[Dave Briggs, Cnn Anchor:] The doctor is in. The latest shakeup sees the president tap his personal physician to lead the VA, Ronny Jackson's lack of management experience is raising some concerns. Now outgoing Secretary David Shulkin firing back.
[Michelle Kosinski, Cnn Anchor:] A new report says the president's lawyer floating pardons for top campaign aides. Was the Trump legal team trying to keep Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort from cooperating in the Russia probe?
[Briggs:] The date is set for leaders of North and South Korea to meet. The agenda includes denuclearization and other stuff as Pyongyang evolves into a major player on the world stage. Boy, this story rapidly evolving on the Korean Peninsula. Welcome back to the EARLY START, I'm Dave Briggs.
[Kosinski:] I'm Michelle Kosinski, it's 31 minutes past the hour. Another change at the top of the Trump administration. David Shulkin is out as Veterans Affairs Secretary. President Trump making the announcement where else? On Twitter. But in this case, we're told Chief of Staff John Kelly did give Shulkin a head's up. White House officials says the controversy surrounding Shulkin and questions about his travel spending had become distractions that were getting in the way. The president of course campaigned hard on helping veterans.
[Briggs:] The big surprise was not Shulkin's ouster which had been rumored for weeks, it was who is being nominated to replace him his personal physician Rear Admiral Dr. Ronny Jackson. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the nominee's performance on television had something to do with this selection. A White House official says Dr. Jackson's White House briefing where he praised the president's health played a role in case you missed it, here is a look back.
[Ronny Jackson, Physician To Donald Trump & Currently Nominated As Secretary Of The Department Of Veterans Affairs:] There's no indication whatsoever that he has any cognitive issues. The president you know, he's very sharp, he's very articulate, a lot of energy and a lot of stamina. You know, look at his vision, I mean, he's you know, he's 71 years old, I mean, he can drive if he wants to without glasses. I mean, he washes his hands frequently, he uses, you know, Purell. The president's health is excellent because his overall health is excellent. And he has incredible genes, I just assume and I think he will remain fit for duty for the remainder of this term and even for the remainder of another term if he's elected.
[Kosinski:] I'd like my doctor to watch pull me out to walk
[Briggs:] Me too.
[Kosinski:] Dr. Jackson still faces confirmation though which of course could be bumpy. He is an active duty Navy physician who has served on the White House medical team for the last 12 years. Twenty-thirteen, he was nominated by President Obama to become physician to the president. CNN has learned President Trump floated Dr. Jackson as a potential replacement at the VA recently, but people he was speaking with did not take him seriously.
[Briggs:] Yes, Dr. Jackson's nomination not going over well with Veterans groups. The executive director of American Veterans or AMVETs says tonight, the momentum at the VA has come to a screeching halt. We are very disappointed, and even more so, we are concerned. We are concerned at who the nominee is. We don't see anything in his bio that makes him fit to lead.
[Kosinski:] In a stinging op-ed published in the "New York Times" overnight, David Shulkin takes aim at people who want to privatize the VA. He doesn't until the past three months veterans issues were dealt within a largely bipartisan way. But Shulkin says the department has become entangled in what he calls a brutal power struggle.
[Briggs:] He says, quote, "solutions should be determined based on the merits of the arguments. The advocates within the administration for privatizing VA health services, however reject this approach. They saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed. That is because I am convinced that privatization is a political issue aimed at rewarding select people and companies with profits, even if it undermines care for veterans." Stinging indeed, expanding private healthcare for veterans is a White House priority.
[Kosinski:] "New York Times" reports President Trump's now former top lawyer John Dowd floated the possibility of pardons for Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort. The "Times" says Dowd raised the issue last year with the lawyers for the former national security adviser and Trump campaign chairman. Both are now facing charges in the special counsel's Russia investigation.
[Briggs:] Dowd's reported action raises questions about whether he tried to influence their decision to cooperate with the Mueller probe. CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin providing some context here.
