, weight 239 pounds. some people have just great genes. i told the president that if he had a healthier diet, he might live to be 200 years old. i don't know. if he had some type of mental or cognitive issu

ronny jackson is no longer the nominee to run the va. jackson withdrew this morning, embroiled in a series of allegations ranging from drinking on the job to freely doling out prescription pills to create an abusive work environment. in a statement jackson said the allegations against him were completely false and fabricated. and on fox this morning the president complained about the way jackson was treated. >> doc ronny. you know, we call him doc ronny. we call him admiral -- he's an admiral. highly respected. a real leader. and i watched what john tester of montana, a state that i won by over 20 points, you know, really they love me and i love them. and i want to tell you that john tester, i think this is going to cause him a lot of problems in his state. he took a man who was just an incredible man, an incredible man, respected by president obama, gave him his highest rating. you saw what president obama said. president bush, he was the doctor to president bush, to president obama and the family. he's been my doctor, and he runs a fant

lack of proper vetting is deeply disturbing, and right now, we're going to continue investigating on the va committee. the inspector general navy needs to investigate, and most importantly, the white house needs to do its job. >> the president made a particular point of hiring the best people. that was one of his big selling points for business. there's two ways to look at this. either they've hired the best people but they can't keep them, which says something about the management in the white house. or they're not hiring the best people, which says something about the decisions made by this white house and by the president about who to hire. >> they're far from hiring the best people. the president himself hired rex tillerson because he looked the part. the report is that he has nominated admiral jackson because he looked the part.

jackson lacks the experience to run the va. the question now is whether the doctor will accept the presid t president's diagnosis. but late today, the president and dr. jackson met in the oval office. the inclination right now is for dr. jackson to hang on and keep fighting for this nomination, as one white house official just told me a few minutes ago, he's ready to fight. >> i'll get that little peace of dandruff -- >> reporter: big brushoff of the day wasn't between president trump and french president emmanuel macron, it was the signal sent from mr. trump to his pick to run the veterans affairs, ronny jackson. >> now, i know there's an experience problem, because lack of experience, but there's an experience problem. >> reporter: despite selecting jackson himself, the president blamed the media for the questions swirling around the doctor's background, that include allegations of excessive drinking on the job and being part of a toxic workplace environment. >> i told admiral jackson just a little while ago, i said, what do y

hospitals, and i get to talk to the people who use the va hospital, the family members, they tell us much they love the v.a. and want it to continue, they want it to be a place where they can go and get the care that they need. when you look at that, when you talk to staff also, the staff people i see working in va hospitals love our veterans. i know that they can go other places and work and make more money, but because they care so much about our veterans and wanting to give back to the veterans, they are there working on our behalf. when you look at the entire system, it is an amazing task. it is a daunting task. i just wish whoever is in that position can continue to reach out to organizations in our nation and to keep their years and eyes open and they keep and get the right people in place. today." i just want to ask about -- there appears to be something of the generational divide when it comes to the v.a. and the service organizations like the american legion. my understanding is that older veterans are much more inclined to want to keep the v.a. and younger veterans are much

they'd never given them to the people in charge of vetting and confirming him for the va job. they just gave them to the press instead. leo shayne reports that the senate had not seen those documents until the white house handed them out and the press started reporting on them last night. well, finally, now the senate does have those documents as well as this bulleted list of accusations against ronny jackson from the missing percocets to the wrecked government vehicle to the staffer who called working for ronny jackson the worst experience of an entire working life. the list takes up the better part of two pages, single spaced. publicly, ronny jackson said he isn't withdrawing his nomination, but "the washington post" reports tonight in private, he's saying something different. ronny jackson has grown frustrated with the nomination process and has told colleagues he may remove his name from consideration. how much longer is this going to go on? hold that thought. ...emily lapier from ames, iowa. this is emily's third nomination and first win. um...so, just...wow! um, first of

the va is the second largest agency that we have in the u.s.ent, and what we should be focused on is, what can we do to make sure the va full fills its mission and delivers the finest health care to our veterans? i think there is privatization in vet care, but we shouldn't mess with it. >> and a congresswoman kept on an aide even after she knew he was accused of abuse. she kept him on and now she wants an investigation. what do you think? >> we should make sure our offices are safe for our employees. congressional offices aren't that big. it's eight to 12 people on the hill, and it's our obligation to make sure it's safe for employees. that clearly didn't happen in elizabeth's office. she says she made a mistake. i think she should be having a serious conversation with her constituents about whether they really trust her to go forward in this job. >> michael currant at the local newspaper said she should resign. >> she should be talking to her constituents, right, and explaining her side of the case and answering some really tough questions and

shulkin left his post at the va just last week. the white house says shulkin resigned during a phone call with the chief of staff, john kelly, who was calling to tell him the president planned on removing him as the head of the department. but you talk to shulkin, he maintains he did not leave voluntarily and was instead fired in a tweet from the president. >> were you fired or did you resign? >> well, i came to washington with the commitment to make our system work better for veterans. that's the commitment i went to work every day. i continue to feel strongly about that. there was no reason why i would resign. >> so why don't you just say you were fired? >> well, i think that's the alternative to resignation. i received a phone call saying that the president wanted to make a change. that's certainly his prerogative to do that, and that's what happened. >> you received a phone call from chief of staff john kelly, who fired you? >> general kelly gave me a heads

it can impact the va going forward and it's the latest chaos in the trump cabinet. joining me now politico's anna palmer covering all these fast changes. let's talk about shulkin. we've never seen a resignation letter from him and the white house didn't dispute his account that he was fired. why does it matter? >> it's been interesting they've shifted their narrative. first they said he resigned and

