won't find out about until you get a letter from your bank somewhere down the road. like we said, this year's list of vips, includes the nato secretary general, plus cia director david petraeus, henry kissinger and on and on. you get the idea. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room". happening now, breaking news. there are new scandal revelations. we're learning much more about the shocking failures in the v.a. hospital system that forced the resignation of the secretary eric shinseki. is a criminal investigation next? sterling's mental state. independent interests clairing the him incapacitated. that z that free his bief to go through with the sale. americans fighting alongside al qaeda in syria, including this suicide bomber who grew up in florida.

will others bring their war back home? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin with new details with the growing scandal that led to resignation of eric shinseki. the final blow, an internal v.a. audit showing misconduct at hospitals across the country. president obama says firings are under way, bonuses being canceled. there may even be a federal criminal investigation. cnn was first to shine the spotlight on the v.a. scandal and our correspondents are standing by to bring you the full coverage we can. we begin with jim acosta who takes us behind the scenes of today's stunning new developments. jim? >> wolf, in a day of high drama here at the white house, eric shinseki was gone in 60 minutes with democrats calling for his led according to one official. shinseki decided to step down on

his own. for president obama, there was no time to wait. >> secretary shinseki offered me his own resignation. with considerable regret, i accepted. >> according to white house officials, the resignation of veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki was over in one hour. first he met many the oval office with the president, chief of staff and the top white house aide now overseeing the v.a. then the president and shinseki went for a walk for a private conversation. minutes later obama said shinseki concluded he was too much of a distraction. >> so my assessment was up fortunately that he was right. i regret that he has to resign under these circumstances. >> reporter: shinseki's departure came as an audit was released that found facilities around the country were flagged for further review because of concerns about questionable scheduling practices.

the v.a. secretary claimed his own officials had been lying to him. >> i was too trusting of some, and i accepted as accurate reports that are now known to have been misleading with regard to patient wait times. >> reporter: the president said the white house was also in the dark that v.a. officials were concealing wait times. >> this issue of scheduling is one that the reporting systems inside of the vha did not surface to the level where rick was aware of it or we were able to see it. >> over at the capitol, house speaker john boehner had his own rapid response, that shinseki's departure is not enough. >> his resignation, though, does not absolve the president of his responsibility to step in and make things right for our veterans. business as usual cannot continue. >> reporter: besides the internal probes, the scandal already under way, the chairman of the senate veterans affairs committee says the justice

department is also involved. >> criminal acts they should be punished. no ifs, buts and maybes. >> reporter: white house aides say other v.a. officials will do go. >> we'll be holding accountable specific individuals. >> reporter: but the v.a. will be doing that with an interim secretary at the v.a., sloan gibson, who has only been on the job in his current role as a deputy secretary of the v.a. for three months. now, we should point out, wolf, this was not the only big news of the day. as you saw in the briefing room, later on in the afternoon, the president made a surprise appearance to announce that his press secretary jay caverny who's been on the job for three years is stepping down in a couple of weeks. the principal deputy press second john earnest is being given his job. josh earnest stretches back to the obama ''08 campaign in ohio. that transition will be taking place in a few weeks. just goes to show you a very unusual friday here at the white house. >> two very different resignations, one clearly forced

and the other voluntary. jim acosta, thanks very much. our senior investigative correspondent drew griffin first broke this story for cnn. as the depth of the scandal becomes more clear, lawmakers are calling for a criminal investigation. drew is here. where is this potential criminal investigation headed? >> i think it's very clear that general shinseki believes he was lied to. if that is true and if these people lied to get bonuses, that is why there was a call for the department of justice to get involved. i have not heard that an actual criminal investigation is under way, only that the justice department is looking at this. >> because bernie sanders, the chairman of the senate veterans affairs committee told me he thought a criminal investigation was already under way. i guess there's a nuance there that maybe they're thinking about it, looking at it, whether it's worthwhile. if there is a criminal investigation they've got to get

a grand jury, subpoenas, they've got to start working quickly. >> yes. and this is widespread across the country. they do need to get a handle on it. and they also have to get the record. we're talking about the destruction of records in many places. is the evidence still be destroyed? we don't know. obviously the problem is very large and widespread, which is what eric shinseki found out last night. >> and the allegation is, the fear is that individuals, bureaucrats at the department of veterans affairs were lying and cheating, misleading people about lists and wait litigations trying to make themselves look good so they could collect their bonuses even though veterans were not getting the treatment they needed. >> that's the allegation, that they were strictly on paper or in reports trying to meet performance data that would be factored into whether or not they got a bonus or what size that bonus was. >> and if that is true, if they can prove that, i suspect people are going to jail as a result, especially if they can prove that individuals who were supposed to get treated weren't

on any lists and they died in the process. that's the enormous fear. >> absolutely. >> drew, don't go far. we have more to discuss. i want to go to the pentagon right now. our correspondent barbara starr is standing by. barbara, you know shinseki, he was the army chief of staff at one point. why was he unable to fix this problem in the department of veterans affairs? tell us what american veterans need to know and what they need to know as far as a replacement to reassure them that the problem will be fixed? >> well, wolf, i've talked today to some of hirz closest longtime friends and colleagues and asked this basic question. they're sad he's left. honorable man. but not terribly surprised to have to tell you. one of the things you hear about shinseki that will be very much looked at in his successor is management style. eric shinseki always has been a guy who pretty much keeps to himself, works with a very small

team. one of the criticisms is he didn't reach out enough, wasn't open enough to hearing some of the problems having pex feel free to come with him with the problems at the v.a. so the political firestorm overtakes him. but what really was the deal killer here, if you will, was this information that came to light that he was being lied to, misled, that the problems were systemic across the department. once that happened, management style or not, a leader has a loss of confidence from the president and it seemed very inevitable that he would go. with that ground work, who do you pick to be the next guy? many people say you're going to have to pick someone who is not just a veteran, not just maybe a combat veteran of iraq or afghanistan, but someone with significant management experience, someone who understands a large health care delivery system, and someone who can politically reach out perhaps more to congress, more to the veterans organizations,

and explain to america what the veterans affairs department is really trying to do. it's going to be a very tough ard to fill. one official said to me, we need a turnaround king. someone who can come in and turn around what is essentially a failing company. wolf? >> and reassure all those veterans out there. if you want to be a cabinet secretary you have to go out there, got to not only speak to your constituents if you will, veterans but speak to the american people. you've got to make statements, got to go on television. you've got to do what you got to do in order to make the case. you can't just stay in an office and try to get the job done. you really have to be an effective spokesperson as well. barbara, thanks very much. up next, there are new revelations about the pittsburgh v.a. hospital where cnn first wrote the v.a. story. i'll speak with a congressman demanding a federal investigation. there he is. and breaking news about donald

sterling's mental health and a lawsuit that may be in the works.

