the white house restoration association hosted this hour-long event. feared evening, everyone -- everyone. good evening, class. [laughter] i'm the president of the white house historical association and it is my pleasure to welcome you on behalf of my colleagues and our board of directors represented here tonight by secretary john feare.-- john dalton thank you for being here. we also want to welcome our friends from c-span, who are broadcasting tonight's event. we have a wonderful friendship with them. thank you to those watching biases and -- by c-span. i would also like to welcome mary sessions and her two sisters visiting. i recognize her because she is from the great state of alabama come my home state and her sister is also from alabama. in addition to our distinguished eager, we're joined by several descendents of presidents. we have susan eisenhower, , a descendentey of both presidents mckinley and cleveland. not sure how that ties together. [laughter] >> i'm sure you can explain it for everyone. we have duncan, who is not a grandson were a rela

how did the obamas use or host the white house easter egg roll? >> well, the president played basketball. huge fan of basketball. he played basketball with the children on the white house basketball court. and the first lady, michelle obama, really throughout her time as first lady was interested in promoting an active healthy lifestyle through good nutrition and exercise. and she started something called the let's move campaign in order to get kids to do that more readily. and they included that in the easter egg rolls during their years. they had an obstacle course and other just fun active games. >> so the most current president, the trump family, they've had one easter egg roll so far. what have you observed about how they're hosting it? >> sure. well, with a little bit of a smaller sample size, they've also taken a really active involvement in the day's activities. the president and first lady last year started the very first easter egg roll race, themselves, by blowing on whistles. and were there to greet the winners of that particular race.

the deluxe. menu choices. leslie white housel see when they walk into the state dining. cream and gold things, you have the white floral arrangements in the middle of the many on the table. >> this beautiful china. this china. i'm so pleased they're using the clinton china. i worked closely with them first lady hillary clinton on the design. she took a lot of time and effort in every detail in working with the white house association. the first time the white house itself was in the center. recent was designed is because the eisenhower baseplate they wear over time. there was fewer and fewer. we cannot use a full set in the log rather state dinner. it's time for a new set to be created. the 200th anniversary of the white house was a special occasion. they decided to create a new set of china. she worked with designer supplements created that exclusive state china. so proud of it when i saw they're going to use it this evening also there using the bush china. mrs. bush created a pale green lattice style white house china. very lo

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 issue, this test would pick up on it. he would not have got 30 out of 30 on the test. >> his weight at 239 is just shy of obesity. >> it is. >> you're confident of that number? >> yes. >> i've lied about my weight so i'm not going to pass any judgment here

the decatur house. the home of the white house historical association which published the book. this is about 30 minutes. you for to the white house historical association to write a young readers book about the white house easter egg role. tell me about it today. how large is it? isit would be larger than it except the popularity is so high and everybody wants to be a part of it. >> where is it held today? >> the south lawn white house. the relatively president's backyard. >> are the eggs real eggs? >> sometimes. they use wooden eggs. >> they are collectibles. traditionally some real eggs used in the past it was all real. >> who gets to go? >> anybody can go but you need to some it to request online in lotteryand then a lucky winner get to go over and you need to see -- you need to have a small child with you otherwise -- it's an event for the kids and otherwise you would have a lot of adults like me wanting to go. >> your book deals the desk detail the interesting history. you suggest the very earliest known connection goes back as far as dolly madison. there is a long-standing

pamela brown is at the white house. e allegations are shocking, they're being shared with the public by various sources and including on the record by senator jon tester, a democrat. what is the white house's response. >> reporter: well the white house basically is saying that these new allegations made public by senator tester is something that will look it and pointing to the background investigations that dr. jackson had passed as justification for the fact that he was properly vetted even though white house staffers were caught by surprise by these new allegations against jackson in recent days. the president's pick to lead the department of veteran affairs is vowing to fight on. >> i could answer the questions. i'm looking forward to rescheduling the hearing -- >> reporter: despite the numerous allegations over past inappropriate behavior. >> they're very serious acquisitions with prescription drug handing out like candy or intoxication or toxic work environment. >> reporter: the veterans' affairs commity saying he

