i loved it. >> having abandoned his family for gang life, kirkpatrick turned to other crimes. when we met him, he was serving his second prison term, eight years for burglary. >> i know right from wrong. i'm not a stupid individual. i might make stupid decisions, but i'm not a stupid individual. >> during his time in prison, kirkpatrick still had his gang to fall back on, but like his biological family, he eventually left his gang family, though not totally on his own accord. >> i was holding contraband, and i was holding something, and i lost it. yeah. i had lost it. >> any specific enemies, names, numbers? >> no. >> kirkpatrick explained the contraband was a packet of gang information including a roster of current members. when he realized it was gone, he was afraid the gang might order a hit on him as punishment. >> i told the c.o., look, i got to go. he was like why? i said because i lost something i'm not supposed to. you need to get me out of here before something more serious happens. >> kirkpatrick turned his back on his gang. he requested a move to protective custody.

david kirkpatrick. it is a big move. third front page. we stay with the tech industry. yahoo! will return at least half the cash to investors. this matters. for theis yahoo! if not 30% stake at alibaba? >> i think it is something around 23%. they will keep a bigger stake in ali baba after it goes public. we know the stock has done phenomenally well. >> she was spirited about the revenue line. this segment is not doing well. banner ads. >> stabilizing. there shares are down in the free market. yahoo! reported sales that fell last quarter. operationally, there are still some issues. >> earnings growth that yahoo! this year, based on consensus estimates, 3%. that is it. >> that tells you what you need to know. those are the front-page story. an optimistic view on the american economy. we are thrilled to bring you on short notice. david kirkpatrick. bloomberg to meaning editor on apple -- contributing editor on apple and ibm. i want to talk about yahoo! first. is it still a train wreck? >> i don't think of

david kirkpatrick, i want to start with you. we get these quarterly earnings and we are reminded yet again -- aha. wow. look at what they are able to do. what is your reaction? >> we are getting used to days like this. they've had four in a row now now that they have figured out mobile. i think it is becoming increasingly clear what a colossal money machine this company can become and is becoming. my book came out in 2010 and when i wrote it, i had no idea what happened. i thought it would be a good business >> to that point, this is a company that generated nearly $3 billion in revenue in the three months stretch. about $1 billion more in the same time last year. adam burke, can you explain to us how exactly this works? how are they better able to target ads to people on facebook which then marketers are happy with? >> it really comes down to the data that facebook has. for a while now, it's been well-known they have a lot of information on their social connections but now they have made it possible for advertisers to bring in

. >> for more perspective, here is david kirkpatrick on "surveillance" this morning. >> it is like theloyees over the will of the cio pulled apple into the enterprise. the cio's are saying, ok, ibm. this is the world we are in. everybody has wanted to use apple in enterprise for some time. i remember four or five years ago, i moderated a panel. a guy was telling me he had helped a major media company give ipads to its senior leadership. it was the only time as a cio that he had ever seen true enthusiasm among tech clients inside the company. when they gave them an ipad, they lit up. >> the knock against apple is that the security is not as tight as a blackberry. >> it needs to get tighter. >> china has its own agenda, but there is a vulnerability. >> the knock against every kind of technology is security needs to get tighter. and, you know apple is not going , to be as practiced as ibm. this extraordinary global sales force they can bring to help apple. to increase their incredible market share. now they can really go in wholesale. >> what is the game theory response here of the other

this is charles collingwood and helen kirkpatrick of the chicago daily news. this is ernest hemingway. hemingway was cover for a magazine, and we met him at mount st. michelle. here he is talking with bill walton, who incidentally became a fast friend of president kennedy. these were just moments that we could take time out to rest. there's helen kirkpatrick and the man in the center is bill stringer he ways killed trying to get boo paris. one of the things that correspondents tried to do was to get into paris before anyone else. he was hit by an 88 shell. of course these are the shots i wanted to bring home to the family and friends. the little island was very quaint, a very old place, but fortified in several ways. we discovered that the beaches in the area especially when the tide was out, would be high and dry. they put those sticks in the sand to keep our planes from landing. we found a family of three brothers, and even the tal blond one was a boy, i found out later, because their grandmother was taking care of them. their parents, i was told, were kille

