Assembled. We have a lot of smart people. I tell you what, one thing weve learned, we have by far the highest iq of any cabinet ever. There are those that are saying its one of the finest group of people ever assembled as a cabinet. Were very proud of it. We have a Phenomenal Team of people, a great group of talent. Since then though, the president has fired or forced out more than half a dozen of those people he was including in that praise. Yesterday, President Trump announced the firing of va secretary David Shulkin. He did this through a tweet. I am pleased to announce that i intend to nominate admiral Ronny Jackson m. D. As the new secretary of veterans affairs. I am thankful to dr. David shulkins service to our country. Dr. Jackson who has no Management Experience will be tacked with fixing the governments second Largest Agency plagued with scandals. According to the New York Times trump feels more job that he understands the job of president and relying on his own instincts putting a premium on his personal chemistry with his people rather than on their resume or qualifications for the job. Recent he told reporters change isnt such a bad thing. They wrote a story about staff changes that was very false. I think you want to see change. I want to see the different ideas. The news marked the end of secretary shulkins time an the va given the president s public backing before this. I also want to express our appreciation for secretary shulkin who is implementing the dramatic reform throughout the va. I have no doubt it will be properly implemented. Right, david . Better be, david. Well never have to use those words. Well never have to use those words on our david. And according to nbc news, President Trump who built his career in part on telling people youre fired on reality television, he tasked john kelly with firing shulkin before the president tweeted the news himself. Im joined by kristen welker, White House Correspondent with nbc news, Nick Confessore with the New York Times and a political analyst and elise jordan. Kristin, over to you first where the news happened yesterday and the president put that tweet out. Thats a pattern we turn on twitter and learn Something Big happened through the president s account. When and why the president turned on David Shulkin because you heard the praise before this. When and why he turned on the va secretary and how it was he then turned to his personal physician. Right. Well, i think that this was not necessarily a surprise. Part of the pattern were starting to see in addition to everything you just mapped out is sort of bubbling up to the surface, frustrations that the president starts talking about with his advisers. We learn about it in the press. And then its a matter of weeks or months before the person ultimately winds up leaving the white house. In this case, there were a couple of issues. One, i think the president clashed with the va secretary on policy issues including how the va should be run. The president wanted to see more privatization. David shulkin was as opposed to that. Then there were ethical concerns and questions surrounding the va secretary including this trip that he took to europe with family members. It was an official trip. He mixed in some personal activities. He did wind up reimbursing the va. But only after all of that had been exposed in the press and had been heavily scrutinized. I think there were a lot of things at work here. It goes back to another point you made, the fact that the president clashed with him. What youre seeing increasingly is this president who wants to be surrounded by people who agree with him, who he has faith in and that is where we then turn to Ronny Jackson. Hes someone who has earned the president s trust. We met him for the first time really when he had that remarkable press conference in which he gave the president a clean bill of health and said he wanted to put him on a diet. A lot of questions surrounding his confirmation process because hes never headed an agency much less the second largest in the federal government. So there is some concern, some criticism hes not necessarily the right person for the job. Again the president trusting his gut on this and the fact he has a relationship and good rapport with admiral Ronny Jackson. Again, it is such an unusual move when you just take a step back like many moves weve seen. It is unusual for the president to turn to a personal physician for a spot in the cabinet. So tell us a little bit more about what you know about the relationship between trump and dr. Jackson. This is somebody who didnt come to the white house with trump. He had been there under obama starting in 2013. Where did that relationship come from . How close is it . What do we know about that . This is, as you point out, someone who served in the Obama Administration. It is notable that he was able to forge this relationship with President Trump. This is someone whos spent a lot of time with the president , again suggested putting him on a diet. Someone also able to give him truth talking, as well. But i think that this developed over time. He also is someone who looks the part. He was very strong in that briefing that we had. And remember, the president sometimes likes to pick people who look the part who he thinks are strong characters in front of a camera. He thinks thats part of being a part of his administration. There were a range of different farcs that played into this. How is this going to play once he needs confirmed on capitol hill . Thats where the real question lies now. I think well have to wait and see how it unfolds because again, there is skepticism about his lack of experience. Those confirmation votes early on in his presidency, a lot more dissent than weve seen before. A couple ways to think about this