solve a problem. don't just say no. the only thing i can't do is stand by and do nothing while waiting for them to get their act together. >> if you can't join them, beat them. if you can't beat them make them feel really embarrassed. >> moments ago in a speech delivered almost one year to the day after the senate passed a bipartisan immigration reform bill, president obama laid into congressional republicans standing in the way of action. >> the economy would be stronger today if house republicans had allowed a simple yes or no on this bill or to that matter any bill. they would be following the will of the majority of the american people who support reform. and instead they've proven again and again that they are unwilling to stand up to the tea party. >> unwilling to stand up to the tea party. the president will direct homeland security secretary jeh

johnson and eric holder to move quote available and appropriate enforcement resources from or entire yor to the border. he is also asking congress to allocate approximately $2 billion to address the surge of migrants, mainly children mostly from south america at the south texas border. the president will give the department of homeland security new authority to accelerate the screening and deportation of unaccompanied my grants not from mexico. over and over again today the president made clear that the executive actions he intends to pursue are not a result of his preference but a direct result of republican intrans jens and his preferred action would be to negotiate broad and competencive immigration reform. any action from this republican congress remains highly unclear at this precise moment, what is abundantly clear right now today is that the president's patience is wearing thin.

>> pass a bill. solve a problem. don't just say no on something that everybody degrees needs to be done. >> joining me now is democratic representative congressman castro. this is the most frustrated and most antagonistic and most fired up i have seen the president on the issue of immigration reform and house republicans utter failure to do anything about it. do you have confidence it will sway people on other side of the aisle in any fashion? >> the country is waiting for a long time for the house of representatives to take action on immigration reform, everyone from the social advocates on immigration to evangelical community have gotten behind immigration reform. everybody agrees the system is

broken and still taken no action. today the president took swift action on his own within his executive power to do something about immigration. quite frankly, the congress has shown or at least house of representatives has shown it's not willing to. >> does embarrassment work. speaker boehner's office released this note after the president's address. in our conversation last week i told the president what i have been telling him for months, the american people and their elected officials don't trust him to enforce the law as written. until that changes, it's going to be difficult to make progress on this issue. what struck me about that is sort of how pathetic that excuse is in terms of not taking up the senate bill. >> well -- >> go ahead. >> what's so strange and disingenuous about that excuse, all of the reforms that would take place in the senator house version of immigration reform would take place after president obama is out of office.

so to say that they don't trust the president to execute on the law is ridiculous, because most of this stuff would happen after he leaves office and the next president, whether that's a democrat or republican and next congress would be responsible for making sure that those laws are implemented. >> the president at one point said quietly because sometimes it makes life more difficult for them. i have talked to some republicans in congress who are working on this issue and trying to make progress on it. do you talk to those republicans and do you have any sense that they hold any sway within their caucus at this moment? >> i mean, there are many people, many republicans who have both a good heart and good mind on this issue. and who genuinely want their party to do something on immigration reform. but they are also i think fearful of the tea party as the president said, fearful of being challenged in the primaries. so that parl lieses them often. and sometimes those who have

spoken up get drowned out by very shrill voices within the republican conference who don't want to do anything. >> i think it's a really interesting moment that we're looking at. speaker boehner and presumably kevin mccarthy, number two in the house, both seem to want some kind of reform and kevin mccarthy has a district that would seem to lend itself to reform, whether they actually do anything about it remains to be seen. always good to see you, thank you for your time. joining me now is nbc news capitol hill correspondent luke russert and washington bureau chief of mother jones, david cornyn. >> he was as much a leader of the democratic party as we have seen him in any i think moment in his recent presidency, which is to say he was on one side of the aisle this afternoon. i wonder if you think this is purely political or whether you think this pressure does anything to embarrass, to shame republicans actually into

action? >> alex, i think we're way past embarrassment and way past shaming at this point. i mean, the president said and speaker boehner said that it's not going to happen that's why he took this action. we've had speaker boehner and other republican voices saying for a year if not longer that this is not going to happen. and setting very, very clear signals. there's not much that's knew about this particular moment when it comes to republican obstructionism. for boehner to get out there and say, justify this by saying public doesn't trust the president, well the public gave the president more votes than to the republican nominee mitt r romn romney. luke will remember this, boehner made fun of take party stuff, it's hard to do immigration reform. he wasn't blaming the president then. this stage it is a complete impasse because of gop stubbornness. so the president is letting out

