is on the move. thank you for watching, everyone. please stay tuned, my colleague, wolf, starts right now. right now, a massive shake-up in the v.a. health care system that could include more than 1,000 pink slips. it's a huge, huge change for the u.s. government right now. the secretary of veterans affairs joins me live this hour. it's coming up. let's talk about these major changes. mystery surrounding the fate of the isis leader abu bakr al baghdadi. president obama hits the road. a meeting of world leaders right now under way in china.

thank you very much for joining us. one year after cnn broke the story of long waiting lists for veterans seeking care, there is a massive shakeup at the department. robert mcdonald took over in july after congressional hearings and the resignation of retired general eric shinseki. mcdonald said that the v.a. needs to hire 28,000 doctors and nurses to clear the backlog of patients, including 2500 mental health professionals. he said the scandal could cost up to 1,000 v.a. workers losing their jobs and losing their jobs quickly. secretary mcdonald is joining us here. thank you for joining us and critically important and always, especially on the day before veterans day here in the united states. so this minute, 1:00 eastern here in -- you're announcing

what is, what, the largest shakeup in the history of the u.s. federal government? is that what you're saying? >> that's right, wolf. this is going to be the largest reorganization of the veteran affairs. we're calling it my v.a. because we want them to think of the department as embracing them and giving them a warm hug to get the care they need, a department that is totally veteran centered. >> it's fair to say, this is the result of the scandals, the problems that have developed over these past several years? >> this is the result of my 42 trips to 22 different cities, visits to eight medical schools, talking to thousands of employees, thousands of veterans. i learned a lot. we've had teams of people around the organization from the bottom to the top of the organization working on this reorganization and today we're announcing the major planks. >> we're going to go through all of that. let's go through some of the

other headlines of what is going on right now. you immediately want to fire 35 workers at the department of veterans affairs but another 1,000 you want to get rid of as well. is that right? >> well, what we've said is we're taking disciplinary actions against individuals who violated our values. our values are represented in this acronym i care. we're taking disciplinary action. that disciplinary action over the last year has involved in about 5,600 employees. some of those are still active and we're in the process of following that to its conclusion. we're acting aggressively, expeditiously and against the law. >> unlike the private sector, you were the chairman of procter & gamble for some time, unlike p & g, to fire a government worker, it's not that easy. >> there's a process that needs to be followed. one of the things i did was put

out a statement and told employees about something i call sustainable accountability, which is, we should have day-to-day feedback with our employees and if we are supervising our employees, as well, our values should not be violated. >> sharon helman is director of the phoenix v.a. and people were waiting, vets were waiting way too long to get service. she's still on the government payroll. is that right? ? >> what we do is when there's an indication of a violation of one of our values, we take them out of operation right away because we don't want any harm to come to our veterans. >> she's no longer a director but she's no longer getting paid? >> she's still on the government payroll. >> let me interrupt. jeff miller, chairman of the house on committee affairs put out a statement saying, this isn't complicated. the v.a. has the evidence that

they need to fire sharon helman, which it does, they should fire her. keeping her on the phoenix executives payroll when the department wants to fire them is not in our best interests. >> i'm following the law. if a member of congress wants me to follow a different procedure, they need to pass a different law. the law says that with this level of an employee, what's called a senior executive service employee, i have to propose a disciplinary action. that disciplinary action gets judged by a judicial process and then, only then, does it get resolved. i need to make sure that every single one of these results in a positive disposition. if congress wants me to follow a different procedure, they have to pass a new law. the only thing the new law did was take the appeal time and cut it in half. >> and 1,000 other workers at

the department of veterans affairs, you want to get rid of them expeditiously? >> anybody who violated our values, we're going to be asking for their separation. >> you're also going to have a massive recruitment of doctor and nurses and psychologists. do you have the funding for that? >> we have the funding. the new law that was passed gave us $15 billion and as a result of that i'm going to medical schools and telling people that the v.a. is a great place to work, an incredibly aspiring mission to care for our veterans. >> the massive reorganization you've just announced this hour, republican senator john see isakson, may be the next chairman of the veterans affairs in georgia, you said your delivery system, the way you deal with veterans is a 1980s delivery system and it's really archaic, if you will, and doesn't service the hundreds and

