i have listened to over the years. it does not matter how much civics or whether i read the constitution or anything. or i just have got an opinion. is, conductround your business the way i want you to conduct your business, and i will be happy. that is my comment. host: thank you. memphis, tennessee, david, good morning. caller: hello. two things i wanted to ask about. legallyt, i am actually blind. i've been legally blind for years. i've always had a problem getting a job. not because i did not like to work but because of my disability. what would you do as far as helping disabled people who live on their own get jobs and make it to where they do not have to use the government for social security or any kind of disability check? that is my first question. my second question, if you guys

are trying to put more jobs out here in the u.s., why don't you redirect some of the money into military? the ones that we're not sending out, i know they still have to be paid like everyone else. you redirect some of the money, maybe you can put some of the jobs back out here and give some of the people who are on disability or on them plummet a little bit of extra money. host: another issue that the president will address on wednesday, the issue of how the administration will respond to islamiccal militant state. the chairman of the senate intelligence committee, diane feinstein was on the sunday shows yesterday and in "usa today" saying the isis threat cannot be overstated. house and, will the senate work on any sort of measure dealing with isi reluctance to defend troops.

membersat this point, of congress are saying they want to hear more information, it there is a threat, i think right now they are saying that we want the white house to tell us more and we recognize that this is a big danger, but, you know, there was a lot of hesitation on syria and we could see some repeat of that. host: on syria there is some discussion of the house. the lame-duck may be a productive one in that regard. i think mostl you, members are not quite sure where they want to go on this. -- are notnly should sure in front of this new election. pearce is one guy who says

all he hears from liberals that we need to be compassionate for those people who come over the border, but what about those people in the middle east, what about those people in the middle east? why can't we be more compassionate to them? he things we should be doing something, but who knows what we are going to formula what that is. there are a lot of different opinions, and again, the overriding concern is to get home and campaign. the senate defense option has not been taking care of your it is that right? interesting, since it passed the house, there have been some events nationally, like ferguson, that have led some republican lawmakers that do -- tod something to the defense department. make some potentially

changes to the senate version, but then they would have to hash that out with the house. host: let's go to chicago. caller: yes, high. i am a registered democrat. congress isme that not aware of how the american people really feel. the american people really know do not want tos work with president obama. there are republicans and democrats who are suffering who have lost employment benefits -- unemployment benefits. christina, how did she feel so sure that all of those republicans were going to win in november? everyone is suffering. they idea that they're going to take the house and the senate, i don't think that is true.

most people know what is going on. they are not naïve. they see there is so much hatred for barack obama, and they know that he cannot get anything done is because republicans hate him and they don't want to do anything for the american people. host: just to be clear, that article was about what can be done about the gop. i'll take anyone knows who will take the senate. the last couple of elections, republicans had momentum, but then republic -- democrats held on. host: we have not talked at all about potential number changes in the house. accepted --common what people think about all the echo -- think about that all? guest: i think they might pick up six seats at best.

democrats are hoping to maintain what they have got. they're hoping, but they know they are not going to take over the house. then the question becomes long-term, for the democrats, how long do you stick with it minority leader nancy pelosi and the stagnant number two pop -- spot? and i willtina continue to take more of your calls. at our numbers, and02) 737-0001, ,epublicans, (202) 737-0002 independence, (202) 628-0205. why republicans are out there shooting black people in the backs, i hope i live to see

they come issued all of you all in the backs. when president clinton was elected in 1992, do you have any responses? this summer, there were some events that really rattled the country. ferguson was the most vivid. it would be interested to see if lawmakers respond to that when they come back, given that there's is such a short. of time. short period of time. there is a hearing, i understand, coming up on the senate side. is the issue of race or the issue of ferguson not likely to come up in any house or senate hearings? guest: i think the congressional

black caucus members will make their voice known in a number of events over the next couple of weeks. whether that's built into legislation, i kind of doubt it. host: go ahead. guest: i heard some lawmakers say that they want police to be more aware, where body cameras. i don't know if that will translate into legislation that passes. host: here is joe in georgia. caller: i have been listening to this great network in -- for the past 30 years. we see a tremendous amount of business, and there are a lot of people getting involved in politics, and i does one ask , we are just getting

a barbecue around, but do you see a trend toward more is this leaders getting involved in politics, and i hope the answer is yes? aest: i don't know what i see trend. there are some more high profile men, but their are still a lot of lawyers to come to congress. guest: the georgia raises another one to watch. clear majority on that, we might not have a clear race until january. host: president obama was asked on meet the press about the of a retaining majority in the senate. here is some of what he had to say. matter, givenes the fact that the punditry overwhelmingly felt that this be a good year for

senate republicans because the seats that were up were in states that were tilting or it'sficantly republican, democrats hold the senate, and that should get republicans to, once again to send a message to republicans that people want to get stuff done. that their strategy of just up strutting and say no to every piece of legislation that might thatmiddle-class families might give matters of opportunities for people, that that is an agenda that the american people reject. does that provide an

opening for bipartisanship? it may give the president to more years a chance to push through some stalled laws. tweet from jan who asked if they are really going to let the government shut down again. we have not heard much about a government shutdown. any chance of that? democrats would like to believe that there is a shutdown based on what republicans are going to do. at that is pure democratic hopefulness. a lot of them feel that it is something the republicans would do right before an election. host: and bob is on the line. high -- hi, i guess the

appropriation bills have not been passed on either side? i guess i am asking that to billy, first. guest: good question. i believe the house has past seven or maybe six. the senate has not passed a single one. they have not agreed on any of them. , this appropriation bills congress has not agreed on a single one of them. that is why we need a stopgap funding bill or a continuing resolution to keep funding levels the same way they are now through the start of the fiscal year. host: what about the spending bills? guest: it comes down to these procedural fights that they keep having. a do not seem to have a good sense of solving it in a quick manner. but there is a desire on both sides for both republicans and democrats that they want to get

rid of the spending bills before the end of the year. you could see in the senate some agreement. at least on some less controversial ones. if all you do is extend your current funding every time, the role of them is diminished. be -- host: this may be above our pay grade. how does this end up that year after year, congress has passed a continuing resolution, may be the house has finished as much of its work is the senate has not? guest: paul ryan, the house republican chairman, made a two-year toeement to make it easier do the annual budget appropriation bills. but not even that was simple. host: we are in the first year of that agreement? guest: we are sliding into the

second year. guest: they have agreed to these overall levels. the fact that we are not seeing nowge dustup right shouldn't alarm us. make steve, the the republican center of the universe, from new mexico can't work inou two or three month chunks. to do somelike longer-term planning, and when you have no idea what is coming in four months from now, it can be difficult. is onnext up is scott who a republican line, he is calling from maryland. i just wanteder:

to speak about two points about the villages are -- militarization of the police forces. past 13dier for the years, i just wanted to give my perspective. 10,000 former soldiers and veterans getting out of the military, or been pushed out. there is a very structured environment in which they can fill in their lives. not to mention, the federal program that do tend to send surplus equipment and uniforms and weapons and things that you can buy on the open market and off of the shelf. i think that is one thing that people tend to forget about. soldiers will bring a different perspective, whether right or

wrong, i would be the first to tell you that i was a bit unnerved by what i saw. having been in iraq in 2007 and 2010.0 -- the we talked about militarization of the police, i find it ironic if you juxtaposed the action with justice would you send the military to go and essentially arrest and detain people and bring them back to trial. it seems a bit odd and counterintuitive to me that you would using military force. that is all i have to say, guys. thanks a lot. thoughts? reactione interesting that you do see about the militarization of the police boths is that you see sides of the aisle showing