his inner stark as he did on climate change. it won't win anything in terms of legislative action but he's still fighting to win the political narrative. >> luke, when i saw boehner's statement, as the congressman points out, any reform wouldn't take place until after the president was out of office. it xbrust seems like such a an excuse, we can't trust the president to broadly enforce laws. you have made this point. there's no sort of -- there's no -- there is -- >> you can't quantify it. no metric by which the republicans would somehow trust this president. when pushed, i feel like they are in a corner. there's no there there to this argument. >> what's interesting was the last line in john boehner's statement which he references the national labor relations board supreme court ruling last week, sort of cautioning obama moving on executive actions. as you also reported last week and talked about, the house

speaker john boehner is moving the house to sue the president over the idea of executive action. so basically what you saw today was obama sort of playing to boehner's hand that the house gop cannot trust the president. they reference things like bowe bergdahl, when it gets into quantifying it. what does it mean? there is no straight answer for that. when you ask a question of the house gop leadership what constitutes border security, that's the other thing that needs to be accomplished in order to move forward, that answer cannot be quan fied at this point either. bob corker said the border security in the senate bill was perhaps overkill. they have not been able to figure out what they would like to see on that front. i think this ties back to eric c cantor's loss against brat. fs unlike you were going to see comprehensive reform, there was a little holdout for some sorts

of piecemeal or some time of dream act. when cantor -- he lost because he didn't go back to the district and play the role of congressman, that spooked a lot of house gop members. they don't want to walk the plank. look at the agenda from here on forward, benghazi, irs, possibly suing the president of the united states. there's no real legislative agenda moving forward. >> david, those are -- luke points out rightly, the agenda is intended to ginn up the far right base and get them to the polls. does the president coming out in the in very passionate way in support of immigration reform, showing the contrast with the gop, does that fire up the left? does that get progressives and democrats to the polls in november? >> he's in trouble with some on the left in immigration reform. he's also talking about streamlining the process for

sending kids back to central america and some of the immigration community don't like that. he's trying to straddle a line as he pushes a compromise bill, that was republican and democratic supported that some on left don't like everything about. he's trying to do it in a way that doesn't just placate the concerns of his own base. i have to say on this whole suing strategy here, i think that the democrats and white house would just love to see john boehner sue the president over executive action on immigration reform. nothing would make them happier. you go back to the gop autopsy after 2012, i mean if -- they've already lost the latino american vote for the next four to eight years. if they want to lose it for 20 to 30 years, she should proceed in this fashion. i think the president has a bit of the upper hand here and at

some point, may not happen soon, but at some point the business community is going to look at the republican party and say, you guys, we can't do business with you. whether it's on climate change. whether it's on tax reform, debt crisis and immigration reform, you're just a joke. they are going to have trouble there too as well with the obvious demographic constituencies. >> luke, let me ask you, in terms of the border crisis, some fair share of the president's remarks were talking about what he's going to do there. what is the likelihood that congress is going to vote in support of the $2 billion request he has made to deal with the humanitarian crisis between the u.s./mexico border. >> boehner's aides want to see specifically where the money is going to go and go through the appropriations process. i suspect it's this is probably something that won't be that controversial because both sides called for something to occur in that manner. you never know until you scrub

it and see the details. as far as -- i want to piggy back on something david corn said. they are ekz static this is going forward in this matter because they see it as not only helping them in '14, but '16, colorado, nevada, florida. north carolina. virginia. i mean, hello, the writing was on the wall in 2012. fastest growing voting bloc. it's a fascinating thing to see. >> the best thing for the democrats would be if they go ahead beyond the lawsuit and talk about impeachment, get the base riled up. >> part of the reason why boehner is moving the lawsuit to try to style my the impeachment -- >> luke, i don't understand how you march down that road and it doesn't end -- >> in the minds of the house gop leerdship, the reason why you move the lawsuit is because the people calling for impeachment

