i'm del walters in new york, and the top story at this hour, veterans affairs secretary, eric shinseki has resigned. and the president said that shinseki focused on solving the problems at the va and not him, so he stepped down. >> this morning, i think some of you also heard rick take a truly remarkable action, and he took responsibility for the conduct of these facilities, and he apologized to his fellow veterans and to the american people. and a few minutes ago, he offered me his own resignation. with considerable regret, i accepted it. >> the president also announcing to the reporters who gathered that the the employees at the va center in phoenix who cooked the books will be fired. and also any bonuses handed out improperly will be given back. joining me by phone in maryland, stewart picky, he's an executive and a retired marine. and your reaction? >> well, i'm not surprised. but i am however saddened that general shinseki is no longer the head of the va. he was making reforms in the system and trying to update it to the 21st century, digitizing claims and doing all of those thing

and then, not long after, in june of 2003, eric shinseki was gone, retired. basically run out of washington on a rail, neither donald rumsfeld or paul wolfowitz went to his retirement ceremony. this four-star general who was the army chief of staff, they didn't go to his retirement ceremony? no, the message was clear, he was just out and he ought to be seen as a disgrace for that tremendous thing that he estimated that was obviously so -- yeah, and then we invaded iraq and it was a disaster and it went much the way that eric shinseki said it was going to go. and in 2007, four years down the road in this war that was supposedly going to be a cakewalk, the bush administration finally proposed, dramatically increasing the number of u.s. troops in iraq, and people remembered who had been right about those requirements. this was "the new york times" then. new strategy vindicates ex-army chief shinseki. with a picture of him from that day, back in 2003, showing him about to give that testimony that got him thrown out of washington, with the bush administration tryi

so the president is going to meet with eric shinseki. future? we shall see. athena jones is at the white house following this story for us. athena, the big question, what will happen at the white house, what will their talk be about? did eric shinseki say enough at this homeless veterans coalition to save his job? eric shinseki is not the only one speaking out this morning. the president was on michael and kelly this morning -- "kelly and michael" and spoke about how big and serious this problem is. let's take a listen. >> i'll have a serious conversation with him about whether he thinks that he is prepared and has the capacity to take on the job of fixing it. i don't want any veteran to not be getting the kind of services that they deserve. >> there we go, the president really foreshadowing a little bit what he's going to talk to eric shinseki about. but the president has a critical decision here. >> he does, don, that's what's so interesting about that comment we just heard from the president. he's still making it sound as though it's

he'll go out of his way to praise eric shinseki on the good things he's done. going back to combat service during the vietnam war. i'm sure the president will praise secretary shinseki even as he announces that he's going to bepresumably. if he announces that shinseki is leaving. the deputy secretary will become the interim secretary. >> here comes the president, wolf. >> here comes the president right now. >> good morning, everybody. a few minutes ago secretary shinseki and rob nabors who i temporarily assigned to work with the va presented me with an initial review of the va facilities nationwide. what they found is that the misconduct has not been limited to a few va facilities but many across the country. totally unacceptable. our veterans deserve the best. they earned it. last week i said that if we found misconduct it would be punished and i meant it. secretary shinseki has now begun the process of firing many of the people responsible including senior leaders at the phoenix va. he's canceled any possible performance bonuses this year for senior executive

he was referring to eric shinseki. we use his full name but that is who the president was talking about. another name the president mentioned often in his remarks, rob nabors, one of his top advisors, who he helped the with the va and the assessment over last couple weeks and third name the president mentioned, acting secretary of veterans affairs, sloane gibson. was a number two and a name you likely did not know. here is little information of sloane gibson. graduate of west point, a former army ranger. has some experience, quite significant experience in the private sector as well. ran a bank for 20 years to run the uso. remarks what we glean from the research we've been doing as the president is speaking. he will take over as head of va as interrim head secretary to try to figure out some of these problems that have emerged and we heard about in more detail this weak. i believe bret baier is standing by in washington, d.c. i hope i'm right with that, bret. nice to see you. obviously a big headline today and unexpect

