jeff miller is the person in the iconic photo. ce down on the pavement. >> a young man had a flag, and in extreme horror and frustration, just dipped it in jeffrey's blood that was like a river. it was quite horrible. and was whipping it around. >> it was like the end of the world. >> my brother is jeffrey miller. my mom called my brother's apartment at kent to find out, are you okay. one of his roommates answers the phone and just kind of matter of factually says, he's dead. >> my childhood friend, sandy scheuer was among those who were killed. she was on her way from her art class to her exam in music and speech. she was just absolutely the most amazing, charming young woman. she had a heart as big as anything. >> i remember a girl who lived in my dorm coming up and telling me allison had been shot. that turned out to be allison krause. >> allison was an anti-war activist. that weekend she sent a telegram to president nixon protesting the invasion of cambodia. >> i walked on a little bit further, and i saw a person that i would l

jeff miller chairman of the house committee and lieutenant colonial ralph peters who is an analyst.nks both for being here. let me start with you. it's a sad day to see general shinseki go but in the end, did it have to happen? >> it did. he had lost the faith of the american people, and certainly, the people that were mid level burr ocrats didn't feel they had to tell him the truth. it was a sad day because this gentleman is a good american. the focus has been on him thus far but you can hear john boehner there redirecting to mr. shinseki's boss. your thoughts on the president. >> the president took three weeks before he came out and acre knowledged the gravity of the situation. we've had veterans that have died. they have known this for a number of years. they admitted 23 veterans died because they were waiting for care and for the president to have gone forward with the attitude just showed another lack of leadership on his part but again, i'm trying not to make this political. this is about the veterans and the people who have earned the benefit that they are supposed to get and

you'll remember that republican jeff miller who chairs the house veterans affairs committee, a republicane is now demanding there be an outside commission investigating this. he doesn't think the inspector general at the veterans affairs administration can handle it. jay carney pushed back on that and says they think here that the investigations are moving forward. and he also insists that the president's been throwing money and other things at the problem even though jeff miller says he wrote to the president a year ago and didn't really hear back. listen. >> he says he got, quote, disturbing silence from the white house and, quote, one excuse after another from the v.a. so what's been done? >> i can cite you what's been done including the increases in spending for v.a. services that this president has insisted on. >> we also have lawmakers from the state of missouri now saying they're concerned about v.a. facilities in the st. louis area. it gives you the idea that as you look at the map, this situation continues to grow. democrats and republicans on the hill saying they're concerned th

congressman jeff miller who has been on this case for quite sometime now is here on what is next ando is ralph peters. >> a dramatic twist in the donald sterling case. details from a lawsuit. this is becoming a hot mess, becoming. coming up. >>> and what is the u.s. doing to help a woman sentenced to death for being a christian? she is the mother of two american citizens. she is married to an american citizen and as far as we can tell, the united states of america is not doing much to help her. hersh hirsi ali is next. >> i think it all begins with acknowledging that there is something wrong in the first place. comes without a prescription for frequent heartburn. get complete protection. nexium level protection. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase i make a lot of purchases for my business. like 60,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards even cash back. and my rewards

hospital scandal, jeff miller is next. 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. charles: president obama. referenceing the virgie arthur v.a. -- scandal yesterday. calls to move veteran affairs healthcare, are gaining steam after house speaker john boehner said he supported the idea this week, v.a. has yet to confirm three of its official will attend a meeting in front of house committee. joining me now, chairman of house veterans affairs committee congressman jeff miller. thank you for your time. i have to tell you, in a nation that faces feels like a new scandal every week, thi

joining me now, chairman of house veterans affairs committee congressman jeff miller. thank you for your time. i have to tell you, in a nation that faces feels like a new scandal every week, this v.a. scandal is moving to the top of the list quickly, what do you hope to achieve tomorrow? >> charles this thing cuts both ways, both democrat and republican, all americans are outraged with what they have seen happen in the department of veterans affairs, tomorrow night we just got confirmation. >> that 3 witnesses we invited will attend, they tried to get several excuseed. we're going to listen to why a list that we think was the secret list in phoenix was destroyed. dr. lynch briefed our staff on a potential solution to what v.a. was saying, they say it not a secret list, but it is, that 40 veterans died on while they were waiting for care, tomorrow night we'll ask him why was that less list destroyed? who authorizeed that distruth destruction what was on the list. >> what is the next move? >> we have to find out if there was any criminal activity involved. other person w

