chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski joins me now.quite a career and wounded in vietnam, you know him better than anyone. does he realize the outrage in this country over the way the backlog persists and this possible cover-up of people who died because they weren't treated? >> well, you know, because of his service, his years in the military, he was a vietnam vet, graduate of west point, and rose to the rank of general, army chief of staff. i asked him with that kind of background did he share the people's outrage, was he aware of the level of outrage, he gave me an interesting answer and said i think i do. i'm a veteran myself. and so that surprised me a little bit because i thought he would be a little more regressive. in his public persona he's always been somewhat stoic. he never shows emotion. but i think in this case, i could see it bubbling beneath the surface that he is terribly angry and frustrated. quite frankly, the va -- the bastion, most entrenched bureaucracy, i think in the u.s. government. and ever since he got into t

nbc's correspondent jim miklaszewski has more. jim? >> 80 u.s. military forces are already on the ground in chad. their mission, fly an unmanned drone over neighboring nigeria in a desperate search for those missing girls. all the americans are combat armed for protection, but officials here stress they will not be involved in any combat operations or even any possible rescue missions in nigeria. the predator at another u.s. drone, the global hawk, have been flying surveillance missions over the dense jungles of nigeria since last week but have so far found no signs of the missing girls. defense officials tell us that the terrorist group holding the girls, boko haram, has now split them up into many smaller groups and scattered them throughout the jungle. and in a somewhat somber assessment tonight, one senior defense official tells us, we have no clear idea where these girls are, lester. >> all right, jim miklaszewski at the pentagon, thanks. >>> we're keeping a close eye on severe weather as a giant system moves across the country tonight. a to

>> jim miklaszewski, thanks for your reporting today from the pentagon. jim, thanks. >>> the united states is gearing up for an urgent mission in nigeria tonight to provide military and other support to help find and secure the release of hundreds of kidnapped school girls as outrage grows in this country and around the world. terrorists are showing no sign they intend to back down, in fact, quite the contrary. we get the latest from our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. >> reporter: more than three weeks after the terrorist kidnappings, the protests in nigeria's capital are now quieter, but in the shadows of the burned out school 500 miles from the capitol, the terror is real. some of the girl's families hide at night in dread of boko haram returning. protected, they say, by police. a community leader speaking to parents on the phone describes one father's agony not knowing his daughter's fate. >> it is better to know she's dead. >> reporter: better than imagining her raped and sold as a sex slave. their fears are justified. not far aw

nbc's jim miklaszewski reports. >> reporter: army specialist kyle white at a rugged mountain pass in eastern afghanistan, moments before his world exploded in what he calls the worst day of his life. >> just seemed like the entire valley erupted. >> reporter: white's platoon came under heavy fire in an enemy ambush. with nowhere to take cover, white himself was immediately wounded and feared the worst. >> i remember thinking at that point, i was like, okay, we're not going to make it through this one. >> reporter: specialist cane schilling was shot twice and seriously wounded. white ran through a barrage of live fire to reach him. >> kyle definitely saved my life. >> reporter: two others were wounded and down. white repeatedly exposed himself to intense enemy fire in an effort to save them. >> i told myself from the beginning of the ambush that i was going to die. if it's going to happen, it's just a matter of when, but why not try to do some good and help my guys out until it happens. >> today we pay tribute. >> reporter: at the white house, president obama presented white with the

nbc news and the pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski has details. >> reporter: as a former army general, this is not exactly secretary eric shinseki's idea of taking the hill. shinseki appeared before the senate veterans affairs committee to answer questions and take the heat over the growing scandal at va hospitals. >> any adverse incident like this makes me as -- makes me mad as hell. >> reporter: it is alleged that va hospitals in at least eight states were hiding veterans appointments on secret lists to improve hospital records on wait times. shinseki played down the scope of the scandal. >> are people quote/unquote cooking the books? >> i'm not aware and other than a number of isolated cases where there is evidence of that. >> reporter: it is reported that 40 veteran has i have dmay have waiting for medical care. so for the inspector general investigated 17. >> of those 17, we didn't conclude so far that the delay caused the deaths. >> reporter: democrats and republicans alike raised serious doubts about va efforts to crack down on misconduct. >> this needs to be a wake-up call for

