from cbs news in washington, "face the nation" with bob schieffer. >> schieffer: today on "face the nation" army sergeant bowe bergdahl is heading home after five years in taliban captivity. but its stirred controversy back home. and the other big story, what is next at the veterans administration. they were sending up more hometown in idaho of a ii word came that he had been released by the taliban. >> like a hundred christmases all rolled in to one. there's no better news this town could have received. >> but exchanging him for five terrorists is raising a lot of questions back in washington. we'll ask republican senator john mccain who spent over five years as a prisoner in vietnam what he thinks of the deal. then we'll turn to the scandal at the veterans administration

and v.a. secretary eric shinseki resignation. >> don't have time for distractions, we need to fix the problem. >> schieffer: what is the solution? we'll talk with the chairman of the veterans affairs committee bernie sanders, former cia and nsa director michael hayden will be here. along with an all-star panel of analysts. 60 years of news because this is "face the nation." captioning sponsored by cbs good morning again when the president came to the rose garden for the announcement army sergeant bowe bergdahl's parents stood beside him. >> we're committed to winding down the war in afghanistan we're committed to closing gitmo. we also made iron clad commitment to bring our prisoners of war home. >> schieffer: bergdahl is 28 years old he was captured in

eastern afghanistan has been held captive for close to five years. videos released by the taliban recently show him in declining health and it was for that reason defense secretary hagel told reporters the administration moved quickly to exchange him for the taliban terrorists. and why congress was not notified. >> we pursued this effort specifically to get sergeant bergdahl back. as to another part of your question, could this embolden terrorists, again, i remind you this was a prisoner of war exchange. he was a prisoner. >> schieffer: and we begin this morning with cbs's national security correspondent david martin and "washington post" columnist david ignatious. david martin, tell us what you have been able to find out about how this came about?

>> this five for one swap had been on the table i think since 2011. it really gone no where. and then as secretary hagel said concerns about bergdahl's health plus assurances from the government that the five afghans released from guantanamo bay would not be allowed to leave qatar for at least a year. i think those were the two ingredients that kicked this in to high gear then of course results in this dramatic moment on the border. >> schieffer: do we have any information hoofs captured? >> he went walk about. he just walked off his base. with -- without his weapon without telling anybody. i mean he has a lot of explaining to do about how he was captured. he had some idea about being able to walk across the breath

of afghanistan. it was a bad mistake. >> schieffer: david ignatious, there has been mixed reaction here so far, what do you make of this exchange? secretary says this was a prisoner of war exchange, we weren't negotiate with terrorists others are questioning that. >> i think this is going to be politically controversial because the people who are being released, the five people being released from guantanamo are very dangerous taliban cadre, people in one case, military commander, deputy chief of intelligence in two cases of the five people who work directly to facilitate al qaeda's time in afghanistan. for that reason under -- i'm told end leon panetta and chairman of joint chiefs it was judged these people were too dangerous to let go. one thing that's changed that allowed this release is the

secretary of defense, and chairman decided that that is an acceptable risk. but to see details about how they will be held, how we can make sure they're not back on the battlefield before this one-year period that is part of deal is up, remains to be seen. >> schieffer: do we have any idea, you think they're going back to qatar, we have any idea under what circumstances, will they be released once they're there, what do we know? >> all weenie for sure is that they won't be ale lloyd to travel from qatar. what their freedom is, inside the country i'm not so sure although taliban's press release on this exchange said they will be living with their families. they got to get out of jail free card, let's face it. >> schieffer: david? >> i just was going to say, a lot depends here on the behavior of qatar government where they are responsible counter

terrorism partner, administration was eager toe credit them for their role, negotiations that led to this exchange were conducted indirectly through qatar, top taliban leader close to omar was negotiated through a third party. will they make sure that these people are confined essentially to their home that they don't have an operational role, larger question, what happens after a year? we have a deal here to keep them in qatar for a year. that will take us in to the middle of 2015 when the war is still going on. >> schieffer: david, he's in military hospital now or enroute there in germany is he coming back here? >> he'll eventually come back here. he's in germany right now. the protocol is that you don't even talk to your family for 72 hours after you are released. then you could be in germany up