thousands, millions of veterans who need help. >> we need to be more veteran centric. we need to focus on veteran outcomes. what happens when a crisis occurs, oftentimes in organizations, whether they are business organizations, they become internally focused. we need to only care about veteran outcomes and put in place the organization structures we need to care for veterans. >> and you've got a massive reorganization that you're announcing today. do you welcome hardcore congressional oversight? >> i think we have a lot of oversight now. i have great relationships with members of both committees. i don't think this is about oversight. i think this is about getting the job done. i first watched a house committee hearing where a member of congress held up an ig report from 2003 and talked about access problems. this is not a new problem. many of these people have been

on the committee since 2001 and after. i've been here 100 days and i'm here to fix it and i'm going to work with the members of congress. >> i'm very proud, by the way, of cnn's coverage over the past few years of the scandals plaguing the department of veterans affairs, especially our investigative unit and drew griffin. they did an amazing job and i suspect that, without cnn's reporting over these past few years, you and i would not be talking about this massive reorganization right now. >> what i have told every employee in the v.a., i want them to tell me that there's a problem. i've asked them to tell us, criticize what we do. and in this reorganization that we've talked about, my v.a., we have teams of employees from every level within the department contributing their ideas to how we need to improve veteran outcomes. so, to me, that's really critical. >> those whistle blowers who came forward to cnn, they are

going to be protected, right? >> they already have been. we've been certified by the office for counsel for our whistle blower remediation activity and those, particularly in phoenix, they have been given new jobs, better jobs, great jobs and i think they are seeing changes occur. >> and will there be more transparency? drew griffin was frustrated over the last few years because secretary shinseki, a very honorable man, they wouldn't provide information. under your leadership, can you tell the american public, yes, there will be transparency? >> again, if you're running a customer service organization and you want to take care of customers, you've got to be transparent. we're going to have lots of partners in this organization. we partner with doctors outside the v.a. system and with the veteran service organization. the only way that's going to work is if you're transparent and working against the common

mission of taking care of veterans in the very best way. >> because there's no greater mission for the united states. you can send men and women off to war, you've got to take care of them when they come home. you're a graduate of west point. this is very personal for you, isn't it? >> it is very important. my father is a veteran. after world war ii, he served in the occupation forces in japan. my father-in-law was in a b-24 and got caught over austria as weigh as p.o.w. my uncle-in-law was sprayed with agent orange. my nephew right now is flying missions in the middle east. this is very personal. i have a lot of folks that i served with that i really want to take care of in the very best way that i can. >> you gave up a huge job at proctor & gamble to take on this mission. i thank you for what you're about to do. i know the veterans will be grateful for -- let's hope you can deliver because so many people out there are counting on

you. >> we will deliver. we will deliver because we have the entire american public behind us and we have great partners to work with. >> secretary mcdonald, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. happy veterans day. >> happy veterans day indeed. stand by. an important isis convoy under fire from coalition planes. did they hit the most critical target. and later, president obama and republican leaders are headed for a showdown over immigration reform. our political panel getting ready to break down. the late-breaking developments. and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. we've made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. buy their services directly at angieslist.com no more calling around. no more hassles. start shopping from a list of top-rated providers today. angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. visit angieslist.com today.

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iraq's ministry of the interior said abu bakr al baghdadi was injured in northern iraq. barbara starr is our pentagon correspondent. she's following the story for us. arwa dam is joining us as well. she knows what is going on. barbara, let's start with you. what are leaders there at the pentagon saying about this attack and did they get al baghdadi? >> the answer, wolf, flat out is they do not know. military officials looking into all of it. they say they struck a convoy of ten vehicles near the northern city of mosul because, in no small part, it was ten vehicles. that, to them, indicated that isis leadership was probably in those vehicles in a very unusual, large group. they went ahead and took the shot against it. but when they shot at the convoy, they did not know if baghdadi was inside. they had no reason to believe it. they tell us one way or the other.

