mike viqueria joins us now from the white house with more. mike. >> well, the administration is simply trying to sort this out, tony. you look at the region, you have sectarian violence between the shia and sunni, you've got the situation in syria with the spillover in the humanitarian crisis with the civil war that's been going on there for years. secretary of state john kerry says this is much more complicated than meets the eye. this as the united states continues to consider air strikes to aid the maliki government. secretary of state john kerry says it's willing to work with iran in the fight to turn back rebel gains in iraq. >> i think we are open to any constructive process here that could minimize the violence, hold iraq together, the integrity of the country, and eliminate the presence of outside terrorist forces that are ripping it apart. >> reporter: for now, this does not include military cooperation with iran. this as the united states sends nor war ships towards iraq. where a contingent of marines have been set to bolster embassy

mike viqueria is there. mike it must have been a tremendously emotional day. let's talk about this meeting between president obama and president putin. we have seen video of them ton sidelines. how did this happen? we layered that president obama all but ignored putin at various times earlier in the day. >> there was one photo earlier in the day, family photos, one family that was very dysfunctional. it was evident obama and putin weren't paying attention to one another. it was seemingly intentional. a vine from the host french government, six or seven clip of, looped clip of video of president obama and vladimir putin and it really was they call it a pull-aside, standing up against the wall and starting a discussion obviously very informal, obviously no formal agenda there. this comes after weeks the white house swore there would be no kind of formal meeting. in some ways it was borne out. positive things came out of it of course chiefly that they said they would work towards some sort of cease fire in eastern ukraine. couple that with the meeting with petro

mike viqueria, in washington, mike thank you. less than an hour from now the obama administration will brief house members on the swap of five detainees for sergeant bowe bergdahl. days before chuck hagel is expected to testify before a house committee. libby casey, the debate over this deal has been at times absolutely absurd. will this briefing add some light to this debate? >> well, tony, members of congress will hear from five members of the white house staff, including deputing united states security advisory and representative of the office of the director of national intelligence. these are high level operatives. why congress wasn't consulted exactly about this exact flop happening at this time, the white house is trying to move into the explanation phase. we heard from secretary of state john kerry yesterday on the sunday talk show circuit, he was on cnn state of the union, sorting out the exact fact of how bergdahl ended up in the hands of the taliban. they couldn't wait for the swap any longer. >> it would be offensive

mike viqueria has the story. >> president obama down played the meeting with vladimir putin. speaking 15 minutes with the russian leader after all. a behind the scenes discussion caught on video. ukraine was among the topics. putin also spoke with petro poroshenko, the man due to be sworn in as ukraine's president, on saturday, a meeting brokered by angela merkel. ceasinceasing efforts to involve ukraine. a day of solemn ceremony and commemoration. mr. obama began the day withen frooblewith francois hollande. paid tribute to those who gave their all. >> whenever the world makes you cynical, whenever you doubt that courage and goodness is possible, stop and think of these men. >> u.s. officials regard both meetings, the obama, putin meeting and the putin-poroshenko meeting as hopeful, but they want to see more. mike viqueria, al jazeera america. >> jonathan betz joins us, jonathan. >> a lot of people counting on him he hasn't officially started yet but petro poroshenko was invited to d day ceremonies and got straight to work. it's hard to see and it was brief but remarkable no

mike viqueria, explain what the letter means? >> the president sent the letter under the war act, 275 million tri personnel will be sent, more personnel into iraq. and we learned from the defense department in conjunction with that announcement joie that about 100 will be used to secure air fields, if it's necessary to evacuate american personnel, not just embassy personnel but there are thousands of american contractors in country as well, and to secure the sprawling u.s. embassy in baghdad. we also learned the united states has had brief, as it was described by a state department official, talks, there to talk about iran's nuclear program, while on the margins, they had informal discussions. they are emphasizing, obviously a very sensitive point, that they're not going to make deals with iran about iraq's future over the heads of the iraqi people as it was phrased. john kerry gave an interview to yahoo news, saying look, this is a complex are situation. he detailed the sunni, shia, spilling over into the border into iraq. the p

mike viqueria. >> you will immediately be turned back if you try cross into this country illegally. there is no process, not so from central america and that is what the administration is trying to discourage today. you mentioned joe biden in quawt adequatgawtmal. guatemala. no amnesty for families in this country or unaccompanied minors. josh earnest is the principal deputy spokesperson for the white house. he said this just a few moments ago at the podium. >> what we are trying to do is address the problem at its root. some of that is afternoon informational campaign. and countering this intentional misinformation campaign that's being propagated by criminal syndicates. >> meanwhile the federal government is struggling to handle many of these children and families who have been apprehended at the border. 150 individuals arriving at an army base fort sill oklahoma, and san antonio, texas and southern california. also the homeland security secretary jay johnson was on the border in texas addressing the situation, david. >> what is the white house trying to do to tackle some of this?