to two weeks before you come back to the united states i think as practical matter all depends on his mental and physical condition. i think it will probably be, i've been told probably be middle of this week before any decisions are made when he comebacks to the united states he will go to the brook army medical center in san antonio, texas. >> schieffer: thank you all. i want to go now to arizona senator john mccain who is on the other side of the table, senator, thank you for being with us inned studio this morning. just give me your reaction? >> i understand the great joy and happiness of the bergdahl family and friends. we're all grateful that he has returned. i think there are legitimate questions about these individuals who are being released and the conditions under which they will be released. these are the hardest of the hard core. these are the highest high risk people. and others that we have released

have gone back in to the fight that's been documented. it's disturbing to me that the taliban are the ones that named the people to be released. all i can say is that we need to know more information about the conditions of where they're going to be and how, but it is disturbing that these individuals would have the ability to reenter the fight and they are big, high level people, possibly response i will for the deaths of thousands. >> schieffer: the deaths of thousands? >> absolutely. one of them was a chief intelligence person who killed a lot of shiite muslims. they are -- these are really the toughest of the tough. >> secretary hagel was saying that congress could not be notified ahead of time due to the top secret nature of this mission. and the fact that bergdahl was not in good health.

>> i understand that. the big issue here is what you and i just discussed. a little coincidence that on day that bergdahl is released is the day after refound -- we found out that the first american suicide bomber part of muslim extremist, al qaeda blue himself up in syria because we got out of iraq, which we could have left forces behind, and now the iraq-syria border is a haven for these people. and the fact is that al qaeda is reconstituted. bloodiest battle of the iraq war was second battle of fallujah. the black flags play over fallujah. this total evacuationss withdrawal from afghanistan is another replay of the iraq debacle which is a direct threat tote night states of america and i do not understand why the

president didn't learn the lesson of iraq where we could have left forces behind. >> schieffer: what do you make of what david ignatious just said, he said it is his understanding that secretary pin metasaid no way, no how for these people people to be released but secretary hagel signed off on it. >> there was discussions that i heard way back as far back as two years ago to release these people. there was opposition to that. but obviously what's done done. >> schieffer: a precedent being said here, hagel said it's not negotiating with terrorists it's a prisoner exchange. >> i think the big issue here is what is going to happen to these five individuals. if they reenter the fight then it is going to put american lives at risk and none of us want that to happen. not secretary hagel or anybody. but if they're able to have after a year in qatar, do whatever they want to do,

there's no doubt they will reenter the fight. others who have been released from guantanamo bay have reentered the fight. >> schieffer: let's talk about the veterans administration and the scandal over there which was what we had planned for this broadcast this morning until this big story happened yesterday. secretary shin senn key has resigned there is still a lot of problems to be solved. >> general is a great man, fine patriot who served his country left part of himself on the field of battle. i was reluctant to call for his resignation. they also the confidence of the veterans that's the key. unbelievable to for three weeks president of the united states never said a word about it. and it's not just a scheduling problem in the v.a. it is in the words of the inspector general a systemic problem. one of the keys to solving this problem is i campaigned if i might say, to give the veteran

the flexibility to get the care that he or she needs at the closest and most available place. there is v.a. facilities that are unique and wonderful, traumatic brain injury, pstd, war wounds, they're the best at it. but why should a veteran have the get in a van ride three hours to ghetto phoenix in order to have a routine medical care taken care of. why doesn't that veteran have card go to the caregiver that he or she needs and wants. that is the solution to this problem is flexibility to the veteran to choose their health care. just like other people under other health care plans are able to do. this is a situation in that the president needs to call together the best people he can find. i'd ask general petraeus, tom colbert, anybody in congress that knows more about health care, should be the next secretary of the veterans administration in my view. call them together say, two

