he never asked darcy mcclain to do that before. so yes, it was unusual in that respect. >> but ivan jones had an alibi. darcy mcclain didn't. >>> david crawford's autopsy took place in the royal hobart hospital the day after his body was discovered. the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. most likely caused by an ax or similar implement. crawford had been a healthy, 72-year-old man except for some heart trouble. >> he had a condition called cardiomyopathy, which simply meant that he had heart disease of unknown cause. >> then dr. kelsall made a discovery that would change the course of the investigation. he found that crawford had a heart pacemaker implanted in his chest. >> a pacemaker is a way of stimulating the heart. it delivers anything from about two to five volts into the heart to make it pace, that is, contract. >> i was vaguely aware that pacemakers have a recording unit inside them. >> if so, crawford's pacemaker might reveal the exact time of his murder. unfortunately, pacemakers hold information for only

mcclain. >> i don't have a lot of experience in observing other medical centers. human aye for the most part is a health and wellness medicare advantage company. we do a lot of business with va. and we have seen the difficulty that we have as a contractor in also getting certain answers and certain things changed or done for the betterment of the veteran. >> mr. collard. >> we would find traditionally no more than three or four layers. i was with an organization yesterday and it was the traditional structure of a senior leadership team, directors, managers and right to the front line. >> and i think you also -- i think, mr. collard you may have, but others of you may have alluded to this, as well. the number of health care networks that exist across this country, 21? i mean, you've got a large network. i mean, system. how many networks should there be? surely it should be broken up somehow, but 21? >> even if the number stayed 21, the ability to standardize across the 21 is really the key. the

mcclain. congressman miller of florida is the chairman of this committee. we expect to have live coverage on c-span3. >>> the committee will come to order. thank you very much for coming to this hearing this morning. we have numerous members that are on their way. but we want to respect the time of our witnesses. we appreciate them being with us today. before i begin, i want to ask in an unanimous consent to allow congressman mcnerney to participate in today's hearing. without objection, so ordered. welcome to today's full committee hearing and examination of bureaucratic areas to care for our veterans. as we all know very well now, during our committee othersight with the results of a committee investigation that had uncovered evidence suggesting that dozens of veterans died while waiting for care at the phoenix department of veterans health care system. just over two months later, we know now that in addition to 23 veteran deaths at the department linked to delays in care earlier this spring

mcclain. >> i personally don't think it was the result of inadequate funding. the v.a. budget has really increased significantly in the past five or six years. but i think pretty obviously it's a misallocation of the those resources. >> mr. collard. >> not only a misallocation, but perhaps just looking the other way when you have the resources. i think i heard on monday night the fact, chairman miller, that you raised a specific financial number that's been invested or been provided for i.t. and i.t.-related services. the question was raised, where's the money? and so whether it's -- whether it's misallocation or just, perhaps, an ignoring of those funds available, perhaps, leads to the current state. >> dr. mccaughey. >> yes. the v.a. budget has increased 173% from the year 2000 through 2012. that in inflation adjusted terms is 72%. the increase in total v.a. patients was 69%. so the funding increased at a faster pace than the number of patients who had to be treated. and the number of acute

mcclain. thank you. doctor, my question for you would be, i'm interested in your comments for the va paying for patients already covered by medicare advantage, and the potential for the government paying for care twice. what policy changes could remedy this situation? >> well, it's very interesting that such a large percentage of vets actually have insurance. only about 10% of vets being treated at the va are, quote, uninsured, and it's probably tragic that they weren't included in the affordable care act. but nevertheless, many of these vets who are insured, either with employer based insurance or medicare advantage or regularqzÑ cases better outcomes, not always better, but often better, and it's budget neutral for us, as a nation. it's budget neutral. >> thank you. incidentally, under the affordable care act, 3,000 were denied access because our government refused to extend medicaid to the 70,000, which 3,000 were veterans. thank you. >> a live picture from the office building on capitol hill where sh

mcclain, you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman.hank you for holding today's hearing to examine bureaucratic barriers to health care for veterans. i will focus my remarks on the very complex of organizational impediments in the veteran's health administration not conducive to the delivery of good health care to veterans. in my written statement that i ask be made part of the record -- >> without objection, all your statements will be entered into the record. i make four specific recommendations to improve organizational alignment in vha. but in this oral statement, i want to address just one and it's probably the one that is most disturbing to veterans in congress. and that's a failure of ethics. there is a pervasive va culture that puts personal gain and the system over the needs of the veteran. and hthis is wrong. and i want to make two points to the committee. let's not have congress and va just put band-aids on the current crisis. without resolving the systemic causes. and, two, i believe any long-term solution must include a cu

