the american legion. the american legion. >> the v.a. issued a press release on september 200th saying he was leaving. that is almost 8 months ago. >> i will refer you. >> i don't care what the american legion has to say. i'm asking what you have to say. >> well, i would point you to the american legion. >> well, what did the american legion actually say? well, the american legion's national commander called petzel's resignation a continuation of business as usual. and joining us the director of the national legislation for the american legion lewis kelly jr. >> thank you for having me. >> what's the story? is jay carney dead right or dead wrong on this? >> we were confused. we were caught off guard. i thought that our press release really spoke to the issue. we were very displeased. we didn't think that this resignation was as genuine as it could have been. there could have been some tougher calls here. so, you know, for the white house to spin that in such a way that made it looked like we agreed with it i think was disingenuous. >> why

peter gayton, the executive director of the american legion. >> the american legion's point is how muchwe have to wait for? jay carney says they have to meet their goal to provide health care and meet the needs of veterans. that's been their goal since they became a cabinet agency. what we need to see now is the failures that have come to light because of these i.g. investigations have to be fixed. he's right the important thing is deliver timely health care to america's veterans. it's obvious every level of v.a. were unaware how bad this system was we've gone from 26 facility s to 42 facilities from an interim report investigated. if that has grown that broad in terms of infecting the entire system, leadership either they didn't know about it, poor leadership or they knew about it and didn't do anything about it, that's even worse. >> peter, from the american legion, thanks very much. you have called for secretary shinseki to resign. you did that three weeks ago. >> more news coming up. are you ready grandma? just a second, sweetie. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain, you tur

i'll tell you, as far as the american legion, the american legion, i joined the military 20 years ago been a life member of the american legion. there are 2.4 million members of the american legion. they called for his resignation. i respect their decision to do that. i disagree with it, but i will tell you the american legion, they are trying to put the veterans first. they're a serious concern. i agree with speaker boehner in that i think it's premature to call for the resignation of general shinseki. >> patrick, i think the bigger picture here, and you would well know about it, is just the sort of lack of regard, i guess you could say, nationally that has been shown for the real responsibility of caring for the veterans who went and fought, particularly in iraq. a war that was controversial. but what is not controversial is that americans want to see our veterans taken care of. and this dates back, this isn't something new, right? this is a problem in the va that has gone back, i would argue maybe a decade. why do you suppose it's taken so long to get to the point where people are

>> the american legion has always supported contracted care. biggest concern is to make sure that the records of that care are properly transmitted back to the department of veteran affairs and that the physicians that our veterans go see that are outside the network have access to the veterans records so that they have a holistic picture of what that veteran needs. we want to make sure that the primary source of care is a department of veterans affairs but at times when the v.a. cannot see these veterans they do need to get care as quickly as possible. >> and then so, of course, getting care for the vets immediately is something that you believe should take place and then systematically, how do we go about changing the plagued v.a. health care program? >> i'm sorry, how do we go about changing what? >> systematically -- you gave me an idea of what the immediate needs are which is to make sure that the veterans can get access if it is outside of the system, how they get the health care they need, but before -- we're running out of time. do you t

all you have to do is go to the american legion website, here in washington, just across the street on k street. and see the litany of reports over the course of the last five years, outlining problems just like this one. the american legion, so put it all together on friday, when you have this bad news, it comes under consideration as well. with the death watch, by all accounts you heard the president say that it's very difficult for him. a stellar career, a west point graduate, previously wounded in vietnam, chief of staff of the army. and donald rumsfeld said the u.s. army was going to need far more than rumsfeld and others said they needed in a post-invasion of iraq. he was cast gated by the republican administration, and president obama applauded when he appointed shinseki to take over the va. for that and all of the other reasons that we enumerated. but after five and a half years, his tenure has come to a close, and the president talked about traumatic brain injury, and agent orange, and the veterans who had been afflicted with those things, reducing the backlog, and it was too

that is from the american legion president. so it's surprising that the president still has faith that eric shinseki, who has been in office since 2009, has known about these problems since at least 2009, if not before, is the person who the president believes is going to lead the va out of this crisis. >> we'll see what the president decides to do. after he gets this inspector general report that he's ordered. we also learned, drew, that the director of the phoenix va hospital received an $8,500 bonus last month, just as the scandal came to light. shep was placed on leave. according to the va policy, shinseki most likely had to approve that bonus. i don't know if you know whether he personally approved it, but what is the va, department of veterans affairs, doing to say they justified that bonus? >> they haven't just fewed -- they haven't responded to our questions about the source or where that bonus came from. keep in mind, this bonus was sent to the director of the phoenix va. at the very same time there was an open inspecto