welcome to the program, we begin this evening with the "new york times" cairo bureau chief david kirkpatrick. >> the new egyptian government established with the military takeover last year has shut down all of the unsympathetic media. media which was listening to or sympathetic to the muslim brotherhood so, now when you flip through the television dial you see private networks that are pro cc, state-owned networks pro cc and only one network broadcasting in arabic that is critical of the cc government and that is al jazeera. and the pro military or pro cc egyptians often speak of al jazeera like it is basically itself a terrorist organization with satellites. >> we conclude this evening with steve inskeep in a conversation about national public radio. >> in radio you get an opportunity to hear what people say, what they think. you get a sense to follow their reasoning and you get a chance to tell a story. the other thing you get to do that i really love, charlie s that you can make it if you do it correctly, a visual medium by which i mean a little sound, a little sound from the streets of

kirkpatrick: [speaking oreign language] mr. speaker, i grew up on tribal land, on the white mountain apache where my father ran the general store and my mother was a school teacher, my father spoke apache. my first words were in apache, and it's important that we know that language of our native american tribes addresses their spirituality, their culture and their land. and what i want to talk about tonight is tribal sovereignty, because all of our tribes have their own culture, their own history, their own language. but what they share is a deep respect for tribal sovereignty. and what that means is they are entitled, they have a right to government-to-government negotiations. and so what i want my colleagues to do tonight is do not turn your backs on our native american people. do not turn your backs and shut the door to our tribes. i urge you to push for the inclusion and the respective tribal sovereignty in this legislation and there be abundant government-to-government negotiation. our tribes deserve that, they have that r

my guess is a former twitter director of platforming in san francisco and my friend david kirkpatrick joins us via skype from upstate new york. the numbers today -- i looked hard for anything that looked negative and i can usually find something. i didn't see anything particularly bad here at all. >> i think this is a banner quarter for them and what everyone has been hoping to see. incredible growth, incredible engagement and the revenue continues to beat everyone's expectations. a great quarter overall. >> your take? >> i'm probably not quite as optimistic. user growth could be stronger. these guys are like the little engine that could. i think they're going to have more trouble than they do. koslow is doing a great job and it's wonderful quarter nara major presence in the industry but user growth in the places they can make money, they still had a challenge. ask looking at user growth year over year, looking at a quarter after quarter, you're just piling people on top of people. it's not a seasonal thing, or is it? >> i think it's about getting a product in place that continues to

kirkpatrick? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to join in the comments made by senator mccain this really is about taking care of our veterans. that's the focus. i know everybody here, that's what they care about and i agree they have to continue talking and continue the dialogue because that's how we get things done. >> let may sure, miss kirk kirkpatrick, i appreciate your teapedance here this afternoon, this was not a take or leave it. this was an attempt for us to make a public offer and dialogue will continue. senator rubio? >> i want to take a minute to brag on you. we're proud of the work you're doing. you're from florida. i'm proud of the work everyone here is doing. i believe this conference committee is comprised of individuals that are very serious about bringing this to a atisfactory. and it's unimaginable for any of us to believe we will go home next thursday or friday to have recess and this issue unresolved. i think it would be viewed as unacceptable. not just by our constituents in florida but across the cou

welcome to the program, we begin this evening with the "new york times" cairo bureau chief david kirkpatrickn government established with the military takeover last year has shut down all of the unsympathetic media. media which was listening to or sympathetic to the muslim brotherhood so, now when you flip through the television dial you see private networks that are pro cc, state-owned networks pro cc and only one netwo broadcasting in arabic that is critical of the cc government and that is al jazeera. and the pro military or pro cc egyptians often speak of al jazeera like it is basically itself a terrorist organization with satellites. >> we conclude this evening with steve inskeep in a conversation about national public radio. >> in radio you gean

you, david kirkpatrick. for more on the m&a environment ega-deals,a of m billionaire investor rupert roth. founder of the distressed investment boutique firm, who knows about mergers. what's the biggest question when you see this news about rupert murdoch? a very logical thing for murdoch to do. i agree with your other speaker. , just as instion is pharmaceuticals, everybody is getting for everybody else. you wonder if this will start a feeding frenzy. comcast and time warner cable. and you have got -- dish might be a possibility there in terms of being in play. does it look healthy to you? does look like it is being done for reasons or out of desperation? for timerdoch bid warner was a logical thing. i do not think anybody could say it was a silly idea. it's a very good idea. >> because? >> it is good because you do need to become -- it is good because you do need the consolidation of content to be a fair match against the consolidation of distribution. everything is getting bigger and more global and every

