we have the head of shinseki gone. without the political flash point, you know, this is really a bipartisan issue. i think that it will fade into the background. >> the narrative is easy. is the secretary going to be kicked out the door or not? more complicated issue, "the new york times" had a good story on friday, primary care doctor shortage in the v.a. system where the 400 need to be hired. it is more complicated to get into the hospitals and the doctors and the waiting lists. >> do we need 10,000 new doctors? what do we do with the federal pay scale? do we rejigger the way the v.a. is right now and move the pots of money around? that takes real digging, even for opinion people -- opinion people -- to have to go through all of that information. it's easier to just report on the top and what's happening. >> you touched on this a moment ago. i credit the arizona republic and cnn for breaking the story. if this problem was going on for years, the press for all its outrage hasn't exactly been all over it, for all the o

president obama was very supportive of eric shinseki. he did not necessarily want to remove him from his post. he thought secretary shinseki could deal with these issues but then it just builds and builds over the past couple of weeks. we heard from veterans groups. the inspector general report came out on thursday. we had jeff miller of the v.a. committee as well as john mccain on the senate side and buck mckeon of the armed services. very tellingy -- a sign. i think that was the belt whether of this. veterans callse that hurt him more? inst: i think that set it motion. the american legion said he had to go and that is huge. nothing has happen like that in decades. and the final straw was the lawmakers who had been supporting him, people like john mccain saying he is a distraction. host: we continue discussion on eric shinseki's resignation. our phone lines are open. we are taking your comments and questions as we go about this. a special line continuing for veterans. with to be calling on that line for veterans from albany georgia. cal

secretary shins -- shinseki submitted his resignation.y clinton rips republicans saying they keep harping on benghazi for political gain. mike pompeo responds. >> plus, on many college campuses it's liberals trying to repress conservative ideas. the left double standard on

secretary eric shinseki? >> what you heard today was an invitation for resignation and he has done, by the weekend. >> my expectation is general shinseki will voluntary fall on the sword. >> it is a question of, what? what when shake shake -- when will eric shinseki go? >> with considerable regret i accepted eric shinseki resignation. >> will the media interest fade now? we are lauren ashburn and editor at large at "national review," and dana malbank from the "washington post" all here. >> did they leave president obama with no choice but to push shinseki out? >> i don't know if it was president obama. i will say that shinseki, a good man, didn't want to be a distraction -- give me a minute -- this is the official line. how long did it take president obama to finally lop off sebelius? >> the president was writing stories about obama's failure to show leadership in the scandal. >> there is a difference. obamacare was seen as partisan scandal and this is affecting everyone. >> i understand the need for the pres

eric shinseki has served his country with honor for nearly 50 years. he did two tours of combat in vietnam. he is 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. the secretary of the v.a., he presided over record investments in our veterans, and rolling 2 million new veterans in health care, delivering more disability pay to veterans of agent orange, helping deal with posttraumatic stress, brain injury, improving care for our women's veterans -- women veterans. he helped reduce veteran homelessness and helped more than one million veterans, servicemembers, and their families pursue their education under the post 9/11 g.i. bill. his commitment to veterans is unquestioned. the 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 .roblems with access to care but as he told me this morning, .he v.a. needs new leader

on friday he seemed to be blaming president obama and not shinseki. >> general shinseki has dedicated his life to our country and we thank him for his service. his resignation, though, does not absolve the president of his responsibility to step in and make things right for our veterans. business as usual cannot continue. >> putting this right on the doorstep of president obama. >> that's right. what's interesting is that democrats actually are ready to have an argument over veterans health care. now that the accountability issue is sort of taken off the table that shinseki has stepped aside, they feel like if there's an argument right now about providing health care to veterans. they have a better argument funding va medical centers. that's something that republicans are not necessarily for. they want to see this going into the private sector where veterans have access to private medical care. that's the debate they hope happens. the issue is there may be other issues to drop in this. democrats are not united over whether there should be legislation in order to allow for more va seni

should shinseki resign? i believe absolutely. this administration needs to put up or shut up when it comes to defending our veterans. there's another veteran who's been in a mexican prison for two months who is in tijuana languishing. it's time for this administration to stand up and get him out. he is an american hero and we need to stand there for them like they stood for us. thank you. >> i'm the legislative director for the american legion. we have long been a supporter of accountability at the department of veterans affairs. we supported this bill when it was introduced months before we heard about the scandals but with them uncovering now, the american legion is resolute more than now. we represent more than 2.5 million and with families, that's 3.5 million members who do not understand why the secretary of veteran affairs does not have the authority to manage his department as he needs to. if he needs to remove someone, demote someone, he does not have that authority and we need to make sure that he does. thank you. >> i'm