one of the parties taking place is asked about mark kelly. >> reporter: the va secretary eric shinsekitop story. we are 45 minutes away from his meeting at the white house. what happens now? >> should shinseki resign in absolutely. this administration need to put up or shut up when it comes to the care of our veterans. upgrade to the philips norelco shaver series 8000 for the most advanced shaving experience. with gyroflex 3d technology, you can get to those hard to reach places for the ultimate shave wet or dry. guaranteed. visit philips.com/fathersday now to save $50. we cannot let the fans down. don't worry! the united states postal service will get it there on time with priority mail flat rate shipping. our priority has always been saving the day. because our priority... amazing! ...is you! the amazing spider-man 2 delivered by the united states postal service. yourturn night into day.ng. conquer the globe. stop floods. now she could use a hand, so she can keep living on her own. comfort keepers can help you help her. our professional caregivers are carefully chosen and highly trai

eric shinseki agreed that they don't have time for distractions. they need to quick the problems and the president called eric shinseki a good man. >> commitment to our veterans is unquestioned. his service to our country is exemplary. i am grateful for his service. >> reporter: president obama's announcement came after eric shinseki spoke at a national conference on homeless vets. eric shinseki said he realized the problem was not isolated. it is systemic. a report found workers at the phoenix va manipulated the wait times for 1700. does dens died while waiting waiting for care and it happened at other sleigh and clinics and helmets. >> i apologize to the veterans of this great country and loved ones. >> reporter: eric shinseki said the va will release its audit in the coming days and president obama said sloan gipson will fill the -- gibson will fill the role. >>> new at noon free marijuana is being offered on election day in the south bay. the weed for votes campaign is an attempt to get medical marijuana supporters to polling places. theyriment

. >> excuse me for not feeling sorry for eric shinseki. the debate starts right now. >> tonight on "crossfire," scandalous mistreatment of america's veterans. >> makes me mad as hell. >> waiting lists. patient deaths. manipulation and cover-ups. >> could you explain to me after knowing all this information why you should not resign? >> on the left, van jones. on the right, s.e. cupp. in the "crossfire" lawrence, a former assistant secretary of defense, and jesse dane duff of concerned veterans for america. how to we take better care of our veterans? does it start by firing the man at the top? tonight on "crossfire." >>> welcome to "crossfire." i'm s. e. cupp on the right. >> i'm van jones on the left. tonight we have two advocates for america's veterans. veterans affair secretary eric shinseki was on capitol hill today fighting to keep his job. cnn senior investigative correspondent drew griffin actually broke the story in the first place. his reporting is the reason the senate had the hearing today. he's here to give us a closer look of h

a dozen democrats have joined for eric shinseki's resigning. is eric cantor. >> the promise we have made to them after their service to us is what this is about. the recent report exposing the horrible mismanagement and treating sick veterans the way they have is not acceptable. we have to get to the bottom of it. eric shinseki reports to the president. it is time for the president to take ownership in the problem >> how does the problem does doing something about this? bret baier is here. good morning. >> good morning. >> did the president look at the ig report before it came out? he is in a position where he is going to be reactive in any case. >> you saw people talking about it after the briefing of the press even from the democrats. now you have the initial fin findings that are eye opening. phoenix is 115 days and 1700 veter veterans not on the list and the finding in the report that it is a system problem which is why you had the democrats calling for the va secretary to step down. you had the colorado, the montana and then al franken pro

it is an incredibly complex system, and eric shinseki frankly just want up against the realities of 24/7 modern-day american politics, and now he is out of a job. >> does hitting would've eric shinseki solve the problem? >> absolutely not. every lawmaker who responded today said, "this is a great first step, but now, does the department need more money? do we have to explore whether or not to privatize some of this health care that is offered to american veterans?" it is a complex debate that will be held in the months leading up to a very intense election season, and i do not think it will end anytime soon. >> is this a question of money, or is that too simple? >> it's too simple. it's a question of money, but it's also a large bureaucracy that has really just ballooned for the years and only gotten worse because of the wars in recent years. there is a true sense that there is a culture of people who work in these facilities all across the country who have no real connection or fear of what is coming out of the head office just down the street in washington. i think there is an attemp