jason, thank you so much for that report. >>> let's go to the white house. where the president of france will be arriving momentarily with his wife for the start of the state visit with critical issues clearly on the agenda. our chief white house correspondent jim acosta is joining us and the president is going out of his way to court the french leader. >> the president and macron will meet her at the white house and then head over to george washington's home down in virginia, mt. vernon in the next few moments, the two have much to discuss as you said from north korea to the fate of the iran nuclear deal but the american president still has pressing domestic issues on his mind from thein fl-- the inflammatory comments about whether he would pardon his personal attorney michael cohen. >> the white house claimed it is not worried the president's personal attorney michael cohen will turn against mr. trump and start working with federal prosecutors and the president tweeted, saying sorry i don't see michael doing that despite the horrible witch hunt and the dish

she followed that with other stories about the white house. grandpa called it the great white jail. and sitting alone in it early in his presidency, he heard popping wind sighingand through the cracks of the house and told everybody that would listen that it was ghosts. he was there alone. my grandmother went back and forth independence, missouri, and my grandfather was there alone a bit. he said, i can imagine old andy and teddy having an argument. or franklin and pierce deciding who was more useless to the country. [laughter] mr. daniel: and when millard fillmore joins in, the den is almost unbearable. but he got some work done and i think they knew at this point that this was a serious problem, this was not just ghosts, that it was a serious problem. mrs. roosevelt came over to see my grandparents as she was leaving. they were staying at blair house temporarily. she came over and apologized for the condition of the rooms upstairs at the white house. the roosevelts had not spent any money on it during the war and depression. they felt they could not do that. and she came over anywa

they are sharing a state dinner at the white house. y join us from the white house, jeff does. kate, what do we know about the guest list? >> so the guest list is much smaller than it has been for recent state dinners. we didn't see a lot of democrats on this list and didn't see a lot of french on this list and didn't see a lot of the president's cabinet on the list. we saw secretaries that are cabinet members that are in trump's good graces. zinke, pruitt, ben carson, they were not in attendance. certainly not a lot of democrats if any and most of the folks there were trump supporters with a lot of new york crowds. tim cook of apple was there. the head of louis vuitton was there. all in all, a much smaller crowd than past state dinners. actually, jeff, both presidents talked a lot about foreign policy earlier today. it's interesting to see former secretary of state henry kissinger in attendance. >> that was interesting. he was walking in and was certainly one of the more experienced members of the crowd. certainly probably has been to

we acquire art and furnishings for the permanent white house collection. it was also very important for mrs. kennedy that we educate the public about the history of the white house. we have undertaken a very robust education program here that teaches and tells the story of white house history going back to hundred 26 years to the day when george washington selected the site of the white house just across the street from where we are tonight. a key part of our education mission would be our publications. this year we will publish seven books related to white house history. we have a quarterly magazine. it is terrific, these are all available to the public and can be purchased online or in our shop here. i will say a little more about that at the end of my remarks. this particular program is sponsored by the david rubenstein center for white house history. they undertake the robust education program we have. tonight's speaker is clifton truman daniel, the oldest grandson of president truman and bess truman, and the son of margaret truman. his farmer was the f

the white house rallying behind the president's pick to lead the v.a. but dr. ronny jackson faces complaints about his personal and professional conduct and republicans are furious the white house did not do a thorough vetting. plus, big trump administration policies face new court challenges, the travel ban before the supreme court today. and a third federal judge is on record against the white house plan to end protections for the dreamers. and in a big speech to congress, the president of france says this of his touchy-feely bond with president trump. history does repeat itself. >> in 1778, the french philosopher voltair and benjamin franklin met. they embraced each other and kissed each other's cheek. which can remind you of something. >> a little humor there to the policy of that speech in a few moments. we begin with a critical cabinet nomination in trouble, and mounting republican senate anger at the trump white house. dr. ronny jackson is the president's pick to run the veterans affairs administration. he says he wants a confirmation hearing to answer al

and the white house saying that didn't happen. so there are a number of things they are saying that he didn't necessarily say or a do, if he ever said something like i'm the one saving the country, perhaps he said it in jest, so there's push back on that as well. >> again, what we're hearing, is there's sort of a bill of goods being given to you from different sources, is part of their agenda here they want him gone, they have an ax to grind against him, is that part of the formula here? >> we spoke to a number of officials and any time you do a story like this, you always take into consideration what somebody's motivations are, so you spend a lot of time and speak to a lot of people and get a very accurate portrait so you're not just taking one person's word for it. we spent weeks working on this reporting and we spoke with a number of officials who have independently have told the same story, so that is where our reporting comes from and we obviously have a very rigorous process and we feel confident in that process and we are co