va secretary eric shinseki is out. many democrats called for shinseki to be shown the dor.on friday president obama accepted the resignation and named deputy secretary sloan gibson as the replacement and house speaker boehner said it is not enough. >> general shinseki dedicated his life to our country and we thank him for our service. his resignation does not absolve the president of his responsibility to step in and make things right for our veterans. business as usual cannot continue. >> joining me on as chairman of the house committee is full disclosure is the congressman. >> yesterday eric shinseki resigned and that did not come as a big surprise to anybody. the first thing is the replacement and interim sloan gibson. good idea? >> somebody needed to move in. sloan is a good man and he will at least in the interim period start the process that needs to be done. there is a lot of confidence that needs to be restored in the department of veterans affairs and i think he can get that started and i talked to him after the president made the announcement and he would transfer

let me, first, address general shinseki.as president obama said in thanking him for his service to our country over an entire career, we owe shinseki that debt of gratitude for his service. now, the bigger issue, which you have just asked me about, there are problems. we know from the va's inspector general's early and initial investigation that they are probably systemic. we need more facts. but the fact is, as president obama said, we are going to act now. we must act now to fix whatever is wrong. i'm committed to do that as secretary of defense, to continue to help veterans administration leaders. we do that now. we work very closely with the veterans administration. we'll continue to do that. we'll continue to offer everything we can offer in order to assist them, but we have no higher responsibility in our country than to take care of these men and women whose selfless service we depended on and continue to depend on to this day, and we'll fix it. >> for more reaction to that interview, i'm joined by michael lighter, nb

shinseki is gone. he was really just a figure head, a guy riding atop this massive organization that clearly has a cultural problem. they don't know how to run this thing and make it make sense for the vets and not themselves. how do you fix that? >> absolutely. my hope is that we bring somebody in with a large hospital management background. this is going to take a lot of courage. it is going to take courage for the american people to continue to stand as we root out corruption. it will take corruption for whoever comes in to go through this line by line. i expect people to go to jail. people died. the reason today happened is because there is massive corruption and it has been unurged. we have the proof and now we have to find the people connected to it. i will hold them accountable. i hope politics does not enter into this. this has been a bipartisan group. it has been a bipartisan committee. the thing for all of us to do now is drill down, stay focused, find the solution and set these wrongs right.

secretary eric shinseki eases the political heat on president obama. but it does nothing to solve the problem of veterans having to wait for months to see a doctor. joining us now from phoenix, the original whistleblower in the scandal, doctor sam foote and in washington, florida congressman jeff miller head of the house of representatives committee on veterans affairs. chairman miller now that secretary eric shinseki has resigned how concerned are you that the political attention on the scandal will fail? the politicians and public and media will resume ignoring the problem? >> it will not fade on the hill, the membership are so disgusted. my concern is it will fade in the media we could not get the media to pay attention a year and a half ago on this issue, and i am hopeful people like yourself will keep this in the forefront because it is bigger than what we are talking about today. >> dr. foote do you worry, now, with eric shinseki gone that interest, attention, will fade? >> there is a huge mismatch between the demand for care and the v.a. ability

shinseki didn't know? that's hog wash and you know it. the law required shinseki to receive those i.g. reports. 51 of them. the government accountability office, the i.g., the american legion, the press, and veterans themselves for years raised the issue of long wait time. what the hell was shinseki doing? playing golf with you? now in 2007, even you before you became president, knew of these problems. >> no veteran should have to fill out a 23-page claim to get care or wait months, even years to get an appointment at the v.a. >> your recommended? shorten the patient wait time to 14 days. and give unions bonuses for doing so. he document destruction becomes the norm and these crooks can't be fired. yet veterans are forced to die because of interminable wait times. and don't give me this hog wash that there was a doctor shortage and that you can't hire doctors, and don't even try the budget game. the increase in the veterans budget has been astronomical and far exceeds the increase in the number of veterans. and don't tell me it is a compu

and eric shinseki resigns amid outrage over a new report that says v.a.ups are happen nationwide. we'll bring you one doctor's war stories from his time in the system. >>> welcome to the journal, editorial report. first up this week is big labor havi b