definitely a good day for tech earnings to kick off 2q. >> we were talking with david kirkpatrick, and microsoft they growth stock and apple would be more of a value stock. beinghink microsoft is re-rated. it is not your grandma's microsoft. with satya nadella finally taking this company where they need to go. also, he does not wear the rose-colored glasses. he made the cuts where he needs to on nokia and that is why investors are buying into microsoft's story. >> he still has a non-core story. box and that makes you go really? >> sure, but rome was not built in a day. multi-year process. he is trying to change the historically bureaucratic organization and try to make it flatter. box strategically, will that make sense? that will be a veritable. satya nadella will start to change microsoft. >> crazy news, microsoft more of a growth stock than apple. thank you, daniel ives. still ahead, the guest you have been waiting for, pro golfer rickie fowler is "in the loop." he will talk about the future of golf and how he is trying to change it. that is coming up next. ♪ >> time for today's glo

and it was jean kirkpatrick then, the u.n.mbassador, who made the case, they declassified intelligence to show the world what had happened. obviously a mistaken shootdown, but it did change the game in terms of the cold war, the height of the reagan years in the first term. and of course, it was not until 1985 in the second reagan term that he had the summit with mikhail gorbachev which changed everything. we have been talking in recent months about putin and his nostalgia for the old sovieviet empire and what led potentially to the latest conflict between russia and ukraine. >> and andrea, with your knowledge of how the intelligence apparatus works, are we dancing around the fact that it's quite likely that already, either in langley or washington or both, someone has just put imagery up on the board showing what could be a launch trail, a launch signature? >> i mean, you referred to one eyewitness from the ground. we don't know because eyewitness accounts are always so difficult to assess, and we fknow that early reports wit

. >> by chance tony kirkpatrick, a fresno camera operator is in the vicinity and captures this dramatic video. >> i just started rolling. i just kept rolling. as you could tell, the camera was like crooked because i was so nervous. >> police fear he could be high on drugs and heavily armed. as the suspect approaches a busy intersection. the officer now retired sees an opportunity to perform a pit maneuver. >> it involves making contact with the suspect vehicle in one of the recorder panels, and what it does essentially is kauss them to spin out of control. as i move in a position to do that, he repositioned his vehicle. we were going to basically hit head on. my concern is if i collide head on, what's going to happen to her? >> he opts to brake at the last second, but not before locking eyes with the suspect. >> i see this person who is just laughing. his eyes are open. he's enjoying himself. it's obvious to me, anyway, that his intent is to get away or die trying. >> moments later sahara's car is rammed by another police vehicle. the suspect keeps driving, mounting a median and steerin

rue wiz just talked about it and miss kirkpatrick had ran out of time. a statement you made earlier, can the va police itself and if not, who? >> thank you. i don't think va can police itself. it's kind of like a scholarly journal. you don't peer review yourself. i would look at maybe an organization like the government accountability office, maybe finding -- setting up some sort of oversight panel of health care professionals. one of the things i will tell you that va employees talk about is during the financial crisis, there was talk about bringing people like elizabeth warren. during the talk about national security issues, they talked about bringing back dr. gates. when we had the crisis in va, we were sent the deputy chief of staff, and it's no disrespect to mr. nabors, but where is the medical leader that's going to come rescue health issues at the nation's largest health organization and i think that's the issue. it goes to the issue of how people look at va. one of the reasons why i reached out to the white house was because i was trying to find

kirkpatrick you are recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i would like to start by thanking our whistle blowers having to courage come forward when you witnessed wrongdoing. i asked you to come testify and i know you risked your career to report wrongdoing and suffered repeated retaliation from administrators who refused to do the right thing. by bravely stepping forward dr. mitchell and dr. foot made us aware of the va problems in phoenix that led to tdata on th wait time. without whistle blowers we were motable to identify many of the problems and now because of them we can work to fix them. half of the retaliation cases involve the va. the bullying of patients and va employees that report wrongdoing must stop now. i sent a letter to acting secretary gibson last month asking him to remind all va employees as their rights as whistle blowers. it isn't enough they are informed of their rights the va must deliver a culture of zero tolerance for whistle blower retaliation at all levels of its organization. employees shouldn't be afraid of ruini