they will be visually seen and as they make their way to the white house they will be seeing an enormousms of white roses in the state dining room, 1000 white lilies and as they make their way across the white house lanier they will see thousands of chariot lost some stems as well but we are waiting for the top of the hour where we expect the president to greet the french president and his wife at the front of the white house, the north portico. while we wait for that we will continue to watch the guests arrive. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ♪ ♪ ♪ [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> we are watching the guests who have a right for tonight's state and are for president trump in first lady melania trump. by the way this is the first president since president hoover to not have a state dinner since his -- in his first to the presidency. this is a

in the meantime, my dear friend, star of the hour, "deadline white house" anchor nicolle wallace takes it away right now. >> with friends like that, wow. hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. one former senior u.s. government official today described the botched white house handling of the ronny jackson nomination as, quote, leading a lamb to slaughter. jackson, of course, is the president's pick to head the department of veterans affairs. and what began as an embarrassment for the white house has blossomed into a full-blown political and public relations crisis. here are a few of today's headlines jackson who served as top white house doctor before being tapped to run one of the largest federal bureaucracies. jackson known as candy man giving drugds to passengers, democrats says. another nominee, backed on female employee's door during overseas trip sources say. va nominee ronny jackson facing hostile working environment allegations. in the face of the allegations the white house is just now digging in and starting to mount a defense of jackson. here's press secretary sarah huckabee sa

never before has this happened on the white house floor." theding to the guests at white house reception, columbus, ohio, paper snidely said "a waso major in full uniform put off the street cars in to walk.n and made let him go to the white house for consolation, there he will be received as one gentleman ."ceives another three weeks later, that african-american major took up that newspapers sarcastic challenge and went to the white house. dr. augustine was the director of the freedmen's hospital. along with his assistant, surgeon, and protege dr. rabbit, also black, he attended white house reception where according to a baltimore newspaper they were kindly received. recalled that the commissioner of public buildings, benjamin brown french, greeted them. that is, he greeted him and dr. augustine with all the urbanity imaginable and conducted them to the president. of augusta,sight lincoln grasped his hand. greetings, oneed approached and as dr. abbott remembered, asked a question very hastily, the report of which i took to be "are you "oing t

going into the white house, best advice i got? keep your mouth closed i suspect, but nobody dared say that to me. i don't remember getting too much advice. i had been with the senate ladies, and i had a lot of friends. i had done that for eight years, and i went to the senate wives meetings every tuesday morning. i went some tuesdays when they didn't have meetings and had to be hauled home again. i love that part of life. i loved all my life. i have been a lucky person. >> you opened your memoir in 1994 by saying, i have been very privileged in my life. mrs. bush: i wrote that because my husband said, you are going to be criticized, because people are going to say you have lived your life of luxury. although i lived in a tiny small house i would be glad to show you in new york and my father and mother struggled sort of because i had a very loving, sick younger brother, but i did live a privileged life. they loved me. they loved my sister, my brothers. we just had a great household, and i hope others could do it. we were privileged.

i wanted to ask, does the white house skip about that proposal or does it stand by it? >> the administration's top priority is to ensure the safety and security of the american people. for that reason t administration has put in place enhanced global security measures to improve screening and vetting capabilities and share information. it's working. there's been significant improvements in identity management and information sharing with foreign governments, because of this our international partners have raised their own baseline requirements. without the ability to impose entry restrictions, the united states may be forced to unsuspectedly allow dangerous criminals or terrorists into the country. additionally without the restriction, foreign governments have little to improve their information sharing and identity management practices. the focus of this travel ban has been on safety and security, is limited to a small number of countries and a lot of muslim majority countries have the same abilities to travel to and from the united states as they did previous administr

