i'm bret baier in washington. this is a fox news alert. president obama's chief of veteran affairs is under heavy fire. robert mcdonald likened the life and death struggle over wait times of american war heros to waiting in line in disney land. that sparked a lot of attention on capitol hill. they said the crisis of veteran wait times for treatment is not the spinning teacups. doug has the top story tonight from the pentagon. doug? >> good evening, brett. it is one thing to wait in line for a ride at disneyland, another to wait for a doctors visit at the v.a.

some have died waiting for a treatment. he made the statement today. >> what counts is how does the veteran feel about their encounter with the v.a.? when you go to disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? what's important? what's important is, what is your satisfaction with the experience. >> wait times at the v.a. are up 71 days for care. two years since a nationwide scandal prompted the investigation. the secretary says 97% aren't waiting 30 days. his remarks are met with swift condemnation. the speaker of the house, paul ryan, saying this is not make believe. veterans have died waiting in those lines. they clarified his comments with a statement that said, quote, we know veterans are waiting to long for care. we have heard them tell us their wait times are not the only indication of their experience with the v.a. that's what we must transform,

why we must transform the way we do business. it was at a breakfast when he made the remarks. meantime, with active duty military in the field, president obama's own particular take on the war on terror seems conflicted tonight. one of his top aides insisting the president has gotten america out of two wars. over the weekend, the u.s. military moved into pakistan. the taliban figure described an obstacle of peace. what can you tell us about that? >> the iraqi security force launched a frontal support on the city of flew shah. >> this is the burned out car which the taliban leader was killed by a u.s. drone strike in pakistan on saturday. from vietnam, president obama confirmed his death, ♪

♪ing the taliban leader targeted u.s. personnel. he emphasized the attack does not reflect escalation of u.s. operations there. >> we are not re-entering the day-to-day combat operation that is are currently conducted by afghan security forces. our job is to help afghanistan secure its own country. >> reporter: at the pentagon, senior officials called it a defensive strike. they were given approval for it from the president. this is the second u.s. military strike within pakistan's borders, the first the bin laden raid. >> translator: yes, we are protesting strongly. it happened after several years, which should have not happened. as i said before, this is in violation of the sovereignty of pakistan. >> reporter: the attack comes when the narration of the middle east legacy is at odds with what's happening on the ground.

>> i look at what happened unemployment going from 10% down to 5%. the automobile industry back, ending two wars. >> reporter: the level of violence in afghanistan has gone up three-fold. taliban holds more territory now than anytime in the last 15 years. >> reporter: in iraq, the prime minister launched a ground offensive to retake fallujah. he sent an additional 450 troops to train and advise z. they hit 21 targets to soften up the city. >> no accident. it's always a hot bed of militants and also is where al qaeda and iraq was born. >> the offensive may be how bodies attempt to regain control after a wave of suicide bombings around baghdad. and after the storming of the government zone.

killing the taliban leader may reap short term gains. time, hee the top 25 of the state department's list of terrorists, suggesting whomever replaces him could be just as bad. >> thanks. a series of coordinated explosions rocked two normally quiet strongholds in syria today. more than 80 people were killed. the blasts were the first of their kind targeting civilians in those towns. isis is claiming responsibility. isis also says it was behind a pair of attacks in yemen that killed at least 45 people today. a suicide car bomber and one on foot targeted young men seeking to join the army. scores of others were wounded in the blast. president obama is trying to pump up communist vietnam. an enemy turned ally in a region

where communist china is expanding its influence. lifted an arms embargo that dates back a half century. >> the united states is fully lifting the ban on the sale of military equipment to vietnam that has been in place for some 50 years. >> reporter: announcing a complete end to the decades old embargo on vietnam, president obama ushered in the dawn of a new era and foe. >> we were adversaries and now we are friends. should give us hope, should be a reminder of the ability for us to transform relationships. >> reporter: the two countries, scarred by war a generation ago, now dependent upon each other economically and strategically. the vietnamese expect to spend $5 billion in defense this year

