it's 5:00 in new york city, and this is "the five." so is president obama really mad as hell about our vets dying while waiting for health care under his watch? well, here's how he spun the scandal yesterday. >> we all know that it often takes too long for veterans to get the care that they need. that's not a new development it's been a problem for decades. caring for our veterans is not an issue that popped up in recent weeks. some of the problems with respect to how veterans are able

to access the benefits that they've earned, that's not a new issue. that's an issue that i was working on when i was running for the united states senate. >> aloft people aren't satisfied with his spanse response, and it's not just republicans. >> i was very disappointed with president obama today. there was no urgency. mr. president we need urgency! >> and the president is still standing by eric shinseki through all of this, but the calls are growing louder and louder for him to reconsider. >> shinseki could be fired needilneed immediately. he's not competent to run the agency. 's got go. >> at one point the american legion even stood behind him and we've lost confidence. he's nothing more than a distraction. >> i've not dauld for general shinseki to resign. i admit i'm getting closer. >> greg, isn't this a ridiculous exercise to go back and forth over the resignation of cabinet secretaries when vets are die ong wait gt elises?

>> well, firing shinseki or making his resolve solves almost nog but what we're talking about is bureaucracy, not medical staff. this is bureaucracy. if there is a wooden table, bureaucracy brings the termites. they bring nothing of help. so if there's a secret list that they're using in other facilities, 26 or 27, that suggests a pattern. then an order was given or shared by bureaucrats. it's almost like benghazi where you say, who pushed the video? in this case, who pushed the denial list? who decided this was okay? it is benghazi in a way times ten because 40 people died it's not about the actual medical staff. we have to make that clear. those guys are just as good as anybody in a private hospital it's about bureaucracy and the dysfunction that the civil unions and bureaucrats bring to the hospitals. >> and they also had warnings about the v.a. for years and years and years leading up to this. they did it have warnings about

lackluster security. eric, do you think the reason that president obama keeps general shinseki in is because he can run interference sew can deal with all the incoming. then it deflects off the president. when the media stops focusing on this and move along, then he can make some internal hr changes? >> i think that's exactly what it is. as long as eric shinseki is the guy, the face of this, justice kathleen sebelius was the face of the health care.gov. notice when that fixed they moved her out. so when they fix the v.a., they'll move shinseki out or he'll be able to step down. but i would disagree. i would say that in every organization, if -- there has to be accountability, the buck stops here, someone has to take some of the blame. and you go to the stop and you go to as high as it goes. if it stops at shinseki, i'm not sure it stops in phoenix. it may go higher. it may be systemwide f. it is systemet ettett ick, i think yo

shinse shinseki. if he was telling things were going on out of his control, you go to the next step up and did it get to the white house? i'm not sure. in the interim, fire him, put someone else in there. when you do that, you send a signal that works for the new administrators they won't play around anymore. they won't let you get away with hidden lists that frankly are killing veterans. >> if shinseki does go, though, the pressure seems to dissipate, right? so with him continuing to stay there, the pressure stays on the v.a., the same way it stayed on hhs, the same way it stayed on the irs with lois lerner. that's minu ae that's my opinion. >> one thick is when you get rid of someone in chag of a scandal, it somehow goes away. with obamacare, sa beebelius we away and we haven't heard about obamakaifr. it spt fixed but the with person in charge of it is gone and we're not allowed to ask questions. that's the danger if shinseki

goes away. that doesn't mean he shouldn't be fired. and the reason barack obama won't fire him is because if he fires him, that is an admission that someone in his administration screwed up. and barack obama has never admitted that his administration has made mistakes and he won't do now. and let's not forget that president obama has never really had a problem with firing generals. he's pretty much purged a lot of the generals in our military on disagreements about the war. but for some reason, he's not willing to step up to the mrailt and say, you need to go, get this fixed. only barack obama can make the issue of vets dying and turn it into what he's done and it's not his fault. >> bob, yesterday i said that i didn't think this was a scandal. i do think the irs is a xand a.m. i think benghazi is scandal. this is a failure of government run health care exposed to the united states of america. and president obama is not going to admit that he screwed up because then that would undermine his signature achievement, health care. and he's not going to be