there are some heeding the request of jeff miller.ffairs officials will be zeroing in on the va healthcare system wait list allegations. >>> we have got to find out if there is any criminal activity involved. i think that's the thing that most people want to get to the bottom of besides providing the healthcare that the veterans themselves have earned by their service to the country. >> those eattending thomas lync, legislative affairs joe mooney as well as congressional relations officer michael huff. critics say they have been alleging delays for years. >> they are reporting on wait time problems and outpatient ap appointment scheduling issue since 2000 if they issued a report in 2000, 201 and 2012. they released a statement saying veterans can explore private options but have a fact sheet regarding veterans for care and specialized for vets in areas of mental health, spinal cord injury and many other areas unique to va healthcare delivery and hard to find for the va. chuck hagel with meet with senior pentagon leaders. >> thank you

and so what i did a few weeks ago, in conjunction with may colleague from florida, jeff miller, is file a bill, a very simple and straightforward bill. the bill -- the v.a.ate accountability mapght act of 2014 would give the v.a. secretary the power to fire or demote senior executive service employees based on their performance. it is a power similar to the power the secretary of defense already has to remove military general officers from command. and of course the power that any one of our 100 senators has to remove a member of their staff. this bill passed yesterday in the house of representatives, and it is sitting here on the desk in the senate. it passed yesterday with an overwhelming bipartisan majority of members of both parties who are outraged by what is occurring and want to bring accountability. in a press conference yesterday, the white house indicated that they are very open to this concept and that in fact they were interacting with leaders on it. we called the white house and asked them about it. they also indicated an openness to it, though they did share they have some

chairman jeff miller, who had called three v.a.fficials to speak to the committee who have not appeared said he did receive a series of e-mails from the v.a. early this morning but he said his patience is, quote, wearing thin and he's tired of asking for information from the v.a. and not getting it or it taking a long time. paul rieckhoff, have you changed your position on general shinseki? >> no, but i think the membership is getting more and more outraged by the day. we're going to speak to our people nationwide. it's memorial day. we're going to continue to poll our members, talk to them the events nationwide. they are furious at a level i've never seen in doing this work for a decade and it's getting worse by the minute. >> nobody seemed happy with with what the president said yesterday. i know you guys are not happy. what did you want to hear from him? what is the specific bullet points, a plan of action? >> he didn't say anything new, he didn't lay out a plan of action. if he had so much confidence in shinseki, why wasn't he

i want to bring in representative jeff miller. he's the chairman of the house committee on veterans affairs. congressman, thanks very much for joining us. let me get right to a potential criminal issue. do you believe bureaucrats over at the department of veterans affairs and facilities around the country were deliberately, deliberately fudging some of the numbers so that they might qualify for bonuses? >> i do. in fact, that's why i wrote the attorney general this morning and asked him to launch an investigation into the activities that have occurred. it's well over 40 facilities that are under investigation. >> that sounds to me like a crime, potentially. you want the fbi, department of justice to get involved and start a criminal investigation? >> i do. and interestingly enough, last night during our late-night hearing on the floor of the house of representatives, we're doing the commerce state and justice appropriation bill and we had an amendment. in fact, that pluses up the fbi budget by a million dollars in order for them t

later in the afternoon, the va general counsel scrapped a meeting with that committee's chairman, jeff millerler demanded it be open to the press. >> we waited all day long. we called nine times for them to tell us whether or not they were going to come, and he never came. >> reporter: all of this while the president's point person on va troubles, rob nabors, traveled to phoenix, the va office where problems first surfaced, to interview the interim director. even as congressional investigators warn the problems we know about now may just be the tip of the iceberg. christine and john? >> thanks for that, dana. >>> all right, whipping winds and bone-dry terrain giving firefighters all they can handle near sedona, arizona. a wildfire burning over 7,000 acres, the flames only 5% contained, not what you want to hear. a tense situation unfolding this morning with hundreds of homes and businesses in harm's way. let's get more now from ana cabrera. >> reporter: john and christine, it's the extremely dry conditions that have firefighters really concerned. it's these pine needles, these dry pine needle

