the president following that meet i meeting. >> i have just finished meeting with secretary shinseki and my appointed investigatsecretary. as the commander in chief, i have the honor of standing with the men and women from every moment of service from the moment they take the oath to when the troops prepare to deploy, to afghanistan, where they put their lives on the line for our security, to their best side as our wounded warriors are fighting to recover from terrible injuries, and the most stirring moments of my presidency have been going to walter reed or bethesda or bagram and meeting the troops who have left a part of themselves on the battlefield. and their spirit and determination to recover and often to serve again is always an inspiration. these men and women and the families are the best that our country has to offer. they have done their duty, and they ask nothing more than that this country does ours and they uphold the sacred trust to all who have served. so when i hear the allegations of misconduct, and any

misconduct, whether it is allegations of the v.a. staff covering up wait times or cooking the books, i will not stand for it. not as commander in chief, but also not as an american. none of us should. so, if these allegations prove to be true, it is dishonorable, and it is disgraceful, and i will not tolerate it, period. here is what i discuss ed with secretary shinseki this morning, anybody who found to have manipulated or falsified credits at v.a. hospitals has to be held accountable. there has been investigations

launched into the phoenix and other facilities and some individuals have been put on administrative leave. i know that people are angry and they want swift restitution, but we have to let the investigators get to the bottom of it. our veterans deserve to know the facts, and their families deserve to know the facts, and if there is misconduct, i want punishment. second, i want the full scope of this problem, and that is why i ordered secretary shinseki to investigate. today, he updated me on the review not just the phoenix facility, but facilities across the country, and i expect

preliminary results from that review next week. and third, i asked rob nabors to conduct a broader investigation, the part of the v.a. that delivers health care to our veterans, and he going to the phoenix today.

and keep in mind, that if we had not heard reports out of this phoenix facility or other facilities, we all know that it takes too long for the veterans to get the care they need.

it is not a new development, but it is a problem for decades, and compounded by more than a decade of war. that is why when i came into the office i said that we would systematically work to fix these problems, and we have been working hard to address them. my attitude is that for folks who have been fighting on the battlefield, they should not have to fight a bureaucracy at home to get the care they have earned. the presumption has always been that we have to do better, and rob's review is a comprehensive look at the veteran's approach to ook cess to care. i want to know what is working, what is not working, an to work washington. we made disability pay to more vietnam vets exposed to the agent orange. making it easier for the veterans with the post-traumatic stress and mental health illness to get care, and care for women v veterans. because of these steps, and the number of veterans increasing for services, we did have an increased backlog, but now it has been slashed in half. we won't let up, because it is too high, but we will keep at it until we eliminate the backlog once and for all, and secondly, we are helping to reduce homelessness for the veterans. we are helping them to pursue education under the post 9/11 g.i. bill, and we are helping

the veterans to get the skills and the training they need when they come home, and along with michelle and jill biden, we have head -- helped hundreds of thousands of veterans get back to work. and the unemployment rate for veterans is coming down. so caring for the veterans is not an issue that popped nup in the recent weeks, because was the problems of how the veterans can access the benefits that they have earned, that is not a new issue, it is an issue that i was working on when i ran for the united states senate. taking care of the veterans and the families has been one of the causes of my presidency. and it is something that all of us have to be involved with, and have to be paying attention to. we ended the war in iraq, and as the war in afghanistan ends and the new veterans are coming

home, the demands on the v.a. are going to grow. so we have the redouble the efforts to get it right as a nation. we have to be honest that there are and will be continuing areas where we have to do better. so today, i want every veteran to know, we will fix whatever is wrong, and as long as i have the privilege to serve as commander in chief, i will keep on fighting to deliver the care and the benefit and the opportunities that your families deserve. now and for decades to come. that is a commitment to which i feel a sacred duty to main tape. with that, i want to take two questions. i want to take jim ewan from the