>> i can never repay him for saving my life, but this is something he deserves. >> reporter: jim miklaszewski, nbc news, the pentagon. >> hero in the true sense. i know we say that word a lot, but that is the perfect example. >> being in that situation and making those decisions, unreal. >> nbc's bill karins is here with details on another hot forecast. breaking temperatures again? >> record highs throughout san francisco and then the fire that happened down in san diego. it's just one of those days and setups where all the firefighters are just nervous. they're geared up and they're ready in case these blazes do start. it's all about potential. 94 yesterday in l.a. san diego was the same. 92 in san francisco. those are warm temperatures for coastal areas. this morning we're starting off very warm. we're almost as warm in l.a. as we are in vegas and phoenix. and it will likely be even hotter this afternoon. red flag warnings up for areas in red. same areas as yesterday. the coastal communities and mountains outside of l.a., santa barbara and san diego. temps 90s to low 100s. wind gusts 30 to

we'll talk to nbc's jim miklaszewski. to the daily planner. the first lady is marking the first anniversary of brown versus the board of education. the president will meet privately with families of the plaintiffs, as well as lead lawyers tonight at the white house. there will not be any cameras to that. tomorrow is actually the 60th anniversary. but michelle obama will be the face of talking about her own experiences of being one of the first african-american students in an integrated school in chicago. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] ortho crime files. reckless seeding. a backyard invasion. enter homeowner, and ortho weed b gon max. kills weeds without harming innocent lawns. guaranteed. ortho weed b gon max. get order. get ortho®. i got more advice than i knew what to do with. what i needed was information i could trust on how to take care of me and my baby. luckily, unitedhealthcare has a simple program that helps moms stay on track with their doctors and get the right care and guidance-before and after the

joining me now, nbc's chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. with the search for a new secretary. >> there is a list already circulating around the white house that includes general ray odierno, the current chairman of the joint staff, general marty syst dempsey. and colin powell has been kicked around. even robert gates. as i looked at the list and talked to people combing the list, i thought why would any one of those individuals take this job right now. >> that's leading to my next question what will the secretary have to deal with if they took this job? >> everybody's talking about throwing more money at the va. and i've talked to a lot of the people at the va over the years. and many people on capitol hill who believe that there is really no way -- not enough money to fix all the problems at the va. and it is not just about money. if you have a bureaucracy, such an entrenched bureaucracy, with the philosophy and working guidelines that say it's okay to cook the books, it is okay to put veterans on secret lists, to pump up your own bonuses,

nbc's jim miklaszewski asked the general tough questions yesterday. see you. you know, each time now that secretary eric shinseki says, look, i'm not going to resign, he appears to be more determined, more dug in than ever. but i can tell you there's growing political pressure on capitol hill for some serious changes at the va. in testimony before the senate veterans affairs committee, secretary eric shinseki showed flashes of anger and frustration over the growing va scandal. >> any adverse incident like this makes me as -- makes me mad as hell. >> reporter: and bristled at questions of commitment to veterans. >> what do you say to those veterans today who said you of all people failed them. >> i came to make things better for them. >> reporter: whistle-blowers say hospitals were hiding appointments on secret lists to cover up long delays in getting treatments. >> while people cooking the books? >> i'm not aware and other than a number of isolated cases where there is evidence of that. >> reporter: former va dr. samuel foot from the va hospital in ph

nick mick -- jim miklaszewski has more on this. >> they are saying that the nigerian defense chief'st they do know where the girls are is in fact true statement, it was not the result of any kind of u.s. intelligence oversurveillance activity, because quite frankly, the officials here say that we, meaning the u.s. military, still has no idea where those girls are even though they have been flying drones over that area for about a week and a half now. still, no sign of the girls. now, again if the cli-- if the claim is true or believed anyway, it sound likes the nigerians are preparing some kind of prisoner swap with bow c c -- boko haram kidnapping of the girls. and likely, any invasion force is likely not to succeed, and could end up killing the 276 girls who were kidnapped, francis. >> and the welfare of the girls is the paramount. >> definitely. that is the most important thing. >> jim miklaszewski, thank you so much. >>> time to check the newsfeed this morning. nine people were hurt when a tornado hit a temporary camp for oil workers in north dakota. the tornado destroyed eight t

jim miklaszewski has details. >> reporter: as a former army general, this is not expect secretary eric shinseki's idea of taking the hill. he appeared before the veterans affairs committee to answer questions and taking the heat of the growing scandal over veterans affairs. >> any adverse incident like this makes me as -- makes me mad as hell. >> reporter: it's alleged that va hospitals in at least eight states were hiding veterans wait. >> were people, quote, unquote, cooking the books? >> i'm not aware except a number of isolated cases where there is evidence of that. >> reporter: it's reported 40 veterans may have died while waiting for medical care. so far the va inspector general has investigated 17. >> i know 17. we didn't conclude so far. >> this needs to be a wake-up call to the department. >> no one should be treated this way in a country as great as ours. >> reporter: shinseki stood his ground. >> we only have one mission, taking care of these veterans and not these veterans. i'm one of them. >> reporter: harshest critics claim that shinseki has been missing in action. >> the