concern. that is an odd bedfellow alliance that you do not see everyday day. when senator rand paul and warren agreed.-- you me a -- you may see some action there. i think when people hear some of the equipment that is going to local police department, some of which only have 14 members, some heavy even theequipment -- most avid police supporter can scratch their heads. to a this goes back defense authorization, and they can change or adjust that policy depending on the bill. guest: they will review the program before the defense authorization program comes the floor. florida onis miami,

the independence fine. hello. caller: i'd like to give back to way that theh the congress is not working. i really think that we need to stop with this farce. i am not wearing a tin hat or anything, i am not a conspiracy there is. they are not doing the people's business. he spent more than 80 are sent -- 80% of their time doing nothing. doing the people's business, republican or democrat, or what have you. i think it is a. we are all -- i think it is a farce. we are all complicit. money doimply how much you have, and can you were in --

can you run for office? parents who are immigrants from cuba. told that ifd was he did not have $100,000 coming he could not run for congress. guest: when was he told that? caller: this was before 1955. , therethe coup d'état was a surge of nationalism, what andle are feeling now, people wanted to keep immigration low, there was the high inflation after world war ii, and they wanted to change things. that is why people took in -- came in and took over the government and practically defecated on the constitution. host: will leave it there. now we have cecil on the line.

caller: i have an answer to this thing. we have a divided government, and the only way it is going to whetherdepends on rights to thein , which will actually make the situation worse. and that is not improvement. at this point, we are dead in the water. i think this country is not able to operate. to what wes go back talked about in the beginning. messaging on the republican side. we talked about messaging hummable what about on the democrat side. what sort of message -- we talked about messaging, but what

about the democrat side? dot sort of messaging republicans use? they don'tguest: care about workers, they don't care a women, that they are over -emphasizing deregulation and tax on obama, rather than running your government. host: we talked about the constitutional amendment later, what is herriot and his leadership team going to before? reid and his leadership team going to put forward? core group they are going after is middle-class voters, women, and their try to show that they really care about them. another call here.

john is on air democrat line. caller: hello. -- hi john,ohn, you're on the air. republicans don't care, and i don't want to vote. host: you have the last word, john. billy, thank you so much. thank you to both of you, i look forward to reading your reporting this weekend and beyond. moments,t a few veterans affair secretary bob mcdonnell will speak. reddish prime minister david cameron gives us an update on the nato summit. on the next washington journal, a military assistant for

secretary rumsfeld talks about military options against isis. then congressman brad sherman of obama'sia and president washingtonsis journal is live every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. it you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. committee homeland about weapons,ar on 1030 -- 10:30 a.m. on c-span three. >> here are just a few of the commas that we have received from our viewers. >> i am so glad and thankful for c-span and the book reviews. lab --ecially books that

like last night called "lift up your heart." good work. up your i am not crazy about the book discussion. i also heard you have a phone line that we can call, because senior citizens can work a computer. the show on c-span, i do not remember if it was c-span one or c-span2, but i thought it was very nice about how they did -- how they conducted the meeting. when somebody got up to the microphone to ask a question, whoever was the moderator or the person,ey said to the the audience member, don't leave

your it and then they would go and say what they were going to that person's question or statement was. and the person who asked the have an actual conversation with them to clarify the actual intent of the question and what the issue was about, and what people call in, and then they hang up on them, and then you get a panel of speakers who speak out of left field, and that they don't get to the part and the details and the meat of what the caller was talking about. >> i am calling to talk to about c-span3. i sure enjoy your programs on and thanks for running this thing on nixon and all of the different things you do with the different districts and everything. i sure do appreciate it. thank you very much.

>> continue to let us know about the programs you continue to watch. tweet, ornd us a e-mail us at commen ts@cspan.org. follow us on facebook or like us , and follow us on twitter. >> this is bob mcdonnell's first news conference after he secretary.e previous this is 50 minutes. >> good morning. i'm bob mcdonald. thank you for coming this morning.

i've been looking forward to talking with all of you. this is going to be one of many media engagements going forward. i want to thank deputy secretary sloan gibson for his leadership as acting secretary and his continued work as deputy secretary and more importantly for his 40 years of friendship. sloan and i went to west point together. we lived next to each other are senior year. the leadership, integrity, work that he has brought to this department has been fantastic. we look forward to working together. i'm proud to be a partner with sloan for this important work. i've been on the job for just over a month. i've seen how we deliver health care at our newest hospital in

las vegas, at a mobile clinic in memphis, and in outpatient clinic in charlotte. i watched the claims process at the reno regional benefits office. i've seen dedicated workers in memphis who make said v.a. cemetery the national shrine that it is. on friday, i watched a we care for the most vulnerable at a homeless stand down in philadelphia. i've talked to schedulers in phoenix, nurses in palo alto, medical residents in durham, north carolina. i've met with academic partners at the university of pennsylvania and the duke university medical school. i have met union leaders, government workers, and

thousands of advocates at conferences. with every group i engage, i i make this point. our mission is clear. it is to serve veterans. there is no higher calling than that mission. veterans are our customers. that means effectively and efficiently providing them the high-quality care and benefits that they have already earned. everywhere i have gone, i have found v.a. employees overwhelmingly dedicated to the veterans. serving they are enthusiastic to be a part of the solution to our current challenges and they are excited that we have an opportunity to improve care to veterans in ways that did not exist before. these employees are driven by our strong v.a. institutional values. integrity, commitment, advocacy, respect, and excellence.

all of that is summed up in the acronym "i care." here is something i have heard in our employee town hall meetings. i met a woman who works in radiology and has been with the a for 10 years. -- v.a. for 10 years. she pointed out we have to make it easier for medical professionals to come and stay at v.a. bob came to v.a. as a patient. he liked it so much, he decided to come and work for us. i always ask for and want to hear honest feedback about how

we can improve. whenever i talk with veterans in waiting rooms or having lunch in the canteen or when i am walking the halls or talking to them in the parking lot, my question is the same. how is v.a. treating you and how can we improve? in memphis, i met harry. he is a member of the vfw. his job allows him to get health care anywhere he wants, but for the past 20-30 years he has been getting it at v.a. because it is the best. i received enough from a veteran who lives in new jersey. he has a prosthetic leg. while visiting family in california, he went to the palo alto medical center, where the physician told him that his leg was infected. three time zones away from home, he needed a new prosthetic. the doctor explained how to soak his leg to beat the infection. a week later, he received the new fabricated prosthetic leg

from the veterans administration in palo alto. every day in every v.a. facility, physicians take ownership of their patient needs and treat them with dignity and respect. i have talked to family members. dotty in las vegas. she told me that the local community emergency room would not take her husband when he was quite ill. the went to the v.a. emergency room and she said that v.a. saved his life. her message was simple, thank you, keep it up. i have heard patients call their nurses angels and tell me that their doctors understand their needs and give great care. i also hear that veterans are waiting too long to be seen and that is simply not acceptable. i am hearing from those who have experienced the worst of the

bureaucracy. one veteran told me that it will still take as long as a year for v.a. to verify her dependency status for benefits, even though she has been receiving tuition assistance from v.a. one widow said she received a call to remind her veteran has been to get his flu shot and her husband had passed away months before. a family member shared that v.a. sent a letter to his father who had passed away 20 years ago and was buried by v.a.. that is why we are looking at every single thing we do. we are looking at it through the eyes of the veterans. that perspective makes every decision, every right decision, absolutely clear.