a.p. >> and how did it get to the point where we have 40 veterans who died waiting for treatment, and that is extreme circumstance, but why did we get to that point? >> well, we have to find out exactly first what happened, but i don't want tote g ad-to ig- - don't want to get ahead of the other reports and the i.g. report that is getting done. what the i.g. has indicated is that the wait lists were for folks with chronic conditions, and seeking the next appointment, and may have received services, but not calling for emergency services and the ig said that he did not see a link between the length and them dying. but it does not excuse that the wait times are too long in some

facilities, and so what we have to do is to find out what exactly happened, find out how to realistically cut these wait times. we have a new influx of veterans and a population of veteran aging as part of the baby boom population, and we have to make sure that the scheduling system, and the access to them is, an all of those things are in sync. there are parts of the v.a. health care system that have performed well. what we have seen is satisfaction rates in respect to providers has been high, but what you -- what we are seeing is that in terms of how folks get scheduled and they get into the system, there are still too many problems. i will get a complete report from it, and it is not a

consequence of the people not caring about the problem, but there are 85 million appointments scheduled among veterans in the year, and that is a lot of appointments, and that means that there has to be a system that is built in order to take the folks in a smooth fashion and they know what to expect and it is reliable and it means that the v.a. has to set standards it can e meet. if it can't meet them right now, then it has to set realistic goals of how they can meet them. >> and what about the responsibility of these things? >> well, the ultimate responsibility rests with me as the commander in chief. eric shinseki is a great so soldier, and he himself has

injuries and nobody is a bet te commander than ric shinseki can, and if you ask about the homelessness, and the work of the v.a. on his shoulder, but i said to ric today what are the results of the reports, and there is accountability, and i expect even before the reports are done, that we are seeing the significant improvement in terms of how the admissions process takes place in all of the v.a. health care facilities. i know that he cares about it deeply, and he has been a great public servant, and a great warrior on behalf of the united states of america, and we will

work with him to solve the problem, but i want to make sure that there is accountability throughout the system after i get the full report. steve holland. >> thank you, sir. has secretary shinseki offered to resign, and if he is not to blame, who is? and were you caught by surprise by these allegations? >> ric shinseki serves the country, because he cares deeply about veterans and cares deeply about the mission. i know that ric's attitude is that if he does not think that he can do a good job on this, and if he believes he has let the veterans down, then i am sure that he is not going to be interested in continuing to serve at this stage, ric is committed to so slving the problem, and working with us to do it, and i will do everything in any power, using the resources of the white house to

help that process of getting to the bottom, and i am also going to be waiting to see what the results of all of this review process yields. i don't yet know how systemic this is. i don't know yet know if there is a lot of other facilities cooking the books or is this is just and episodic problem. we know that essentially wait times have been a problem for decades in all kinds of circumstances with respect to the v.a. getting benefits, getting health care a, and et cete cetera. some facilities do better than others a and couple of years ago, the veteran affairs set a goal of 14 days for the wait times, and what is not yet clear

to me is whether enough tools were givetone make sure that the goals were actually met. i won't know until i get the full report to know whether there was enough management follow-up to the make sure that the folks on the front lines of the skcheduling had the capacit to meet the goals, and evaluated for reaching goals that were unrealistic, and they could not meet them because not enough doct doctors or systems in place, and what have you, but we have to find out who is responsible for setting up the guidelines. so we have to set up the answer. in the meantime, what i said to ric is not to wait for the report retrospectively, but to reach out to the veterans kurntsly waiting for thep appointments to get them more better service.

