we'll hand it over to "newsroom" and don lemon. >> a big news day. thank you, have a great weekend. cnn "newsroom" starts right now. good morning everybody. don lemon in for carol. thank you for joining me this morning. we'll begin with the breaking news now, eric shinseki. we just learned that next hour, the veterans affairs secretary will meet behind closed doors with the president of the united states. few expect him to emerge with his job still intact. we don't know, we'll have to see what happens after that meeting. just minutes ago -- moments ago right here on cnn, you saw the embattled chief. he appeared before homeless vets coalition, a group most powerful to the delays that have disgraced this agency and cost

lives. he said moments ago he was going to remove the senior leaders of the phoenix va medical center. again, you're looking at live pictures. you're looking at pictures from that event as he spoke moments ago. cnn's erin mcpike is at the conference of homeless vets and has been listening to those comments. athena jones in washington and our own drew griffin whose reporting broke this story and ignited this national firestorm. i want to get to all these guys, first to erin mcpike. erin, shinseki said what he was going to do, how he planned to fix the problem. much of it seemed to go over well, some of it didn't. what's your assessment from being there? >> reporter: don, he got long ovations, both at the beginning and the end. much of the speech was about addressing the strides that they have made to address

homelessness with these veterans. also some of the strides they made in health care in reducing those costs. that was the bulk of the speech and he ended by saying if we could fix those things, we can fix this. he talked about the challenges over the last few weeks as the elephant in the room, he talked about a systemic problem which i would point out is the point that house speaker john boehner has been making and simply removing shinseki might not fix the problem. john boehner said he's getting closer to this idea that shinseki should step down, but he's not there yet. that's the point i would make, that of course we expect eric shinseki when he meets with the president in the next hour is going to make these very same points, that they have tried to address certain problems and they can move forward by addressing this one. >> erin, athena, drew, stand by. here is eric shinseki just

moments ago. >> let me address the elephant in the room today. you all have been very generous and polite. after and's release of an interim inspector general report, we now know that va has a systemic, totally unacceptable lack of integrity within some of our veterans health facilities. that breach of trust involved the tracking of patient wait times for appointments. our initial findings of our on going internal review of other large va health care facilities also show that to be true. that breach of integrity is irresponsible. it is indefensible and unacceptable to me. i said when this situation began weeks to months ago that i thought the problem was limited and isolated because i believed that. i no longer believe that. it is systemic. i was too trusting of some and i

accepted as accurate reports that i now know to have been misleading with regard to patient wait times. i can't explain the lack of integrity among some of the leaders of our health care facilities. this is something i rarely encountered during 38 years in uniform. i will not defend it because it is indefensible, but i can take responsibility for it, and i do. so given the facts i now know, i apologize as the senior leader of the department of veterans affairs. i extend that apology to the people whom i care most deeply about, the veterans of this great country, to their families and loved ones who i have been honored to serve for over five years now, the call of a lifetime. i also offer that apology to members of congress who have

supported me, to veteran service organizations who have been my partners for five years and to the american people, all of them deserve better from their va. but i also know this, that leadership and integrity problems can and must be fixed, and now. [ applause ] let's go to cnn's drew griffin who really broke the story. drew, he said what he said. is it too little, too late? is it enough to save his job? >> reporter: honestly, i think it is. what he's basically saying is he was lied to. but what i can't get over is that we've been reporting on this since last november. if he just watched cnn, he could have known back in november of

2013 that people were dieing on wait lists. wait list data numbers were being fudged, that the government's own reports showed for years that the va's reporting data was flawed. so while i feel sorry in a way for this general than for the first time in 38 years, he is being lied to by his underlings, i think the information was there, ready available in the public for him to have seen this crisis coming and done something much more proactively than waiting till this crisis developed in phoenix which now could lead to his job. >> drew, the president has been saying, i need to see more information to get to the bottom of this investigation to learn more to find out exactly what happened. the evidence has been mounting. clearly today it looks like eric shinseki is confirming that. while he said i'm going to make changes, it's a systemic problem, i think the quote was i thought the problem was limited and isolated. now i know it is systemic. you're saying all he had to do

was watch cnn. what other evidence does a president need or anyone involved to know that this is indeed a crisis and something needs to be done now and many, again, are calling for eric shinseki to lose his job? >> don, the answer is i don't know. if these guys are in charge of the va health system, why they weren't reading the government's own investigative reports on the agency itself is beyond me. we've just learning about this morning in pittsburgh, at the pittsburgh va, there's a 700-veteran wait list, waiting since 2012 to get an appointment. this is just getting worse and worse. when he's saying he's being lied to, he's replacing the phoenix administration. is he now going to replace the pittsburgh administration, the san antonio administration? all these other places where we're hearing about problems? there is a large problem at the va that has to be dealt with.

is eric shinseki the person who would do that? he's apologizing. he's saying he didn't realize what was going on. now he does. it's up to the president to decide, well, do i put my trust again in you to run this department? i'm not so sure. >> again, as we're seeing on the bottom of the screen, 10:15 eastern, the president will meet with eric shinseki. i want to get to barbara starr, our pentagon correspondent. i understand you talked to people who know shinseki. what are they saying? >> reporter: that's right. i talked over the last couple days to a number of shinseki's oldest and closest colleagues and professional friends. i've talked to one at length this morning just before shinseki spoke. what this person is telling me, and he's been in touch with shinseki this week, don't expect to see eric shinseki go into the white house and start off by offering his resignation. this is not in shinseki's

character, that he is now essentially girded for battle, girded to try to fix this once and for all. you saw him in detail essentially lay out his battle plan on how he wants to move ahead. shinseki will go to the white house. he will be armed with facts that he will lay out for the president in detail what he wants to do. if the white house wants his resignation, what this person tells me, they are going to have to ask him for it. essentially they would have to fire him. will it come to that at this point today now that shinseki has made these publix statements of apology and how he wants to move ahead? we're all going to have to wait and see. but having covered shinseki for years here at the pentagon and at the va, i can tell you it would not be in his character to go in there and say, okay, i'm giving you my resignation, that's it. he is going to want to try and fix it. he's going to want to try and fix it as best he can.