kiki mcclain, a democratic strategist, and tim phillips, a republican strategist. will the republican establishment crumble? what message does it send to democrats? tonight on "crossfire." >>> welcome to "crossfire." i'm s.e. cupp on the right. >> i'm stephanie cutter on the left. in the "crossfire" tonight, top democratic republican strategists. eric cantor is the first majority leader ever defeated in a primary. it's hard to feel sorry for him. contribute to the first ever downgrade of america's credit rating, orchestrated the government shutdown and has been a thorn in speaker boehner's side any time he tried to compromise with the president. here's the scariest news. apparently he wasn't conservative enough for today's republican party. the tea party's purity tests are changing the very definition of what it means to be a republican and now with cantor's defeat, republicans have moved so far to the mainstream they are in danger of making themselves a permanent minority party incapable of winning back the white house. as a democratic operative, i might think tha

that is being led by kiki mcclain with assistance from former national security spokesman tommy vietorine posted on twitter, on sunday saying the release was talking points. >> hillary clinton is politics 24/7 and this is no different. this is not going to end. we are going to continue to pursue this and she needs to answer the tough questions. >> from what we know about this book chapter, it's pure political spin and she's more focused on blaming the so-called vast right-wing conspiracy than on the terrorists. >> the republican opposition research group america rising is releasing an ebook called failed choices, a critique of the clinton's state department, just as clinton's memoir hits book stores on june 10th. kiki mclean joins me this morning. >> good to be here. >> if clinton is not running for president, why the need to have the chapter on benghazi? >> i think what you've done and others have done is probably make something out to be a little more than what she did. which is a former secretary of state writing a memoir. and that's what she's done. there's clearly been some langua

let start with you, miss mcclain. what are the metrics we are using and ought to be using. how are we doing? >> mr. chairman -- i think there is several -- there are several indicators that evidence success and progress in securing the ports. i would note in the last seven years, our relationships are programs internationally, those global partnerships, the capacity building, the agreements, everything that is necessary to supply the whole global supply chain. i think there's been significant advancements in that area. i also think that our improvements in the advanced data and targeting area make us more secure. coast guards, port assessments 1500 ports. i think there are a lot of indicators that there's a global recognition of the need to tackle this issue on a broader basis. >> all right. same question to admiral paul thomas. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i was in port in galveston, texas on september 11, 2001, and then the three years following that as we scrambled to figure out what it meant to secure our ports. from my perspective, it's clear we've achieved a lot. i thi

mcclain. what are the metrics that we are using or ought to be using and using that metric or metrics, how are we doing? well or maybe not so well? >> mr. chairman i think there are several indicators that evidence success and progress in securing the ports. i would note that in the last seven years our relationships, our programs internationally, those global partnerships the capacity building the agreements everything that's necessary to supply the whole global supply chain, i think there's been significant advancements in that area. i also think that our improvements in the advanced data and targeting area make us more secure. the coast guard's port assessments, 1500 ports i think there are a lot of indicators that there's a global recognition of the need to tackle this issue on a broader basis. >> same question, admiral paul? admiral paul thomas. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you know, i was in port in galveston, texas, in 2001 and for the three years that followed as we scrambled to figure

mcclain. what are the metrics that we are using or ought to be using and using that metric or metrics, how are we doing? well or maybe not so well? >> mr. chairman, i think there are several indicators that evidence success and progress in securing the ports. i would note that in the last seven years our relationships, our programs internationally, those global partnerships, the capacity building, the agreements, everything that's necessary to supply the whole global supply chain, i think there's been significant advancements in that area. i also think that our improvements in the advanced data and targeting area make us more secure. the coast guard's port assessments, 1500 ports, i think there are a lot of indicators that there's a global recognition of the need to tackle this issue on a broader basis. >> same question, admiral paul? admiral paul thomas. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you know, i was in port in galveston, texas, in 2001 and for the three years that followed as we scrambled to fi

mcclain made. on the targeting side there is ice an opportunity to improve our analytics and their capabilities to assess risk and we are pursuing that aggressively. we have a good system were taking current intelligence manipulating the data and identifying risk but we want to continue to get better so that's an area and we do get congressional support to tip continues to improve in the area. the radiation port monitors we need to be able to dial the algorithms. they reduce the naturally occurring radiological material alarms that we face on normal commodities like bananas for instance and other things that do hit on our part lines. we don't want to waste time on those alarms. we want to focus on what could potentially be dangerous material. i think there are continued opportunities globally. we are currently working with hardness broadening the scope of csi but also looking at other threats to the supply-chain contraband commercial fraud that could support criminal activity and so forth. enhancin

let start with you, miss mcclain. what are the metrics we are using and ought to be using. how are we doing? >> mr. chairman -- i think there is several -- there are several indicators that evidence and success in securing the ports. i would note in the last seven years, our relationships are programs internationally, those global partnerships, the capacity building, the agreements, everything that is necessary to supply the whole global supply chain. i think there's been suggest advancements in that area. i also think that our improvements in the advanced data and targeting area make us more secure. coast guards, port assessments 1500 ports. we think there are a lot of indicators that there's a global recognition of the need to tackle this issue on a broader basis. >> all right. >> same question to admiral paul. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i was in port in galveston, texas for 2001 and the three years we followed, we scrambled to figure out what it meant to secure our ports. from my perspective, it's clear we've achieved a lot. i think one the first things we did, mr. cald