and his nominee to become the next head of the va as the president nominated dr. jackson.here are fluries of stories that allege that dr. jackson was involved with some misconduct. his nomination has been put on hold for now. the president was asked about it. and seemed to put the ball in jackson's court whether or not he will keep his nape in the ring to become the next va head. >> i told him, i said, you know what, doc? you're too fine of a person. his son is a top student at annapolis. he is a high-quality person. what do you need it for? so he will be, it is totally his decision but he will be making a decision. reporter: trish, by the way we didn't even mention treasury secretary steve mnuchin will be heading to china the coming days. the president revealing that earlier today as well on a, i guess you could say a normal day. that might be the headline. it is a flury of news here at the white house. trish: normal days, those are long guys. reporter: i should have known that a while ago. trish: very abnormal days here. we have many, many headlines. blake burman, thanks

last year, 3 years after his first diagnosis, the va finally approved his disability claim. ut he can't forget the hundreds of other fellow searchers -- soldiers still waiting and the others that don't know. >> get them aware so they know. that's why we are here and talking. >> the va says about 700 patients passed through the medical sent some of fewer than half semitic claim because they do not know the could be possible link to the service.>>> still to come, walking robots could be big step toward greater mobility for disabled. but not all california researchers say they can do. >>> are we going to get rain of these clouds our son? -- sun? the forecast and we come back. but believe it or not -- it's not at th >>> california is high up on another list, spotlighting the high cost of housing but believe it or not, it is not the topic the national low for the collision crunch the numbers to find out what an hourly worker needs to make in each u.s. state or territory. hawaii tops the list at $35.20. followed by washington dc. with $33 and $.50. california comes in third at $30.

in the case of the va, preserving a core con constituency. didn't have to tear down the man and his career. charles: these issues never surfaced until he became the nominee. i want to share a statement from ronny jackson. unfortunately these false allegations have become a distraction for this president and the important issue we must be addressing, how to give the best care to our nation's heroes. on that notion, it's almost a rudderless ship. we saw some improvements, but not enough. where does the president turn from here? >> that's right. if we look at the history of who served as va secretaries, it's been bureaucrats who have not solved the agency's problems. we had a former ceo of proctor and gamble be the va secretary, that didn't work out. david shulkin was a career bureaucrat. it's time to try something new and president trump's instincts with spot-on. he served in the battlefield. he was the doctor standing there when the wounded veterans were brought in. now that he's withdrawn his nomination, president trump needs to find someone

it is upending jackson's prospect of leading the va. and while the white house is doing damage control to save jackson, at least one news outlet is reporting the doctor's support among republicans on capitol hill is faltering fast. for more let's go to nbc's tracee potts in washington. >> reporter: despite what we're hearing from dr. jackson saying this process is moving forward we are getting indications from sources inside the white house close to that process that he's getting frustrated and may withdraw his name. this from the "washington post." that dr. jackson has grown frustrated with the process, telling colleagues he might remove his name from consideration. that according to two white house officials with knowledge of those deliberations according to the post. now democrats on the va committee have released a new summary of what they say are concerning allegations against dr. jackson. they include that he has dispensed drugs without prescriptions. that he has kept questionable records about controlled substances, and that he on

overnight, the president's pick to lead the va is fighting to be confirmed. on capitol hill, jackson not backing down despite fresh allegations of professional misconduct during his time as white house doctor. >> i'm looking forward to re-scheduling the hearing. >> reporter: a ranking member of the veterans affairs committee overseeing the hearing said 20 current and former personnel have come forward with troubling claims. a senator telling cnn that the committee is reviewing allegations that he was abusive to staff and drank heavily. while on official travel. >> if you're drunk and something happens with the president, it's very difficult to treat the president. this is totally unacceptable. >> reporter: president trump attributed the showdown to politics as usual and suggested that he would understand if he withdrew. >> what does he need it for? to be abused by a bunch of politicians. >> trump did acknowledge one hurdle for the man and the to lead the government's second biggest department. >> i know there's an experience issue. >> reporter: lawmakers now a

they are postponing the confirmation hearing for ronnie jackson, president trump's choice to be the next va secretary. a white house official said the scope of the allegations are not yet clear. but "the new york times" reports that lawmakers are now examining allegations that jackson oversaw a hostile work environment as the white house physician. and allowed the overprescribing of drugs. they also have received claims that he drank too much on the job. so our big question today is, did the president just lay the ground work for dr. jackson to withdraw? another domestic issue that overshadowed the day's events, the investigation of president trump's long time personal attorney. mr. trump gave this reply when asked about his personal relationship with mr. cohen. >> thank you very much. [ inaudible ] >> stupid question. >> let's get started with our team of reporters and analysts, jeff bennett is at the white house, anne garrett is a white house correspondent with t"the washington post". tell me if you read this differently, but the president just then said that dr. jackson seemed to be give

he will be a secretary in controversy for as long as he zpibs at the va. the right thing is to withdraw if the president won't make that statement on his behalf. >> to be clear, david, he would not be alone. first of all, those hearings will be a spectacle. some of those people will give on the record testimony. now you've got two other folks in the administration in hot water. mick mulvaney goes before the banker's association to tell them about all the work he is doing deregulating the consumer protection bureau and telling them he needs their help so they can work together on the same team on this agenda. he tells them to give money to members of congress. he said if you were a lobbyist who never gave us money, i didn't talk to you. if you were a lobbyist who gave us money, i might talk to you. said this on the record to the bank industry conference. senator sherrod brown called for him to step down, what do you think? >> he should step down. this is a bigger issue than he realizes. there could be criminal exposure here. he confessed to pay to play behav