i think one of the subtle points here that may start rippling across washington as drew was saying, there's all these public reports. the problems at the va have been known for years. many of these reports are public and many in congress perhaps might have read some of these reports. why are they just speaking out about it now? where have they been over the last several years about it? shinseki isn't going to say that. a lot of people around town who are close to him, going to defend him and defend his efforts are beginning to quietly make those points. don? >> you said he's going to want to fix it. the question is he going to be allowed to fix it. democrats and republicans both calling for him to either resign or be fired. i'll go to athena jones at the white house. take us forward, about an hour and five minutes, shinseki should be meeting with the president. the question is the president going to keep him? did he buy any time or help

himself with what he just said to those homeless vets? >> reporter: that's the big question. we'll be waiting the see what comes out of that closed-door meeting. no cameras allowed. the president did give some indication of what to expect in that meeting. he spoke in an interview with abc. he said he's going to have a serious conversation with shinseki to see whether he thinks he's prepared and has the capacity to take on the jobs of fixing the problems at the va. he said i don't want any veteran to not be getting the kind of service they deserve. certainly we saw in secretary shinseki's remarks that he believes he has the capacity to fix these problems. these problems are big, but can and must be fixed and immediately. a lot of people are saying secretary shinseki is taking responsibility means he should resign, he should fall on his sword. clearly secretary shinseki means taking responsibility means sticking around to try to fix

the problem. that's why you saw him lay out a series of steps. i would expect that secretary shinseki is going to have a more whole some report to give to the president when he delivers -- supposed to deliver today preliminary results of an internal review into the va system. certainly president obama is going to get a lot more details than we got from secretary shinseki in that speech. we'll have to wait and see if that's enough for president obama. i can tell you that he has been inclined to give general shinseki a lot of support. last weekend speaking to reporters, the president said no one cares more for veterans than eric shinseki. we'll have to see what comes out of this meeting. we'll be watching very closely. >> that was last week. we got word from the white house just two nights ago that he was, quote, on thin ice. that's according to sources at the white house. drew griffin, the question really is, it's between a rock and a hard place. he probably knows more than anyone in washington about the problems now, but everyone -- many people want him to resign or either be fired. is he the best qualified person

to fix this problem even though he is embattled right now? >> don, that is the big question. i'd like to get barbara's take on this. general shinseki was a great general. he was a great army man, he is an incredible story. twice injured in combat in vietnam. he's been terrific for this country. i think that's given him a lot of leeway. oftentimes, and i think barbara will agree, when you are no longer a general, you're just the head of a bureaucracy, you may be able to lead an army, but you may not be able to lead what is a health delivery system. maybe you need more of a ceo instead of a military man. i'm sure general shinseki in 38 years was never lied to because everybody under him was scared to death to lie to him. now he gets into a situation where he's running this va and maybe they've been lying for years to anybody who sat in that

chair and has gotten away with it. he's not used to that. so now is he the best person is he the best person to, quote, unquote, turn around the va after five years in office? the president has a tough decision to make, war hero, wonderful guy, but maybe not the right guy. >> you took the words right out of my mouth. barbara, you want to respond to what drew said? that's the president's decision, really, the next decision to come i would imagine. >> it's really interesting. the department of veterans affairs is one of the country's largest, if not perhaps the largest health care organizations, health care delivery systems as drew said. there is no question about it. by tradition, it is headed by a veteran because it is veterans who get that service and there is such a tight bond there. is shinseki the right guy. what many people will tell you is the veterans affairs department needs essentially leadership at the top. senior level management

leadership. shinseki, any va secretary is supposed to have the people under him that can then accurately, fully, professionally administer the system. the secretary provides the leadership. so that is perhaps the key question there, whether there is confidence in his ability to lead the organization and to affect the management changes that are needed, no different perhaps than in the u.s. military. one of the things in the military is, if you lie to your boss, you're gone immediately. there's no civil service regulations. you get the boot. you have fired. shinseki has the civil service issues that he has to deal with because this is a civilian part of the government. i've talked to some people about what about finding a new nominee. one of the issues is there's only a couple years left in this administration. they would need to find someone perhaps who is a veteran who has

extensive health care management experience and someone who wants to come into government, perhaps take a salary cut and do this for just a couple of years. >> barbara, is there someone as experienced as shinseki waiting in line who can handle it? >> well, no. the fact is right now today, as we all stand here, eric shinseki knows the most, presumably more than anybody about the precise detailed problems across the va system because he's been looking at it. someone who comes in is going to first have to go through a nomination process, get confirmed, get up to speed, perhaps put in their own team. that's the argument many in congress are making who want to keep him, that he's already ahead of the game. >> getting up to speed, drew griffin, is not going to be that easy when you consider really the depth of this problem. >> reporter: there is a guy there now, a number two, his name is sloan gibson.

he's well thought of. he ran the uso, he's a retired banker. he came on, i believe, in february into the va. so there is somebody you could rely on day to die if shinseki were to leave this afternoon. getting to the bigger point that barbara was making, there's only two years left. this is a political appointment, right. i'm just a reporter, i can't remake washington. but i don't know. this is a huge health care system that needs a boss that's going to make huge changes in a bureaucracy that's been there for years and years and years. maybe it's time to pick somebody who could go from one administration to the next and actually do the job of turning this around. >> good point. athena jones at the white house, if this audit is as scathing as expected, as drew has been reporting, there may be more benefit for the president to fire shinseki rather than merely

accepting a resignation or allowing him to continue the problem even though there's only a few years left in this administration. >> reporter: i think if you look at what happened with hhs secretary kathleen sebelius, that could be illustrated, could give us a hint as to how the administration could handle this. they left secretary sebelius in place even as that disaster rouse rollout of healthcare.gov was on going. there were many, many problems with that. they kept her in place so she could be there to fix the problems. once the system looked like it was on track, when they met and surpassed their goals for sign-ups, that's when she bowed out. that's certainly how they handled the last really big scandal when it comes to management, something similar to this situation. the president has been inclined to show support for secretary shinseki saying he's put his whole heart and soul into this job. you heard the secretary himself talk -- it was to homeless

veterans, he outlined the steps they made to bring that down to 24% over the past three years. that gives indication of some problem that he was able to help fix. certainly secretary shinseki has a plan that he's begun to lay out for trying to turn this around. the question is going to be whether the president wants to stick with him during this time and replace it later or replace him right now. >> we may find out soon. they're meeting at 10:15 eastern time, just under an hour from now. i want to thank barbara starr, athena jones, erin mcpike and drew griffin. eric shinseki smoking out moments ago addressing the problems we're having with veterans affairs, long wait lines, times as hospitals and on and on and on. drew griffin is reporting on that. more on the breaking news in just a moment as well as other news. we'll be right back.

