the reason we call it my v.a. is because it's what i would like all the veterans to think of when they think of the v.a. -- it's not a monolithic black box hard to understand, hard to reach -- it is human beings, it is all of us sitting here, people wanting to take care of our veterans and we want everyone to think of us as a warm, to be with us, and think of this v.a. as their v.a.. it will provide veterans with seamless, integrated v.a., whether they come to us digitally come by phone or in person. to you a want to come certain way and as a business, you've got to help them get to you the way they want to at the time they want to and for the service they want. know, i gave out my cell phone number publicly at my first national press conference. it has been republished twice by the washington post and i had the great joy last night of having other people of bush it from a breakfast i had yesterday morning. it did not take long for veterans to realize what i number was or what my e-mail address was, but you know wh

reorganizing the v.a. is not the same thing but is that experience constructive welcome with us is congressman jim mcdermott for washington. and from son san antonio is brian turner working as a scheduling clerk at a v.a. clinic , and kenneth hill with the firm's turn around and restructuring group. congressman mcdermott, are you optimistic that the second largest government agency can be cured of what ails it? >> the fact is you said in your opening we need 28,000 new health professionals in the v.a. system. when you start with that kind of problem and have an incentive system that is built on making the numbers look right in order to get promoted and get paid increases, you've built in intensives that are simply going to lead to the problems that we have today. all of that has to be changed. the incentive system has to be changed. now, i think you can do things to --we're letting veterans go out and see people outside of the veteran system. that is one way to help some of it, but it's going to take time,

the v.a. suicide prevention efforts. i'm hoping that everybody got this folder. if not, okay, so it is in the back. i wonder -- would one of you be able to -- thank you so much. i'm going to be referencing all of the resources in here throughout. so i -- yes, so i work for v.a. and i'm really thrilled to talk with you all today. at v.a., we really value our collaboration with nami. we have had a strong collaboration over the years just in mental health services in general. but especially also in suicide prevention. so i want to make sure that you're all aware of what is available both nationally from v.a. as well as locally and how you can connect with v.a. in terms of helping with this really terrible problem that we have with veterans and suicide. as well as how v.a. -- how we can collaborate with you on what you're doing. and you know, as -- as has been said we really need to continue to work together on this issue. so just in general i want to just speak to the suicide prevention program as

the v.a. suicide prevention efforts. i'm hoping that everybody got this folder. if not, okay, so it is in the back. i wonder -- would one of you be able to -- thank you so much. i'm going to be referencing all of the resources in here throughout. so i -- yes, so i work for v.a. and i'm really thrilled to talk with you all today. at v.a., we really value our collaboration with nami. we have had a strong collaboration over the years just in mental health services in general. but especially also in suicide prevention. so i want to make sure that you're all aware of what is available both nationally from v.a. as well as locally and how you can connect with v.a. in terms of helping with this really terrible problem that we have with veterans and suicide. as well as how v.a. -- how we can collaborate with you on what you're doing. and you know, as -- as has been said we really need to continue to work together on this issue. so just in general i want to just speak to the suicide prevention program as

you are right, when veterans go into the v.a. health-care facility, the employee should not be on the phone and veteran should be the first priority. anything the veteran needs should be the priority of that employee. i myself have gone through the american legion to do visits to the v.a. and witnessed those things going on. we brought that to the attention of the v.a. central office and to secretary mike donald letton we had our meeting -- to secretary macdonald when we had our meeting. thank you would you set about veterans. those are our nations he arose. -- heroes. host: what is your responsibility of executive director and what is the role of american legion veterans issues in this country? what is the membership like? >> guest: i oversee all functions of the washington, d.c. national records office. it's through the white house and congress and v.a. and the american legion is the nation's wartime veteran service organization, about 2.3 million members and we are founded on a strong national defense, taking care of our vetera