vulnerable on what he spent the first four years of his tenure working on. >> apple and orngz. outside of petraeus, i wonder what generals you're talking about that he's fired. let's talk about the political fallout. i think that's the more important issue from obama's stand point. when you talk about the irs, benghazi, i don't think there's a big voting stee ining constit there. now talking about vaet rans you're hitting homes. i think in some ways of all the thing that's have gone on, irs or whatever else it is, this one has the potential if it's not dealt with effectively in people's minds, it will cost democrats at the polls. that's what's got me worried about it. of course i'm worried about the people who didn't get served but from a fewerly political standpoint thshis is a dangerou area to be treading. >> you notice all of a sudden we had been on this, fox has been on this since day one since the scandal broke. the mainstream media didn't pay

much attention. it wasn't on the evening news rs the front page of the post, it wasn't some of the other left leaning tv networks weren't covering it. all of a sudden everyone is on it. >> cnn was on it first. >> they discovered it, broke it. but they broke it in a local. not nationally. it and they frankly stayed away for a little bit. >> can i clarify? i didn't mean to say and i hope i drnt say i thought obamacare was fixed. i think i said i thought health care.gov get fix and they let sebelius walk. >> that's the bigger issue here, that even if we wait until the problem is fixed, whatever the problem may be, the fact is that the v.a. can't be fixed because government health care doesn't work. so no matter what they do, no matter who they put in there, government bureaucracy controlling the health care system, which is the v.a. of what is a small example for the country. >> don't you think that's why so many democrats keep talking about there's a scandal, they're quick to say it's a scandal. i agree with bob, it's an

election year. dying veterans are political crypt night oowe night. but if you don't call it a scandal, you have to look at the policy. why did this happen? you have to actually look at something else other than maybe just mismanagement. that means idol. and they don't want to have that debate. >> it's -- the issue here is priorities. we have -- wre as a country have been shifting away from i guess protecting and being concerned about the people that we should. it's not about what the government zp. it's about what the government encourages others to do. the message being to use victimhood to beat the system, to target businesses over up fairness, to view success as a result of inequality. firing shinseki allows this mentality to continue it's not -- i don't think shinseki knew about it or president obama knew about it. but the problem is it happened because nobody really cared and it's part of a greater kind o,

they just don't care. they're not the victims that this administration is interested in. >> there was no bigger supporter of the v.a. than ronald reagan. he was very strong on it, very strong on the military. i don't think you could find a president anywhere that didn't think the v.a. as it is, as a government-run health care is the right thing to do. it should be fixed. it's the right thing. but this goes back to democrat/republican presidents. >> speaking of obama's presidency and how this will affect this presidency because the media is focused on it. greg, the cnn broke the story. it's been in the papers. i think the "new york times" and "washington post" -- or "the washington post" has defended the president, but most papers have covered this story. how is it going to affect his presidency? charles krauthammer weighed in on this and talked about how he got elected in the first place. >> cool will get you elected. cool will get you fawning profiles from upscale new york magazines. but cool will not connect you with the american people when there are allegations that

wounded warriors are dying of neglect and corruption. and cool will not get you any management skills in running the u.s. government. >> do you think this scandal hurts him. >> we didn't get all that in. we should probably run nor -- >> we'll burn you a dvd. >> what was your question? >> his presidency, going forward. he got elected because he was cool. >> was the cool guy, a celebrity president. >> does something like that sweep all of that aside finally and see ideology or mismanagement, this president spt exactly cool. >> i quite frankly don't thai this president actually really cares. because we've seen this situation happen over and over again. it's the playbook. something happeneds. they say it was a rogue agency, rogue employees youtd side. then it trickles up the system and is widespread, then barack obama knew nothing about it. then we're really mad, we're going to get to the bottom of it. no one gets fired and they run out the clock by asking for

things like reports and reviews just like president obama did yesterday. in term of shinseki, the reason i think he should go is he was brought in under barack obama to fix the problem. for five years it haept been fixed but the wait times have doubled and backlog has doubled. >> didn't get the job done. >> are you say willing the president zpt care about that? >> i don't think so. >> that's unbelievable. >> you could bring in superman, carrot top, if he doesn't have the blessing of the kmapd irin chief to undmental lir and radically change the industry, how does he do that? what do you expect out of this report? >> spt that what you do, put people in the cabinet positions to make sure that it works? and if it zpt work, you hope that they come back and say, here's what we nit. look, this is a scandal. i disagree with you. i think it's ohm going to get much bigger. scandal number one because vets have died. i think it's going to be widespread. i think it will be systemic. i think will you'll see as more