yet, both the president and eric shinseki said they didn't know about the problem. watch what the president had to say about this. >> this issue of scheduling is one that the reporting systems inside of the vha did not surface to the level where we were aware of it or able to see it. this is not something we were hearing when i was traveling around the country. >> chairman miller, with 18 reports since 2005, how could they not have known and quite frankly, how could all of new congress not have known? >> many of those reports were inste gate ei ininstigated by the house commit on veterans affairs. when we went to ask if the recommendations would be followed up on, they said yes. then when we asked them about their numbers, they lied to congress. but it's very difficult for me to believe that the central office here in washington, d.c., did not have any idea about the cooking of the book and the illegal activity basically that was going on at now under their own admission, 60% of their facility. >> why do you think it's unlikely that shinseki didn't know this was goi

shinseki out. the mess at the va still there. >> i'm here to help if they want some advice. >>> former senator and secretary of the navy, jim webb, joins us. plus updates from our reporters covering the angles of the bergdahl story. this is "state of the union." >>> good morning from washington. i'm candy crowley. u.s. army sergeant bowe bergdahl arrived at a medical center in germany while the taliban prisoners exchanged for his release are reportedly on the ground in qatar. these wikileak photos match the names released by the department of defense. but the department would neither confirm or deny the accuracy of the photos. joining me is national security adviser susan rice. it's great to see you again. >> good to be with you. >> walk me through when you first knew you had a deal. >> well, candy, this evolved over a period of time. going back some years, we have had intermittent conversations through the government of qatar about trying to obtain the release of sergeant bowe bergdahl. it's an ex

eric shinseki is gone now. he resigned on friday.blem that everyone was so upset by is not fixed by him leaving. that problem is still just as there today as it was last week. now that the va secretary is gone, are the political gods satisfied with that human sacrifice and now all the energy is gone for fixing the problem that had upset everyone so much? if all that expressed outrage, all that expressed concern was sincere and it wasn't just an opportunity for politicians to grandstand and call for scalps, if washington really does want to fix the problem instead of just scoring points on that problem, we will soon now because the house is out this week but the senate is working this week and the senate veterans' affairs committee chairman, senator bernie sanders this week is going to be reintroducing a new version of his legislation that the republicans filibustered in february. the bill would expand access to care. it allows the va to lease 27 new health facilities in 18 states that need them. it authorized emergency funding to hir

secretary shinseki was not the only resignation. press secretary jay carney announced he would be stepping down from his position this month. he has been press secretary for the last three years and before that he served as communications director for bikes -- vice president biden. deputy secretary josh earnest will be taking over. here is a portion of the announcement on friday evening. jayn april, j came to me -- came to me and said he was thinking about moving on. i was not thrilled, to say the least. he has wrestled with this decision for quite some time. he has been on my team since day one, fort two years with -- for two years with the vice president and for the past few years as my press secretary. it has placed a strain on his wife and on his two wonderful della.ugo and della's little league team, i had a chance to see the other day, and she is a fine picture -- pitcher. but he hasn't been seen enough of the games. jay was a reporter for 21 years before coming to the white house, including a stint as moscow bureau chief for

let me, first, address general shinseki. as president obama said in thanking him for his service to our country over an entire career, we owe shinseki that debt of gratitude for his service. now, the bigger issue, which you have just asked me about, there are problems. we know from the va's inspector general's early and initial investigation that they are probably systemic. we need more facts. but the fact is, as president obama said, we are going to act now. we must act now to fix whatever is wrong. i'm committed to do that as secretary of defense, to continue to help veterans administration leaders. we do that now. we work very closely with the veterans administration. we'll continue to do that. we'll continue to offer everything we can offer in order to assist them, but we have no higher responsibility in our country than to take care of these men and women whose selfless service we depended on and continue to depend on to this day, and we'll fix it. >> for more reaction to that interview, i'm joined by michael lighter, n

secretary eric shinseki resignation. >> don't have time for distractions, we need to fix the problem. >> schieffer: what is the solution? we'll talk with the chairman of the veterans affairs committee bernie sanders, former cia and nsa director michael hayden will be here. along with an all-star panel of analysts. 60 years of news because this is "face the nation." captioning sponsored by cbs good morning again when the president came to the rose garden for the announcement army sergeant bowe bergdahl's parents stood beside him. >> we're committed to winding down the war in afghanistan we're committed to closing gitmo. we also made iron clad commitment to bring our prisoners of war home. >> schieffer: bergdahl is 28 years old he was captured in eastern afghanistan has been held captive for close to five years. videos released by the taliban recently show him in declining health and it was for that reason defense secretary hagel told reporters the administration moved quickly to exchange him for the taliban terrorists. and why congress was not notified. >> we pursued this effort specif