the v.a. and made up of five service organizations. they assist with coordination, plans, and policies for community participation of the programs. and it's governed by the national advisory committee comprised of many national service organizations. the volunteers support the recovery and rehabilitation of veterans as they prepare for their transation to civilian life. some of the services we provide there are patient escort, animal visitation programs. we assist in therapy programs. comfort cart distribution. administrative support for clinics, pharmacies, transportation, patient rehab, personal services, and community living. we also have licensed volunteer professionals, nurses, doctors, rehab specialists that support the v.a. medical staff for rehab services. the american red cross also offers service to veterans and their families by connecting them with local, state, and national resources through their local chapters. their partnerships we provide case coordination and referral to menta

v.a. around the country. o questions asked, they can be passed out to family members, friends, and service members, so if you're interested in working together in terms of providing gun locks, i know one v.a. has a huge number of gun locks at the entrance to the v.a., and the suicide prevention coordinators then help to manage that, because what we do want to talk about is gun safety, not removal of guns. >> a question up here. there you go. >> retired marine corps, and mr. obama signed an executive order modifying rehabilitation requiring all federal contractors and subcontractors to have 7% of their workforce be people with disabilities and 7% of the workforce is being veterans. signed one year ago. therefore, it took effect six months ago. , how can intly asked as an unemployed veteran take advantage of this, what amounts to a quota system, coming from the president's office, how can that be accessed? i particularly like mr. love's comment that the laws are nice, but it is far better to have one , sohem act

bob mcdonald's a veteran who used the v.a. he's come from the outside, and says the focus needs to be on the customer, and customer care. >> we have set our sights on three non-negotiable goals. first, is to rebuild trust, rebuild trust with veterans, and with stakeholders. second is to improve service delivery, focussing only on veteran outcomes. third is to set a course for long-term reform. >>> bob mcdonald hopes to hire 28,000 medical professionals. not something that can be done overnight. he's visiting medical scores, painting a positive picture of the future, and offering student loan forgiveness. other elements of the plan - trying to streamline what veterans face online, instead of multiple websites. simplifying the interface, and getting feedback, considering them the customers, and trying to basically meet their needs better >>> will there be a reaction from the white house, congress or veterans' affairs groups to mcdonald's re-organisation plan. >> we are hearing that some are glad to hear the changes, but it's how

year inr in the last the v.a. was the fact that in phoenix and other parts of this country, we have unacceptably long waiting periods. you know what? in a last couple of months, the leadership hass made some very significant progress in making sure that veterans are getting into the ..a. in a timely matter if not, getting out into the private sector in a timely manner. i think what you have seen in phoenix and elsewhere -- and i don't have the statistics in front of me -- what you have seen is a significant reduction in the waiting periods that in certain parts of the country are vegans had to experience. it -- our veterans had to experience. it is completely and acceptable. not tolerable. we have to deal with those people. at the end of the day, what i hope every veteran in america , what i know the vast majority in vermont understand, once you get into the v.a., the quality of care is quiet good. that is true. the v.a. has some cutting edge medical work in terms of complementary and alternative medicines, in term

the road was built on the v.a.'s mission. the battle and the families and survivors. we set three goals for ourselves as we began to move forward. the first was rebuilding trust with veterans and stakeholders. second, improving service delivery. third, setting v.a. on a course for long-term excellence and reform. we want veterans to know that they do not strive alone. the vision of our president and vice president and leadership and support the congress and the efforts of our service organizations and the good people are all required to best serve veterans. we are reorganizing for success in this effort. this is the largest restructuring in the history of the department. my v.a..alled it is called my v-8 because we want veterans to know that it belongs to them. we will provide quality care. functions, entail increasing productivity, affectively implementing the veterans access choice and account ability act. [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] our goal is simple, to provide timely care and benefits to all generations of veterans.

we've got tremendous capability within the v.a. and it's a matter of providing the leadership i think we need in order to get us back up to where we need to be. the single metric we're going to use to define success is the satisfaction of our veterans. our customers. how's that david? >> that was good, thank you sir. >> you're welcome. >> the road map is that i'm going to ask just one and we will go to michelle from fox, connor o'brian, mark from the examiner, curt from cnn, josh from the post, ana from the monitor. you've had vast experience in management, but it's a vast hallenge, 150 hospitals, 820 clinics, 317,000 employees. is this the toughest management challenge you've ever faced? >> it's a tough management challenge, but it's different than the other ones i've faced before. it's tough in the size. as you mentioned, 340,000 employees, that's about three times the size of p & gmp. the largest health care system in the world, health care is a very difficult business, i've been in the health care business before, not in the hos