i don't care what the american legion has to say. asking what you have to say. >> i would point you to the american legion which obviously has a deep interest in this matter and has been reported on significantly by your network. they looked at his resignation as "a step towards addressing the leadership problem at the va." >> chief white house correspondent ed henry live with this part of the story. all right, so it seems like fireworks on a daily basis. now we are on to a new issue, a new scandal. right? >> no question about it. there are new allegations, new questions for this administration. the "washington times" reporting that back during the 2008 presidential transition the bush team had basically warned the obama team that there were problems with wait times at va hospitals. that suggests wooshd note, that there were problems in the bush administration as well, that this did not start in the obama administration but i pressed jay carney on the fact that if you were washrned in 2008 why did y not do more until now when everyon

it's been more than 30 years since the american legion has called for the resignation of any public official. another group, concerned veterans for americans says they fully sport the american legion's demand for accountability. the accountability in question is over allegations that at a v.a. hospital in phoenix, up to 40 veterans died waiting to see a doctor, according to several sources. adding insult to injury or in some cases adding insult to death, the hospital also allegedly kept a secret list of wait times. a list they tried to keep hidden from the public and v.a. headquarters in washington. our reporting on this story has garnered quite a bit of attention from president obama and says the white house takes the allegations seriously from congress where three members of arizona's delegation want the v.a. director in phoenix fired and now from investigator rans groups who want action. drew griffin has been keeping them honest from the beginning of this investigation. today he's in washington where he has been trying yet again to get any kind of comment from shinseki. there are other ne

i mean, this past week, since the american legion has called for the resignation is really the first time we have seen him come out front and address the media about these concerns. >> and as you mentioned the american legion asked eight days ago for him to resign, but to your point, these issues, and my father served this country for 30 years, and i have been to a couple of v.a. hospitals as well and disturbed by what i saw, and these issues that we are disc s discussing did not start on his watch. these have been longstanding concerns of deplorable conditions, and the list goes on and on and the wait times and the things that are just unjust in the way that our vets have been treated and so you are focusing in on shinseki and are we being distract bade longstanding issue here? >> well, what changed us is that we came out and supported the secretary and the work he has done with the g.i. bill and with the transitioning claims to paperless system is that all of the failure that have been happening over the years with the multiple sites. that is on his watch and that is something that,

is that the solution the american legion would like to see in addition to the resignation of general shinseki? >> that's a part of it, but there's so much more and i don't think you're getting the whole story. we need to know how many veterans are going into the va facilities and more transparency and more communication needs to be brought forth by the va. so everyone involved knows what we're working with and the problem can be resolved only when we have a full accountability of what the problem is. >> but the problem we know has existed far longer than these six years that general shinseki has been the secretary of that department. are you at all concerned that this tragedy and it is, if one person has died waiting for care, that's one too many, but does this become, dare i say, a shiny object of distraction from a larger problem that exists not just in phoenix, but va helps across the country and problems that existed in walter reed in 2007 and many other complaints that have come in between then and now. the american legion said all along they'ir calling to have t undersecretarie

the national commander of the american legion. thank you so much. >> well, thank you very much for having us. >>> vice president biden quoting theodore roosevelt in his cinco de mayo pitch for amnesty. we'll be joined by the manhattan institute's heather mcdonald to take up some other roosevelt quotes and to learn more about amnesty. (announcer) scottrade knows our clients trade and invest their own way. with scottrade's smart text, i can quickly understand my charts, and spend more time trading. their quick trade bar lets my account follow me online so i can react in real-time. plus, my local scottrade office is there to help. because they know i don't trade like everybody. i trade like me. i'm with scottrade. (announcer) scottrade. voted "best investment services company." when folks think about wthey think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united