weeks, i want you to tell american people what we need to do to fix this, we can do that. instead president seems to be blaming it on a scheduling problem. >> schieffer: it seems to me that another thing that needs to be dealt with these people who were -- there were actually people in this bureaucracy who were covering up the scheduling in order to qualify for performance bonuses. they were doing it to make money out of this. >> the scandal qualifies for department of -- justice department investigation it should have started some time ago because clearly there are allegations, serious allegations that laws were broken. >> schieffer: you think general -- you think senator coburn might be good person this. >> he's going to kill me for saying that. >> schieffer: senator, thank you so much. we want to go next to the chairman of the senate veterans affairs committee, bernie sanders, senator, thank you for

joining us this morning. why has all of this come at such a surprise to to everybody? it's hard for me to believe that these people who were not getting their appointments all that surely some of them must have written to their congressman complaining about this yet it just comes out of the blue that all this is going on? what happened here? >> well, probably people writing to their congressmen there have been reports that have been written for number of years by the inspector general, the gao. i believe that the hope had been is that the v.a. had listened to those reports. in fact while one of the interesting problems that we have is that the v.a. in recent years said we want to expedite the ability of veterans to get in to the v.a., we want to get them in in 14 days. what is very clear to everybody right now is that in many parts of the country are the v.a.

simply did not have the doctors and the staff to make sure that veteran got timely care, the system was then -- which is reprehensible, it must be dealt with through criminal prosecution and bureaucratic reshuffling. but we need to make sure sure that that never happens again. the other point that i would make, bob, is that if you ask veterans organization today, the american legion, v.a., the others, you look at independent surveys the truth is that when people get in to the v.a., the quality of care is good. the problem that we have to address is access to the system and waiting lines. we are going to introduce legislation either tomorrow or tuesday which addresses i think the short term needs to make sure that any veteran who is on a long waiting line will be able to get the care that he or she needs either at private facility

or community health center or department of defense, along the terms what we have to do in the v.a. make sure that they have the primary care, physicians, nurses, staffing they need to provide the quality of care that our veterans deserve in timely manner bob do you as chairman of oversight committee do you feel any responsibility for this, is congress as responsible for this situation as the administration is? >> well, i think everybody can bear some of the responsibility. we have had a number of hearing, we have met with all of the veterans organizations. i think the point right now, bob, is to make sure that we address the very real problems that are facing six and half million veterans who utilize the v.a. system. and what we have got to do to understand that the cost of war is very, very significant.

that means that when you send men and women off to war when they come home we have moral responsibility to make sure that all of them get the health care and benefits that they deserve. and that is responsibility of the -- >> schieffer: go ahead. i was i was going to say i agree with you the first priority make sure that these people who need this treatment get this treatment immediately. whose fault was this? was this general shinseki's fault? is it systemic, is it just bunch of people trying to make money? >> here is what i think. i have a lot of respect for general shinseki and his senator mccain just indicated he is an american hero. and in fact in a very difficult bureaucracy he's done a lot of good things. he has transformed -- you know not a lot of people know this.

when shinseki came in after the bush administration they were processing a million claims a year in paper. they didn't have electronic system. that takes a lot of work. hard to believe, but it's true. furthermore we have reduced homelessness very significantly, something that has been long term problem. in my view what we have got to do now is to focus on the very real issues and i intend to be active in that process. >> schieffer: what do you -- who do you see as the ideal person to head this, senator mccain says senator coburn who is also a medical doctor, i'd ask you a broader question, should this be a health care professional that takes this over or should it be someone with military experience, like general shinseki? who would be your choice at this point, if you -- don't want to

give a name what kind of a person that ought to be. >> well, i think -- we have 6.5 million people who are using v.a. health, it is a huge system. 230,000 people a day. number one, you do need to have somebody who understands health care administration, how to utilize your resources in the most effective and cost effective manner. second of all you need somebody obviously knows a lutea bout health care. let me repeat. the v.a. today in many parts of the this country is providing excellent health care, in some cases cutting edge health care. the issue right now make sure that we have the management capabilities that we get rid of as quickly as we can people who are incompetent and that we keep the promises. >> schieffer: before you go we're about out of time i need to get your reaction, to the

release of sergeant bergdahl. was this a wise thing for the president to do? >> look, i think it's a very sensitive and delicate issue. i suspect that if you ask senator bergdahl's feelings about what happened they will feel very, very good. i think we need to have more information about the long term consequences and do everything that we can to make sure that these terrorists do not get back on to the battlefield. >> schieffer: senator, thank you so much. we'll be back in one minute.