the books, i will in the stand for it, not as commander in chief, but also not as an american. >> jeff miller is a florida republican and he is the chairman of the house veterans affairs committee. as far as i can see, chairman miller, you are among a precious, preciously small group of people who have been jumping up and down over the past few years trying to get somebody to pay attention to you overall of the issues that we've been discussing this week. there is precious little new, is there not? this has been on going for years. >> this has been going on for years and of the course, immediately the obama administration wants to say this goes back to the bush administration and that may be true, but this secretary has been in office now for well over five years and has had an opportunity to make a difference and hasn't done it and the agency has continued to grow. the issue of wait times has been around for a considerable amount of time but just recently, the deaths have been brought forward, especially in places like south carolina, augusta georgia, memphis, tennessee where veterans were p

jeff miller says, quote, right now, there are two things that need to happen.ey general eric holder should launch a criminal investigation into v.a.'s widespread scheduling corruption and v.a. secretary eric shinseki should resign immediately. this comes just hours before miller's committee is expected to hear from three key v.a. officials. members of that committee say they expect tough questions to be bipartisan and say they are searching for solutions. >> look, veterans that are on long waiting lists should be allowed to go see a civilian doctorike myself. i'm as experienced in seeing military people as many of them are. many of them have never served in the military. we need to do that yesterday. >> i should note this internal watchdog report is an interim report. there is still more investigation taking place. this scandal has spread to some 26 facilities across the country. the word systemic does appear in there. so there are grave concerns which may be going on at other facilities across the country. but this coming out just hours before this critical he

we had jeff miller of the v.a. committee as well as john mccain on the senate side and buck mckeon of the armed services. very tellingy -- a sign. i think that was the belt whether of this. veterans callse that hurt him more? inst: i think that set it motion. the american legion said he had to go and that is huge. nothing has happen like that in decades. and the final straw was the lawmakers who had been supporting him, people like john mccain saying he is a distraction. host: we continue discussion on eric shinseki's resignation. our phone lines are open. we are taking your comments and questions as we go about this. a special line continuing for veterans. with to be calling on that line for veterans from albany georgia. caller: thank you for airing this desperate situation for veterans. i am a veteran. i joined the army at 16 years old. as a result of some of my duty, i contracted melanoma cancer service connected. i have been dealing with the v.a. for 12 years trying to get a rating for this melanoma cancer. the

republicans not calling for shinseki's resignation and respected in the military community, chairman jeff miller john mccain saying it's time for shinseki to go and miller's calling for a criminal investigation. the president said he was waiting for facts before any accountability. here are the facts. does this change the calculus for the president? >> jake, i haven't had a chance to read the report what happen i know, before coming to talk to you, my understanding that the chief of staff briefed the president on the interim report. my understanding is the president found the findings of the interim report deeply troubling. he's already urged the v.a. to move out now on making sure that veterans have access and care that they need, not wait for the findings of interim reports or final reports. but obviously we're looking at this closely and the preliminary view, based on reading the interim report, it's deeply troubling. and steps need to be taken to correct the obvious deficiencies. >> but nothing in terms of anybody stepping down most notably, secretary shinseki? >> look, we're focused on maki

again, i know that our committee in the house under chairman jeff miller from florida is hard at workthe issue of trying to get to the bottom of how we can fix this horrific problem that is affecting those who have served the ultimate honor for us, which has serve our country in uniform. >> i want to switch gears if you don't mind, sir, to the united states marine that's still holed up in mexico. do you know what really happened there? do you know why he is still held? this has happened to soldiers on both sides who have ended up or wandered into the others border with no incident, it's been resolved quickly. not in this guy's case. is there something we're missing? >> neil, i don't really know enough that i could comment on that. >> so if you were president, and wondering why it's lasting so long, any ideas what our president should do to resolve it? >> again, i want to hesitate to comment on that, not knowing what the details are in the president's mind and the congress needs to undertake to resolve this situation. >> fair enough, at the risk of being open no, shus, there are many i