theontinued talking about resignation yesterday of eric shinseki. john is up from camden town, missouri on our line for veterans. caller: i think blaming shinseki for this is ridiculous. the fault belongs with congress. i will give you a good example of how congress works. -- yesterday you had a republican on there from texas, i cannot remember his name, discussing this same problem. the moderator read a report stating that each representative -- each doctor in the v.a. had a list of 2000 patients he was responsible for. this congressman said, that is not too many. there are doctors with 10,000 patients. of silly to me. i got out a pencil and paper and in 30 seconds i figured out that if a doctor had 10,000 patients, he works 365 days a year, 10 hours a day, each one of those patients would get 30 minutes of his time a year. notproblem is congress does know what the heck is going on. care and they politicize everything. our: if you want to see interview yesterday with jeff miller, you can check that out .n c-span.org we also interviewed sheila jackso

he announced that eric shinseki has resigned at the meeting. the resignation is just the beginning of eric shinseki. >> things need to move in a direction that veterans will expected to move and that's to serve them. >> nancy pelosi calls eric shinseki a hero and a leader. his resignation will not solve the va's problems and house speaker boehner is calling the president to take further action. in washington, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> more details on eric shinseki, the 71-year-old is a vietnam veteran who lost part of his right foot in a mine. two mines rather. he's a retired four star general and served his staff starting 1999. he has strong support from veterans group when he was nominated back in 2009. >> we spoke with some veterans outside the va medical center in san francisco. one man expressed relief saying he had to wait for months to be seen for his injury. >> the last 90 days, if something comes up, i have to go to the er. i really have faith in president obama to put the qualified person in that position and absolutely it was not who

secretary eric shinseki behind closed doors in the oval office. ugh, shinseki did not sound like a man who was going to walk in and offer his resignation, and this is what the chairman of the veterans affairs committee told us a few moments ago. >> i hope that the president does not ask for the resignation and my own view is that i hope that he does not resign and my view is that he brings in the strong people and makes the significant kinds of changes that we need in the v.a. >> and nbc white house reporter kristen welker has the latest for us. what can you tell us about the meeting? >> well, in an earlier interview, president obama said that it is going to be a difficult discussion about secretary shinseki's capacity to fix the problems at the veteran affairs, and one person tells me that he is on thin ice today and that is backdrop as the meeting is under way, chris. of course, we heard from secretary shinseki earlier today when he addressed a a group of veterans about veterans homelessness and a previously scheduled event we should point o out,

congress placed a subpoena on eric shinseki. this same day eric shinseki ordered record audits of all v.a. health care facilities across the united states. now there are calls for eric shinseki to resign. president obama defended him and eric shinseki says he has no plans to step down. yesterday the department of veterans' affairs said it will allow veterans to receive health care at private facilities, it is enhancing clinic capacity to help vets get hep. richard allan smith is a veteran serving five years in the afghanistan war. thank you for being with us. as a vet yourself, how do you feel about the scandal unfolding at the v.a. offices where some veterans died whilst waiting for treatment? >> i served five years on active duty in the army. i spent 14 years in general. >> got it. >> i'm glad eric shinseki is staying on board. i worked for the department of veterans' affairs for less than a year ago. there's a culture clash creating problems, between folks who are used to doing business the old way, when v.a. was mismanaged a

this is what membership does. >>> house speaker john boehner says eric shinseki's resignation changesothing in fixing problems with the v.a. >> general shinseki has dedicated his life to our country and we thank him for his service. his resignation, though, does not absolve the president of his responsibility to step in and make things right for our veterans. business as usual cannot continue. >> nbc kelly o'donnell is joining us from washington. good morning to you, kelly. how about the president and where does he go from here? >> this is a really complicated problem and it is part political and part managerial. one of the political steps was to deal with the secretary at the v.a. i was with eric shinseki in the morning when he was addressing homeless veterans. he had two standing ovations because on that particular issue, dealing with homeless veterans, he had a lot of support. on the bigger issue of what has been uncovered at the v.a., obviously, became political untenable. so we saw the resignation. that is one step. but so many lawmakers and veterans we have talked to are asking

