and nobody cares more about our veterans than rick shinseki. if you ask me how do i think rick shinseki has performed overall? i would say that on homelessness, on 9/11 g.i. bill, on working with us to reduce the backlog across the board he has put his heart and soul into this thing and taken it very seriously. i said to rick and said it to him today, i want to see what the results of these reports are, and there is going to be accountability. and i'm going to expect even before the reports are done that we are seeing significant improvement in terms of how the admissions process takes place in all of our v.a. health care facilities. so i know he cares about it deeply. and he has been a great public servant and a great warrior on behalf of the united states of america. we are going to work with him to solve the problem. but i am going to make sure that there is accountability throughout the system after i get the full report. steve from reuters. >> thank you, sir. has secretary shinseki offered to resign? if hasegawa he's not to blame who is? w

nobody cares more about our veterans than rick shinseki. if you asked me how do i think rick shinseki has performed overall, i would say that on homelessness, on 9/11 g.i. bill, on working with us to reduce the backlog across the board, he's put his heart and soul into this thing, and he's taken it very seriously. i have said to rick and i had it to him today, i want to see, you know, what the results of these reports are. there is going to be accountability, and i'm going to expect even before the reports are done that we are seeing significant improvement in terms of how the admissions process takes place in all of our va health care facilities. so i know he cares about it deeply. you know, he has been a great public servant and a great warrior on behalf of the united states of america. we're going to work with him to solve the problem, but i am going to make sure that there is accountability throughout the system after i get the full report. steve from reuters. >> thank you, sir. has secretary shinseki offered to resign? were you caught

he himself is a disabled veteran and nobody cares more about our veterans than rick shinseki. so, you know, if you ask me, you know, how do i think rick shinseki has performed overall, i would say that on homelessness, on 9/11 g.i. bill, on working with us to reduce the backlog across the board, he has put his heart and soul into this thing and he has taken it very seriously but i have said to rick and i said it to him today, i want to see, you know, what the results of these reports are and there is going to be accountability and i'm going to expect even before the reports are done that we are seeing significant improvement in terms of how the administrations process takes place in all of our va health care facilities. so, i though he cares about it deeply and, you know, he has been a great public servant and a great warrior on behalf of the united states of america. we're going to work with him to solve the problem. but, i am going to make sure that there is accountability throughout the system after i get the full report. steve holland from reuters. >> thank you, sir. as se

nobody cares more about our veterans than rick shinseki. if you ask me how do i think rick shinseki has performed overall, i would say that on homelessness, on 9/11 gi bill, on working with us to reduce the backlog across the board, he's put his heart and soul into this thing and taken it very seriously. i have said to rick and i said it to him today. i want to see what the results of these reports are and there is going to be accountability. i'm going to expect even before the reports are done that we are seeing significant improvement in terms of how the admissions process takes place in all of our va healthcare facilities. i know he cares about it deeply. and he has been a great public servant and a great warrior on behalf of the united states of america. we're going to work with him to solve the problem. i'm going to make sure that there's accountability throughout the system after i get the full report. steve from reuters. >> reporter: has secretary shinseki offered to resign and if he's not to blame, who is? were you caught by surpris

and nobody cares more about our veterans than rick shinseki. so, you know, if you ask me, you know, how do i think rick shinseki has performed overall, i would say that on homelessness, on 9/11 gi bill, on working with us to reduce the backlog across the board, he has put his heart and soul into this then and he has taken it very seriously. but i have said to rick, and i said it to him today, i want to see, you know, what the results of these reports are, and there is going to be accountability. and i'm going to expect even before the reports are done that we are seeing significant improvement in terms of how the admissions process takes place in all of our v.a. health care facilities. so i know he cares about it deeply. and, you know, he has been a great public servant and a great warrior on behalf of the united states of america. we're going to work with him to solve the problem. but i am going to make sure that there is accountability throughout the system after i get the full report. steve from reuters. >> thank you, sir. has secretary shin

people of integrity, i think in both cases of secretary sebelius but certainly in the case here of rick shinseki, they've got the same priority. their view is what is it that is going to best deliver on behalf of folks who as rick said this morning have been let down? >> if i remember at the time you felt she had knowledge about what had gone wrong that you couldn't afford to lose that. does someone with three months of leadership in the department have capacity to attack the problem quickly now? >> we'll need a new va secretary. sloan is acting. sloan would be the first to acknowledge he'll have a learning curve to deal with. the nature of the problem that has surfaced and the cause of this attention is one that we can start tackling right away and without completely transforming the system. we can immediately make progress. we'll have longer term issues that we will have to take care of. my first step is everybody who is out there waiting, get them an appointment. if we need more doctors, let's figure out how we can get doctors in there to make sure they get the help they need. what i want to