now, scouring intercepts, social media, videos, operatives on the ground trying to get any intelligence that they can that baghdadi might have been there. right now they do not have it. wolf? >> certainly little is known about this chain of command within isis or what might happen if abu bakr al baghdadi was incapacitated or injured or killed. arwa damon is on the border between turkey and syria. you've covered that situation in iraq, arwa, for many years. put this into some context for us. what would it mean to isis if al baghdadi was, indeed, hit in the attack. >> reporter: well, let's just look at the evolution of isis and how the organization emerged as it is today. it started off as al qaeda and iraq and then becoming the islamic state of iraq. all of this under the u.s. occupation of iraq and then finally re-emerging post the u.s. troop withdraw to become

the islamic state in syria. that make it is clear that even if the organization's top leadership is taken out, it can still continue to survive and reemerge. when we looked at what we know about the way that isis is organized today, you have al baghdadi at its head, yes, but then he has a deputy and underneath that he has an entire cabinet and strong hold of raqqa, for example, we hear from various analysts that have information for how the organization is set up and they operate as smaller cells. it would be able to continue to carry out operations, acts of terror and even if the top-tier leadership has been taken out. while taking out baghdadi may be a major victory, it's not likely to bring about the demise of isis in and of itself.

>> these are professional military officers who decided to bolt for whatever reason and go with isis. arwa, thanks very much. before i let you go, though, i want to congratulate you on a recent honor. as a lot of our viewers know, you've always been there right in the middle of the most dangerous places to bring us the news and with courage, bravery. with that in mind, you were recently honored at the courage in journalism award. there's the picture, arwa. well-deserved. one of the most courageous journalists in the world, doing amazing work for all of us. don't blush too much and just go back and do the job. we can count on you to do it as brilliantly as you always have. arwa damon, barbara starr, thank you very much. president obama tells republicans in congress, pass immigration reform or i'll take action on my own. the two sides appear to be on a collision course over fixing the immigration debate.

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president obama and republicans in congress appear to be an a collision course over immigration reform. on cbs' "face the nation," president obama said that he gave john boehner to pass an immigration bill. >> for a year i sat back and let him work on this. he decided not to call the senate bill and couldn't produce his own bill. and i told him at the time, john, if you don't do it, i've

got legal authority to make improvements on the system. i'd prefer and would still prefer to see it done through congress but every day that i wait, we're misallocating resources and so, john, if you can't get it done before the end of the year, i'm going to have to take the steps that i can. >> let's bring in our political panel, chief political analyst gloria borg gloria borger. newt, what does that sound like to you? >> he can wish for things but not command them. it's not a dictatorship. i think both are trying to change the law for millions of

people. he will almost certainly face a direct fight in congress and one that i suspect he can't win. >> he has an obligation under the law to faithfully execute the law. it's not being properly executed now. he has an obligation to do this. by the way, 501 days since the senate passed a bipartisan immigration bill. correct me if i'm wrong, there are easily 218 bipartisan votes that could pass that law if they opened it up and speaker boehner let both parties vote on it. >> look, paul, first of all, there's a brand-new poll out that says 74% of the people that voted last week are deeply opposed to the president doing this on their own. overwhelmingly -- even people who want it done want it done in

cooperation with the congress. and then you have to start with that. you weren't elected speaker of the house. you don't set the house's legislative agenda. the guy who was just got re-elected by a huge margin and here we have the republicans gaining senate seats, house seats, governor nships and the president is behaving as though nothing happened last tuesday. >> you know, i think what the president could do is he could issue an executive order and say that it goes into effect on day x. give the house a little bit of time if they can pass a bill. i mean, after all, as you both said, they -- 501 days. >> the president could do that. i would also hope that, even if they don't and there's a problem on immigration, that you can segment these things. different parts of the legislative agenda, some things they can agree on and some things they can't agree on.