and to the support that he has outside the white house. and that's a key point here. pruitt has lost much of his backing within the west wing. the chief john kelly, has advocated he be dismissed. other senior white house aides feel like he has not been fully truthful about this sort of never-ending drip drip drip of scandals. this constant stream of headlines that he's not allowed them to get in front of this. every day carries new revelations. while he's lost support in the building, he still has a lot outside the building. conservative groups, industry advocacy groups, republicans on capitol hill, who say look, this is our guy, he's getting the stuff done and encouraging the president to hold on to him. to let pruitt weather the storm. >> but jonathan, according to your reporting, there's dwindling influence by john kelly in this white house. i mean does the fact that he's advocating for him to go, how much does that mean? i mean? how much heft does that carry? >> these days, not as much as it used to. john kelly does not wield the clout in the building that he used

at the white house, mr. johnson resumed his discussion with white leaders. justice thurgood marshall and housing director robert weaver u.s. army rolled up behind the white house just before the sun went down. the president ordered the soldiers not to ring the white house. that would be left to government police in hopes of using the -- easing the picture impact overseas. it was the saddest day of the johnson presidency since that november friday in 1963, when he returned to washington from dallas. dan rather, cbs news, the white house. >> washington bore the front of the daytime violence. but chicago claimed the fearful distinction as night fell. there, 6000 national guardsmen were called to duty as fires raged for a 16-block area. >> they call it garfield park, known as a bleak negro ghetto. tonight much of it is on fire. the looting vandalism and burning beginning the afternoon as thousands of schoolchildren lest left of their classes. by late afternoon, as national guardsmen were being alerted, the trouble reached alarming proportions and these fires were

but who in the obama white house was going to the doctor and getting free drugs all the time? this doctor was just handing out drugs without prescriptions. oh, really. who to? obviously, the obama white house, that's where i start to think, some of this is getting a little bit extreme. look, if he was doing it or if he had a drinking problem, he's not going to be the v.a. secretary. but some of it does make you wonder a little bit how extreme we've gone in the space of about 12 hours with these allegations. >> this is one person's fault. it's donald trump's fault. you say that about vetting but you know, as a political professional, how many people reach very high offices and then are promoted into a cabinet secretary role or to work in an administration and suddenly you find out things that voters back home, if they're a member of the house or senate, didn't know, and you're just at a much higher level, and that's why the vetting is so important. think of tom dashell when he had to withdraw because he had tax issues. it happens all the time. so i disagree with you that just be

something i worked on while in the white house. bringing manufacturing and bringing jobs to the united states. we put through major tax reform to try and get that done. and the president was celebrating that on his 100th day in office a year ago. the president's out today talking to other constituents in another big manufacturing state. and i think that's important for the president. he gets to decide where he wants to be. but there's many members of the white house tstaff here tonight. probably all the members are here tonight. >> there are a lot. i spoke to your former colleague, reince priebus earli earlier. he said he thinks there's a chance the president might attend it next year. do you share that? >> i think there's definitely a chance. i know he went to the gridiron dinner this year and had a good time. so maybe next year. >> how has life been for you out of the white house? you left over a few months ago after the president did impose e tariffs. i think i've bn gone about three and a half weeks now and i'm just sort of gett

there are so many fun stories, really incites him to the white house, the reagan white house. nancy reagan, ronald reagan, what goes on behind the scenes, the press secretary. it's a little bit different than it is today. we have a lid on our press. we didn't have tweaked going out in the middle of the night. we didn't have social media. but we had a great deal of respect. >> we didn't even have cell phones. >> she's absolutely right. we carry pagers and they went up 24/7. but we pretty much knew when we left the white house at the end of the day that you probably weren't going to hear back from someone until the next morning unless there was an emergency of course. that picture was nasty. i was never so happy to get rid of it. >> you must weigh 10 pounds good >> it was horrible. the radius that we is, we literally called them bricks. they were that heavy. it was the only way we could communicate with each other. it was a different time back then. we didn't have fake news or fake love in our white house. i thank you all for coming. i hope you come back for next event in a coupl

in different ways, the members of their families in the white house, i'm thinking of the women, jacquelinee way she bore her successes and tragedies in the white house, and barbara bush, the way both of them, i'm trying to say they showed the way we would like our upper classes which we don't think we have, but we do, to behave. the way we would like them to represent us in office. the contrast, as you say, is obvious. >> we want our first families especially to have some class and dignity. >> yes. >> thank you. i appreciate it. nice tribute to the former first lady. >>> when we come back, the white house says their own u.s. ambassador got ahead of the curve when announcing new russia sanctions. but nikki haley is snapping back at them tonight. kyle: mom! mom! kyle, we talked about this. there's no monsters. but you said they'd be watching us all the time. no, no. no, honey, we meant that progressive would be protecting us 24/7. we just bundled home and auto and saved money. that's nothing to be afraid of. -but -- -good night, kyle. [ switch clicks, door closes ] ♪ i told you i was just ch