up from 2005 with 80% of the money going to russia. it puts american countries in play for the arms business. lifting the embargo will help strengthen security operation, improve vietnam's defense capability. a stability at risk because of an increasingly aggressive china. beijing has been at odds over the expanding claims over the waters of the south china sea. neighboring countries including the philippines, malaysia and vietnam. the president deflected a suggestion it was related to beijing's behavior. >> it was based on our desire to complete what has been a lengthy process of moving toward normalization with vietnam. >> reporter: experts say despite concerns of the human rights record, there's too much at stake in the region to wait. >> there is a contest for the

future. the united states needs every friend it can get. therefore, this is a great time to drop the arms embargo. yes, i understand the human rights concern regarding vietnam. right now, there are concerns which overshadow that. >> reporter: critics point to the fact the president seems eager to assist the vietnamese in their struggles with china while not using the same strategy to assist ukraine and the problems with russia. the white house would stay situations are different and one could argue the outcome may well be. brett? >> kevin traveling with the president. thank you. north korea is saying no to donald trump. north korea's u.n. ambassador said trump's willingness to meet with kim jong-un is, quote, nonsense and a show. trump said he would be willing to meet with the leader to ease differences over the country's nuclear program. hillary clinton's once

commanding double digit lead on donald trump didn't make it to the conventions. trump erased the deficit and is now leading or close in national polling all within the marginal error. it comes as trump is pulling the party together with different levels of success. here is james rosen. >> reporter: for the first time, the clear politics average of major national polls replaces the nominee, donald trump, ahead of the democratic front-runner, hillary clinton, albeit by a sliver. producing the result is a slew of recent head-to-head match polls that record a slight bump for trump since he cleared the gop field. >> i think the republican party consolidated around donald trump more quickly than we imagined. we are seeing that reflected in these poll numbers. >> reporter: after meeting with the real estate billionaire at

trump tower, the chairman of the foreign relations committee dismissed that he could emerge as trump's running me inning ma. to offer conjecture. it's not a responsible thing for me to do. >> reporter: another leading voice on foreign policy, lindsay gram of south carolina, a short lived presidential candidate among the harshest critics. >> he's -- >> reporter: told a florida fund raising critic to unite behind the party. a spokesman for graham wouldn't reply. house speaker paul ryan, who told politico during an interview he will call out the presumptive nominee where needed. >> do you think he is --

>> i'm not the person to give you the breakdown of donald trump. that's not my job. >> reporter: an effort by the speaker to preserve the gop majority in the house. >> what the interviews do is provide cover for his republican members of the house, all 247 of them, whoever needs it, can say, like speaker ryan just said, there are more similarities than differences. i'm evaluating where i stand right now with donald trump. >> reporter: trump got a vote of confidence, of sorts from long time partners in the golf industry. they canceled one big event following the controversial comment about mexicans. they are at the u.s. golf association. the pga tour is going forward with three major golf events at trump owned courses. i think this would be called a

mulligan. >> james, well said. thank you. trump is consolidating his power, hillary clinton is trying to hang on to hers and still trying to finish off bernie sanders. her new slogan, stronger together is a not so subtle appeal to bernie's followers to rally around her. we have the report from los angeles. >> reporter: with 475 pledged delegates on the line, bernie sanders appears to be investing everything in california, the biggest prize on june 7th. >> we are going to win the state of california. by the end of this campaign here, we are going to have rallies all over this state and speak personally in a grass roots way to open 200,000 people in california. >> reporter: hillary clinton is expected to spend much of this week in the golden state. it's not likely she needs to win here. clearly, she doesn't want to be

embarrassed. >> the only thing standing between donald trump and the oval office is all of us. we are coming to the end of the democratic primary. i applaud senator sanders and his supporters for challenging us. >> reporter: clinton must focus on keeping sanders and his supporters close. >> well, certainly we are going to talk with him when he's ready talk and listen to him. >> reporter: sanders is getting five seats on the platform writing committee at the dnc convention to appease him and supporters. patching things up between him and debby wasserman schultz won't be easy. since that endorsement, the campaign hauled in $250,000 and sanders isn't stopping there. >> if elected president, she would not be elected chair of the dnc.