breaking news coming into "the situation room." donald sterling's attorney is not denying a brand-new report that sterling is getting ready to sue the nba. brian todd is working his sources, will join us in a few minutes with more details. that story just coming in. there's other important news we're following including shocking new details on the scandal that forced today's resignation of the veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki. drew griffin who first broke the story is back with us e. has some more information on a major

problem that developed at the v.a. hospital in pittsburgh. what are you learn something. >> this is a hospital that's been in trouble before. late last night we learned that 700 veterans are on a wait list there, wait foring for care, so since 2012. they are now being rushed to get appointments, but it's part of this bigger widening scandal. i want to bring you up to date with what happened at this hospital. at 2011-2012, there was legionella bacteria running through the water system in this hospital. they didn't have enough disinfect ant in the water. management nknew, didn't tell anyone, the staff or patients. five veterans actually contracted legionnaires' disease and died. accountability? the people in charge were given bonuses. the v.a. never talked to us about the legionnaires' outbreak. it's just part of the problems

we've been uncovering. >> the more you hear the more horrible it becomes. drew, stand by for a moment. i want to bring in republican congressman tim murphy of pennsylvania. he's called an veks into the pittsburgh v.a. republican thanks for coming in. you're joining us from pittsburgh route know. what is the latest? these reports are shocking to hear, how americans' veterans are being treated. >> i tell you i just got an update a couple of minutes ago from the pittsburgh v.a. here's what's happened. so the 700-name list shows up of people who were requested initial contact with the veterans ahmad ministration. none of the administrators i spoke with even knew such lists existed. so they were shocked as well to find out about this. and we asked them to tell us about every single person. they're calling every person on the list. they've already made 100 or so appointments and are working down the list. but here's the interesting thing. they've traced this list down to it seems like one person who

when this person got the requests wasn't processing it. the supervisors of that person are being questioned, why didn't you know this was piling up? imagine whys were coming in every day and this person was taking the paper and shoving it in a desk drawer. we were asking, did this person receive a bonus, promotion, raise, because it looked like they were processing their work? we're looking into it,ed v.a. is taking quick action, which is what they should be doing. we'll find out more in the coming hours or days. >> because it's pretty shocking. also in a statement you put out earlier together with congressman mike doyle of pennsylvania, you said this, we have also learned that higherups within the department of veterans affairs may have instructed officials at the pittsburgh v.a. not to inform members of congress about the existence of a wait list. that in effect would be lying to members of congress. what's going on here?

>> we were very concerned about that. i talked to folks within the v.a. their version is, we wanted to wait until we got more information for you. i talked a few minutes ago with another administrator who said he wasn't told that information. this is some of the confusion within the system. i'll give them the benefit of the doubt they're trying to clean this up. but i think this speaks to multiply this throughout the veterans administration. they may not even know such things exist, the pressure in the eyes of the members of the country and the congress is on them. they have to take quick cleanup action. >> drew has a question for you. >> congressman, you've talked about this legionella outbreak as well at that hospital and you've been trying to get accountability there. have you been stymied, as we have, to find out what has gone on in terms of trying to get accountability and are you as frustrated in trying to get answers from the v.a. as we have been here at cnn? >> that's what has frustrated us

all along, myself and other colleagues from southwestern pennsylvania. we had to kind of guess what the exact right question was with the legionella outbreak. finally when an inspector general found out they were not quick in informing doctors and patients about the legionella in the water system, when they told us they were doing fests on the water system, we didn't ask the right question only to find out they were testing, but always the same pipes and faucets. they weren't testing in a systemic way. not too long ago, uncovered an e-mail in which a staff member of the v.a. specifically said to another one, let's not get this out in the news before 5:00 because we don't want this basically showing up on the evening news. last november i wrote a letter to secretary shinseki and said, i want to know who is being disciplined for these actions and what is taking place. i still have not received an answer from that. however, in a phone call yesterday i had with folks in the v.a. and today, they said some disciplinary action has taken place, more will followment i'm thinking, boy,

this is a long wait period. but at least they're beginning to respond. we'll find out more. >> i want you to listen, congressman, our brooke baldwin spoke with parents of a veteran who committed suicide after being treated at that phoenix v.a. hospital. they were forcing him to switch psychiatrists. his father then read on cnn part of a letter that the son daniel had written before committing suicide. listen to this. >> i cannot laugh or cry. i can barely leave the house. i derive no pleasure from any activity. everything simply comes down to passing time until i can sleep again. now to sleep forever seems to be the most merciful thing. >> obviously a very emotional,

very emotional situation. so what can be done? you hear about a vet who comes back, gets treatment at a v.a. facility in phoenix and then is so frustrated by that treatment he goes ahead and kills himself. >> my gosh. this is awful. we've got 22 suicides per day, one active duty and the rest veterans of recent wars. those are preventable when you get the person the right care. also read a study that said 20% to 40% of people who go to v.a. for mental health care get appropriate treatment. this is an area where you cannot have a waiting line. i've heard from vaet rans, they're sent to group therapy. that is simply not the standard of treatment. there should be no wait lg is. i think shinseki said he hired 16 more people to work in the mental health area to reduce the waiting list. there should be no waiting lists at all. part of the problem is a lot of those positions we understand

came out of the military which means i think there's a shortages of psychologists, psychiatrists to take care of problems in the military. we've shifted some of the problem, haven't really resofed the issues here. but how sad that is. it break yours heart to hear that story. >> breaks your heart. here's the question and then i'll let you go. do you believe crimes were committed and do you know if there already is a federal criminal investigation under way? >> i have not heard yet of a federal criminal investigation. if someone gamed the system for the purpose of getting a bonus, a promotion or a raise, i think you have some issues there. you may have criminal negligence in cases of people purposely manipulating data that led to harm and along those lines i hope the justice department takes a long, hard look at this. i think the inspector generals that have been looking at things from outside the v.a. should be commended for some of their work. and we certainly want to hear more from individuals as they hear these stories or they want to come forward and tell these

stories. and we as americans may have ai few more heartbreaks in this, but maybe the good news is we're finally going to clean up the system. >> let's hope so. congressman tim murphy, thanks so much for coming in. >> thank you. >> and drew griffin will stick around. he has more to report later. when we come bang, there's brecking new information about a potential lawsuit involving donald sterling and the l.a. clippers. brian todd working his sources. plus, new questions about the search for missing flight 370.