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welcome back everyone. we are awaiting the bhous arrival of eric shinseki. there you see live pictures. he's to meet with the president at 10:15 eastern time. the embattled veterans affairs secretary meeting moments ago and speaking to members of a homeless veterans coalition in washington and accepting responsibility and taking about addressing problems that the veterans administration is facing with the hospital wait times and on and on. we'll bring it to you live as soon as it happens. this just in, a new arrest

in connection with the 2013 boston marathon bombing. federal authorities charging a 23-year-old man one year after the deadly terrorist attack. i want to go to susan candiotti who joins us by now with details. what are you learning. >> reporter: this 23-year-old man, a citizen of gur sikh stan, charged with obstruction of justice and hiding information from investigators looking into the bombing and even destroying evidence. authorities are saying he is not involved -- they're not charging him with being involved in planning the bombing nor participating in any way. they're saying the night of the bombing, he invited the two suspects, the two tsarnaev brothers to dinner and had dinner with them. there's no indication that during that time the brothers admitted any role in the bombing. however, a few days later,

authorities say he saw photographs of the tsarnaev brothers on cnn and, in fact, knew authorities would be trying to talk to him to get information about what he knew about them and then took steps, it's charged, to get rid of things that he had that contained information about them, such as his cell phone and even a laptop. that's the main charge here. so chilling details and it goes to show you, don, that even with the trial coming up in november for the tsarnaevs, authorities are still gathering information about what went on during -- before the bombing, during it and even afterwards. if this young man is found guilty, he faces at least 20 years in prison. still to come, a $2 billion blockbuster deal in the nba as shelly sterling agrees to part with a team that she co-owns

with her husband, donald sterling. rosa florez following the developments for us. rosa? >> we are talking top dollar for a top team. the question still remains, will donald sterling sell or sue? we'll discuss after the break. [ laughter ] smoke? nah, i'm good. [ male announcer ] celebrate every win with nicoderm cq, the unique patch with time release smartcontrol technology that helps prevent the urge to smoke all day long. help prevent your cravings with nicoderm cq. that helps prevent the urge to smoke all day long. thoughtful combinations, artfully prepared. fancy feast elegant medleys. inspired dishes like primavera, florentine and tuscany. fancy feast. a medley of love, served daily. whon a certified pre-ownedan unlimitedmercedes-benz?nty what does it mean to drive as far as you want...

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after five weeks of the most bizarre series of events involving donald sterling, it looks like the embattled clippers owner is out. shelly sterling reached an agreement to sell the basketball

team to former microsoft ceo steve ballmer for $2 billion. the potential deal is not without controversy. before the deal was reached, the attorney for donald sterling says his client must still sign off on this potential deal. rosa florez joins me with the very latest on that. good morning, rosa. >> reporter: good morning, don. here is the deal, the sterlings have a big decision to make in the coming days. while you do have shelly sterling paving the way, making it very easy for the sale to happen, the ball is definitely in donald sterling's court. it is one of the biggest deal in sports history, and the winning bidder, this man, steve ballmer, former ceo of microsoft. the price tag? $2 billion, handily beating out competing betters like oprah winfrey and david geoff fin by $400 million.

the deal is no slam dunk. ballmer signed an agreement with shelly sterling. the next play belongs to donald sterling. >> there is no sale. and he has not yet agreed to sign off, period. >> reporter: his lawyer telling wolf blitzer before news of the agreement that while donald gave her permission to negotiate selling the team, he did not give her permission to actually sell the team. >> not without reaching an accommodation with the nba which gives him so form of vindication. the money is not critical to him. >> reporter: the nba is pushing for a quick sale, trying to ward off a contentious meeting scheduled for this tuesday where owners will officially vote to force sterling out. the reaction overnight was quick with magic johnson tweeting, quote, clipper fans, you'll love steve ballmer as your owner. but either way, donald sterling

will not leave empty-handed. he originally bought the team for $12 million. if the sale goes through. he stands to make over $1.9 billion in profit. i'd like to share with you a quote from shelly sterling. this is from an announcement released early this morning. she says, quote, i am delighted that we are selling the team to steve who will be a terrific owner. we have worked for 33 years to build the clippers into a premier nba franchise. i am confident that steve will take the team to new levels of success. don, i think it's probably safe to say the team is ready for a new beginning as well. >> yes, ready to move on. rosa florez. joining me is legal analyst joey jackson. good morning. this is a saga that keeps going and going and going. first and most obvious, the most obvious question, do you think the nba is going to approve the

sale? >> i think they really would. now, this is interesting, don, because the left hand, shelly sterling, it's like the bus has left the station. she's thanking him and saying he, being the new ceo, mr. ballmer, will be delighted to have him. the other camp, donald sterling, not so fast. maybe there will be challenges. i do think because the nba is committed to disassociating themselves from anything sterling that certainly with this new owner, former ceo of microsoft, very well respected, certainly seems to be culturally diverse with regard to his statement, los angeles being a very inclusive town. the nba being an inclusive organization and he, himself, mr. ballmer saying i'm inclusive. i think they would be delighted. that board of governors would act swiftly to get rid of the sterlings and welcome the new owner to the l.a. clippers. >> if everything goes as rosie as you seem to think it's going to go -- >> you know it won't, don. >> you heard maxwell bleacher

yesterday, it was complete contradiction of what shelly sterling is doing with steve ballmer. we'll see. if approved, the stermgs would sell the clippers for 166 times what he paid for it. >> not a bad profit. >> not a bad profit. people are saying he's profiting off racism and racism is profitable. that's not really the case, is it? >> no. listen, it was absolutely abhorrent that any of this had to happen. ultimately if the end game was to get rid of him and to have a league for the people, by the people inclusive. you have african-americans who are really the all-stars of this league working so hard, and to be demoralized and degraded as they have, if the end game is to get rid of him, it's a lovely thing. a quick twist with this, don, mr. sterling's mental capacity is being challenged because new reports are out that say he

doesn't even have the mental ability to challenge what shelly sterling is doing because it's a family trust and he is deemed by apparent experts who have interviewed him as not competent. how credible that is i guess will remain to be seen. i think at the end of the day, don, even if he fights this, the nba is on very solid footing to remove him based upon his disparaging remarks and the effect it had on the brand, on the league, on the sponsors and on us all. >> there is the next part of the story. there's the twist. the mental capacity. mark my words. thank you, joey jackson. we'll get you back to our big story this morning. and that is at the white house where the president is preparing to meet with embattled veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki is just under -- just about 40 minutes. we'll carry it for you here on cnn. you don't want to miss it. stand by. more on this breaking news. [ brian ] in a race,