kirkpatrick, you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. want to thank all of you for your courage and being here today. i appreciate what you said about once a diagnosis is made and medication is prescribed staying on that medication. i really want to know how often our veterans have to refill those prescriptions and i would just like to hear from each of you what you have learned about that experience. are they given a 30-day supply, they have to go constantly back, sergeant, can we start with you and work our way down the panel. >> yes, ma'am. so at our facility in washington state, medications are given on a 30-day supply. there is an option for mail refills. the system is pretty con fusing and i formally mess it up pretty well so my wife has to manage that for me for the most part. you have to be able to put in a request three weeks before you need it and i usually forget untim

and thank you, representative kirkpatrick, for being such a support and a help for us. there is multiple issues that have to do with the medications. just the fact that the formularies are not the same is a huge issue. and it doesn't just affect veterans at the va system. there are veterans who are retired from the military who see both -- who see physicians both at the va and the dod. so they are seeing people at both different medical centers and they cannot be on similar medications from one to the other because the formularies are not the same. the problem is that not only does the va use 99% generics, but they use the cheapest generics. so daniel, who had not only ptsd and tbi, but full blown gulf war syndrome, which included irritable bowel, had only certain medications he could tolerate. maybe the chemical in the medication is the same, but the bonding agent is different. maybe he's on a medication he only has to take once or twice a day, but the va gets a better price, so now he has to take it three or four times a day. and the change in the medication changes e

we made that information public right away before the united nations, gene kirkpatrick, the ambassadorit out for everybody to see. now, if we've got some spy satellite images that show infrared shots of this blast occurring on the ground when the missile is fired and hitting the plane, now do we go public with that, show it, give it to international investigators? >> the politics we are reporting on as well with the separatists denying what ukraine released tonight. the other piece for commercial folks who fly, this is scary for everyone who flies. there was a map going around today showing all of these airlines avoiding this air space, and the faa on the u.s. side as we've reported said folks shouldn't fly there generally near crimea. you can see on the screen the map of the flights avoiding it after the plane was down today. bob, help us understand for folks at home who fly, why was a plane even near what was a hot conflict zone? >> that baffles me to tell you the truth. there's an economic incentive for airlines. the biggest single expense is the fuel. so you want to get the shortes

we made that information public right away before the united nations, gene kirkpatrick, the ambassador laid it out for everybody to see. now, if we've got some spy satellite images that show infrared shots of this blast occurring on the ground when the missile is fired and hitting the plane, now do we go public with that, show it, give it to international investigators? >> the politics we are reporting on as well with the separatists denying what ukraine released tonight. the other piece for commercial folks who fly, this is scary for everyone who flies. there was a map going around today showing all of these airlines avoiding this air space, and the faa on the u.s. side as we've reported said folks shouldn't fly there generally near crimea. you can see on the screen the map of the flights avoiding it off the plane was down today. bob, help us understand for folks at home who fly, why was a plane even near what was a hot conflict zone? >> that baffles me to tell you the truth. there's an economic incentive for airlines. the biggest single expense is the fuel. so you want to get the sho

and thank you, representative kirkpatrick, for being such a support and a help for us. there is multiple issues that have to do with the medications. just the fact that the formularies are not the same is a huge issue. and it doesn't just affect veterans at the va system. there are veterans who are retired from the military who see both -- who see physicians both at the va and the dod. so they are seeing people at both different medical centers and they cannot be on similar medications from one to the other because the formularies are not the same. the problem is that not only does the va use 99% generics, but they use the cheapest generics. so daniel, who had not only ptsd and tbi, but full blown gulf war syndrome, which included irritable bowel, had only certain medications he could tolerate. maybe the chemical in the medication is the same, but the bonding agent is different. maybe he's on a medication he only has to take once or twice a day, but the va gets a better price, so now he has to take it three or four times a day. and the change in the medication changes e