break news involving a possible lawsuit donald sterling may be filing against the nba. brian todd has been out front of the story since it began. he's working his sources, joining us now with the breaking details. >> wolf, the moving parts never

stop moving. i've been in contact with his attorney, donald sterling aers attorney, via e-mail. he said he is not denying a new report that the clippers owner is suing the nba for damaging in excess of $1 billion. his office tells us they may have something posted on their web site shortly. does all of this mean he contesting the sale of the clippers? maybe. maybe not. earlier today maxwell bleacher had told us sterling would look at the sale of the clippers to steve ballmer saying, quote, he doesn't want to fight with shelly. that's the bottom line. that's a quote from bleacher to me on the phone earlier today. i don't know what the lawsuit means versus what he said to me about contesting the sale, wolf. another key piece of news we have today. sources telling us doctors have determined sterling is mentally incapacitated, a finding by two independent neurologists. we believe earlier this month in two different examinations. we have learned from one source

that there is a clause in the trust between donald and shelly sterling that says if one of them were to become mentally unfit the other would be the sole trustee. that presumably opened the door for her to negotiate that sale with steve ballmer. again, i tried to get reaction, did get reaction from maxwell bleacher to that finding. he said that's a vast overstatement of mental incapacitation. that this was a diagnosis really of, quote, modest mental impairment. maybe something akin to just slowing down mentally. he is basically saying that mental incapacitation is not the case. at least not that degree of it. >> i want to discuss both of these, brian. stand by for a moment. let's bring in jeffrey toobin, and lz granderson and don lemon. let's talk about this possible lawsuit. jeffrey first, a billion dollar lawsuit he's going to file against the nba? what dow think of that? >> well, the odd thing is it doesn't seem to be a lawsuit if it is a lawsuit at all designed

to stop the sale. it may be simply suing the nba to recover the capital gapes tax he's going to have to pay because of this forced sale. that would be a sideshow irrelevant to who owns the clippers. i am not inclined to believe there is a lawsuit until i actually see a lawsuit. we've been hearing from mr. bleacher for a long time. i'm getting ready to sue, i'm going to sue any day. and nothing happens. >> you asked him yesterday, jeffrey. where is the suit? he kind of pack pedalled. yek i said vgts i'm skeptical. i said, i don't trust anything that comes out of their mouths until there's an actual sale. i won't believe it. and the interesting thing is, he's saying that he wants to be vindicated. well, he's not understanding it. imagine this scenario. if he had said, you know, i'm going to sell the team, none of

this is true but i'm going to sell for the better interest of the nba and my family and then he sells. that would have been weeks ago. americans have short memories. he could have then come back on television and said why he did it and probably gotten some sort of redemption. this would be out of the news had he already sold that team. he keeps putting himself -- >> it may have been out of the news, but the fact is he still would have been banned for life. and i think that's part of the stuff he's play trying to play. that's part of the vindication he's referring to. then there's also this. he's the oldest owner in the nba right now. imagine how much dirt he has on all these other owners. that lawsuit just began to air a little dirty laundry in terms of what he already knows about some of these owners. i think this lawsuit or the threat of a lawsuit is just another reminder to commissioner silver as well as the other owners that this could get

really, really dirty and perhaps what he's really trying to do is get this ban lifted, in addition to recoup the capital gains and sales tax in california which is ridiculously high. >> because yesterday the lawyer for donald sterling said on this program what donald sterling wants is a little vindication. he he wouldn't explain what that meant but he wanted vindication. this other issue, jeffrey, the two neurologists saying he's mentally incapacitated. there's a clause in the trust agreement with his wife that if one is mentally incompass pitted the other gets full authority to do with the trust whatever he or she wants. what do you make of that? >> well, that would be one grouped for donald to sue shelley if he wanted to sue shelley say, you know, this is unjustified. i am not incapacitated. but as far as we can tell from brian he's not interested in suing shelley. so it seems like, if this judgment has been made, then she does have the right to sell the

team, which would basically turn this lawsuit into a sideshow about who gets the money, not about whether the team is sold. >> because,to don, he did authorize his estranged wife to go ahead and try to negotiate a sale, which is exactly what she did. she got a $2 billion offer on the table from steve balm mer. that's a record for an nba team. the l.a. clippers certainly a few weeks ago, who would have thought they could get more than 6$600 million, now we're talkin 2 billions. he authorized her to ne goeshtd the sale, but we heard from max bell bleacher, donald sterling's lawyer yesterday, he may have authorized her to negotiate, but he has to approve the sale. >> well, here's the thing. you don't get to be where these people are without being fairly cunning and business savvy. and he is an attorney. i just wonder what the scheme is.

i don't know -- i don't know if he's mentally incompasses tated. anderson sat down with him and he said he seemed to be fine. he seemed to have his wits about him. i don't know. there is something that in my gut tells me that shelley and donald sterling are in cahoots and are strategizing in some way to try to pull a fast one on the nba. if someone says -- if the doctors say he's mentally incapacita incapacitated, then he can't sell the team. something is really up here. i think pretty soon we'll figure it out, but right now we haven't figured it out. i don't know what's going on. >> i'm trying to figure out why if you feel fine do you have these two examinations to declare that you're not feeling fine? what were the circumstances in which he would go see a physician to be evaluated in the first place? whose idea was it and what was the purpose of it? if he feels that he's not having any sort of mental problems, if he's not having props with his

synapsis firing, why was he being examined? and twice on top of it? was this shelley's idea? is this a larger scheme don is insinuating? >> my own suspicion is they want the $2 billion to sell the team but they want especially donald sterling what he calls vindication. he wants the nba maybe to eliminate the ban on him attending nba games for life or something along those lines. he wants something relatively from his perspective modest so he can be, quote, vindicated. >> right. i suppose he wants that. i wouldn't doubt that he wants some of those capital gains taxes paid as well. just because you have $2 billion doesn't mean you want more money. that's one of the laws of american life. but i just think the good news about all of this is there's a deadline coming on tuesday. the nba owners are going to meet. people are going to file lawsuits perhaps.

after tuesday, he's going to be out. >> can i say something? look, this is what it says about -- if he's mentally incapacitated. the trust agreement that governs the family's ownership, again, not cnn's reporting but the ownership of a team provides if two qualified doctors determine either donald or shelley, shows an inability to conduct business affairs in a reasonable or normal manner, they will be stripped of control over the team and that means that it goes to the next in succession. that's how i'm reading this. i'm telling you i feel -- this is me personally talking -- there is some strategizing going on, some sort of scheme we haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet. >> the nba did put out a statement i'll read a line, commissioner silver has consistently said the preferred outcome to the clippers proceeding would be a voluntary sale of the team, shelley advised the nba last night that

an agreement had been reached with steve ballmer and the nba advisory finance committee met via conference call to discuss the developments. we await the submission of necessary documentation from mrs. sterling. in the meantime, the june 3rd special meeting of the nba board of governors remains as scheduled. from the executive vice president of communications for the nba. that's a pretty specific -- they're going ahead with this meeting ujs they have the paper work that a deal is done, proved by all the owners and buyers. >> that's the only way this thing is going to be resolved, by setting deadlines. the nba has set a deadline. and they will either throw him out on june 3rd or simply approve the sale on june 3rd. but the key point is donald sterling is out on june 3rd. >> lz and don, don first, they sell the team for $2 billion. they paid $12 million 33 years ago. that's a nice profit. they may have to pay 25% capital