host: if you are listening on c-span radio, we're talking about the american legion, the va hospital system. our guest is dan dellinger, he is the national commander for the american legion, joining us from indianapolis, ed is on the phone from an kennedy. caller: i was wondering about the funding issue, whether congress is going to look into this, and whether they're going to examine the budget problems. i just read a study from john f. kennedy school of government, and they said they va never -- the va never anticipated the large number of iraq and afghanistan veterans needing health care. it was never funded, it was never planned for, and part of this goes back to the bush of ministrations -- administration's horrible planning. they want a light footprint in iraq that they could get away with, and a light footprint turned into an eight year slaughter -- slog. we got bogged down in afghanistan, which was not planned for an eight year, nine-year war. i blame partially congress for not looking into these things, not investigating -- they are going to investigate benghazi for the next

the national commander of the american legion. thank you so much. >> well, thank you very much for having us. >>> vice president biden quoting theodore roosevelt in his cinco de mayo pitch for amnesty. we'll be joined by the manhattan institute's heather mcdonald to take up some other roosevelt quotes and to learn more about amnesty. so ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts? that's right, no hidd fees. it's just that i'm worried about, you know, "hidden things." ok, why's that? well uhhh... surprise!!! um... well, it's true. at ally there are no hidden fees. not one. that's nice. no hidden fees, no worries. ally bank. your money needs an ally. >>> nba commissioner adam silver announcing the league will appoint an interim ceo of the los angeles lakers because of donald sterling's lifetime ban. mayor eric garcetti of los angeles revealed he talked with sterling over the weekend and that the billionaire will embark on what the mayor called a protracted fight to keep his franchise. current clippers' shooting guard j.j

the american legion called for accountability. it is knot with health care weights, or with records but construction and variety of different issues. we want to absolutely see the administration take charge. gerri: people say money could fix the problem. we need more money for vets. is that the answer? >> money is not the question with the department. each year the administration asks congress for a specific amount of money and each year congress actually increased that amount of money that they have given to the department of veterans affairs but if the va has hidden wait lists, that congress knows nothing about, congress has no idea that additional money is needed to get people off the wait lists. by hiding the problem you're exacerbating the problem. gerri: interesting i'm sure if true. big story of the day. we had at love news breaking over the weekend saying that the va settled with families that had been on the wait list for problems with the health care of those folks, tens of millions of dollars. is this any way to solve th

joining us from indianapolis, daniel dellinger, retired army officer and national commander for the american legion. thank you very much for being here. guest: thank you for having me. host: last week the president told us what would happen in va facilities. a number of investigations are going on. another one is by rob neighbors. congress is also looking into that. on this first report, what do you expect him to tell the president? guest: a good question. the assessments around the country are an extension of what has been going on in this country for many years now. there have been 50 reports already from the ig. that is one of our contentions, the fact that the secretary has not done anything with those reports to correct the deficiencies that are resulting in the deaths of veterans. host: why is that? he is obviously a retired army officer general himself. he understands what happens to those military veterans and their families. from your standpoint, why do you think that the organization -- why is this happening? >> we don't know. that is what we have based our findings on. what we say really

the national commander of the american legion. ank you so much. >> well, thank you very much for having us. >>> vice president biden quoting theodore roosevelt in his cinco de mayo pitch for amnesty. we'll be joined by the manhattan institute's heather mcdonald to take up some other roosevelt quotes and to learn more about amnesty. when folks think about what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up. everyday delta flies a quarter of million peop

. >> the americans legion is calling for resignation. others want them to stay at the hem. >> we are underfunded. that's why they gamed the system. they are under pressure not to admit there not enough doctors. >> eric shinseki says they'll investigate happened in phoenix and will have a final report by august. >> we'll nail this thing and have a good product. >> brian turner says it's not enough. the texas whistleblower works at san antonio scheduling appointments, but the process is not moving fast enough. >> what gets under our skip, and when i say ours, the veterans skip, we are not seeing actions to resolve issues going on and on. my allegations are not new to the system. they have been around for years. >> allegations that members of congress and secretary eric shinseki say they want to resolve. there was a discussion on "inside story" about the eric shinseki hearing. the director of the american legion, and a veteran from afghanistan took part. here is what they said. >> the american legion is not saying that the va doesn't have la

