mr. mcdonald is doing.'t have to execute very many admiral or hospital administrators to get the rest of them to get the message that there is a new guy in town taking that ship of state in a new direction. i think that the 35 names or so that he has sent to congress in which there are administrative proceedings in place will be enough, i think, to send the signal. >> i would give this guy some credit here. he's coming in by storm. trying to get the middle managers and above to mention nothing of the underlings who were doing a lot of this crazy stuff, delaying care for veterans. while we want quick action in government, that's pretty quick for government work. so there are a lot of critics who are saying it's still not enough. but all these folks who were doing all this stuff, they should face criminal sentencing. what do you think? >> well, some people may face criminal sentencing because many of the names and cases are being turned over to the justice department for adjudication. in the federal governmen

mr. mcdonald is going to have to work on. it's going to take a while, but that can be done. it will be done. >> can the congressman mention that you can to find the people who are problematic. this was an elaborate cooking of the books scheme. it really required a culture of deception within the organization, federal report found out this was going on at 93 separate facilities. in order to find the bad apples you have to figure out where this begins and ends internally. where is your starting point for that? how do you even wrap yours arms around it? >> well, it's going to be a difficult task. you begin to investigate those. in any corporate environment where there is a question of integrity the first issues you have to address are the issues of integrity. the first thing that we do is address the financial reporting issues, and make sure there are integrity in the numbers and transparency in the process. had a that is a value statement that has to permeate management within the organization. it's not something that is going to happen overnight. it is going to take some time

mr. mcdonald and others in just a moment.all the distinguished guests here, but me say to the much wer families, how appreciate the opportunity and the privilege to be able to speak your today. privilegese great the president or vice president has. speak one to literally this sacred ground. this is the second occasion i have had in my tenure as a vice president. this is a beautiful autumn day. the sun is shining and the skies are clear. the temperature is perfect. heatng like the scorching and the bitter cold and that intense storms that confronted many of you here today and our troops through every conflict in every age. sunshine is nothing like the scorching heat our veterans endured while battling across the sunbaked coral islands of this -- the pacific. facedg like the hardships i a generation of americans who of weighted to the rice paddies in vietnam. nothing compared to the hundred 15 degrees heat in falluja. nothing compared to what our young men fought through in 25 degree below zero in north korean mountains pinned

mr. mcdonald is certainly a a credible candidate for this job.t of people have a lot of faith in him that can he turn this around. did he express an interest in getting rid of terminating anyone who violated the principles of the v.a. it's just he is making clear it's a long process of getting people from paid leave to actually losing their jobs. and so there are vets groups frustrated right now there are other vets groups who say they believe he started the agency down a good path and it's going to take time. they are already cleaning up their systems. people are are getting contacted about backlogs. and so i think people are going to have to have faith that it is being addressed. and with heavy scrutiny from congress. i think it will continue to be addressed. >> supporters would say it's like a navy term of turning an aircraft carrier. it's going to take some time to turn. >> and it will and i would give them a pass on that. i think he is trying to do it. if you want to change bureaucracy, it attack as long time. however, the question is why ar

mr. mcdonald himself is out in the media and giving the whole world his cell phone and trying to move thisureaucracy forward. we will try to find out when the rubber meets the road and we want to hear there is a customer centric service provider. they have 12 websites and is to go from 12 and is to one simplified website. those are the steps we will need. veterans day is the biggest activation of our community and we will hear from all over the country right now. >> do veterans get enough from congress? only 20% of members are veterans that will be increasing slightly after the mid-terms. including women. is there enough empathy and do they understand? they face these bureaucracies. >> i don't think they do or the scandal would never have happened. you have been covering these issues for years. there hearings and frankly the white house didn't listen. now everybody wants to rush to show they have our veterans's backs, but where were they for the last years. it's time to step up and come together. this is going to be a challenge for the new president when we have a campaign. we want to hear

mr. mcdonald, seems to be on the right track.hour and 15 minutes in sacramento when he was here in this area. i think he's a good person. i think he's well intended. he's got a big bureaucracy, he's going to need a lot of support from congress in order to make the changes necessary to take care of our veterans. >> congressman john garamendi of california, appreciate your time, sir. that's "the ed show." "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed, and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, gop roadblocks to immigration reform. republicans have refused to fix our broken immigration system for years. and president obama's done waiting. >> i'm going to do what i can do, through executive action. it's not going to be everything that needs to get done. and it will take time to put that in place. and in it the interim, the minute they pass a bill that addresses the problems with immigration reform, i will sign it and it supercedes whatever actions i take, and i'm encouraging