, there is at least six states where there is major problems with the va hospitals and remember jeff milleras on the "kelly file" last night saying he wants the president to have an outside panel to review them and have a more robust investigation. jay carney dismissed that today but i pressed him and he sent it a year ago raising concerns and jeff miller charges that it fell on deaf ears, listen. >> he says he got quote disturbing information from the white house and one excuse after the another with the va. what has been done? >> i can tell you what has been done including the increases in spending for va services that this president has insisted on. >> the fairness from one viewer today who gets care at a va hospital on long island in new york, he said he gets excellent care and wants to make clauear, not all veterans are getting bad care but there are a lot of veterans, some have died waiting for care, but nonetheless, democrats john tester, senator for montgomery told msnbc said he thinks they have doing a good job dealing with this. not like when president bush said you're doing a hec

the leaders of the two committees, the senate -- well, an independent, bernie sanders, and then jeff millerpublican chairman of the house committee not join this chorus to call for shinseki's head, they probably have a better nuanced understanding of the situation of the sprawling department than some of the republican senators who have suggested that he should go. you have the ones you mentioned, john cornyn and jerry moran, the republican congressman is another. he's a member of the senate veterans affair committee but the senatorial committee. and there's another former republican senator who has called for his firing, scott brown, of course, who would like to return to the senate. has also said this week that shinseki should perhaps go. when it comes to congressional oversight i'm confident they could be doing much more. i think every oversight committee could be doing a little more. but it does appear at least this week several lawmakers jumped in and suggested that congress needs to do more than they're doing. >> in terms of what are the next steps for getting a handle on the scope of

today, we learned from congressman jeff miller, the chairman of the house veterans committee, that he, he has proof that an alternate list did exist in phoenix and he believes evidence of that list was destroye destroyed. >> is that raising criminal questions? sn>> come to this decision but did not do this without some substantial justification. the last few weeks have been a model of v.a. stonewalling which precipitated the need for this subpoena. first on april 24th, our staff was briefed and informed on the existence of an alternate wait list and how that list was subsequently destroyed. yesterday, may 7th, i received a response from v.a. that does t not, does not fully answer the very simple questions that i asked. therefore, the time for request for this matter is over. today, we'll vote to issue a subpoena. it's historic vote. this committee has voted once before to issue a subpoena, the first time ever in the history, and we worked with v.a. and actually we did not deliver that subpoena but we ultimately got the information that we were asking for. but i trust the v.a. will hav

congressman jeff miller who you had on last night is chairman of that committee. he tried to explain to what happened to wolf blitzer today. but listen to this answer because it just shows the frustration he is having with the v.a. >> last night at 2:30 a.m., we got 3,000 e-mails from them in the dark of night. we had asked earlier in the evening if they would please come and explain to us why it is taking so long. we got a letter back that said we can't come because you have asked us 15 hours ahead of time. the general counsel said he would come to the hill today at 4:00, and so i cancelled my flight home so that i could be here for a brief. we called him and said you're welcome to come up for the brief but only if it is open to the public and the press can be there. we waited all day long. we called nine times for them to tell us whether or not they were going to come. and he never came. we got a call at a quarter to 4:00 from three low level staffers that basically said he didn't want to brief members of congress. he wanted to brief the staff and not in front o

republican jeff miller chairs the veterans affairs committee. he fired off a letter to the president of the united states last night saying, in part, mr. president, a year has passed since i wrote to you requesting your involvement in addressing a rash of suicides, preventable deaths, and other serious patient care issues at department of veteran affairs medical centers around the country. jeff miller writes, he has simply not gotten answers to any of that in the past year and is now demanding that an outside panel review this instead of having the va and their inspector general investigate it. >> secretary shinseki is supposed to be on the hot seat tomorrow on capitol hill. what does the white house have to say about that? >> bottom line is you're right, he is going to face a tough grilling before the senate veterans affairs panel. i just pressed jay carney a few moments ago. he was saying, look, they're on top of this. they're trying to deal with it. they put all kinds of money into trying to deal with the problem at va but i pressed him then,

jeff miller has been talking about accountability. jeff is right.think the other area that we have to talk about is 2 million new veterans coming in, some with ptsd, very difficult cases. do we have the staff in all areas of this country to accommodate the needs of those veterans? frankly, between you and me, i'm not sure we do. the veterans organizations have been telling us loud and clearly that we don't. i suspect they're right. >> congressman miller, if you take the 50,000-foot view and look at this, isn't what's screaming we don't have enough people to care for all these folks at the va? both of you all have pushed for and gotten increases in spending at the va. spending at the va has gone up over the last decade, in particular in the last four or five years doesn't this say to you we're not giving them enough money? if this is really our commitment, we need to plow money into this because there aren't enough doctors, nurses, et cetera? >> what you have is an issue of manipulation and mismanagement. if money was the issue, this problem would ha