i want to personally apologize to all veterans who experience unacceptable delays in receiving care in phoenix, arizona or across the country. i said at my confirmation hearing that i will put veterans at the center of everything we do at the v.a. i am working to right the wrongs and institute reforms to transform and modernize v.a. to better serve veterans. i'm committed to consistently fixing the problems and provide high-quality care that veterans have earned and deserve. that is how we will begin regaining veterans' and the american people's trust. we have been taking a hard look at ourselves, listening to veterans, employees, service organizations, members of congress, and our other partners.

their insights have been invaluable. they are using their insights to chart our path moving forward. to address our immediate challenges, over the past several months, we have prioritized getting veterans off wait lists and into clinics. we have added more clinic hours. we are recruiting additional staff. we are deploying mobile medical units. we are having high-performing facilities share best crack us is to help facilities -- practices to help facilities rise to a new level. as of september 5, the veterans hospital administration has reached out to over 294,000 veterans to get them off wait lists and decrease the number of veterans on the electronic wait list by 57%.

v.a. has developed the initiating care access. to decrease numbers on the electronic wait list longer than 30 days. we have increased community in non-v.a. care. we have made a most one million referrals for non-v.a. care. over 246,000 more than the same period in the year 2013. the 14 day access measure was removed from all employee performance plans to eliminate incentives for inappropriate scheduling. over 13,000 performance plans were amended. we are simultaneously updating our antiquated appointment scheduling system and working to acquire a comprehensive,

state-of-the-art, commercial, off-the-shelf scheduling system. the v.a. medical center direct heirs and network direct others are creating face-to-face audits of their facilities, scheduling press is is -- scheduling practices are to be completed by the end of the month. we have conducted 3000 audits nationwide. we are restructuring vha's office of the medical inspector to better serve. we are building a more robust continuous system for measuring patient satisfaction to provide real-time, site-specific information collaborating with veteran service organizations in an effort and learning what other leading health care systems are doing to track patient access experiences. based on the valuable feedback i

have received from my travels, i directed v.a. health care and benefits facilities nationwide to hold town hall meetings by the end of september to improve communication with and hear directly from veterans. v.a. is all about veterans. it is the only reason we exist. we need to become more focused on veteran needs and recognize and reorganize around the idea that we want every veteran in this country to think of the a as there's -- of v.a. as therirs. -- theirs. we are working hard to create an environment that welcomes critical feedback and ensures compliance with legal requirements. the client mandates commitment to whistleblower protections to all employees. i told employees that i want every employee to criticize what we do, help us improve, and everybody to become a whistleblower in their own way

of helping us on this road to improvement. we have established and introduced and accountability team to ensure accountability related to patient scheduling and access to care, witness -- whistleblower retaliation, and related matters that impact public trust. we will continue to work with the office of the inspector general to ensure accountability. accountability is more than just personnel actions. we must focus on sustainable accountability. i sent a note to all employees. sustainable accountability means insuring all employees understand how their daily work every single day supports our mission of caring for veterans. they have to know how their

daily work ties back to our values and this mission of caring for veterans and it requires that their supervisor provide them daily feedback. together, they need to discuss how they can improve our work ross this is going forward -- processes going forward. we want to improve our current operations so we do a better job caring for veterans. sustainable accountability requires we do a better job of training our leaders, flattening the hierarchical culture, and encouraging innovation and collaboration from the bottom. we must realistically rate the performance of employees. everybody can't possibly be rated the best. one key provision in the new law seems widely misunderstood or

misinterpreted. it does not allow v.a. to fire senior leaders without evidence or cause nor does it guarantee that v.a.'s senior executives will be fired even if v.a. is seeking to remove them. what the new law does is shorten the time a senior executive proposed for removal by v.a. has to appeal v.a.'s decision. it does not do away with the appeal process. i want to make clear, when evidence of wrongdoing is discovered, we will hold employees accountable. we will take the actions as quickly as the law and due process allows us to take. there are over 100 ongoing investigations of v.a. facilities right now by the office of the inspector general, the v.a., the fbi, the department of justice, the

office of special counsel, and others. in each case, we will await the result and we will take the appropriate disciplinary action when all of the facts and evidence are known. we have made significant progress in recent months. there was a lot more work to do. our focus now is turning to what we intend to accomplish over the next 60 days. we call it the road to veterans day. this is our first a 90 day plan in many ways, although the time between my confirmation and veterans day is slightly more than 90 days. our purpose is to put together a plan of some quick action steps we are going to take to better serve and take care of those who have borne the battle, their families, and survivors. we are calling it the road to veterans day.

our mission is the mission that the veterans organization has had. it comes from president lincoln's second inaugural address, when he said that we have to care for those who have borne the battle, their families, and their survivors. we have three strategies that we will be following. the first is to rebuild trust with veterans and other stakeholders. the second is to improve service delivery, focusing on veteran outcomes, access, and care. the third is to set a course for long-term excellence, looking at the department from the lens of the veterans and deciding what we need to do to reorganize to deliver better access, better care for the long-term.

the first strategy is to rebuild trust with veterans and other stakeholders. under this strategy, we have a number of tactics. the first is to reinforce veterans affairs core values and mission and reset the culture to be consistent with them. throughout the department, we have done a leadership exercise with all employees where we talk about the mission and the core values and we have asked all employees to recommit themselves. that has been done. we will do this every year to make sure we don't lose sight of our mission and core values. we need to build relationships

and strong lines with stakeholders. later this week, we have a breakfast that includes veteran stakeholders, veteran service organizations, military service organizations. we have been reaching out to members of congress. i met with 67 different senators, members of the house veterans affairs committee. we are trying to reach out, establish relationships, learn about what is going wrong, and figure out what we can do to improve. we want to increase transparency and we want to hold people accountable when things go wrong. we are busy working on our strategic communication plan. this media event is going to be one of many in the future.

strategy two is to improve our service delivery. this is the crux of everything we do. it is about improving effectiveness and efficiency and focusing on veteran outcomes. we want to reset and redeploy the veterans affairs department strategic land -- plan. it is a pretty good strategic plan, but it has not been deployed entirely. we would like every employee to be able to know what they do every single day and how it ties back to our mission and how it is consistent with our values. we are going to go through the process of that. we are going to look at each one of the strategies, make sure they are robust, make sure we have the right tactics, the right action plan. as we go through this, we are going to be looking at work that does not add value to the veterans. if we have work that does not add value to the veterans, we will stop doing it so the week

and redeploy resources more toward the veteran. we will also be using digital technology to improve our systems. as we are able to free up people through improved digital technology, we are going to take those people and redeploy them. we want to reorganize to better align and simplify service to veterans. right now, if you go to any veterans affairs website, you will find that there are 14 different websites that require different usernames and a different password for veterans to access the v.a. that is just flat wrong. we have to make it easier to access the v.a. through one website, one username, one password. if you look at the structure of v.a., you would find we have nine different geographic maps. every part has a different geographic map, a different hierarchical structure.

how do we reorganize the v.a. so that when the veteran looks at it, the veteran knows how to connect and how to get things done. we are too complicated from the veteran standpoint. third, we want to engage federal, state, and private sectors to partner and best capture best practices. we know we cannot do the job alone. we have to partner with members of congress, the veteran service organizations, the military service organization, state governments, private sector. on many of my trips, i met with state governors. we want to do what we can to partner and to learn best practices and pass along those best practices. strategy three is to set the course for the long-term, for excellence and reform.

we want to accelerate access to care, while implementing the axis choice and accountability act of 2014. we have a team that will be meeting every other week to make sure we execute this act with excellence. we also want to assess key programs and either affirm that they are appropriate, adjust them, or eliminate them entirely in order to move resources to a different activity that we are more confident will affect veterans. here is a summary of the three strategies and the mission of the veterans affairs department. we will judge the success of all of these efforts against one single unified metric.