mike viqueria is at the white house for us. mike, it's clear the white house is pushing the iraqis to form a new government it needs to happen. >> even showing up there we were not sure that secretary kerry was going odo that. announcing the trip and allowing the press to report it when they were wheels down eastern time in baghdad. but it was also a very stern warning almost a lecture to the iraqis, look you've got to get it together, you've got to form a government, you've got to be more inclusive. air strikes are not going to do anything in the long term if those things don't happen. secretary kerry also noting what president obama said, if air strikes are needed in the short term, situation that dire, you cannot interpret that as the united states getting on one side or the other, one sector or the other, one government figure or other, they are simply striking i.s.i.l. which they regard as a terrorist organization. here is more of the tough talk that secretary kerry had while in baghdad. >> iraq paces an stefnl existenl thr

al jazeera's mike viqueria is in washington. tell us about his trip? >> reporter: it was a strong show of support on the one hand, david you're right but john kerry was trying to put pressure on the maliki government and those inside iraq in baghdad to reform their ways to form a new inclusive government to try oput an end to this somehow to reach some sort of diplomatic or political solution. obviously that is not in the offing as i.s.i.l. continues to make gains. secretary kerry was sent by president obama, the president announced it, he went to europe to speak to close allies in the middle east. you guess he wasn't sure enough at about 2:00 in the morning secretary kerry did show up in iraq. and as you reported he saidists a critical moment in iraq's future, iraqi officials by way of reform say they're committed to forming a new government. since the elections they have not formed that government they are now committed to forming that government by july 1st. here is a little bit more of what he had to say. >> iraq faces an existential threat. and me

john. >> mike viqueria reporting from washington. >>> prisoner swap to free bowe bergdahl. the obama administration has come under pressure to justify the controversial deal. randall pinkston reports from capitol hill. >> the administration presenting among other things proof of life video, indicating that bl bowe bergdahl was in very poor health. one of the reasons that the administration acted quickly to free bergdahl. critics were convinced. blasting the administration for failing to give congress 30 days notice before releasing any guantanamo detainees. >> they made it clear that there were 80 to 90 people who knew ahead of time about the bergdahl release. not one of whom was a member of the united states congress. it's safe to say on both the republican and democrat side, people were extremely disappointed. they were underwhelm by what was put forward. there was a sense of anger that members of congress didn't know about this. >> while there are democrats who are critical of this administration, there are other democrats who are coming to the defense of president obama

mike viqueria reports. >> the crisis has come to this: secretary of state john kerry says the country is willing to work with iran to turn back rebel gains in iraq. >> i think we are open to any constructive process here that could minimize the violence, hold iraq together, the integrity of the country, and eliminate the presence of outside terrorist forces, that are ripping it apart. >> for now, that does not include military cooperation with iran. this as the pentagon sends more war ships to the arabian gulf, the u.s.s. mesa verde. a military transport. secure the embassy and air field in case the american citizens have to be evacuated. late this afternoon, president obama arrived back from his weekend vacation in california. he was briefed by susan rice. insists that any u.s. military action be aided bying nouri al maliki. >> when you have people murdering, assassinating in these mass massacres, you do what you need odo if you try to stop it from the air or otherwise. >> mike viqueria, al jazeera, washington. robert, welcome. >> thanks john. >> give me a sense of what these 275 mil

mike viqueria is traveling with the president live in brussels.kraine still topping the agenda right? >> you're absolutely right. the communique out this evening about foreign policy and there's no division among the g-7 leaders for who is responsible about the unrest in eastern ukraine. they lay it plainly at the doorstep of the russian federation. they stay pat to charge russia, what the events would be to trigger tougher sanctions that president obama has been talking about ever since this began months ago. and now there are seven, as the group formerly known as g-8 gathered in brussels, vladimir putin's presence hung over the summit. meeting ukraine's president elect petro poroshenko earlier in warsaw, president obama vowed to keep the pressure on russia, for its actions in ukraine. >> a violation of international law and it's willing to back up those principles with consequences for russia. >> in his west point speech last week president obama declared his policy of sanctions is working. >> our ability to shape world opinion helped isolate ru