>> well, greta, you get a sense that house veterans affairs chairman jeff miller has had it with this investigation. earlier this afternoon, after an interim report from an independent watchdog came out saying that these phony schedules that the phony numbers were doctored up by the v.a. in phoenix that all that is true. jeff miller came out and said eric shin seq.y the secretary of veterans affairs it's time for him to go. it's time for new leadership. so tonight up here on capitol hill. a very rare occurrence a hearing with three mid level officials at the v.a. and essentially saying that the v.a. has not provided information, has not been very forthcoming. unless the committee threatened to turn up the pressure on them. is he frustrated. he's answers and hearing that this independent watchdog has found that all the allegations appear to be true at this point, a lot of this is systemic in terms of america's war heros, he has had enough and calling for shinseki to go. >> does anyone think that general shinseki can stay? does he have support within the democratic party? >> the top dem

host: jeff miller is the chair of the house veterans affairs committee.dy joining us from illinois. independent. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. gentleman was happy to step down because of the way time to get into see the doctors and everything. i believe this has no difference. one other gentleman -- the leader of the house -- he is holding up a bill for a that has unemployment been waiting over five months. today is the last day to have this bill brought up and these people, 2.8 million people are waiting for almost the same thing. for their lives to be fixed. people should ask the leader of the house to step down, too. it's almost the same situation. guest: i'm not here to talk about the emergency unemployment extension. this is not extension of the current unemployment system. this was an emergency unemployment process that was in 2009 when the economy gets so deeply. i can't answer as to why it's not on the schedule today. we will be voting on the intelligence authorization bill later on this morning. i also serve on the intellige

. >> that's a point that house veterans affairs committee chair jeff miller echoes. he told candy crowley on "state of the union" that something needs to change at the va, but firing the leader may not be the answer, he says. >> this is much larger than the secretary of the department of veterans affairs. >> like what? >> well, you've got an entrenched bureaucracy that exists that is not held accountable, that is shooting for goals, goals that are not helping the veteran. the person that's supposed to be served is not the bureaucrat, it's the veteran. >> this week, secretary shinseki is expected to deliver the preliminary results of a va investigation into claims that some veterans died while waiting for care and allegations that some facilities used secret lists to keep their wait times off the book. you can see jake's entire interview with chuck hagel this afternoon on "the lead" at 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. >>> all right, this morning the va secretary and president obama expected to visit arlington national cemetery, where the president will lay a wreat

jeff miller is a good guy. he is a serious guy. in agreement, that before you jump to conclusions, you have to have the facts. what worries me a little bit, and this is not chairman miller, who is a serious person, is you understand the political nature of what goes on here in washington right now. very, very politicized. and you've got folks who want to repeal the affordable care act. they want to end medicare as we know it. they voted to make massive cuts in medicaid. it's very easy to attack government programs like the va. and there is no question, let me be very clear, in my view, va has some serious problems that we have to address. waiting lines in some parts of this country may be in fact much too long. there may not be enough physicians and nurses where we need them. i do not understand, quite frankly, and we have to get out there. what is the scheduling patterns, why are we having so many issues with scheduling, is there a serious problem. there may well be. let's get to the root of that. but what i don't want to do here

so the resignation now put in quotes from the chairman of jeff miller isn't sitting p intin it. pinnacle of disingenuous political double speak. just doesn't pass the smell test and calls the va desperate to get ahead of delays in care crisis that is growing by the day. yet apparently unwilling to take substantive actions to hold any of its leaders accountable for negligence that harms veterans. also veterans groups, the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, are now calling for, quote, real action. "we don't need the va to find a scapegoat. we need an actual plan to restore a culture of accountability throughout the va." there have also been calls for the va secretary eric shinseki to step down. we asked the white house, they didn't want to pass judgment until the investigation is over, though they did again express confidence in shinseki and listed his successes. >> thank you, michelle kosinski. >>> the latest on the wildfires that are keeping 11,000 people out of their homes. >>> hospitals preparing for a frightening and little known disease. >>> but first, this impact the