at the white house, they call him the candy man. >> the white house insists they were not aware of these accusations when the president pickeded jackson to lead the federal government's second largest agency. veterans affairs says nearly 400,000 employees and the touches the lives of americans across this country. they say the allegations never came up during his four background checks over the years. sanders suggesting that the trump administration actually did their due diligence. >> is the white house doing any sort of additional looking into dr. jackson's background in light of all of the allegations. >> there's been a thorough vetting process done by the fbi as well as three other independent investigations, but that's part of what the nomination process of congress should do and what it's supposed to look like and why they should move forward with a hearing. >> so congress is to blame. it's a pretty amazing thing to say given the allegations and given the fact that members of the president's own party are calling out the white house for r poor vetting. >> what do you think this say

martha kumar is director of the white house transition project, a board member of the white house historicalssociation and a professor, and is a scholar of the presidency. martha records and analyzes the relationship between journalists and the white house. if you don't know martha, you can't miss her, she is a compact force of nature with a shock of white hair, downstairs in the white house workplace with a pencil and a pad. she is regularly in the briefing room, always at the ready with statistics to give our stories context and depth. she is a treasure of the press corps and a bridge between the first draft of history that we do and what happens after that. martha, thank you for your important work and congratulations. [applause] margaret: the first time i saw michelle wolf stand up, i thought, what was that voice? the second time i just gave in and laughed. and at some point as a watched her i thought, the woman is actually saying a lot more in between the punchlines. michelle wolf grew up in pennsylvania, ran high school track and worked at bear stearns and j.p. morgan chase, because th

the white house says these are false allegations. st in terms of the process of your committee, the white house says these are false allegations. you just heard dr. jackson say, no, i never crashed the car. that seems like something you would be able to confirm definitively if there was some car repair, you know, that was needed on the job. you know, the only reason i ask is should you allow the hearing to go forward where you pose these questions to him directly and let him answer them. >> well, of course. we're not stopping here. johnny johnny isakson makes the decision. johnny is concerned enough, i have talked to at least three about it so far in the veterans committee, they are all concerned about what's going on. that's why they delayed it. they wouldn't have delayed it if they thought the charges were empty. it is is clear that -- veterans have not come first in this whole process. that's what is disturbing. and i wish the white house would have a backup plan. it is pretty clear admiral jackson's nomination is in at least some

>> now a discussion about the history of the white house easter egg roll. american history tv recently interviewed landscape historian jonathan pliska about his book on the subject. he describes how presidents and first family have hosted the annual white house tradition since 1878 and what changes have been made along the way including the addition of bands, costumed characters, and keepsake wooden eggs. this is 25 minutes. >> jonathan pliska, you worked with the white house historical association to write a young reader's book about the white house easter egg roll. before we get into history, tell me about it today, how large is it in 2018? >> well, it would be a lot larger than it actually is except the popularity is so high and everybody wants to be a part of this that they generally cap the attendance at 30,000 to 35,000 people. >> where is it hold today? >> it's held on the south grounds, the south lawn of the white house. that's what i like to call the president's backyard. >> and are the eggs real eggs? >> the eggs are sometimes real eggs. they also

that covers the white house to see the people in the white house as, you know, these heroic figures in various ways when there's very little evidence to confirm that at all. >> in your experience with the people at the white house, do people like hope hicks realize before the age of 30 she has written the first line of her obituary and it is not a good one? >> i don't know if that's true. i think she has time to make a name for herself in some more flattering light. but it's very possible this will be what she's remembered for it's not a good era. >> jason, go ahead. >> there's a difference in saying i might have had a bad boss and i used to work at enron. this is that situation. if you have white house 2016 to 2020 and beyond on your resume. ethical people don't want to work with you. they don't want robert mueller checking into their background. hope hicks has damaged her career. i have no sympathy for her. she helped write letters to damage the reputation of women speaking out about domestic abuse in the past. i don't think donald trump realizes that but all the competent people tha

