stories of mismanagement and negligence have arisen in fort collins, colorado, san antonio, texas, augusta, georgia, memphis, tennessee, columbia, south carolina, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, chicago illinois with news stories being covered almost every single day. mr. speaker, these stories were crystallized for me and other members at a recent hearing that we had on patient wait times on the 9th of april. mr. barry cotes, a veteran from columbia, south carolina, informed the committee that he waited almost a year to receive a colonoscopy at v.a. when he finally received his appointment, it was revealed that he had stage 4 colon cancer. mr. cotes testified, and i quote, the gross negligence and crippling backlog epidemic of the varks a. health system has not only handed me a death sentence but ruined my quality of life. mr. speaker, the need for accountability to help veterans like mr. cotes is the reason why h.r. 4031 is so critically important. the v.a. management accountability act of 2014 would give the secretary the authority to fire or to demote v.a. senior executive service or equivalent emplo

cavalry baptist church in augusta, georgia. it is still a church, and >> brown: this was the south, it was the jim crow south. >> i was very lucky to have teachers at my segregated schools that were so interested in us and so wanted us to be the best that we could. even though one is growing up in a segregated situation, you're still being offered the best that a person can give to you. and they want the best from you and they want you to know that there is some good inside of you that they're going help you find. >> brown: you write about one such person, the choral director you had in middle school, rosa sanders >> rosa sanders. >> brown: and i ask you about this because you said, "she helped me to find and know my own voice." what does that mean? >> that means that i spent a lot of time listening to other singers on the radio, all kinds of singing, whether it's ella fitzgerald or rosetta thorpe, who was a very famous gospel singer, or mahalia jackson or nat king cole or joan sutherland. and it was she who worked with me to s

when jennifer corbin's death was ruled a homicide, investigators in augusta, georgia reopened dolly hearn'sase. dolly's death was first investigated 14 years earlier when there was no trained blood spatter expert on the police staff. now they had one. dwayne piper. >> there were so many red flags that jumped out at me initially that suicide wasn't really even conceivable in this case. >> dolly was found sitting cross legged on her couch. her head slumped over her left side. the gun had been in her right hand. although when this picture was taken, paramedics had already removed it. the entrance wound was on the right side of her head. but strangely, there was no blood on her right hand. >> she couldn't have been holding a gun. there was no back spatter on the exposed parts of her hand which would have had impact stains on them from back spatter. >> this proved that dolly's arm was by her side when the shot took place. and piper noticed that the blood on her left thigh was not blood spatter caused by a gunshot. >> those were transfer stains put there by someone with a bloody hand, bloody arm

augusta, georgia, modesta and stockton california were last. a report accuses the irs of improper payments. the treasury inspector general finds at least 13-billion dollars in tax credits were sent to people who did not qualify for them. earned income tax credits-- meant for low income families, are often abused by those who do not qualify. the irs says a major review of the situation is underway. the tab for snap-- the nation's food stamp program is estimated to be $24 billion lower than expected over the next decade. the congressional budget office lowered the estimate after revising how it calculates the average monthly benefit amount. the united states edges out france to become the world's largest wine market. wine consumption in france has been falling while consumption rates in the u.s. continue to go up. however, the french still consume more per person than americans. still to come: fewer americans are taking a lunch break... how its trickling down to restaurants. plus... the surprising hurdles ceos face at the top of the corporate lad

augusta georgia. >> drones, military, police us them and amazon.com experiments with them. now one will be dropped into a hurricane. hurricane. the performance review. that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. could mean less waiting for things like security backups and file downloads you'd take that test, right? well, what are you waiting for? you could literally be done with the test by now. now you could have done it twice. this is awkward. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are your headlines. veterans afar secretary eric shinseki resigned, the president making the ann

back in january, i went to augusta, georgia, and columbia, south carolina, at the request of congressman joe wilson and congressman john barro. we know, and v.a. has said, that there were deaths that occurred, there were some 5,000 veterans on waiting lists for colonoscopies. i talked about one of those veterans who testified before our committee today. shortly after that, i wrote to the secretary and asked him, please provide me the names of the people, what their positions were, and what type of accountability, what disciplinary actions have you taken? we're now in the closing weeks of the month of may and i have heard absolutely nothing out of the department of veterans' affairs. he may have the tools, but he won't use the tools that he has at his disposal to get rid of or to discipline the very people who are at the crux of the problem that we're talking about all across this nation today. let me tell you something else. the very director of the phoenix hospital that is now on administrative leave, according to the department of veterans' affairs today, got a bonus, an $8,500 bonus,