the house veterans affairs chairman jeff miller told me. >> the only way you can change how a system functions is to be transparent and honest. there are people inside the system that don't want to do the right thing. >> reporter: the inspector general says it is fanning out to 46 hospitals around the country unannounceed to reduce possible destruction of evidence. secretary shinseki called these findings reprehensible and ordered immediate action to treat those waiting veterans, and from the white house, nbc's kristen welker reports the president now considers secretary shinseki to be on probation. brian? >> kelly o'donnell on capitol hill with all of it tonight for us, thanks. >>> president obama addressed the issue of american involvement in future wars today and the changing threat to this country. he spoke to the graduating cadets at the u.s. military academy west point. as one writer put it, he called for a muscular, if not militaristic foreign policy for the near future. our report from nbc's peter alexander. >> reporter: they are the first class to graduate since the 9/11 att

house veterans affairs kplit committee chair jeff miller led a tense hearing last night, pressing v.a. officials for more information. >> veterans died. get us the answers, please. >> i understand that, mr. chairman, and i will look -- >> that's what you said three months ago. >> in phoenix alone, investigators discovered 1,700 veterans who were waiting for a primary care appointment but had not been placed on the electronic waiting list, putting them at risk for being forgotten or lost. the report shows the average wait time for the first appointment was 1115 days. calls for veterans affairs secretary shinseki to resign are growing on capitol hill. john mccain is calling on the president. >> if secretary shinseki does not step down voluntarily, then i call on the president of the united states to relieve him of his duties. >> several democrats up for re-election are also demanding shinseki step down. they're ordering the v.a. facilities to call each veteran awaiting care to make sure they get appointments. senator mccain wants the justice department involved saying these problems are

congressman jeff miller of florida supports the idea of allowing some veterans to get care at private hospitals and says this is not simple police an issue of leadership as some continue kag for the resignation of v.a. secretary eric shinseki. >> this is much larger than the secretary of the department of veterans affairs. >> like what? >> well, you've got an entrenched bureaucracy that exists out there that's not held accountable, that is shooting for goals, goals that are not helping the veteran. the person that's supposed to be served is not the bureaucrat, it's the veteran. >> and miller wonders why it took so long for the administration to take this latest action. eric? >> yeah. steve, the inspectors general of the veterans administration is investigating the allegations dealing with the deaths, but department of justice hasn't launched an investigation yet. how about that? >> no, they haven't yet and senator richard blumenthal of connecticut is calling for just that. he says the justice department should look into this matter. here's what he had to say this morning. >> the depar

that was the committee's chairman, congressman jeff miller. sat down with mr. miller yesterday and peter has a report. >> good morning. i sat down with congressman miller at the witness table where those witnesses were grilled. let's watch. >> you've been urgently pursuing the truth on this issue. you withheld judgment, although asking tough questions about secretary shinseki. has anything changed in your mind about his ability to go forward as the secretary? >> i had always said let's wait 'til the report came out. the interim report was so damning that i felt it was important that i had my voice to those who had been calling for his resignation. >> the president has time and time again said he was going to reform the veterans administration, made promises about wait time. made promises about delivering medical care. have those promises been met? >> no, they've failed when it comes to delivering health care in many ways in a timely fashion. they will hold out the fact that they claim the v.a. claims that they have cut the disability backlog in

. >> reporter: the chairman of the house veterans affairs committee, republican jeff miller, says the v.a., starting now, has to allow more veterans to see private doctors. >> i believe that doctors can step up the pace to provide the necessary care that the veterans have earned, and if they can't, allow them to go outside to non- v.a. care providers. >> reporter: according to v.a. sources, 89,000 veterans nationwide have waited for care longer than 90 days and that number does not include veterans on the secret list or whose wait times were hidden by computer manipulation. margaret, we're told the v.a.'s goal just this week is to schedule 35,000 veterans for immediate appointments. >> brennan: wow, 35,000. wyatt, thank you. bob schieffer is our cbs news chief washington correspondent and anchor of "face the nation." bob, you've been following this very closely. what are your thoughts? >> reporter: margaret, this was definitely a hard one for the president. people were reluctant to criticize general shinseki because of his long military record of service, but the more you dug into thi