eric shinseki is out as the secretary of the va. just to clarify the president mentioned rick an over and over again. he was referring to eric shinseki. we use his full name but that is who the president was talking about. another name the president mentioned often in his remarks, rob nabors, one of his top advisors, who he helped the with the va and the assessment over last couple weeks and third name the president mentioned, acting secretary of veterans affairs, sloane gibson. was a number two and a name you likely did not know. here is little information of sloane gibson. graduate of west point, a former army ranger. has some experience, quite significant experience in the private sector as well. ran a bank for 20 years to run the uso. remarks what we glean from the research we've been doing as the president is speaking. he will take over as head of va as interrim head secretary to try to figure out some of these problems that have emerged and we heard about in more detail this weak. i believe bret baier is standing by in washington, d.c. i hope i'm right with that, bret. n

integrity, i think that in both of the cases of secretary sebelius, but certainly in the case here of rick shinseki, they have the same priority. their view is what is it that is going to best deliver on e behalf of the folks who as rick said this morning have been let down. >> and i remember at the time you felt that she had so much knowledge about what had gone wrong and that you could not afford the lose it, but does somebody with three months in leadership in the department have the capacity to attack the problem quickly now? >> well, we need a v.a. secretary, so sloan is acting. sloan i think would be the first to ak nong that he is going to have -- to acknowledge that he has a learning curve to deal with, but the reason of the surface of this attention is one that we can start to tackling right away, and without completely transforming the system, with we can immediately make some progress. we are going to have longer term issues that we have to take care of, so, my first step is everybody who is out there waiting, get them an appointment, and if we need more doctors, let's figure out how to

rick should -- shinseki is a veteran and nobody cares more about the veterans and rick shinseki. if you ask me how do i think he has performed overall, i would say that on the 9/11 g.i. bill into working with us to reduce the back log against the board he has put his heart and soul into this and has taken it very seriously. i have said to rick and i said today i want to see what the results of the reports are and there is going to be accountability and i'm going to expect even before the reports are done that we are seeing significant improvement in terms of how the admissions process takes place in all of our va healthcare facilities. i know he cares about it deeply, and he has been a great public servant and warrior on behalf of the united states of america. we are going to work with him to solve the problem, but i am going to make sure that there is accountability throughout the system after i get the full report. steve. >> thank you sir. has secretary shinseki offered to redesign coming and were you caught by surprise by the allegations? >> rick shinseki serves the country be

of integrity i think in both the cases of secretary sebelius, but certainly in the case here of rick shinseki that is going to best deliver on behalf of folks who, as rick said this morning, have been let down? >> at the time you felt she had so much knowledge about what had gone wrong that you couldn't afford to lose that. >> right. >> does somebody with three months in leadership at the department have the capacity to -- to attack the problem quickly now? >> well, we're going to need a new v.a. secretary. so, sloan is acting. sloan i think would be the first to acknowledge that he's going to have a learning curve that he's got to deal with. but, the nature of the problem that has surfaced, and is -- has been the cause of this attention is one that we can start tackling right away, and without completely transforming the system we can immediately make some progress. we're going to have some longer-term issues that we're going to have to take care of. so my first step is, everybody who's out there waiting, get them an appointment. if we need more doctors, let's figure out how we can search so

and nobody cares more about our veterans than rick shinseki. overall, i would say that on homelessness on 9/11 gi bill on working with us to reduce the backlog across the board, he has put his heart and soul into this thing and he has taken it very seriously. but i have said to rick and i said it to him today, i want to see, you know what the results of these reports are. and there is going to be accountability. and i'm going to expect even before the reports are done that we are seeing significant improvement in terms of how the admissions process takes place in all of our v.a. health care facilities. so i know he cares about it deeply. and, you know he has been a great public servant and a great warrior on behalf of the united states of america. we're going to work with him to solve the problem. but i am going to make sure that there is accountability throughout the system after i get the full report. steve holland. >> thank you, sir. has secretary shinseki offered to resign? if he's not to blame, then who is? and were you caught by surprise