would be quieted down -- >> that's not worked in the past, brother. >> we'll see. >> reds meat just begets appetite for more red meat. unleashing the dogs of war? some thichk for impeachment. >> i love when can end on a shakes peer para phrase. corporations are apparently people. the impact of today's hobby lobby decision is just ahead. okay, movie night.everyone wins. how do i win? because we're streaming the movie that you love. well, how do i win? because we ordered that weird thing that you love from the pizza place. how do you win, dad? because i used the citi thankyou card and got two times the points on alllllll of this. well, and spending time with you guys of course. that was a better answer. the citi thankyou preferred card. earn two times the thankyou points on entertainment and dining out all with no annual fee. to apply, go to citi.com/thankyoucards.

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in just a few minutes president obama is expected to announce former procter & gamble ceo robert mcdonald as his new

va secretary, the president will speak momentarily and we'll bring you his remarks live. joining me to discuss the hobby lobby ruling and what it means for the future of con tra septemberive coverage coming up next. but her knee pain returns... that's two more pills. the evening's event brings laughter, joy, and more pain... when jamie says... what's that like six pills today? yeah... i can take 2 aleve for all day relief. yeah... really, and... and that's it. this is kathleen... for my arthritis pain, i now choose aleve. get all day arthritis pain relief with an easy-open cap. that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones

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and for more 100% real dairy treats you'll 100% enjoy look for lactaid® ice cream and lactaid® cottage cheese. a for profit company can claim its religious right to refuse coverage of contraception. that was the supreme court ruling today in its long-awaited decision in the case of craft chain hobby lobby and its challenge to the birth control coverage mandate in the affordable care act. combining the contentious issues of religion and birth control and corporate rights, this was the most controversial case of the term and as usual, the supreme court saved its biggest drama for last. in a 5-4 decision, they declared for profit companies have rights to religious freedom under federal law and that those freedoms were substantially

burdened by having to provide forms of contraception. those companies equate with abortion. samuel alito announced protecting the free exercise rights of closely held corporations thus protects the religious liberty of the humans that own and control them. alito and court's majority said the government could try the coverage in other ways, in other words, bosses rights rule and women workers must wait for the government to craft a work around, something the administration is working with congress to figure out. while the court went out of its way to say today's decision only applies to the contraception mandate and does not provide a shield for employers who may invoke it as religious practice did not satisfy ruth bader ginsburg. she called the majority opinion a decision of startling breadth.

invites for profit entities to seek religion based exemptions from regulations they deem offense ir to their faiths, raising the question how it might apply to blood transfusions and medications derived from animals and pills coated with gelatin. and justice begins burg wrote the court has ventured into a minefield. dr. ann davis and elise hoeg and emily as lon. practically speaking, what happens next here? is it ultimately that the american taxpayer is going to be paying for contraceptive coverage? >> we're going to see women workers having to pay twice or somebody having to pay twice. i think what was lost on the justices because none of the tens of thousands of workers whose health care hangs in the balance, none of the stories

were present in the supreme court. people forget we pay for our health coverage with our labor. there's nothing free about it. so somebody is going to get charged twice if we actually find a solution that keeps these women covered. as you said, the court found today that corporations are people. there are also people you kind of don't want to hang out with that much that don't get their medical facts straight and don't have any kind of internal logic since hobby lobby covered this kind of contraception before it dropped it to file suit. >> the phrase emily corporations are people too was loudly chuckled at two years ago. how far did this decision go in terms of making mitt romney's vision come true? >> you're talking about citizens united and the court's decision that corporations are people for purposes of giving unlimited campaign donations to so-called independent groups. and this extends that same principle to a different part of the first amendment and says that corporations are also

people for purposes of exercising the freedom of religion. >> and that is -- there are maybe five or six dispar at threads here and i want to pick up each one with care. dr. davis, in terms of the root of this case, if you can call it that, there is the sort of moral and religious issue that the hobby lobby has with two morning after devices, the two iuds and two forms of emergency contraceptives. they are classified as almost abortion pills. from a medical -- by those in support of hobby lobby's case. from a medical perspective, what makes these pills different than contraceptives or are they the same? >> the medical community has no confusion about what's the difference between birth control and abortion. women also have no confusion. my patients have no confusion