jackson became a white house physician in 2006 under the bush white house he was officially appointed presidential official under president obama in 2013. listen to this rave review from former president obama of dr. jackson the following year. quote, ronny's positive impact cannot be understated. he is a tremendous asset to the entire white house team, already at a level of performance and responsibility that far exceeds his current rank, promote to rear admiral there. let's go to jim acosta, who is waiting for that briefing to get rolling. jim, how did these allegations not come to light before? >> well, i think part of that is because the president liked what he saw when dr. ronny jackson came in and the president talking about his genes and if he was eating healthier, if he exercised, he could live to 200 years old. the president liked that and that's why he tapped ronny jackson to run the veterans affairs administration department. but the president expressed to president macron that ronny jackson lacked experience. if you put aside all of the allegations that have surfaced in th

there has to be investigative work by the white house. that's where the task and the blame lie right now. >> senator blumenthal, thank you for coming. appreciate it. >>> later on, details about the state dinner at the white house and the larger visit by the french president. with expedia, you can book a flight, hotel, car, and activity... ...all in one place. everything you need to go. expedia 3 toddlers won't stop him.. and neither will lower back pain. because at a dr. scholl's kiosk he got a recommendation for our custom fit orthotic to relieve his foot, knee, or lower back pain, from being on his feet. dr. scholl's. born to move. claritin and relief from of non-drowsy symptoms caused by over 200 allergens. like those from buddy. because stuffed animals are clearly no substitute for real ones. feel the clarity and live claritin clear. ♪now i'm gonna tell my momma♪ ♪that i'm a traveller ♪i'm gonna follow the sun♪ ♪now i'm gonna tell my momma ♪that i'm a traveller transitions™ light under control™ >>> an abject failure of vetting, that's

. >> dana: the white house briefing set to get under way amid growing questions about the president's nominee for va secretary. the white house defending ronny jackson as we learn more about misconduct allegations against him. hello, everyone. i'm dana perino and this is "the daily briefing." earlier on capitol hill, french president macron addressing a joint meeting of congress, calling for america to maintain its role as the global defender of democracy and human rights. mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. what more did the french president have to say on the critical issues facing the united states and france? >> reporter: he made reference to some of the immigration debate saying the united states cannot close itself off from the rest of the world. >> the united states and in europe, we are living in a time of anger and fear because of this current global threat. but this feeling does not do anything. >> reporter: reaction was positive in the house chamber, with about 30 or so standing ovations overall, in terms of the speech. arizona senator jeff flake told us he liked the spee

we talked to him at the decatur house, the home of the white house historical association, which published the book. this is about 30 minutes. >> jonathan pliska, you've worked with the white house historical association to write a young readers book about the white house easter egg roll. before we get into history, tell me about it today. how large is it in 2018? >> it would be larger than it is except the popularity is so high and everybody wants to be a part of this that they generally cap the attendance at 30,000-35,000 people. >> where is it held today? >> the south lawn white house. i call it the president's backyard. >> are the eggs real eggs? >> sometimes. they use wooden eggs. >> they are collectibles. >> definitely. but there are traditionally some real eggs used. in the past, it was all real eggs. >> and who gets to go? >> anybody can go, but you need to submit your request online in advance, and then a lucky lottery winner get to go over and, the other thing is you need to have a small child with you, otherwise -- you know it's an event for the kids and otherwise you would have

candy man, nickname around the white house for president trump's pick to run the veterans affairs administration. a tip handing out prescription drugs as white house doctor, and doesn't containing the central question of his confirmation. is trump's personal doctor even qualified to run the second largest government agency taking care of our veterans? >>> and charm offensive. the french president takes his message directly to congress. he talked to iran, climate change, fake news and at times rebuked president trump's viewpoints. >>> plus, melania's moments with the administration's first day visit, stepping into the spotlight and leaves a style imprint on this formal show of unity with our nation's oldest ally. we get to all of that but begin with the white house digging in, defending their pick to lead the department of veterans affairs ronny jackson. the white house has no plans to drop out and hinted the allegations against him may be politically moat valuated. mo motivated. >> we think dr. jackson is a great american patriot and deserves the opportunity. >> a process within the department o