i think me how do rick shinseki has performed overall? i would say that on homelessness, on 9/11 g.i. bill, on working with us to reduce the backlog across the board he has put his heart and soul into this thing and taken it very seriously. i said to rick and said it to him today, i want to see what the results of these reports are, and there is going to be accountability. and i'm going to expect even before the reports are done that we are seeing significant improvement in terms of how the admissions process takes place in all of our v.a. health care facilities. so i know he cares about it deeply. and he has been a great public servant and a great warrior on behalf of the united states of america. we are going to work with him to solve the problem. but i am going to make sure that there is accountability throughout the system after i get the full report. steve from reuters. >> thank you, sir. has secretary shinseki offered to resign? if hasegawa he's not to blame who is? were you caught by surprise by these allegations? >> rick shinseki

with all due respect to my friend rick shinseki, i think he needs to resign. >> the thing is, presidentlly increased resources for the va. shinseki has actually expanded the veterans who are eligible for care. but i think we've got a graphic here that shows the problem, it doesn't seem to be, as you said, jack, putting more resources in. it is sort of where those resources are going. if you look at between the number of -- we have 50% rise in primary care visits but 9% rise in the number of primary care doctors. >> i'm not sure that we need a diagnosis for the administration to understand what the problem is. it seems pretty clear what the problem is. i think under shinseki it seems to be that they've applied pressure because people were cooking the books but not in getting him to be accountable for what they are saying. for my entire adult here the reality is we've been on a permanent war footing. that's flooded the system. you combine that with baby boomer age veterans coming of age and having different ailments, the system is stressed in a lot of different ways. first we have to stop

rick shinseki has served with honor for nearly 50 years. he did two tours of combat in vietnam.ft part of himself on the battlefield. he rose to command in the first val calvary. as secretary of the v.a., he enrolled nearly two million new veterans in health care, delivered more disability pay, made it easier for veterans with post-traumatic stress, and injuries to get treatment, improving care for our women veterans. at the same time he helped reduce veteran homelessness and helped more than one million service members and families pursue their education under the post 9/11 gi bill. rick's commitment to our veterans is unquestioned. is service to our country is exemplary. i am grateful for his service as are many veterans across the country. he has worked hard to investigate and identify the problems with access to care. but as he told me this morning, the v.a. needs new leadership to address them. he does not want to be a distraction because his priority is to fix the problem and make sure our vets are getting the care they need. that was rick's junctidgment on behalf of his f

but as rick shinseki himself indicated, there's a need for culture in the vha. and perhaps the va as a whole, to make sure that bad news gets surfaced quickly so things can be fixed. and i know that was the attitude of secretary shinseki and what he communicated to folks under him that they didn't execute. and that's the problem. christie parsons, last question. >> reporter: you said it was a judgment that made the decision to you here. and if i remember correctly, secretary sebelius offered you her resignation for healthcare.gov, and you didn't take it. so i wonder if it's very widespread. so is lopping off the head of it really the best step to take going forward? what i'm asking, is there a political reason for removing him, other than going straight to the problem? >> well, at this stage, i want someone at the va who is not spending time outside of solving problems for the veterans. i want somebody figuring out every minute of every day, have we called every single veteran has waiting, and have they gotten a schedule? are we fixing the system? what kind of n

. >> rick shinseki i think serves this country because he cares deeply about veterans and he cares deeply about the mission. and i know that rick's attitude is if he does not think he can do a good job on this and if he thinks he's let our veterans down, then i'm sure he is not going to be interested in continuing to serve. >> that's at bad as it gets. he's opening the door in some ways for a resignation. >> look at the total absence of serious presidential authority. does barack obama after five years with 34 different sites around the country a mess, does he think rick shinseki can do this? >> the argument they make is yes, maybe there are problems at 34 va hospitals. there are about 1,700 va hospital, facilities around the country. most of them not a mess. >> it is important we have a full investigation. how systemic is it? how much criminal wrongdoing there was. obviously if you have 30 that's different than 3,000. you've got to give the process a chance to go forward. if you're looking for is shinseki going to be there in six months, i think the answer is no. >> to be fair to shinsek

secretary shinseki he has ordered the va to personally contact any veteran waiting to get the care they need and the care they deserve. some of you also heard rick take a truly remarkable action. in public remarks he took responsibility for the conduct of those facilities and apologized to his fellow veterans and to the american people. a few minutes ago secretary shinseki offered me his own resignation. with considerable regret, i excepted. rex and he is a veteran who left a part of himself on the battlefield. he commanded the first cavalry division, served as army chief of staff, and has never been afraid to speak truth to power. the secretary of the v.a. presided over record investments in our veterans. enrolling 2 million new veterans and health care, delivering disability pay to more vietnam vets hate -- exposed to agent orange. improving care for our women veterans. he helped reduce a veteran homelessness and helps more than one million veterans serve as members of their families pursued education. i am grateful for his service. he identified problems with access to care but told me this needs newe va leadership to address them. he does no