just recently, the deaths have been brought forward, especially in places like south carolina, augusta georgia, memphis, tennessee where veterans were put on waiting lists and died before they could get the service. >> but i saw, i saw you write to the president a year ago, may of 2013 i read your letter talking about deaths back then, due to wait times, addressing failures and management, failures in leadership, failures in oversight concluding that some of these issues contributed to a suicide of a veteran patient and the overdose deaths of two others. you urged the president to weigh in personally and you told me earlier this month you received no response. when you see the commander in chief and general shinseki come out and act like this is all new to them and if only they can get the resolution of this latest ig report, then they can finally do something, what is your reaction? >> well, my reaction is, of course, you may wait for the ig report to do something with secretary shinseki, but this is a system i can problem, life and death issue. the president should have come out and said i a

and if you want a specific one why have you not told this committee yet who was disciplined in augusta, georgia, and columbia, south carolina where nine veterans died because they were on a waiting list for colonosco colonoscopies? >> as you know, mr. chairman, in the last five years the office of congressional legislative -- has responded to over 100,000 requests for information. >> ma'am, ma'am, ma'am. veterans died. >> over on the senate side, support for veterans affairs secretary shinseki took a big hit today with calls for his departure. colorado among the first, saying that shinseki must step down. and kay hagan, john walsh of montana, john mccain who had been holding comment on the matter stepped in. >> i really believe that shinseki should weigh in his own mind if he can continue his duties, given what has happened. i have not said this before but i think it is time for general shinseki to move on. >> that was in an interview with wolf blitzer earlier today. today, drew griffin has been all over this story from the very beginning. he is on capitol hill tonight. he joins us now. drew, s

in augusta, georgia and columbia, south carolina there were 1600 veterans put on a waiting list.ir colonoscopies on time. some died of cancer that could have been treated and taken care of. we're now seeing many people across the country come out and say some of the very same things are happening at their veteran medical centers. >> do you think it's time for the secretary to step down to either resign or for the president to ask him to resign? >> the secretary is a good man. i think he's an honorable man. he wants to do the right thing. i've been saying for at least three years i don't believe his people are being honest with him and telling them truth. so when he comes to the hill he tells us what he's being told to say. unfortunately, i think that they have kept the secretary in the dark on many of these issues. but i'm not quite ready to call for his resign acceleration. we want to wait until the office of inspector general finishes their phoenix report and then i'll make a decision. >> is this one of the few things we see uniting capitol hill. we see bipartisan outrage and s

of those 23, six of them were in columbia, south carolina, and augusta, georgia, where veterans diedg on colonoscopies. we don't have time to wait. that's why the president should have come forward and said, we need to open the gates, allow the backlog that exists out there by veterans not being able to get health care within the walls of the v.a. system, give them the ability to go out into the private sector. >> one final question for you, it's my understanding the chief of staff came to the hill today and met with sanders -- senator sanders who has a similar role that you do, as far as being on a veterans committee. why department he meidn't he me? >> i have not heard a word from the chief of staff. senator sanders held a hearing last week on the hill with the secretary. i'm trying very hard not to bring politics into this. but when the white house is only communicating with the democrats, it makes you wonder who's playing politics. >> congressman miller, keep us apprised as to what happens and if you get a response to that letter that you sent to secretary shinseki and the subpoe

we want to ask him about augusta, georgia, columbia, south carolina, florida, everywhere that vets areng and as we're reporting dying for care. >> you're in texas tonight. what's the story there? >> well, we've learned that the va's office of inspector general, they have a team of investigators here in san antonio. we've learned. and they are looking at very specific allegations that sound like the allegations we've been reporting all across the country. we're trying to find out what that's all about, what the facts are. i can tell you right now, they sound very, very similar to what our reporting has already proven across the country. anderson? >> we'll bring our viewers that story tomorrow night. appreciate the reporting. let's get caught up with other stories. susan hendricks? >> boko haram strikes again. witnesses say the group attacked a nigerian village on monday killing at least 150 people, some were burned alive. there are growing calls for the nigerian government to take action against the group which also has kidnapped 276 school girls at gunpoint. all because they were getti

specifically and if you a specific one, why have you not told this committee yet who was disciplined in augusta, georgia and columbia, south carolina, nine veterans died because they were on a waiting list for cloneoscopies, as you know, mr. chairman, in the last five years the office of congressional legislative. >> that, ma'am. >> has responded to over 100,000 requests for information. >> ma'am, ma'am, veterans died. get us the answers, please. >> i understand that, mr. chairman. and i will look. >> that's what you said three months ago. this has been going on since january. since january. in case you don't know it. we put on our web site every week what we ask for and nothing changes from week to week. we have an oversight responsibility in this congress and we cannot do our job appropriately if you don't provide us the information that we request. dr. lynch, given the fact. >> and that's live. that's going on right now. fox news chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel joins you live from capitol hill. what is going on there, mike? >> well, greta, you get a sense that house veterans affairs ch