mr. mcdonald used to be the head of procter & gamble. he knows how to fire people. members of congress, they should all just be fired and they are questioning why it is taking so long. you know, he talked about the values. these are the people, the administrators who established these terrible wait times, covered it up and lied about it. these are the people that really need to go in the v.a. and congress is saying, look, why don't you just get rid of them? i asked him the same thing two weeks ago when he was in atlanta and this is what he had to say. >> as a new secretary of the v.a., why would i want to take a long period of time to get this done? it's not in my interests, not in the veterans' interests and not in the interests of the members of congress. >> according to the secretary, to fire somebody, you have to notify them that they are going to be fired, they have an appeal process, they can go through some kind of an administrative hearing and they are being paid by taxpayers, ashleigh, and it's going on for months and months and months for these people that

mr. mcdonald, but i'm getting nowhere. i've reached out to them, and no one has reached back. i want to see changes as well as all the other veterans do. let's start listening to the people on the front lines. >> brian turner is an army veteran and whistleblower in antonio. keep us posted if you hear from robert mcdonald or any associates. curious to hear about that. thanks again. >>> one day before same-sex couples would have been allowed to get married in kansas, the supreme court put those marriages on hold. justice sonya societimy oior gaa stay. they ruled they could get married in spite of the state ban. kansas officials ask the u.s. supreme court to extend the ban until all court appeals are exhausted. >>> over 13 months until the first voting in the presidential primaries, and form president george w. bush is talking up his brother jeb's potential presidential campaign. he spoke about his brother in an interview on cbs muse and provided the odds that jeb will run. >> i think it's 50/50. he and i are very close. on the other hand, he's not here knocking on my door agoniz

mr. mcdonald of he is a transitional management trying to improve this car wreck . who is mr. thompson?most say be careful what you wish for. two years ago hertz and 50 came together. it seemed like a dream deal. at dollaras the ceo rent a car. he made his money and got out. he got pushed out. the thought is they are going to try to bring thompson in. people have been speculating it. he is going to come in and run the company. >> they are going to allay the -- delay the spinoff. revenues are coming in light. i would suggest we are seeing this company to company. what is different in the air in november when corporate officers say we have to do something as we go into 2015. what is different this november? people have been really optimistic this year. this is been the year of the big deal. we have seen that over and over all year long. in the case of halliburton, this is an oil and gas situation. >> this is a three year restatement. errors, but it shows the time. >> it seems like the bond market perspective, it is the opposite. lame for the next few years in terms of growth are that driv

mr. mcdonald, thanks so much for joining us, best of luck to you in your new endeavor. >> thank you, alisyn> so ted cruz has been a thorn in the side of the president. but now it may be fellow republicans feeling the prick of the thorn from the far right. john king will explain the politics going on on "inside politics." >>> and then this story for you -- the idea of losing your family to a killer, is too hard for most of to us even imagine. well patrick mcstay has had to live that horror. in a cnn exclusive, he tells us the person to blame may not have been a stranger. the unbelievable twist ahead. (receptionist) gunderman group. gunderman group is growing. getting in a groove. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics. almost half past the hour, a look at your headlines, th

mr. mcdonald left p & g in 2015 and was confirmed as secretary of veterans affair in july of this year. this ends ends the biographical portion of the gram. now the ground rules. we are on the record here. please, no live blogging or tweeting, in short no filing of any kind while the breakfast is underway to give us time to listen to what our guest says to help you resist the relentles civilie urge we'll e-mail pictures of the session to all reporters here. the va will distribute a transtranscript of the breakfast today. at regular attendees now, if you would like to ask a question, please do the traditional thing and send me a subtle, known threatening signal, raised eyebrow, and i'll happily call on you. the he interest of transparency, let me note i'm a veteran and have two sons in the military. no one in the cook clan is collecting veterans benefits, and with that cleansing disclosure behind us, we'll start off by offering our guest the opportunity to make opening comments and then move to questions from around the table. >> my pleasure. please call me bob. i'm encouraging everyone

mr. secretary. >> mcdonald: i'm bob.me bob. >> pelley: his washington staff can't get their heads around calling the boss by his first name, so they've taken to calling him "secretary bob." >> mcdonald: so you were with patton in north africa? >> no, he was with me. ( laughter ) >> pelley: he'll need that sense of humor because mcdonald is battling a behemoth cobbled together over decades. the v.a. is the second largest agency in the entire federal government, behind only the department of defense. >> mcdonald: we have no hope of taking care of veterans if we don't take of each other. >> pelley: he has 340,000 employees, who handle services ranging from home mortgages to college loans to heart transplants. >> mcdonald: well, you've got people who really care about veterans here. >> exactly. >> pelley: with nine million patients, the v.a. is america's largest healthcare system, but it had slipped into critical condition. last april, a doctor in phoenix exposed those phony waitlists. >> barack obama: it is dishonorable. it