if he does win that nomination, he'll get to face off against ann kirkpatrick in the general electionwin in november, adam quasman needs to win his im

and thank you, representative kirkpatrick, for being such a support and a help for us. there is multiple issues that have to do with the medications. just the fact that the formularies are not the same is a huge issue. and it doesn't just affect veterans at the va system. there are veterans who are retired from the military who see both -- who see physicians both at the va and the dod. so they are seeing people at both different medical centers and they cannot be on similar medications from one to the other because the formularies are not the same. the problem is that not only does the va use 99% generics, but they use the cheapest generics. so daniel, who had not only ptsd and tbi, but full blown gulf war syndrome, which included irritable bowel, had only certain medications he could tolerate. maybe the chemical in the medication is the same, but the bonding agent is different. maybe he's on a medication he only has to take once or twice a day, but the va gets a better price, so now he has to take it three or four times a day. and the change in the medication changes e

kirkpatrick: thank you, mr. speaker. i urge all of my colleagues to support h.r. 3230. as a member of the conference committee, i pushed for negotiations on this bill to continue because veterans have waited too long for the care they deserve. this bill reflects the comprehensive meaningful reforms that passed the senate and that i introduced as the companion bill in the house. this bill ensures that rural veterans who live too far from a veterans' medical facility and veterans who have waited too long for an appointment can see a provider closer to home. for the tribal veterans in my district, this bill strengthens the relationship between the veterans administration and the indian health services. this bill also ensures that the veterans administration can quickly hire more doctors, nurses and medical professionals. and this bill gives the veterans administration secretary the authority to hold v.a. employees accountable. our veterans deserve world-class health care, and a v.a. that puts veterans first. i believe this bill provides the foundation to do just that. agai

i remember when gene kirkpatrick went in front of the whole world with the data from 007 which was declassified by the reagan white house in 1983. should we declassify all of this now? is it solid enough to present it to have samantha power present it to the world? >> well, i believe based on what i know that it is, and i believe there's a high level of confidence, a very good intelligence people on this particular missile where it came from, its signature, its trajectory. its timing. and, you know, i do agree that america's reputation is somewhat diminished, but i think there are people that believe we want to do the right thing. and i think putin ought to do the right thing. and the right thing is to remove the separatists, let the international teams go in and be a constructive participant rather than obstructionist. and he has taken the obstructionist role in this. in the meantime, bodies are rotting. it's just terrible. and when you think any of them are innocent children it breaks your heart to see this happen. >> i know you are a grandparent, and i heard from one of our reports, a woman,

kirkpatrick. i want to thank all of today's panelists for joining us. in particular, thank you to daniel's parents for being here. we worked together quite closely, and learning of daniel's suicide -- it is an honor and privilege to be here today. unfortunately, daniel's story and the other young men who committed suicide, it is all too familiar in our country. 22 veterans a day are still committing suicide, even after we have heard the tragedies of young men who lost their lives here, and the brothers across this country. as we heard from mr. walz, congress has addressed this issue before, has passed legislation before, has said they will fix it before, and yet the problem has not gotten better. it has gotten worse. i have heard a lot of testimony today about ideas to reform the system to make it better. the hipaa issue is one the community would agree needs to get addressed. i am interested in the pilot program sergeant renschler are dissipated and. my question to dr. and jean somers would be about daniel. his experience at the phoenix v.a. was one of

if he does win that nomination, he'll get to face off against ann kirkpatrick in the general election. first things first, here, in order to win in november, adam quasman needs to win his primary. in order to win his primary, he needs to rally his party's base. daze conservative tea party base, to get them excited about him. yesterday he got a huge political gift. the perfect opportunity to prove to the base what a true believer he really is. well, at least that's what adam quasman thought he had been handed near tucson, arizona. those protesters were there to blockade a busful of immigrant children reportedly coming to town. he saw a huge political opportunity here. after all, what issue riles up the tea bartender base more than fighting immigration. it was a chance for him to be a hero to tea party activists everywhere. raise money to get out front of immigration. and so he did, sort of. >> adam was making a speech. >> the reason why lady justice holds a blindfold over her face -- >> the republican congressional candidate stopped, he got word a bus was heading down the road and took