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the american legion is not the tea party. it's not the republican party. erican legion, as you well know, and you have helped more veterans than most other senators. you're very passionate about this, as am i, as are so many americans. when the american legion says they don't have confidence in the secretary any longer, they want him to step down, that's not the tea party, that's not the republican party. >> you're right. >> just a simple question, do you still have confidence in eric shinseki? >> i think based on the work he's done, in transferring, for example, a paper system, in terms of the backlog to a digital system, in terms of several other innovations, yes, i do. if the facts prove me wrong, then i will rethink that. as of this moment, if you're asking me, do i think shinseki has done a good job, far from a perfect job, far from a perfect job, but has he done a good job, i do. do i think we should ask for his resignation today before we even have the facts about what went on in phoenix, no, i don't. >> that's why i like interviewing you, senator, b

joining me now is the national commander of the american legion, the largest veterans organization.hank you for being with us in calling for the resignation of the secretary. what move made you take that decision? >> we have seen a large amount of issues that come worth since 2011. it just seems like lately things have gotten worse with in the va system. we've had issues in georgia and mississippi and elsewhere. as well as phoenix, arizona where they had hidden list of appointments that are made. so we thought it was essential at this time that we step forward in the nation's largest veterans organization and ask for resignation due to poor oversight and failed leadership. lou: as the commander of the american legion, you guys are awfully careful about who you engage politically and we support as veterans. you also have a number of people, including senator john mccain and the veterans of foreign wars and his agents not joining in the fall for his resignation. what is your response to those who are veterans who don't support other veterans organizations. >> well, i don't think they

host: if you are listening on c-span radio, we're talking about the american legion, the va hospital stem. our guest is dan dellinger, he is the national commander for the american legion, joining us from indianapolis, ed is on the phone from an kennedy. caller: i was wondering about the funding issue, whether congress is going to look into this, and whether they're going to examine the budget problems. i just read a study from john f. kennedy school of government, and they said they va never anticipated the large number of iraq and afghanistan veterans needing health care. it was never funded, it was never planned for, and part of this goes back to the bush of ministrations -- administration's horrible planning. they want a light footprint in iraq that they could get away with, and a light footprint turned into an eight year slaughter -- slog. ingot bogged down afghanistan, which was not planned for an eight year, nine-year war. i blame partially congress for not looking into these things, not investigating -- they are going to investigate benghazi for the next five months. but they

i'm here today to help you understand why the american legion believes the v.a. needs to address deficiencies and let you know the american legion fully supports the department of veterans affairs. we supported the creation of the veterans administration in 1930 and fought hard to get v.a. elevated to cabinet level in 1989. we donate hundreds of thousands of hours each year to the v.a. along with billions of dollars and have scores of claims representatives. we have fund a brain research center in the center and are representing 750,000 veterans as they file their claims. >> the allege of the secret waiting list in phoenix that are now being investigated along with the 40 or more patient deaths have rocked the veterans' community. we understand six additional v.a. locations have been identified in wait time manipulation. the allegations in phoenix were not the only reason the american legion decided to call for leadership change at the v.a. they were the final straw in leadership failures that include, construction delays and cost overruns, patient deaths, atient

the secretary will not resign, you and the american legion want him to step aside. >> yes, i do. more than step aside. >> lewis. >> thank you. sally, on behalf of the american legion, we are extremely sorry for your loss. >> thank you. >> these are tragic stories, your welcome. we called for secretary and secretary hickey and petzel to resign. it's because of a long standing systematic leadership failure that we have seen. originally we were big fans and we went to bat for the secretary when a "time" magazine article asked him to resign. we thought he had a tough job, we acknowledged that and felt he had the tools and resources. over the past year we saw systematic failures, like with the secret list, construction problems. e saw delays in care, dirty equipment used. >> on the other hand other veterans organizations call for him to stay, arguing we should wait until the investigations are over, and back logs were worse when he took the job five years ago. >> some of the other organizations are starting to think that. phoenix was not the reason we called for secretary shinseki's re

the american legion would do regard notwithstanding. >> what's the political exposure of obama? president obama? michelle. >> we have seen michelle obama and the vice president's wife going out constantly talking to us about the importance of how we deal with military families. we have so many people coming back from afghanistan, iraq, and other areas around the world with all kinds of issues. whether they be psychological, physical issues, mental health issues, that need to be dealt with properly, and this is important for the obama administration because this is his secretary who said i'm going to change the culture of the v.a. from top to bottom and as mort said, he failed miserably. he has served the country honorably, but this is a very, very serious issue. no one should have to wait months for medical treatment. particularly after coming home from serving your country. >> and politically, it will play into the narrative of the administration's incompetence, coming on the heels of the healthcare.gov disaster. but this is a problem indeemic, not just to the v.a., but to sing