>> participating in a debate in california, which sanders agreed to do. >> i haven't thought about it. will consider it. >> reporter: clinton sounded open to more of them. >> i believe this is the most important job in the world. it's the toughest job in the world. you should be will be to campaign for every vote, willing to debate anytime, anywhere. >> a short time ago, sanders called on clinton to keep her words and a televised debate here in california. the state that is number one in population is entitled to a serious debate. >> thank you. virginia governor, terry mccam mcauliffe is under investigation from the fbi. it centers around campaigning.

cnn reports part of the investigation includes a look at mcauliffe's time as a board member of the clinton global initiative. all contributions were legal and the governor will cooperate with the government if contacted about it. again, confirmed by fox. up next, baltimore pras braces itself. here is what fox affiliates around the country are looking at. philadelphia, tom brady plans to appeal the four-game suspension. he will ask the circuit court to reconsider the earlier ruling. it was overturned by another judge last year, allowing him to play last season. it comes after his role in using improperly deflated footballs in the super bowl.

a sarasota planned parenthood clinic. unspecified cleaning chemicals were the source of ob nshs fumes. there is no criminal investigation at this time. this is a live look at los angeles from fox 11, our affiliate there. one of the big stories there, tonight, a federal lawsuit aimed at giving californians more time to register. they said the rules are unclear allowing those -- they want registration extended until election day. we'll be right back.

one of the white police officers charged in the death of an african-american man in police custody last year is a free man. the officer was acquitted in the racially charged case of freddy gray. we are live in baltimore to tell how the verdict is going over. >> reporter: good evening, brett. the officer who was on a bike patrol the day freddy gray suffered a fatal spine injury

walked out of court this morning a free man, acquitted by the judge on charges of second degree assault, reckless enda endangerme endangerment. they didn't think the state proved he was involved in the arrest. it was devastating for prosecutors who have five more trials scheduled for the other five officers in gray's death. the baltimore police officer did not testify during the bench trial, but is speaking out through an attorney who tells us the officer, his wife and family are elated that this nightmare is finally over. the state's attorney for baltimore city rushed to charge him, as well as the other five officers, disregarding the fact of the case and the law. the state's attorney has been quiet about the acquittal and the mayor has changed her position significantly from last year where she said she wanted

to give people trying to cause damage their space. the mayor says, quote, now that the criminal case has come to an end, the officer will face an administrative review. we ask the citizens to be patient and allow the process to come to a conclusion. the baltimore police department canceled all leaves today. as many as 65 officers from the d.c. suburb, montgomery county have riot gear. we may see how prepared authorities are for trouble this time around. brett? >> peter, thank you. the u.s. supreme court has thrown out a death sentence for a black man convicted of killing a white woman because, prosecutors kept african-americans off the jury. the justice's ruled, 7-1 with clarence thomas. it is believed timothy foster

will be granted a new trial 29 years after he was sentenced to death. a flat day for the markets "today." the dow lost eight, the s&p 50e 0 and nasdaq dropped four. >> questions about what happened to egyptair flight 804 between trouble and when it crashed. earlier reports said it swerved and lost altitude. the data recorders that can provide some of the answers are missing. greg reports tonight from paris. >> reporter: the search for debris and answers in the crash of egyptair flight 804 intensified today. a french navy -- off the egypt coast where the plane went down. u.s. navy surveillance spotted two large debris fields. >> we are 80 nautical miles.

we will continue on in that box, essentially. >> reporter: plane parts and human remains have been recovered. an egyptian robot submarine is on scene to assist. all sounded fine an hour into the flight. about two hours later, trouble. data receiveed from the plane indicated smoke and fire started in the cockpit, spreading to the front bathroom and knocking out the electronics. that brought the plane down. this raised more questions. >> if it was an explosion on board due to a bomb, that's a long period of time. when dealing with a fire on board, generally they take over over a period of time. >> if it is terror, it could be a small, explosive device used by the shoe bomber in a failed

attempt to blow up a plane. memorials held for the 66 victims of the flight at an orthodox church in cairo. >> translator: a very natural person, tender, loving, never got angry at anyone. >> reporter: terror or not, they are taking no chances. starting today, tighter security screening was used for all passengers. brett? >> greg in paris, greg, thanks. still ahead, a federal judge has heard enough from the department of justice lawyers and wants to send them to ethic's class. what set him off, next.

hard slap on the judicial wrist for the justice department from a federal judge in texas.