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athena jones is at the white house following this story for us. athena, the big question, what will happen at the white house, what will their talk be about? did eric shinseki say enough at this homeless veterans coalition to save his job? eric shinseki is not the only one speaking out this morning. the president was on michael and kelly this morning -- "kelly and michael" and spoke about how big and serious this problem is. let's take a listen. >> i'll have a serious conversation with him about whether he thinks that he is prepared and has the capacity to take on the job of fixing it. i don't want any veteran to not be getting the kind of services that they deserve. >> there we go, the president really foreshadowing a little bit what he's going to talk to eric shinseki about. but the president has a critical decision here. >> he does, don, that's what's so interesting about that comment we just heard from the president. he's still making it sound as though it's up to secretary

shinseki to say whether he thinks he has the capacity to fix the big systemic problems we know are facing the va health care system. certainly secretary shinseki thinks he does. we just heard him say that and spell out part of his plans, part of the actions he's taken in that speech to homeless veterans not too long ago. i can tell you the white house has certainly given themselves an out on both sides. we know that the president right now, just a few minutes ago was saying it's up to shinseki whether he has the capacity to fix this. he said shinseki has poured his heart and soul into this job, taking it very seriously, no one cares more about veterans than shinseki. at the same time, we've heard this week from white house officials saying secretary shinseki is on thin ice. i'm not a betting woman. i can't say how it's going to go. we don't know how much to read into the president's remarks just now. certainly from those remarks, it sounds like the president is waiting to hear a little more

from secretary shinseki about how he would go about fixing this problem. as you know, don, this is systemic. there's a national audit that's on going, and there's been a drip, drip, drip of more problems being revealed at va facilities around the country. so that's the challenge the president is facing as he tries to make this decision that could come as soon as today, don. >> to be fair, athena, that interview on kelly and michael that was taped after shinseki's remarks, the president may have a change of heart after they speak live today, may have a change of heart. who knows? we won't be inside of that room. i'm sure someone will come out to report exactly what happened. if eric shinseki goes, we should know very quickly. about a half hour from now, meeting at the white house with eric shinseki and president barack obama. we'll continue to watch this closely for you. we will be right back.

hillary clinton has not decided yet on a 2016 presidential bid, but observers say her road to the white house could involve a big hurdle, and that's a benghazi consulate attack that left four americans dead. now clinton is opening up about the incident in her upcoming book, hard choices. in a 34-page chapter, clinton takes responsibility for the loss of life, but also takes aim at her political rivals, writing in part, quote, i will not be part of a political slug fest on the backs of dead americans. it's plain wrong and unworthy of our great country. those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me. let's talk about it, why don't we. cnn senior political correspondent brianna keilar and cnn political commentator and democratic strategist maria cardona. good morning to all of you. brianna, i'll start with you.

brit co-characterizes this chapter as a template for democrats on how to respond to republican critics of the obama administration. could she also be signaling her own strategy here? that's very possible. >> i think she definitely is, in fact. i think this is why, the state department, her experience at the state department is seen by vetters very much as a positive. republicans look at that. they see benghazi as the dark spot and they are really trying to tarnish that. we're seeing hillary clinton hit back. i know we have a full screen of one of the things that she also says in this chapter about benghazi, if we can go ahead and put that up. i guess we don't have that. basically she's just hitting back on republicans in congress who really are trying to have an upcoming hearing. they've had a number of investigations or i should say upcoming investigation, and she's hitting back on them saying she doesn't want to

participate in that. i will say, don, when you look at the timing of this release that it might actually work to her benefit, really trying to dispense with this topic of benghazi now so that when her book is rolled out, remember it's not officially coming out for another week and a half, that she can focus on other things during the book tour, that maybe some of this benghazi stuff will kind of be old news. it's really -- here is the statement, those who exploit this tragedy over and over as a political tool minimize the sam fis of those who served our country, really hitting on republicans there. i will say, don, this is a very carefully orchestrated book rollout. it's pretty fascinating as you watch it. hillary clinton has been meeting with foreign policy thought leaders, one of her top aides briefing a wide swath of democrats here in washington, d.c. this morning. her team coordinating messages and what's a campaign style sur gan operation. there's a lot going on here.

it makes you wonder if it isn't to do with just sell books with an eye towards 2016. >> here is a question, ross. i'm not going to get involved and take part in politicizing this, is she backing herself into a corner and possibly allowing her critics to say she doesn't want to talk about it, she's avoiding the subject? it depends on how you interpret this. >> i think her theory is probably that there isn't going to be some smoking gun that proves the wildest conspiracy theory is correct and demonstrates hillary clinton was in a sauna sipping a daiquiri, turning off her cell phone while americans were getting killed in libya. that worst case scenario isn't going to happen, i think. so there's sorpt of an advantage for her in letting republicans run wild in a way and end up sounding paranoid and con spir torl and just resting on the idea that this is a tragedy, but we're in the going to politicize it. that worked pretty well for

president obama, as you'll recall, in his debate on he shut down romney. the larger issue here is that if this is just a question about the very specific specifics of the benghazi incident, i think hillary clinton can walk away from it. if it's a question of what benghazi represents as sort of after emblem of larger failures of president obama's foreign policy, it gets harder. the real question is what happened in libya happened in a country where the united states intervened to topple a regime and since that intervention libya has been sort of perpet l perpetually destabilized. what does this say about the obama foreign policy record and what does it say about hillary's stewardship. that's where the --

>> if they're going to use it, they have to talk about it on a broader spectrum. >> it has to mean more than benghazi itself for it to be an effective tool for republicans. >> fair point. i got your point there. she's saying i'm not going to deal with it but she's still going to have to address it by saying i'm not going to deal with it. in a way she's addressing it. they're going to bring it up over and over and over again if she does run. >> yes, they are. i think to her point and her words will be the most -- i think the best defense for her, which is that she doesn't want to get into the political mudslinging on this and what i believe her book will reveal or at least this chapter what it will remind people of is she did three very important things to deal with the benghazi issue. the first and critically important and she says this in her book, she takes

responsibility. full responsibility. the second is that she actually took action immediately she put together the accountability review board and implemented all of those recommendations and thirdly was transparent in how she took action. and i think this actually not just helps hillary as brianna was saying but i also think it helps republicans in essentially telegraphing that if she does run in 2016, they're going to have to come to her with a lot more than the tired political talking point of benghazi. if they don't, then i will be dancing with all of you at the 2017 president hillary inauguration. >> we don't know if she's running. >> that's why i said if she runs.

>> she's raising a lot of money with speeches and she's speaking everywhere and the book is coming out carefully orchestrated. we don't know if she's going to run. thanks to all of you. have great weekend. we're following news at the white house at 10:15 eastern time just about 20 minutes from now where we'll be seeing the arrival and maybe sooner of eric shinseki meeting with the president scheduled for 10:15. make sure you stay with cnn for a all of the details on that. we're back after a very short break. let that phrase sit with you for a second. unlimited. as in, no limits on your hard-earned cash back. as in no more dealing with those rotating categories. the quicksilver card from capital one. unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase, every day. don't settle for anything less. i'll keep asking. what's in your wallet?