to you and also said this story in motion not just in phoenix but columbia, south carolina, augusta, georgiapennsylvania. not just one place. it is system-wide. the op ed in the "new york times" identifying as one of the whistleblowers, the justice department needed to get involved because people who will be kid by inspector general's office in the vet answer administration may not tell the truth either rer for fear of receipt provide walks, that's why you need criminal investigators do you think that is correct and next step that has to be taken to get to the bottom of this. >> criminal investigators, not necessarily. what i do think you have to understand that the system is very deneutralized. there is over 150 hospitals and another 800 almost out-patient centers. you can't expect -- most effective way is to work with this is to -- have members of congress who care about the hospital or out-patient center in their district paying attention to it. and the local media paying attention to it. so the whistleblowers who can step forward or who choose to can be protected and the reporting and th

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columbia, south carolina, five in pittsburgh, four in atlanta and three each in memphis and augusta, georgia. other reports, more than 1,800 veteran patients in the st. louis v.a. medical center may have been exposed to h.i.v. and hepatitis as a result of unsanitary dental equipment. but the facility has been under fire for patient deaths, persistent safety issues and critical reports. despite the problem at the medical center, the facility's director from 2009-2013 received nearly $25,000 in bonuses during her tenure there. cnn reported that after they obtained internal documents that deals with patients -- after the v.a. obtained documents with patients diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and 2011, at least 19 veterans have died because of the delays in simple screenings like colonoscopies and end endoscopies. in 2010 and 2011, 19 veterans died because of delays in getting simple medical screenings related to cancer. the veterans were part of 82 vets that have died or are dying or have suffered serious injuries as a result of delayed diagnoses or treatment. loopholes in the v. performance -- an

itmismanagement goes down to burlington vermont, pittsburgh, north carolina, columbia, south carolina, augusta georgia, atlanta, jackson, chicago, st. louis, austin, san antonio, cheyenne, fort collins, phoenix, just place after place after place where the american legion it has thrown up their hands and said, my goodness, what the heck is going on here? do you dispute what they are saying in this map? do you think they are saying something here that is not true? >> i'm not aware of the basis for that map, but i accept that there are places, this is here, where we have had adverse events, and i would also point out that i do not know if in all, but in a good number, majority of those events, do were self --hey identify them initiated within the veterans administration, veterans health administration. figure out what happened, get to the root causes, and then be transparent, tell people what happened. >> here is where i am getting with this. have comearings i to, or would talk about waiting lists's, disability claims, it is one thing after another. hearingalk out of the like i have been given an explan

why have you not told this committee yet who was augusta, georgia, and kalinga, south carolina were nine veterans died because they were on a waiting list for colonoscopies? , the office -- >> ma'am. died.-- veterans get us the answers, please. >> i understand that. i will look -- >> that is what you said three months ago good this has been going on since january. since january. in case you don't know it, we put on our website every week what we asked for. nothing changes from week to week. we have an oversight responsibility in this congress. we cannot do our job appropriately if you do not provide us information that we request. there was a "misunderstanding" in the first brief. they issued substantiated, inappropriate scheduling. they said it was systemic throughout. do you believe you have that credibility now necessary to identify and fix the problems? i used the term "misunderstanding" with perfect -- respect to the references made to a secret list. i did not make any qualifications are statements as to whether i thought the actions occurring were appropriate. >> it is your content

epidemic mismanagement and it goes down vermont, pittsburgh, north carolina, columbia south carolina augusta georgia, jackson, chicago, st. louis, san antonio, fort collins, phoenix, just place after place where they have thrown up their hands and said what is going on here. do you dispute what they are seeing >> i'm not aware of the basics but i accept that there are places here where we have had adverse events and i don't know if all but a good number may be a majority were self identified and initiated within the veterans administration or the veterans health ministration which then allows us to investigate and figure out what happened in than t then to be transparent and tell people what happened. >> so many hearings where we've talked about the waiting list into the disability claims i walk out of the hearing like i've been given an explanation so i will quiet down and let you go back down to work. i don't see the change necessary and what worries me about this and what we are dealing with is that it is the stomach. it's cultural. people have adopted this operation as the way of doing business

itmismanagement goes down to burlington vermont, pittsburgh, north carolina, columbia, south carolina, augusta georgia, atlanta, jackson, chicago, st. louis, austin, san antonio, cheyenne, fort collins, phoenix, just place after place after place where the american legion it has thrown up their hands and said, my goodness, what the heck is going on here? do you dispute what they are saying in this map? do you think they are saying something here that is not true? >> i'm not aware of the basis for that map, but i accept that there are places, this is here, where we have had adverse events, and i would also point out that i do not know if in all, but in a good number, majority of those events, do were self --hey identify them initiated within the veterans administration, veterans health administration. figure out what happened, get to the root causes, and then be transparent, tell people what happened. >> here is where i am getting with this. have comearings i to, or would talk about waiting lists's, disability claims, it is one thing after another. hearingalk out of the like i have been given an explan