>> va secretary eric shinseki is set to talk in a speech we'll bring you live. have a serious conversation with shinseki about whether he's the right person to address the scandal surrounding long treatment for veterans. now a growing number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling for shinseki to step aside. athena jones is live from the white house with much more. what are you hearing from the white house this morning, athena? >> reporter: good morning, kate. we know today is the day eric shinseki is supposed to give president obama the preliminary results of his investigation into the va system. we're going to be watching for that report, for that review all day today. we're now hearing a little bit more from the president about his plans for secretary shinseki. they aired this on "good morning america" this morning, an interview with abc. let's play what the president said. >> i'll have a serious conversation with him about whether he thinks that he is prepared and has the capacity to take on the job of fixing it. i don't want any veteran to not be

veterans afar secretary eric shinseki resigned, the president making the announcement. the president saying shinseki felt the focus should be on solving the problems at the v.a. and not him so he stepped down. >> a friend of the accused boston marathon bomber is under arrest charged with obstructing authorities in their investigation. he was indicted bay federal grand jury today, charged with falsifying records and lying to police. >> we have seen drones used for just about everything these days, now scientists want to use drones to study the destructive force of a hurricane. researchers in florida want to unlock their secrets by dropping a drone into the eye of the storm. >> this is the view from the cockpit as an airplane flies into the wall of a hurricane. researchers want to improve tools they use to learn more about intensity as it barrels to shore. will it be category one or three. >> our ability to tell you what it will do at landfall as far as intensity, the strength of the winds is not that good. we're trying to get better, making strides. >> this drone is one

they are calling for eric shinseki to resign. doctors at the mao clinic think they may have a breakthrough in cancer research. a woman dying of a form of the disease is in full remission after receiving a mass if dose of the lethal vaccine. the immune system got rid of the patient's blood cans are. those are the headlines. "america tonight" with joie chen is up next. you can get the latest news on >> new raging blazes force tens of thousands to flee. with thousands of acres scorched already, the unusually hot dry spring threatened to ignite more disaster. the state of execution. struggles to find death draws botched execution and even in a state that puts more convicts to debt than any other, doubts the system can be fixed.

your reaction to the resignation of eric shinseki. was it the right thing to do? t best for the v.a.? >> it was and it needed to happen. our members across the country have lost confidence in secretary shinseki, the country had lost confidence in him and many of the v.a. employees as well. this was a dam that burst. this has been building for years. i.g. reports have been coming out going back to 2007 noting the wait times. there have been congressional testimonies, groups like ours have raised these issues for years. veterans have had it, enough is enough. we know there are much bigger institutional and bureaucratic changes that must take place. this will not solve everything but a change in tone and at the top is necessary. > >> brown: joseph, your group had not called for the resignation, right? did you want him to stay on? >> that's correct. we supported secretary shinseki in the session he brought a lot of change to the v.a. we had confidence in his ability to bring change to this once it came to light so we did not ask for his resignation for those reasons. >

jay carney has been fielding tough questions about eric shinseki for weeks. they are both gone. let's start with the less surprising departure perhaps. shinseki. it turns out the president decided not to fire him instead he said he reeleluctantl lly ac his resignation. he said he had no plans to step down and this morning in washington gave a speech to a homeless veterans group and laid out a plan of action and sounded like he thought he would be sticking around. democrats close to the white house tell me they basically think since administration officials put out the word over the last 24 hours the president lost confidence, they were sending a signal to resign, spare the president the difficult task of firing a war hero. somebody wounded in vietnam. questions lingering, though, as shinseki goes about the president's own leadership style since the president here from this poudium here today, shocke these problems were developing and republicans said the president has come out and said he didn't know much about the va, about the irs or health care rollout, that botched rollout un

