SUMMARY: Among the more than 2.5 million men and women who have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are many veterans -- exposed to sandstorms, burn pits and other hazards -- who suffer from a mysterious pulmonary illness, as well as the confusion and doubt that surrounds their condition. The NewsHour's Dan Sagalyn reports, with narration from Nick Schifrin.
SUMMARY: Syndicated columnists Mark Shields and Mona Charen join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including the historic summit between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea, French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit, Dr. Ronny Jackson’s decision to withdraw as the Veterans Affairs nominee, and controversy surrounding Mick Mulvaney’s comments about lobbyists.
Judy Woodruff (NewsHour): This week in Washington has been consumed by talks of deals, a possible peace deal for the Korean Peninsula, and discussions with European leaders about the Iran nuclear deal.
That brings us to the analysis of Shields and Charen. That is syndicated columnist Mark Shields and syndicated columnist Mona Charen. David Brooks is away.
And we welcome both of you here on this Friday.
So, we have had this backdrop of a cliffhanger of a relationship between the United States and North Korea. Mark, a lot of tough language shared. But then, this week, we see this remarkable yesterday coming together — early this morning, coming together at the border, the North and South Korean leader.
How do you read this, and how do you see President Trump’s role in it?
Mark Shields, syndicated columnist: I read it quite superficially, because, unlike our earlier scholars and analysts, I’m not an authority on Korean politics.
But just looking at it politically, it’s a dramatic improvement. Just a few months ago, we were talking about the possibility of a million people being killed on the Korean Peninsula in a war which people feared in some cases was only weeks away.
And here we are talking about blood relatives reaching across the 38th Parallel, reconnecting, reconciliation between North and South, ending formally 65 years of war between the two.
And so you ask about President Trump. You know, I think you have to say that, while his unorthodoxy, his inflammatory rhetoric, his unpredictability has been in many cases an impediment to thoughtful and positive relations, actually, here it may have worked. It may be working.
This is a positive development, an encouraging development. It’s not the resolution, but I think this is one case where Donald Trump’s style may have worked for positive results.
Judy Woodruff: And we will see what happens, Mona, but at this point, what do you see?
Mona Charen, syndicated columnist: Well, the optics, as we would put it in Washington, were terrific, stepping across the barrier, both of them and so forth, and making a lot of promises.
But I think skepticism, deep skepticism is in order. Look, what does Kim Jong-un want? He wants to remain in power. Nuclear weapons are the key to — they’re his insurance policy. And he has devoted tremendous effort and tremendous expense to obtain them.
The idea that he would now wake up one morning and say, you know, forget all that, I actually want to live in peace and I want to denuclearize. And, by the way, as your previous guests said, a lot of dispute about what that means to the two different parties.
But we have seen over the years the North Koreans. The Kim family has made promises, has made overtures, have promised even to give up their quest for nuclear weapons. And they have never done it. They constantly renege.
So, I’m deeply skeptical that anything has really changed, except the optics.
Judy Woodruff: And so meantime, Mark, the nuclear deal that exists now between Iran and several other countries, including the U.S., President Trump keeps saying that he doesn’t like it, and there is every indication he’s going to pull out.
He’s met this week with the leader of — President of France, Emmanuel Macron, then just today with Chancellor Merkel of Germany. Does it look like the President is going to go through with this deal, and how do you see the President as diplomat this week?
Mark Shields: Well, just to respond to Mona’s point, all of that is true, the history of relations between North Korea and the rest of the world, the six-nation parlance, under four different American Presidents.
This is different. This raising the stakes by the part of the President himself.
Judy Woodruff: In Korea?
Mark Shields: In Korea.
And the reality — the reality is, Judy, that the per capita income in North Korea is $1,800. And it’s $33,200 in South Korea. And I think there is pressure there. I’m not saying that he’s the avenging angel of piece.
As far as keeping the word, and being trust and verify and skeptical, all of a sudden, the shoe is on the other foot. Are we — is our word reliable?
Judy Woodruff: With regard to the Iran…
(CROSSTALK)
Mark Shields: Iran. Are we going to keep our promise made just three short years ago? Are we going to pull out?
And right now, I think you would have to say the betting is that that’s what the President is going to do. As far as President Macron’s visit this week, I think, besides the heavy necking and the light petting that we saw in public between these two grown and married men in our liberalized area here, I don’t think there’s any question that he absolutely dazzled, and for home consumption and playing to positive reviews in Paris before the Congress.
And his message was unalloyed and direct and candid to the President about isolationism and its costs.
Judy Woodruff: A direct message to the Congress from Emmanuel Macron, Mona, but it doesn’t appear to have changed the President’s mind when it comes to this Iran nuclear deal.
Mona Charen: Yes.
It’s hard to understand the position that we should tear up the Iran deal. As somebody who was deeply opposed to the original deal, it just strikes me that once you have given away all the money, which is what we did — we gave them back their $100 million — we have lost all of our negotiating leverage.