i turn the mike over to congresswoman ann kirkpatrick. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. kirkpatrick: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. barber, for yielding time to me. i support this motion to instruct the conferees. the senate amendments go beyond a short-term solution to solving the patient access at the v.a. as a member of the conference committee, i continue to push for the provisions in the senate amendment because they are good for veterans and their families. we must seize this opportunity to pass meaningful reforms at the v.a., our veterans and their families deserve better than piecemeal, short-term fixing. especially with report after report of veterans struggling to receive timely care and benefits. and struggling to find good paying jobs. one provision in the senate amendment will give post-9/11 g.i. benefits to surviving spouses of service members who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country. we cannot forget about surviving spouses. a surviving spouse struggles with the loss of a love

kirkpatrick walks through this in "the facebook effect" brilliantly.trouble with this extrapolation. vc funds are competing, you have asian companies like alibaba and then a red-hot market. >> in sanjay's world, how velveeta you have to sell, for these guys it is just oh, snapchat. >> are you making fun of me? >> have you ever put velveeta over doritos? >> you described my father's weekend. it.on't have a coke with >> photos? >> in japan, preparing to take a picture using a camera platform designed to take celsius. these platforms are installed in a number of places. >> is a platform at the site? >> you get a better view. >> this is so asian, by the way. i can say that because i am asian. >> if i said that, it would be an hr violation. the shorelinee, near rio. an iconic bay, where they intend to hold the sailing championships. >> those are argentinian world cup jerseys? >> there should be more brazil jerseys in there, given their disastrous performance. one, it is actually a video. it is pretty awesome. , a professional stuntman jumping off a roof. >>

kirkpatrick: mr. speaker, i rise today to commemorate manuel mendoza. an american hero who was born in my arizona district. and to urge support for my bill to rename the united states post office in miami, arizona, in his honor. staff sergeant mendoza was born in 1922 in the eastern arizona mining town of moifment at the age of -- miami. at the age of 20 he was drafted into the united states army where he was nicknamed the arizona kid for his heroism in battle. staff sergeant mendoza posthumously received the medal of honor for is single-handedly repelling a 1944 german assault on itsly's mount during world -- in italy during world war ii. that afternoon the germans launched a fierce counterattack against allied forces, but due to staff sergeant mendoza's determination, bravery and selflessness, he was able to kill 30 enemy troops and successfully defend the allied position. later in his service, he went on to fight in korea. after retiring from the armed forces, mr. mendoza returned to mesa, arizona, where he died in 2001. he is survived by his wife an

kirkpatrick. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i recently attended a veterans standown in phoenix, a one-stop shot, services our veterans need. they have all kinds of things going on, thousands of people there. off to the side was a room. i looked in, there were veterans sitting there with needles in their ears, the back of their neck. they were receiving acupuncture. i was curious. person delivering acupuncture is volunteering time to be there. to a person, every veteran i talked to said they benefit freddie acupuncture, helped relieve stress, anxiety, asked me to advocate it be an approved treatment in the v.a. system. i'm doing that. but my question -- i didn't ask whether it was a pts diagnosis. clearly some in the room did, every one benefiting from the treatment. my first question to every panel was this, do you think acupuncture should be an option within the v.a. for medical treatment for every veteran starting with dr. sherin. >> i believe strongly in alternative approaches for mental health issues and pain. substance abu

kirkpatrick you are recognized. >> this culture of intimidation has to stop.i introduced hr 54 which is the whistle blower protection act because i want to make sure there is not retaliation against them. thank you for being here and we would not have the information without your courage and commitment to the veterans and that is what it is about: take caring care of the veterans. i would like to know for each of you when you started at the va were you given a policy that directs you how to file a claim if you see something you are not happy with? >> we are all told to review, let's put it that way, this thing called the no fear act. we are told not to have fear. it doesn't work. >> mr. robinson? >> i came to the va 18 years ago and it was a lot different then. i didn't get anything at that time. but we have to read the policy or whatever but that is about it. >> ms. ruell? >> once a year we get the annual whistle blower no retaliation e-mail. that is why i reported the duplicate e-mails. >> there is no grieving policy? >> we have a union but it took two and a