eric shinseki thought the cover up was a one off, but his review found 64% of centers lied about their scheduling performance. a separate audit said the phoenix problems were more serious. 1700 people called for appointments that were not schedule the, leading eric shinseki to apologise to veterans. >> we are apologising to the veterans waiting for appointments to bring them the care they need and deserve. we'll continue to access care for veterans nationwide, utilizing care in and outside the v.a. it was. >> reporter: it was too late. democrats and republicans spent the week calling for him to go. analysts agreed with the president - this is about politics. >> the president can talk about what he wants. the press said "we'll only talk about the issue that interests us, which is the hot issue of conditions in the veterans durings. that is what viewers and readers are interested in. so the press effectively said we are not going to cover anything else, and for the president, he said this had become a major distraction from what he wanted to talk about. >> president obama may have replac

eric shinseki has stepped down as the va secretary. today he apologized in public and then resigned in a private meeting with president obama. kpix 5's anne makovec joins us in the newsroom with an update on what the president told reporters today. >> reporter: former secretary eric shinseki apologized and called the findings in the report totally unacceptable and then the man in charg stepped down. >> eric shinseki resigned. >> reporter: the president accepted the resignation with regret but it was secretary eric shinseki's decision. >> he would be a distraction from the task at hand, which is to make sure that what's broken gets fixed. >> reporter: the task at hand involves fixing widespread problems inside the va medical system. whistle-blowers say hospital administrators ordered staff to lie about wait times in order to boost pay and bonuses. as many as 40 veterans at the phoenix va facility may have died while waiting for care. >> the misconduct has not been limited to a few va facilities but many across the country. >> reporter:

this morning. >> reporter: john and christine, the writing may be on the wall for va secretary eric shinseki for the first time since the va scandal broke. the white house is declining to say whether shinseki has the confidence of the president. white house press secretary jay carney refused to answer that question of whether shinseki has the president's full backing. instead, carney said the president wants to see the findings of an internal audit. shinseki is expected to hand that over to the president any day now. >> how does he run the department if he doesn't have the full confidence of the president? how does he conduct this investigation if he doesn't have the full confidence of the president? >> the president looks forward to the preliminary review that he asked the secretary to provide to him. >> a growing list of senate democrats, many up for re-election, are calling for shinseki to go. the last straw for those senators? an inspector general's report pointing to systemic issues in the va system, noting in phoenix, 1,700 veterans were never put on a waiting list and were likely lost

his answer was what changed his mind is eric shinseki himself.t did you make of the president's answer. >> reporter: i thought that was interesting. the president said a week ago said he had confident in the secretary in the last few days and eric shinseki said he could not manage the department and it was a distraction and swayed the president's opinion. >> in the improvementu new's conference you don't get too much of a follow-up. what questions would you ask him? what should we all be asking? >> reporter: i think my colleagues did a good job. what happens next for the department. you have an acting secretary with twloe months experience and has a good resume but not familiar with the bureaucracy of the va has secretary shinseki was. veterans are saying it is a good first step and a positive moment. but they are concerned about what this means and whether or not the inherent problems will be fecesed. >> do you think they would be? as you reported. veteran affairs issues came up a bit. >> it was talking about the issues he was aware of. >> all w

va secretary eric shinseki has resigned. please focus on the real issue, fully funding the va. you can see shinseki's resignation is a step obama really did not want to take. and joe from indiana had had this to say. i want to thank you general shinseki for his service but appreciate him stepping aside. keep telling us what's important to you. and now this news. an urge ent warning from the cd as measles cases surge to a new high. here's the story by the numbers. we're moving our company to new york state. the numbers are impressive. over 400,000 new private sector jobs... making new york state number two in the nation in new private sector job creation... with 10 regional development strategies to fit your business needs. and now it's even better because they've introduced startup new york... with the state creating dozens of tax-free zones where businesses pay no taxes for ten years. become the next business to discover the new new york. [ male announcer ] see if your business qualifies. we are the thinkers. the job juggle

here's chief congressional correspondent dana bash. >> reporter: christine and john, va secretary eric shinsekied to a closed-door meeting on capitol hill yesterday afternoon, not to meet with a republican but a frustrated democrat. and afterwards, shinseki told reporters that he has not offered the president his resignation. he said "you guys know me better than that." but his remaining support is tenuous. do you still think that he should be at the helm? >> i have not called for general shinseki to resign, although i have to admit, i'm getting a little bit closer. the reports that continue to come are appalling. and these are men and women who served our country, and we've not just let them down, we've let them die! >> reporter: congress is stepping up its investigation of the va, but three va officials scheduled to attend a house veterans affairs committee meeting yesterday morning didn't show up, and later in the afternoon, the va general counsel scrapped a meeting with that committee's chairman, jeff miller, after miller demanded it be open to the press. >> we waited all day long. we calle