. >> nbc's jim miklaszewski did that interview with secretary shin successy.us back ground about what we know about these problems and how serious this might be for shinseki. >> you know, at first blush it seems like we've heard all of this before, veterans not getting the medical care they need from the va when they need it and this one rises to a slightly higher level. if the allegations are true, this could involve criminal conduct. the allegations are that administrators at the va hospital in phoenix took medical or took a poims for veterans and put them on a secret says so it wouldn't show up on an official list and count against them in a wait time. so to improve their record allegedly according to some people who work there at the hospital, the names were put on a secret list and at the right time they were taken off that list and put on an active list so that the wait time may have been two, four weeks instead of 18 months like one veteran who we had on our piece yesterday. so that in and of itself could amount to some kind of fraud, but then there are

. >> nbc's chief correspondent jim miklaszewski has been reporting on this for some time now this is something i've heard over the last six months, this is a systemic issue inside the v.a. >> absolutely. historically medical treatment at v.a. hospitals is rated pretty high. the problem is getting into the hospital in the first place. and we heard those, you know, podium pounding remarks from the president, we got to fix this. well, you know what? the buck starts here. and one of the problems if you talk to serious people within the v.a. is that the entire system is totally overwhelmed. there are just too many veterans with too few resources. in fact, the whistleblower who revealed all this wait list business and possible criminal activity at the v.a. hospital in phoenix told me yesterday, look, we're understaffed, we don't have the resources to deal with the mounting number of veterans seeking treatment at veterans hospitals. after all, the greatest generation here in america, to quote tom brokaw, is now the country's oldest generation and they need medical care and a lot of it. and

. >> and the nbc news correspondent jim miklaszewski joining us, and mik, the military defense there saying that we know what we are doing, but it is not the right time to go in, and get the girls, but we know that u.s. personnel is there in a minor role. do we know if the surveillance information locating the girls came from the u.s.? >> well, you know, first of all, the clip that you played the nigerian defense chief sounding a little defensive there. and they are under an awful lot of pressure, because according to the military experts, it is one of the most poorly run, led, functional militaries in the world actually, and no match in many cases for bow ckocoe -- bo harm, and so i can tell you that there was no information from the drones that have been flying over nigeria for a week and a half, and u.s. military officials saying that they don't have any idea. the surveillance drones have found no clues whatsoever about the whereabouts of the girls. the most encouraging things perhaps about what the defense e chief had to say is leave us alone we will bring the girls back suggests

jim miklaszewski joins me now live.he very latest on this investigation and on this situation? >> well, the igs office for veterans affairs department is looking into this. they are sort of in a lockdown during the investigation. i can tell you while all of the focus is on secret waiting lists and reports and allegations that as many as 40 people may have died while on this secret waiting list instead of getting treatment they needed at the va hospital in phoenix, the crux of the problem according to the first -- initial whistleblower is the fact that the va system is overwhelmed. you know, we heard the president say look, we're going to do everything we can to fix this. we heard john boehner on capitol hill say this is a systemic problem. but even this whistleblower said it's more a structural problem. to quote tom brokaw, you know, that greatest generation is now becoming the oldest generation, many of them are veterans, we have all of these veterans that have returned from the wars in iraq and afghanistan who by the

. >> let's bring in our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. al shinseki just didn't seem to get it. you look at that testimony yesterday and he just almost a flat effect there. and i saw exactly what you were talking about. i'm sure more questions are going to be raised and the biggest question is why does the obama administration want him to stay in this position after failing as much as he did over the past couple years? >> i must say each time shinseki says he's not going to resign, he sounds more determined as opposed to just saying i serve at the pleasure of the president. you know, as we've said before, the va is the most entrenched bureaucracy probably in the u.s. government. and i talked to several veterans there at the hearing yesterday who said they've become so frustrated at their inability to get access to the va medical system that they've abandoned the system entirely and gone off in an entirely different direction. and i had a very brief conversation with senator john mccain in the hallway up there in the dirksen building. and he