and more whistle-blowers come, you'll see a lot more people dying, bs going on at the v.a. and scandal number three is we're going to fwiend out where all where all that money is going. and it serm ncertainly not goin to the vets. a top of money is going somewhere. when that starts to bubble up, heads will roll. >> i've taken it upon myself to do a little study because we can't get it done otherwise. find out how many horror stories were going on during the reagan and administration. i'll report next week. >> you know something aufl happens when that happens, the employment of deflection. your house is on fire, and a democrat will say, but the sun's really hot. it goes back to, now begins the broken record number two, who pushed the secret list to fudge the numbers and make bonuses.

that's the question for this scandal, and it is what i would call a gate. >> when this report comes out, he'll push for more money instead of really figuring out a solution like charter hospitals for veterans or something else. and it will disapear. next, the liberal race baiters are at it again. one democratic lawmaker thinks racism is behind the opposition to obamacare. another equates the benghazi investigation to the times of reconstruction. you have to stick around this one to believe it.

great news for bigots. a group that published a list of 29 pitfall fz working with white

people at a diversity conference received 250 grand from the department of justice. we maid popaidz for the heblg. they're called the beyond diversity resource center and apparently they've found what's beyond diversity, division. remember stoking racial hate is key if it makes money. one. pitfalls listed is that white people ask stupid questions. what's that supposed to mean? oh, wait, i just did it. i guess they're right. i'm a stupid white person. how did i get dressed this morning? what's up with doorknobs. such an idiot. maybe this is why the straxt scandal happened. as the country is more concerned with pigment, priorities of old, quotas trump quality. if you're white you're evil. whites, quote, benefit off the backs of people of color. this is true for the white diversity goons who make thousands feeding this toxic

drivel to minorities. maybe that's the strategy. one less person is competing for for a job. if you're an incompetent white boob, that really helps. andrea, this kind of -- it takes a serious issue and it turns it into a joke. i find that offensive and i want it banned. i'm kiting i don't care. >> you can ban it. let's just imagine that this was a white organization put outing a pamphlet that when it talks about white people and i don't know if you have this full screen, greg, but they stereotype them saying they ask stupid questions, they're on the backs of people. could you imagine if it were the reverse? the department of justice instead of going after this type of thing, they eencourage it. eric holder has proven to be the most divisive racial demagogue in the administration. he's used phrases like "my people."

which again if he was white and said "my people", he would have been gone within 24 hours. he has refused to prosecute the black pan panther case. there's a laundry list of incidents when the racial divide and the racial discrimination is going the other way, against whites. he is completely mia. >> bob, about andrea's moint that if you did this in reverse and it was about blacks, the argument would be that would matter because the power structure is catered to whites, so you can't compare the two. >> i have a problem with this simply because like often you are guilty of, to say that all people -- the yt that all white people are stupid who you work for is pretty blanket ziemt. i mean, i think you have to be very careful when you say things like that. >> depends where you work, bob. >> here, for example, our

executive producer is down on me, but he's a right winger. that's all right. he'll be mad now. but i think the idea of doing something like this does -- unless you can be specific, if you're pripg out specific instances, i think you're opening it up for an indictment of people that don't deserve it. >> one of them eric is they claim one of the things whites do is they get too friendly too fast. with each other? remember that old saying in that skit eddie murphy gets on the bus and pretends to be white and all the white people were having a lot of fun but didn't let the black people know. it's hysteric al. racial divisiveness. it makes money. ask al sharp ton, jesse jackson, the rest of the race as bill o'reilly would kale mer comments. there's a whole money thing going on. it keeps them relevant with the donations. but there's also the other thing, too. it's the voting bloc.