secretary sloan gibson who replaced eric shinseki. he resigned may 30th after apologizing for the agency's problems. >>> popular tourist spot becomes the scene of what police are now calling a heinous crime. nine people were injured during a shooting on bourbon street in new orleans. it happened early sunday. seven people are in stable condition. a woman is in critical. the ninth victim's condition is not available. police are still looking for two men who they say started shooting after getting into a fight. >> and toronto mayor rob ford is expected back to work on monday after a two-month leave to deal with substance abuse problems. it's reported that ford will speak to members of the media and the public. canadians are also expected to see a much slimmer rob ford. he is said to have lost a substantial amount of weight. he attracted international attention after acknowledging that he smoked crack. >> now if you're hitting the road for the fourth of july holiday, be prepared to spend a little more at the pump. three on your side find

this remarkable to think last week at this time eric shinseki still had a job and number was talkingabout bergdahl. now we have this amazing new cycle over the last several days and the poll we just quoted was done over the past few days or so. when we look at the big picture before politics, what it is the impact on american leadership? >> the bergdahl story is going to develop. it has developed since the poll was taken. we will learn was he actually a deserter or was he simply left behind on patrol. and what are these taliban

are calling for general shinseki to step aside or be fired. i am wondering, are his days numbered? >> we will probably find out today as he meeting with the president this morning. >> this is friday. >> yes. shinseki gave a speech to a friend the audience in at thee apologized phoenix facility and talked about suspending the bonus system. theas been a loud voice on hill not only from republicans but democrats calling for this. >> echoing your question about systemic issues, the speaker suggested if he sets aside will like it to the core of what is going on? what needs to be done to solve the problem? knows. not think anyone i think everyone sees this a little differently. think it is a question of resources. he mentioned a very powerful bureaucracy that is there and seems to be an obstacle rather than help for providing the mission. i do not think anybody has a firm group on this. -- grip on this. it is a huge bureaucracy, huge agency. leadership at the very top is not going to have any immediate impact. the real work begins. be a very important symbol and which show that people ar

on the other hand with the shinseki case, you can't throw somebody overboard. it was a decision made by the president in the highest level ands counsels with the top advisors, there is not a easy fix as this was in the shinseki case. >> it took a while to get to the fix and so many questions about the va scandal and our viewers have questions about as well, chris. on this topig of bergdahl, there is politics on both sides. both sides are saying the other side is playing politics. what stands out to you as you watch this unfold as to what people say and action could follow? when do we see the poll teches turn into something more than just claims on both sides? >> there is not much that can be done. the deal is made and five taliban fighters are in qatar and the terms of release are set. the only thing that seems to be done is a decision on what they will do about bergdahl? will they hold him accountable for the actions. and there was talk that five years in captivity is enough punishment. and others believe if he deserted his post he is pay a price for that and

neil: secretary eric shinseki was out. but the problem is remain.ems have been piling up for decades now under this president and the president before him so removing a figurehead doesn't remove the problem with the figure. we spent a lot of money and we do not seem to be helping the very folks for whom it is intended. what does that mean where does it go? the president has intimated that he would like to get more money going the agency's way. but before we find out what the agency is doing with the money they are to have, could that be compounding the problem? welcome, everyone, i am neil cavuto. with this is austan goolsbee. patrick, over to you on whether more money, regardless of who is in charge now, will be the answer. >> i wouldn't give them another dime i know, there's something rotten in this state here. there is a moral corruption and we don't know how deep and wide it is in the veterans administration and hospitals, but it is pretty deep and wide from what we know about arizona and some other places. basically i think that we ought to tak

shinseki questioning the integrity of the information he had been given as the head of the va.ink that tells you there are cultural problem with regards of what you tell the boss. >> you think he should have stuck with shinseki. >> eric shinseki has won a purple heart, lost most of his foot in battle, his integrity and devotion to this country is not in question, but what's in question is his ruling over the va. it has done a terrible job and it has ruled in a way that's completely ineffective. it's an outrage to the veterans themselves. a change was needed. but it's a tragic thing to see a guy like eric shinseki have to walk out the door with a degree of shame. >> but i think, david, we're talking about the symptom not the problem. i'm concerned, if we don't get the diagnosis right we won't get the prognosis right. the bottom line is, peggy, this problem has become worse because we have engaged in more wars. when you engage in more wars, you're going to have more veterans. as more veterans come home, and they're reliant upon a system that's dysfunctional, doesn't has the capac