joining me from washington, democratic strategist kiki mcclain. from new york, political reporter at "new york times." nick, welcome, and kiki. i'll start with you. in the words of the great gwyneth paltrow it seems like there's a little bit of conscious uncoupling going on with this book. let me bring up what hillary clinton wrote about sarah palin and that fateful moment when she joined the mccain ticket. she writes -- the obama camp immediately issued a dismissive statement and reached out to me in hopes i would follow suit. but i wouldn't. i was not going to attack palin just for being a woman, appealing for support from other women. i didn't think it made political sense and it didn't feel right so i said, no. kiki, does sound very much that this was a sort of marriage of convenience, looking back. hillary clinton had her own judgment and often that often that judgment was different. >> i don't know how you would describe "often" because i only heard you cite a few of examples, a couple i disagree with. any two people who have known each othe

out front, former senior adviser to hillary clinton's campaign, kiki mcclain and commentator carl bernsteinuthor of "a woman in charge." kiki, i want to begin with you. i suppose when you heard that comment, you knew full well that that was going to be fodder for the republicans. mrs. clinton used the word houses. the plural version which many americans would hear and sort of think, holy moley. isn't it fair that perhaps that's the criticism that comes out of this? that's somebody who perhaps isn't in touch with americans in general? >> there's nothing fair with anybody to insinuate hillary clinton doesn't understand the struggle of a middle class family. he certainly grew up with one and fave a statement of fact when president clinton and mrs. clinton left the white house they were dead broke. they have a life and a set of expectations different and fortunate to make some money. >> what does dead broke mean? i think it means dead broke. >> i think she said it on the air. they were on debt. in deep debt. lots of bills to pay and i think that people who go big transitions in life had that ex

this last question is for miss mcclain, admiral thomas, and mr. mcaleenan. really short answers if you would. first question, what effect has increased security along our land borders had on maritime border security? what effect has increased security long our land borders had on maritime border security? 30 seconds. >> yes, mr. chairman, two quick points. i think the programs we developed in the land border context informed how we deal with those programs in the maritime context. and second, i think it pointed out to us, and i real quickly go back to south florida in the '80s, how you need a risk-based approach across all path ways to secure any single path way. thank you. >> all right, thank you. admiral? >> well, somewhat outside the realm of port security, but certainly weave seen the balloon effect on particularly the southern part of the west coast and also in the caribbean, as we secure our land borders for illegal drugs and contraband and other illegal activities, they have taken to the water. so we've adjusted our forces. and that's really the impac

you're talking about a guy like john mcclain. the former cfo of jones. david sycamore bought jones., get this. sycamore takes a stage in express. we see chicos putting itself up for sale right now. i am doing a rolloff of limit of le, express, jones, putting an order one half and being able to have power against the big retailers, the department stores. lands end is back and it's not -- it's away from sears. >> it's back in one quarter. >> the balance sheet is better than i thought here. and the brand wasn't tarnished. and the team is extraordinary. so i think you have to look at it. >> mr. white did not do a good job. you come on the show and they've got a very difficult look. the miss there is 19 to 19 1/2. you've got to make it a little broader. i didn't mean to be mean like that because mr. white is a great exec. sycamore understands that this business is cyclical. very smart. a potential acquirerer here. so i think it's right. now, they have two really, really bat bad quarters. but before that, they were flying high. this is a company that is historic like this. if you merge th

miss mcclain, one of your statements in your opening statement was spending money in a cost effective way. if y'all don't have metrics on the effectiveness of grant money spent, how do you know it's cost ekt -- effective? >> senator, i think that the -- i appreciate the question. i think it's a little outside my lane. i would prefer to take the question back and get you an answer working with my colleague from fema on where we are in developing metrics or answering that particular question. >> i don't think anybody will dispute we've done some good with the money we've spent. i'm not saying that. i'm just saying. anybody can answer this. we have a port system where we tier risks, and the vast majority of money have gone tier one ports. and under the system you're utilizing today without any recognition of the money that is already spent, we continue to spend the same money on the same risk. there's no risk reduction recognized in your tiering. if you don't have metrics, associated with the money being spent, the port security program, grant program when do we stop spending money at ti

senator john mcclain is one of those lawmakers, and he aired his concerns yesterday. >> right now, withhe number of thousands that are crossing the border, that are sort of -- that have left central america and are on their way here, it's a roughly 15-day trip, that if we stopped tomorrow, there would still about that backlog that would be coming here. so it's got to stop. and it's got to stop immediately. >> white house has also said that this increase has led to misinformation by smuggling groups that say if you come now, you will be allowed to stay. that's simply not the case. >> so i'm hearing $100 million to reintegrate these kid. >> to keep them there. >> to keep them there and 161 million ford this regional security fund. that doesn't stop the kids from coming. what else are they doing besides giving money? >> absolutely not. that's part of the issues, they're not ready for the string of migrants. the problem, though, is this classic case not in my back yard. they tried to do it in virginia. the community there pushed back. they wanted to put it an-n an historically black college