with Ronny Jackson. Let me give you two basic schools of thought. One is, it is consistent with what weve seen with trump, an unconventional pick, seemingly announced spontaneously. Catches everybody off guard. Continues can the palace intrigue arrest show the effect. Or this idea that trump is turning a little bit as president and asserting himself more in these personnel decisions putting a little bit more of his personal stamp op these personnel choices. How do you understand this one . So a bit from column a and a bit from column b. The president is always casting a reality show. Its not the apprentice, its survivor. He values what, fortunes and loyalty and stars on the shoulder and people who are good on tv. Thats how he casts his show. I also think for the first year of his job as president , he was untrusted by people in the establishment people put around him, people experienced in the ways of washington not always synced with him on policy. Is he basically pushing most of those people out. He is the president. He doesnt have to have the proposition here where Ronny Jackson going to the va, a troubled and massive part of our government, the proposition is really almost the same that trump offered in the campaign in 2016. It was, theres big problems here. The folks who have credentials, the folks you normally turn to have screwed it up and not going to get you out of it. You need an outsider to do it. Its unfair to lump dr. Ronny jackson in with some of the more inexperienced cabinet picks because he is a lifelong military doctor, a rear admiral equivalent to a one or two star. You dont rise within the pentagon ranks and not know how to manage people by the time youre at that level of promotion. Theres a lot that could be gained by having a military doctor run the va just because the regular military Health Care System isnt synced with the va system necessarily. A lot the more exploratory treatments pioneered on the military side such as to combat ptsd arent necessarily available to veteran. I think this is dr. Jackson is someone who is trusted by president bush, president obama and clearly President Trump and i think its an exciting picking. Other news today on the personnel front, the president saying goodbye to one of his longest serving aides and someone who was one of his strongest defenders. Hope hicks. This is video of the president wishing her well before he departed for an event in ohio today. It is unclear who replace hicks. Politico is reporting the president sees no urgency to fill the position. According to two officials, nobody can fill hicks shoes. Behind the scenes new York Magazine reporting there is a brutal competition between mercedes schlep, director of Strategic Communication and the Treasury Department spokesman tony saeh. Kristen welker, were talking about the changes here in the administration, the idea the president as nick was saying in some cases jettisoning some of the folks who came in with him, some of the folks with the institutional knowledge. Hope hicks came to washington with him and didnt know it before he got there. In terms of somebody very close to him who understands him, this departure probably does leave a big hole. Its a big hole. I have spoken to a number of people here about hope hicks departure. Who is going to replace her. And everyone says the same thing. No one can replace hope hicks. Why . She has been with President Trump since day one, since he launched his improbable campaign. She was there through the highs and lows. She helped him to get his campaign back on track, helped him to win the white house frankly. Shes someone who has a relationship with him that extends far beyond a communications director, one official said she plays a number of different roles within this administration including maybe his closest adviser. So who is going to relays her now . Im told the president isnt going to replace her with great urgency. Hes thinking about it but Sarah Sanders the Current Press secretary along with mercedes schlep as well as Kellyanne Conway im told are likely going to fulfill that role together. They will basically serve in the role of communications director. The three of them while the president determines who if anyone specifically will be naxd lead communications director. Nick confessore and elise jordan here with me in new york. Thanks to all of you. Could special counsel mueller use the news that trumps attorney floated the idea of a pardon to build an obstruction case . Lots of new developments in the russia investigation is coming up. Plus, if you want to understand the new face of the Democratic Party, look no further than the march for our lives last weekend, the people that took to the streets are the ones taking charge of the grassroots politics of the Democratic Party and they are not all teenagers or not necessarily what you might expect. Well show you what the big board says. It has been a year of memorable parodies on saturday night live. The new one was from a former snl star. And finally, the round table will be here with three things you might not know. This is hsh where the action is. Thats because roundup for lawns has arrived. Finally, theres a roundup made just for your lawn, so you can put unwelcome lawn weeds to rest. Draw the line. With roundup for lawns, there is no better way to kill lawn weeds to the root without harming a single blade of grass. Its a great day to be a lawn. Draw the line with roundup. Trusted for over 40 years. Late this evening, Savannah Guthrie sat down with russias new ambassador to the United States. Despite ongoing hostility between the u. S. And russia are, he described the recent phone call between trump and putin as a warm exchange. Lets watch. What i know i know official reports from kremlin. From minister of foreign affairs. It