about the difference between the two. so we know clearly that emergency contraceptives and iuzds prevent pregnancy and others used for abortion. there's no overlap between those two things. there is hair splitting on the definition of what is a pregnancy but the medical community is also in firm u.n. nimty about what a pregnancy is. neither the iud or emergency contraception has anything to do with abortion. we use those things to prevent pregnancies not cause abortions. >> are you surprised at the amount of misinformation around these pills the morning after? >> i'm very surprised. i think if these pills -- the way the pills work is really by preventing off lags, which prevents fert i willization, i don't know how it has gotten so confuse -- >> karl rove called it an abortion pill hours after the supreme court -- >> that makes no sense. when i give my lectures to the medical students on how

contraception works, i don't say we use it for abortion, it wouldn't work. there's no expectation of any effect of that kind. so i think the important thing is to say when we're having conversations with women in the office, women know what they need and know they need contraception and remember about 99% of women in the united states at one time or another are going to use birth control. these are really fund mtdal things we're dealing with every day in the office and we want our facts right for the patients and make right decisions. >> this is couched the debate and analysis over this case tends to be centered on moral and religious issues. of course there's a lot of politics at the root of this whole lawsuit effectively and a lot of folks said and i wonder what your feeling on this is today, the reason it is coming before the supreme court as much to do with president obama and affordable care act and diluting it as much as possible as it does religious freedom.

>> i think you've got two converging interests here. you've got an organized well funded movement who's been chipping away at reproductive freedom for a very long time because they don't actually believe that women should have control over the own body and whole host of folks who look for any place they can actually poke holes into obama care, because that is what they live and die for. make no mistake, what the five male justices did today was actually say that discrimination against women's health care is not discrimination at all. they took an entire class of americans, more than half and said it is okay for your bosses to know better than you do about what we need to to take care of our bodies and ourselves. that is a dangerous precedent and powerful forces behind that. >> elise, in some way doesn't this put republicans in an

awkward position, those who supported this and said this is about the religious freedom of hobby lobby. of course women should have access to contraception then on record as saying women should have access to health care and contraception and need to figure out the mechanisms in which they are provided. >> many republicans are on record voting against could tra sepgs. we're going to make sure the voters know where they stand. we know the courts aren't going to protect us. we need congress to do it. that's why voting matters. >> emily, closely held corporations, can you give us your legal interpretation of what that means and also whether or not you think justice begins burg is overreacting when and paints an apocalyptic picture? >> a closely held corporation is a chp not publicly traded on the stock market.

over half of the companies in the country are closely held, doesn't mean they employee more than half of the employees because the big stock market employees tends to employ more people. we're talking about a sizable chunk of the economy here. whether they try to change the way they treat employees based on religious beliefs, that's just a matter of conjecture, justice ginsburg thinks that's an issue because if you imagine the companies see an advantage, they rush in to take it. i think the other thing that's important and a lot of reaction from women's groups a sense that women and sex and birth control are being singled out for ill treatment here in a way that other medical issues are not. >> do you agree with that, dr. davis? >> yes, i absolutely do. i think that if this kind of activity, these kinds of decisions into other areas of medicine, this would be a bigger reaction and wouldn't be

tolerated. i can say from personal experiences, i've spoken to hundreds and hundreds of women that says my daily job to talk to them about contraception. and it makes a really big difference whether or not your employer will cover the methods. perhaps someone might think it's not that big of a deal. you can pay for it out-of-pocket. i did read one excerpt from the opinion from justice ginsburg who made the comparison it would be a month's income to get an iud. it is 20 times more effective in preventing pregnancy than birth control pills and it's something that for some women who have medical problems, they really can't use hormonal contraception. we're taking an option away from people that's really going to be great for their health and there's more interest in the iud lately which is great. and this is really a step backward to say for some women because of their boss's decision they are not going to have access to a highly effective

methods that's very safe. it's really a big disappointm t disappointment. >> the women that actually need this and actually would qualify for this and what happens to them in the process. thank you all for your time and thoughts. >> thank you. after the break we're moments away from the president's remarks about presumed va secretary nominee, robert mcdonald, patrick must have fee and sam stein join me to discuss all of that next. yet. a car that can see trouble... ...and stop itself to avoid it. when the insurance institute for highway safety tested front crash prevention nobody beat subaru models with eyesight. not honda. not ford or any other brand. subaru eyesight. an extra set of eyes, every time you drive. i dbefore i dosearch any projects on my home. i love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angie's list