>> the president has drawn a red light. congress is going to recess to christmas and new year's. >> i know this. i've worked on the hill. i've worked on the hill. i guarantee there's 218 votes in the house today to pass that bipartisan bill. it's not everything that the president wants or republicans would want. but the speaker has that obligation to let the housework its way. >> are there 218 votes in the house to pass the senate legislation? >> oh, i don't think so. i think the whole mood has shifted. i think the children coming across the border is huge numbers and ebola has shaken people. there's a much stricter attitude right now, for example, controlling the borders first. but let me just point out, the president can act and then the congress can react. the congress has passed a spending limitation, exactly what boland did in 1982 and said no money can be spent to

implement this executive order. >> well, but then that would be the showdown and then one might argue it would be up to the other party to say, okay, if we're not going to accept this from the president this is what we want and this is what we'll agree to. >> hold on, mr. speaker. >> i'm not going to accept that. >> we'll take a break and i want to get paul's thoughts on this before we move on to other topics. if the president, if there's no other legislation passed, the president signs executive orders changing the status of some of those 11 million who are here with undocumented papers and, in effect, gives them amnesty. that's going to cause a huge uproar, right? >> first of all, it's not amnesty. >> amnesty is no punishment, no sanctions. >> if they can stay legally, isn't that amnesty? >> no.

>> temporarily. >> at least from what i understand, they would have to register. >> right. >> under the law that was passed, the bill that was passed by the senate. they would have to study english and it would be a lot more than -- it's not amnesty. that mean no, sir sanctions and no punishment for your conduct. >> amnesty is what happened during the reagan administration. >> that's correct. >> and no republican survived. stand by. let's continue this conversation. we have a lot more to talk about. the 2016 presidential race. former president george w. bush hopes his brother will run. winning the white house. [ female announcer ] hands were made for talking.

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>> it becomes sheer speculation until he says, i'm in. if he chooses to run, it would be a formidable force and there would be a lot of too many bushes and he understands that. i understand that, too. of course, they said that about me. >> let's bring back our panel, gloria borger, paul begala, and newt gingrich. would he be a formidable candidate? >> if he got through the primaries. particularly we're talking about immigration. his stance on immigration would give us trouble in the republican party. i think he's also a bit rusty and in talking to my sources about jeb bush, it's very clear that he wants to run but, as i was told, wanting to run and actually running and deciding to run are two different things. so i think he's kind of seriously considering it but not sure he wants to take -- >> what do you think about newt gingrich? could he win in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, some of those early elections for the

republican nomination? >> well, i think there is going to be as many as ten people would are serious people in the race. jeb would certainly, from day one, be one of them. he has a great record as a reformed governor of florida. he obviously has a huge family connection nationwide. he is, i think, theost effective politician in the bush family except maybe for his son george p. so i think you have to say, from day one, he's a serious candidate. he's also very charming and very personable and capable of working hard. he'd at least be in the fight. if you have ten people in iowa, who knows who is going to come in first. same thing in new hampshire. i think it's an open field right now. >> and maybe you don't have to come in iowa if you don't know. >> a lot of people are already speculating. you love hillary clinton. >> i do. >> you want her to be the next president of the united states, i assume, paul. >> i do. >> let's say there's a race between hillary clinton, the

democrat, and jeb bush, the republican. if republicans want to be in the white house, they have to carry states like florida and ohio. he's very popular in florida. >> florida was the closest state in the 2012 election. the former governor of florida, it's an enormous advantage. i think he's right. jeb is really gifted politician. i think his bigger problems lies in the primaries where he's for common core, which is good standards in schools for the tea party. he is for auto liberal immigration policy which they call amnesty which it's not. we'll know he's serious when he chooses his name to be more popular like nixon. that's the problem. he's a very able guy. >> he can raise a lot of money just like hillary clinton can raise a lot of money. but that name does not hurt you. >> how important is it for

conservatives, mo conservatives more moderates to be a strong state like ohio, florida, john kasich, the governor of ohio. he's out there as well. >> as we get more data out of last tuesday, a lot of these so-called demographic barriers and a lot of the so-called blue wall i think are showing pretty big gaffes. republicans did very well with asian americans, they did better than they have in a long time with hispanic americans. they even in some areas did remarkably well. african-americans, endorsed by the largest black newspaper in ohio. so a lot depends on the next two years and, again, as paul knows this, having ridden the wave up and down as i have, if we get two years where obama is as bad as he has been for the last