was constructive conversation could i add even that it was warm conversation. Warm . Yes, its my position. It was not mentioned in the statement but how i read it. And if you look at the substance of this conversation, our two president s have discussed the real problems we face today and how it is important to unite our efforts to tackle these challenges to our security to security of the United States people as well as russian people. More of that exclusive interview will air tomorrow morning on today. We have the latest developments in the russia investigation right after this. Rise higher than ever. As the world leader in unmanned aerial systems, were attracting the worlds best talent to central new york. And turning the airport into a firstclass transportation hub. All while growing urban areas into vibrant places to live and work. Across new york state, were building the new new york. To grow your business with us in new york state, visit esd. Ny. Gov. To grow your business with us in new york state, if his denture can cope with. A steak. Luckily for him, he uses super poligrip. It helps give him 65 more chewing power. Leaving brad to dig in and enjoy. Super poligrip. The revelation that Donald Trumps former lead attorney, john dowd discussed pardons for Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort last summer raised new concerns about the president s potential legal exposure. Dowds overture was intended to silence flynn and manafort or discourage them from cooperating with investigators, it may theoretically represent obstruction of justice. What specifically dowd offered and whether trump approved the idea could become part of Robert Muellers investigation. Trumps lawyers have denied that dowd had those reported conversations about pardoning flynn and manafort. However, weve seen President Trump and associates have not denied a pardon is possible in connection with the russia probe. Every time theyve been asked, theyve been careful not to completely rule it out. Would you consider a pardon for Michael Flynn . I dont want to talk about pardons for Michael Flynn yet. Well see what happens. Would he consider pardoning him . Im not aware that has come up or any process or decision on that front. Are you going to pardon manafort . Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Will the president consider or rule out pardoning either of them . I havent had any conversations with him about that. The pardon power is quite broad. I have not studied it. I dont know whether that would be appropriate or not, frankly. Will the president rule out giving pardons to people like Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, and any others in this investigation . I have not had the conversation with the president about any of that. Im joined by daniel goldman, former assistant u. S. Attorney and natasha ber tram a staff writer at the atlantic. Danny, quite a revelation the idea of these conversations dangled by trumps lawyer about pardons last summer but didnt happen. Manafort and flynn ultimately the special counsel took legal action against them. From that standpoint when you look at the idea of an obstruction of justice case, the fact nothing seems to have come of this, how does that affect it . Thats actually worse for the obstruction of justice angle. The fact you would dangle this constitutional and broad power and yet not exercise it is an indication that youre using it for ulterior or alternative purposes. Lets hypothetically say they had this conversation and he dangled the idea, hey, if you dont testify, then you know, maybe youll get a pardon down the road. By not actually executing the pardon, hes not dealing with the ramifications politically that should come with it and so what hes got is a situation where hes floating it out will for his personal use. And that is not the purpose of the pardon power from thats in the constitution. And the other point, steve, thats really important here is, this was wat not White House Council don mcgahn having these conversations. Ordinarily pardons, commutations of sentences run through the white house counsels office. This was Donald Trumps personal lawyer having these conversations who is defending him in these investigations. So it directly links it to the investigation which makes it a little bit more suspect from an obstruction perspective. I guess the part i wonder about and you just broadened this out and think about it a little, president ial power to parred is pretty absolute. Weve seen president s exercise this in any manner of different ways over the years. Youve got the president in the clips were just playing. He has kind of talked about this, said not the time to be talking about a pardon yet. If you got that the power and youre out there publicly even just sort of generally saying it, where is the difference between that and the kind of obstruction youre talking about . Because anybody in a jam and potentially has something on the president is going to take that message. Right. Lets use jim comey as an example. The president has the authority to fire the fbi director. But the argument in favor of an obstruction of justice charge would be you cannot use your power whether its executive power or constitutional power corruptly with a corrupt intent. If youre using it as its designed to be used and you face whatever political ramifications you face which is how it was designed, then thats fine. But if you used it with a corrupt intent, then its obstruction of justice. So theyre different sources of the power but its an aal gus situation. Natasha bertrand, what do we know about the state of pardon politics if you want to call it inside the white house right now . Youve got, we know whats happened to flynn and manafort since the discussions. We still have the russia pro