there is an idea by jeff miller who heads the v.a.ee in the house to give privatized care within 30 days and over in the senator john mccain has a bill in the works that would provide a government i.d. card where people could get private care if they are unable to get it through the v.a. a flexible system, you could get one or the other depending on which was available first. but it is under discussion now which is more than in the past year and it has a better chance now than it has ever had in terms of private izing the v.a. >> and i think everybody, no matter your political bend, is concerned about this. and despite the latest scandal, lawmakers tout the care the veterans get at the v.a. as the best in the u.s. so let's hope we get answers who is behind the scandal and rectify it for our veterans. susan, thank you so much. we'll see you again. >> thanks. >>> arthel, it took seven decades but a letter did arrive in time for memorial day weekend. jackie from our fox affiliate wofl in orlando has this amazing story. >> after nearly 70

but republican congressman jeff miller, chairman of the house committee on veteran's affairs calls the v.a.'s reaction, quote, faux outrage, and criticizes the department for not doing anything until yesterday. former arkansas republican governor and fox news host mike huckabee says shinseki should be out of a job. >> i think shinseki needs to go, not because he's personally responsible. but he is ultimately responsible. and at some point, you have to say we're cleaning house, we're going to bring people in. they're going to go top to bottom. we're going to get to the heart of this. we're going to fix it. and if they don't fix it -- >> on thursday, prior to yesterday's revelations, the white house said that the president has, quote, complete confidence in shinseki. eric and arthel? >> all right, molly. and there will likely be much more on this in the coming weeks. >> thanks, molly. okay, eric, we turn now to the brand-new special select committee in the house that's been set up to investigate benghazi. washington this weekend focusing all their attention on just what house minority le

the chairman of that committee, jeff miller of florida, calling on the v.a. secretary, eric shinseki, to resign. news conference this hour, so re senators flake and mccaine. that is 7:30 tonight on c-span2. >> the problem now is future peace. that is your job in germany. by your conduct and attitude while on guard inside germany, you can lay the groundwork of a peace that could last forever or just the opposite. you could lay the groundwork for a new war to come and just as american soldiers had to do this job 26 years ago, so other american soldiers, your sons, might have to do it again another 20-odd years from now. germany today appears to be eaten. hitler, out. gone.cans -- swatikas nazi propaganda off the air. concentration camps empty. you'll see ruins. you'll see flowers. you'll see some mighty pretty scenery. don't let it fool you. you are in enemy country. be alert, suspicious of everyone. take no chances. you are up against something more than tourist scenery. you are up against german history. it isn't good. >> in the first of a five-part look at h

it has take know more than a month in the facilities first surfaced and jeff miller said this actions coming too late and they had offered it to veterans. it is a welcome change from the department's previous approach to wait months for a investigation in a problem that we already know exists. in his weeklyro address today. taking care of veterans and their families is a sacred obligation. >> the president is losing support from more democrats now over the future of secretary shinseki. >> three more members of the president's party are braking ranks and urging shinseki to step down grimes from kentucky and mush nil nun said shinseki should g. grimes said i don't so how that breach of trust with our veterans can be repaired if the current leadership stays in place. secretary sin shinseki said he would stay on the job and president obama is standing with him for now. >> molly, thank you so much. >> a heart felt appeal for peace in the world's troubled region as pope francis goes to the middle east. he went to michael jordan first and he was welcomed. the pope's most moving meeting was w

house veterans affair jeff miller and keenan are among the latest to call for the secretary to step down. >> we are comparing it with public and private hospitals outside of the military system. to be able to identify problems before they become as acute and chronic as you are seeing here that that hasn't been done. >> press secretary jay carney says president obama was briefed by the findings of the report and found them quote extremely troubling. >> elizabeth prann life in washington. thank you. >>> that takes us to a fox news alert at this hour. an american service member is dead after a helicopter crash in southern afghanistan. u.s. officials would not confirm if there were any other injuries f or the cause of the crash. they plan to move all u.s. troops from afghanistan by 2016. >> the president playing defense on foreign policy at west point. president obama used his speech to try to explain the porn policy agenda but wound up sounding more defensive and confused. >> america has been stronger relative to the rest of the world. those who argue otherwise and suggest that america is i