gains, whatever. let's say they get 2 billion, they walk away with 1.5 or 1.6 billion dollars after taxes, don. what kind of punishment is that? >> is that rhetorical, wolf? come on. >> 1.6 billion for a team only a few weeks ago probably could have gone for 600 million or 700 million? >> that is 166% of what they bought the team for. i'd love to have that sort of investment. >> no, no, no. don, we need the common core for you. it's 1600%. >> i'm just saying i would love that sort of investment, especially if i did something wrong and someone was pushing me out, to have that sort of nest egg if you want to call it. that's a dream. >> lz, final word. >> but there is ego involved,

you know. let's go back to the beginning of the story. him paying money to naacp to vint kate his racist past, talking about ail the great charity work he's doing to clean up his name. there is more to him or he desires more than just money. i think don might be on to something because if shelley finds herself incapacitated and it passes to their children, the nba commissioner silver never went after the children. it was the players who said they wanted no sterling involved, but as far as commissioner several is involved it's donald several and shelley. if it passes to the kirn, what does the nba do? i agree there's a lot more to weave through. >> we'll wait to the top of the hour. we're expecting some nounsment to be posted on the law firm's web site maxwell bleacher. we'll have that as soon as we get it. don't go far. we'll continue our reporting and analysis. up next, a nightmare scenario. americans fighting alongside al qaeda in syria, including

this suicide bomber who grew up in florida. several others bring their war back home. we're also learning new details about what could be the next phase in missing malaysian 370? will it be in the hands of private contractors? imagine if everything you learned led to the one job you always wanted. at university of phoenix, we believe every education- not just ours- should be built around the career that you want. imagine that.

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flight 370. aviation correspondent rene marsh has new information. what are you learning? >> the multinational search may be over as far as the day today. there are new questions about when the search will resume again and who will lead it. and, again, where will they look? tonight, private contractors around the world are vying to take over the search for malaysia airlines flight 370, preparing bids that could turn into tens of millions of dollars for a search that most likely won't resume for months. >> i think a lot of people are interested in getting the job because it's potentially profitable because it could be long duration, so it certainly, any company that could put their equipment to work and keep it out there is going to probably be successful. >> reporter: while the multinational investigative team may have canceled its day-to-day search, the chinese navy is continuing to map the ocean floor, all in an effort to give a head start to whatever private

contractor takes over. 153 of the 239 passengers onboard flight 370 were chinese. complicating matters, the bombshell revelation to cnn this week by one of the u.s. navy's top salvage experts who says the pings believed to be from the airplane's black boxes were likely not from the plane at all. >> if that black box were nearby, we would have picked it up on the imagery data. >> reporter: tonight, there is still disagreement about where the next phase of the search should go, some including australia's deputy prime minister believe contractors should move on from the area of the indian ocean where four pings were detected over the course of several days. >> no signs of aircraft debris have been found. the area can now be discounted as the final resting place for mh-370. >> reporter: while others say at least some of the underwater pings must have come from the

black boxes. and the search area shouldn't be discounted just because the plane hasn't been found. >> you cannot reproduce this stuff and you can't reproduce it by natural means or the earth isn't doing it, the ocean isn't doing it. the animals are not doing it. and their ship is not doing it. >> well, despite the doubt in the underwater pings and discounting a particular area, authorities remain positive that the plane is in the south indian ocean. the chief commissioner of the australian transportation safety bureau was asked if he thinks that the plane will ever be found. he's quoted as saying we can't be too confident but they are cautiously optimistic. keyword, cautiously. >> cautiously. all right, thanks very much, rene, for that report. turning quickly to the political battle for 2014. mitt romney's paying a visit to iowa. it's politically significant, but not necessarily for the reason you might think. the former republican nominee for president stumping for jody

earnst, a state senator in the gop's field more next tuesday's u.s. primary. here's why his visit is significant. earnst also has been endorsed by sarah palin. the wings of the republican party may be coming together ahea head of the 2014 midterms at least in this contest in iowa. coming up, donald sterling's attorney comments on word that the l.a. clippers' owner may be filing an extraordinary lawsuit against the nba. even as doctors find sterling to be mentally incapacitated. hillary clinton lashing out at critics who keep slamming her over the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪

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happening now, breaking news. sterling lawsuit. the embattled clippers owners is reportedly planning to sue the nba, even though sources tell cnn two doctors have deemed him mentally incapacitated. what impact would all of this have on the $2 billion deal to sell the team? hillary clinton firing back. the former secretary of state tears into critics who blame her for the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. how is she defending herself and the obama administration? spiraling scandal. disturbing new revelations about the crisis inside the va health

care system. system scandal that's cost veterans' lives and now the va secretary has lost his job. will someone now face criminal charges? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. >> we're following two breaking news stories this hour. shocking new revelations of massive failures inside the veterans administration. health care system coming just hours after the fwrgrowing scan forced the veterans affairs secretary to resign. in-depth coverage coming up. also stunning twists in the donald sterling scandal. there are reports he is going to sue the nba for $1 billion in damages. that comes as sources tell cnn two doctors have declared donald sterling mentally incapacitated. our correspondents and analysts are working all angles of the fast-moving story. brian todd's got the latest. he's been working his sources. brian, what are you hearing? >> wolf, attorney maxwell

blecher is not denying a news report saying donald sterling is suing the nba for damages in excess of $1 billion. it's not clear if this means donald sterling will contest the sale of the clippers to steve ballmer. also tonight, new information from sources on donald sterling's mental condition is throwing another wrench into all of this. tonight sources tell cnn that doctors have declared donald sterling mentally incapacitated. a finding that opened the door for his estranged wife to sell the l.a. clipsepers for a recor $2 billion. donald sterling was examined by independent doctors, both neurologists sometime over the last month. it's an important finding because the clippers are owned through a family trust with two trustees, donald and shelly sterling. cnn learned from one source a clause in that trust says if either sterling becomes mentally unfit, the other would become the sole trustee. sources say shelly was only able to negotiate the megasale

because of that declaration. donald sterling still has grounds to challenge the sale of the team. >> he would retain his own physicians, neurologists, psychiatri psychiatrists, whatever it may be and have those physicians take issue with the findings of the physicians that found him incapacita incapacitated. >> reporter: all of which means which seems like a done deal could still wind up in court and donald sterling's attorney may be ready for that. tonight maxwell blecher tells cnn he believes the declaration of mental incapacitation was a quote, vast overstatement. he said sterling had a diagnosis of a modest mental impairment, what blecher called a, quote, slowing down. his comments come one day after telling wolf blitzer sterling will fight the nba's efforts to throw him out. >> we don't think the team can be sold without mr. sterling's consent. mr. sterling is not going to consent unless the nba does

something to let the scurrilous and legal charges they filed against him. >> reporter: blecher said he is not denying a new report that the clippers owner is suing the nba for damages in excess of $1 billion. does that mean he's contesting the sale of the clippers? not necessarily. hours later blecher told us sterling would look at the sale of the clippers to steve ballmer and decide where to go from there saying, quote, he doesn't want to fight with shelly, that's the bottom line. >> anything is possible with donald sterling but with $2 billion on the line, not even donald sterling will mess this up. >> agent drew rosenhaus believes the nba is going to approve this deal because the price is too much not too. the league is saying it's waiting on documents on the sale to ballmer and planned meeting of nba owners about kicking donald sterling out is still on for tuesday. we have no response from the nba about reports of sterling's $1 billion lawsuit against the nba,

