acting secretary of the va, sloan gibson, to assess the needs of the va. we said, sloan, you're in there, tell us. what are the needs of the va? what he has told my committee, and i understand today has told the house committee, is that, in fact, the va needs more doctors, more nurses, more medical personnel and more space so that we do not, two years from now, find ourselves in the exact same place that we are today. but it's not just sloan gibson. yesterday 16 major veterans organizations, these are the people who in many ways know the va better than anybody else, because these are the folks going into the va. 16 major veterans organizations, including the vfw, the disabled american veterans, the vietnam veterans, the paralyzed veterans of america, the iraq-afghanistan veterans of america and many others, they made the same exact point. and the point that they made is, yes, we have to provide

>> well, sloan gibson is the acting v.a. director.to the veterans, to the senators, to the people of the united states for the deplorable care that's been given to these veterans but in opening statements from all the senators on this panel, sloan gibson has yet to speak, they were talking about the need for accountability, to change the structure, the culture of the v.a. and while there have been many changes in reducing the waiting lists and treating this as an emergency situation, which it is, the senators have yet to see any kind of long-term solutions. i think that's the problem is that you have an acting v.a. director and just next week there are going to be these same senators are going to be talking with the new proposed secretary who will have to make those changes. we're about to hear from sloan gibson and he will go through a litany of things he's done in his brief time as acting v.a. director. but there is no love for the v.a. up here on capitol hill. >> could hillary clinton face a little competition in a potential presid

we're not satisfied with a lot things sloan gibson is saying. he talked about the need for 17.6 billiondollars of more funding to fix the problem. if there is one thing that wield solved, looking at va it is not a funding problem. jeff miller, house va committee, rightfully slap them down you're either disingenuous or lying. money has not been a problem for a long time so what gives? gerri: talking about better stats on surveying our nation's heroes. are they buying it? do they have credibility on the numbers now? >> no. we can't have credibility on any of the numbers right now that va is giving. i regret to say that. i wish it were true. but from the backlog numbers revealed to be fudged. wait times we know are fudged, from them saying people have been fired who have not been fired, there is very little we can trust right now in what va is telling us. unfortunate part, breaks, sloan gibson talked about trust we've lost in the department. that trust has been lost. only way you restore trust is being honest, ripping scab off and hear are all the

next, a house hearing with acting house veterans affairs secretary sloan gibson. then "q&a." questions and comments on washington journal. on thursday, the house veterans affairs committee talking about assessing health care. witnesses included sloan gibson, wouldnounced that the va need an additional $17.6 billion years.e next few the senate committee voted to unanimously confirm robert mcdonald as the secretary of veterans affairs. portion of the house hearing is two and a half hours. >>> good morning. welcome, everybody, to trust. i want to ask unanimous consent also that representative michael fitzpatrick from the state of pennsylvania be allowed to join us at the dis today and participate in today's hearing. without objection, so ordered. the committee is going to examine this morning what steps we need to take to help the department of veterans affairs to get back on track to meet its core mission. a mission to provide quality health care to our veterans. since the beginning of june, this committee has held almost a dozen full committee oversight hearings, some of them,

. >> acting va secretary sloan gibson testified that the veterans affairs department has lost the trust of the nation's veteran and american people because of widespread medical delays. that hearing is next. and senate republicans blocked the democratic bill that would have forced companies to provide birth control to their employees regardless of religious belief. it would have negated the recent hobby lobby decision. and doug elder makes questions on the economy and budget at a house hearing later on. >> july 20th marks the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing. we talk about the life of the first man to walk on the moon surveillance transparency act saturday night at 10 p.m. eastern. >> acting va secretary sloan gibson talks about the changes underway since taking the temporary position in may after eric shinseki was forced to resign because of medical delays. robert mcdonald will become the next secretary if approved by the committee. the committee is chaired by bernie sanders of vermont. >> let's get to work. good morning. welcome, everyone, to what i think will be an importa