theontinued talking about resignation yesterday of eric shinseki. john is up from camden town, missouri on our line for veterans. caller: i think blaming shinseki for this is ridiculous. the fault belongs with congress. i will give you a good example of how congress works. -- yesterday you had a republican on there from texas, i cannot remember his name, discussing this same problem. the moderator read a report stating that each representative -- each doctor in the v.a. had a list of 2000 patients he was responsible for. this congressman said, that is not too many. there are doctors with 10,000 patients. of silly to me. i got out a pencil and paper and in 30 seconds i figured out that if a doctor had 10,000 patients, he works 365 days a year, 10 hours a day, each one of those patients would get 30 minutes of his time a year. notproblem is congress does know what the heck is going on. care and they politicize everything. our: if you want to see interview yesterday with jeff miller, you can check that out .n c-span.org we also interviewed sheila jackso

despite the break with the american legion, almost every other veterans organization still supports eric shinsekior managing the explosive growth of the v.a. shinseki got his strongest endorsement where it counts, scott, full backing from the president. >> pelley: wyatt, thanks very much. in an emergency order today, the transportation department told railroads that haul crude oil from the bakken oil fields in north dakota that they must inform states before those trains pass through. there is a lot of concern after several serious accidents, and transportation correspondent jeff pegues has been following this for us. jeff, how is this order going to help? >> reporter: well, scott, bakken crude oil has transported along 140,000 miles of rain rale in this country and it's going through cities and towns. this emergency order is designed to help first responders prepare for any potential derailments. >> pelley: and what's the concern over the bakken oil in particular? >> reporter: well, scott, bakken crude comes from parts of north dakota and montana. it is considered highly volatile and flammable,

eric shinseki promised an exhaust i haive review.e vowed to get down to the bottom and take action and also defended his agency. >> this is not a job, i am here to accomplish a mission i think they critically deserve and need. i can tell you over the past five years we have done a lot to make things better. we are not done yet. >> some republicans called for shinseki to step down man fee want to see the completed probe first while others are frustrated signs were missed. white house deputy chief of staff who assisted in the review john mccain says problems created a much larger crisis calling for much larger consequences. >> whether he resigns or not is important. but if these allegations are crew people should be going to jail not just resigning their positions. this is shameful under any circumstances. it is ten times more shameful because it is being done to the men and women who put their lives on the line for us. >> he is working with federal prosecutors to weigh whether criminal charges are warranted in the healthcare scandal i

the senate hearing focused on the scandal at the veterans administration with secretary eric shinsekiing grilled by lawmakers as outrage grows over neglect claims at veterans hospitals across country. secretary shinseki welcome as white house review and vows to hold employees accountable for any misconduct as lawmakers call for action to restore veterans confidence. >> this needs to be a wake-up call for the department. the lack of transparency and lack of accountability is inexcusable and can not continue on of the practices of indimtation and -- intimidation and cover-ups has to change starting today. >> no one should be treated this way in a country great as ours. treating those we owe socallously and ungratefully is unconscionable and we all should be ashamed. >> any allegation, any adverse incident like this makes me as, makes me mad as hell. i could use stronger language, mr. chairman but in deference to the committee i won't but at the same time it also saddens me because i understand that out of those adverse events a veteran and a veteran's family is dealing in the aftermath

veterans affairs secretary-general eric shinseki is out. the general resigned his post just over a month after allegations first surfaced that 40 veterans died while waiting for medical appointments in phoenix. an allegation that led to a watchdog report that found systemic problems at va health care facilities across the nation. president obama announced the general's departure at the white house. >> a few minutes ago secretary shinseki offered me his own resignation. with considerable regret i accepted. lou: the president went on to say that politics played a role in his decision. >> we occupy a not just a, an environment that calls for management fixes, we avenue also got to deal with congress and you guys and i think rick's judgment that he could not carry out the next stages of reform, without being a distraction himself. lou: those cls for shinseki to resign had snowballed this week. both republicans and a steady stream of democrats have been calling for his head. but on capitol hill house speaker john boehner today signaled shinseki'