wolf. >> i don't know if he's filed it. they're just talking. presumably, fairly soon. we'll hear whether or not it's going forward. >> that's correct. we hope to hear in a few minutes whether this is going forward. >> you'll let us know as soon as you hear, brian. thanks very much. let's get more now. cnn anchor don lemon is joining us from new york. cnn legal analyst jeffrey toobin here in washington and cnn commentator l.z. granderson is in chicago. jeff, what do you make of this possible lawsuit? >> there are all sorts of things he could claim. he could claim an antitrust violation and file a separate lawsuit trying to stop the sale. but the important thing to remember is one of two things is going to happen. there is going to be a voluntary sale to steve ballmer before the meeting on june 3rd, or at june 3rd they will take the franchise away from him. and then the nba will sell the franchise to steve ballmer. but the bottom line is, steve ballmer is getting this franchise sooner rather than later. >> what do you think, don?

you think this is a lot of posturing going on, but in the end, by tuesday, there will be a deal, the clippers will be sold? >> well, i think that regardless of what happens, i think that the nba is going to go on with their june 3rd meeting. i'm not sure about the sale, where it's going to be, where they're going to be in the process. but, again, i'm very skeptical as i've been saying here for weeks, as i've been spending the evening with you, wolf, that i'm very skeptical of these two people because i don't trust what comes out of their mouths. i think they're in cahoots and think they're scheming together, so i think the nba is going to go forward and do what they said they're going to do, but i'm not so sure about donald and shelly sterling. i don't know what's up their sleeve. >> you know, l.z., a lot of people suspect they're working together, good cop/bad cop kind of scenario. what do you think? >> absolutely. if you look back at some of the accusations in the depositions ranging back from the issue with the department of justice and how it wasn't just donald

sterling's name that was implicated in racist behavior but shelly sterling as well. video of her masquerading as an official to check out the race of the people that was occupying the apartments they were renting. i mean, they've been working side by side, you know, in this kind of shady behavior, if you will, for decades, so it would not surprise me at all if this was just an extension of that. >> everything, wolf, has been a contradiction. they've said, okay, so he goes -- you know, the tapes come out, right, v. stiviano tapes and he says i'm not a racist and you clearly hear on the tape he's a racist. she goes to dinner with him and said, i cannot believe, i disavow everything he said. then she stands up for him. then she says, okay, i'm going to sell the team then he says no. every single thing has been a contradiction, so, you know, there's something weird going on here and i just don't know what. something -- >> that's the understatement of the year that there's something weird going on. >> hear me out, jeffrey. my math is not great, but hear me out here.

my mom says something is not sitting right. right? well, something is not sitting right here. i can't put my finger on it, but we'll figure it out when it happens. >> jeffrey, legally speaking, this notion that two neurologists checked him out, did a thorough check and found him mentally incapacitated. that has major legal ramifications. >> well, it, under the trust a agreement, it gives shelly the right to sell the team on her own without donald sterling's approval. >> basically become ps 100% in control of the trust which owns the clippers. >> which she has now used that control to sell the team to steve ballmer. now, he could go to court and say that was invalid. what we heard from brian todd and what we heard from max blecher, don's lawyer yesterday is he doesn't want to sue shelly. he maybe wants to sue the nba but doesn't want to sue his wife/ex-wife, whatever she is at the moment. so i think he could be suing the nba for some sort of damages to try to get his capital gains tax

paid. but unless he should shoe shelly, i don't see any way he could intervene in the sale at all. >> l.z., like all of us, you watch -- hold on one second. you watch anderson cooper's very lengthy interview with donald sterling. he may be a racist, but do you get the sense he's mentally incapacita incapacitated? >> i got the sense he was delaud delusion delusional, not mentally incapacitated. the question i would ask jeffrey would be, what happens if shelly is found mentally incapacitated by two neurologists as well? now you have four neurologists saying both of the principal holders of this trust are mentally incapacitated. if it goes to next of kin, doesn't that derail the entire mission the nba is trying to do which is get the sterlings so sell the team? >> l.z., that sounds a little more like a miniseries than what actually -- >> this is a miniseries,

jeffrey. >> what are you talking about? we just said this whole thing was strange. >> if the language is -- listen, again, this is not cnn's reporting but the language that i read says if one or the other, then it would go possibly go to the next. so, you know, i think that -- >> if it's a miniseries, it will be continued to be sure. we may get more information this hour. so, guys, please do me a favor. don't go very far away. i want to wrap it up, though, for now and move on to another important story we're following involving hillary clinton. she is firing back at critics who continue to hammer her over the 2011 attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, which left united states ambassador and three other americans dead. our senior political correspondent brianna keilar is joining us now with the latest details. brianna? >> well, wolf, hillary clinton in her book defends the initial

intelligence assessment about bengha benghazi, defends president obama's initial reaction to the attack. this is really the most controversial part of the book being released more than a week and a half before the book is officially out. weeks before hitting book shelves, fireworks are already erupting over a leaked excerpt from hillary clinton's long-awaiting memoir. in a section about her time at the state department, clinton slams republicans saying their outrage over benghazi is nothing but politics. "i will not be part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead americans, it's just plain wrong and it's unworthy of our great country" she writes in "hard choices" dedicating a much anticipated chapter called "benghazi under attack" to the 2012 terrorist attack that left four americans dead in libya including ambassador chris stevens. politico obtained the 34 pages and published the excerpts. clinton stands by this initial claim by the obama administration. >> there was a hateful video

that was disseminated on the internet. that sparked violence in various parts of the world. >> reporter: in the days after the attack, senior state department officials told cnn the incident appeared to be a preplanned terrorist attack unrelated to the video. clinton writes, "it is inaccurate to state that every single one of them was influenced by this hateful video. it is equally inaccurate to state that none of them were." but clinton refutes claims that in the midst of the attack the u.s. government refused to help saying president obama, quote, gave the order to do whatever was necessary to support our people in libra. when americans are under fire, that is not an order the commander in chief has to give twice. that anyone has ever suggested otherwise is something i will never understand." and she gives context to that controversial moment which has come to define her testimony before congress in early 2013. >> what difference at this point does it make? >> reporter: saying she was not minimizing the tragedy as some republicans accused her of

doing. she writes "of course that's not what i said. nothing could be further from the truth and many of those trying to make hay of it know that but don't care." but the political battle over benghazi is far from over. house republicans have formed a select committee to investigate yet again the obama administration's response. >> but it is clear to me, and it has been clear, that the american people have not been told the truth about benghazi, and we're committed to getting -- >> and this is a very carefully coordinated book rollout for hillary clinton. democratic surrogates who support both hillary clinton and president obama were at the white house this week meeting with top aides to the president. and those top aides i'm told by a source made it clear that they want it to be very out there that there is no daylight between the president and hillary clinton on foreign policy as this book is rolled out, wolf. >> all right. brianna, don't go too far away. i'd like you to be here. i want to continue this conversation. i also want to bring in cnn political analyst maggie