so, i am here to help you understand why the american legion believes that the va needs to address the deficiency and also let you know that the american legion fully supports the department of veterans affairs. we support the creation of the administration in 1930 to get an elevated to cabinet level in 1989. we donated hundreds of thousands of hours each year along with millions of dollars and have scores of claims are presented as. make no mistake about it the american legion believes in the va. the allegation that seems to the department of veterans affairs medical center now being investigated along with 40 or more patients have rocked the veteran community. in addition we now understand at least six have been identified in the weeks time that reputation. they were not the only reason that they decided to call for the leadership change at the va. for the colonoscopy an and until equipment and unreasonable times between resulting in patient deaths and abandonment of efforts to create a unified interoperable joint health care record used by both o the department of defense and the de

i'm here today to help you understand why the american legion believes the v.a. needs to address deficiencies and let you know the american legion fully supports the department of veterans affairs. we supported the creation of the veterans administration in 1930 and fought hard to get v.a. elevated to cabinet level in 1989. we donate hundreds of thousands of hours each year to the v.a. along with billions of dollars and have scores of claims representatives. we have fund a brain research center in the center and are representing 750,000 veterans as they file their claims. >> the allege of the secret waiting list in phoenix that are now being investigated along with the 40 or more patient deaths have rocked the veterans' community. we understand six additional v.a. locations have been identified in wait time manipulation. the allegations in phoenix were not the only reason the american legion decided to call for leadership change at the v.a. they were the final straw in leadership failures that include, construction delays and cost overruns, patient deaths, atient

and in the main, we've done that. >> reporter: despite the break with the american legion, almost everyther veterans organization still supports eric shinseki for managing the explosive growth of the v.a. shinseki got his strongest endorsement where it counts, scott, full backing from the president. >> pelley: wyatt, thanks very much. in an emergency order today, the transportation department told railroads that haul crude oil from the bakken oil fields in north dakota that they must inform states before those trains pass through. there is a lot of concern after several serious accidents, and transportation correspondent jeff pegues has been following this for us. jeff, how is this order going to help? >> reporter: well, scott, bakken crude oil has transported along 140,000 miles of rain rale in this country and it's going through cities and towns. this emergency order is designed to help first responders prepare for any potential derailments. >> pelley: and what's the concern over the bakken oil in particular? >> reporter: well, scott, bakken crude comes from parts of north dakota and

we have steven gonzales with the american legion. he's a deputy director for the legions veterans employment and education division. he has worked with members of congress. he has worked with the executive branch. he has worked on some very positive legislation such as veterans opportunity to work to hire act. the veteran bills to skills to jobs act. the military commercial drivers license act an executive order 13607 establishing principles of education for educational institutions servicing -- serving service members, veterans, spouses, and other family members. is a former marine. was formally with the air force, a retired air force colonel. he has spent message -- match of his life on the subject he is discussing today. solid llc. with gentlemen, with this i turn the program over to you. thank you. steven? >> good morning. mr. galo thank you for this opportunity to actually speak to such an issue that has been in the works since 1996. it is something the american legion has actually been working on for quite some time and trying t

there was an initiative taken upon the american legion and collaboration in the u.s. chamber of commerce which is a company that bill works for that as well as the standards institute were better known and has ansi. we took the initiative of bringing state coders together we had a 250 people. having this in particular allows for individuals to no longer have their silos in initiatives. having individuals come together to figure out what was the initiative and what were the barriers and the solutions and what were some of the best practices whether you are private or public partnership actually coming together to figure this out how to move together moving forward. now i will take a step forward on the initiatives that have been undertaken post the summit in 2012 working at the department of transportation, what is the particular omnibus bill moving ahead with progress in the 21st century or the map 21 includes the federal railroad administration federal highway administration has come together with the department of trade petition to conduct the study and report to co

the american legion continues to call for shinseki's resignation and is upset the president didn't announce that yesterday. at an american legion hall north of miami, we talked to veterans who had mixed opinions about how the president is handling this. >> he can't control 500 veterans hospitals. i mean, how can he? >> he puts these people in office. evidently he doesn't know what's going on or he know what's going on and turns a blind eye. >> yesterday, an attempt to contain some of the political fallout. if the white house thought a late acknowledgement of the problems could buy them time, boy, were they wrong. everybody seems to be pouncing on them. republicans of course first. >> what i heard this morning from the president's remarks is a parroting. >> this is a national embarrassment and the president's response to it is an embarrass. >> the rnc piled on, releasing this video bashing the president's management style. >> we're not going to let up until we eliminate the back log once and for all. >> we'll keep slashing that back log so our veterans receive the benefits they've earned. >>