he has to resign under these circumstances, but i also have confidence in sloan, and i share rick shinseki's assessment that the number-one priority is making sure that problems get fixed, so if there's a veteran out there that needs help, they're getting a schedule and they need to come in and see a doctor, and if there are facilities that don't have enough doctors or nurses or don't have enough space, that that information immediately gets in the hands of decision makers all the way up to me, and all the way to congress, so we can get more resources in there to help folks. and that seems to be the biggest problem, and i think that's the problem that offended secretary shinseki the most during this process. he described to me the fact that when he was in theater, he might have to order an attack just based on a phonecall from this 20-year-old corporal. and he has to make a decision that's life and death. and i think he's deeply disappointed that bad news did not get to him. and that the structures weren't in place for him to identify this problem quickly and fix it. his priority now is to m

rick shinseki, i think, serve this is country because he cares deeply about veterans, and he cares deeply about the mission. and i know that rick's attitude is if he does not think he can do a good job on this, and if he thinks he has let our veterans down, then i'm sure he's not interested in continuing to serb. >> he touted work that's been done to make the v.a. better, including treating ptsd and bringing it into the 21st century. it was not enough for many. top republican leaders calling it a national embarrassment. some saying he didn't create it with the gravity it deserves. it's expanded at 26 facilities nationwide. and john yang found more problems in albuquerque, new mexico, where they report chronic understaffing and management intimidation. >> reporter: this health care worker who doesn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation says patients are assigned to doctors who never see them. >> they are in administration or gone. >> reporter: no longer working there. >> right. >> reporter: but still listed as having patients. >> >> yes. >> reporter: a staff physician called a cl

of integrity i think in both the cases of secretary sebelius but certainly in the case here of rick shinsekiy've got the same priority. their view is what is it that's going to best deliver on behalf of folks who, as rick said this morning, have been let down. >> i remember at the time you felt she had so much knowledge about what had gone wrong that you couldn't afford to lose that. does somebody in three months in leadership at the department have the capacity to attack the problem quickly now? >> well, we're going to need a new v.a. secretary. so sloane is acting. sloane i think would be the first to acknowledge that he is going to have a learning curve that he is going to deal with. but the nature of the problem that has surfaced and is -- has been the cause of this attention is one that we can start tackling right away and transforming tely the system we can immediately make some progress. we're going to have some longer term issues that we're going to have to take care of. so my first step is everybody who is out there waiting, get them an appointment. if we need more doctors, let's fi

rick shinseki has served his country with honor for nearly 50 years.combat in vietnam. he's a veteran who left a part of himself on the battle field. he rose to command the first cavalry division, served at army chief of staff and has never been afraid to speak truth to power. the secretary of the v.a., he presided over record investments in our veterans. enrolling 2 million new veterans in health care, and delivering disability pay to more vietnam veterans exposed to agent orange, making it easier for veterans, post-traumatic stress, mental health issues and traumatic brain injury to get treatment. improving care for women veterans. and reduced veteran homelessness and helped 1 million veterans, service members and their families pursue education under the post-9/11 g.i. bill. so rick's commitment to our veterans unquestioned. his service to our country is exemplary. i am grateful for his service as are many veterans across the country. he has worked hard to investigate and identify the problems with access to care. but he told me this morning, the v.

since rick shinseki has been in there, the number of people receiving care is up 20%, okay. his budget isn't up 20%. you were going back to a 2001. it has increased. things are getting better. the number of claimants has gone down from 800,000 to 500,000. okay. so when you say things is it perfect? heck no. and i think we need to -- when we go to war, regardless of whom to count that as a cost. because you owe it to those men and women for all of the time. >> stay here. we're going to get you guys at home in on this argument. and please weigh in on our fireback question. do you think at home shore, secretary shinseki resign from the department of veteran affairs over this? tweet yes or no using #crossfire. i'll give you the results after the break. we're also going to have our outrages of the day. i am personally outraged about something that happened today at lunch. tell you about it when we get back. female narrator: the mattress price wars are on the mattress price wars are on at sleep train. we challenged the manufacturers to offer even lower prices. now it's posturepedi

rick shinseki serves this country, i think, because he cares deeply about veterans and the mission. know that rick's attitude is if he does not think he can do a good job on this and has let our veterans down, i'm sure he's not going to be interested in continuing to serve. >> the president also touted work that had been done to improve the va under his watch including advancements in treating ptsd, homelessness. still his response wasn't enough for many. top republican leaders called it a national embarrassment. some asking for emergency action. others say he failed to treat the situation with the gravity it deserves. meanwhile, the inspector general's investigation has expanded to 26 facilities nationwide. and nbc's john yang found more problems at a va in new mexico where there is management intimidation. >> reporter: this current health care worker who doesn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation says some patients are assigned to doctors who don't ever see them. >> those are doctors who are either in administration or gone. >> reporter: no longer working there. >> right