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are profoundly gaitful for the good work you do and i'm grateful as well. but, we're here today because of problems that have outraged us all. that includes the inexcusable conduct that we've seen at too many va health care facilities. so i'm here for two reasons. to update you and the american people on how we're fixing these problems and announce choice for the next secretary of veterans affairs to move us forward. the first thing everyone should know, those responsible for manipulating or falsifying records and tolerated it are being held accountable. some officials have been relieved of their duties and investigations are continuing and as i've said where we find misconduct it will be punished. i made it clear i xpikt the va's full cooperation with all of the ongoing investigations into wrong doing.

second. we've reached out to 135,000 veterans so far to get them off those wait lists and into clinics. we've added more staff, sent mobile medical units and we're making it easier for veterans to use hospitals and clinics outside the va. we're going to keep at it until every one of the veterans is off a wait list and they receive the care that they've earned. third, we're moving ahead with urgent reforms at the veterans health administration. that 14-day schedule has been removed from employee evaluations. there is absolutely no incentive to engage in inappropriate behavior. providing the highest quality care, when our veterans need it, that's your incentive. there will be new measures of patient satisfaction from the veterans perspective. and today's outdated va scheduling system is going to be overhauled with the latest

technolo technology. more broadly, the review that rob nabors conducted found and i'm quoting, significant and chronic systemic failures, including too little responsiveness and transparency and accountability. that is totally unacceptable. it recommends that the vha be restructured and reformed with stronger management and leadership and oversight as well as more doctors and staff. and i totally agree and we're going to make that happen. i've asked rob to remain at the va for now to help move these reforms forward. hiring of new vwa leaders has been frozen, vha leaders has been frozen to make sure the new team we're putting in place is the right one. based on the recommendation of panel of experts i'll be nominating the next leader of the vha. i want the best leader on the job and get going on these reforms and we'll work with

congress to make sure the vha has more doctors and resources it needs to deliver the care that our veterans deserve. fourth, we're instituting a new culture of accountability. the very idea that senior vha executives would receive bonuses this year rightly appalled many americans and those bonuses have already been canceled. review is under way to make sure when employees speak up about a problem action is taken not to intimidate or retaliate but fix the problem. everyone is going to be held accountable for doing better. and congress can help by giving the secretary more authority to remove senior leaders. finally, we're rebuilding our leadership team here at the va. i want to thank sloan and others here who have stepped up to serve in new roles during this critical time. and i have to say, sloan, you have been an outstanding driving force behind the reforms now under way and we'll be relying

on your steady hand during this period of transition and through your continued service as deputy secretary. and i know all of you will have an outstanding partner and secretary in my choice to lead the va going forward. one of our nation's most accomplished business leaders and managers, robert mcdonald. i've gotten to know bob a bit over the years. come to the white house to share his perspectives as we've worked through complicated issues. he's no nonsense and pragmatic and does not seek the limelight. he repeats a japanese saying, he worked and lived in japan for six years while at procter & gamb gamble, he who climbs mt. fuji is a wise man, he who climbs it twice is a fool. bob actually climbed mt. fuji once. bob is a wise man.

and if you need any more evidence that he's wise, you need to meet deanne and his family who are here today because they are a wonderful family and they've served a long with him in the past. for bob and his family, the mission of caring for our veterans is deeply personal. his father served in the army air corps after world war ii. deanne's father was a p.o.w. her uncle was exposed to agent orange in vietnam and still receives treatment from the va. so this is not an abstract mission for them. bob is a veteran himself. he graduated from west point where he and sloan were classmates. this is a bit of a reunion. bob served as army ranger in the 82nd airborne division. back home in cincinnati, he and deanne have teamed up with the uso to honor our veterans.