they're the most affected. >> american legion is asking for it. >> american legion is not the disabled veterans. >> i'm a member of disabled americans veterans. doesn't mean we all agree. >> i'm a member of american legion and i don't agree, either. >> van -- one at a time, guys. van and larry, to your point, let's take wrr word that eric sh had great recommendations and was a leader. doesn't this make the point the bureaucrats underneath him were unable to implement this because it's too big and unwieldy? does it matter when he wanted to do? he didn't get to do it. >> it matters if people cook the books. they should be held accountable. that's why you have an inspector general investigation. what we're trying to do. again, the inspector general testified today after general shinseki. >> my thing is, look, this is horrible. nobody -- everybody is shocked. it's a bipartisan outrage across the country. but the reality is, don't you think people are jumping the gun? >> no, because we are talking about this over five years. >> let me finish my question. don't you think people are jumping g

bunch from the american legion have called for his resignation. host: why is that? ller: the legion said it is not this situation. there is a list of things that they are frustrated with from how he has lived at the department. information,lic and to punish folks who have made mistakes. we have heard a handful of scandals over the last 6-9 months. there were some deaths in pittsburgh and problems in south carolina. bigv.a. says this is a democracy. 8.5 million appointments each year. as problems come up, they investigate them, dress them, but they can't be everywhere at all times. host: what about the backlog issues we have heard about in recent months as well? to peakthat really came about this time last year. of 2013.rch a backlog of over 600 thousand disability claims. folks who are waiting for for-five months. some for even years. has have to that number in the last year. the legion and a few others have said, it is not moving quickly enough. lawmakers have recently started to put things in the annual budget bills pushing for more -- theyand quicker v.a. plan to

>> i am pleased an inspector general has been appointed to look at things, i am a member of the american legionthey are forthright and thoughtful in what they bridge forward, and so they feel there is a great need, they work with our veterans each day. i would like to see what inspector jenin general has to t no doubt there needs to be a shake up, as a doctor, i have been pleading with this, we have too many people in place that never been in a private sector or in a situation why they need to pro dice and be appreciate -- produce and be appreciate. lou: amongst those i respect, a number of retired generals who have views on shinsake and veteran's affairs, they have not been eager to call for shinsake's resignation, with that call, out, this is a very difficult course for him. >> we need a real moral change within the system, that itself may be good enough, i mitt last week, we took 4 doctors from va committee and met with administrative people, it took me a year to get to this points to talk about the inefficiencies of what goes on. this took me a year to get to this points, we got to it one t

is the american legion right? ? >> well, ari, i'm a member of the american legion.p of saying -- calling for general shinseki or secretary shinseki's resignation. but i will tell you that if anyone has known or should have known of veterans' records being falsified they should absolutely be fired. there are two instances of two whistleblowers, one in phoenix, one in fort collins, colorado showing that records were falsified. we need to get to the bottom of this asap because let me tell you, the real tragedy, ari, are these veterans who lost their lives and their families and also the 99% of those men and women that work busting their tails every day supporting these veterans within the va clinics all across this country. that's who's -- they're the victims, beside those veterans who tragically lost their lives. and it's these knuckleheads who falsified documents to make themselves look better that need to be held accountable. in my opinion it's criminal negligence if they did that. >> right. and the problem with the falsification is it goes to all of the scrutiny th

the administration has nine times said that the american legion is onboard with the reform plans they house outlined, and i don't think anything from the american legion said that. so some of the firings are a side show. when you try to -- this is the kind of rationing of care you get. >> you're known -- switching fers -- a tea party survivor. what has not been a good run for tea party challengers to main stream republican candidates, they point to you. how do you describe yourself, a tea party, conservative, republican. >> what we did in our race we said we wanted more of everything. want to grow the conservative movement, more pro lifers, second amend advocates, smaller federal intrusion and i want more constitutional conservativism whichs what nebraskans mean when the you the term tea party. we have to make the case. we want more of all of the above. and i think the liberal media loves to obsess over republican fighting republicans and our race we said let's go to the conservative mom by having better ideas and more persuasion and get to a majority in the senate. >> so when i talk