agree with congresswoman kirkpatrick that it took a whistleblower and a crisis to expose the events and get us focused on correcting those deficiencies. as i said and listened to the first panel, i was disheartened that staff feel that they cannot fix problems in the organization and affect safety, quality, our business integrity. i think this is unacceptable. the acting secretary has made it clear that this is unacceptable. employeesmemo to all on june 13 indicating that kind of behavior was unacceptable and we would not tolerate retaliation. the stories i've heard tonight depict a broken system. believe that these things are exceptions and not the rule. goodw there are many employees in this organization who work tirelessly on behalf of veterans. there are many managers and executives within the organization the to the same. that forart of it is every whistleblower who comes forward and says something, someone is quiet and tries to make an effort and goes away. leave risks in our system and deficiencies that are not fixed. i apologize to everyone of our feel they have been silenced an

kirkpatrick you are recognized. >> this culture of intimidation has to stop. i introduced hr 54 which is the whistle blower protection act because i want to make sure there is not retaliation against them. thank you for being here and we would not have the information without your courage and commitment to the veterans and that is what it is about: take caring care of the veterans. i would like to know for each of you when you started at the va were you given a policy that directs you how to file a claim if you see something you are not happy with? >> we are all told to review, let's put it that way, this thing called the no fear act. we are told not to have fear. it doesn't work. >> mr. robinson? >> i came to the va 18 years ago and it was a lot different then. i didn't get anything at that time. but we have to read the policy or whatever but that is about it. >> ms. ruell? >> once a year we get the annual whistle blower no retaliation e-mail. that is why i reported the duplicate e-mails. >> there is no grieving policy? >> we have a union but it took two and

krause from the joint chiefs and don rumsfeld with whom i had worked many times and dick cheney and kirkpatrickd others. during one of these calls you only have one line. all of a sudden i get a call and it's a call this number from the white house. it's don reagan chief of staff of the white house and he said can i need a favor from you. i said oh god this is going to be bad. normally we would go to staff aides and then he says no the president needs -- oh it's worse. he said the president just hung up from talking to australia's prime minister hawke and promise that you would be there to greet him. i said i can't go. i'm going to be catatonic you know and i'm on death row right now. i got five hours of sleep in the last three or four nights whatever. australia's australia stand of the world. he says i know and everything else that the president mentioned you to hawke and the cars coming to take you to dulles for the 4:00 flight. i go out there for a day. >> host: and he even write back. use ad hoc just wanted you to tell stories about ronald reagan. >> guest: he wanted me to tell stories abou

kirkpatrick. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i recently attended a veterans standown in phoenix, a one-stop shot, services our veterans need. they have all kinds of things going on, thousands of people there. off to the side was a room. i looked in, there were veterans sitting there with needles in their ears, the back of their neck. they were receiving acupuncture. i was curious. person delivering acupuncture is volunteering time to be there. to a person, every veteran i talked to said they benefit freddie acupuncture, helped relieve stress, anxiety, asked me to advocate it be an approved treatment in the v.a. system. i'm doing that. but my question -- i didn't ask whether it was a pts diagnosis. clearly some in the room did, every one benefiting from the treatment. my first question to every panel was this, do you think acupuncture should be an option within the v.a. for medical treatment for every veteran starting with dr. sherin. >> i believe strongly in alternative approaches for mental health issues and pain. substance abu

kirkpatrick. >> i want to join in the comments made by senator mccain, this really is about taking care of our veterans. that's the focus. i know everybody here, that's what they care about. and i agree that we have to continue the dialogue because that's how we get things done. thank you. >> i appreciate your attendance here this afternoon. let me assure you this was not a take it or leave it. this was an attempt for us to make a public offer and the dild log will continue. >> and i wanted to take a moment to brag on you and appreciate the work that you're doing. we're proud you're from florida and proud of the work everyone here is doing. i believe this committee is comprised of individuals serious to bring this to a satisfactory -- luckily his mike was off so nobody heard that. but thank you for the work you're doing and the seriousness you've taken. and it's unimaginable for any of us here to believe that we're going to go home next thursday or friday for a recess and this issue would be unresolved. i think it would be viewed as unacceptable. not just by our constituents in florida,