year, hillary clinton is going to lose almost without regard to who the republicans nominate. >> but there's a flip side to that, isn't there, newt? if republicans can't prove that they can govern from capitol hill now that they are in control of the house and senate, they have something to prove here, too. >> absolutely. and i'm encouraged by the article that boehner and mitch mcconnell wrote last week in the wall street clinic. they are going to come at the president from day one with very positive, specific reforms bill, many of which will be popular. the keystone pipeline is about 70% approval. you're going to see a productive republican senate and house. i'm not as worried about that as i am making sure that presidential candidates learn the lessons of 2014 and look at people like cory gardener and john kasich that enabled them to

win races much easier than they did back in january. >> newt gingrich, paul begala, gloria borger, thank you. a sudden rash of knife attacks against israelis, including one knife attack in jerusalem. but when we start wog about tomorrow, we miss out on the things that matter today. ♪ at axa, we offer advice and help you break down your insurance goals into small, manageable steps. because when you plan for tomorrow, it helps you live for today. can we help you take a small step? for advice, retirement, and life insurance, connect with axa.

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of a loading website. don't listen to the naysayer. switch to comcast business today and ge50 megabits per second for $89.95. comcast business. built for business. a rash of stabbings today against israelis. one israeli woman was killed during a settlement in the west bank. two others were wounded. the attacker was killed by a security guard. the alleged attacker, a palestinian from the west bank was captured a short time later in an apartment building. nic robertson is joining us from jerusalem. nic, what is going on over there because it seems there were these car attacks, now these stabbings. what are folks there saying?

>> reporter: that tensions are going up, the incident this afternoon, the stabbing this afternoon in the west bank, we've looked at the cc-tv video, the security video, at the bus stop where the attack took place. the attacker, first thing he does is drive his van up just like the attack we saw in east jerusalem last week, drive his van up, knock somebody over, get out of the van, go back, start stabbing that person, chase somebody else across the road, start trying to stab him until he's interrupted and then security forces shoot him. but one of the people injured there in the stabbing, a 24-year-old lady, died later in hospital. the attacker is in the hospital as well. and the attack earlier in the day in tel aviv, again, startling similarities. a young soldier near the rail system, a paramedic who was on the scene treating that soldier

said the soldier was stabbed multiple times in the stomach and abdomen and legs as well. he's in a critical condition in the hospital right now but what has people worried here, wolf, is we've now heard from the radical islamic group, islamic jihad, and they have praised both of these attacks, taking place at transport hubs. there's so many similarities than to the recent attacks that have taken place. wolf? >> this comes at a time when there are also tensions escalating between rival palestinian groups, hamas, for example, and they have escalated. >> from the west bank to gaza, several buildings in gaza were

blown up and vehicles belong to them and indeed there was supposed to be a tenth anniversary remembrance day type events in the west bank celebrating the passing of arafat and this is bus of the rift between hamas and fattah appears to be growing and the tensions there escalating, wolf. >> it's a dangerous situation all around. nic, we'll stay in close contact with you. thank you very much. president obama right now is at the apac summit in asia, the asian pacific cooperation summit. we're going to talk about a brand-new deal he struck with

china and why it got a warm reception.

we're just getting this in from barbara starr at the pentagon. the first u.s. troops have arrived in the anbar province in iraq, an area largely controlled by isis. the president doubled the troops from 1500 up to 3,000 plus right now and some of them are

actually going into the anbar province. the pentagon telling barbara that 50 u.s. military personnel are conducting a site survey of facilities for potential future use as it advise and assist operation in the area. much more at the top of the hour on this developing story. but not only are u.s. troops in baghdad and mosul, they are now in anbar and more are on the way. just a week after the democrats suffered a stinging defeat in the midterm elections here in the united states, president obama has now focused his attention at least this week on foreign affairs. first on the agenda is the asian pacific the president wasted no time announcing an important new agreement with china over visas. >> i'm very pleased to announce that during my visit, the united states and china have agreed to