we can initiate that right away, and we are have to dig in, and up the game in all of the various facilities. i think it is important not just with respect to ric shinseki, but the v.a. and say that each and everyday the v.a. do outstanding work and put everything that they have got to making sure that the veterans, benefits and services that they need. i do want to close by sending out a message out there that there are millions of veterans getting really good service from the v.a., and good treatment from the v.a., and i know it, because i get the letters from the veterans asking me to write the letters of commendation or praise to a doctor or nurse or

faci facility that couldn't have given them better treem. so this is a big system with a lot of people in it that care about the stret rans -- about the veterans' treatment. and so there has been a host of issues like homelessness, and mental health treatment, and some vets who could not get services, because of agent orange disability or other disabilities, but there are a number of people in the v.a. doing a great job and working hard at it. but it does not excuse the po possibility that number one, we were not doing a good enough job in terms of the providing access to folks who need appointment for chronic condition, and

number two, it never excuses the possibility that somebody was trying to manipulate the data in order to look better or make their facility look bet ter. it is critical to have good information to make good decisions. i want people on the front lines if there is a problem to tell me or tell ric shinseki or their superior that this is a problem, and do not cover up a problem or pretend that the problem does not exist. if you can't get the wait times down to 14 days, let the folks up the chain know so we can solve the problem, new doctors? more doctors, new system to make sure that scheduling and skoord nati -- coordination is more smooth and do we need for the follow-up. that is what disturbs me most

about the report is the possibility that folks intentionally withheld information that would have helped us to fix a problem. there is not a prob e lem out the -- problem out there that cannot be fixed. it may not be fixed the way that everybody likes, but we have seen it with the backlogs and the homelessness and the post 9/11 g.i. bill, and there were initial problems with it, but it was fixed and now operating smoothly, but the problems can be fixed, but the folks have to let the folks that are doing the reporting know there is a problem. >> who has been mismanaging? >> well, not only getting bonuses, but i want them pinished and that is what we will hopefully find out from the i.g. report as well as the

audits taking place. all right. thank you very much, everybody. you have listened to president obama's extensive remarks so far on the scandal rocking the veterans health care system. i have with me colonel jack jacobs who is standing by and of course, a medal of honor recipient, and retired colonel, and also nick miklaszewski, and he says it is disgraceful, and he is not ready to act until we hear from the i.g. report which should fill in some of the blanks as to whether or not the president said that there was a cooking of the books that perhaps contributed to the deaths of at least 23 vets who were on extended or hidden wait lists. >> well, it is a legitimate concern if not a defense, because they have to wait until the ig's investigation is complete. and don't forget that during the

testimony on capitol hill, the v.a.i.g. said that he is employing his own criminal investigators from within the veterans affairs into the issue, and i will tell you that is in response to the second question, that was probably the longest answer i have ever heard to a yes or no question. did secretary shinseki offer his resignation, and the president never did say whether or not he did, but i can tell you that in instances like this historically when the secretary or the high ranking official within administration is coming under intense public scrutiny or attack, it is pro forma almost that they come in, and offer the resignation and the president of course has the authority, the ability to, option to say i

won't accept that. after all, donald rumsfeld former secretary of defense offered his resignation twice, and it was finally the third time that it was accept ed. >> and so from the inside information that you have and also listening to the president, he did not say that general shinseki is -- i don't know if the word is safe, jim. i'm not sure exactly how to articulate it, but if president did not say that shinseki is the guy no matter what, but he is resting the confidence on the i.g. report, and what he said that wherever it falls, people will be held accountable. he did not eliminate a single name from the ekwags including the -- equation including general shinseki. >> and the president, himself, said he accept responsibility, and you would think it is shinseki, but if you listened to

the testimony last week in reguard to the specific questions asked by senators on the senate veteran affairs committee about what was going on in the various hospitals of where the allegations were raised, secretary shinseki punted it or he said that he is not aware of it or didn't know, and again, that kind of detail may not find its way normally to the top, but when your entire o organization is under scrutiny, one has to wonder why wouldn't you know? you are the secretary. and it is your veterans who are dying on the waiting lists. >> and yes, colonel jack, because you have rob nabors a deputy secretary who is now on the way to phoenix. one would think that general shinseki would be doing that, and now you have another individual stepping in, colonel, and what is that telling you?