that metric is the satisfaction of the veterans we are trying to serve. we should not punish veterans for having nine different geographic maps for the veterans affairs department. we should not punish them for having 14 different websites. in other words, we want to look at everything we do through the lens of the veteran. in the end, the v.a. exists to serve them, to serve veterans. whether it is those veterans i i had breakfast or with who told me that the v.a. care and treatment has given them the ability to climb mountains, right horses, and accomplish things they never thought possible when they were first injured. or those veterans i met when i was in phoenix, who were being scheduled for the next appointment. i'm convinced we will come out of this process better able to meet the needs of our veterans because we will be looking at

everything we do, every service we provide, every customer interaction we have through the eyes of the veteran. thank you very much for your attention. i would be happy to take any questions that you have. yes, please. if you don't mind, would you please start with your first name. i'm bob. >> you talked about sustainable accountability. there is more to accountability than just the personal actions. when are we going to see personnel actions? we have seen the phoenix report. there is a report with problems in minneapolis. hovering up, data manipulation. when should we expect to see some firing, personnel action, accountability on that side? >> you have already seen it. we have publicly announced some. we report to congress about the

actions we have taken. i have a meeting tomorrow with congress. we proposed disciplinary action against three senior executive service employees in phoenix. at the american legion convention, we have had 30 plus actions already. we have had two scs employees resign or retire. we have three on administrative leave awaiting actions we have proposed. we have over two dozen medical professionals who are no longer working for the v.a. >> having a resignation or

someone leaving the job is not the same as them being fired. proposed discipline is not the same as actual discipline in place. i would like to follow on. >> having run a major corporation before coming to the v.a., the procter & gamble company, arguably one of the most admired companies in the world, personnel actions require a value of respect for the individual. there is a process that needs to be followed. whether it is in private industry or whether it is in public government sector, there is a process, a due process, that needs to be followed. attorneys are involved. in the case of union members, union leadership is involved. when i say that we have proposed three actions in phoenix, that is what has happened and the processes going.

the process is started. having said that about phoenix, right now in phoenix, we have an acting director who comes from ohio. he is off to a great start. he is doing a great job. we have an acting regional director in lisa friedman who comes from our palo alto facility, for the -- one of the best facilities we have. she is busy improving there. we are as impatient as you are while we wait for the due process. we have 100 investigations ongoing. we are not allowed to take definitive action while those investigations are going on. but we are doing all we can. >> i wanted to ask you about the phoenix ig report. because the sentence was worded

that they could not conclusively assert that veterans died because of the delay of care that that absolves v.a. of problems. do you think that is too high of a standard of them? would it be more likely to say that there were people who died while they were in care and they are people who should have been taken care of? >> we are deeply sorry for the problems with access to care and with the timeliness of care and with the quality of care that occurred in phoenix. i don't think that any investigation could make us feel any better about that. we feel terrible about that. we have embraced the report. we cherish the feedback we have been given.

we have worked on remedies for everything that they have pointed out. we have concurred with the report. already, three of the 25 remedies we have taken have already been actuated, executed in phoenix. we are very sorry for what happened in phoenix and we are working very hard to learn from it and pass those learnings around the entire system, so that this does not happen again. we're trying to pass the microphone around. i'm sorry, josh. >> was any one issue or complaint that stood out from the conversations? >> it is a good question. the biggest take away for me from talking to employees was

that we need to open up the culture. when i was going around, it seemed to me that employees thought of the hierarchy of v.a. is a pyramid. being the secretary, everybody would rise when i enter the room. everybody would call me sir. it was very formal. as a result, i got the impression that employees thought of the secretary like the ceo of the company, on the apex of the pyramid. and that the veterans were on the bottom of the pyramid. i don't like that idea. one of the things i'm trying to do is create in on higher are the coal -- hierarchical organization where the veteran is on top.

the organization we are trying to create looks like this. the veteran is on top. all of the people who worked against the veteran and work with the veteran every single day are the ones that need to support the organization. i am on the bottom. i am trying to help those people in the organization. while i'm asking you to come and -- to call me by my first name, i'm asking everybody in v.a. to do that. i need to create a much more open culture where every employee feels comfortable telling the secretary what is wrong in the organization and how we can improve. i have sat down with the union leadership throughout the organization.

i have demanded that the union leadership be in all of my town hall meetings. i have also had in my town hall meetings veteran service organizations, military service organizations, members of congress, staffs of members of congress, anybody who wants to come i want to hear from. i also do my own e-mail. i don't ask someone to do my own e-mail. people know how to contact me. i have given out my cell phone number. if you saw my confirmation hearing, you will see that i gave my cell phone number for members of congress and i have asked for theirs in return. we need to open up the lines of communication in this organization and get rid of some of the hierarchy and bureaucracy. we are in the process of doing that. it is all about customer service. any customer service organization does the sorts of things.

we have done it here -- we have got to do it here. >> yes, sir. >> heath from "stars and stripes." >> i'm bob >> what does that actually look like on the ground? you're talking about changing the hierarchy, getting rid of the system. what does that look like actually at a va facility? how are you actually going to change that on the ground and do it quickly? >> well, one thing we have to do is get more people, heath, a gens the veteran. i was in one facility, i think in, i may have been mistake ebb with the location but i think nashville where we had 12 customer service representatives that wore red coats. so when the veteran walked in the door they could immediately identify who was there to help them and that person could navigate them through our system. those people had ipads so they could contact doctors, nurses, whoever they needed immediately. i learned that we've gone from

12 of those people to two. so we have to get people back against the veteran. that is one example. another example is we have kiosks in the waiting room so when the veteran comes in they can tell us what they need. that is another example. we're piloting a program right now where vha and vba the health arm and benefits arm will get together and go out to little rock, arkansas together and have veterans come through to get one stop kind of shopping so they can get their health check and benefits lined up all at one stop. those are the kinds of things we need to do. again, it's very simple. you look at it from the standpoint of the veteran. what does the veteran want? does the veteran want to go through bureaucracy? do they want 14 different user names and passwords? do they want to worry about nine different maps? do they want to worry about a hierarchy? no. they want service. that's what we want to provide.

it's going to take time but we'll do it. step one, it sounds simple. but step one is having every member of the organization commit themselves to the mission and values of the organization. where we have members of the organization who haven't committed themselves to that, then you have to question, are they really going to be able to get this done? >> i have a question over here. >> yes? >> hi. i'm from government executive. how are you? are you worried about your ability to recruit and retain talented senior executives given the new provisions in the law regarding firing and the temporary ban on bonuss? >> actually i am worried about our ability to recruit and retain talented people. pardon me? i am worried about our ability to recruit and retain talented people. we need tens of thousands of new doctors, new nurses, new clinicians.