we have volunteerism in the v.a. hospitals. referral to community resources, and reintegration skill building sources in the form of workshop s. we use peer to peer support who have been trained. red cross provides assistance and case collaboration, preparing, developing, and obtaining evidence in support of applicants' claims for veterans benefits. red cross reaches out to veterans who are not engaged with the v.a. who are homeless or in the community and establishes a trust relationship. they educate veterans regarding what entitlements are available to them like compensation for disabilities, all the benefits you can think of. they work with veterans in obtaining their records and provide advocacy during the process. they offer assistance and other resources and provide referals accordingly to the community. - referals to the community. they might look to other resources for assist -- assistance like s.s.d.i. and s.s.i. there are two programs in the nation i'd like to highlight today. one in southern arizona that serves the t

the v.a. ow on the cusp of removing those hundreds of senior executives responsible for the culture of poor care and excessive wait times at v.a. hospitals. the reason it's taken so long? just what you said, firing people in the federal government is laborious. administrative judges must approve procedures and employees have the right to appeal. it's a us from straight for mcdonald given the hardship that incompetent care imposed on vets. >> i was incensed. i was incensed. our veterans have earned these benefits. they earn them with their lives in danger. >> reporter: in a live streaming seminar at the washington post today on veterans hiring, mcdonald said that the v.a. is making progress in other areas. >> we've cut the disability claims backlog by 60% in the last 20 months. we've completed 1.3 million claims for veterans in 2014. that's 150,000 more than last year. veterans give v.a. health care higher ratings than patients at most private hospitals. >> reporter: the hardest part of mcdonald

the v.a. over the last year. what's more, since august 7, only one ses employee has been removed under the law and this person's removal was not directly related to patient wait times or data manipulation. . so i don't understand. in the wake of the biggest scandal in the history of department of veteran affairs, only four of which are senior executives were are proposed with discipline with none yet removed. further, v.a. has taken the liberty of creating an additional bureaucratic office. the office of accountability review. to review proposed removals and an additional bureaucratic delay, five-day advanced notice of removal which essentially operates like a new internal appeal process. these questionable actions are nowhere to be found in the law that we wrote and the president signed. in my view the five-day advance notice of removal only serves to incentivize poor performing senior leaders to drag out the disciplinary process while continuing to collect a hefty paycheck for ultimately reti

host: the v.a. cretary said there acting aggressively and consistent with the law but they have to. there i's and cross their t's. guest: we have to make sure they do everything right because those of cause veterans harm, we don't want them to be able to come back and hurt other veterans on a technicality. we want to be a to do it right but they can do it right with employee due process quicker than they are doing it now. those employees don't need to be on collecting taxpayer money. they need to use those funds for someone who can come in and take care of veterans the way they deserve to be taking care of. host: have you seen any improvement under the leadership of secretary macdonald? guest: yes, and we applaud those improvements. there is still so much more to be done. the american legion stands to help whatever the v.a. needs to make sure the system is better for veterans. guest: on this november 11, 2014 on veterans day, what has been fixed? guest: the backlog has been reduced a little bit and t

the v.a. largest agency in the entire federal government, behind only the department of defense. >> mcdonald: we have no hope of taking care of veterans if we don't take of each other. >> pelley: he has 340,000 employees, who handle services ranging from home mortgages to college loans to heart transplants. >> mcdonald: well, you've got people who really care about veterans here. >> exactly. >> pelley: with nine million patients, the v.a. is america's largest healthcare system, but it had slipped into critical condition. last april, a doctor in phoenix exposed those phony waitlists. >> barack obama: it is dishonorable. it is disgraceful. and i will not tolerate it, period. >> pelley: investigators found that the official records showed that vets in phoenix were getting appointments in 14 days, but this was the true waitlist. those are numbers of days in the right column-- more than 400 days in most cases. the investigation found that the wait may have contributed to six deaths. it was all beca