mr. hope. please welcome the honorable robert mcdonald, secretary of veterans affairs. [applause] >> vice president biden, recipient ryan, secretary hagel and members senator family, king, senator leader pelosi, secretary mccue, chairman dempsey, your al grenard, and cohost . ron holt, our -- ron hope, articles for this year's organization. you for mers, thank your advocacy on behalf of veterans. fellow veterans, members of armed forces, va colleagues, good morning, everyone. for decades, americans have set aside this hour of this day of this month to honor those this country d in uniform. and times of both peace and war. it is fitting that veterans day come so close to thanksgiving because veterans day to give thanks and asked the almighty's serve ng on those who and have served the cause of peace. day of secret remembrance, and it is a day of both prayers and promises. we pray and promise that those and are still serving, will never be forgotten. that returning warriors will bear their wounds alone. that their families will in facing lp uncertain futures, and that gra

mcdonald, mr. ronald s. disabled american veterans, and major general jeffrey s. buchanan, commanding general of the united states army military district of washington. [background sounds] [background sounds] >> forward, halt. martha: all right. we're just watching all the dignitaries as they arrive. you saw the secretary of defense, chuck hagel, is down there in the front row. we have paul rycoff with us as well. paul, you know, you and i talked about before, it has been a very tough year for the veterans affairs, and they have a new leader in secretary mcdonald. it's also a time when the nation is looking at the possibility of an increased presence against isis in syria and iraq. your thoughts on that this morning. >> well, i think it's an important reminder that the stakes are high. but it's also a time for us all to come together as a country. it's a day to put aside the politics and unite by -- behind our veterans of all generations. we'll be organizing events around the country in just a few minutes on

mr. hope. please welcome the honorable robert mcdonald, secretary of veterans affairs.applause] >> vice president biden, medal of honor recipient brian thacker, secretary hagel, secretary perez, secretary castro, and members of your family, senator hirono, senator king, senator cantwell, minority leader pelosi, former secretary of veterans affairs jim pique, secretary james, chairman dempsey, general dunford, admiral grinnard, and your spouses, ron hope, disabled american veterans our co-hosts for this year's celebration, and other representatives of veterans service organizations, dr. and mrs. summers, thank you for your advocacy on behalf of veterans and god bless the memory of your son daniel. fellow veterans, members of our armed forces, v.a. colleagues, other distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. good morning, everyone. what a great day for honoring veterans. for decades, americans have set aside this hour of this day of this month to honor those who have served this country in uniform. in times of both peace and war. it's fitting that veterans day comes so c

mr. hope. please welcome the honorable robert mcdonald, secretary of veterans affairs.] >> vice president biden, medal of honor

mr. secretary, i wrote a letter to secretary mcdonald and asked for specific statute of case law that led to the department critical requirement of five days. i got a response i got no case law. i got no statutory requirement to in his response he said it would be unconstitutional to fire a career employee without telling him or her why and providing them with an opportunity to respond. you are going to tell them why when you walk in and you've hired them. they have an opportunity to respond after the fact. again, we will beat this thing until the sun goes down and will get up the next day and we'll be doing it again. what i perceive you doing is when you give them five days, if that person wants to quit, they just quit. and in the past va has said that the disciplinary action. something happened. they are not in the anymore. that's not a disciplinary action to that person goes on to another agency somewhere in the federal government, or they put the papers in and retire. and they retire with all the whistles and bells just like happened in i think alabama where there was this great fanfa

mcdonald's. janna is going to push for change. mr. rosen stein will push for change.is a stock that is cheap. hasn't done anything this year. they are doing things right. my charitable trust owns it. i feel janna is not going to rest, i think. they are going to do something. when you speak to greg watson ceo of walgreens, he think it's very constructive. i wouldn't be surprised if maybe barry rosenstein who david faber knows well might want to be involved in mcdonald's rather than just having a big mac, fries and diet coke. >> a nonexecutive chairman of mcdonald's said they are happy with don thompson. >> it's an inexpensive stock with a good yield, great balance sheet. they can do a lot of things. >> let's get to the bond pits and check in with rick santelli. >> 4-2-1. fives are up four, flattening usually means we are going to probably see yields tip down more today. watch that five-year, especially around 1.65. 14, 17. 14th day ten years are going to close in a tight range between 2.30 and 2.38. 17 days for 30-year bond yield between 3.02 and 3.10. it's flattening.