haberman, there she is in new york. our foreign affairs correspondent elise labbot. you were given advanced copy of this one chapter from hillary clinton's upcoming memoir on benghazi. was this one of those deliberate leaks, great reporting? did they want this to come out now? what can you tell us? >> i can tell you i think i do great reporting, wolf. i'm not going to get into how i got hold of this. i think that the chapter is pretty clear in terms of what i wrote about in politico today. what the tone is certainly, i'm look at this through a political lens as we are talks about a woman who is widely seen as the front runner for the 2016 democratic nomination for the presidency. the tone she chooses is one of defiance. she's very clearly pushing back at her republican critics on benghazi. the chapter is "benghazi under attack." she is making very clear as far as i could tell from the read, and really from what i have heard today after i reported on

the chapter, that they are looking to sort of move past litigating the facts of what happened repeatedly. this comes, obviously, as this new house select committee is getting started. i think that this is what you're going to hear from her. i think this is what they're hoping that other democrats will echo in the weeks going forward. >> hold on for a moment, because elise is here. you covered the state department. you covered hillary clinton when she was secretary of state for four years. that famous line, "what difference does it make?" she's now trying to explain what she really meant because she's been getting a lot of grief for that. >> that's right. she's trying so say, listen, i wasn't trying to minimize their deaths but saying, listen, i have four dead americans here. i have 185, more than close to 200 consulates and embassies around the world i need to think about preventing this from ever happening again. what she was saying was, listen, it doesn't matter right now why they died. there's plenty of time for that. we need to look forward. wolf, i thought a couple of other things as maggie was saying looking through the political lens, she went back i

thought more interesting that she talked about the decision not to be on the tv shows, on those sunday shows and that susan rice did it instead. she said, listen, this is not something that is required to speak to americans on sunday morning. in fact, at the time, what she said, her aides were saying she was so distraught and emotional which is true over the deaths of chris stevens and the other three americans, she was at the memorial service. she didn't feel up to it. i think this is a little bit of a revisionist history now saying this defiant attitude saying that's not really a requirement. >> maggie, in your article in politico which is an excellent article, good reporting on your part, you also point out that in this chapter that you got from her upcoming book, the book won't be out for another couple weeks or so, she does say at least some of those protesters in benghazi were, in fact, motivated by that anti-islam video that they weren't all just al qaeda affiliated terrorists. >> she pushes very hard on that line.

she says something to the effect of i know the people don't want to hear a video played a role in this, but it did. she says in realtime she went back and forth on how much of a role it played but then later with additional reporting and additional focus, and additional investigations, that it is -- there was a quote from brianna's piece that it is inaccurate to say every protester was influenced by this and inaccurate to say none were. she's saying very clearly it did play some role. >> you want to weigh in on that, elise? >> well, i think in some ways it is true that, you know, those terrorists really kind of took advantage of the opportunity, but the state department officials were saying the night after the attack that this was a preplanned organized terrorist attack and had state department officials saying that night that it was. so it does, again, seem obviously secretary clinton is going to frame it the way that the obama administration and she wants to see it, but they were not saying that at the time. >> brianna, in your reporting you've come out, there's a very

sophisticated rollout of this book, a double pronged objective, one to sell as many copies as possible, a million advanced copies have already been sold by simon and shuster. two, to help her get ready for the 2016 race for the white house. in that regard, you're hearing they're about to assemble a war-room? >> that's right. what are some of the elements of a campaign? the war-room which we understand from a source familiar with the rollout here that there will be a number of former diplomats at the ready to respond to criticisms of hillary clinton's state department tenure which are going to come as this book comes out. there's also a messaging operation and one of the people really helping with this is a former obama administration aide who was the national security spokesman who was there during benghazi so is really well versed in this and also there's

a surrogate operation very coordinated that is touching base with democrats and trying to get them all on the same page. but really i think it's pretty interesting how very much they're defending hillary clinton's state department record. you look at the polls. voters think it's a good thing and that's one of the reasons why republicans are really going after it. and that's one of the reasons why i think as elise has been talking about, she's kind of playing this on sort of the political court in a way. that if republicans and i think we can all look at what is going on with some of the investigations, the fund-raising, see the political element of it, it's sort of unsavory and i think she's really trying to make that obvious. >> going to go on the offensive in this new book. brianna, elise, maggie, good work all around. up next, more breaking news. more revelations about the va health care crisis blamed for the deaths of dozens of veterans. the va secretary has now resigned but could someone be facing criminal charges? plus, a new terror threat. chilling warning to the united states as president obama tries to step up america's counterterror operation. so why are critics questioning

whether the president's new plan can work?

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filed by donald sterling against the nba. various news reports saying this is in excess of $1 billion for damages and we're trying to get more details -- >> they haven't released the actual text, the actual document, have they? >> not at this time that we can tell. we have people at the courthouse. we're searching other outlets and we're trying to get some more information from his office right now. just a lot more detail that we want to get on the damages we're seeking, what they're claiming in the lawsuit. we're also trying to get response from the nba. we're trying that for a while and have not heard back from them. >> let's get quick reaction from don lemon and l.z. granderson. don, what do you think? >> he's not going to go away quietly. i don't think he was going to from the very beginning. i'm not sure what this means for the sale of the team. i'm not sure what this means between him, he and shelly sterling. he's going after the nba. wants to be vindicated. i imagine this is one way he

thinks he'll be vind kaicated. >> l.z.? >> i agree with don. the commissioner didn't get him out of there for the last 30 years. we're beginning to see why. this is a bulldog with ferocious fe teeth. we have the nba draft this month. the nba does not want this publicity but have to deal with donald sterling. >> we'll wait to see the actual document, don, l.z., thanks very mu much. other breaking news. heads rolling in the deadly wait for care at va hospitals across country. now learning new details of how vast and tedeep this crisis is. veterans affairs secretary eric shin sec shinseki to resign today. there have been eight va secretaries, five including shinseki now have been forced to resign because of other various scandals and other problems. cnn investigations are working this story for the very latest. what's the latest on this crisis

that's rocking the veterans affair? >> wolf, i tell you, it may have been the end of the road for eric shinseki, but the audit he left for the president shows the work is just beginning. in a damning audit released friday, the veterans affairs department outlined concerns of, quote, questionable scheduling practices that signaled a systemic lack of integrity. the audit found that schedulers were pressured to use improper practices that made waiting times look shorter. what's more? the audit found the bench mark the va created to get veterans quicker care backfired. the goal of having a veteran wait no more than 14 days for an appointment was, quote, simply not attainable. putting the target in place without needed resources represented a leadership failure, the audit said. veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki presented the interim report to president obama before resigning friday. when he announced shinseki's resignation, the president asked a question left unanswered by