>> well, it is all elevated above his pay grade. >> which is never good. >> no, no no, it is no a good thing for your boss to takeover moving the ball along. nick brings up an interesting question about shinseki if he offered the resignation, and it is a pro forma thing. i cannot imagine him doing that, but within the confines of the white house he said, do you want me to go? here is the resignation, and the president said, no, we will wait for it to all be over. >> and not until 2007 when the walter reed scandal when there was the deplorable expose on the deplorable situations like that, and the president said that he does not want these people to politicize it, and we hope that is not the case, but we know,

colonel, the problems with the v.a. system have been systemic, and the president noted that if some of the books were cooked, they could have been remedied if there was a need for more doctors, but the v.a. system is antiquated. >> i think it is broken and can't be fixed. no matter how much money you throw at it, it is not the structure to deliver first-class health care vto veterans. it is always going to take more money to do hit in the bureaucracy like the v.a. than exactly the same thing at a public/private partnership like medicare/medicaid. there is no reason why veterans can't use either the medicare or the medicaid, and there was one report that said that if veterans got care through

medicare or medicaid two things would happen. $30 billion would be saved and they the would be seen much more quickly. >> and the president said it is an incredible number of individuals needing help, and the youngerer of the group from iraq and iraq and then our fathers with the korean war, and the aging population, and is it time to look at the not recent pr problem, but the problems that we have brushed under the rug at the v.a. system. >> i agree. it may be -- i doubt if it will happen, but one hopes that they are honest that the inspector general will come to the conclusion that we don't have what we need, and then the house and the senate will come to that conclusion, and having said

that, so much money, and the political capital invested in these facilities and the districts around the country, and you can hope that they will come to the right conclusion, but i bet they won't. we can throw more money at it, but it is not going to be as good as it should be. >> and there are big issues with phoenix, but big issues with the national level that still linger out there. >> thank you, colonel, and thank you, mick. appreciate it, sir. coming up next, we will look at the showdown between the min minority leader mitch mcconnell and alison grimes. we will break down the midterm showdown. mark murray is on the trails with the hot races, and what they mean for the midterms. give me a tweet about the

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welcome back, the stage is set for the showdowns including the battle in kentucky between democrat alison lun der gran grimes, and matt bevin was defeated by double digits in yesterday's primary and this is going to be the most expensive senate race of the year. >> and my opponent barack obama and harry reid want her in the race. there is not a dime's worth of difference, not a dime's worth of difference between a candidate who puts harry reid in charge and harry reid, i himself. >> and president obama is not on the kentucky 2014 election ball ballot. nothing about this election is going to change who is in the

white house, but we can change who is in washington, d.c. >> and today, lun dergan grimes is out on the campaign trail and she is going to go to a place in chi d kentucky where mcconnell was not able to talk about jobs. and also new ads. >> a lot of people in washington have things going worse and a lot of oit is because of the people at the top of the political parties. >> and later this fall, she will run with rand paul, and the big story of the day was the gop establishment overwhelming victory over the tea party which lost in idaho, georgia, pennsylvania and in addition to kentucky. here to break it down for us this morning is nbc news senior political editor mark murray, and we have to abbreviate this, because of the president's

remarks, but what is the big takeaway. >> yes. it was a big night for the republican party, and the establishment ended up coming out over the tea party, but it is important to know what the establi establishment winning over the tea party means, and it means that the republicans didn't end up with a christine o'donnell or todd akin or somebody who is problematic for the republicans to win in the general election, and able to get the best person whether it is mich mcconnell in kentucky and run over of perdew and kingston, and not getting folks who are nowed headi flawe novemb november. >> and as i mentioned, senator mcconnell will be alongside rand paul and let's look at the race the day after the tremors and what is leading up to the midterms. >> well, you encapsulated it well, that alison grimes wants