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former microsoft ceo steve ballmer is on the billionaire list already many times over but he's about to add another b to the mix and that b is baller. he's soon to be the newest owner in the nba. if the sale is approved of the clippers, who is steve ballmer? christine romans has the scoop now. >> come on! get up! get up! >> reporter: he always seemed ready for courtside. steve ballmer was famous for energizing his employees. >> i have four words for you. i love this company! yea! >> reporter: ballmer started working at microsoft in the early days. in 1980, he became the company's

24th employee. and his oversized personality became known fast through videos like this promoting windows 1.0 in 1985. and with bill gates with this spoof to the '90s club hit. >> steve ballmer. >> reporter: in 1998, ballmer rose to president and ceo in 2000 taking the company through hits like xbox and connect and flops like windows visit. >> we need to make sure that pc isn't dead but we we reinnovate. >> reporter: he's worth more than 20 billion according to "forbes" and since on number 35 on the annual billionaire list. ballmer grew up near detroit

where his father was a manager at ford motor company. he went to harvard and briefly attended stanford school of business and no stranger to the business of sports. his name has been tied to a possible deal for the sacramento kings but that fell through. now he's poised to make the biggest nba deal ever going from high tech billionaire to courtside baller. christine romans, cnn, new york. >> make sure you stay tuned to that. big developments on that and big developments in the white house as president obama scheduled to meet with eric shinseki in just a few moments. we'll carry that for you live. what will he speak about? will he keep eric shinseki as veterans of foreign affairs or get rid of him. eric shinseki says he's ready to make big changes and fix this problem. stick with cnn. that's it for me. i'm don lemon. the next hour of the "cnn newsroom" begins right now.

good morning. happy friday. i'm in for carol costello. we begin this hour with eric shinseki just minutes anow that veterans affairs secretary will meet behind closed doors with the president. details about this meeting are scarce but few expect shinseki to emerge with his job still intact. a short time ago shinseki appeared before a homeless veterans coalition group that he credits or that credits him with greatly reducing the number of vets on the street and you can see he was greeted with a fairly warm reception. lots of applause. this group also is particularly vulnerable to the medical abuses and delays that we've learned about and disgrace the va and may have cost lives. let's listen to a chunk of what shinseki had to say this morning. >> let me address the elephant

in the room today and you all have been very generous and polite in your welcome. after wednesday's release of an interim inspector general report, we now know that the va has a systemic totally unacceptable lack of integrity within some of our veteran health facilities. the lack of trust involved wait time for appointments. our internal review of other large va health care facilities show that to be you. the breach of integrity is irresponsible, indefensible and unacceptable to me. i said when this situation began weeks to months ago, that i thought the problem was limited and isolated because i bleechb that. i no longer believe it. it is systemic. i was too trusting of some and i

accept it as accurate reports that i now know to have been misleading with regard to patient wait times. i can't explain the lack of integrity among some of the leaders of our health care facilities. this is something i rarely encounter during 38 years in uniform. and so i will not defend it because it is indefensible. but i can take responsibility for it. and i do. so given the facts i know now, i apologize at senior leader of the department of veterans affairs and i extend an apology to the people who i care most deeply about and that's the veterans of this great country, to their families and loved ones who i have been honored to serve for over five years now. it's a call of a lifetime. i also offer that apology to members of congress who have

supported me. to veterans service organizations who have been my partners for five years and to the american people. all of them deserve better from their va. but i also know this. leadership and integrity problems can and must be fixed and now. [ applause ] >> shinseki's remarks drawing a warmer reception than many expected outlining a sweeping course of action but will it be enough to save his job? we are covering all of the angles with our team of analysts and correspondents and of course the cnn investigations team that first broke this story. let's begin there with cnn's drew griffin whose reporting exposed the abuses, the failures, drew. let's first run down some of what shinseki just said. some of these proposed reforms.

he said he initiated removal of the senior leaders at the phoenix facility. no performance bonuses this year for senior va executives and he says patient times will no longer factor into employee evaluations. what's your take? >> my take is good steps that should have been taken a long time ago. i just listened to that one more time. i'm struck that he's apologizing to members in congress who have supported him. if he listened to members in congress who had pointed this out to him for the last year and a half, he might be in a different position right now. but these are steps. there's also a hint of what's to come. he says this is systemic and that he has learned that at major hospitals the problem also exists just overnight we learned there are 700 veterans waiting at the pittsburgh va. waiting some since 2012 to get a doctor's appointment and right now currently today they're

racing to try to find these veterans and get them in to see a doctor. as he tries to save his job, i think the president is going to have to look forward to a bunch more headlines, damning headlines coming out in weeks and months to come as to the nature and width of this scandal continues to be exposed. >> it kind of sounds from what i hear you say that this may only be a piecemeal solution that shinseki laid out. >> it's part of a solution but you still have all of these people that reading through the lines that lied to eric shinseki. are still out there running these hospitals. now, three of them may be gone from phoenix but what about the rest of his staff and his headquarter staff telling him don't pay attention to what you see in the newspapers and don't pay attention to what you see on cnn. this is a bunch of bs cooked up by the media and house oversight committee? it's a little disingenuous for

me to believe he didn't look further into this way back when. >> we are waiting now for this meeting between shinseki and the president. that's why we continue to keep up the live picture at the white house as he await his arrival. when the scandal first exploded, president obama voiced strong confidence in secretary shinseki and his ability to fix any problems but that was before this really mushroomed and now the president's support seems to have waned in recent days. the president said shinseki was on thin ice. listen to what he said this morning. >> i'll have a serious conversation about whether he thinks he is prepared and has the capacity to take on the job of fixing it. i don't want any veteran to not be getting the kind of services that they deserve. >> again. minutes away from that serious conversation. let's bring in senior white

house correspondent jim accosta. what's your sense of what will go down in this meeting between president obama and shinseki? >> well, the end could be near for secretary of veterans affairs eric shinseki based on everything we know. we saw white house chief of staff arrive at the west wing. we tried to get his attention as he walked down west executive drive but he walked right in the white house. i expect this is going to be a tense meeting with the president based on his comments to the live with kelly and michael show earlier this morning and he'll have a serious discussion with the va secretary. what we saw yesterday in the white house briefing room was the biggest indication of what's to come. when white house reporters including myself press the press secretary on several occasions does the president have confidence in eric shinseki and jay carney would not answer that question. he said, well, he has confidence in what the secretary has done