and several top va officials and secretary shinseki sat down with our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski the latest scandal comes out of the va hospital in phoenix, as many as 40 veterans died while waiting for medical treatment. >> i am angry. >> reporter: eric shinseki, a veteran himself, told nbc news he was surprised by the allegations but promises a full investigation. >> are you willing as secretary of veterans affairs to accept full responsibility? >> i am, i asked the inspector general to go to phoenix and conduct a detailed complete, thorough investigation. >> reporter: the american legion and some in congress demand shinseki resign. but shinseki brushed it off. >> will you resign? >> i would say i serve at the pleasure of the president. >> reporter: it's alleged in an effort to improve their performance hospital administrators buried the veterans medical appointments in a secret list and as investigators closed in ordered the files destroyed. paul rycroft claims the va today lacks leadership and accountability and courage. >> it cuts to the core of our country's confidence in t

he told jim miklaszewski he doesn't feel like a hero. >> no, i don't.s are the guys i wear on my bracelet. it's got all their names on here. these are the guys that are the heros in my book. >> white is now an investment analyst living in charlotte, north carolina, but he still wears that bracelet with the names of his fellow soldiers who didn't survive. white's family and the soldier white saved plan to be at the medal of honor ceremony at the white house today. you can of course watch it live right here on msnbc at 3:00 eastern. if you've never seen one of these, i encourage you to do so. we'll be right back. [ barks ] [ chuckles ] i'd do anything to keep this guy happy and healthy. that's why i'm so excited about these new milk-bone brushing chews. whoa, i'm not the only one. it's a brilliant new way to take care of his teeth. clinically proven as effective as brushing. ok, here you go. have you ever seen a dog brush his own teeth? the twist and nub design cleans all the way down to the gum line, even reaching the back teeth. they taste like a treat,

. >> nbc's jim miklaszewski talked about this. >> what do you say to the veterans who says he's abandoned have not abandoned them. >> they say talk is cheap. >> talk isn't cheap where i'm concerned. >> as you look at this problem, patrick, where do you think the priorities need to be, and how do you go about fixing something like this? >> talk is cheap. the fact that president obama put his deputy chief of staff whose father served with general shinseki and part of getting that claims backlog back down, it's a positive move to show that the white house is making this a top priority. be very clear. we need to make sure as a republican said, we need a rush to accountability. we need to get after this and make sure we find out about it now and can't be waiting until august to find out what happened. there's enough facts, should be a preliminary report to make sure we're addressing it and not a systemic issue across the va nationwide. >> do you think that there is a systemic in problem what john mccain calls a crisis of confidence in the va now? >> i think there's some folks out there, chris,

here is nbc's jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: afraid of the walking dead is th?'t worry, the pentagon has a plan. foreign policy magazine up covered a document called cono p-8888. a boring name for a remarkable paper, the you how-to guide for a zombie apocalypse. the stated purpose is to preserve nonzombie humans from the threats posed by a zombie hoard. >> i don't think they actually think there will be a zombie apocalypse. however, because the pentagon likes to plan for anything contingency, they do have a very detailed 31 page plan that outlines how they would respond should one occur. >> reporter: an every day walking dead. they're broken down into classifications like vegetarian, even chicken zombies. the wing of the defense department behind the document was quick to state that it's a training tool used in an in-house training exercise, not a u.s. strategic command plan. so while there are some tips most people familiar with zombie movies tend to know -- >> barb them in the head. that seems to work out. >> reporter: they aren't official government policy. b

joining us now from the pentagon, nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszews miklaszewski. nothing, move along, move along. and as he was saying that, the mouths of us here who like senator tester very much were just wide open. we didn't quite get that. what's your reporting show? >> one of the anomalies is once veterans get into the system, it's one of the best medical systems in the united states. the problem, as we see here, is actually getting into the system. and what we're not likely to hear today in the testimony from secretary shinseki is any new details about this latest scandal that 40 may have died while waiting for care. and you can understand that. he'll hide behind the fact that an i.g.'s investigation is still under way. let me give you one quote from shinseki's opening statement that i think is very telling. "i am angered and deeply saddened by any adverse consequences that a veteran might experience while in or as a result of our care." not consequences a veteran has experienced or even might have experienced. this could be the lawyers at work here to make