. >> 33 percent blaholder rick shinseki responsible. 17 percent say it's our president's fault. >>> theresident now is how do we fix our problems for the veterans? adam kin singer and columnist charles krauthammer weighing in on this. >> how do you attack the problem right now? you give everybody on the list a voucher to go anywhere they want and they will get their care within days. if the budget won't hold it you do a separate appropriations. >> how about a hospital administrator to come in a ceo of the company somebody who knows how to fix the backlog and get what's done. >> how about eric holder the attorney general of the united states convening a lot of grand juries. >> gone from incompetent which is bad to criminality. i want to prosecute the people who come up with a secret waiting list that is wrong illegal and ir reprehensible for the veterans of our country. >> one step closer to banning the nsa from spying on americans. vote to go restrict the agency from collecting and storing phone records. it still allows the nsa to get court permission to get lan line if it is part of an

integrity, i think that in both the cases of secretary sebelius, certainly in the case here of rick shinsekiis what is it that will will best deliver on behalf of folks who, as rick said this morning, have been let down? >> at the time you felt she has so much knowledge about what has gone wrong that we couldn't afford to lose that. somebody with three months in leadership at the department have the capacity to attack a problem quickly now? >> well, we are going to need a new v.a. secretary. as long as sloan is acting, sloan would be the first to acknowledge he will have a learning curve that he has to deal with. but the nature of the problem that has surfaced and -- has been the cause of the tension is one that we can start tackling right away and without completely transforming this system, we can immediately make some progress. we are going to have longer-term issues that we are going to have take care of. my first step is everybody who is out there waiting, get them an appointment. if we need more doctors let's figure out how we can have doctors in there to make sure they are getting the

rick shinseki has served his country honorably for nearly 50 years. he did two tours of combat in vietnam. he's a veteran who left a part of himself on the battlefield. he rose to command of the first cavalry division, served as army chief of staff, and has never been afraid to speak truth to power. as secretary of the v.a., he presided over record investments in our veterans, enrolling 2 million new veterans in health care, delivering disability pay to more veterans of vietnam, to -- more veterans exposed to agent orange, making it easier for veterans with posttraumatic stress and mental health issues to get treatment. improving care for our women veterans. at the same time, he helped reduce veteran homelessness and help more than one million veteran service members and their families pursue their education under the post-9/11 g.i. bill. his commitment to our veterans -- service to our country is exemplary. i'm grateful for his service, as are many veterans across the country. he has worked hard to investigate and identify the problems with access to

>> rick shinseki serves this country because he cares deeply about veterans and he cares deeply about the mission. and i know that rick's attitude, if he does not think he can do a good job on this, if he thinks he's let our veterans down then i'm sure he's not going to be interested in continuing to serve. >> so k.g., this was an interesting response because he's saying that i would never ask him to resign. if he feels he's not doing a good job, he would go. kind of a wishy-washy to be polite -- a wishy washy answer. >> yeah, because you expect the president of the united states to come up with an idea, and he's outraged and he's taking a pass. if shinseki is not serving the veterans then he should step down. i think it was very clear during the hears that this four-star general has no intention of stepping down and what you heard from this conversation is the commander in chief has no intention of asking him to relieve his position. so where are we now? >> i think he's a four-star. is petraeus a four-star general? whatever. he wasn't willing to see shinseki go until he saw some evid

secretary, retired general eric or rick shinseki, although he did seem to dangle a shinseki exit as a not believe he can do a good job or this or if he has let our veterans down then i am sure he will not continue as secretary. >> shinseki has come under fire after not only wait times for veterans but accusations of back log cover-ups. improving care for veterans was a campaign focus for then senator obama, and shinseki was a decorated war veteran picked as a truth-teller to get the job done. >> it breaks my heart, and i think shinseki will be the exact right person to make sure we honor our troops when they come home. >> he is the man who lost his job in the bush administration because he said we would need more troops in iraq than director rumsfeld thought we would need. >> but is he the man for this job? the president has combatted homelessness for veterans, but in 2008, and 2010, he was sent to the v.a. warning about treatment for veterans issues raising questions today, an issue that exploded onto the national scene after the whistle-blower sam foote told cnn that veterans had di