How is it that we are going to get the Iranians to give up something more, when we have already given them what they were after? It seems to me that we don’t have the leverage we think we do with this — with the Iran deal.
Regarding Macron, I think he did the star turn this week. He rally did, because he managed Trump. He flattered him. He got along with Trump and all of that, which isn’t the easiest thing to do. And then, when he spoke to Congress, he sounded like the leader of the Western world.
He was talking about the importance of our obligations and freedom and that we shouldn’t retreat into nationalism and protectionism. I thought it was a real star turn. And I thought he did himself a lot of good.
Mark Shields: Let me just agree that I hadn’t heard a President with such command of the English language speak to Congress since Barack Obama.
(LAUGHTER)
Mark Shields: And I just — I was very impressed by Macron’s performance.
SUMMARY: Former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said Thursday that political chaos in the agency, largely sparked by the fight over privatization of veterans services, played a role in President Donald Trump’s decision to remove him from the job.
The President announced Wednesday that he was replacing Shulkin — an Obama administration holdover who opposed the complete privatization of veterans’ health care and other services — with the White House physician, Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson.
Shulkin blamed the internal push for privatization in the months leading up to his departure on Trump political appointees, claiming the officials “have agendas of their own” and saw Shulkin as a threat. He also suggested the appointees weren’t taking direct orders from the President. Shulkin did not specify which appointees he was referencing.
“I just don’t see privatization as a good thing for veterans,” Shulkin said in an interview with the PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff.
“I think that those that are really sticking to a political ideology or are doing this for other reasons, like financial reasons, don’t have the interests of veterans at heart,” he added.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): Lawmakers did something today that has become rare in this Congress, reach a compromise. House and Senate negotiators found that common ground over reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bipartisan breakthrough to try and improve patient care at the VA came after weeks of tough talks to merge competing proposals passed by the two chambers last month.
The chairs of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees announced the deal at a joint news conference this afternoon on Capitol Hill.
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont:
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, I, Vt.: Rather than go through why we didn’t do this a month ago and get it done, the important point is we are here together having done something that happens quite rarely in the United States Congress. So, I’m proud of what we accomplished.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Their total $17 billion proposal would provide $10 billion for veterans to seek out private doctors if they are unable to get an appointment within 30 days or if they live more than 40 miles from a VA facility, provide $5 billion to hire additional doctors and nurses, and another $1.5 billion to lease 27 new clinics around the country.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): The Veterans Affairs Department today released a new audit documenting widespread delayed patient care.
It’s based on a nationwide review of 731 of its hospitals and outpatient clinics. According to the internal report, 57,000 veterans have been waiting 90 days or more for their first medical appointment; 64,000 others appear to have fallen through the cracks, after enrolling with the agency and requesting medical care.
And in another major finding, 13 percent of schedulers said their supervisors had asked them to falsify appointment schedules to make the wait times appear shorter. The audit also found that a 14-day target for scheduling appointments wasn’t attainable.
Joining me to discuss the report are Dr. Sam Foote, whose complaints about wait times and bookkeeping in Phoenix led to an investigation in that area’s VA system. He was a VA doctor for 24 years. And Ralph Ibson, national policy director of the Wounded Warrior Project, which provides services to veterans. He previously served as the VA’s deputy assistant general counsel.
SUMMARY: Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s top news, including the resignation of VA Secretary Shinseki and President Obama’s foreign policy speech at West Point.
JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): And to a response from the Veterans Administration to a growing backlog of mental health cases from current and past wars.
Today, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said the agency will add 1,600 professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, and another 300 clerical workers to speed up processing of claims.
A federal appeals court issued a blistering ruling last year demanding the VA offer better mental health care for veterans. Next week, Senate committee hearings on the issue are scheduled, as is the release of a report from the VA's inspector general.
To discuss all this, we're joined by Sonja Batten, a senior mental health official at the VA.
The Bush administration plans to cut funding for veterans' health care two years from now — even as badly wounded troops returning from Iraq' could overwhelm the system.
Bush is using the cuts, critics say, to help fulfill his pledge to balance the budget by 2012.
After an increase sought for next year, the Bush budget would turn current trends on their head. Even though the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing rapidly — by more than 10 percent in many years — White House budget documents assume consecutive cutbacks in 2009 and 2010 and a freeze thereafter.
The proposed cuts are unrealistic in light of recent VA budget trends — its medical care budget has risen every year for two decades and 83 percent in the six years since Bush took office — sowing suspicion that the White House is simply making them up to make its long-term deficit figures look better.
"Either the administration is willingly proposing massive cuts in VA health care," said Rep. Chet Edwards (D) of Texas, chairman of the panel overseeing the VA's budget. "Or its promise of a balanced budget by 2012 is based on completely unrealistic assumptions."