the audit. >> how is it that in a number of these facilities, if in fact you have veterans who are waiting too long for an appointment that that information didn't surface sooner so we could fix it? >> reporter: cnn has been reporting on delays of care since november and the general issued numerous reports over the past few years. in his last public appearance as secretary, shinseki apologized to veterans, lawmakers and the public. >> that breach of integrity is irresponsible. it is indefensible and unacceptable to me. when this situation began weeks to months ago, i thought the problem was limited and isolated because i believe that. i no longer believe it. it is systemic. >> reporter: a fact underlined by congressman mike doyle's findings that some of the nearly 700 veterans on a waiting list

at the pittsburgh va have been waiting for appointments since 2012. >> we're not finished by a long shot. we still have a long ways to go. if this is a systemic problem which many fear it is, we need a review from top to bottom and people need to be held accountable. we need to make sure our veterans get the health care they've earned. >> the audit found the biggest barrier to getting care was a lack of doctor variability. a close second was trying to shoehorn vets into the 14 day appointment window. the two combined really made it difficult for vets to get the care they needed, wolf. >> this audit is a preview of what's going on i assume at other va facilities around countries. >> this is an interim audit. took four days in may to take a survey. what they found, people were not intentionally hiding it but were all flagging problems. they need to take a look. this is a harbinger to lots more bad news, lots more headlines. what it did do was really show that the reporting cnn has done and our colleague, drew given here as done, is, in fact, a

problem and does exist. >> stand by. don't go too far away. want to bring in our cnn senior investigative correspondent, drew griffin. he's been reporting all of this. he first exposed the var ed the for all of america to see. joining us, alex nicholson, elective director of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. let's get your immediate reaction, alex. what do you think? these latest reports show this may simply be the tip of the iceberg. >> yeah. i mean, i think we all were disgusted by what the ig found, what the audit found and secretary shinseki shared those sentiments. you know, unfortunately it went deeper than him. we certainly do believe this is the tip of the iceberg, but, you know, we think the person they need to bring is going to get to the bottom of it. we have faith they will. we need to see action. >> you agree the president did the right thing in accepting his resignation? >> we think he did. >> did you call for his resignation earlier? >> we didn't. we were holding off. wanted to see more results come in. ultimately i think the president

made the right decision. >> what do you make of the audits come in all over the country, true? you know a lot about what's going on. veterans out there who want good, solid health care. how worried should they be? >> the families should be very worried especially the real tragedy is the people who go to the va, the veterans who go to the va. i think you'll attest this, they have nowhere to go because a lot of the veterans who have other kind of health care know to go there instead of the va. that's just the plain truth. so you have a lot of these patients who can't be advocates for themselves. these are the ones who are stuck on these waiting lists and you have to go out there, get a real deliberate outreach to find them and bring them in and get them some treatment. >> but alex, in fairness to the va, yeah, there's enormous problems and tragedies occur, but a lot of veterans do get good health care at these va facilities. >> they to. that is true. the va does provide world class health care. we need it to be better, need reforms in management and administrative practices.

there's no doubt. we certainly encourage vets to continue to go to the va especially if they're in crisis. >> you know, chris, what's shocking to me, it seems the president of the united states, secretary of veterans affairs, they were shocked to learn about all of these problems. that they really didn't know what was going on. lower level officials weren't telling them the truth. that's pretty shocking in and of itself. >> it is. you had the president today say, well how did this happen? at his speech earlier this morning, his last speak as secretary, eric shinseki said i was lied to. you have to ask yourself if they were lied to, why didn't they two to the ig reports, the independent investigative general? why didn't they look at that years of reports showing the wait times were a problem? they didn't answer congressional questions about this. when congress was trying to raise questions. they haven't answered any of drew's questions about this and his reporting. it's not as if this hasn't been flagged for years so this idea that somehow the president and shinseki were shocked and taken aback by this really raises questions about if they're tuned in to what's happening in their

own administration. >> drew, for months if not years you've been reporting all this information. i didn't hear it coming from congressional oversight committees. i didn't hear it coming from within the department of veterans affairs. i heard you reporting it. what was the reaction over these many months you were getting from the department of veterans affairs when you broke these stories? >> this is what i think the real scandal is. to shinseki, himself. it is absolutely no response we got from the va. they would not talk to us. they would not answer our questions. we would tell them when our reports were airing. we would ask them after those reports aired, what do you guys think, do you have any response? they were deliberately not paying attention or watching our reports and ignoring them. >> i think they were just hoping, correct me if i'm wrong, alex, at this would simply go away and really didn't take it seriously. >> that's definitely a possibility. congress had some of the same problems you're describing in terms of getting information out of the va. the house veterans affairs committee, for example, has conducted over 70 hearings over 40 of them have been oversight

hearings. they have a backlog more than a year long of information requests out of the va for simple facts. things that the va can turn over to them in a matter of hours up. but they just would not respond to requests for information. >> the war veterans from iraq and afghanistan, what's the single biggest problem they face now? they come home, they do two, three, four tours. they come home. what's the single biggest problem many of them are facing right now? >> i think one of the biggest problems, they certainly face many problems. one of the biggest is going to be stigma and stepping forward to get help. >> what does stigma mean? >> mental health issues. there's a lot of mental injury, invisible wounds characteristic of the wars in iraq and afghanistan and getting folks to seek help is one of the biggest issues. >> if they want the help, and they go to a va hospital to get psychiatric help, psychological help, will they get the appropriate help? >> they will get it at the va if they actually make it into the va. the biggest issue has been access. there's more the va needs to do. we proposed in the house and

senate to try to get the va tools to deal with the psychological wounds of war. >> you want a full-scale justice department criminal investigation to investigate to see if crimes were committed? >> we definitely want to see criminal investigation if that is merited. absolutely. >> alex nicholson, thanks very much for coming in. chris, thanks for you. i think it's fair to say, drew, that without your reporting, what we saw today would not have occurred. thanks to you. thanks to cnn for breaking these stories over many months and more to come. thanks very much. the va scandal raises new questions about president obama's attachment to big government and his willingness to impose accountability. here's cnn's chief political analyst gloria borger. >> reporter: barack obama came to office as somebody promising that the government could actually work for you and be your best friend. the question now is whether the president still believes that. >> we now know that va has a systemic totally unacceptable lack of integrity. >> reporter: the scandal at the department of veterans a affairs

is only one of a lot of bureaucratic messes that have really dogged this presidency. you have to consider the disastrous rollout of health care reform which is the president's signature legislative achievement. there was controversy at the internal revenue service. controversy on national security surveillance. all of these taken together raise the question of whether this is a government problem or whether it's a problem of management for the obama administration and in particular the president, himself. has the bureaucracy actually beaten the boss? there seems to be a management issue and as far as i can tell, the white house has a couple of ways of managing things. first of all, there's the micromanaging part of the white house as they do with foreign policy which seems to me to be directly operated out of the west wing. and at the other extreme, this is a white house that delegates an awful lot as in veterans affairs. where's that middle ground? when you run for office

promising to make government work for the american people, you have to make sure that it does. >> to read gloria's full column, t go to cnn.com. i think you will learn something from that article. just ahead, a new threat after militants take credit for shooting down a ukrainian military helicopter. and in another troubling development, more international observers have gone missing. i'll speak to a u.s. ambassador. we'll get an update. we're also following a new terror threat against the united states.