and i quote. , last week acting secretary sloan gibson appeared before the veterans senate affairs committee to discuss progress made by the department of veterans affairs over the past two months to discuss the access crisis g for thousands of veterans. secretary gibson testified after examining va resource need in light of the revelation of secret waiting lists and hidden demand, va required supplemental resources totaling 17.6 billion for the remainder of this fiscal year through the end of fiscal year 2017. as leaders of organizations representing millions of veterans o we agree with secrety gibson that there is a need to provide t va with additional resources now, to insure that veterans can access the health care they have earned either from va providers or through non-va purchased care. we urge congress to expeditiously approve supplemental funding thatal fuly addresses the critical needs outlined by secretary gibson, either prior to or at the same time as any compromise legislation that may be reported out ofof the house-senate conferenceco committee. whether ithe costs 17 billion or

sloan gibson spoke of wait times and accountability for the va, gibson is working to restore the public's trust and is working to get the veterans into clinic. >> the facilities are adding more clinic hours and filling vacancies and using staffing resources and expanding the use of private sector care. >> rob are the mcdonald, the president's choice to permanently lead the agency will have the senate hearing next tuesday. >>> the 6 abc get fit challenge continues tonight. from you looking to eat healthy lose weight, a local d.j.'s story may get you motivated. ali gorman joins us from the big board. if you listen to 96.5 in the morning, you probably know chunky but what you might not know is that chunky is not chunky anymore. this is him now, he lost 221 pounds. >> you love bruno mars so much but you haven't got tickets. >> he is one of the djs on wired 96.5 the philly show. he talks about his transformation. >> i feel great, it's just crazy, it started june of 2013, with his fiance kristin, he started to think about his future and knew he had to get healthy. >> it was hard, i knew part of

i think sloan gibson says it costs more to gift private than what the v.a. can provide. i think the hitch with the conference committee is where will we get the money? it's an emergency situation, i believe. it's a cost of war. that aside, what's your number one priority to come out of that conference committee? >> again, i'm dealing with publicly available information, but having known sloan gibson for over 40 years, having gone to west point together and served together there, and then in the military, i trust what he has to say. i think he's talked about the resourcing needs that we have, and that's all about access. >> thank you, bob. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> thank you, senator testa. senator heller? again, thank you for being here. i don't think there's any secret that my priority on this committee is addressing the v.a. claims backlog, especially in light of the enact that nevada has the worst backlog in the country. unfortunate unfortunately the v.a. continues to provide a very rosy pictures of how it's reduced the claims backlog. i want to assure

. >> del: the acting va secretary sloane gibson was questioned today. >> the facilities are adding morelinic hours, aggressively recruit to go fill vacant agencies. and expanding the use of private sector care. >> gibson said the va is working on improving his scheduling. >>> imagine having to choose between your marriage and healthcare. that is the dilemma facing a tennessee family part of the fallout of the affordable care act. and politics are being blamed. >> reporter: larry and linda have been in love for over 33 years. but now they are separated and forced to live apart all in the name of healthcare. >> i don't like it a bit, neither one of us do. we both want t to be together. >> linda who has. acceptly has been living in shelters. their coverage started when larry with his own medical problems at age 62 opted for an early social security payout last year. >> shortly after i started getting retirement, social security called us in and explain that we made way too much money. >> reporter: they fall into a coverage gap because as a couple their income is too high to qualify for ten

. >>> the acting va sectarian sloan gibson testifying before a congressional hearing today.omised immediate action to fix what he admitted are unacceptable issues, but he added one of the problems is adequate staffing. >> we don't have the refined capacity to quantify our requirements, because historically we have not built our resources from the bottom up, we have instead managed to a budget number. >> he says they will work to speed up delivery of care. >>> the affordable care act is now six months old. a lot of state governments have opted out of the expansion saying it wasn't affordable. robert ray has the story having to choose between marriage and insurance. robert? >> del, good morning. an extraordinary story and not something that is very common in the state of tennessee although there are over 160,000 people that state to fall into this medicaid coverage gap, but their story is indeed unbeliefable. larry and linda have been in love but now they are separated and forced to live apart, all in the name of health care. >> i don't like it a bit, neither one of us do. we