as the president said, rick shinseki has performed overall well as secretary on issues like homelessness the g.i. bill, the 9/11 g.i. bill and on working with us to reduce the backlog. he's put his heart and soul into this thing and taken it very seriously. that's quoting the president. when it comes to the current situation, the inquiries and investigations and some of the allegations, the president wants to see the results of these reports and he, as you know, made clear he believes there ought to be accountability once we establish all the facts. >> but the facts leave open the question whether secretary shinseki can continue to lead this department? >> i think the president identified last week he expect add preliminary report from secretary shinseki's internal audit very soon. when he receives that he'll be able to evaluate those findings along with what we received from the interim report from the inspector general and assess where we are at that time >> is it fair to say the white house has moved from the point you from this podium said the president has confidence insects sh shin

yesterday in the clip of ed henry and jonathan karl asking him about the president's confidence inner rick shinsekiike he had had enough. dana, do you think he did a good job, or do you think, and i ask you this because you work for a boss who had a clear vision who gave what i could tell very specific goals and so it was easier for you to do your job even though i think you had a tougher press core. do you think it was tough for jay carney to do his job even though the press core was easier but because he was dealing with an administration that didn't give him a lot of good answers? >> if that is true and could be. we probably won't hear about that for awhile until jay carney decides whatever he is going to reveal at that time. from my personal experience. i worked for president bush who was guided by a very set principles, so he didn't waiver from them. so i could answer a question from the press by saying, yes, well, he would do this or that. sometimes i would take a risk and not talk to him before hand but i never screwed up in that way because i understood what my boss wanted from me. i do thi

. >> i believe that rick shinseki, who i have known for years, as a man of great integrity and great commitment to the men and women he serves is the right guy to get to the bottom of it, and to hold those people accountable. >> reporter: general casey also served in the bush administration, as well. in his weekly radio address, this one focusing on memorial day, president obama did not mention shinseki or the v.a. scandal, but spoke about veterans in general. >> we have to work even harder as a nation to make sure all our veterans get the benefits and opportunities that they have earned. they have done their duty, and they ask nothing more than this country does ours. now and for decades to come. >> secretary shinseki has said he's staying on the job and will act if any of the allegations at the v.a.s around the country are, quote, substantiated. julie? >> molly henneberg in washington, thank you so much. kelly. >>> remembrances already under way this memorial day weekend in washington, d.c. the names of the nearly 7,000 service members who have died while serving our country. since

nobody cares more about our veterans than rick shinseki, but caring is not the issue. getting the job done is what matters. should the president fire the v.a. secretary. senator lindsey graham joins us. nice to see you, sir. should he be fired tonight? >> i think we need a new set of eyes on be this problem. here is what the president said. taking care of our veterans and their families has been one of the causes of my presidency. well then you failed. how could you find out about this on cnn? what did the white house know and when did they know it? cooking the books is not only dishonorable it's a crime. tell the fbi to go in and investigate this crime the president is always a day late and dollar short on these things. >> what should happen? he should fire shinseki. >> one you have a crime being committed against veterans. >> apparently they are content to have an acting ig investigation. >> he should tell the fbi go investigate this agencies of cooking the books cooking a crime. apologize to the families and come up with a solution. 20f i were president every vetera

. >> rick shinseki, i think, serves this country because he cares deeply about veterans and he cares decently about the mission. i know that rick's attitude is if he doesn't think he can do a good job on this and he thinks he let our veterans down then i'm sure that he's not going to be interested in continuing to serve. at this stage. rick is committed to solving the problem and working with us to do it. >> tonight congress will vote on a measure to give shinseki broader power to fire individuals who may be involved. it's expected to pass the house with bipartisan support. this stems from allegations that va hospital employees tampered with data and built off the books waiting list to hide long delays for veterans that needed care. that may have resulted up 240 deaths. the va's inspector general said as many as 26 facilities are under investigation. let's get right to nbc's white house correspondent kristen walker for the politics of this. >> reporter: good afternoon. we heard southeast strongest comments yet from president obama about the va scandal. the first time he has addressed