the best part is the v.a. if it can three matted back through the court system it is a different set of laws and rules. it has been sitting with the judge to make a decision. nothing has been done. i hope a bob fixes this. host: mary is in pompano beach. caller: good morning. host: what is on your mind? what did our parents teach us? you do not depend on man. you depend on god. you praise it god's kingdom will come on earth. how would it be thy name. we've got to bring this thing righteous. we've got to stop all this killing. we've got to put the sweet lord that in it. sins and getof our back to his statutes. onseems like every human earth eerie at host: zach is in mississippi. caller: i would just like to say that it is a shame that veterans are so important to society and so few people are veterans. infew people participate defending the country. > it is sad that only the poor are putting their lives on the line. the millionaires and billionaires don't put their lives in the line for this country. we should

i was recently at the v.a. and while there and asking veterans about the quality and access to care that they have been receiving, ran into a gentleman who was there for mental health care appointment. he had called the day before to confirm that appointment. i have no idea how many months in advance that appointment was made nor do i know how many miles he drove to be there. the appointment was confirmed the day before. he showed up. on the appointed day at the appointed time only to be told that the mental health care provider that he was there to see no longer worked at the v.a. and had not worked there for months. and that was obviously deeply disappointing, but what was unforgivable to me, he was then told to go back home, call back tomorrow to schedule another appointment. luckily i was there. we were able to take him up to the third floor to the executive suite and we waited for the director to come out of the meeting and were able to obtain an appointment for him the next day. so that brings me to my que

cases still sitting on the shelves in the v.a.'s dental laboratory. cases that are unresolved and unfinished. some date back to 2011. >> is there a backlog here? >> there was a backlog here, yes. >> reporter: this doctor serves as the chief of dental services the a the palo alto v.a. >> how long have some patients waited in the last couple of years? >> i am aware some patients have waited up to two years for implants. >> is that acceptable? >> that is not acceptable. that's why we are making the changes we are making. it the staffing shortage, support staff shortage all have been addressed. >> she acknowledges that long wait times for dental care was a problem. but she insists that she's made significant progress in reducing that backlog since taking the helm two years ago. >> i need new dentures. do i have to wait? >> you may have to wait more than a month. but less than two. >> reporter: dr. knapp said she has actually increased staffing in recent years by hiring more dental specialists and contracting with two outside labs. >> are there still vetera

they wanted him, i told him, you'll have to stay overnight at the v.a. the v.a. said you can't stay overnight. you have to come in and have the colonoscopy and then you can stay one night after. i said, well this doesn't -- i told my brother this doesn't make sense, i cannot drive you three hours to chicago to have a colonoscopy after you've had that medicine. and the other issue, i drive him over to maryville where his clinic is one day i'll take him over for a blood test, the next week i take him over for a urine test, the next week i take him over for another, a hearing test. and then he might have a doctor's appointment the next week or month. and so they are inconsistent and i want to know, you know, congress is working -- i understood they have tried to, that uh someone has to drive over an hour and a half to get to a clinic should be able to go to a local clinic and have their blood tests or urine test taken. host: ok, charles. verna jones? guest: thank you, charles. thank you for calling in the veterans choice will catch on with some of veterans having to

go are right, when veterans into the v.a. health-care facility, the employee should not be on the phone and veteran should be the first priority. anything the veteran needs should be the priority of that employee. i myself have gone through the american legion to do visits to the v.a. and witnessed those things going on. we brought that to the attention of the v.a. central office and to secretary mike donald letton we had our meeting -- to secretary macdonald when we had our meeting. thank you would you set about veterans. those are our nations he arose. -- heroes. your: what is responsibility of executive director and what is the role of american legion veterans issues in this country? what is the membership like? i oversee all functions of the washington, d.c. national records office. it's through the white house and congress and v.a. and the american legion is the nation's wartime veteran service organization, about 2.3 million members and we are founded on a strong national defense, taking care of our veterans, and promoti

the v.a. tructuring, big time, and you will not believe what it takes to fire someone at the v.a. you're about to find out. "america's next top model." i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. so i talked to my doctor about my condition and my treatment options he told me about stelara® in a medical study, 7 out of 10 stelara® patients saw at least 75% clearer skin at 12 weeks. and 6 out of 10 patients had their plaque psoriasis rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. [ male announcer ] stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections some serious infections require hospitalization before starting stelara® your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection, have had cancer, or if you develop any new skin growths. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion, and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potential