sloan gibson acting secretary of the va. thank you very much for joining us to get a set update on the department of veterans affairs and we look forward to hearing your testimony. secretary gibson is accompanied by mr. philip matkovsky the assistant deputy undersecretary for administrative operations. in your prepared remarks will be submitted for the record. secretary gibson, senator tester you have 40 major statement. secretary gibson please begin. >> mr. chairman forgive me if i dispense with the traditional niceties and get straight to business. as has been recounted this morning we have serious problems. here's how i see the issues. first and foremost veterans have waited too long for care. second, scheduling improprieties were widespread including deliberate acts to falsify scheduling data. third, environment it has forced many staff members are free to raise concerns or offer suggestions for fear of retaliation. fourth, an attempt to manage performance at a number of metrics have become the focal point for staff inste

sloan gibson will be questioned on what the agency's done to address the problems plaguing the system. the system has come under fire for making patients wait too long to see doctors. the controversy forced eric shinseki to redesign as v.a. secretary two months ago. >>> a house oversight and investigation subcommittee will hold a hearing on the anthrax scare at centers for disease control. last month a breakdown in protocol led to dozens of employees being potentially exposed to live anthrax, though no one was infected. >>> new walmart opening in the south bay. it's taking over the former circuit city in san jose next to stevens creek boulevard off saratoga. a walmart neighborhood market store, that makes it a quarter of the size of a walmart super center. walmart does say the store will bring in nearly 100 jobs to the area. >>> apple timing up with a longtime rival in hopes of selling more ipads. mary thompson, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. we are looking now at a higher open on wall street, what futures are indicating. and in corporate news, as you mentioned, apple

sloan gibson testifying, telling congress what he plans to do to try to get the agency back on track.are trying to deal with allegations of mismanagement. thousands of vets waited months to get treatment. dozens dying. >> we have to earn that trust back through decisive action. and in greater transparency. we have dispatched teams to provide direct assistance to facilities requiring most improvement. >> members of the house committee are pushing back on the request for more funding. also on capitol hill congress is looking a ways to stem the flow of children crossing the border. al jazeera's heidi zhou castro spent 24 hours on the border of texas. she shares her thoughts about her day on the front lines of the immigration debate. >> reporter: the border at midnight. quiet, dark, and full of travelers. border patrol agents arrest an average of more than 600 a people a day here. that's two for every mile of river. on this night, though, it is quiet. the migrants remain hidden from our cameras. this is the rio grand, nothing standings between us and exco. >> yeah, we're going to be headi

needs stable leadership sloan gibson, in my view, who has been acting secretary is doing an excellent job. he has already accomplished a lot, but it's important that we have a new permanent secretary on board. i hope that the members will see fit to confirm him as soon as we possibly can. mr. president, on an additional issue, i think as all members of the senate know about a month ago or so, we voted by a vote of 93-3, almost unanimously, to make sure that the veterans of our country get quality health care in a timely manner, that we bring a new level of accountability to the v.a. and i'm very proud of the support that that legislation which was introduced by me and senator john mccain received, and i want to thank again senator mccain for his very strong efforts to make that happen and for his continued support of the veterans community. senator mccain made a statement just the other day -- i think it was yesterday -- published in "c.q." which i personally could not agree with more, and this is what he said. he said, in terms of the conference committee that we are in right now, tr

i think sloan gibson says last week it costs more to give him with the va can provide. it costs money. i think the hitch with all committee right now is where are we going to get the money. it's an emergency changed -- it's an emergency situation. that aside, what should number one priority to come out of that conference committee? >> again, i'm dealing with publicly available information, and but having known sloan gibson for over 40 years, having gone to west point together and serve together there anything in the military, i trust what he has to say. i think he's talked about the resourcing needs that we have, and that's all about access. >> thank you, bob. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> senator heller. >> thank you, thank you. mr. mcdonald, again, thank you for being here. i don't think there's any secret that my priority on this committee is addressing the va claims backlog, especially in light of the fact that nevada has the worst backlog in the country. unfortunately, the va continue to provide a very rosy picture of how it's reduced the claims backlog.