he wants hundreds of doj workers to brush up on their ethics. >> it's an extraordinary order. >> reporter: in a scathing opinion and order, the judge tells the justice department attorneys defending the unilateral move to block the deportation of millions in the u.s. illegally, clearly unethical, outlining the times he said doj attorneys misled him about when the programs would take effect. the misconduct was intentional, serious and material. it's hard to imagine a more serious, calculated plan of unethical conduct. he point eed out the times they said the program wouldn't start until mid february when weeks later, the administration granted deferred action, quote, to approximately 100,000

individuals. the take? the lawyers in the case clearly violated their ethical duty. >> it is rare, but this is what happens when a federal judge thinks he has been lied to, when lawyers are not candid with him or misleading him. that comes through on every page of this order. >>reporter: he ordered them to provide a list of the thousand that is benefits from the action and mandated justice lawyers appearing in courts in the 26 states parties to the state have annual ethics training taught bay recognized ethics expert unaffiliated with the justice department. that's not all. he ordered an attorney general to appoint someone to ensure the order is followed and report back to him within 60 days about a comprehensive plan to ensure it doesn't happen again. a doj spokesperson strongly disagrees with the order.

the supreme court is considering the case on the merit testing how far they can or cannot go with modifying immigration policy. a decision is expected by june. >> thank you. le's talk about what the story is about and what it says about the government oversight. brit hume is here. >> it's unfarrakhan duct by lawyers before them. what they did goes forbeyond that. the judge found the department of justice's repeated and misrepresentation of the court is not worthy of a department whose name includes the word justice. then he took the step of remedial ethics training for washington based justice lawyers practicing in the states affected by the case. he pointedly observed the

unethical conduct occurred during the tenure of eric holder who happens to be the only attorney general in contempt of congress. he withheld documents from congress in a gun operating sting. holder's contempt case was referred to the u.s. attorney in washington, d.c., who has the duty to take the matter to a grand jury. that prosecutor never did. after all, he worked for eric holder. it will be up to holder's successor to realize something is rotton in her department and do something about it. >> what about the department strongly disagreeing with the order? >> that's an interesting reaction. the misconduct was admitted to the court by the justice department lawyers themselves. the program had gotten started. they represented it hadn't.

they came to the court some time after the damage was done and said, oh, yeah, there are 100,000 immigrants processed in this process. we overlooked that. they can't be disputing that. it must be the judge's language. i guess they can appeal the order to start the ethics program. one wonders if it's a better idea to have the ethics program. it is needed. >> that could ifect other elements. brit, thank you. >> you bet. coming up, hillary clinton gives her answer to our invitation to debate bernie sanders here on fox. what she said minutes ago and the papa

i just believe that this is the most important job in the world. itis the toughest job in the

world. you should be willing to dam campaign for every vote, willing to debate anytime, anywhere. >> have you thought about accepting that invitation? >> we'll consider it. >> you are not ruling it out? >> i haven't thought it it. we'll consider it. >> hillary clinton back in 2008. this weekend, about our invite to a debate on fox, likely june 6th, likely in san francisco. one of three debates she agreed to with bernie sanders. bernie sanders agreed to this debate. we just received word minutes ago from the clinton campaign, she decided against being part of this debate. basically, we are waiting for the official statement, but basically, she said she's done nine debates. they are concentrating on california, campaigning there and other states in the final states on june 7th. they don't think a debate would be the best use of resources and the decision, they say, has nothing to do with fox. so, with that, let's bring in

our panel, steve hayes, julie pace, white house correspondent for the associated press and laura ingram. people were looking at the politics of this and whether it was good for her to do or not. the basic premise was they agreed to three debates and this was the third. we expect the sanders campaign to jump on this and put out a statement as well. >> i would think he will. from her perspective, there's not a lot of reason to do it. there's not much she can hope to gain. she's got the nomination locked up. she allows bernie sanders to pretend he is a contender, even though he's not. you have people in clinton world making the argument she needs to be less programmed and less calculating, be herself. let hillary be hillary. this feeds into the perception that she is overly cautious,

overly calculating. think about what she said in response to chuck todd's question there. i haven't thought about it. i mean, really? we have been discussing this nationally in the news media for the past week, the past couple weeks. some people going on further than that. of course she's thought about that. why go on national television and say something so obviously untrue. again, that feeds into the perception she is cold, calculating, not a good politician. >> her campaign has binking abo. we invited her last tuesday, we just got word. >> i agree with steve. she has more to lose in doing the debate than to gain. she is at a point where she is turning her focus to the general election. she is going to be the nominee, with full certainty. the one thing, though tharks i would raise as a caution for skipping the debate is we have seen the last couple weeks the