the v.a. well as how we can collaborate with you on what , and as has been said, we need to continue to work together on this issue. one of the biggest things that we have available is we have suicide prevention coordinators at every v.a. throughout the country, and so wherever you are located, there is a v.a. suicide prevention coordinator, who is , and we reallyrt encourage you to get in contact with them. and one of the biggest things that our suicide prevention coordinators do is provide local outreach. the v.a. suicide prevention coordinators are required to provide five outreach events per month to their local community so that the information arerding suicide prevention then disseminated throughout the country. how do you find out who your suicide prevention coordinator is? this is one of the things that i want to talk about. so just in general, on the of your folder in the back is the mental health resources for veterans and their beilies, so i am going to going through this list, beca

you take a look at the v.a. system and who is employed there, and this is prevalent through a lot of government agencies, the type of employee is the problem, not necessarily the number of employees. i think that hiring more medical personnel, getting rid of the people who not only didn't uphold the values that the secretary has been talking about of integrity and serving the veterans and doing no harm, but people who are actually doing things to help them, helping them get through their medical illnesses or through their rehab sessions after they come home for more. those kind of employees are good employees. they need to get rid of the people sitting at a deck, pulling a paycheck, and doing nothing to help the wait times get to fewer and less. >> the one thing i was so impressed with in listening to secretary mcdonald's interview is t that he wanted to get riff the people that didn't have the value. the correct values. i know so many veterans at home today as we honor them are so happy to hear that it maybe, ma

the v.a. health care system that could include more than 1,000 pink slips. it's a huge, huge change for the u.s. government right now. the secretary of veterans affairs joins me live this hour. it's coming up. let's talk about these major changes. >>> mystery surrounding the fate of the isis leader abu bakr al baghdadi. president obama hits the road. a meeting of world leaders right now under way in china. thank you very much for joining us. one year after cnn broke the story of long waiting lists for veterans seeking care, there is a massive shakeup at the department. robert mcdonald took over in july after congressional hearings and the resignation of retired general eric shinseki. mcdonald said that the v.a. needs to hire 28,000 doctors and nurses to clear the backlog of patients, including 2500 mental health professionals. he said the scandal could cost up to 1,000 v.a. workers losing their jobs and losing their jobs quickly. secretary mcdonald is joining us here. thank you for joining us a

and that the v.a. on the cutting edge in a number of medical areas in terms of the exo skeleton development which will allow people with spinal cord injuries to actually get on their feet. so to answer your question, i worked with senator mccain, we passed a $16.5 billion piece of legislation which will fro vied significant new money for the v.a. to get the doctors and medical personnel they need. there's also the question of -- aside from funding, there also seems to be the question of accountability. are the people who are engaging in this, you know, messing with the records, have they been punished? has there been acountability? and has there been the kind of reorganization that might have been needed as shown by the reporting that we learned of, to make the v.a. run better. >> secretary mcdonald is, i think, a very serious guy. and i think he is tackling these issues. i know some republicans would fire half of the v.a. tomorrow. it can't happen. what you want to do, when you fire somebody, you want

the v.a.'s 2015 budget exceeds $163 billion. critics say instead of getting rid of bad employees, some of who are still on paid leave or getting severance, the department is just throwing money at the problem. but those that will be most affected by the changes hope that whatever new rules are implemented the sacrifices and compromises they made when they went into battle will end when our veterans come home. for "nightly business report" dina g sarks sovski. >> from laundry deterrent to product safety stories from two very well known companies. that's next. >>> two disturbing reports tonight involving two well known consumer product makers. first up "the wall street journal" says that general motors ordered half a million replacement ignition switches to fix defective cars two months before alerting u.s. safety officials about the problem. shares of the automaker down about 1 1/2% today. phil lebeau has the details. >> reporter: there are new questions tonight about whether or not general motors knew it had defective ignition sw