but sloan gibson put out the results today of a new audit showing things are improving. in the past month, the number of veterans who had to wait at least 90 days for their first appointment fell from 57,000 to 46,000. the outrage of the v.a. scandal was not only that veterans had long waits for health care, but that managers were getting bonuses at the same time. wyatt andrews has new information about that. >> reporter: this list we obtained from the house veterans affairs committee shows $2.8 million in bonuses going to senior v.a. executives with several awards going to officials in charge while care was delayed for veterans. more than $9,000 went to sharon helman, the director of the v.a. in phoenix, where 18 patients died while on secret lists waiting for appointments. helman's bonus has since been rescinded and she has been suspended. but helman's regional boss, susan bowers, also received nearly $9,000 despite two ongoing investigations. >> things have to change. we can't keep doing it the way it's been being don. >> reporter: congressman jeff miller, the chairma

sloan gibson who is the acting secretary of the department of veterans affair who will be discussing with us what he has been doing in what i perceive -- since y active you've held that position and what he perceives the problems facing the v.a. in the months and years to come. and i would want to member toft members of the can he that next week on the 22nd we will be holding a confirmation hearing for bob mcdonald, the president's nominee for secretary of the v.a. last month, 93 senators put their differences aside to vote for a piece of legislation which we hope will address many pieces of legislation that we worked very hard on. i want to thank everybody for their support. it is my hope that legislation and the conference can he that we're having with the house will be completed by the time we leave here for the august break. it is clear to all of us that the v.a. faces many, many challenges and they are well documented. the concerns that i have that have been well publicized is that we have many, many many veterans in many parts of this country who are unable to access v.a. care

country of the and what the veterans organizations -- 16 of them -- said loudly and clearly is that sloan gibson, the new acting secretary of the v.a., approved with wide republican support, is -- they said, we support his proposal. and our legislation does not give the v.a. all that mr. gibson would like, but we do provide them with the doctors and the nurses and the medical staff that they need so that we do not continue to have long waiting lines at v.a. hospitals all over this country. so that we do not come back here two years from now in the same position with veterans not being able to get timely care. mr. president, i have worked for a month and a half with my house republican colleagues, led by chairman -- veterans affairs chairman there jeff miller, to find a compromise. everybody knows the house works differently than the senate. we all know that. and if we go forward, we need a compromise. we have put good-faith offers on the table time and time again, and we have tried to meet our republican colleagues more than halfway. but, mr. president, i am very sad to say that at this point --

sloan gibson, acting secretary of the va. thank you very much for joining us. to give us an update on the state of health care at the department of veterans affairs. and we look forward to hearing your testimony. secretary gibson is accompanied by mr. philip macao ski. the assistant deputy undersecretary for health for administrative operations. and your prepared remarks will be submitted for the record. secretary gibson, senator tester, you've already made your statement, okay. secretary gibson, please begin. things and get straight to business. as has been recounted we have serious problems. here is how i see the issues, first and foremost veterans are waiting to long to care. and second, scheduling acts were widespread. and third an environment exist where many staff members are afraid to raise concerns or offer suggestions for fear of retaliation. forth, a vast number of vocal points for staff are not focused on the veterans we are here to serve. fifth, the va has failed to hold people accountable. and last we lack physicians, space, staff, information tech

sloan gibson will remain on as deputy secretary, so we have a new team in there.ope very much that the v.a. fully understands that some of what we have seen and heard about in the last few months is -- this is not a political issue. this is unacceptable to any and every member of the united states congress. there's not going to be manipulation of data. there's not going to be lying about wait lists. there's going to be a better relationship between congress and the v.a. they're going to provide information to us when we need that information. i want to say what i believe, and i've said this many, many times, and i think it's absolutely true in vermont, and i think it's true in many parts of this country that when veterans get into the v.a. system, they feel pretty good about the quality of care they are getting. i hear this all of the time. problem we're having with access, we're going to deal with it right now short term with emergency care, people going to private doctors and so forth. longer term, i hope the v.a.-the doctors, nurses -- will have the doctors, nu

