>> here at 8:00 eastern, wreath-laying ceremony, followed by the annual u.s.o. service members awards gala. at the event, general dempsey broke out in song. here's a look.

♪ [cheers and applause] >> joint chiefs of staff also spoke at the u.s.o. awards gala and see it at 9:00 p.m. after the wreath-laying ceremony. and right now on c-span, a conversation with the executive director of the american legion on employment services and medical care for veterans. the back in our studio is verna jones, the executive director of the veterans administration. the va secretary announced an overhaul of the health care and benefits system yesterday.

a more customer friendly type system. what do you make of the overhaul and what do you think it fixes? guest: i think it's time for a change. it fixes veterans having some a questions of everything being so disjointed. veterans have to go one place for one particular service on another place for another service and sometimes those two services don't talk. i think it will give the veterans of old dew of what they need and make it easier for the veteran to navigate through the system. host: also, the secretary yesterday talked about firing at the via, those who have been responsible for the wait times hat have led to deaths in some cases in phoenix, arizona. "the washington times" - do you agree?

guest: yes, anyone who took heart in delaying services for veterans need to face disciplinary action. the v.a. system is set up to take care of veterans. they did not do everything they needed to do. they don't need to be at the v.a. if they did not. there are still people on paid administrative leave. they are taking money from the taxpayers. they said at home and collect a check in and to be fired and it should have already appened. host: let's listen to what secretary macdonald told cnn yesterday. >> what we have said as we are taking disciplinary action against those individuals who violated our values. our values are represented in the acronym icare,[br] the i is integrity. we are taking disciplinary action. that action over the last year has involved about 5600 employees.

some of those are still active and we are in the process of following that to his conclusion. we are acting aggressively and expeditiously and consistent with the law. host: the v.a. secretary said there acting aggressively and consistent with the law but they have to. there i's and cross their t's. guest: we have to make sure they do everything right because those of cause veterans harm, we don't want them to be able to come back and hurt other veterans on a technicality. we want to be a to do it right but they can do it right with employee due process quicker than they are doing it now. those employees don't need to be on collecting taxpayer money. they need to use those funds for someone who can come in and take care of veterans the way they deserve to be taking care of. host: have you seen any improvement under the leadership of secretary macdonald? guest: yes, and we applaud those improvements. there is still so much more to be done. the american legion stands to help whatever the v.a. needs to

make sure the system is better for veterans. guest: on this november 11, 2014 on veterans day, what has been fixed? guest: the backlog has been reduced a little bit and the veterans choice cards have been mailed out. i think we are in the process. i'm not sure if anything has been set but there have been improvements in there is more to be done. there has been improvements made for veterans. veterans are getting their appointments quicker and we applaud that but there are so much more that has to happen before we can say it's fixed. host: what are the choice cards and who will get them? guest: all veterans receive those choice cards and they give veterans access to go outside of the v.a. and gives them a choice if they meet the criteria. if you live within 40 miles of our nearest v.a. facility,

there is another and stunts where veterans waited early days together appointment. the card will be mailed out to about 9 million veterans. we don't -- we don't want them to delay veterans getting health care anymore. now that they are out, we are hoping that will help veterans get the services they need more timely. host: we are talking with verna jones, the executive director of he american legion and the veterans affairs department is our topic. these are our lines -- verna jones is here until 9:30

a.m. eastern time but i want to show our viewers and have a respond to veteran affairs secretary bob mcdonnell speaking at the national press club in washington last week and talking about reforming the veterans ffairs department. >> as i said in my remarks, we are looking at part of our my va reform process will look at the organization structure. generally, when i think of a high-performance organization, i think of the purpose and the values the organization being the foundation. you have to attack that first and second his technical ompetence. do you have good doctors and good nurses? you've got four pillars -- leadership, having the right leaders and working to get them on. we have hired a of bunch of people recently but a more hiring to do. do you have the right strategies? bob is the guy who

was the strategies with me and we look at the strategies and renew them and apply them. do you have the right systems, repeatable processes and do they lead to good outcomes. do you have the right procedures and culture? there is nothing that is sacrosanct. the employees will help us change the a to be more veteran centric. >> what stands out to you? guest: veteran centric -- people use that phrase all the time. i think that needs to be a system advantageous for veterans. it's time for an overhaul am only call for the resignation of secretary shinseki, we said it was not personal it was business because veterans were not receiving under that system -- they were not receiving the services they deserve. i think we need to support secretary macdonald and give them an opportunity to overhaul the system and make it healthy for veterans, make it what veterans need for it to be.