it keeps the voting bloc together. you can paint the white guy as the bad guy, then you can say, but we're not them so let's stick together, make sure they're painted as the bad guy, evil. let's get our people in office. instead of -- forget if he's white or black, do we want this person in office because it's good for me, which is what they should be asking. >> i do think there are actual beneficiaries of privilege, but they're liberals. >> right. >> at least in our business. except for bob. >> we call them limousine liberals. you know, this money that funded these pamlets and all this stuff came from the department of justice, which has been obsessed with supposedly fighting racism. but i think it's important to remind people that eric holder has literally been carrying around a race card in his wallet for 30 years with a quote about blackness. i think that we're to the point where maybe we should remind him that racism goes both ways. it's probably time for him and the people who work under him in the department of justice to support things like this to

check their own prejudice. >> but the fact of the matter is, prejudice and racism still xwist exist in america in a lot of whys. it has sto be dealt with, talked about. it hasn't been talked about before. i think holder is in a unique position to do that e.'s an african-american. it's about time somebody was willing to say the thing that's other people are not willing to say. that is that the quiet, not jim crowe but the quiet subliminal racism still exists in the country and it's a very serious issue. >> bob, that's fine if he wants to address racism. but he doesn't address reverse racism or racism against whites or racism against hispanics. for example, the flash mobs. did the president or eric holder say anything about flash mobs when whites and jews were being reportedly attacked disproportionately by blacks? nothing. but they weigh on every instance when it's a black like trayvon martin and they won't touch the instances when whites are discriminated against. there's a long list. >> i think it's fair to say that

whites have been far less discriminated against in this country. >> it doesn't mean when there's a case you totally ignore it. >> my sympathy for white discrimination by blacks is fairly minimal. >> we've got to move on. a well-known nba owner admits to his own bigotry and it's not donald sterling. find out who, next. 0

as you know, we take music very seriously here on "the five." we're all music lovers with very different taste. so we were wondering what everyone has to say about this one, concert hotels.com just put together a list of the greatest localists of all time and the number one spot went to axl rose from "guns and roses."

listen. ♪ welcome to the jungle we got fun and games ♪ ♪ we got everything you want what do we know ♪ ♪ we are the people that you find ♪ wasn't that amazing? this is great. we thought we'd poll the fivers. >> is that a male? >> that's axl. ang, your top three with your favorite last. >> i did this based on ability. i broke it into three categories. number three is stevie nicks for unique fs. i love her. number fwo is whitney houston for her range. also love her. he is not my favorite, however, number one greatest vocalist of all time based on ability i believe to being fredry mercury because he is pitch perfect. maybe my favorite the original lead sing he of ac/dc.

♪ mama didn't mean to make you cry ♪ >> let's move on to bob. bob, your top three. >> i've got a tie for number three between jimi hendrix and the angry inch. then my number two is i think one of the greatest country singers of all time, willie nelson and my number one is the only one that could be number one, all the rest are fraudul t fraudulent, there is only one king of rock and roll, elvis press l presley. ♪ love me tender oh, man.

>> let's go to you. >> i am a huge country music fan so i chose as my number three eric church for his lyrics, number two is miranda lambert. i feel like she could be my best friend. of course number one is reba mcintyre who will forever be the queen of country. one of the first songs i ever lerped to sing as a little kid was her "fancy." ♪ fancy don't let me down ♪ here's your one chance fancy don't let me down ♪ >> greg? >> first obviously my favorite singer is right here, my mom's sewing machine. she sewed all my pants from fist through fourth grade on that showing machine. for number three, the best metal singer is probably devin townsend, an amazing singer. if you haven't heard of him, look him up and find a record the he blows your mind. john grant is a great rock

singer. check out the album queen of denmark. number one, this guy used to be the singer of faith no more, also mr. bungle and lovage. to me the greatest singer that ever existed, mike patten. here's him singing in italian. ♪ >> very nice. >> you did it. i figured i was not going to know one of the three. >> you should buy the album. all italian. >> that's what i'm go dog. >> i went last because like andrea i picked freddie mercury, robert plante, number one i love rock, the whole genre, so because i picked the same one, i picked something else and just went with the man who i think has the best voice in the history of music, of song.

take a listen to andrea bocelli. listen. ♪ >> i've seen him in concert a couple of times. he will bring you to tears. >> he's blind, too, by the way. >> moving on, graduates get a powerful pep talk from an american her radio on how to find the courage to save the world. next on "the five."