i know sloan gibson is scheduled to come that we need to get the new secretary and as soon as we can because he needs to hear the kind of thing so that we can move this in a new direction. we have a new hospital. i met with some of the emergency room doctors at my invitation they were scared to come. they are not as brave as you all are and they want to be sure that they knew that i invited them because they feared retaliation. you travel in small circles. have you had any contact with people at the hospital were for me or any whistleblower proble problems. we have had a significant number of the staff to relocate but i haven't had a whistle blower problem. >> i'm glad to hear that. one of the things i wanted to ask you, you mentioned that the first sponsor to the whistleblower is to try to impugn their integrity. one of the reasons you mentioned is that you often say they are just a disgruntled employee because you didn't get the bonus that you wanted. can you talk about the nexus between the bonuses and whistleblowing. are people getting paid to be quiet? >> i don't know that peopl

but it's not just sloane gibson. yesterday 16 major veterans' organizations, these are the people in many ways know the v.a. better than anybody else. these are the folks going into the v.a. 16 mage vert vans' organizations including the v.f.w., disabled american veterans, vietnam veterans, iraq, afghanistan veterans and many others, they made the same exact point and the point they made is yes, we've got to provide emergency contracting care to private facilities and whatever but we have to strengthen the v.a. so they can provide quality care in a timely manner. these organizations and we also believe veterans living more than 40 miles away from a v.a. facility should be able to go to a private doctor. but the issue is whether or not v.a. is going to have doctors and nurses and space that they need. as you know, legislation passed here in the senate overwhelming vote, bipartisan vote with the strong help of senator mccain by 93-3 vote. that legislation according to the c.b.o. was going to cause $35 billion. at the s

sloane gibson told senators that the agency needs more money to hire more doctors. it said the v.a. has reached out to 160,000 veterans to get them off waitlists and into clinics. >>> senate republicans blocked a democratic bill to restore free contraception plan under most healthcare plan. the ruling allowed certain companies to deny contraception coverage if it conflicts with the owner's religious beliefs. republicans called the bill today a political stunt aimed at helping vulnerable democrats in november's midterm elections. >>> hillary clinton is still playing coy for a possible run for president. leave it up to jon stewart to get a fe few clues out of her. >> on wall street stocks rose today after good news on a number of fronts including better than expected earnings reports. the dow gained 77 points reaching another new record. the nasdaq and the s&p 500 were also higher. >>> apple has agreed to a settlement to resolve claims that conspire to fix the books of ebooks. announced today that apple could pay consumers up to $400 million. the actual settlement amount depends on wh

sloane gibson told senators today the agency needs the extra money from private care and to hire more doctors. gibson said the v.a. has historically worked within the budget rather than meet demand. he said that the v.a. has taken 160,000 veterans off waiting lists and into clinic. hillary clinton is still playing coy about a possible run for president. leave it up to jon stewart to get it out of her. a few hints. and rupert murdoch has been rejected. of a buyout of time warner. we'll talk about thi this with "real money" ali velshi next. @j >> there is big news in the media industry. rupert murdoch's 21st century fox made a huge bit to take over rival time warner, but time warner rebuffed the offer. ali velshi joins us now. what does it mean for rupert murdoch after? >> i saw this after, and i thought, what? $80billion broken down in 60% stock, 40% cash. a lot of people own time warner stock, so this is important. that puts a $20 billion premium on time warner's $60 billion total stock market value. but that was this morning. time warner shot up 17% on the news. it was reported that

sloan gibson says it costs more to give the private sector than what the ba can provide -- the v.a.an provide. it is an emergent situation, i believe. that aside, what is your number one priority coming out of that conference committee? >> again, i am dealing with publicly available information. sloan gibson for over 40 years, having gone to west point together and serve together and in the military, i trust what he has to say. i think he has talked about the resourcing needs that we have. that is all about access. >> thank you. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. senator heller. >> thank you. mr. donald, thank you for being here. i don't think there was any secret to my priorities on this committee. the backlog. especially in light of the fact that i has the worst backlog in the country. v.a. continues to provide is a very rosy picture of how it has reduced the claims backlog. i want to assure you that this depiction is false. last monday, a report was released about how the claims initiative clicled to inaccurate processing in part of them feeling pressure to complete claims. i