during his time in office but not in terms of what needs to take place now at the veterans affairs department which is a lot of reform. i think what you also heard from shinseki in that speech earlier this morning was extraordinary. something i have not heard from a cabinet secretary in a very long time. he said i can't explain the lack of integrity among some of the leaders of our healthcare facilities. this is something i rarely encountered during 38 years in uniform. i was too trusting of some. i accept it accurate reports that i know now to be misleading with regard to patient wait times. this is a secretary admitting to the public that he's been lied to. and not just by facility officials in phoenix, but across the board inside the department of veterans affairs from the top down it appears. so i think the question is being asked inside the white house, can eric shinseki continue on in his current job when he doesn't even have people under him giving him the truth, telling

him what's going on inside that agency. i had white house officials tell me there's a big difference between the president's loyalty to kathleen sebelius for example during the obama care website fiasco where she stayed on the job for several months before she eventually stepped down. white house officials telling me they always had confidence that the website was going to be fixed. they are not as confident that these problems inside the va can be repaired by eric shinseki and all of that leads us to the conclusion that shinseki's days are numbered and it may be just today. >> exactly what you said almost speaks to the necessity to really clean house from the top down. he said it himself. there are all kinds of mismanagement and lack of leadership, deception, he's been misled if you can't trust people. this is a discussion we'll continue to hash out right here. we have barbara starr standing by and gloria borger, people in

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plus, you could save hundreds when you switch, up to $423. call... today. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? continuing to follow new developments this morning in the va scandal. the failures we've been reporting here on cnn for the past several months. all seeming to come to a head this morning. we heard from secretary eric shinseki just this morning as he spoke to a veterans group of homeless members. we know that he's going to meet with the president in the closed door meeting in just a matter of

minutes scheduled to happen at 10:15. that's two minutes from now. we have our guys there ready to report on any developments that come from there. we also have a team covering all of the different angles. let's go to the pentagon. cnn's barbara starr. barbara, i know you have covered general shinseki for many years. would you expect him to walk in today and offer his resignation after all this pressure? >> good morning. you know, i have covered him both when he served here at the pentagon as army chief of staff and as va secretary. i spoke this morning to one of his closest, oldest friends who has been in touch with him throughout this crisis. this person says to me don't expect eric shinseki to go into the white house and offer his resignation, to tender his resignation to the president. that's not in his character. that's not what he has planned. he's going to go into this meeting armed with the facts as he sees them, armed with the plan that you saw him lay out a

few minutes ago in this public statement. he will have his plan to offer on how he intends to fix the problems. will that be enough for the president? will that be enough for the white house, which certainly is under growing political fire? shinseki still very much someone who wants to keep his head down, look at the situation very detail orientated, very much task orientated. that's been his management style throughout his career. he does not particularly like the public eye. he doesn't like to be someone out there glad handing around. he has come under criticism since his army days for having somewhat of an isolated management style. he has a small group around him and that's what he works with. that's what he's comfortable with. that may be part of what has caused his problem now. he may -- people acknowledge he may not have reached out to a broad enough audience within the

va management to help a full understanding of what was going on. so where it leads him today, he will go in, we are told. he'll lay out his plan of action whether it is enough for president obama, whether it's enough for the white house to ride out this political storm remains to be seen. >> all right. we are continuing to monitor this live picture from the white house where we see some activity. we haven't actually seen the secretary arrive there on scene but we saw cars arrive there as barbara was speaking to us. we assume that shinseki may be in one of those vehicles. we'll continue to watch this and as we watch the picture and wait to learn of what happens in that meeting between the president and shinseki, i want to bring in cnn chief political analyst, gloria borger. glor gloria, you wrote an interesting op-ed for cnn.com just today. you write in part, "the president is living his own version of alice through the looking glass staring down a

rabbit hole of government bureaucracy and insufficient. the government he has tried to grow, manage and change has become his own personal nemesis. leads one to wonder does the president himself trust government anymore?" >> this strikes at the core of his presidency. he came into the presidency not only making veterans affairs and benefits a cornerstone of his presiden presidency, he said i believe in government. i'm going to make it work for you. that's why we have health care reform. but what instead we've seen is efficiency at the va. same thing at the irs, question on overreach on surveillance so the president that came in

promising to make government smarter and better is surrounded by a bureaucracy that hasn't been working. the question you have to ask is this his fault or is it possible that nobody can take charge of the bureaucracy? is this president obama management style or is it just the way government doesn't work? i would argue that what the president has not had is a good monitoring and early warning system that would allow him to sort of trouble shoot these kinds of problems so he is not blind-sided. that's what a chief executive is supposed to do and look at the problems we've had starting with the health care rollout. you know, this has become a very large issue for him because if he doesn't trust the way government works, how can he ask americans to trust the way government works? >> to say this va controversy isn't boosting people's view of the government. >> no. by the way, only 2% of the american public trust government

to do the right thing all of the time. the number gets a little bit higher when you say some of the time but people already don't trust government so he's also up against that. i think the burden now is to prove that it can work and maybe that will happen with the affordable care act. maybe the va is going to get reformed but right now this is always been the sort of uphill battle for this president who is saying to people, look, i do think it can work for you but all they've seen are these kinds of problems. >> gloria borger, thanks to you. we know you'll stick with us throughout the hour and you can read more of glory's op-ed on cnn.com. it's cnn.com/opinion. we'll be right back after another quick break. continuing to monitor that meeting with the president. [ man ] look how beautiful it is. ♪ honey, we need to talk. we do? i took the trash out. i know.

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welcome back. you're continuing to see live pictures from the white house this morning as we await the rival of secretary shinseki set to meet with the president in a last-minute meeting called by the president. it will be behind closed doors. our cnn white house correspondent jim acosta is there right now monitoring that situation. jim, has shinseki arrived? >> well, he was scheduled to arrive at 10:15 or have this meeting with the president at 10:15 so we have to assume he arrived. we saw several vehicles pull up at the side entrance to the west wing and saw people getting out of that vehicle. can't say for sure whether it was the secretary of veterans

affairs. we're trying to get that to you in just a few moments. one thing we should point out what we heard for the last 24 hours and that is i've been told by one official here at the white house that secretary shinseki is on thin ice. that is a quote. and what we heard in the last few hours is that ice cracking. when you have a dozen or so democratic senators up for re-election in the fall in tough races in red states in some cases calling for the secretary to step down, it almost becomes untenable situation for the president. the president as we know is loathed to give washington in some case which is it gets into this feeding frenzy what it wants. when people around washington are calling for heads to roll, this president likes to slow down and take his time and do some deep thinking. i talked to one white house official a couple days ago who described it to me this way. they see this veterans affairs

scandal as a real authentic problem that has to be addressed and they put it in as this one official described it as a separate bucket from some of the other scandals that we've seen here in washington. some of the other controversies that we've seen here in washington. they don't see this as a similar situation to say the controversy swirling around benghazi. they feel like that was overpoliticized by republicans on capitol hill but they see what's happening on capitol hill, democrats and republicans raising deep, deep concerns that the president also shares and so they see this as a very different situation. so that is why it's being handled the way it is right now. as we mentioned earlier at the top of the hour, when the white house does not say that the president has confidence in a cabinet secretary, it is very difficult to get that confidence back and that's the situation that eric shinseki is in right now. >> what you mentioned both republicans and democrats sort of on the same side for once.