and because of the importance of that, last week i started a recruiting campaign. so my third week, my second week i called the chancellor of -- chancellor of the duke university medical system who i knew and i said, could you please set up time for me to talk to the students at duke university medical school? so i went to duke and durham a week or so ago. i sat down. i did what's called grand round. i had all the doctors and nurses there. about what a great place the va is to work. how many of you knew the va had three nobel prize winning scientists or doctors? how many of you knew that the va had seven awards? how many of you knew that the va invented cutting edge technology? for example, it was a nurse at the va that came up with the dea of using a bar code that's

common on pau gasol pau gasol -- proctor and gamble products and other products to help patients get the right care in a hospital. how many of you knew that the va, the government will repay student loans or will help you t loans, help you get into medical school, nursing school? how many of you knew we had a program for nursing? we have to do a lot of recruiting. when i was in philadelphia last friday i met with the university of pennsylvania. we have a great partnership with the medical school there. again, we were asking for those doctors, those nurses to come join us. i think we have an inspiring story. what i've heard from our doctors and nurses is there is no better patient than the veteran. so we got to get that inspiring story out. i've asked members of congress. i've asked chairman miller of the house veterans affairs committee, chairman sanders of the senate veterans affairs committee, to come recruiting

with me because i think we need to get the story out. they've agreed we'll do this recruiting together because there is no way we can hire that many doctors, nurses, clinicians without everybody's help. yes, sir? >> mr. secretary, i'm with the "new york times." >> rich, thank you for coming. >> thank you, sir. you just said that you need tens of thousands of new doctors and nurses and clinicians. how far did the legislative package that came out in august get you toward that and how much -- does this mean you'll have to go back to congress and ask for a lot more to get you in where you need to be on that? >> no, rich. the legislative package was sufficient. saloon and the team did outstanding work putting that package together. the issue now is we have the authorization for the positions. the issue now is we have to find the people. let me tell you a story. i was on a plane, flying into

phoenix. i was talking about the va. the individual behind me asked me if i worked for the va. i said i did, proudly. i was wearing my i care button. he had retired from the air force. he was an employee of the lockheed martin company. he said, you have a challenge, bob. i said, what's that? he said, well, i'm retired from the air force. my daughter is a lieutenant in the air force. she goes to the medical school, the government medical school, u.s. institute for medicine here in washington, d.c., and he asked her about working for the va. she said, dad, haven't you been seeing what is going on in the media? haven't you been reading the newspaper, watching it on tv? why would i want to join the va? so i said, give me her phone number. her name is alexandra. i've called her three times.

she is set up for me to go recruiting at her medical school. and i think we're pretty close to convincing her that the va is a great place to work. when i was in charlotte, i talked to two individuals, one from the navy, one from the army, both leaving the service mplet both positions' assistants and talked to them about coming to work for the va. the va is a great place to work and all of you need to help me get the message out that this is a great place to work. we have the best patients in the world and we've got great resourcing, which allows us to do the kind of research we need to do, innovation we need to do, and be on the cutting edge of medicine for our country. yes, sir? joe? i'm sorry, joe, did somebody else have a question? you haven't asked one yet? if you don't mind, let me go ahead. >> yes, sir. >> i'm bob >> bob, marty callaghan with

"american legion" magazine. we were down in augusta and talked to a hospital director down there who complained about some kind of wage freeze that opm had put on medical staff and indicating that now the medical wages in the private sector are effectively about 20% higher than those in va. he talked about nurses who would be at va for a year and then cross the street and go to work at the teaching hospital for thousands of dollars more. is that freeze in effect? is that a problem that needs to be addressed? >> yeah, marty. there are two issues that you describe. the first is opm has evaluated some of our positions and downgraded them and they tend to be positions which are the staff positions which are closest to the veteran. so i told all of our operations that we need to take a look at those and if those people really are our front line, working with our veterans every single day, we need to seek exceptions to that evaluation.

i think we might not have done a great job of presenting the importance of those people. i mean, in any corporation, particularly one service oriented, the people on the front lines serving the customer, are highly, highly valued. so we're going back now and looking at that. we're going to be looking to seek exceptions where we need them. the second point you raise is the compensation of the medical personnel. every site on mi i've been at. we've had a freeze for three years now. i've gone back and with the help of the leader of the vha we've identified all our different positions and benchmarked them with private industry. i talked to the president when we went together to the american legion convention in charlotte and we're in the process of evaluating potentially raising those salaries to a level where we

can be competitive with the outside. it does us no good to recruit people if we can't retain them. and, certainly, compensation is a part of that. although i have to tell you, too, most of our employees say they don't do this for the compensation. they do this for the calling of serving veterans. but we got to get the compensation competitive. yes, ma'am? i think i can do one more. there's one over here, too. >> hi, donna. >> thank you. hi. i wanted to ask you, secretary, how many vets currently work for the va? and, two, does there currently exist or will there be a thrust to hire veterans as part of your desire to bring on more medical and clinicians particularly those from iraq and afghanistan? >> yes, thank you, donna. currently in the va we have about 340,000 people and of that 340,000 about 35% or so are veterans.

we have a hiring preference for veterans. so, yes, we want to hire veterans. palo alto, i met a young lady who is one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the country. she went to stanford medical school. her under graduate alma mater is mine, west point. of course, she was a few years after sloan and me. but an outstanding orthopedic surgeon. so we're looking for everybody with talent. there was a question over here. yes, sir. "fed scoop."th >> yes, dan >> later this year you'll award the contract for your replacement scheduling system. do you suspect you might have to go back to congress for additional funding to ensure the entire rollout of that system? secondly, will you insist on greater controls to ensure that you know who is doing what on that scheduling system? >> we tried to put the money we

needed in the act that was recently passed. i can't predict the future. but i think we've done a good job of that. as we work through this scheduling system, we're going to be very eager to find an off-the-shelf product that's proven effective that we won't run into executional difficulties as we move forward. we're making a number of fixes with the current system so we're not waiting for that. we're going to get that right and do that as quickly as possible. but we're -- that off-the-shelf product will become very, very important as we move forward. i thought it was a brilliant piece of work by sloan and the team to come forward and say we are going to take an off-the-shelf product. again, look at every decision through the lens of the veteran. you know that we don't -- we don't get rewarded for making a scheduling system. we get rewarded for having an effective scheduling system that gets veterans into care.

>> one more question. >> okay. >> first of all, can we have your cell phone number? >> sure. 13-509-8454. >> that's wonderful. you have a specific budget -- >> may i have yours? >> sure >> give it to vicky, please. >> okay. do you have a specific budget number for the tens of thousands that you want to hire? >> we've already got the money for them >> is there a breakdown of that total? >> we've got the breakdown in terms of classification of people we want. and how much money goes to each one. we can give that to you later. >> okay >> you should know. when i came in, i had heard an accusation that we had doubled the size of the headquarters taff in va over the past few

years. so every accusation i hear, everything i read, i try to understand this, so we did an analysis. come to find out, the size of the headquarters staff in the va is actually lower as a percent of total than it was eight years ago. and that the number one classification of people we've hired over the last eight years has been nurses. and that's obviously up significantly as we've increased the foot print of who we care for around the country. so we look at this very, very carefully. and through a really microscopic lens to make sure we're hiring the right people and putting them in the right places. now, the fact of the size of the headquarters is actually lower as a percent of total than it was before also includes the fact that we centralized some functions here in the headquarters like i.t. which i think we all agree it's better to have one i.i.t.

