. >> well, nbc's kristin welker is at the white house. kristin, what more is the president saying? >> good morning, alex. president obama told brian williams if he had the chance, he would do it all over again. reiterating that the administration believed that a u.s. soldier should not be left on the battlefield. that was a key part of this decision. now of course that interview with president obama comes as this administration has gotten bipartisan criticism for not alerting congress 30 days prior to releasing those five taliban detainees which is required by law. the administration has shifted its explanation for why it felt it needs to do that.

tonight from washington, nbc's kristin welker has more on what this all means. >> reporter: what's in a name? that's the question at the center of the ongoing controversy surrounding the 81-year-old washington redskins. today the u.s.a patent office revoked the trade mark calling the name a racial slur in blight ant violation of trade marks. . the if it stands others will be allowed to sell merchandise. a victory for native americans who say the word should go, calling it racist as the "n" word. >> basic decency tell us we should do the right thing and change the name. >> today the team said it would appeal. saying they are confident they will prevail once again. reaching a similar decision in 1999 which was ultimately overturned. the question now would losing trade mark protection impact the team's bottom line. merchandise sales are split among all nfl teams so redskins may not see a significant drop in that revenue. >> only way it begins to affect the bottom line of the redskins is if major sponsors stood up or if potential stadium backers stood up and said, we won't be involved wit

. >> let's say good afternoon to kristin welker at the white house. tell us about this $2 billion. >> reporter: well, a senior administration official said that they're still mapping out the final details of that request, but you're absolutely right. tomorrow we anticipate that the obama administration will ask congress for a number of things. more than $2 billion to deal with the surge in unaccompanied minors crossing the border. also expanded authority for dhs, secretary jeh johnson, to fast track deportations as well as stiffer penalties for those smugglers who are helping the kids cross the border as well as other undocumented persons, and the numbers are staggering as you say, t.j. the administration estimates that as many as 52,000 unaccompanied minors have been detained while trying to cross the border. this is becoming a real political problem for the obama administration in addition to a humanitarian crisis. republicans saying that the administration is not doing enough. some within the latino community who are already angry about the fact th

kristin welker's traveling with the president in california. kristin, good morning to you there. what commitment is the administration willing to make, from what you're hearing? >> reporter: well, president obama trying to determine exactly what the united states will do, as you mentioned, the pentagon announcing that it is ending the "uss george h.w. bush" into the gulf. what the pentagon secretary had to say, quote, the order will provide the commander in chief additional flexible should military options be required to protect american lives', citizens and interests in airaq. accompanied by the guided missile cruiser uss philippine c and the ships are expected to complete their transit into the gulf later on this evening. so that's what the time line looks like, richard. president obama in palm springs, going to deliver the commencement address at uc irvine. he's in close contact with his national security team, weighing options, which include air strikes or targeted drone strikes. the president has been very clear, he's not going to put u.s. boots on the ground. here's a littl

nbc's kristin welker is in palm springs traveling with the president. kristin, what more is the president saying? >> reporter: well, frances, good morning. president obama is going to deliver the commencement address at uc irvine a little bit later on today, but white house officials say he will spend much of this week end consulting with his national security team and weighing his options in iraq. among the options that he is considering, airstrikes as well as targeted drone strikes. at this point in time it seems as though the drone strikes might be the more likely option and, again, president obama making it very clear that he's not going to put u.s. boots on the ground. here's a little bit more of what president obama had to say yesterday. take a listen. >> we're not going to allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which while we're there we're keeping a lid on things and after enormous sacrifices by us as soon as we're not there suddenly people end up acting in ways that are not conducive to the long-term stability and prosperity of t

so exactly what is so alarm something kristin welker is at the white house. with a good morning, what does this reveal? >> reporter: you're right. this is a strongly worded report. president obama directed one of his top advisers, rob neighbors to conduct this report. mr. neighbors identified that there are big problems. among the key finders, the 14-day scheduling period is arbitrary and has helped to fuel the misconduct, that the entire va needs to be restructured and reformed in large part because it lacks transparency and accountability. and finally, alex, the technology is really outdated. it calls for serious upgrades in technology. among the other solutions, the department needs to strengthen its management and reporting structures and that it needs to increase accountability and transparency. this final one i'll mentioned, alex, the tone at the top needs to change. the culture in the va needs to change and needs to encourage employees to point out and to talk about the problems they identify so it doesn't get to this crisis situation we have been repo