let's listen to some of what the v.a. cdonald said about this. >> the law says that with this level of employee, what's called a senior executive service employee, i have to propose a disciplinary action. that disciplinary action gets judged by a judicial process. and then only then does it get resolved. i need to make sure every single one of these results in a positive disposition consistent with my proposal. again, if congress wants me to follow a different procedure, they have to pass a different law. the only thing the new law did was it took the appeal time and cut it in half. >> drew griffin reporting on that for us. we're also hearing from the secretary of veterans affairs that he's going to create this customer service officer. the point of it is to really understand and also to respond to veterans' needs. that's what we're hearing from the v.a. there would also be new partnerships between private organizations with the v.a. and there would also be reorganizations to try to simplify the department's structure whic

last night on cbs' "60 minutes," the new head of the v.a. of the changes, including firings and hirings. >> how many doctors and nurses and medical professionals do you need to hire right now? >> if we could do it today, we would tell you we probably need about 28,000 is what we said in our committee testimony. >> i'm sorry. 28,000? >> yes. but wait a minute -- >> how long is that going to take? >> well, it's going take time because every adverse outcome that gets amplified by the media doesn't help me. >> drew grich griffin broke the story of delays. >> he amplified. >> drew, talk to me about the layoffs here. when all is said and done, how many people can lose their jobs here? >> well, john, let's be clear. these aren't layoffs. what secretary mcdonald has talked about is he's got a list of 35 people he'd like to fire that he sent to the senate committee and he said he's got another naughty list of about a thousand that he could get rid of. these are not doctors and nurses. the problem with the v.a. has been management, not care, but the m

the new v.a. secretary tells us how he intends to fix veterans affairs after thousands of vets were forced to wait for care. >> we don't want any harm to our veterans. >> pelley: fire in every direction. carter evans takes us inside the yarnell tragedy with newly released video of the day 19 firefighters were killed. and vladimir duthiers with the photographs of hugh mangum. in jim crow south, he saw no difference between black and white. >> she has a simple dress on but she looks so regal. i would love to sit down and talk with her and learn about her life. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. this is our western edition. folks in the upper midwest must have thought they had slept until january this morning. they were the first to get hit by arctic air from the polar vortex. there were hundreds of crashes on snowy highways. temperatures in eight northern states are running way below normal, and over the next few days, temperatures

we have seen the scandals at the v.a. it looks like the obama administration finally has a handle on that. rob mcdonald said yesterday that there is a huge restructuring. the suicide rate is still too high. too many americans don't really care that much. >> a small percentage of families are directly affected. i am more optimistic in the sense that people recognize there is a problem. the v.a. scandal was a bit galvanizing. i'm hoping this could be an area of bipartisan work because washington has to fix it. it has to come from congress. not just spending money, but spending it smartly. >> the only way we are going to get there as if we have a draft again. here are three things that happened to obama and vladimir putin today. the two leaders planted some trees. they spoke with each other briefly about iran, syria, and ukraine. vladimir putin was spotted lending his coat. he was confronted by tony abbott, who demanded an apology. barack obama did not have a great day either. he turned down the limo service that other world

when i left it was the worst i've ever seen. >> reporter: for six years he worked in the v.a. dental laboratory making denial urs implants and prosthesis. >> i know a lot of the sacrifices for this country. >> reporter: under guidelines it is reserved for special veterans. not every vet qualifies. in fact, he must be a p.o., with or 100% disabled or meet specific need based criteria. he witnessed those veterans waiting incredibly long periods. >> how long were some of these cases? >> the longest was three years. three years and running. a man waiting three years for dent urds. he was frustrated and retired last year. >> one gentleman in particular. he didn't have his dentures. he was telling me that he was so tired of drinking his food. >> don't believe him? then listen to this insider who still works at the v.a. >> the waiting period is just unreal. >> the insider asked to be disguised and his voice altered because he fears retaliation. >> no, sir has changed. >> we've object tained companies of these logs looking at how sentencive the backlog is. take a look at these pictures