system across the department than several i.t. systems. [question inaudible] >> -- what the numbers were a number of years ago and what they are today? >> we can share that. we'll get you that data. yes, sir? >> speaking of headquarters staff, when you came onboard in late july, you had already been affirmed by both the va and iag that this was a systemwide scandal, systemwide problem. i was curious. when you came in were you curious at all about whether those in the central office, top of the vha, had any idea of these delays, these manipulations? i mean, the fact that you could have and you already indicated a hundred places or more now under investigation, that this could go on without anybody in the central office having any

idea -- did that spark your curiosity? does that concern you? is that something you just want to put behind and move on? >> greg, i think i addressed that, didn't i, when i talked about the need for more open culture? and i showed you the pyramid that's typically like this that people think of an organization, i turned it on its apex. as i analyze the organization, my sense was the culture was too closed, that there was too ch hierarchy, that -- that's what i'm telling you. i'm telling you why they may not have been aware. i haven't sat down and asked every single individual, but, you know, i have a very simple axiom. i've been doing this now for, well, sloan and i have been doing this in private enterprise for 40 years. organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they get. so don't spend a lot of time

trying to figure out the result. you know what the result is. figure out why the organization was designed to get that result. so what i tried to do in my description of a very closed culture, which was called a toxic culture in his report. i tried to explain why information wasn't getting from the bottom to the top. that's why i mandated town hall meetings. it's why, when i go out, i meet with stakeholders. it's buried -- not buried but in these strategies i've talked about we're going to follow in the future. we're going to be transparent. we're going to be accountable. we're going to work to get every employee involved, to get every employee who commits themselves to our mission and values. but every employee involved in improving care for our veterans. there's no other way to do it. and the fact that that wasn't

happening suggests we have work to do. but we started. > thank you very much. >> in a few moments a look at the 2014 congressional elections. then the british prime minister david cameron gives an update n last week's nato summit. on the next "washington journal" a military assistant for then defense secretary rumsfeld talks about military options against isis. then congressman brad sherman of california on president obama's upcoming speech on u.s. strategy against isis and threats posed by the terrorist group. "washington journal" is live every morning at 7:00 eastern on c-span. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter.

veterans affairs secretary robert mcdonald and acting veterans affairs inspector general richard griffin testified before the senate veterans affairs committee tuesday on the state of the va. live coverage at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span.org. >> with congress back in session here is a message to congress from one of the year's c-span student cam competition winners >> water. it makes up 75% of our bodies. take water away, and humanity would parish within a week. water is the most vital substance to a human body yet it is because of us humans that nearly 50% of all streams, kes, bays, and estuaries are unsuitable for use, due to pollution. in the u.s. we have learned to take water for granted. faucets, bottled water, and flush toilets all reinforce the

same idea -- water is an unlimited resource. but step outside and the diminishing condition tells a different story. water pollution kills marine life, destroys ecosystems, and disrupts an already fragile food chain. animals are not the only ones that suffer the negative effects of water pollution. congress, in 2014, you must provide federal funding to waste water treatment agencies across the country. the life of our nation is tainted and it must stop here. >> join us wednesday during "washington journal" for the theme of the 2015 c-span student cam documentary competition. >> now a look at the congressional races and mid-term elections. jessica taylor of "the hill" and nathan gonzales of the "political report" were guests on sunday's "washington journal." his is 90 minutes.

>> we are 68 days before the mid-term elections. joining us on this sunday is jessica taylor, campaign editor for "the hill" newspaper and her work available online at the hill.com and nathan gonzales deputy editor of the "political report." thank you very much for being with us. i want to begin with some news on this sunday morning and the president who sat down yesterday with nbc's chuck todd as he begins his day as the new moderator of "meet the press" asked about immigration and the delay by the president on any executive action until after the november elections. here is a portion from that interview >> the good news is we have bipartisan support for that. we have a senate bill that would accomplish that. the house republicans refused to do it and what i said is if you do not act on something that's so common sense that you got labor, business, evangelicals, law enforcement, you got folks across the board supporting it, then i'm going to look for all the legal

authorities i have to act. what we've now done is laid the groundwork for that. jay johnson the head of the department of homeland security has presented me preliminary, you know, ideas in terms of how we can take executive action. and what i've determined is i want to make sure we get it right. i want to make sure, number one, all the t east are crossed -- >> it looks like election year politics >> not only do i want to make sure the ts are crossed and the is dotted, here is the other thing, chuck, and i'm being honest now about the politics of it, this problem with unaccompanied children that we saw a couple weeks ago where you had from central america a surge of kids who are showing up at the border, got a lot of attention. and a lot of americans started thinking, we've got this immigration crisis on our hands. now the fact of the matter is, the number of people apprehended crossing our

borders has plummeted over the course of the decade. it's far lower than it was ten years ago. and in terms of these unaccompanied children we've worked through the problem so that the surge in june dropped in july, dropped further in august. it's now below what it was last year. but that's not the impression on people's minds. and what i want to do is, when i take executive action i want to make sure it's sustainable. >> comments of the president on nbc's "meet the press" with chuck todd. this morning this is how it's playing out, front page of the "new york times." "obama to delay executive action on immigration, fears of losing the senate." pointing out that this decision is a reversal of what the president said in the rose garden earlier this year, that he would make a decision by the end of the summer >> i think it's important to remember and maybe what the white house is finally i guess seeing the electoral map that the fight for the senate and the most competitive house

races in the country are in republican leaning districts. and these are districts of voters that already are primed to have either significant problems with what the president is doing overall but have significant concerns. when you go into a mid-term election whr they can't vote against the president if he does something further they don't like there is only one option and that is vote against democratic candidates. i don't think anything is an accident in politics and this timing is part of that >> here is an example. this past week we began what will be more than a hundred debates here on the c-span networks in the key house, senate, and governors' races and it came up in the north carolina senate race with tom tillis the speaker of the house and kay haagin, democrat, seeking re-election >> the immigration problem has been a bipartisan failure. for years presidents and congressional members have talked about sealing the border, not allowing amnesty. i don't know where senator hagin is on amnesty.

it appears the president is prepared to grant amnesty. i think it is a huge mistake. we talked about how easy it is to seal the border. we've failed to seal the border dating back to the reagan era. we need to get serious about that. a strong nation needs a strong border. we have to seal the border. then we have to solve the other problems that exist as a result of the inaction and kay hagin in 2008 saying she was going to go work to solve immigration and all they got is a bill that went nowhere. >> senator, your reply? >> you know, folks, i think speaker tillis is complaining but he has no plan. this bill is a common sense immigration reform bill. as i said, there will be 40,000 border security agents, a 700-mile long fence using electronics surveillance to follow people with their visas, to be sure they leave the country when they're supposed to. this bill is not amnesty. as i said, it is bipartisan in

nature. it is time for the house and congress to take this legislation up. >> that was the first debate between senator kay hagin and tom tillis. another debate scheduled for early october to be moderated by abc's george stephanopolus. we'll carry that as well. jessica taylor? >> hagan is one of these democrats that did not want to see president obama use this executive action to go ahead. she is in a red leaning state and even said in this debate i don't want to see this happen. what republicans are already pouncing on after the announcement yet yesterday, in is clearly election year politics. it is going to come after november. i don't know this necessarily mitigates it as much as the white house hoped it would have but it is clear that just executive over reach is going to be a key theme of republicans and you can see hagan in that debate clip, what she wants to push is, well, we passed a bill. the house hasn't taken it up. republicans are stymieing this.

i think you'll hear that a lot from the red state democrats that were part of this bipartisan bill. >> let's talk about the big picture. in north carolina you have that listed as currently lean or tilt democrat. you have two pure tossup seats, both democratic seats, tom harkin who is retiring in iowa and mary landrieu who is seeking another term in louisiana. you also point out on the republican side that senator pat roberts is the most vulnerable republican senator in this cycle at least right now. explain >> right. i think we had a -- we saw some folders with pat roberts after the primary. now this past week there was a lot of back and forth. a democrat tried to drop out. looks like he is not going to be campaigning but his name is still going to be on the ballot. i still think that senator roberts is very vulnerable. i think part of the challenge is that he has to get his campaign up and running at a higher level.