the acting veteran affairs secretary sloan gibson appeared before the same committee last week to testify about the actions taken by the department in addressing delays and the backlog of waiting lists. also testifying was the assistant deputy veterans affairs undersecretary for health. this hearing is 2 hours, 15 minutes. >>> let's get to work. good morning to everyone. we welcome mr. sloan gibson, acting secretary, who will be discussing with us what he has been doing and what i perceived to be an active six weeks since you have held that position. we also look forward to hearing from him as to what he perceives the problems facing the v.a.s. for bob mcdonald, the president's nominee for secretary of the v.a. to vote in fair of the significant peek of legislation, which we hope will address many of the problems facing the v.a. it is my hope that that legislation, and the conversation committee we are having will be completed by the time we leave here for the august brea. >> the v.a. faces many challenges and they are well document documented. we have many, many, many veterans to have pa

. >>> at a hearing on the hill today sloan gibson said there is a new system for measuring patient system with the va and he said he is taking steps to hold accountable those responsible for the agency's failures. still many lawmakers are skeptical. >> i have committed to the president, veterans, the staff at va i will not hold back for asking for resources. >> i want to be crystal clear. the culture that has developed at va and the lack of management and accountability is simply irreprehensible. >>> love her, hate her, next we'll lay out 200 million reasons why kim kardashian probably does not care either way. what's trending is next. >> but first here's monika samtani with a look at traffic. >> your traffic look ahead, i'm monika samtani. plenty of parents start to worry about safety when their kids get behind the wheel the first time. a new report recommends the best cars for teens. many teens are not driving cars that off good crash protection or enough safety technology. today the insurance institute for highway safety released its first ever list of recommended used cars for teens a

but it's not just sloan gibson. yesterday 16 major veterans organizations, these are the people who in many ways know the va better than anybody else, because these are the folks going into the va. 16 major veterans organizations, including the vfw, the disabled american veterans, the vietnam veterans, the paralyzed veterans of america, the iraq-afghanistan veterans of america and many others, they made the same exact point. and the point that they made is, yes, we have to provide emergency contracted care to private facilities, community health centers, whatever, but we have got to strengthen the va so they can provide quality care in a timely manner. these organizations, and we also believe that veterans living more than 40 miles away from a va facility should be able to go to a private doctor. but the issue is whether or not va is going to have the doctors and nurses and space that they need. now, as all of you know, legislation passed here in the senate, overwhelming vote, bipartisan vote with the strong help of

. >> reporter: to be fair, sloan gibson is the guy charged with cleaning it up, he did not create themess. he's talking about removing obstacles to help veterans get access to care. >> sounds like he has his work cut out for him. as lawmakers head in to the hearing what are they saying about what they expect? >> reporter: there is a great sense of urgency here on capitol hill, one to address the problems there at the va, to try and find some fixes, and also to do it right. >> the most important thing, obviously, is to address the emergency that exists out there, and that's the waiting time. now va will tell you that they've contacted hundreds of thousands of veterans out there and trying to get them in. >> this opportunity may not present itself again. this is a generational change to the va that's presenting itself in a way that we got partners that i never thought we'd get at the table. that we have a responsibility to get it right. >> reporter: tonight the house veterans affairs committee will want to hear more whistle blowers about what went on at the va and they'll also want to h

. >> reporter: on the job just over six weeks, acting va secretary sloan gibson says it will take time to earn back veterans' trust but he told the senate veterans affairs committee today that veterans on long waiting lists are already seeing progress. >> we reached out to over 160,000 veterans to get them off wait lists and into clinics and made over 543,000 referrals for veterans to receive care in the private sector. >> reporter: that's 91,000 more than a year ago in just two months. in addition, gibson says the va is adding more clinic hours trying to fill open doctor positions and looking to buy a "state of the art scheduling system." lawmakers say it's a start. >> i really appreciate your stepping up during this crisis. the department needs strong leadership right now. >> what has happened over the course of years is a horrendous blemish on the va's reputation and much more work will be needed to repair that damage. >> gibson is asking congress for $17.6 billion to get the va on track. most of that money would be for constructing and renovating facilities and hiring 10,000 new st