implement a new arrangement for visas that will benefit every from students to tourists to businesses large and small. under the current argument, visas between our two countries last for only one year. under the new arrangement, student and exchange visas will be extended to five years, business and tourist visas will be extended to ten years. >> let's bring in the former u.s. ambassador to china, he was a republican presidential candida candidate, former governor of utah. what do you make of this deal? because it thousand puts china at least as far as visas are concerned the same level as brazil and some other major trading partners. >> we go from the lowest category, that of about one year, to now the most preferred. this has been worked on for a lot of years. it's a very big deal for the

united states and china, particularly when you you look at the glue that binds the relationship, which the people to people aspect. so this will facilitate the movement of people back and forth. with respect to suntudents, the don't have to reup, business folks don't have to get reupped. so this will facilitate things in a very significant way and kudos to those that made it happen. so if we apply this type of problem solving around economics and security, we might have a good-bye later bilateral relati. >> testimony make if easier for chinese to come here to two business here, study here. so can we say this represents a significant improvement in u.s./china relations? >> well, this will be seen as one step in a helpful direction. but you have to remember the relation is so complicated, we'll also be taking steps in

positive correctidirections andl about balancing the good and the bad. the biggest issue is that we don't have a big bold visionary aspirational relationship like we did with respect to cold war politics. and we don't have a strong economic relationship like we did when we were working toward getting china in the wto. that tends to keep you honest at the negotiating table, when you're shooting for something bigger and better for both countries. right now there is avoid in the relationship. we're doing all the necessary things at the management level. it's more or less status quo, but the relationship is crying out for something bigger and bolder. trade could be part of that, global collaboration, scientific collaboration, a whole lot could fill that vessel. my concern is when there is a vacuum, something fills that

sack i'm a vacuum and it looks like putin is looking to fill that vacuum. >> and what about north korea? when you were in beijing, you worried a lot about north korea. what do you make of their recent so-called charm offensive releasing these three americans? >> it's fathirly predict only. they're trying to weburnish the image. but it's a very untrustworthy regime. you understand it well. this was probably predictable and the onus is on the united states as presint obama sits down with xi jinping. our response should be not until there is some sort of movement

on denuclearization. and that's the big issue ongoing. >> john hunts man, always good to have you here on the program. thanks vich for joining us. coming up, shot inches from his heart, he was still trying to save others from the gunman. the officer known as the ft. hood hero getting ready to tell his story. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.

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as we approach veterans day, we want to highlight an act of valor in the middlef a deadly shooting rampa at a u.s. military base. >> a few months ago, army major patrick miller and his wife ashley were living in texas after being assigned to ft. hood following two previous key employments to iraq. but on wednesday, april 2, his life instantly changed.keyemplo. but on wednesday, april 2, his life instantly changed. >> sitting in the office and all of a sudden you you hear bang, bang, bang, six seven gunshots. >> reporter: he was shot just two inches below his heart. >> he was trying to go reload. so i pushed him as hard as i could, shut the door, locked it, started grabbing 911 on one hand, putting prerk ssure on th

other. >> reporter: as you're shot, you're trying to save these people and calling 911? >> adrenalin is a heck of a thing. because honestly, ashley doesn't like hearing this, but i didn't know how long i was going to live. >> reporter: patrick knew his chances of survival diminished each moment, so he went to it, by climbing out of his office window. >> people call you a hero. how does that make you feel? >> i say this before. but in my eyes, the true heros are the ones who never made it home. i appreciate every day, every minute of every day and everything and every. it sounds so cliché, but it is so true. don't sweat the small tough and live your life to the fullest. >> a real hero indeed. thanks to poppy harlow for that report. that's it for me. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern right here in "the situation room" for our international

viewers, amanpour is coming up next. for our viewers in north america, newsroom with brianna keilar starts right now. hi, there. i'm filling in for brooke baldwin. u.s. troops have just arrived in anbar province. a huge move on the war on isis and this comes as the u.s. has decided to double the number of troof troops in iraq. but president obama says this is not a sign they're losing the fight, instead a shift to a new phase, an offensive strategy instead of a defensive one. barbara starr joining me now. this is significant that these troops are in anbar province. >> reporter: it is. it is really just sets you back on your heels if you've covered the military for a number of years. u.