jay carney looked at the american people in the eye and said the american legion supports what we've ne so far. we're okay with saying a guy who is retiring has been fired. the american legion knows better and we know better than that. like steve was saying, the problem is that the va has been a mess for a long time. the president has known the va has been a mess for a long time and hasn't done anything to get it fixed. it's gotten worse recently for at least the last two years. we've known we have had these problems and nothing has been done and he comes out today and gives the kind of response steve was talking about. the political response to this thing has been both dishonest and way too week. i think this may be one of the lowest points of his presidency. >> charles? >> it's because you can't run away from this. on the other scandals, the democrats would sit it out or pretend that there wasn't a scandal, call it a witch hunt, call it partisan, and the press would join with the democrats and that would be it. here the democrats have been screaming very loudly, loud complaints from

the school with flags. most are veterans, americans of the american legion and patriot guard >> we feel it's wrong to tell agroup it's okay to do this. and another group you can't wear yours, you know? >> there is this gathering in unity park. it's a day of celebration. one of many in a city that seems to be embracing its diversity. in morgan hill, david louie, abc7 news. >> and the marine mammal center says it's seeing a record number of stranded sales along the coastline. it up perfect from a previous record in 1998. many of the seals are pups and emaciateed and tee hydrateed and bad shape. that includes poppy, a sea lion found in march. >> the services district will vote tonight on a plan designed to get people to save water, if it passes residents who don't cut their water usage by 35% would have to pay on average $20 an month extra. cal fire says crews plan to move bases in this part of the state. prolonged drought conditions helped keep firefighters busy. cal fire says they responded to double of what they do this time of the year >> drought conditions have set the stage for what could be a very busy

. >> lou you know the american legion supported shinseki until recently. he's well-known for speaking out, the need to support american veterans in 1993. but did veterans think he would be a new breed of va chief, a creator who didn't care what feathers were ruffled and finally save the va? >> lisa, that's correct. when he was first nominated and confirmed as secretary of veterans affairs. we thought we were getting a trail blazer. we thought we were getting exactly that person you described, someone who wasn't afraid to roughly feathers, someone who wasn't afraid to lead. the dynamic changed for shnlz. he no longer -- shinseki. he no longer had aring soldiers. he had a federal bureaucracy working under him that didn't adhere to the same ethos. we called for his resignation and in addition, we don't believe that managers actually sign any kind of document that says that they won't lie. it's understood. it's just like not killing. it's understood. when you falsify government reports, when you falsify documents for personal gain, that is criminal. we don't ne

thank you both of you. >> thank you. >>> we're seeing new video from an event at the american legion vets and loved ones invited to speak out about mismanagement at the va. more than 200 people packed in. check it out. the town hall was supposed to run one hour, instead, it ran four hours. here is a little bit of the reason why. >> it just seems so unfair that after all they have been through, that they have to wait so long. >> i have had no luck at all. i mean, i've called there constantly from november to this month and not been able to get in. >> these problems are not the fault of the doctors or nurses or x-ray techs or anybody in the medical end of it. they are as frustrated as we are. >> we veterans don't get the care necessary or diagnosis necessary to give us the proper treatment that we need. this is what we get. [ applause ] >> amber is a u.s. army helicopter pilot that served in iraq and afghanistan, a concerned veterans for america and attended the shinseki hearing today. amber, again, thank you for your service. i have a family that is full of veterans and those who are c

i talked to the american legion representative in indiana. they told me i would be punished because i married a vietnam girl and brought her back. i should have never married her. i should have married somebody in the united states. this is what i was told and i am very upset about it. d talking about his situation in indiana. it's good to roger in des moine s. caller: good morning. i have been listening to everybody say more money, more money. the last four years, there has been $1 million each year carried over. millionr, there is 500 that is being carried over. $4.5 billionears, that has not been spent. also, do you realize -- i just heard this. obama just met with shinseki for the first time in two years, and that is when he accepted his resignation. 08, wasnt obama, 2007-20 given reports on these. deal forhis a prime his reelection. and nothing is happening. it has gotten worse. host: chris carroll, a couple of points. one on the unspent funds. was this the first meeting in several years? believe he met within him the week before, possibl