but, what especially makes bob the right choice to lead the va right now is his three decades of experience in building and managing one of the world's most recognized companies, procter & gamble. the va is not a business but it is one of our largest departments. some 340,000 employees working in more than 1700 facilities serving nearly 9 million veterans. and the workload at the vha alone is enormous. some 85 million appointments a year and some 25 million consultations. as ceo of procter & gamble, bob oversaw more than 120,000 employees with operations around the world selling products in more than 180 countries, in more than 2 million stores reaching some 5 billion customers. in other words, he knows the key to any successful enterprise is staying focused on the people you're trying to serve. he's renowned for operational

excellence and started his career out in the field and worked his way up serving at virtually every level of procter & gamble. he understands the grand plans are not enough and what matters is the operations you put in place and getting the job done. bob is an expert at making organizations better. in his career he's taken over struggling business units. knows how to roll up his sleeves and gets to work putting an end to what doesn't work, adopting best practices that do. restructuring, introducing innovations and making operations for efficient and effective. in short, he's about delivering better results. he also knows the importance of building what he calls a high performance team, putting the right people in the right jobs and rewarding them when they do well and holding them accountable when they do not. he is known for integrity. still guided by the cadet prayer

from west point, choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong. served our country in uniform and now prepared to answer the call once more. so let me state the obvious, this is not going to be an easy assignment. bob knows that but like any army airborne ranger, bob has a reputation for being ready, jumping in tough situations and taking charge and going all the way. bob, on behalf of all of us to you, to deanne, and your family, thank you for your readiness to serve again. my bottom line is this, we've got to change the way va does business over the past five years, this agency has done some excellent work in dealing with a whole range of real difficult challenges and i don't want people to forget that. we have had a huge influx of returning iraq and afghanistan veterans.

we have had i think had to manage what was a good decision to make sure that folks who previously had difficulty accessing va services were finally admitted, whether it's because they had ptsd or folks with cases previously of agent orange, all of which meant more people coming into the system. we have had to get up and running and it's now we're doing quite effectively, work in terms of the post 9/11 g.i. bill to make sure our young people are able to get the training they need after they leave our military. so crossed board there's been terrific work. but there's a lot more that has to be done. we've got to fix some things that are broken. and sloan's started that process but we're going to have to keep on driving until we get it done. we've got to regain the trust of our veterans, with a va that is

more effective and efficient and truly puts veterans first. i urge the senate to confirm him as soon as possible. i urge also the senate to finally confirm my nominee for cfo, helen tierney and policy, linda schwartz and nominee to lead the board of veterans appeals, constance, tobias. they have been waiting and waiting for a vote. in kons tans's case, more than a year. we need them on the job now and congress needs to act and help us do right by our veterans like corporate kyle carpenter, somebody you may have seen the story of kyle. i had the privilege of presenting kyle with the medal of honor for his actions in afghanistan. where he used his body to shield his best friend from a grenade blast. kyle spent two and a half years

in the host. he endured nearly 40 surgeries to rebuild his body and face and gone threw excruciating rehab. to see him standing in the white house strong and proud receiving his medal of honor is something i will never forget, it was an inspiration. he is medically retired part of his journey has involved the va. he's now in college with the help of his va educational benefits and it's an example of the good work the va has done. on the other hand his experience with va health care has often been frustrating. he said it was okay that i share this with you today so i want to use kyle as an example. here's an american hero, by any definition, sometimes we use that word too loosely. this guy is a hero and deserves everything we can do. but like other veterans, kyle sometimes had trouble just

making an appointment or had to wait a month to see his doctor only to be referred to another doctor and wait another two months for that appointment. he often felt like a number he said, being passed between doctors who sometimes didn't know his situation or why he needed certain medication. he's relied on the help of a patient advocate but at so many steps along the way, it's just been a lot harder than it should have been. as his advocate said, it shouldn't be this way. so va does many things well, like delivering kyle's educational benefits. and we need all of you to keep doing that important work like reducing the disability claims backlog and improving care for post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. building on the good work that's already been done and reducing homelessness among our veterans, helping veterans get their education under the post 9/11 gi bill and helping find new civilian jobs so they can enjoy the american dream they help to