that speaks volumes. that's for sure. jim acosta, thanks. we know you'll continue to stand by for us. one lawmaker who called for the inspector general report that opened this can of worms just this week, an indiana congresswoman had harsh words for shinseki earlier this week. take a listen. >> the question i would want to ask is on behalf of the families that probably aren't in this room tonight but we heard from some of them. i heard from barry a few weeks ago. people died. >> the congressman is joining me now. thank you so much. we appreciate your time. >> appreciate it. >> did have you a chance to hear what shinseki said this morning? >> i did. i was one of the first people to call for his regulsignation bece i sat on the committee for 18 months as a freshman.

i've heard enough. i've seen enough. we researched and learned enough aside from the fact that the inspector general report that came out to know that there's valid reasons to call to his resignation. i heard what he to say this morning as well. >> what he had to say this morning, he talked about what he wants to do to fix this va problem talking about, asking congress, to give him more power to fire people. no bonus for va phoenix staff. he wants to accelerate care for veterans who have been waiting for care both inside and outside. does any of that resonate and change your opinion about whether shinseki should resign? >> here's the thing. on the committee we have oversight and jurisdiction over the va. all of the information we've asked him for to respond to all of these allegations that have continually come in. we've received no information. the reason we are where we are today is because the va failed to cooperate. we have a bipartisan committee. this is a nonpolitical issue and it has to stay a nonpolitical

issue. we've come together on the committee to work together to do what's right for the sake of right and it's not that we're talking about little minor things here. when this inspector general report came out, this is systemic. when you find out you asked for information for 18 months and not on individual cases here but trends that were developing, this report says this is a nationwide problem and there were people that sat around a table and figured out how to manipulate with these numbers and cook these books. this is way bigger than a tiny announcement today from a guy who has been in charge and let me just say, i don't think any of us know what will happen today if he's going to resign and president will take his resignation. we don't know that right now. let me just tell you and your viewers, this is step one. it will exceed the issue of what will happen with eric shinseki. there's lot of layers here that need to be exposed because

yesterday another inspector general report came out on the whole i.t. problem protecting veterans personal and private information to make sure identity theft doesn't sweep away what they have. there are systemic issues that exceed these health issues. when you have debts of our finest americans that answered the call, this is inexcusable and unacceptable and the american people i believe stand with us in saying it step one has to be the removal of this leadership and bring people in potentially even from the outside that can fix the largest hospital network that we deal with in this country. >> we know what you want to see happen inside this white house meeting. nobody is privy to and we do know that secretary shinseki has arrived and is meeting with the president presumably as we speak. we know what you want to see happen. what do you think will happen in this meeting? >> i'm hopeful that we see right done for the sake of right. i'm hopeful there's a resignation today and the president brings someone in with

a sense of urgency get right to the heart of this issue and drill down and be honest with the american people. restore the faith and confidence to the va they deserve to have there's great workers and employees in the va. we're in a situation right now where there needs to be an urgency like you would for a five-alarm fire where everybody rushes to the scene to save people and make sure this doesn't happen again. on wednesday night when we had a hearing that went until midnight, there was no urgency even for folks testifying on that night. that's one of my biggest concerns. we're working together on this. and politics is not in this issue. we're standing as republicans and democrats ask for the president to do right for the sake of right of our veterans. >> all right. we really appreciate your time this morning. thank you. we'll continue to wait to hear what comes of that meeting between eric shinseki and the president as they talk right now. we'll take a break. when we come back, we'll monitor that situation but we have other news to talk about so stay with us.

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after five weeks of the most busine bizarre dealing with donald sterling, shelly sterling will sell the team for $2 billion to steve ballmer but donald sterling may not go out quietly. his attorney says his client

must still sign off on this and brian todd is joining us now. good morning to you. first, what is shelly sterling saying about this new deal? >> she's ecstatic about the deal. she sold the clippers for more than 120 times what the family paid for the team. after the agreement was signed, shelly sterling through her representatives issued a statement saying i'm delighted that we're sealing the team to steve. we've worked for 33 clears to build the clippers into a premiere nba franchise. i'm confident steve will take the team to new levels of success. they really wanted this deal to get done before tuesday's scheduled meeting of the nba board of governors where they would have voted to kick donald sterling out of the league. they wanted to get this deal

done before then so the vote wouldn't be necessary. unclear whether the nba will go ahead with that meeting. sale will have to be approved. most analysts believe that probably will happen. >> that being said, we're only talking about shelly sterling selling the team. how many hurdles does the deal face? >> donald sterling may have to approve this agreement. his attorney says they won't go down so easily. the attorney confirmed to us yesterday that they are considering a lawsuit in an effort to fight all of this and that no decision has been made as to whether to file the lawsuit but they are combative over the idea of donald sterling selling this team. >> very troubled by the invasion of privacy. very troubled by the racist charges made against him after 33 years of history evidencing very close relationship and

close support of the black african-american community. he wants to be vindicated. he doesn't want them so say here lies donald sterling racist. the nba has the power to make that right. >> this came just a few days after donald sterling through another attorney mailed the nba office a letter saying he forfeiting his ownership in the clippers and his estranged wife, shelly, would handle the sale. the attorney said that he changed his decision since then. he has now told his lawyers go after them with everything you have. fight until the bloody end. we'll see if this actually goes that far. >> a strange story getting even more bizarre. brian todd, thank you so much. joining me now is attorney brian claypool along with cnn

commentator mel robbins. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> so let's start with you, brian. what are the chances this deal actually gets approved? >> this is like bonnie & clyde. donald sterling has been acting as clyde. he's sent mixed messages to the nba on purpose. also this interview he gave anderson cooper where he was delirious. he's been setting the table for shelly sterling to claim he's mentally incapacitated. she's not even authorized to make this deal. she's making her own rules now and saying the trust says that i can sell the team if donald isi. the two documents are at odds.