>> schieffer: last week maya angelo died at the age ever 86 after life which she made the most of every moment. she left a remarkable legacy. as a poet, philosophy, role model for us all. i interviewed her for the first time last year on mother's day in a reporting life that has stretched over more than 50 years and thousands of interviews with presidents and kings and even a crook or two, that interview with her was my

favorite. when i asked her some of her favorite things, i discovered she could charm the bark off a tree. >> i have done a lot of things. i've conducted the boston pops and translated several books and lots of things. i'm grateful. i'm the first black female director in hollywood the at 20th century fox. many things, sieve ran baxter, my mother, told me that with determination, preparation, intelligence, you can do anything. anything good. so i'm still doing -- listen to me i'm here talking to bob schieffer, i'm doing anything. [ laughter ] >> schieffer: may i just say that i think i've fallen in love with you. that hasn't happened to me on this broadcast very often.

i'm going to wish you the happiest of mother's day. i know what you have said today means a lot to moms out there and also to daughters. i want to wish you the very best. it made a wonderful mother's day for me because it reminded me how much my mom would have liked and admired may arc angelo. we'll be right back. like 60,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. who's going to make it happen? discover a new energy source. turn ocean waves into power. design cars that capture their emissions.

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>> schieffer: i am just back from ten days in israel, i talked to both israeli and lynn officials and i've been to the region many times. but what stays with me this time are the words of a young israeli farmer and his wife who live a stone's throw from the wall that separates their village from the gaza strip. where more than a million palestinians live. a farmer tells me how he used to hire hard working palestinians from gaza to tend his tomatoes since the escalation of terrorist attacks in recent

years the palestinians cannot leave gaza now even though unemployment in gaza is 41%, he imports workers from thailand half way around the world. in his village no one is more than 15 seconds from a concrete bunker, the farmer's wife tell me the kids know what the bunkers are for and how moms and sniper fire have -- bombs and sniper fire have come. they know to run to the playground binger when they hear the sirens, but what do i tell the 4-year-old when he asks, why did they want to kill him? in the palestinian areas the children are also asking hard questions. i came away from this visit reminded that of all the questions about the middle east,ed hardest is answer are still the ones the children ask. back in a minute.

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>> schieffer: welcome back that fakes the nation the former nsa computer technician turned leaker edward snowden gave his first major television u.s. interview last week to nbc news. and we want to welcome michael hayden former head of the cia and the nsa. now works for a group. for some reaction to that and reality check on some of snowden's allegation. general, first, i need to ask you or i'd like to ask you 'bow this release this young american and the exchange. there is going to be some controversial. >> there will be. reason for that, bob, is that looking at this through humanitarian lens, the answer is obvious. looking a it through the lens i had looked through it when i was back in government, the answer is equally obvious. it's not the same answer. i think you get to square that

circle with you conditions of confinement or whatever it is we want to call it in qatar. right now that is very big. i would frankly be uncomfortable with those folks being able to communicate, those folks being able to take visitors and those folks being able to leave after a year. >> schieffer: you know them? >> they're very dangerous people. there is a reason they were still at guantanamo bay. i would have a strong voice of caution at the table if i was still in government during this discussion. i don't know if i would have fallen on my sword but made very sure decision makers understood the risk. >> you think it was a risk? >> there's a definite risk. >> schieffer: let's talk about snowden. you obviously were the head of the national security agency on this broadcast earlier this year, you said when i asked you was he a trait or you said he's a defective traitor that was the term you used. he tells us in this interview

that was trained as a spy, should we believe that? >> the first impression i got from the interview is young mr. snowden is a far better spokes machine for himself than glenn greenwalt is. very impressive, well controlled, well prepared performance. that said, bob, if that had been a job interview, had been in front of me saying those kinds of things about his experience i would have been all over his references trying to confirm that which he had claimed because frankly it didn't have the ring of total truth in his describing the roles he had over past seven or eight years. >> schieffer: he says that he has not met with president putin or isn't working with the russians. he had no connection. said he didn't bring anything with him. do you believe that? >> he said he didn't bring anything with him to russia. i have legitimate question. did he bring anything with him to hong kong and what happened to this stuff that he had in hong kong, with regard to his contact with the russian government. of course he had contact with the russian government.