to make it about mitch mcconnell and if you don't like what is going on in washington, vote for me, and mitch mcconnell skeeps mentioning harry reid and barack obama saying that alison grimes is a democrat, and we traditionally do well in the senate and the presidential races in kentucky, and grimes wants to take it away from president obama, and emphasize somebody like steve bashir who has a 16 pors % approval rating >> all right. thank you, mark. and let me bring in the daily beast contributor, and founder of jane politics. let's start with you, robert, and how will alison grimes combat that, and the strategy is to hold her down with harry reid and obama. >> well, the mcconnell strategy

to try to make it a referendum about president obama and harry reid, but one person who is a lack of approval and the low approval rating is comparable to president obama is mitch mcconnell, and so for alison grimes to make the case of keeping the focus on mitch mcconnell and make it a referendum on the strategy is going to play well, primarily because the voters in kentucky can impact who the senator is and what they can't do is to change the white house, and one fact that is worth noting and not getting a lot of media

attention is that in the primary turnout, there were 50,000 more votes coming out for the uncontested democratic primary than the mcconnell and bevin primary, and so there was more enthusiasm amongst democrats than republicans. >> and now, let's bring you in, chris. we were able to sneak up on the people in the past, and there is no sneaking up on the people anymore and if there is an incoumbent in a benign environment, they are very, very difficult to beat. what can you say about ending the civil war within the party, but taking the steam out of the movement? >> well, the emerging story coming out of the primaries in this entire sort of spring has been the populous sort of movement wave of populous support, and people are tired of democrats and republicans and progressives and tea party, and you will see on the both sides

of the primary contests across the country that the more moderate candidate is emerging and talking about reforming the government and taking care of the scandals like the v.a. and the overreach with the nsa wiretapping, and i think that both parties need to pay attention and both parties are tire odd of the wings of the party, and the labels of of the party and the establishment, and you saw that in pennsylvania and in georgia and in kentucky, and people are moving more towards problem solving candidates. >> and harry reid and president obama are red meat and the only thing that he left off was obamacare, and is that in line with what you are saying? >> well, both of the parties are missing this right now, and there are some house races that i have seen where the candidates are starting to sort of understand not to run as the party brand but run for the people, and run against washington, but i don't -- you know i think that the strong message out there for both parties is that people are tired of these brands and they want solutions and things to be

handled. they are tired of the name calling and, you know, red meat politics, and they just want solution solutions. >> well, that is an interesting point that you make, pa tricia, and i want to play what bill kristol said on "morning joe" and similar to what salena is saying. >> if i were a swing voter out, there i would say that i am tempted to vote for the republicans, and it looks like president obama and the democ t democrats and what are they going to pass? they are not running on that, and in washington, it helps a lot, and to push the alternative to obama care. >> and the alternative to obamacare, and what is the strategy, and you are hearing some of the democrats who were quoted in the political article yesterday what will the strategy be from the democrats, and might we see more specifics on how business can get done in washington as opposed to pointing at the other guy. and what is the strategy from

both sides. >> well, for democrats, sure, it is, you nknow, how are we going to get it done? is and if you look at the georgia race alone, it is michelle nun's -- michelle nunn's message to get a new message. i think that the tea party defeat represents something gop voters may be voting for strategically, but not less conservatively, and if you look at perdue and kingston alone, they want to repeal obamacare, and nooeither would vote for mih mcconnell in a leadership race, and that is so different in how they used to campaign. there is no talk of compromise when we talk about the candidates and no talk of candidates, and that is the republican messages and they

want to fight and go to the zoo, and pick the candidates tonight. >> and tamron, can i say that anger management worked for them, and this year, they are not foaming at the mouth or making irrational ridicule, but the policies have not changed, and that is what we are reflecting on, and abolish iing minimum wage, and in congressman kingston talked about the idea of having children sweep the floor so they learn that there is no such thing as free lunch. >> and respond, yes, it is not as easy as the tea party, and use the word extreme views that make some of the candidates undesirable in the past, and those things have been kind of brushed off to the side, but these candidates that were victorious yesterday in the