[Jeffrey Toobin, Cnn Legal Analyst:] There is nothing unlawful about a lawyer discussing pardons. That is a power of the presidency. Where there could be trouble is if there was some sort of promise implied or given to witnesses in the Mueller investigation that if you don't cooperate, you will get a pardon.
[Briggs:] In a statement to the "Times", John Dowd denies the report, Dowd resigned from the president's legal team last week. The White House trying to dodge a pivotal question, the Stormy Daniels scandal. What did President Trump know about his lawyer's $130,000 payoff to silence the adult film star? Secretary Sarah Sanders claims that as been asked and answered, but every time a reporter repeats the question, we hear something like this.
[Unidentified Male:] You haven't answered the substantive question about whether the president was aware of the $130,000 payment that was made. Can you answer that question? You were asked three weeks ago today and said you weren't aware. Are you aware now?
[Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Press Secretary, White House:] Look, the president has denied the allegations. We've spoken about this issue extensively and I don't have anything else to add beyond that, anything beyond that, I would refer you to the outside counsel.
[Kosinski:] Sanders claims the president has already addressed the controversy surrounding Stormy Daniels, but he never has. Daniels' Attorney Michael Avenatti filed a motion in federal court Wednesday, seeking to depose the president and Attorney Michael Cohen in order to question them about the $130,000 pay off.
[Briggs:] A federal judge giving the go ahead to a lawsuit alleging the president is profiting illegally from governments doing business with the Trump Organization in Washington D.C. A Maryland and D.C. attorneys general who brought the case argued the Trump International Hotel operations put other nearby hotels and entertainment properties at a competitive disadvantage. The judge did not make any rulings on the allegations in the case, but he did note foreign governments have moved business from other hotels in D.C. to the president's hotel.
[Kosinski:] Former Vice President Joe Biden now says he regrets his comments about fighting President Trump. Biding telling the pod Save America Podcast he was referring to how he would have acted if he were in high school, not how he would act today.
[Unidentified Male:] We didn't want to run a few of the names that we were considering for the fights by you, and you just you stopped me when you feel like we have hit a winner. MAGA Saga wait, I've got to I guess if you
[Joe Biden, Former Vice President Of The United States:] All right, I want to hear them, that's good
[Unidentified Male:] Sixteen hundred Punchsylvania Avenue. The big duel or spar-a-Lago.
[Biden:] I think they're all good guys, but what I did say was, the way this came up, and I shouldn't have said what I said. I shouldn't have brought it up again. Because I don't want to get down to mosh pit with this guy. The idea and that I would actually physically get in a contest with the president of the United States or anybody else now is not what I said and is not what this was about.
[Kosinski:] Earlier this month, Biden said he would beat the hell out of Trump if the two were in high school because of the way Trump talks about women. The president shot back with a tweet saying "Biden would go down fast and hard, crying all the way if they did fight."
[Briggs:] The website Bovada has an article on who might win this theoretical fight, and they installed Trump as the favorite based on the weight advantage. You want to weigh in there?
[Kosinski:] Biden is extremely fit.
[Briggs:] I would I would not mess with Biden
[Kosinski:] He
[Briggs:] I would not.
[Kosinski:] He's still a good guy.
[Briggs:] All right, amid criticisms it failed to protect user data, Facebook is now cutting ties with data brokers. Data brokers help advertisers to target people on social media. Now Facebook says it will limit the info it shares with those brokers. The goal is to improve user privacy. Facebook also adjusted its privacy settings, giving users greater control over their personal info and what data is shared with third party apps. Third party app was behind Facebook's recent data crisis. It allowed Trump campaign consultants to access 50 million users without their consent. Setting a backlash from users and investors. Facebook's stock has lost $80 in market value since then. Facebook also faces scrutiny from lawmakers on Tuesday, CNN first reported, CEO Mark Zuckerberg does plan to testify before Congress.
[Kosinski:] Breaking overnight. The summit between North and South Korea is set. Denuclearization is on the agenda. Now another key player in the region wants to talk to Pyongyang. We're live in Seoul.