but they don't want to talk about the fact that in columbia, south carolina, augusta, georgia, they already you do a favor for the american people? will you or your staff meet with me this week so we can go through these e-mails and perhaps get some answers? >> peter, i'll be glad to meet with you. i've done the same thing with folks at dennis miller referred to us and i welcome you to come by the office. >> we thank you for your service. you are the tip of the spear and america thanks you today on this memorial day. good to see you. >> thank you. and happy memorial day to all of the people out there today. >> god bless them. back to my friends on the couch here. >> thank you so much. the silver lining is that it's getting a conversation really started. hopefully we'll get good solutions for our vets. >> thank you, peter. we appreciate you getting some answers. >>> one more performance from the west point band live on our plaza on this memorial day. ♪ for spacious skies ♪ for amber waves of grain ♪ ♪ ♪ make every day, her day with a full menu of appetizers and entrées crafted with care and

florida, georgia, kentucky, new mexico, new york, and then a center like for physical center in augusta, georgiairline food. that's the company that serves the airlines and brings in all those really fabulous meals, right? >> coming out through the bottom. >> yep. >> you get them. somebody makes them. do they need people to prepare them? >> they need chefs, drivers, people to handle safety 'cause you're dealing with airports and airlines. facility maintenance. the gate gourmet, the world's largest company in this field. you can make up to $65,000 a year depending on kind of what the job is and they're hiring military. >> that's also good because you can get anywhere across the country. that's not just one location. >> right. >> tiger direct. >> this is a resell electronics. so they retail home security systems, laptops, computer software. they need 800 people now. this is a company that will train you. they've got a really good management training program, another kind of grad friendly company as well. they're head quartered in miami, florida. not a bad place to live. and they also -- you can ma

i was experimented on in augusta, georgia in the 8 to 90 period with the drugs of loxa pin and i'm aentally ill disabled vet. now, it comes to pass that that drug is now used opiate addicted individuals. awaiting on some resolution of the claims so i can get a lawyer. i was put onhen disability, my doctor asked for 100%. the government gave me 50%. shut me out. miserable -- >> i do not want to cut you off, but we're running out of time here and i want to give our guest a chance to respond. know of the v.a. conducting experiments. it illustrates a huge problem with the disability system, in that it takes way too long, especially someone with a disability. it is taking way too long to get obvious care to veterans who need it. that is why we need the secretary to really push out in front and make sure people screwing with the system are being held accountable erie this is why veterans need his a focused on the v.a. and make sure the v.a. improves and does not get away with denying care to people who need it. >> you can follow him on twitter. appreciate you coming on. happy mother's day,

augusta. the rest of the state is solidly red. with me now to sort of set the table for our week-long look at georgia, jim galloway., good morning to you, sir. >> good morning. good to be here. >> you've been here through these changes when democrats controlled every lever of power. you see republicans now controlling every lever today but democrats being competitive as they are. when you look at this landscape and i've had a lot of democrats tell me georgia is the next north carolina, it's the next virginia, it's the next one that pops in the old confederacy states, do you have buy it? and if you do, when do you buy that change happening? >> well, i do think that the state is maybe on the bubble by inclination, but i don't think it's there by habit. if you -- that was a great history that you had of the state politics and georgia outlasted every other state in the deep south by i think maybe 20 years in terms of retaining democratic control. and i think you're likely to see that very same thing happen with republicans. they will hang on -- this is -- the levers of power are very, very strong in this state and they

georgia. man faces charges including al aggravated assault after official says he shot a student in the head on campus of a college in augustays the student is critical. investigators say they believe this had something to do with another shooting on the same campus a day earlier. >>> california. crews work ago re-open lanes of traffic after a fire broke out on an overpass and closed part of 15 freeway. a construction worker's blow torch started the flames. one worker was hurt. >>> missouri, crews rescued a man who fell into a trench west of st. louis. officials say the guy was fixing a sewer line when he got stuck. took nearly two hours to get him out. he was nose badly hurt. >>> you'll meet a woman who was born without a hand and got a bionic one thanks to her friend. and with the trulink hearing control app, you get the most personalized hearing experience ever. halo is designed to: stream phone calls, facetime, music and more from your iphone directly to your hearing aids. allow discreet adjustment of your hearing aid settings with your iphone, help you hear comfortably in noisy environments, sound more natural and elimi