rick shinseki has served his country with honor for nearly 50 years. he he did two tours of combat in vietnam. he's a veteran who left a part of himself on the battlefield. he rose to command the first cavalry division, served as army chief of staff, and has never been afraid to speak truth to power. as secretary of the va, he presided over record numbers of veterans. enrolling them in health care and delivering disability pay to more vietnam veterans exposed to agent orange, making it easier for veterans with mental health issues and traumatic brain injury to get treatment, improving care for our women veterans. at the same time, reduced homelessness and helped service members and their families pursue their education under the post-9/11 gi bill. so rick's commitment to our veterans is unquestioned. his service to our country is exemplary. i am grateful for his service, as are many veterans across the country. >> the president named deputy veterans affairs secretary sloan gibson as acting director. he's going to run the va on an interim basis. all of

the nation's largest veterans group the american legion wants veterans affairs sector rick shinseki to step down. he has placed several officials linked to the phoenix facility on administrative leave. at least 5 other va hospitals are also under scrutiny. >>> two south african adventurers are in florida this morning after a grueling trip. >> they arrived in miami last night after rowing more than 5,000 miles across the atlantic ocean. the first-ever to row from the mainland of africa to north america. they left from morocco on december 30 and suns then, it's been a challenge to say the least. >> capsized, fell out of the boat, couldn't turn the boat around, caught the fishing line, if we didn't, we would have been lost at sea, hours and hours of rowing. it was very, very difficult. >> but there were highlights, wildlife, whales joining us for the hours, dolphins by the hundreds. >> if you take a plane, it's 6 hours. [ laughter ] >> when asked if they would do it again, the answer was never! >> they don't need to, right? >> blisters, i can only imagine. >>> teenagers in the east bay ar

i think that rick shinseki has made it clear they will be held accountable. >> reporter: including him at some point the chief executive, the chairman, whoever it is, has to take responsibility for the entire organization and his performance. >> reporter: tell me what you would like americans to think about this memorial day. >> these are all americans, you walk around, you're going to find people from every state in the union and every ethnicity. we're incredibly diverse men and women. we're celebrating the sacrificed of them, but them are us. and we've got to remember that. >> and now, we honor, again, our fellow americans who serve and sacrifice. this week, the pentagon released the name of one soldier killed supporting operations in afghanistan. >>> that's all for us today. thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. check out "world news" with david muir tonight. >>> and on this memorial day nñ weekend, we leave you back at arlington national cemetery, please remember and reflect. we'll see you next week. teacher layoffs. and a 60 billion dollar budget deficit. that's what joh

that is the questioner rick shinseki will have to answer when he testifies tomorrow before a senate committeehat va hospitals around the country delayed care. sometimes costing lives. at least one hospital then covered up those delays by falsifying records. most prominent offender, that va hospital in phoenix, arizona, where wait times apparently went up to 21 months and were allegedly as many as 40 veterans died while waiting. that number includes thomas breen, who died of cancer last november. his family claims he sought treatment, but died before he ever saw a doctor. >> all the people that are a part of this, they should be held accountable, because it's a crime. you know, delayed care is denied care. and it's just not fair. >> shinseki will be fighting mounting calls that he resign. all in all, enough to make you sick. joining me, senator bernie sanders, chairman of that senate va committee. thank you for being here. you personally called on shinseki to testify. what do you want to hear from him? >> i want to hear from him tomorrow about his assessment of the problems within va health ca

i think rick shinseki made it clear they will be held accountable.sponsibility for the entire organization and its performance. >> that's the first person to say shinseki poely is the guy who needs to take responsibility for this if they find the allegations to be true. >> meanwhile, not a single senate democrat who has called fort resignation of secretary shinseki. however, there are just huge chorus that seems to be getting louder and louder and louder from veteran support groups calling for him to step down. yet we also had colonel ralph peters on the show yesterday who said basically that if you are blaming eric shinseki for all the problems in the v.a., it's like blaming your doctor for the cancer that you have. this is the problem that has been systemic for decades and he is the man to fix it and he needs to stay in place. >> and the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, one of the members was on our show yesterday, or two days ago, general casey, who also supports eric shinseki and says he's -- if there is one person that can lead us o