mr. hough of this the peering san francisco resident who has not been seen since halloween in other big news. the santa clara district attorney decided not to file charges against 49ers defensive end ray mcdonaldned at his home back in august. prosecutors say, they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt. that a crime was committed during their domestic violence investigation. prosecutors say, they were unable to charge the 49ers player, because of conflicting versions of what happened. a lack of verifiable eyewitnesses. and a significant lack of cooperation by the alleged victim, mcdonald's fiancee. one anti- domestic violence advocate. is disappointed with the decision, but does believe it is a setback for the movement to report abuse. i think people's tolerance of this problem is beginning to shift and i think and say it's just not o.k. i think more training needs to happen so when the please go to a scene when the is fresh and the people are speaking their minds prosecutors also say the involvement of an off-duty san jose police officer. hired to provide security for the 49ers, delayed their investigation. later in sports. we hear 49ers coach harbaugh's reaction. two sisters entered a pl

mr. hooper's store is a lululemon. cookie monster is gluten free. and the long wait is finally over. the mcrib is back at mcdonald'snd it's mcribbier than ever. the mcrib is the punxsutawney phil of sandwiches. it comes out of its hole for a little while and then it disappears. and it's made out of groundhogs. ground hogs, right? i don't know why this sandwich ever goes away. it seems to be popular. for some reason, it comes and leaves without any kind of warning at all. >> now at mcdonald's, for a limited time, the mcrib is back. the mcrib is -- gone. you missed it. you'll have to wait until next time it comes back, which is good, because the mcrib is back again. so get to your local mcdonald's and get one before it's gone, which is now. and now it's back. and now it's gone. back. and now it's gone again. the mcrib. back for an extremely limited time. get to your local mcdonald's in four, three, two, one. and now it's gone. but back. >> jimmy: the punch seemed unnecessary to me. [ cheers and applause ] this is a little bit crazy. you know, now days product placement is everywhere, in movies, on tv, sporting events

mr. secretary i appreciate you joining us and i also appreciate the work that you and secretary mcdonald and the team are doing to work with congress and this committee in particular to build the va at the 21st century. a few weeks ago there was an article about the business of research on returning war veterans and i will ask the chairman if he will introduce this into the record. i'm not trying to change subjects because we are still on the same subject in the subject is what is the underlying root cause of the issues of the va struggling with and it turns out it is a troubled culture that needs to be fixed and needs to have a change in personnel to do that and you are working on that. we are not necessarily happy with the direction you are going with that for the comments that has been discussed already. what i would like to do was talk about a couple of other things. one is this committee in my office requested a briefing with someone from the va regarding the center of excellence between now and december 11 and i would like your commitment that you will do that. the second thing is

mr. secretary, i appreciate you joining us. i also appreciate the work that you and secretary mcdonald and the team are doing to work with congress and this committee in particular to build the v.a. for the 21st century. a few weeks ago the austin american statesman newspaper, published an article about the visn waco center of excellence for research and returning war veterans. i'll ask the chairman if he'll introduce this for the record. i'm not trying to change subjects because we are still on the same subject. the subject is what is the underlying root cause of the issues that the v.a. is struggling with? it turns out it is a troubled culture that needs to be fixed. and that needs to have a change of personnel to do that. you're working on that. we are not necessarily happy with the direction you're going with that, but the comments have been -- that that's been discussed already. what i would like to do is talk about a couple of other things. one is, this committee and my office have requested enough data, a briefing with someone from the v.a. regarding the center of excellence between now and december 11th. i would like your

mcdonald's. that aside, again, we are absolutely startled when we saw at one starbucks in california $12,000 worth of purchases. are you aware that those purchases took place on the government credit cards? >> mr. chairman, your staff shared the list of purchases that you had with us. we have begun to make preliminary inquiries. we're going to include those transactions as a separate test -- >> but -- again, we have from that one starbucks credit card purchases of $12,000. and i don't begrudge coast guard people of where it's legitimate business and possibly buying some coffee for meetings, official meetings -- >> the coast guard has provided initial information for us on their look at those purchases. >> we don't dispute what we have? >> no. >> the other thing too is looking at other dhs entities, there was $31,000 we found in starbucks across the other entities. that just jumps out at you, $12,000 in one california starbucks location. >> the majority of those purchases were to furnish coffee for the dining pantries on board cutters for when they were operating at sea. >> there may be a very legitimate purchase requirement, but for the rest of dhs, it's $31,000 that we have been able to ident

mcdonald's fries too. >> i don't like them. too mushy. >>> when we come back this morning, will energy prices increase thanks to the weather plunge? that's next. and we have ceos and mrhimself joining us to talk about a wild success story. right now as we head to a break, take a look at u.s. equity futures. things have turned positive. dow futures up by 14. nasdaq by just about 1. always obvious. s aren't sometimes they just drop in. cme group can help you navigate risks and capture opportunities. we enable you to reach global markets and drive forward with broader possibilities. cme group: how the world advances. >>> welcome back to "squawk box" this morning. among the stories that are front and center, japan's prime minister telling party leaders he's going to be delaying that unpopular sales tax increase and call a snap election. this comes one day after new gdp figures shows they entered a recession. the nikkei rallying overnight on that news. >>> also germany giving stocks a boost. >>> and a new study from erickson says that about 90% of american households have three or more internet connected devices. the average number of connected devices, more than five. >>