sloan gibson told the senate today the v.a. needs $17.6 billion from now until the end of 2017. that's a fair amount of money. you say either it's not enough or you want it now. which is it? >> well, the fact of the matter is the cbo has predicted what the senate bill is going to cost. $50 billion a year. so i think what sloan's estimating is very low. unfortunate lay it's not been about the money. it's been about management. every single controversy we've come across has been based on lies, hiding, controversies, and basically dishonest information. so the house wants to make sure we're managing the money and the senate wants to make sure it's part of mandatory spending which means there's no cap on it. what is it? leave no crisis go to waste. pour money on the fire when instead they should be solving the problem with these executives who have created this mess. >> but do you think the government is capable of delivering an efficient veterans health service? >> absolutely not. >> then the nature of the problem is not management, it is not money. the nature of the problem -- >>

the acting department head sloan gibson will be grilled today by the senate veterans affairs committee. >>> time for an early start on your money. asian markets closed mostly higher after a positive bout of data from europe looking higher. futures in the u.s. pointing up after yesterday's pullback. it came mainly because of these comments by federal reserve chief janet yellen who sparked knee jerking selling on wall street. they warned that bio-tech stocks are, quote, substantially stretched. the nasdaq, from many of those stocks, lost over 0.5%. just yesterday, s&p 500 also ended lower. one tech stock doing well. intel, that stock up almost 5%. now, the top performer in the dow 30 for the year, intel got a boost yesterday when it reported better than expected quarterly earnings. also keep an eye out for big names to release their names on the docket. we'll hear from bank of america. ebay and kfc and yum brands. >> you said taco bell, now i'm hungry. >>> hillary clinton, jon stewart, her interview. what did we learn from her appearance on "the daily show" overnight. will she run for pr

. >> they were so quiet about the selection prois that i assumed wrongfully sloan gibson the acting secretaryng to be tapped to take over on a permanent basis. how did he do? >> he's done a good job, been very aggressive, been transparent, reached out to veterans groups, went down to phoenix, classmate of bob mcdonald. i think a lot of folks hoped sloan would stay there. there are six or seven senior level positions open at the va. his experience at p and g may prove helpful because nobody has a worse brand in america right now than the va. so he's got to turn that around, restore the confidence, really reach out in a very tough political climate and try to get things moving in a short period of time because we've got a new president coming in and i about don't know if that person will keep him. >> in terms of business background, you have a business background, you and i have talked about the value of technocratic management. do you think that not coming from a big government agency, not coming even from the big bureaucracy at the high levels of the military, but rather coming from the priva

. >>> the grilling eve the fundingaxing sloan gibson today making the case for additional 17.6 billionucks. he says throwing money at the va will not fix anything. why not? >> it's not just about throwing money at the problem. and to be fair what the va is asking for isn't a magic pile of money they can pull from. it's actually for real stuff, like hiring 10,000 new commissions so veterans are not waiting months. updating i.t. which dates back to the 1980s. so real things the va needs. the problem today is that congress is failing to lead. if 17 billion isn't the right number why aren't we rolling up our sleeves and figuring out what veterans need to get a system they deserve? >> what i always wonder about, every time a crisis comes up, infrastructure is another example -- we need nor money but no done keeps track of the money already spent and i'm all for providing more funds if you can account for the funds you have already gotten. so a see an institution getting 158 bill a year. money mate not be a -- >> va efficiency is something that has to be looked into, but the veteran organiza

[applause] >> this morning we're going to hear from the honorable sloan gibson, acting secretary for the department of veterans affairs. to you sir, we owe a great debt of gratitude for stepping in as number two and then stepping up as my breaking member has said during a very trying time for the department and we appreciate you being here. he is accompanied by mr. danny pummill, direct deputy undersecretary for benefits at the department of veterans affairs, and philip matkovsky, since the director undersecretary for health and administrative operations at the department of veterans affairs. as always, your complete written statement, mr. secretary, will be made a part of the hearing record. and with that you are recognized for your opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'll get straight to this. concerning the health care we have serious issues. here's how i see the problems. first, veterans are waiting too long for care. second, scheduling improprieties were widespread including deliberate acts to falsify scheduling data. 30 come environment exist for many staff members a