if i'm the nba commissioner and if i'm the nba board of governors, i'm not authorizing this deal until donald sterling is fully onboard or else it's going to be a mess. it's going to be undone later on. >> it makes you wondering what's happening behind the scenes. i want to read this from shelly sterling's lawyers press release just this morning. it says that she has signed a binding contract for the sale of the clippers and was acting under her authority as the sole trustee of the sterling family trust which owns the clippers. is that a lie that she's now the sole trustee? >> you know, who knows. at this point we don't have the trust documents. you're talking about a couple that has been litigious for 57 years they've been together and one of the charges from the nba is that they put out a press release that contained a lie and

misled the public when they said that we got to confirm that's donald sterling's voice there knowing full well it is. i have a different perspective. i realize that we've got a bonnie & clyde situation. they are 100% estranged as a couple but they are fully intimate as business partners and they know exactly what they're doing. what does donald sterling want? if you listen to what his attorney said, you heard him talking about vindication. what i believe is going to happen is that they're going to careen into this meeting and everybody at the nba and shelly sterling included wants the deal done and donald sterling is going to stay there and say, look, i'll agree to the deal but you've got to lift the lifetime ban. that's not fair. look at what you did to kobe bryant. look at what you did to this one. you've branded me a racist. do i buy that?

of course not. if anyone etched racist on his tombstone, it was donald sterling. we're at the point of getting a deal done. all parties come together. what donald sterling wants is he wants the nba to let him come back and watch basketball and he wants that ban removed. i guarantee you. >> interesting. we'll find out what happens here in the next few days. it's a $2 billion deal and not to mention the questions about would the new owner move the team to seattle? talk about that with other deals he's tried to make. we'll talk to you more on another day about where this deal is going next. thank you so much for joining me. >> thank you. all right. we're watching the white house as we continue to monitor the president's meeting with veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki. we'll head back there when we come back.

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what's your policy? >> i was too trusting of some and i accept it as accurate reports that i now know to be misleading with regard to patient wait times. i can't explain the lack of integrity among some of the leaders of our healthcare facilities. this is something i rarely encounter during 38 years in uniform. and so i will not defend it because it is indefensible. i can take responsibility for it. >> that was va secretary eric shinseki speaking earlier this morning to a homeless veterans coalition and there on the right of the screen you see a live picture from the white house where he is now meeting with president obama behind closed doors. let's bring in cnn's chris

frates. what was that reaction or the feeling and mood in that room as he was speaking? >> it was a very supportive crowd. the homeless veterans shinseki has done a lot of work with. he got two standing ovations. he was really able to set the table ahead of this meeting with obama this morning and he made two big points. one, i'm taking pay bonuses away from executives. he also said he's no longer going to use wait times as a performance metric. he's trying to buy himself some breathing room with the president and show he's taking charge of the situation. he's taking steps forward and that played well in the room with veterans who he has worked with and he also made the point here that he believes they can fix big problems. he took some credit for reducing the number of homeless veterans

and to read between the lines there is that he can fix the va problems with the health system as well. >> interesting. i know you tried to ask a few questions yourself to shinseki. tell me about that exchange. >> we tried to talk to the secretary as he left the stage. lots of press. lots of cameras. he didn't take any questions. i was able to shout one at him. we could take a look here. [ applause ] >> mr. secretary, are you planning to resign, sir? >> there you were asking him if he was going to resign. we saw of course no reaction from him. however, we know the voices of growing louder. he has to be hearing them from lawmakers, from american citizens and even from veterans themselves and in fact i was just looking at the most recent poll we could find. cbs news poll from may 20th to 21st.

before this new interim report came out and interestingly enough in this poll, one, 45% of americans who were polled said shinseki should resign compared to 31 who said he should remain. when you look at the veterans who were polled specifically 42% of veterans in that poll said, yes, shinseki should step down versus 38% who said he should stay. that was before the most recent information came out. he didn't even have veterans support. did what he say today make any difference? >> i don't think it's resonating particularly on capitol hill. we had representative tammy b k duckworth. she lost both of her legs in iraq. she believes that shinseki needs to resign. that's her old boss. there's a lot of support that's crumbling underneath secretary shinseki as he sits in the oval

office. it's going to be tough for him to make the case with mounting support from democrats and republicans that he needs to go. >> all right. we appreciate your take. thanks so much. still to come, midterm election year it's a topic most democrats probably want to avoid but now in her new book, hillary clinton is opening up about the benghazi consulate attacks. we'll talk about what those comments could mean for the party and her political rivals when we come back. if i told you that a free ten-second test

could mean less waiting for things like security backups and file downloads you'd take that test, right? well, what are you waiting for? you could literally be done with the test by now. now you could have done it twice. this is awkward. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. hillary clinton's upcoming memoir hard choices won't hit bookshelves for a couple more weeks but the newly released excerpt on the benghazi attacks put a spotlight on this issue that many feel could pose a

challenge to clinton if she decides to run for president. brianna keilar is joining me from washington. she's taking responsibility in a way. walk us through what she's saying. >> well, i should also add that this was an entire chapter obtained by politico and this is probably the chapter of most interest. it's called benghazi under attack. what clinton does here is in a very long form put forth how she sees what happened and she says in this that she at the time she stood by and still stands by intelligence that showed there were some people attacking the consulate in benghazi, libya, motivated by an anti-islamic

video prompting p ining protest cairo. what is interesting and may reveal her strategy here she's putting republicans on notice. she attacks them for some of the things that they said about benghazi. she says those who exploit this tragedy over and over as a political tool minimize the sacrifice of those that served our country. she says i will not be part of a political slug fest on the backs of dead americans. it's wrong and unworthy of our great country. those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me. we know she's considering a 2016 run but it's sort of a preview that if she does decide to run and if this does become an issue, you know, one of her lines of defense is going to be accusing republicans of very unsavory politics there. >> laying out that argument a little bit. all right. thank you so much. we'll be right back.

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with surveillance at all but a request for more information about a training program. yet another huge vehicle recall to tell you about this morning. this time it's ford recalling 1.4 million cars and suvs to fix steering, rust and floor mat problems. the biggest problem involves the ford escape model years 2008 to 2011 for a steering issue. so far eight people have been injured in at least 20 accidents. how about this? this year as national spelling bee couldn't find one champ. it found two. a 13 year old from texas and a 14 year old from new york. both were declared winners because the spelling bee organizers ran out of words on their official list. i think we have the words that ultimate led to this tie. let's put those up on the bottom of the screen. you can see words many of us would consider completely foreign. we won't even try to pronounce them. these guys knew the words.

they spelled them correctly and so they share the trophy. it's the first time this has and since 1962. so we end with a positive and it's friday. thank you so much for joining me. it's been a pleasure being with you. let's get to "@ this hour" with berman and makayla. it starts right now. hello, everyone. i'm john berman. michaela pereira is off today. i want to show you a live picture of the white house because inside right now president obama is meeting in the oval office with his embattled veterans affairs secretary. eric shinseki walked in as cabinet secretary. will he walk out a cabinet secretary? we'll find out one way or another any minute. just this morning the retired four-star general apologized