he may not have known he had had contact with the russian government but any responsible security service is going to be all over this guy. finally with regard to president putin he appeared on tv with putin in russian federation infomercial that putin runs on routine basis. he asked pout tibia question, i'm going -- whose idea was that? who arranged that? why did you do that? what were you thinking? when you agreed to do that kind of thing with putin. >> schieffer: do you think that edward snowden has done ear rep rabble harm as some kay to the national security if so in what way, general? >> unquestionable irreversible arm. now, his first story out of the gate was the 215 program, metadata program that does impinge on american privacy

there is a question there that we should answer as an adult nation. why did he reveal that nsa intercepted the satellite phone of da me tree. this was not through one of the intermediaries, why did he tell chinese nsa, why did he reveal that norway and sweden cooperated with the united states of america in covering the russian federation. he claimed that no one has been able to show any harm that has been done. if he lives up to half of that resume he claimed to have, that he was actually a spy in an intelligence officer, he would understand that there is no way the united states can reveal without creating far greater harm what it is we have lost. what is it he wants us to do, to up publicly with list of all the terrorist targets now that we're no longer covering because of information that he's revealing? >> schieffer: he says that he gave this information to

journalists it was up to them to make sure that the security wasn't damaged. >> that in what way releases him of responsibility? >> schieffer: what do you think happens now with him? do you think there's any chance that he'll be brought back? some people are saying he ought to be brought back, somehow pardoned or given some sort of -- >> i don't think so. i hope that is not hope on my part i hope that is rational judgment. there is a young man in prison right now jailed john, because he revealed the name of one cia officer to one journalist who did not further publicize that information. by the way, that piece of information he revealed is condid i den shall in our classification. top secret. top secret code word. one fact, confidential, 30 months in jail. snowden has revealed hundreds of

thousands of data points up here at the top secret code word level. and we're supposed to give him amnesty? >> schieffer: how would you label him now? >> i'd still go with defector. he certainly betrayed the workforce of which he was a part. he betrayed his oath and in some ways betrayed his country. i'll hold back on the treason thing that's a narrow legal definition. >> schieffer: general hayden, we'll be right back with our panel, stay with us. ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ [ birds squawking ] my mom makes airplane engines that can talk. [ birds squawking ] ♪ my mom makes hospitals you can hold in your hand.

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>> schieffer: we're back now for a little analysis with lee gallagher assistant managing editor of "fortune" david ignatious, national security correspondent david sanger and nancy cordes. nancy can let's just start with this prisoner release this morning. we're hearing from the public who seemed to be very concern r concerned you heard bernie sanders with is independent saying he wants more information about this. are we going to hear from any democrats who are upset or is this going to break along partisan lines? >> right now along partisan lines. it's still early, are saying, what options did the white house have? in the old days used to negotiate with other countries, when we had prisoners of war they would do a swap. now when we go to war we're with

terrorists. whether administration officials supposed to do. republicans however i'm told are already gearing up for possibly multiple investigations and hearings in several different house committees. you heard from the house armed services chair who put out this very strongly worded statement saying he thinks the president broke the law by failing to inform congress that he was going to be moving guantanamo bay prisoners. and i'm told that the speaker of the house, don boehner agrees with him. >> schieffer: david, where do you see this going on capital nill is going on for awhile? >> it's already a political fight you can see the lines being brawn. i thought senator mccain was quite cautious, he wasn't talking about breaking the law or any of that. there will be other questions as well. one is these very dangerous taliban people now being p in qatar. another is, was this release deal available four years ago? i'm told basically it was. these same names, five names