congressman jeff miller saying despite repeated attempts to confirm key witnesses for the va scandal, he's got no confirmation they're going to show up tomorrow. absolute bewildserment that the witnesses were not confirmed this afternoon. getting time lly information fr the department you lead is abysm abysmal. you'll recall over the weekend the va issued a statement that said when veterans cannot get care in a timely fashion, they will be allowed to seek out private care. the va released a facts sheet and noted it offered areas that are specialized to va health care delivery and are hard to find outside the va for the fiscal year, the va has spent nearly $3.4 billion on non-va care for vets. why were so many vets dumped on to secret waiting lists and were not told they had non-va options? >> according to a local cbs station in los angeles, the bodies of 28 vets at the l.a. county morgue were just moved to a cemetery for burial this friday after being there for months. >> it's absolutely amazing. now we're seeing veterans who are waiting in these lists in death at this point. it's abs

there were warnings and jeff miller said he never got a letter back from the president. here's the bottom line when you ask how they treat about veterans in the white house, what i know about eric shinseki is he was wounded. he was an army general who was wounded in combat, and so, yes, i think he understands the difficulties men and women in uniform face. that should be said. but nonetheless, even though he has that, you still have to be a strong manager. you have to figure out how to get this bureaucracy to work and you can't do that and the benefits don't get to the veterans, you can't just say because he is a war her row, he gets a pass. he has to be held accountable. >> ed, how much longer do you think the president can get away without giving a serious comment about this? i don't think this is a partisan issue. i think this is an issue where the country is united. how much longer can he get away with that? >> he will have a news conference in the next few weeks. he had the last one was april 28th, as i mentioned and so i would expect he's going to face questions on

jeff miller joins the governor tonight. hillary clinton rips republicans saying they keep harping on benghazi for political gain. mike on the house responds. >> plus, many college campuses it is liberals trying to impress conservative

they will be focusing on the va facility weight list allegations after the request of congressman jeff millerslation affairs joe moody as well as michael huff. a number of officials on the hill as well as investigators say they have been on the problems at the

there's a house version of it sponsored by representative jeff miller which passed overwhelmly in the house just in the last few days. the secretary of the veterans administration needs to have the authority to fire or demote anyone for performance related reasons, even senior executive service employees based on their performance, their nonperformance. that would make a huge difference. in this instances, the secretary lacks the authority. that's a big problem. >> senator, it is not even an hr issue of getting rid of bureaucrats. the way this system is set up there are no incentives for performance. you have a single payer system that has the same problems we see in europe. a doctor shortage, corruption. would you support any kind of vouchers? i've said on the "five" perhaps a charter hospital for our veterans. >> i tend to agree at a minimum they ought to have the option if they want to go into the private system. you're right to point out if this doesn't speak to the failures of a single payer system, i don't know what does. if this is how we treat our nation's heros, the greatest

jeff miller of florida, chairman of the house veterans affairs committee, he sponsored this measure.the officials there are not doing what they are supposed to do, they are more inclined to get a bonus without this measure moving forward. undoubtedly why this bill was passed overwhelmingly. >> i couldn't care less if he was angry, yelling. certain guys are high octane. othe are hard to move. i wanted to see action. it's been three weeks. we've got a plan. then you heard the word he's meeting with general shinseki prior. the president took two questions, the second was general shinseki, did he offer his resignation like general rums tkpeld like ghraib. the president wouldn't answer that. >> the inspector general for the v.a. last week said we have no information that would lead us to believe that any of the deaths had to do with these fake lists. that's what he said. here's the problem. you've got the government once again investigating the government. how is that going to turn out? even democrats aren't buying that one. here's david scott, a democrat from georgia. >> the first person

jeff miller, thank you so much. we appreciate you coming on.oon in pensacola or in d.c. to talk about this some more. >> okay, joe. thank you. >> all right. jim miklaszewski, thank you as well. we greatly appreciate it. >>> coming up in our 8:00 hour, six decades after brown v. board was decided, segregation in u.s. schools still a big problem and you're simply not going to believe which state has the biggest problem. education secretary arne duncan is here. he's going to be our guest to explain how it can be that new york state is the most segregated state in america. up next, our political round table with chuck todd, david gregory, and eugene. they'll explain what it means when he says hillary clinton is getting the gop treatment. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ ♪ >>> she'll be 69 by t