host: have you met with secretary mcdonald? guest: yes, i met with him on several occasions and he went to our national convention and spoke to our delegation and we have had several meetings. host: what was the first thing you brought up in these meetings? guest: we talked about the health care, we talked about the delays in health care and the backlog. host: we are talking with verna jones, executive director of the american legion, first woman to erve in that post and an attorney and army veteran who served as a personal sergeant. when did you serve? > 1987 -- 1995 in texas. host: stratford, connecticut, a republican. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call, great program on a great day to honor the bets. -- vets. i wanted to express what was wrong and that is to have an anti-iraq war protest for bruce jane -- bruce springsteen honoring the bets.

the al qaeda playbook in iraq was we cannot defeat the u.s. militarily so instead we will work at you wrote in support and resolve -- at eroding support and resolve and he was on bruce springsteen was one of the leading voices in eroding that resolve at home as a celebrity attacking president bush and the war. -- end the war. to have him as a headliner and the net result is the u.s. left iraq and the rise of isis and now the u.s. -- this is the truly tragic part -- returning to iraq but with the green zone infrastructure gone, it's under substantially more risky conditions. i think having mr. springsteen as part of this honoring the vets is an insult. it's as if everyone forgot that he was one of the leading voices saying i support the troops but i oppose your mission which is analogical position.

host: they are talking about the concert that is happening this evening on the mall. hbo will be filming that. are you agree? guest: bruce springsteen cannot deny that he is a great performer. i think this concert is just an outlet for veterans and military personnel to go and enjoy themselves. you have to separate the two. they will be able to go out tonight and have great entertainment and be honored because today is veterans day. anyway we can honor veterans, i think we need to do that. host: the caller also brought up troops returning to iraq and the first have arrived in and our province -- anbar province. what do you make of the troops returning to iraq? guest: we never want troops to be in harms way at any time. would have to trust that's what's being done is what our nation is to be doing. host: laramie, wyoming, a

veteran and republican, you are on the air. caller: good morning, thanks for c-span and thanks to the service of all the veterans. i happened to be a vet from a combat unit and i am very disappointed that general shinseki was railroaded out by the american legion. i thought he was a great leader and rumsfeld and cheney and bush, if they had listened to shinseki, there were not the any isil in iraq right now. host: are you a member of the american legion? caller: i was and they keep sending the renewals but ever since shinseki was railroaded out, i am not going to join the american legion anymore. host: what do you say to that caller? guest: thank you for your service. when our national commander called for the rectum this resignation of secretary shinseki, he said it was with great sadness he had to call for

his resignation. we understand he is a great -- he is one of her great heroes and served this country honorably. it's hard when you have to make those decisions about one of your own. we appreciate and honor the service of secretary shinseki but the american legion did not feel the secretary shinseki gave veterans what they needed under his leadership and it was time for a change. we stand behind that. host: eureka, california, william is next, democratic caller -- caller: good morning, i am 71 years old from a lifetime american legion veteran. lifetime means you pay a considerable amount of money to be a member for life in the new pay note news thereafter. -- no dues thereafter. i feel so sad that there is no voice for the homeless veteran.

there is absolutely nothing done to try to get these people back into the system. they have mental issues like suicide and what have you. we see when we drive our car is the cardboard sign -- i am a homeless american veteran -- and no one talks about him or her. thank you very much. i will wait for your reply off the line. guest: thank you for your service and thank you very much for your membership. the american legion cares about the homeless veteran. on a national level, we have our homeless veteran program through our veteran employment and education division. we have programs for homeless veterans. the american legion on the local levels run homeless transitional programs. there is one in pittsburgh and across the nation. just last week, we were in los angeles, california doing our veterans benefits center and we spoke with homeless eterans.

we chose that location because california has the highest population of homeless eterans. it was a 100% 500 bed facility that focuses on veterans of special needs. if not for that facility, they would be homeless. we put the word out for all homeless veterans. we served quite a few homeless veterans while we were there so the american legion continues to provide outreach to homeless veterans and it remains a top riority on on our radar. host: in "usa toda" - howard schultz says starbucks has committed to hire 10,000 that's over five years and it employs a recruiter who is a veteran and understands the anxiety and can bridge the gap.