sloan gibson says it costs more to give the private sector than what the v.a. can provide.t is an emergent situation, i believe. that aside, what is your number one priority coming out of that conference committee? >> again, i am dealing with publicly available information. having known sloan gibson for over 40 years, having gone to west point together and serve together and in the military, i trust what he has to say. i think he has talked about the resourcing needs that we have. that is all about access. >> thank you. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. senator heller. >> thank you. mr. mcdonald, thank you for being here. i don't think there was any secret to my priorities on this committee. the backlog. especially in light of the fact that i has the worst backlog in the country. the v.a. continues to provide is a very rosy picture of how it has reduced the claims backlog. i want to assure you that this depiction is false. last monday, a report was released about how the claims initiative led to inaccurate processing in part of them feeling pressure to complete claims.

then, a senate hearing with sloan gibson. adams was the second adams to be elected to the white house. he was the second northerner to be elected to the white house, he was only one of two anti-slavery presidents to be elected to the white house. he was people he feared by the

and acting veterans affair secreta secretary sloane gibson and discuss improving access to medical care. time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. jennifer is the founder of larks based clean bee baby. an echo friendly cleaning service for car seats and stroller's. she partners with brands moms love to build awareness. a win win situation for everyone. for more watch your business sunday morning at 7:30 on msnbc. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. [ cat meows ] ♪ ♪ da-da-da-da-da, bum-da, bum-da ♪ ♪ bum-da, bum-da ♪ the animals went in two by two ♪ ♪ the sheep and the frog and the kangaroo ♪ ♪ and they all w

the new acting secretary sloan gibson came forward and said, look, that is what we need. if we don't want to have this crisis recur every two years, every three years, we need to make sure we have the personnel that can deal with the fact that a million and a half more veterans have come into the system in the last four years. many of them are dealing with very difficult issues. ptsd and tbi. rachel, today, close to 50,000 veterans got mental health outpatient treatment today and every day. so we have to deal with that, in my view. 16 major veterans organizations said that we should help the va get the funding that they need. and that is one of the controversial issues, and the second issue out there is how do you pay for all this stuff? this is expensive stuff. in my view, and what the senate did, and john mccain was very, very strong on this. john and i disagree on almost everything. but when he was on the floor, what he said, if this is not an emergency, if not taking care of people who are hurt in war is not an emergency, what is an emergency? and i agree. so if it is

acting secretary sloan gibson said veterans and the public have lost trust in the v.a.d a scandal over treatment delays and falsified records. but gibson told a senate hearing the v.a. has a chance to turn things around. >> we can turn these challenges into the greatest opportunity for improvement in the history of this department. i believe that in as little as two years the conversation can change, that v.a. can be the trusted provider of choice for health care and for benefits. >> woodruff: the v.a. says it already has made some progress, such as reducing the number of veterans who've waited 90 days or more for a medical appointment. >> ifill: aids-related deaths worldwide are now the lowest since they peaked nearly a decade ago. a united nations agency reports one and a-half million people died from the disease last year. 35 million were infected with h.i.v. virtually unchanged over the last two years. the u.n. says with greater funding, it will be possible to control the global epidemic by 2030 and, ultimately, end it. >> woodruff: a federal district judge in south

sloan gibson, acting secretary of the v.a. i thank you very much for to give us an update, and we look forward to hearing your testimony. secretary gibson is accompanied assistant lip, the deputy undersecretary for health for administrative operations, and your prepared remarks will be submitted for the record. senator begin son, you've already made your statement. secretary gibson, please begin. >> mr. chairman, forgive me if i dispense with the traditional niceties and get straight to business. as has been recounted this morning, we have serious problems. here's how i see the issues. first and foremost, veterans are waiting too long for care. second, scheduling improprieties were wide spread, including deliberate acts to falsify scheduling data. third, an environment exists where many staff members are afraid to raise concerns or offer suggestions for fear of retaliation. fourth, in an attempt to manage performance, a vast number of metrics have become the focal point for staff instead of focusing on the veterans we are here