struggle she is going to have in a general election with donald trump and his ability to drive the conversation, every single day. even in ways that may be negative for him. she's going to struggle to breakthrough. the campaign has to put her out there and put her on a positive set. this could have been a moment on a large cable network where she would have had a big audience and made a case for the election. >> laura, maybe in california, where she is facing polls that are pretty tight. >> i mean, this is another disappearing red line for democrats. we were going to do three debates, now we are not. i think it was the right decision for her, i agree with steve. i think it's great for bernie sanders. his narrative is the establishment isn't listening to the wishes of the people. the establishment democrat party is tone deaf and disrespecting me and my supporters, targeting debbie wasserman schultz and

this confirms the narrative of the unwashed masses showing up by the tens of thousands at the bernie sanders rallies. it cements his pitch to the voters. it helps him going into the platform. i think, for hillary, i mean, lately at least, the more we see of hillary and the more people see of hillary, the less they seem to like her as a presidential candidate. for her, it's better to have obama out there and the big news nights. have them take the fire and let her sit back a bit. >> speaking of the former president taking fire from the donald trump campaign today in a new ad. then hillary clinton reacted to donald trump's campaign. >> very nervous. no woman should be subjected to it. >> try to pull away from him.

>> the only thing standing between donald trump and the ovl office is all of us. the last thing we need is a bully in the pulpit. he could bankrupt america like he bankrupted his company. i mean ask yourself, how can anybody lose money running a casino. really? >> hillary clinton responding. meantime, the average of recent polls, according to real clear politics, clinton 43.2 and trump 43.4. >> trump consolidated the republican vote faster than i thought he would. some of that remains soft. people are supporting him reluctantly. those republicans who have come around to trump. but, that message from hillary clinton in that speech, to me, is so off. i mean, she's attacking him for being a bully in the pulpit. one of the things that was consistent with the exit polls

is people like that forceful speaking. it may not translate well if he's trying to convert bernie sanders voters, but, even independents who are broadly skeptical of donald trump, unfavorable numbers among independents, like donald trump because he told it like it is or made those arguments. we saw that in the polling. >> she's road testing messages to see what sticks. with the republicans, nothing stuck. she's hoping in the general election audience, one of these things will maybe breakthrough. she's going to have to settle on something. you can't totally have a wide open, totally diffused se e ed . you have to focus. >> she's focusing on bernie sanders. >> he's nipping at the heels and is good on "saturday night live." i think the trump ad is worth mentioning. it's erie. oh, he can't go down that road.

i disagree. i think you have to have a substance of pitch for economic renewal, that has to be the base. the more hillary tries to focus on the '90s clinton economy, it's really the gingrich economy. the more of an opening it gives trump to say there's more to the '90s than the balanced budget and job growth. there was a lot more to it including this narrative that kills the prowomen brand you want to establish. >> the statement came through and they added they are turning their attention to the threat of donald trump presidency poses, but roughly the same i told you was in the statement. next up, which is it? expanding the war or terror or ending it.

a small number of american special operation forces are already on the round in syria, and their expertise has been critical as local forces have driven isil out of key areas. given the success i have approved up employment 250 in syria and special forces to keep this up momentum. >> look at what has happened over last seven years. unemployment rate going from

10% down to 5%. automobile industry back. ending two wars. 20 million people with healthcare. many for the first time. we have great deal to be proud of in terms of our militiaments. >> missed that there, israeligate senior aide to president obama. ending two wars. they may want to tell the u.s. military. there is a lot of action happening the last two days including taking out the senior taliban leader inside pakistan mohammed mansoor killed by u.s. drone strike in southwestern pakistan. an area that the u.s. has not gone into extensively. there has been many cia a tacks. this was the only second strike within pakistan's borders since the bin laden raid that was deeply inside pakistan. pakistan says taps violation of sovereignty inside pakistani time you have a rock and all that's happening there as well. we are pack with the panel. laura, ending two wars.