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as the commander of the forces that killed bin laden, the admirable knows about changing the world. luckily, at his alma mater, he shared some of his wisdom for spending 36 years as a navy s.e.a.l. >> tles a brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see. all you have to do to quit is ring the bell. ring the bell, and you no longer have to wake up at 5:00. ring the bell and you no longer have to be in the freezing cold swims. ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the pt. and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training. all you have to do to ring the bell to get out. if you want to change the world don't ever, ever ring the bell. you are the class of 2014, the

class that can affect the live fz 800 million people in the next century. start each day with a task completed. find someone to help you through life. respect everyone. know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. but if you take some risks, step up when times are the toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden and never, ever give up, if you do these things, the next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today. >> i really recommend that people watch the entire thing because it was such an amazing speech of -- to be successful, you have to take risks and have to work really hard. one of my favorite parts of the speech is talking about making your bed every morning. something as simple as making your bed. >> you have to have a bed. shout-out to bob. he's like the double strength aspirin needed for the hangover you get from a liberal education. if he was on any other campus he would have been kicked out or rejected him. university of texas, i give them

credit for allowing this. it's refreshing because it's depression because it's refreshing. >> i'm not so sure he wouldn't go over well at a liberal school. william can answer all these problems about people getting kick off as speakers. that should run for every school. there's nothing ill liberal at all. >> but he's wearing a uniform so he would never get to invite to speak at most of the liberal colleges in the country. >> it wasn't often. it was probably would be a surprise to the students hearing this kind of thing because they're not used to hearing -- this one i love. start singing when you're up to your neck in mud. you must be your very best in the darkest moment. i thought, god, that's so hard to do. but if he can do it, i mean, the advice from -- >> one of my favorite parts too of the speech was he was talking about zam ams of how hard it will be to get to that success. but if you don't have the situations of dhal evening and hard smp you'll never pleasure where you came from. it was a really amazing thing to

hear. >> great speech. coming up, if you want to watch admirable's entire commencement speech goshgs to facebook. one more thing is up next.

time for one more thing. eric? >> i'll start it off, hosting hannity tonight, a big show, 10:00 p.m., a brand-new v.a. whistle-blower will tell us all that's going on. we have a guy who has proved gitmo detainees get better health coverage than our veterans. senator rand paul also. >> just how big is that show? >> huge. >> massive. >> greg? >> you know what it's time for?

>> greg's prom tips. >> most of the proms are over, but there's next year. these are a lot of preparatory tips for you. make your hair appointment two months in advance. so you know you can get in. get your brows done early like a week before. go to the makeup the counter, get your makeup done there. have your mom watch, then your mom can do it so you don't have to wait for hours at the makeup counter. bob? you all right? last, don't shop for a bargain dress. you've got to get it well fitted so your boobs don't stick out. and stick to converse shoes. it's safer so you don't fall down when you're drunk. my prom tips for the year. to quote bob beckel, i'm sorry to hear that. >> you also have an amazing voice, greg.

your pitch was divine. >> but i'm not blind. >> were those tips based on personal experience? >> yes. i cross-dressed as a young'un. >> this is something that actually reminds me of something greg gutfeld would do. it took place in harrisburg, pennsylvania. in the middle of one correspondence live shot in a restaurant. >> our supporters to say a prayer for gina roberson who remains hospital iced for a stress related illnesses. they will work together in this harrisburg community. >> maybe he was thirsty. >> yum. bob? you all right, bob? >> i'm going to pass. >> my one more thing hits close to home. wanted to give you an update on the slide fire burning in arizona from sedona up to flagstaff. the fire has burned 4800 acres, 7 1/2 square miles. still not much containment, which is not good. but they have 750 firefighters out there, lots of hot shot

crews. but it does remind us of the tragic event last year when 19 firefighters who were part of a hot shot crew were killed. we wanted to honor their memory and thank everyone out there now who is fighting that fire. and protecting my hometown of flagstaff. and all of the homes in the fire's path. >> good one. since bob i guess aren't going to do one, any honorable mentions for best singer of all time? greg? >> i would say me. >> really? >> billy idol. ann wilson. >> tweet us your favorites. set your dvr so you never miss an episode of "the five." "special report" up next.

>> it is my may 23rd, twisters to massive hail forcing a plane to make an emergency landing. mother nature proving to be relentless. will she let up for our 3 day weekend. >> the question, where is the beef. brand new information you need to know. which stores sold the bad beef that is making people sick across the country. >> do you need an excuse to poor yourself another glass of the red, red wine? we have one just in time for the holiday weekend. "fox & friends first" starts right