republican strategists are working with him to do that. the math, the math is a little bit tricky for the independent greg orman but i still think this is a race to watch and particularly because i think senator mcconnell is showing that he has a small but significant lead in the kentucky race and roberts i think is going to be one to watch. >> my next question. you have that race between elton grums and mitch mcconnell as leaning republican which is a little stronger than tilting republican. explain the category >> i think mitch mcconnell has the benefit of being able to run for re-election in kentucky. if he was running for re-election in a more competitive state, more even partisan state, then i think he would be in significant trouble. his negatives are still high. a long time in coming. these are not things you want coming into an election in 2014. i think he has been, so far, able to sufficiently couple allison grimes with president obama and i think she's been on the attack. she's been good on the attack against mcconnell but she has to i think increase her own

positives in order to make the jump. i'm not sure that she is there yet. >> jessica taylor? >> you have -- kansas is a very interesting situation, one that republicans, it was not part of their calculus to even have to defend this. this is the home state of national republican senatorial chairman jerry moran. he is going to make sure roberts has a good campaign there. they're sending in an expert to do that. there are signs roberts is taking this seriously and turning it around. they had a debate yesterday where he did very well over greg orman. orman maybe didn't seem exactly ready for primetime. i think maybe republicans are feeling a little bit better there. i agree with nathan in kentucky. you saw for the first time this week mcconnell actually hitting 50% in the poll. it still is within the marge iwamura of error but he is doing i think what he needs to do and exactly you have, i mean, allison grimes' biggest problem in this state is president obama. you see her ads trying to

distance herself from the president particularly on energy issues. but the hak -- there was also a governors debate in kansas. sam brownback as late as yesterday had the democratic candidates two or three points ahead in a solid republican state. is the republican governor impacting what is happening? guest: i think some of those polls are based on online polls. i think it comes under a couple of things. there has been a long-standing war and the kansas republican party for years. he kindgot into office

of fueled the fire a bit by challenging some of the more rotter -- moderate republicans to get the people that he wanted and there was that basis for that. tax planed an economic that has not played out as quickly as he had hoped. that just sets a foundation for part of roberts problems. part of it is what he is doing, part of it is a residency issues that he should have cleared up months ago. >> speaking of, mary landrieu? her republican opponents are making the case on registration reform. saying that she lives near the sea, claim her parents home. was harder to show as out-of-state. she comes from a longtime

political family. harder for them to do. host: there is a piece here from an advertisement we are still talking about 50 years later. lyndon johnson and his campaign released the daisy ad. it aired only once, but generated a new era in negative advertising. can i get your thoughts on that? guest: it is a good lesson. now we go through the cycles, it is part of the political game. it started 50 years ago.

an ad that aired over the weekend. guest: this was an incident where mark begich was running against and sullivan. mention the campaign. they actually murdered a couple and their granddaughter. you had a police detective standing outside pointing to this, insinuating that this was somehow the fault of dan indicating that infamous willie horton ad. there was an immediate outcry from the victim's family, saying that they didn't want this out there. sullivan released a response that named the alleged murderers

names. they pulled down the response. seen as awe had pretty well oiled campaign therefore mark begich, this was a significant misstep that they have continued to have to explain. why was this an issue? when you went back to the facts of this, this was a clerical error that was done even before sullivan took office. them rating this as a pants on fire ad. host: meaning ally. -- meaning ally. -- meaning a lie. guest: yes. this was very much out there in the news. the victim's attorney took it out there before begich took it down much later. attempting to correct the ad. they pointed out in that letter that to be clear it was your ad

that was the one they were unhappy with. they had put the community on edge, and away. into the race that we had not seen before. jessica taylor, her work is available online. here is how sullivan responded to it. [video clip] >> millions of dollars are flooding into alaska pet -- alaska, paid for by special interests. pretty soon you will want to do this to your television. i've proposed a plan to stop the mudslinging from outsiders to keep the selection focus on the issues. unfortunately, mark begich said no. i am dan sullivan and i approved this message. he should tell his friends to stay out of alaska. it points out the fact

that in these closely watched races where just a few thousand votes can make the difference, one misstep or another could determine the direction of the campaign. guest: republicans are trying to demonize mark begich as being too close to the president. but if you can choose a different opponent, if you don't like outside spending or intervention, there is another opponent that you can create and maybe try to create some momentum. from one of our viewers on the twitter page -- i think that kentucky is going to be one of the most contentious. earlier we mentioned that there is no love lost between mitch mcconnell and allison lonergan

grimes. there have been accusations back and forth. the campaign bus purchased by her father with controversy over the mitch mcconnell campaign manager. the ron paul campaign, he had to step down amidst questions. every race, we get closer and closer. what we have seen from the pushback is that this is going to be a closely fought battle. it will be highly negative, not just in kentucky, but in louisiana and north carolina. stake.s how much is at congress returns this week. they will have as few as seven legislative days before another break to campaign for the midterm elections. the president will be sitting down with congressional leaders

on tuesday. what is it going to get done? nothing major. it will be the bare necessities to keep it going. another government shutdown will be unlikely. a enough republicans learned lessons from the last one. but that is something to watch. the more times that they can get voters to the focus on republican obstructionism, i think that is better for democrats. they want to get in, do what is necessary, get out and get back on the campaign trail. we are dividing the phone lines between political parties. you can also make comments online.

connie, north bergen, new jersey. good morning. good morning. thank you for taking my call. i have a few comments. and discuss it. i believe that the issue will out. about the borders, they come to the borders for the recount. they come to the borders to pick them up. the spanish people should get together. the one thing that i blame or is the humans.

they come to this country like before. and then we have senators against it. i saw the father on television myself. i will say that he should go back to canada. where are you from? i am from spain, european, i have nothing to do with this. guest: one thing that she pointed out that i think you will have a lot of voters feeling is this frustration with negative advertisement. seeing as much. cory booker in new jersey, should win pretty easily. the cell of an advertisement

from earlier, lots of people may want to shoot their televisions by the time the election season is over. as nathan said there is no way to get away from these executive ads that get more and more prevalent. another thing that she mentioned is that mcconnell, she was afraid he was going to work against the president if he does become majority leader. it is true,, has laid out some of the things he'd could do in the republican house and senate, pushing a path to legislation that the republicans will not be happy with. this week we had an interview with paul ryan and one of the things was that if we win both houses of congress, get ready to veto. we are only going to see more gridlock if republicans take full control. that will set up an interactive dynamic for 2016 the democrats. hillary clinton likely running on dysfunction.

i don't know that the president doesn't want this, pointing to dysfunction in congress as he continues to do, i think it will be even more dysfunctional if we have more gridlock in congress. host: iowa is one of those states that is a tossup. speaking of, hillary clinton will be there today. i want to share with our viewers and with you one of the latest ads from the koch brothers organization. it is on the congressman's attendance record. [video clip] missed 79% of the veterans affairs committee meetings. veterans risked their lives for our country. he didn't have the respect to show up and support them. joan harris is a true iowan who keeps her small-town roots.

to care for troops. that is what you would expect. >> freedom partners action fund is responsible for the content of this advertising. example ofer negative advertisements and outside funding? guest: i think that this is a specific issue that we will see from now until election day. there are republicans believe that this is an effective way to tie him to service and why he should not have a promotion. the next caller comes from pennsylvania. frank, independent line. do you explain to me how someone would spend $50 million, $100 million to get a job that only pays $178,000 per year?