the president hinted on the visit during a news conference at the white house. >> we have a very good call and i suspect we'll probably be meeting in the no too distant future. >> the problem is much of the president's foreign policy apparatus, inside and outside the white house, was apparently blindsided by the news from the kremlin. the white house press secretary issued a statement that said in part the two had discussed a bilateral meeting in the not too distant future at a number of potential venues, including the white house. meanwhile, in washington tomorrow, we may learn more about the mueller investigations are a kind of status tomorrow, because tomorrow will bring the first real sentencing in the vex. alexander vander zwann who worked with paul manafort and rick gates in ukraine has pled guilty to lie with investigators. last week he revealed about communications with gates and a person with ties to the russian government and it was relevant to the russia investigation. and "the wall street journal" reports that robert mueller is looking into roger stone's 2016 claim he had

then we got the surprise departure of the white house cyber security adviser who left his job at the white house and went back to the national security administration. now, tonight, we have learned about another senior national security departure from the trump white house, the chief of staff to the national security council, keith kellogg, is also leaving that gig, although he too will be getting a soft landing. he will be moving to the staff of vice president mike pence. you might remember mike pence last week made a move to try to hire a national security adviser for himself who he would share with the staff of u.n. ambassador nikki haley. the president himself reportedly kiboshed that idea. so, instead, mike pence will take keith kellogg off the national security council where he had been serving as chief of staff and that's fine and good but that is a lot of departures suddenly. it wasn't just h.r. mcmaster. it's all these other people that have gone in the last three weeks, at least a half dozen of them. john great white death bolton has really cleaned the place out quickly but

army, then the surprise departure of the white house cybersecurity adviser, who left his job at the white house and went back to the national security administration. now tonight we have learned about another senior national security departure from the trump white house, the chief of staff to the national security council keith kellogg is also leaving that gig, although he too will be getting a soft labbing moves to the staff of the vip mike pence -- vice president mike pence. the president himself reportedly kiboshed the sharing idea, so instead mike pence will take keith kellogg off the national security council where he had been serving as chief of star. that's a lot of departures suddenly. it was that just national security adviser h.r. mcmaster. it was all these people that have gone suddenly in the past three weeks, at least a half dozen of them. john "great white death" bolton has cleaned the place out quickly. but he's not replaced them. we hired one person, someone from the white house personnel office, but that's it. all of these new folks are out since bolton started just three

to invite vladimir putin to the white house or raise the possibility of a meeting at the white house would be such a disconnect with putin's meddling in our election. it would be such a slap to our allies in the united kingdom where he launched a vicious attack on the streets of london. so, again, i think you see the president for a variety of reasons. i think he admires vladimir putin, respects that he does whatever he wants. isn't constrained by laws and wants to have a closer relationship despite the effects on america's elections and rule of law. >> and that piece of propaganda, that photo of him with the president in the white house. matt miller, thank you so much. >> thank you. >>> here is a big question, did he quit or was he fired? why that question is so important and how much influence the president can have over that department until his replacement is named. plus, live in oklahoma city city where teachers walked out of school to demand higher pay. >> reporter: that's right, chris. it's what many here in oklahoma are calling the teachers rebellion. tens of thousands of stud

you might get attacked about in the white house. the president doesn't care particularly to vet anybody in there administration. do we know how the vetting process works, even if there's a team of people at the white house? >> there is a team of people who handle that at the white house and they work for the chief of staff in this case john kelly, so this is raising new questions about john kelly's role in overseeing all of this. as part of the vetting that is done, there are often times conversations with, in this case, it woulders on the hill, whether or not the nominee would have an easy nomination process. it appears that that conversation didn't even happen. so if the white house isn't doing the careful vetting on the small things, what sort of big picture issues are they missing as well. >> mitch mcconnell was asking the nomination process a moment ago, let's play that. >> with regard to the jackson nomination, i'm waiting to hear from both chairman isaacson from the administration, what they believe the way forward should be,