president obama announced last friday that eric shinseki was resigning because of the scandal. a new director has taken over. a few days ago we noted that this thursday, today, was going to be a big day for this issue and for this scandal in terms of figuring out whether people wanted to make political hay about the problem or whether we were going to try to fix it. because in february, bernie sanders produced a bill that would have expanded access to health care for veterans. they filibustered that bill. we warned at the beginning of this week that senator sanders was going to be bringing back up his bill again, today, on thursday. so senators who have been yelling so much about v.a. health care and bad access to health care, they would finally have a chance to put their money where their mouth is and not filibustering the thing and fix the problem. it then there was some weirdness. the committee wasn't going to be meeting on thursday at all. that their u meeting to discuss this bill had been moved, delayed. why, right? what funny business is going on. today was supposed to be

he would replace eric shinseki. this happening as senator bernie sanders tries to pass new legislation. captain pete hegseth was here earlier and he has some concerns with it. >> there is a lot of people in washington sitting this saying, we just want the v.a. to be what it is and if we just spend more and hire more doctors, that's what we've been saying for decades. it's not a funding problem or staffing problem. it's a culture problem. folks are not held accountable when they fail. there is no transparency. >> hegseth will testify tomorrow on that v.a. mess. >>> and then john kerry caught napping. remarks by poland's president apparently putting the secretary of state to sleep. look at this. this is during a news conference yesterday with president obama. he caught flak for it and he later tweeted that it wasn't really a nap. just a really long blink. resting my eyes. those are your headlines. he said that in order to get to sleep, he listens to his speeches sometimes. >> susan rice there blew his cover 'cause she

bill, fair and balanced with shinseki serving his country with yours.urd and you should know better. general failed to properly supervise the va. that was his job and he didn't do it. his career in the military was great. my career is journal list l and if i don't do my job, believe me, i'll be out. doctor james griffin, tulsa, oklahoma general shinseki came from a world where chain of command was from bottom up. i was appalled by the mind set of employees and management has to change that, doctor, and i believe you. the general was given a job to do and he could have changed the culture. he did not. bill, you like to blow your horn that you predicted shinseki would go. didn't you predict eric holder would resign? i did, john. standing by that. bill, you told jorge ramos you don't do softball interviews. take at your talks with president obama. so you know where you are in the univers universal, you're in a small minority and we did a poll on the presidential interviews and they go against you big time. like 80% like them. bill, i'm surprised at general

and last week, used a wounded veteran with nearly 40 years of military service, general shinseki, asitical chess piece. it is outrageous we know nothing about the actual circumstances of why exactly sergeant bergdahl left. we don't know what his intentions were. it is all speculation at this point. all we know for sure is he was a pow and he should have been welcomed home. wererrock, tell us where you in afghanistan in relation to bowe bergdahl. he served at the same time, though did not know each other. -- therved in batik a province where bowe bergdahl went missing for six months. the last three months were when bowe bergdahl went missing. he went missing in june -- june 30, and i left afghanistan in august 2009. this -- theof allegation that in the search for bergdahl, all of the soldiers, several american soldiers were lost were killed -- were lost were killed. only "the new york times," has really raise the issue that many of the soldiers are being brought out by republican political operative and made available to the various media. you understand about these other soldiers who

before going on to what is next, i want to say how much i do admire secretary shinseki. he is a great patriotic american. as they say in the military and on the battlefield, we leave no soldier behind and when they come home, that is a pledge that the secretary kept as a general and as a secretary. >> when you say someone who would be quickly confirmed, is there any name that comes up in mind or any type? >> management. it would be useful to have someone who has an understanding of what the challenges are. some of the challenges relate to the delivery of health care and that is one piece of it. the other is a simple fact that it is very hard to have a capacity for 2 million more veterans in the past five years as a result of the iraq and afghan conflicts. >> you are looking for an experienced manager? >> somebody who can come in as part of the management team that says this is how we do it in the private sector. this is how we manage scheduling and lines. getting people to where they need to be for their appointment. i know that sounds simple, but that is the biggest par