were circulated four years ago we could have saved a lot of time and money and suffering for both bergdahl if this is the deal. >> schieffer: as you painted out earlier in the broadcast, back then -- no way, no how. what do you think it was, david sanger, that changed the mind? >> two things have changed. the first was four years ago there was thought that this would be a confidence building measure that would be on the way to a more comprehensive deal with the taliban. something that would enable some kind of settlement. the hope of of that is now pretty well gone. at this point requesting trying to get bergdahl out of there before americans left the region or if president gets hesse way keep so,000 there. but this is question more of closer than of political settlement. it is interesting, four years ago it was not only republicans who were -- had concerns at that

time about releasing these five members of the taliban. there was some prominent democrats who similarly had concerns to see if they come back now and issue their same. >> schieffer: lee, going to be interesting to see what hillary clinton is going to have to say about this. her book "big deal" coming out here, start giving interviews, seen one chapter given the politico about benghazi. where i do see her coming down? you've been tracking her activities lately. >> this will be interesting to see the biggest book launch. already seen this, the video coming out where she addressed inequality which will be interesting to watch. but she is going to come -- be interesting to see where she comes down on this, she will probably defend the administration's decisions as

she has been doing for awhile now. >> schieffer: that raises the point, obvious low she must have known about this. back then if what david ignatious is saying that this was on the table some years ago it will be interesting to see how she weighed in on that. >> in fact, the idea of having open conversations with the taliban, subject to certain limits which they would agree to the future limits. again under secretary clinton. her appointment as richard holbrooke's success or, special mediate or to mark grossman had at least three or four meetings with the taliban, discuss this very issue. the names have been circulated for a long time. and secretary clinton knew about it i'm sure it's an issue that will come up during her

campaign. in terms of her book we're all waiting to see that's the case she wants to make. i want to read the book. >> when the secretary's book comes out i think people are going to look at it for the obvious, benghazi, very smart the get that part out early. also going to be looking at the it for range of other decisions. she was more hawkish member of the cabinet. whether or not she signs on completely to the negotiations now underway with iran will be -- and the kind of terms that are being discussed which iran some kind of ability to make nuclear fuel that will be interesting one. she'll be examined pretty closely for all the things that she says about the ultimate decision to leave that position. >> no accident that that benghazi chapter was released

her aides tell me they have come to the conclusion, benghazi is not going to go away it's the main issue that is going to hound her if she deseeds to run for president. they wanted to get it out there, show her position, have her are able to make her case in 34 pages, it's no accident that they met with democratic groups this week to layout her case so that everyone is on the same page. >> schieffer: before we get to hillary clinton's presidency, let's talk about the current one. the president made a speech about foreign policy at west point this week. i don't remember this ever happening, the "washington post" and "new york times" and wall street journal all saw very stages ever being critical of that speech. what did you think? >> being in the middle isn't sexy we like narratives, big brawny success stories, and what the president has been trying to say that this policy of not

isolationism, not interventionism, somewhere in between, it's really hard to sell that i think. i do think we're in new era of fighting our fights across the world, sometimes unilateral intervention is called for, some times sanctions can be quite powerful, i think we've seen that in iran and to some degree in russia. and we have new challenge in front of us looming, i think. which is cyberterrorism and cyberwarfare. all these different sites not to remember incredibly now all the terrorist networks that have multiplied and gotten more threatening and more ruthless. we are in phase now that i think calls for menu of choices but that doesn't -- doesn't play well. >> the president says we're not withdrawing anywhere in the world. we're not pulling back but i'm going to say, i was in israel for ten days last week and i see

stories in the papers, they say since the president's withdrawal from the middle east, since the american pullback from the middle east there is a perception, at least among some that we are pulling back, david. >> i hear that wherever i travel. in a sense the president is saying this decade which we were interventionists got ourselves in to real trouble, i think most americans would agree the war is in iraq and afghanistan were costly and difficult. saying that created -- what he hasn't been effective explaining how we're going to project the power in the future. there is a question, what would america fight for? that is the question people are wondering about. part that have speech to be honest i like a lot, i thought talking how without good military optionswe were able to put pressure on vat mere pout particular so in the end it went