alexander. >> reporter: with veterans gathering at the nation's monuments to honor those who have served, the v.a. today announced sweeping plans to better serve them in the wake of a system-wide scandal over falsified records and delayed care. >> we call that reorganization my v.a., because that's how we want veterans to view it. >> reporter: three months into the job the new v.a. secretary bob mcdonald is tapping into his private sector experience as former ceo of proctor & gamble. today in a message to all 330,000 v.a. employees, mcdonald pledged to create a new customer service organization to services, including expanding public-private partnerships. and to give 9 million veterans enrolled in the v.a. a single point of contact for care. >> it's all about one-on-one personal touch. we've got to make it easy for our veterans to take advantage of our services and to be able to navigate what appears to be a complex system. >> reporter: to fix the problems, mcdonald wants to hire 28,000 medical professionals and is looking to fire 1,000 staffer who is he says violated v.a. policies. but will it b

it's why general shinseki, the former v.a. secretary, stepped down. it's why we have the criminal investigations going on around the country. why aren't you actually firing these people instead of preparing to fire these people? here's what he said. >> as the new secretary of the v.a., why would i want to take a long period of time to get this done? it's not in my interest, it's not in the veterans' interest, and it's not in the interest of the members of congress. >> the secretary said he's hamstrung by the rules of the federal government and labor laws that surround it, randi, still a lot of criticism coming to this new secretary because he's been on on the job a while now and we still have these people in phoenix who are on administrative leave, basically paid vacation. in pittsburgh who were involved with the scandal there who are still being paid and not too many being fired. in fact, the really upper ranks who have been responsible for this have quietly been retired with all benefits. so there is criticism here, but the secretary says he's going

. >>> as the v.a. etary announces plans to re-organize and revamp the system, i'm talking to local veterans about what it means to them. that's next. - ( helicopter whirring ) - ( roars ) ( siren wails ) ( pop music playing ) ♪ when you're ready ♪ ready, ready, ready ♪ come and get it ♪ get it, get it ♪ when you're ready, come and get it ♪ ♪ na na na na ♪ na na na na na na na ♪ ♪ when you're ready, come and get it ♪ ♪ na na na na... female announcer: it's a great big world and it can all be yours. here and only here. ♪ come and get it. >>> i'm tim furlong live in skyforce 10 over southwest philadelphia where you see a car and trolley have collided at 47th and --. at least one vehicle and trolley there. eight minor injuries have been reported in the last couple minutes. we saw a woman with two small children get into the back of an ambulance. the people on the trolley don't appear to be seriously injured. eight minor injuries have been reported. a woman with two small children have left in an ambulance.

at the v.a. there isn't that. the number of veterans they're seeing. the incentive don't change that. if no one is held accountable -- >> which we have seen. >> if you didn't have good ratings, you wouldn't fight to do better. >> there would be other people on the couch. >> correct. that's the right incentive for to you do your job right. that does in the exist at the v.a. >> no transparency as well. >> that's right. >> you know why it's not going to get fixed any time soon? this is not an election year now. >> that's right. that's what we're fighting to change. at cba, we're pounding the drum. we leased a task force with bill frist and other folks to do systemic reform of the department of veterans affairs. you can nip around the margins of the failed bureaucracy. you have to give veterans real choice and empower them. the jonathan gruber, the most offensive part is he thinks we're all stupid. he would also think veterans are too stupid to choose what kind of care they want. why can't they choose their air? it's

the veteran. we're calling it my v.a. the reason i like calling it my v.a. is i want the veterans to think of the v.a. as their v.a., my v.a. they own it. it's theirs. we're there for them. >> the overhaul follows the v.a. hospital scandal. administrators covered up evidence that tens of thousands of veterans had to wait months for medical care. >>> in other news, police still have not tracked down the suspects behind a shooting and robbery in aspen hill. it was just after 9:00 last night when three suspects forced their way into a home in the cinnamon run apartment complex last night off connecticut avenue. a fight broke out and gunshots were fired. two people were hurt inside the apartment. one victim and one suspect were both rushed to the hospital with nonlife threatening injuries. two suspects as we said are still on the run. >>> crews are working to repair a broken water main that's also in aspen hill. a 10-inch pipe burst around 5:00 last night. it's located near the intersection of connecticut and georgia avenue. it wasn't until 10:30 that wssc worker