obviously indicating that the white house line was not true and if the white house line isn't true, thenwhite house putting out information to the american public that's not factual? so you have kudlow now apologizing to nikki haley in a phone call, but is it possible that the white house should apologize to anyone who got that information that nikki haley is strongly and clearly disputing, john? >> i admit to being confused on this matter, michelle. >> it's okay. it's okay. >> appreciate you being with us. >> john kirby back with us. eliana, you have also been reporting on this. is haley in any kind of trouble here? there are stories that the president was yelling at the television screen when she was talking about sanctions. >> i don't think we quite know if nikki haley's in trouble but here's what we do know. we know the president signed off on a package that included bomb attack on syria and sanctions on russia for their support of the assad regime and that was last week. at some point between the president signing off on that and nikki haley's appearance on sunday shows, something h

she was beloved in the white house. when i interviewed her about the butlers and the white house, she remembered their names. she kept in touch with many of them. and i think the love story between her and president bush is incredible. longest presidential marriage in history. 73 years. she was asked if she had any flaws and she said no, he was a saint. she told me i have been so happy as first lady, so many good things have happened in my life, i have no complaints and all because of my husband. and so i think this is a really inspirational story and as douglas said, we hear about the reagans a lot, but the bushes had these deep devotion to each other and their family. and an end of an era, this reagan/bush era of decorum. and it is sad. >> just on the medical front, we know she was diagnosed with graves disease, but in the last few years, it was congestive heart failure and copd. >> and she was healthy, she got the graves disease in the late '80s. that was about it until age 90. copd is a significant inflammation of th

and trusts more than inside the white house because he's lost so many people inside the white hat makes him more unpredictable to his advisers inside the white house which has serious costs. i think you're seeing that in the firing -- the way that the firing of the veterans affair secretary david shulkin went down which came at an unexpected time to many agents at the white house. this stuff is not entirely unprecedented because he's always leaned on people outside the white house, but it is becoming more unexpected, more unpredictable. the president is sort of becoming more himself. >> the other thing you're seeing, too, is the people he's bringing in are tending to be more people in line with his thinking, people he feels may line up more with what he wants to do, so that's maybe going to change how he thinks. >> the people day to day inside the white house feel out of touch with him and unprepared for what he's going to do. >> demoralized. >> let's show the people on the rise. a more established republican on republican policy. his first day on the job is in the milddle of w

here's his take. >> i understand he had a nickname in the white house among some of the white house staff>> and it was the candy man because he handed out prescription drugs like they were candy. >> the white house doctor is nicknamed among some people in the white house as the candy man? >> that is correct. that's correct. that's what we were told. >> cooper repeating a question always a signal of support. cilliz cillizza, am i wrong about this? fair or not, the white house should have known about it. they should have been or ready to defend him and show they know who this guy is. >> i wrote a piece about this yesterday morning which is essentially this is the most avoidable and predictable. predictable in that donald trump, whether it's rob porter, other folks in the white house who struggled. we know donald trump prioritizes people he likes over anyone also and he makes decisions by the seat of his pants. he's an instincts guy. could this have been avoided? of course. you don't nominate someone to run the second biggest bureaucracy without doing some level of checking on him. there was

kaitlan collins at the white house. what is the latest? >> reporter: we have some breaking news, john. the white house just announced that the president will no longer travel to south america this week as has been scheduled for several weeks if not months now for the summit of the americas. and the press secretary sarah sanders said this was because the president is going to remain at home so he can oversee the american response to syria, but, john, there is no denying that the cancellation of this trip comes just one day after fbi agents raided the office of his long time attorney michael cohen and this comes as the mueller probe is continuing to intensify and we're seeing the president continue to essentially be consumed by this, as he was last night, during that stunning dinner with senior military leadership, a dinner where they were supposed to be discussing syria, but when they had the cameras come into the room, the president had quite an outburst. >> the attorney general made a terrible mistake when he did this and when he recused h

. >> is the white house concerned with facebook after all the talk on the hill? >> the white house supports conservatives and everyone having to ability to speak freely on a number of platforms across this country. certainly support the constitution that provides that right. >> two questions about the president's statement. what does "get ready russia." is the president targeting personnel or assets in syria? what does he mean? >> we're maintaining we have a number of options on the table. final decisions haven't been made. >> does it mean anything at all? what does it mean? >> it means -- there's a lot there that you can read from. as the same time, the president has a number of options at his disposal and they're on the table and we look at each one of them. >> a separate question about the president's tweets. can you explain how the special counsel investigation has made for bad blood with russia? >> i think that the president has been extremely clear that the constant focus of the fact that the president and his campaign had any collusion with russia has hurt