. >> i am confident that general rick shinseki has the skills, attributes, the concept of duty. eat never -- never has walked away from a fight in his entire life. it's an enormous challenge. this is -- these challenges are very difficult, but i have confidence that his leadership will help the veterans administration through this. we have a huge stake in this, in this department. we recruit the young men and women who become veterans and we look forward to working with them to continue to make progress. [inaudible conversations] >> despite protests the fcc proposed new rules that could let internet service providers charge companies for faster delivery of content to users. that's next on c-span2. then president obama tapeds a dedication ceremony for the 9/11 memorial and museum in new york, and later, pentagon and state department officials testify about nigeria and give an update on the abduction of nigerian school girls, kidnapped last month by boca haram. >>> secretary of state john kerry was in london for a

because there are people in integrity, in both cases of secretary sibelius and rick shinseki, their view is, what is it that will best deliver on behalf of folks who have been let down. >> at the time you felt she had so many knowledge -- so much knowledge on what went wrong, you could not afford to lose that. as someone with three months of experience at the department have the capacity to attack the problem quickly now? >> we will need a new v.a. secretary. sloan is acting. sloan would be the first to acknowledge that he has a learning curve to deal with. the nature of the problem that has surfaced and has been the cause of this attention is one that we can start tackling right away, and without completely transforming the system, we can make some progress. we will have longer-term issues we have to take care of. my first step is, everybody out there waiting, get them an appointment. if we need more doctors, let's figure out how we can get doctors in there to make sure they're getting the help they need. i wanted to make sure that even if it is still patchwork, how do we make sure ther

>> rick shinseki, i think, serves this country because he cares deeply about veterans and he cares deeplys attitude is that if he does not think he can do a good job on this, and he thinks he has let our veterans down, i'm sure he's not going to be interested in continuing to serve. at this stage, he is committed to solving the problem and working with us to do it. and i am going to do everything in my power, using the resources of the white house, to help that process of getting to the bottom of what happened and fixing it. but i'm also going to be waiting to see what the results of all this review process yields. i don't yet know how systemic this is. i don't yet know, are there a lot of other facilities that have been cooking the books? or is this just an episodic problem? we know that, you know, essentially wait times have been a problem for decades in all kinds of circumstances with respect to the v.a. getting benefits, getting health care, et cetera. some facilities do better than others. a couple of years ago, the veterans affairs set a goal of 14 days for wait times. what's not ye

i give a lot of credit to rick shinseki. i think shinseki has all the will in the world to do the right thing by veterans. he's totally committed. but he sits astride a very tough democracy. the administration has protected the v.a. and so on. my problem is below the secretary and think it's really important for him to delve into this and then if there are real problems, then to hold people accountable. >> bob's guests tomorrow will also inclues house intelligence committee chairman mike rogers republican of michigan and senator elizabeth warren, democrat of massachusetts. >>> the crisis in ukraine is deepening ahead of the referendum for independence on eastern ukraine and fighting is increasing between the government and separatists. yesterday russian president vladimir putin visited what had been crimea. clarissa ward is in done everything, eastern ukraine. good morning, clarissa. >> reporter: good morning. well, a red cross team has been released here after they were held for seven hours by pro-russian militants. one was

. >> if you ask me, you know, how do i think rick shinseki has performed overall, i would say that on9/11 g.i. bill, on working with us to reduce the backlog across the board, he has put his heart and soul into this thing, and he has taken it very seriously. but i have said to rick, and i said it to him today, i want to see, you know, what the results of these reports are, and there is going to be accountability. >> so let's talk about this. anna navarro is a cnn political commentator and republican strategi strategist. welcome to you both. >> thank you, carol. >> thank you, carol. >> thanks for being here. anna, is the president out of touch on this issue? >> well, he's not showing firm leadership and a sense of urgency, and i think that's very frustrating to veterans and to the american people in general. and it's also a repetition of pattern, carol. how many times have we now heard president obama say, i'm madder than hell, and i'm going to demand action, and we're going to do an investigation, and then we're going to wait for that investigation, and people will be held accountable

>> you know, rick shinseki i think serves this country because he cares deeply about veterans and he the mission. and i know that rick's attitude is if he does not think he can do a good job on this and if he thinks he's let our veterans down, then i'm sure that he is not going to be interested in continuing to serve. at this stage, rick is committed to solving the problem. and working with us to do it. and i am going to do everything in my power, using the resources of the white house to help that process of getting to the bottom of what happened. and fixing it. but i'm also going to be waiting to see what the results of all this review process yields. i don't yet know how systemic this is. i don't yet know are there a lot of other facilities that have been cooking the books? or is this just an episodic problem? we know that -- you know, essentially wait times have been a problem for decades in all kinds of circumstances with respect to v.a., getting benefits, health care, et cetera. some facilities do better than others. a couple of years ago, the veterans affairs set a goal of 14