. >> we should add that nbc's jim miklaszewski is giving us information on behalf of the defense departmente five detainees from guantanamo bay, cuba, there are now 149 remaining on the premises. let's go back to the white house, nbc's kristen welker. >> a little bit more information on his release and how it actually went down. this is according to a senior administration official who says that the handover was peaceful and happened in eastern afghanistan, along the border. u.s. special operations forces conducted the rescue, and they flew helicopters in the mission. here's a little bit of color for you, alex. this official saying that once bergdahl was on the helicopter, he rode on a paper place. he had to write because it was too loud on the helicopter. he wrote fs meaning special forces. the operator said yes, we are special forces, we've been looking for you for a long time. at that point, bergdahl broke down crying. really incredible to hear about those first moments of his release, his own reaction to realizing what was happening after being detained since 2009, alex. >> boy, that is

our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: only a week before he went to battle on capitolover the growing va scandal, secretary eric shinseki in an nbc interview sounded oblivious to the growing storm. >> reporter: do you completely understand why there's that level of outrage? >> i think i do. i'm a veteran myself. >> reporter: whistle-blowers claim up to 40 veterans died while awaiting treatment in phoenix. and that administrators there and at seven other va hospitals tried to cover up the long wait times. this past week the scandal reached a boiling point. wednesday under growing calls for shinseki to resign president obama says he stands by shinseki but then orders job nabors to oversee the va response to the controversy. thursday shinseki and his deputy faced withering questions. >> are they cooking the books? >> i'm not aware. >> reporter: who do you say to people who say you of all people have abandoned them. >> i came not to fail veterans. i came to make things better for them. >> reporter: they say talk is cheap. >> well, talk isn't cheap where i'm concerned. >> r

our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszews miklaszewski. >> reporter: only a week before he went to battlen capitol hill over the growingv a scandal, secretary eric shinseki in an nbc interview sounded oblivious to the growing storm. >> reporter: do you completely understand why there's that level of outrage? >> i think i do. i'm a veteran myself. >> reporter: whistle-blowers claim over 40 veterans died while awaiting treatment in phoenix. and that administrators there and at seven other va hospitals tried to cover up the long wait times. this past week the scandal reached a boiling point. wednesday under growing calls for shinseki to resign president obama says he stands by shinseki but then orders job nabors to oversee the va response to the controversy. thursday shin she can -- sh shinseki and his deputy faced withering questions. >> are they cooking the books? >> i'm not aware. >> reporter: who do you say to people who say you of all people have abandoned them. >> i came not to fail veterans. i came to make things better for them. >> reporter: they say talk is cheap. >> well, talk isn'

>> we had jim miklaszewski on last week.e said it doesn't seem like guy gets it, just how bad it is. >> also just that accountability has to mean something. the veterans community has been looking for some type of response, some type of reaction. some type of emotion behind this entire thing. and repeatedly there just has not been the level of responsiveness or concern that the veterans community has earned. >> wes moore, thank you. >> thank you, guys. really appreciate it. >>> the next installment of coming back with wes moore airs on pbs. still ahead whob are the most creative in the business? fast company has that. plus the person the secret service agents were spent to protect. next on "morning joe." ♪ predicting the future is a pretty difficult thing to do. but, manufacturing in the united states means advanced technology. we learned that technology allows us to be craft oriented. no one's losing their job. there's no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. the technology is actually creating new jobs. siemens des

here's nbc's jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: sally lost her father-in-law to cancer last november. and she blames his death on the va hospital in phoenix. >> i'm sorry i'm shake, but they were dwik to dismiss my pop. >> reporter: she says when they went to the hospital for urgent care, the staff refused to treat him and told him to see his primary doctor. he waited months but died before he could get an appointment. >> all the people that are a part of this, they should be held accountable. because it's a crime. you know, delayed care is denied care. >> secretary shinseki will testify on capitol hill next week. joe? >> you know, general hayden, when people came up to me and asked me about my time in congress, they talk about irs must have been horrible to deal with, you know, social security administration would be horrible to deal with. i said no, ironically, despite the fact i had more veterans in my distract than anybody else, i could call the irs and get things done. the va, they didn't care who i was, where i was from. it was the worst bureaucracy and it was always the slow ro

jim miklaszewski spoke to general shinseki and joins us. >> reporter: good morning. each time he says he's not going to resign, he sounds a little more determined. but lawmakers on capitol hill are saying enough is enough. and something at the va has got to change. in testimony before the senate veterans affair committee, eric shinseki showed flashes of anger and frustration over the growing va scandal. >> any adverse incident like this makes me as -- makes me mad as hell. >> reporter: and later bristled. >> what do you say to those veterans who say you of all people have abandoned, have you failed these veterans? >> i took this job not to fail veterans. i came to make things better for them. >> reporter: whistle blowers allege that va hospitals in at least eight states were hiding veterans appointments on secret lists to cover up long delays in getting treatments. >> while people, quote, unquote cooking the books? >> i'm not aware of other than a number of isolated cases where there is evidence of that. >> reporter: former va doctor samuel foot, the original whistle