guest: they are not actually spending their own money. some will come you are right. we have seen the numbers grow astronomically. a lot of times the investment has not worked out. sometimes the return on the is -- return on the investment is not what you hope it would be. clearly they see their influence rising. it certainly brings up the stock for some of this. the prestige. a genuine call to service. a lot of these people are independently wealthy. they are not resting on that 170 $8,000 per year, certainly. we are entering an age where you cannot just have anyone run. donors that are willing to back your campaign. to some people it takes out that

citizen politician element. host: charles, good morning. -- caller: morning good morning. i am the veteran of two wars and a proud democrat. i can't understand why at this time we would ask anyone to vote for the republican party. i can only remember the big depression climbing out of this one. been horrifying. we are just now coming out of it. we will be back in the same place that we were in 2007, 2008, 2009. i hope you can convey this message to the people and let them think about that. host: thank you. is the message that democrats across the country are

trying to make. why go back to having more publicans and power and this is what happened? the president has been in office for six years now and enough people are dissatisfied, the president's job approval rating is in the low 40% nationally, but in the states and districts that are the most competitive, he is in the high 30's. there is an uneasiness, and unwillingness by some voters to keep blaming republicans and democrats are having to answer for more than they did. a lot of attention on new hampshire, where two former senators are on the ballot. as to whether scott brown will win the nomination? guest: that would be a major shocker if he was not the nominee. there were some comments about it being a big surprise. i am not exactly sure what he has in store, but that is a race that we have had to read on

jeanne shaheen being favored for, but there is evidence that this has closed some and it may be becoming more competitive than it was a few months ago. host: what is the track record senators, one current and one former, running against each other? i mean, it has happened in the past, but someone who has moved from massachusetts to new hampshire and tries to run as a favorite son? --host: guest: this is not scott brown moving to hampshire , a lot of people do go back and forth between the states. of as made some kind little gaffes along the way. maybe a couple of times he has

messed up and almost said massachusetts or something. that will continue to of course be a line of attack against him. as nathan said, there is an indication that this is certainly becoming a more and i thinkrisk that one thing that is is the numbers of jeanne shaheen have not moved much. the president has seen his approval ratings drop. if he is a drag on places like new hampshire, iowa, states that he carried twice, imagine how bad that will be for democrats in places like louisiana, arkansas. alaska. responding to the earlier point about the job and how much it pays -- stanley, myrtle beach,

california. hello. my name is stanley and i am from orlando, florida. i have worked for the citrus for 12 years. the people that hire the mexicans to pick citrus in florida. i think all of you people are theseception having about mexicans. these mexicans are making $700, $800 or we. years ago they got paid on what they picked. now i have seen them in the mountains of tennessee, doing the tobacco where white people used to work, my family used to work there. take people have come and over these things because we have too many lazy americans, too many people on welfare that will not work. we need to change that. --host:hank you for

thank you for the call. immigration is a complicated issue tied to the economy and other people's welfare. i hot issue now, it might be a hotter issue when the president untilhis initial decision there is a balance between border security and immigration reform in general. roger, good morning. were talking about negative ads earlier. who do they work on? they are a turnoff for me. negative on they are not better than their opponent. what do your guests think about the turnout in the houses of the senate?

is he going to go in the majority? one question is who they turn towards. parties are gearing this a lot towards their base. traditionally when you see more of the base voters turn out. ads are targeted towards giving those people more . you will see democrats the same way. they need their base to turn out in places. arkansas is especially a place where the president didn't have an infrastructure and democrats could rely on that osa model that the president had used. you saw the democratic senatorial campaign committee going in there to essentially create something that had not been there before. the emphasis is really on democrats to turn out their voters in places they really

need, but in both of these places they need to sort of anger these voters to get to the polls. turning they do risk off these independent voters in the middle who if they don't turn out the advantage still goes slightly more towards republicans. phone lines are open -- the: we are joined here at table by jessica taylor and nathan gonzales. have people walk through negative ads, media consultant do not just wake up in the morning and think about the worst ad they can make today. polling that goes on where they ask voters in each district what issues they care issues, if they had certain information, changes their mind. the reason you see so many negative ads is because negative ads crafted in the right way work, influencing the person's

opinion on how they will vote. most people are inclined to say they don't like negative ads, but then they see one and say -- i didn't know that. it starts to influence their vote. host: let's turn our attention to the house. with 435 members of congress, you point out there are 174 listed as safe. 200 10 republican seats. of the seats in play, 25 republican seats, 25 democratic seats. only seven complete tossup races. including arizona. the seat formerly held by gaby giffords. her former aide, ron barber, facing a republican charger. this was an extremely close race in 2012. sally, one of the

first woman to fly in combat. with somed advantages, like higher name identification. often a challenge to a candidate is getting known. negativestarted with because of being attacked. this is also a border district. if the president were to decide coulding here, that influence the race as well. it will be clay -- the close. another one, west virginia's three in what is becoming a pretty red state. ,> congressman rahal representing one of the most republican districts. evan jenkins, the republicans really feel like -- they have always tried to go after rahal,

but never had a good candidate against him. there was heavy republican spending earlier in the spring. the congressman's numbers started to crater. now it is kind of bouncing around a little bit. democrats have been emboldened by this race. they feel like they pushed back on specific elements of the affordable care act and they feel emboldened by it. can use thatey blueprint in districts across the country. tossup, whypublican is he in trouble? it is a competitive district. the former democratic nominee and speaker of the house, a tremendous fundraiser, i think it will be a great race. what surprised me was that coming into the race, mike cotton, the congressman, his

numbers are surprisingly strong. as romanoff starts to spend more money and make his case, we will see it tighten a little bit. very competitive gubernatorial election there. in the sixth district it is one of the battleground districts of a battleground state. this morning in "the new york times," the sunday review, this piece, "why democrats can't win." one of the points is pennsylvania, the state has been solidly democrat, but the democrats cannot win a majority .n the house districts >> they took a district in pennsylvania --guest: they did a district where they try to defeat him for years, they said they were just going to pack democrats into this district.

what it did isidore democrats from the neighboring districts and made that more republican, made a few of these members safer. that is an example of republicans using redistricting in order to hold the majority they already had. that is why 2010 was a difficult .eelection for democrats they lost control of the redistricting process in key states. myrtle beach, south carolina, good morning. caller: you had an advertisement in iowa there about a race, 79% of the meetings for veterans affairs. is that true? if it's true, why is it negative? what's your point? --host: what's your point? caller: the press, rather than finding out whether it is a true

ad, says it is a negative ad. negative, if you are informing the public, it depends on what those people are doing. guest: republicans would not see this as a negative ad, what campaigns call this is a contrast ad. you're giving more information that may be negative but contrasting it with the other person's record. anie is a veteran, she's running on her service. she had to leave the campaign trail for part of her reserve duty. so if you have a member of congress who has missed this many votes, then brailley certainly is coming under a lot of scrutiny for meetings that he has missed there. contrasted with a female combat veteran. that's exactly the kind of contrast that they were wanting to make and one that is certainly contributing to why

this race is so close host: another contrast can be made by this. in response to the koch brothers here are the coke sisters. >> i'm karen around i'm joyce and we are the coke sisters. we're not biological sisters but sisters in spirit. >> and we're not related to the koch brothers those right-wing billionaires. we're just two average women who raised families. we don't have billions to spend on political campaigns but we do have our convictions and voices. we think that's important. >> if you agree then join us with an all be a nation of coke sisters. host: we have been focused on outside money including the koch brothers but does this resonate with the general public? guest: i don't think that it does but this ad is certainly designed for the democratic base. the koch brothers are democrats boogie torry reid's

men. this brings in money if you know especially as we get close to the end of a month you are inundated with pleas for money, the coke brotters are going to take over this race and this is something that certainly people who may not know as much about these races, oh my goodness all this money and the coke brothers want to do this around democrats have painted them as the evil sort of funding machines and things too so they're trying to contrast this with these average everyday women who have worked really hard and their names happen to be koch. one thing that confused me they're not actually sisters. it's confuse bug this is more so designed to try to continue to get money to sort of grow their email list and again going back to turnout. democrats