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Taken down? >> well, at v.a. this has been an issueue for us for quite some time since we have confederate cemeteries as part of the v.a. and we can see from the events of this week that words matter, to respect people's opinion. so we've been very careful respect the historic aspects as well as respecting the way that these confederate monuments make people feel. and finding that right balance is exactly what we're seeing throughout the rest of country. jesse: that's a very challenging balance, and people are very emotional about it. good luck with that going forward. it's going to be a big i...

Have a president who gives us clear direction and gives us the support to fix the v.a. it's why we've been able to get five bills throughout -- jesse: that's great. >> -- through congress with bipartisan support. jesse: secretary shulkin, thank you very much, and i'm glad we're bringing much-needed reform to that department. >> thank you, jesse. jesse: first, it was confederate statues. now the left wants to take down jefferson and washington. a powerful watters' words up next. ♪ ♪ out. i want you to stay this bright blue forever, that's why you'll stay in this drawer forever. i can't live...

People and a lot of families are the use of painkillers. what is your sense of the level of prescription or overprescription of painkillers in the v.a.? >> well, there's no doubt throughout the country this is national crisis, a public health crisis. in the v.a. we actually noticed this and began to work on it in 2010, so we've seen about a 30% reduction in opioid use in the v.a --n jesse: good. >> and we've been working on this, and we'll continue to work on it to make sure that we not only effectively treat pain, but that we don't unintentionally get people addicted to these types of medicat...

♪ jesse: earlier this week the president signed a bill expanding benefits to our veterans and hold toking v.a. employees -- holding v.a. employees accountable for behaving badly. that's great news. but it was overshadowed by the violence in charlottesville. veterans affairs secretary david shulkin, who is jewish, offered his opinionen the controversy regard -- opinion on the atrophies regarding president trump's comments. >> i think he can speak for himself. i do feel as a american and is as a member of the cabinet that i can speak for my own personal opinions on this, and i am outraged by t...