that is what valerie jarrett said. >> if it's at&t it's not bad enough rules of engagement on the ground is pathetic and tie their hands unnecessarily. that statement have from valerie jarrett on "60 minutes" her role in the white house is one of pure politics. politically spinning this because in november it's better to and this of he hopes to hillary or cementing his heck georgia's. thinking of fact that we just lost charles keating in iraq 10 days ago and continue to lose good men and women in both iraq and afghanistan. more war dead in iraq than under george w. bush under president obama. and it's dismissive, it is tone deaf but pure politics. with our military, and everything they've done in very difficult circumstances, spinning this as a political success story at a time like this, where

everything is collapsing, really, in every country, is just -- it does take your breath away, although it shouldn't at this point. >> he sent more troops in to iraq, obviously he had the big surge in afghanistan. 75% of the u.s. military deaths in afghanistan under president obama. in afghanistan. julie. but, you know, you talk to the families, those people on the front lines are in combat. >> absolutely. and, yes, the u.s. footprint in afghanistan and in iraq looks different than when the president inherited it. that is undisputable. but, the idea that you don't have americans engaged in combat, engaged in what a lot of us, frankly would say is war is just simply not true. the administration knows. this i mean, we are now in a position where they are going to be handing off military involvement in both iraq and syria and afghanistan to the next president. that is indisputable, also. so it is a political talking point, but it's one that really belies reality that is just far different.

really difficult for a lot of military families, still. >> the president said on his trip about confirming mansoor's death, taliban lowered does not represent a shift in our approach. however, going after a taliban senior leader, this is what hillary clinton wrote in her book about the taliban as a first step we agree to do begin working with the united nations to remove a few key taliban members from the terrorist sanctions list which imposed a travel ban. soon the u.n. security council agree to do split the taliban and al qaeda list and treat them separately a district distinction in my speech hillary clinton's. now we had a secret channel to the taliban leadership that appeared genuine and might one day lead to a real peace talks among afghans. this is the effort by the administration. she is secretary of state to interact with the taliban. >> extraordinary. the president deserves credit for hitting mansoor. it's god. i'm glad he did it. he deserves to be dead. we are all better off that

points out exactly what a sharp change this is from the administration's original approach from diplomacy in afghanistan. though thought it was possible to separate the taliban harbored for a decade. that was unconceivable that was going to happen. and you heard she pressured the united nations to take taliban leaders off of the terror watch list. i mean, off of the terrorist list that the u.n. prepares. the second comment she made there i think is particularly interesting and particularly important. the secret channel that she was talking about was a person named a rod who is close to mullah omar the former taliban leader. this is somebody that the clinton team was working with extensively to make this diplomacy happen. it turns out that he was corresponding directly with usama bin laden's top deputies, reporting, we think, on the conversations that the taliban was having with the u.s. i mean, it's pretty extraordinary how much of a failure this has turned out

to be. >> there is much more to cover. that is it for the panel. stay tuned for an interview, well, you don't want to miss but maybe they missed it.

finally tonight, sometimes getting answers can be tough. >> wolf, you're outlining all the right issues. let's get the questions together and see if we can get some answers. >> i'm not going to answer that question. good try though, chris. i'm not going to answer that question. >> well, i'm not going to get into that. you know, i'm not going to be responding. >> excellent interview, thank you very much for doing that. >> that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced and unafraid. >> it is tuesday may 24th. the white house is headed to washington state today. donald trump returniturning to campaign trail as hillary trump declines a fox news debate only

fuelling the fire in the home stretch. >> waiting for healthcare with ride delays at disney. >> the outrage now boiling over as veterans are also forced to wait for an apology. plane crash. two accidents in just two hours. survivors desperately try to swim to shore. "fox & friends first" starts right now. >> good morning. rainy on the streets of new york city this morning.

the sun yet to come up out here. >> never too early. >> thank you for joining us. you are watching "fox & friends first". thank you for starting your day with us. we begin the gop nomination locked up for donald trump today. >> hillary clinton still making waves refusing to face off with bernie sanders for a debate. >> we have the latest on the campaign trail. what can we expect today? >> good morning abby and heather. it is another opportunity for donald trump to continue collecting delegates. washington state holds its primary today. trump as has been the case since early this month as no other national republicans are competing against him for the nomination. trump is campaigning out west this week even holding fund raisers. he's also focusing more on the general election a