foreart he's right to say that. >> retrenchment is hard to sell. the president had difficult task here. i thought the best part of the speech was the statement of the obama doctrine which was the u.s. would come in to fight when its own direct interests are effective. it will insist that allies and other partners come in when there's just general good, effort to explain why he didn't go in to syria or why he left libya so quickly. i thought that the weakest parts of the speech were first inability to explain how we were going to use new elements of our power. leigh membered one in the cyberpower. the president never explained how the united states would use its new arsenal of cyberweapons. second was, failure to really grapple in the speech with a big change of tone for china and russia. got the chinese now in contrick with the vietnamese over

territory and with the japanese. you've got the russians obviously taking much more assertive, aggressive new view. and president i think needs to explain whether or not the u.s. was going to choose these as moments where he gives you our central national interest at stake. >> schieffer: what is congress doing these days? pretty much announced in february they weren't going to do any -- checklists after the elections. here you have a world just in turmoil and what is going on up there? are they focused on anything besides raising money and their own re-elections. >> a lot of hay about the v.a. and situation there. which frankly is a little bit disengine with us as inspector general pointed out they have been doing reports since 2005 showing that wait times at the v.a. are being manipulated.

for the v.a. secretary, for the president for anyone in the administration or congress to say this is such a shock, i've been lied to, i'm completely surprised by this is again disengeneral with us. if real legislation comes out that could be good thing in the v.a. committee there was no legislation that would enable veterans who are waiting longer than certain amount of time for an appointment to be able to go outside of the system get care from a private facility. that is legislation depending how long it's crafted that could be bipartisan. if congress doesn't just drop the ball like it often does in these situations say, well secretary shin sec key is gone, let's move on to something new. >> >> schieffer: leigh, what do you think is going to happen now? >> i think that this is a leadership crisis of the highest

order. management crisis, let rerephrase that. the problems, yes, they were there. he inherited them. but they are massive and it's the scale, the problem is systemic. the performance management, the bonus structure is just completely out of line. and setting unattainable goals, encouraging people to meet them however possible. the issue of doctor shortage is incredibly large. the irony is that the care is quite good. the v.a. has innovative when it comes to care. but the shortage by the way also is -- our entire medical system is facing that. there are limits placed on the number of physician, is that come out of res deb see each year that is capped hasn't changed. there are number of problems. >> schieffer: thank you very much. thank you for joining us this morning. we'll see you on cbs this morning tomorrow. where you will reveal this

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>> schieffer: friday marks the 70th anniversary of d day the ally id invasion of normandy on june 6, 1944, 156,000 troops swarmed normandy beaches, that is our "face the nation" flashback. >> general dwight d. eisenhower. >> you are about to embark upon the big crusade of which these many months, the eyes of the world are upon you. >> schieffer: d-day was the beginning of the end of world r world war ii. on its 20th anniversary some 50 years ago eye enhoyer shared his -- eisenhower shared his reflexes with walter cronkite. >> suppose we go along look at

omaha beach. i think we should. >> schieffer: it was 90-minute special that aired in 22 different countries. eisenhower told the store rear of d-day from where it happened. the secret war room where top e-mail terry -- >> this attack without this was not a good -- bob beaches were 73,000 americans troops landed. even the view from enemy lines. >> from this bunker overlooking the beaches, must have had a tremendous sight on d-day morning. >> schieffer: most powerful recollection came after a walk through the american military cemetery. >> it means came here to storm these beaches for one purpose only. not to gain anything for ourselves, not to fulfill any

ambition, is that america had for conquest just to preserve freedom. when i think about that day, 20 years ago, i say once more, we must find some way to gain an eternal peace far this world. >> schieffer: as those young people, the people of my parents' generation stormed those beaches that day they risked their lives and many lost their lives because the world was on the brink of a new dark age and fell to them to prevent that and they did. we must never forget them or what they did. happen? discover a new energy source. turn ocean waves into power. design cars that capture their emissions. build bridges that fix themselves. get more clean water to everyone. who's going to take the leap? who's going to write the code? who's going to do it? engineers. that's who. that's what i want to do. be an engineer. ♪

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>> schieffer: well that's all the time we have today but before we go, one last thing. we want to congratulate our senior white house correspondent bill plante who celebrates 50 years on the job here at cbs news today. way to go, bill. we'll see you here next week. bulldog: [yawning] it's finally morning!

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