primary were perhaps conservative than they would be. >> i have been reporting for a while that as all political movements peak, they have two great cycles, and people go back to the party of the origin or back to independent voters and the name tea party has been used by sort of the furthest wing in the party or the media in a way that doesn't reflect how the voters feel anymore. i don't think that there is a big tea party out there. there is more of a populist movement, and one that wants the problems solved and runs away from all of the brands and it is on both sides and both parties should pay attention to that. >> salena and patricia and robert, thank you for joining us. up next, breaking news of the benghazi investigation, and we are learning whether the

democrats will take part in the gop-led committee, and new comments of the leadership, and kelly o'donnell is going to join us live from capitol hill. it is time for the "your business entrepreneurs of the week." this couple owns a jewelry store on the mont eerey wharf, and th were not saving for their retirement, but we came in and helped them develop a plan. for more watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 a.m. my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum.

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♪ we are following breaking news on capitol hill and learning whether the house democrats are going to take part in a new committee that takes care in benghazi and white house correspondent kelly o'donnell is joining us live with the update. what is the information there? >> well, tamron this is potentially game-changing, and we know that the democratic leader nancy pelosi is leaning towards full participation in the benghazi select committee which means to appoint democrats to join republicans in what many consider a politically divisive issue, and this is a big deal for nancy pelosi, because she has not wanted to take part in this and she met this morning at 10:00 while the president was in the meeting with shinseki and she was focused with the v.a., and nancy pelosi was talking

with the leadership about the next step and expect another meeting today, and part of what is happening behind the scenes is the negotiation between nancy pelosi and speaker john boehner of how to make the committee work in a way that will have both sides leading the way of when the ambassador was killed and transparency and accountability, and typically the parties do wait. one of the big concerns is if this is something that would veer into the midterm election politics and not so much about seeking the truth, and that is a great concern for democrats, and would it also tee up the ongoing criticism of hillary clinton with h possibili-- with the pos her running for president, and hanging in the balance and this is important in terms of politics on the hill, and the investigation going forward and nancy pelosi is leaning towards fully appointing democrats to participate in the committee.

and she wants assurances that it is going to be conducted fairly, but they don't want to do anything that would hinder at getting at the truth, and so this is something to watch this summer, tamron. >> absolutely. and regarding speaker pelosi to lean towards the full participation, we know that there are those in the party who have the strong belief of those who have the committee to designed to impact the midterms, and the seeking of the truth is not the goal there, and how can you wrangle in the party that is maybe not going to agree with her. >> and if you participate in the committee, would that make it eadsi easier for you to respond or being on the outside, and those who say participating sanctions it to give oxygen to the political arguments and others saying that big there and being present of those skilled issues

with prosecutorial background like trey gowdy who be possibly at the table to make their case bet, and that is part of the balance to strike, because there are underlying issues that both parties agree need to be explored what went wrong with the security and how to prevent it in the future, but the -- politics in the mid year are so heated. there are those who want to protect hillary clinton or their own candidates. >> and in that way, barbara b boxer said that republicans are afraid of a hillary clinton candidacy and that is the motivation here. >> and that is hanging in the air for sure, and an argument that the democrats will make na it san opportunity to put hillary clinton through more of a public flogging about the leadership at the state

department at a time when her potential candidacy is being considered and talked about. no way to separate the politics, and for nancy pelosi, it is the function of the congress where a select committee is one of the tools to get at the issues, and could shy have a team to minimize the political damage and to participate fully might give her an opportunity to shape the discussion as much as having to simply responds to it. those are the pressure points that she has to consider. >> and kelly, thank you for the breaking news, and a former nfl player suing the league saying that they put profits ahead of the players. shocking allegations there. and plus, a florida high school is charging $200 for vip seating at the high school graduation. we will tell you more about that one.