defend. it's a good time to mention the great work that the va has done with joe biden and michelle in partnering with the private sector so that tra transition from military to civilian life is a lot easier for our veterans. but when it comes to delivering timely quality health care, we have to do better. we have to do better for kyle. we have to do better for all of our wounded warriors. we have to do better for all of our veterans from all of our wars. they are looking for us to fulfill lincoln's pledge, to care for those who have born the battle. and for their families and survivors. i'm confident we can do that. and so long as i'm president, we're going to keep doing everything in our power to uphold what is a see kred obligation. with that i want to invite bob to say a few words. thank you for taking on this

assignment. [ applause ] thank you for your confidence in me. this would be an honor and privilege if confirmed by senate to serve as secretary of veterans affairs, to improve the lives of our country's veterans and help change the way the u.s. department of veterans affairs does business. mr. president, in your remarks just now, you've made it clear what you expect, a va that is more effective, more efficient and truly puts our veterans first. if confirmed by senate, my priority would be to lead that transformation. my life's purpose has been to improve the lives of others. i went to west point to be an officer in the army to try to help free people who were living

in nonfree societies. i became an airborne ranger infantry officer in the 82nd airborne division because i wanted to be on the front line in leading that change. i joined the procter & gamble company 34 years ago because of its purpose, which is to improve the lives of the world's consumers. mr. president, thank you for mentioning my father, deanne's father and uncle. yes, for our family taking care of our veterans is very personal. we need to put care for the veteran at the center of everything that we do at veterans affairs. at procter & gamble we always focus on our customer. at the va, the veteran is our customer and we must focus all day, every day on getting them the benefits and care that they so earned. that's the only reason we're here. i look forward to working with

the dedicated men and women of the veterans affairs to accomplish this mission. i'd like to thank my family for supporting me throughout my life. but especially during this next chapter, my wife deanne, my daughter jenny and son-in-law scott and my son rob are all here today. my parents and deanne's mother could not attend here today. but thank you for your love and support. thank you again, mr. president. i look forward to working with you to transform veterans affairs to better serve our country's veterans. thank you. [ applause ] >> that was president obama nominating robert mcdonald to head the department of veterans affairs. mcdonald has a military history, former army captain graduated from west point. but does he not have any medical background. the president's nomination comes on the heels of a devastating report by his deputy chief of

staff rob nabors which was released on friday, concluded that the va suffers from a corrosive management culture and the department must be restructured and reformed. can mcdonald oversee the broad changes necessary for an organization in crisis? paul rye krost told the new york times, mcdonald not a name on anyone's radar and his branding background may prove helpful because there are few organizations in america with a worse reputation towards customers than the va right now. joining me now is political editor and white house correspondent at the huffington post, sam stein and former democratic congressman from pennsylvania and veteran of the iraq war, patrick murphy. the president said at one point we've got to change the way the va does business and has clearly decided this is a management issue and brought in a business heavy. do you think he'll get resistance from republicans in congress? >> not on the restructuring element of it. i think republicans are very

committed to loosening the bureaucratic red tape to allowing more flexibility to fire people to reorganize. the question that will confront president obama and democrats in congress, will they supplement that with more resources. the senate bill dedicates more resources to building va hospitals and hiring more doctors and sort of meeting the demands with supply. i'm not sure republicans are going to meet them there, although bills from house and senate are going to go to conference. what sort of underscores the commitment to this, he's leading rob nabors at the va for the time being, that suggests he's very serious in seeing this reform through. i do wonder whether the funding demands are going to meet -- republican are going to meet funding demands required of this situation. >> patrick, what's your thought about mcdonald as the va nominee given his lack of medical background and the fact that he's going to be overseeing a massive network of hospitals and

caregivers for the veterans of america? >> alex, it's the largest health care system in america, the va. but he has been a -- we used to put four star generals in now we have a five star ceo. i know bob mcdonald. he's a pillar at west point. and i know his wife deanne as well. they are committed to veterans. yeah, he was on the short list as far as the list that people were speculating on. but he has been in and out of the veterans community. as was mentioned, this guy was an airborne para trooper in an elite unit like the 82nd airborne. he gets it. i look forward to seeing what his vision is. i know they need someone in there that's going to really kick butt as the president said justice needs to be served because people that lied throughout this process and put shinseki on a limb like they did, need to be held accountability. >> sam, the president mentioned giving the medal of honor to