martha: you say you support eric shinseki.pect that the president is going to fire him this morning? >> well, i hope not because martha, i will tell you, the veterans administration is never, never, going to have a better, more honorable and dedicated boss than eric shinseki. he is not the problem. the problem has been that, in the federal system, whether civil service or federal unions, you can't get rid of the dead wood, you can't get rid of scrammers, you can't get rid of the bums. by the way, it is very hard to hire quality people. now general shinseki undo 350 years of neglect and underfunding in five years. he actually made progress. while the va has a lot of room for improvement and you've got to get the bad actors out of there like people in phoenix, nonetheless i have to say i think the media has been very one-sided. my personal friends get treated by the va system i don't know one that feels they had inferior treatment. that doesn't mean we can't do better. just more complex. again, shinseki has been the whipping boy

joo eric shinseki is out! how long is the wait time for meaningful change at the v.a.? it's friday, may 30th. and this is "now." >> he offered me his own resignation and i accepted. >>> president obama announced he accepted the resignation of v.a. secretary eric shinseki . >> i will not defend it because it's indefensible. >> people expect our top government officials to be on alert. >> i can take responsibility. >> these are not honorary positions. you're supposed to know what's going on. >> changes in leadership changed the tone. >> for now, the leader that will help move us forward is sloan gibson. someone that's been there since february. >> can he deal with this? >> separate from a policy fight this is turning into a political fight. >> today's announcement really changes nothing. >> this is more perilous for the president. >> we'll hold the president accountable until he makes things right. >> if the democrats don't show some crackle in the way they run the government, the american people will have a problem with that. >> this is my administration and i take respo

. >> all eyes on eric shinseki. they are under increasingly mounting bipartisan pressure. >> hi elizabeth. what's the white house saying now? >> we heard from the white house. 113 members of congress # 23 in the house and 11 in the senate facing tough reelection battles. that battle after the interim report came out wednesday exposing distem -- systemic problems in the va hospitals. so far no action has been taken. the president found the report extremely troubling. he tasked the secretary with conducting an internal audit, an internal review and asked for a mru preliminary report from the secretary by the end of the week. he awaits that preliminary report. >> while the president is facing mounting pressure from his peers he will not make the resignation call any time soon. he skirted around many of the pressure filled questions during a briefing yesterday. he emphasized the president is waiting to see the results of an internal investigation led by white house deputy chief of staff rob neighbors. >> he had confiden

you see the president with his arm around eric shinseki. white house when the president basically accepted the resignation of shinseki as secretary of veterans affairs. a picture that sort of captures that moment. >>> still ahead, the secret behind a new boy band's initial success that isn't just the music. they have friends and parents in high places. ♪ >>> first, though, we want you to meet a golfing champion whose success is giving others a better life. cnn's chris cuomo has today's impact your world report. >> thank you. >> you're welcome, sweetie. >> reporter: for these kids, blessings come in the form of apple, corn, even tuna. >> that's a nice smile you have. >> thanks to blessings in a backpack, students on a federally funded school program can take home a bag of food for the weekend. >> it helps me because sometimes we don't have enough money to buy food. >> we can't expect children to turn up on monday morning at school and expect them to be able to learn and be in a good state for learning when they haven't had enough food over th

er eric shinseki has resigned. all of this, amidst a growing scandal first revealed right here on cnn. we got the news straight from the president himself, as he announced it to the country just a short time ago. have a look. >> this morning, i think some of you heard rick take a truly remarkable action in public remarks, he took responsibility for the conduct of those facilities and apologized to his fellow veterans and to the american people. a few minutes ago, secretary shinseki offered me his own resignation. with considerable regret, i accept it. rick shinseki has served his country with honor for nearly 50 years. he he did two tours of combat in vietnam. he's a veteran who left a part of himself on the battlefield. he rose to command the first cavalry division, served as army chief of staff, and has never been afraid to speak truth to power. as secretary of the va, he presided over record numbers of veterans. enrolling them in health care and delivering disability pay to more vietnam veterans exposed to agent