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as to why they have shortchanged these customers. but that would require wifi. switch to comcast business internet and get two wifi networks included. comcast business built for business. while the nfl is facing a stunning new lawsuit from a number of former players, including jim mcmann, and richard dent, accusing the

league of illegally giving them powerful drugs to mask their injuries, and to keep them on the field. the suit alleges the league administered illegal doses of the drug without medical supervision or with regard to the complications down the road. some of the drugs listed in the documents, the court documents include vicodin, sleeping pills and relaxants. players said in some cases they were sent back on the field with broken bones without knowing the extent of the injury. ed it's interesting, the lawsuit is against the league, many people wonder why wouldn't that be -- why wouldn't an individual team be held accountable? or are they saying this is an effort designed by the league, and i guess put into place by the individual teams? >> i think it's too difficult to pinpoint exactly which team we're talking about.

i think they're alleging it's systematic and throughout the league. many of these players played for several teams. i think they would tell you that they believe the treatment was the same, no matter where they were playing. and that it was willful, and there was certainly an awareness on the part of the nfl, what they were doing with these guys to get them back on the field. >> i've interviewed jim mcmann several times now, and i've seen how his life has greatly been impacted by those years on the football field. he has to be in a room with dim lights. it's stunning what life he has today. what is the league saying in response to these allegations? >> well, the league was somewhat reticent to comment on it yesterday, because the owners were meeting in atlanta. you know, it's hard to believe the league was caught offguard. it's rarely caught offguard about things. maybe this did. i mean, the thing that's interesting to me about this lawsuit as opposed to the concussion lawsuits, when you were talking about jim mcmann's

concussion problems, you know, that the concussion information wasn't really well known. and certainly people knew that players were getting their bell rung and going back in and playing, but they didn't really know the extent of the damage that was causing, until some of these guys, unfortunately, died and their brains were examined, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy was discovered. this lawsuit is a completely different beast. there are eight former players right now. they want to get, i think up to 500 in a class action lawsuit. and they're alleging here that this was willful and known, that they were given opioids, the n nonsteroidal uppers and downers. you name it. the problem is, all of these drugs interact with one another. sometimes in a bad way. and often with alcohol, you know, thrown into the mix. >> yeah. >> and now they're having kidney

failure, they're having liver failure. there are all these problems. and they said teams knew this. they were aware of this. >> all right. we'll talk much more about this, cindy, as we learn more about these allegations and see what the nfl says in response to them. thank you very much. it's always great to have your insight on these things. a florida high school is trying to defend its decision to charge parents and guests # $00 for premium seats at graduation. they said the $200 is for a row of seating that can fit about 15 people. ten rows were made available and sold out, by the way, in four hours. the school is for the first time charging students $20 to take part in graduation. the principal says the $20 student fee will be waived for any families who can't afford it. he also says he came up with a plan for premium seating to make up for a shortfall after the school district pulled its annual funding. but some parents say the vip

seating is not fair to low-income families. what does your gut tell you? do you think high schools should charge a premium for graduation? vip section? go to news nation.msnbc.com. we asked you yesterday if a yearbook section dedicated to student parents is a good example for kids. 70% of you said no, it is not a good example. 30% of you said yes. by the way, one of the kids featured in the mesa, arizona, high school section as a young parent will go to college. she's turned around a very difficult situation to go on to enter college. good luck to her. that does it for this edition of "news nation." tomorrow, excited about this, dallas star actor jesse metcalf will join us live. and not just because he's handsome. up next, "andrea mitchell reports."

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so when i hear allegations of misconduct, any misconduct, whether it's allegations of staff covering up long wait times, or cooking the books, i will not stand for it. not as commander in chief, but also not as an american. none of us should. if these allegations prove to be true, it is dishonorable. it is disgraceful. and i will not tolerate it, period. >> right now, on "andrea mitchell reports," breaking news. a political firestorm over alleged cover-ups at veterans hospitals. president bush gives eric shinseki another chance to produce results. >> for folks who have been fighting on the battlefield, they should not have to fight a bureaucracy at home to get the care that they've earned.