. >> reporter: mike viqueria, traveling with the president. >>> the deal reunites the west bank and gazatrip. benjamin netanyahu has condemned the deal. >>> after 40 years ton throne, king of spain will step down. in a surprise announcement the 76-year-old says he will abdicate and be succeeded by his son. four knowledge spaniards, ttys whole monarchy that should be be running back abolished. be nasaneen reports. >> nonmainstream parties in the reents european elections. now they see the abdication of king juan carlos as a chance to be become a republic and they wand a referendum. >> we are fighting for our real democracy. we wants to decide the future of our country. >> it is a fall from grace that king juan carlos to help smooth spain's transition to democracy after years of dictatorship under general franco. in reents years he has become -- recent years he has become visibly frail. many see his decision as political but the king, it was the channels for a new era to take over -- chance for a new era to take over. came as a surprise. for older spaniards, king carlos will always be spec

. >> being cooperation with a long term, definitely long time american adversary, mike viqueria joins us from the white house with more details. mike. >> well tony, there is no question there are no easy answers for the administration now and as a matter of fact some of the answers being considered are quite distasteful by the administration and doubtless will be for congress. when you unpack what's happening in iraq it's a mess. iran-iraq rivalry, syria, as secretary of state john kerry put it it's much more complicated than meets the eye. into that complication, the united states is considering aiding the iranian government to engage in air strikes. willing to work with iran to turn back rebel gains in iraq. >> i think we are open to any constructive process here that could minimize the violence, hold iraq together, the integrity of the country. and eliminate the presence of outside terrorist forces that are ripping it apart. >> reporter: for now, that does not include military cooperation with iran. this as the pentagon sends more war ships to the gulf, including the contingent of

mike viqueria is in washington for us. do these numbers show how by the problem is? >> well, tony, this is the first in a series of reports, when that report emanated in the phoenix facility, the problems run very deep that they're not going away and it's going to take quite some time to fix them. just look at this report, tony, among the findings, the system is just too overwhelmed to meet that 14 day threshold. that was an incentive for a lot of the folks to cook the books because there was no way in the world they were going to meet that 14 day threshold. also, you look at one of the other findings. the computer systems are antiquated within the va. it's almost unconscionable. they are going to have to be upgraded, working on that, working on upgrading and the staffers, it's going to take some time to fix tony. >> mike, what kind of wait times are we talking about? you have some new numbers that are just stunning and what is being done to fix this problem? >> be aware that these are some of the most egregious examples. honolulu hawaii, the facility there, 145 days

mike viqueria has the story. >> one of them somewhat down the line in a few weeks. the president has asked for recommendations for his cabinet and by the end of the summer he wants some executive actions he can undertake in the face of what he calls republican intransigents. they are not moving that bill through the house of representatives, find a way to at least partially enact some immigration reform. he's redirecting resources there including 150 border patrol agents and sending them to that epicenter there in the rio grande valley. and the president is also going to be asking for more than $2 billion to hire more immigration judges, more asylum processors, more lawyers, also humanitarian aid to help many of these individuals on detention centers on military bases that have now become these makeshift housing centers for children who have come here. president obama took to the rose garden. here's a little bit more of what he has to say. >> i take executive officer action when congress chooses to do nothing. -- i take executive action when congress chooses to do n

mike viqueria reports. >> before secretary kerry made his way to baghdad he appeared in egypt with the foreign minister side by side. and it really appeared that the two sides were going to bury the hatchet, or norgz or come somewhere closer to where they were the unjust jailing of al jazeera and other journalists, a jailing that secretary kerry spoke out against once the sentence was put forward. $1.5 billion in aid, this has gone on since the late '80s about first and largest arab nation to do so, it has been suspended over the last 18 months or so but appears to be back on track. apache helicopters that egyptians want very desperately. this is something that dovetails with american interests. those apparently now are going forward. secretary kerry assured his egyptian counterpart. the united states has not made any secret of the fact that egypt is an anchor partner, a strategic partner as they put it this that part of the world. the u.s. just certified that egypt was moving towards democracy, cementing some $550 million in aid, that egypt was moving in the right direction, so it app

mike viqueria, at the white house. >> president obama took to the rose garden to make this announcement. basically, no specific steps to address the problem but he is asking congress for that. in the meantime he is asking for recommendations from his attorney general his homeland security secretary of what he can do by late summer to try to alleviate some of this, and move in a direction that congress refuses to move, to institute comprehensive immigration reform, in the meantime, the president says he is going to be redirecting some resources from the interior of the country. as many as 150 border patrol agents among them, down to the rio grande area, on america's border with mexico down in the rio grande valley. president obama was in the rose garden. this is a little bit more of what he has to say. >> i take executive action only when we have a serious problem. a serious issue. and congress chooses to do nothing. and in this situation, the failure of house republicans to pass a bill is bad for our economy, bad for our future. >> asking for supplemental money perhaps as much as $2 bil