but apparently more and more they agree that eric shinseki must go. fox news military analyst joins us the. lou: breaking news, and as you can see, there areea reason for the pictures, this one is incredible. the los angeles times has just reported moments ago that former microsoft ceo steve ballmer has won the bidding war to buy the los angeles clippers. ballmer bidding $2 billion sitting in new record price for an nba franchise and he beat out groups led by magic johnson, grant hill and others. steve ballmer reportedly ending the donald sterling nightmare. he buys the clippers, the price tag is $2 billion. we will have more details as we come in, that is the essence of the story. eric shinseki meeting with veterans service organizations following a scathing inspector general reported. colonel, should he or should he not resign, should he be fired. >> you and i talked about this two weeks ago now that time i said he should probably be fired or lees resigned and as i reflect on it a little bit now, especially with all of these people being called for

but apparently more and more they agree that eric shinseki must go. fox news military analyst joins us next. i ys say be thman with the plan but with less ergy, moodiness, i had to do something. i saw mdoctor. a blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. we talked about axiron the onlynderarm low t treaent that can restore t vels to normal in about two weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especlly those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoidt where axirons applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or incased acne in women may occur. report these symptoms to your doctor. tell your doctorbout all medical conditions and medications. serious side effects could include increased sk of prostate cancer, worsening prostate symptoms, decreased sperm count, ankle, feet or body swelling, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing while sleeping and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redn

secretary, eric shinseki. and obviously some of those calls for eric shinseki's resignation carry more weight than others. one is congressman jeff miller, head of the house veterans affairs committee. he had not previously called for general shinseki's resignation, even though he was critical of the agency during this scandal. today he called eric shinseki a good man who has served his country honorably but also who should resign immediately. he also called for eric holder to launch a criminal probe into the wait list manipulation. in the ig report today, the inspector general says where they are finding information about potentially criminal actions by members of the v.a., they are working with the department of justice on further investigations and potential criminal investigation of those instances. on the senate side, the head of the senate veterans affairs committee is senator bernie sanders. he has not yet joined in the calls that have been made by other members of congress that eric shinseki should resi

trading. >> ariva martin thank you very much. >> thank you john. >> it is a surprise to no one that eric shinsekiigned as secretary of veterans affairs today. for many it was long overdue. growing scandal around the department. for president obama the issue now is one of damage control. still he says shinseki is not to blame but understands why he left. >> i think his belief that be he would be a distraction from the task at hand. which is to make sure what is broken gets fixed to make sure the veterans get what they need. >> ill will not defend what is indefensible and i will take responsibility for it and i do. >> many lawmakers said that he had to go but that his resignation won't fix problem. randall pinkston has that part of the story. >> john, something rare in washington today. bipartisan agreement, republicans and democrats supporting the resignation of eric shinseki. house speaker john boehner. >> his resignation though does not absolve the president of his responsibility to step in and make things right for our veterans. business as usual cannot continue. >> reporter: in the senate a si

to or from secretary eric shinseki, the undersecretary for health, thomas lynch, assistant undersecretary for health. mr. wilgunn, general counsel, or any other representative of the office of general counsel, ms. joan mooney, assistant secretary for congressional and legislative affairs, dr. ron mauer, director of the congressional liaison service, and mr. cox, congressional relation officer or mr. michael hough, congressional relation officer. the scope of this subpoena will encompass all emails and written correspondence where these parties discussed the discussion of an ultimate wait list, regardless of what name it was given earnings which form in which it was kept. pursuant to rule 11, clause 2-m-1-b of the house of representatives and rule 3, clause g of this committee, we have a motion before us that's at the desk and i will ask that the clerk will read the motion. >> ranking member michaud moved the committee authorize issuance to eric shinseki, secretary of the u.s. department of veterans affairs, for department of veterans affairs to produce all emails and written correspondenc