kyle carpenter, incredibly moving ceremony. that came the same day that the president addressed the crisis in iraq. we talk about the veterans crisis in america. in 1996, the va enrollment was 2.7 million. in 2014, it is 9 million. when this president talks about military intervention and not putting boots on the ground, that is certainly a strategic and political calculation, but the crisis facing the veterans and men and women who have fought would certainly weigh on him as much as anything else. >> yeah, i mean there's been sort of this notable disconnect between the one conversation of whether we reengage in iraq and what type of military services we send over to that country and the conversations happening just a few weeks prior, which was how do we -- how can we have come up so short in caring for returning veterans? the two are very much related. i think you have to take a

wholistic approach to them. one of the problems is that we've had an influx of returning soldiers with devastating war injuries, from iraq and afghanistan and we've had medical technologies that keep them alive much longer than in conflicts past. but it requires a lot more time and a lot more next and we just don't have the infrastructure at this point or the bureaucracy to meet the demands. you need to talk about this wholistically if you want to address the actual problem that's confronting veterans care. >> patrick, when you look at this statistics and to echo what sam just said, this is a massive, massive system. something you of course are familiar with as a veteran. the new york times reports 50,000 babies born in military hospitals each year are twice as likely to be injured during delivery as newborns nationwide. clearly there are systemic problems in terms of treatment here. "the new york times" details a

few deeply traumatic stories that affect veterans across the country. my question, how much can one person do? how much political will do you think there is on both sides of the aisle to truly fix what's wrong here? the president listed a number of his nominees that have yet to be confirmed because republicans in congress are dragging their feet. those people could be all actors in helping resolve what is a massive crisis at the va. >> that new york times piece was referencing active duty military hospitals and bob mcdonald will oversee the veterans hospitals which is separate and larger. i will say, alex, and i agree with sam, where the rubber meets the road is the budgets. lelgts be clear, the military budget -- the va budget went from $90 billion a year to $154 billion. that's a 58% increase. now the bill is going to conference is about $35 billion

more per year and that's the mccain/sanders bill, whether or not it will be emergency spending, i don't want to get into min ush sha because i don't want to put your viewers to sleep. there must be the follow through. last point, this is the defining moment right now on how we treat our returning veterans. when you have 22 veterans committing suicide every day and that number is getting larger, not smaller, something is wrong. that's why we need the democrats and republicans in congress to empower bob mcdonald and leadership to act and act now. >> sam, i guess i don't want to play the eternal possess mist here -- >> don't. i think of myself more of an optimist in the long run. this is the speech the president gave an hour after score rating republicans. it feels like impasse between the white house and opposition in congress is as pronounced has

it ever has been at least during this presidency. given they are not actually -- this is a senate immigration reform bill dead by congressional republicans -- >> don't be so down. it's only monday. you have a few more days to be pessimistic. i am not as pessimistic as you are. i think the fact that bernie sander as enand john mccain were able to come so quickly to an agreement on this resensible set of reforms, conservative set of reforms that restructure the bure aof coursecy and giving more opportunities for private care, conservative ideas. then on the other side very liberal ideas, put more money behind the situation, get more doctors into the system have are sorely needed and build more actual hospitals so that veterans in remote locations can actually visit them. and they came pretty quickly to that consensus and moved it through the senate. i think they can actually find an agreement in conference with

the house. there might be changes on pt numbers of dollars devoted but i won't be so pessimistic. >> the eternal optimist. that is all for "now." i'll see you back here tomorrow at 4:00. the ed show is up next. good evening, americans, i'm ready to go. let's get to work. >> a major supreme court decision. >> it is definitely a ruling that's against the union. >> could be a big headache for big labor. >> i guess you could call it a financial blow dealt to labor uni unions. >> governor quinn was wrong when he signed an executive order naming the state employees solely for the purpose of unionization. >> public sector unions cannot collect fees from workers who object to be being affiliated