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liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? ukraine's president-elect promised to punish the militants who shot down a military helicopter. militants claim a dozen troops including a top ukrainian general died in the crash. we're also watching new trouble elsewhere in ukraine. four international observers haven't been in contact since armed men stopped them yesterday evening. the team is from the organization for security and cooperation in europe. daniel baer is the u.s. ambassador to that organization, swro joining us live from vienna. what do we know, mr. ambassador, about those four observers? >> well, actually, wolf, this team of four with their ukrainian translator is the second team to go missing this

week or to be missing this week. there's another team that was picked up on monday outside of donetsk and has been missing for five days. there were 11 picked up wednesday and later released that evening and another four plus their translator last night. this is obviously unacceptable and outrageous that these international observers who are there to provide an impartial view of what's happening on the ground to help facilitate deescalation of conflict who aren't taking sides in any way that these international observers are being detained is really outrageous. >> so basically what i hear you saying, there are eight osce observers plus one translator now being held in captivity. is that right? >> yes. in two separate groups. that's right. >> are any of them americans? >> none of this -- none of those two groups is american. >> who took them, do you know?

>> you know, the osce is working very hard on the ground obviously. the deputy head of the monitoring mission has traveled out to the east. they are working incredibly hard to try to contact those who are holding these people and try to facilitate their release. obviously we've been calling for their unconditional release and calling on all participating states to do everything they can to help facilitate that release to reach out. certainly these people, there's a lot of suspicious folks who have been crossing the border in recent weeks and it's not clear who's holding them. it's just clear that they ought to be released. >> the others, i think you mentioned 11 who were released. how did you get them out? did you have to pay someone to get their freedom? >> no. they were picked up driving on a road about 30 kilometers outside of donetsk. they were taken back into town. we lost -- the osce lost contact with them for several hours.

they were later released and allowed to return to their hotel. so there was this contact and discussion to facilitate that release. obviously you'll remember that a couple months ago, or six weeks ago or so, there were these vienna document military observers who were held for over seven -- over a week in slovyansk. they were eventually released and we hope the two groups who remain in captivity are released, too. there's no excuse for taking impartial and international monitors hostage. >> the assumption being that pro-russian separatists were involved in abduction of these international monitors. is there any evidence at all that russia, itself, is involved in these kidnappings? >> like i said, the mission on the ground is working very hard to figure out who exactly is holding them and where exactly they are. at this point we don't know. what we do know is there have been a large number of reports

in recent days in particular of a new influx with foreign fighters crossing the border, of arms crossing the border. all of this underscores the fear the people of donetsk, imea and future to build together. for the first time ever the person who came first in the east also came first in the west. these people have a future to build together and those who are sabotaging it, whether they come from inside of ukraine or outside ukraine need to get out of the way. >> daniel baer, u.s. ambassador to the organization for security and cooperation in europe. mr. ambassador, good luck. we'll stay in close touch with you. coming up, a very, very different kind of story. we have some new information about the newest power players right here in washington, d.c. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪

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the official white house photographer pete souza just tweeted this picture from earlier today. you see the president with his arm around eric shinseki. they took a walk around the white house south lawn of the white house when the president basically accepted the resignation of shinseki as secretary of veterans affairs. a picture that sort of captures that moment. still ahead, the secret behind a new boy band's initial success that isn't just the music. they have friends and parents in high places. ♪ first, though, we want you to meet a golfing champion whose success is giving others a better life. cnn's chris cuomo has today's impact your world report. >> thank you. >> you're welcome, sweetie. >> reporter: for these kids, blessings come in the form of apple, corn, even tuna. >> that's a nice smile you have. >> thanks to blessings in a backpack, students on a federally funded school program can take home a bag of food for

the weekend. >> it helps me because sometimes we don't have enough money to buy food. >> we can't expect children to turn up on monday morning at school and expect them to be able to learn and be in a good state for learning when they haven't had enough food over the weekends. >> reporter: kate rose and her golf pro justin help feed kids in orlando area schools. he raises money through his birdies for blessings campaign. >> how are we doing? >> every birdie i make, i give $100 which is the amount to feed a child for a school year. every birdie i make, i feed two children for the whole entire school year. that gives me a lot of incentive to be out there on the golf course, working hard to improve my game. >> reporter: another incentive is believing that blessings in the backpack is feeding the future of america, like 6-year-old tatiana. >> i like to be a healthy singer, a dancer. i like to be an artist. i like to be everything when i

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is a new boy band in town, this town, washington, and what sets them apart from the competition is they have friends, parents in high places, namely the white house. cnn's erin mcpike has the details. ♪ >> reporter: hear that? it isn't one direction or the

jonas brothers. but it could be departing white house press secretary's newest project. >> i manage my son's band, which is on the verge of taking off. >> reporter: make that hugo carney's band 2020, a rocking quartet of 12-year-olds who by day are students of the elite tidwell school in washington with the president's daughters. ♪ she is a heart beat, heart beat ♪ >> reporter: elite, like their well to do parents. this is lucas donovan, son of hud secretary. and who calls mike froman dad and joey doyle, whose mother's claim to fame was running hillary clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. ♪ no true words have been sung, especially for the elder carney,

who has had a lot to weather recently and will finally get to enjoy the sun outside the briefing room, maybe take in a few more music shows with the extra time on his hands, like this one. that was jay on his birthday introducing his favorite band guided by voices. he took it all in with his son hugo. jay carney himself used to rock out in the garage. but his son and band mates opted for the streets of d.c., making stops at union station and even grabbing a slurpee at 7-eleven for their video debut. >> it got worse when we got slurpees. but it was pretty fun. it was fly by the seat of our parents and trying to keep up with them the whole time. >> now those kids formed the band in 2011 when they were just 9 and 10. but this is their first single. and as it turns out, wolf, they wrote the whole thing themselves. and i want to say the press release announcing it says it was a catchy power pop tune. well, our editor michael, in the

process of doing that piece, he said it was catchy. he was singing the thing back to me today. >> very good. these are talented young, young men. excellent work. thanks very much. good luck to the new pop group. that's it for me. thanks for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, caving to pressure, the head of the v.a. gone. will that make things right? plus, breaking news. the 80-year-old owner of the l.a. clippers mentally incapacitated. so what will that and a new billion lawsuit he has put on the table mean for the $2 billion deal for steve ballmer? and two teams go 22 rounds, and it's a draw. the cochamps of the national spelling bee join us. let's go "outfront." >> good evening, everyone. "outfront" tonight, a key member of president obama's cabinet gone.