the va spokeswoman went on to say that the long wait times are unacceptable, that the va knows they're unacceptable, and they're working to make the process more efficient and more accurate. that back and forth happened last year, and that family that took their complaints to youtube did eventually get their claim resolved. i don't know about the spokeswoman. the va, of course, has promised they'll try to do better. well, just this month, the center for investigative reporting found that the va is making so many errors when it processes veterans claims, and the backlog of claims is so long that 53 veterans are dying every day now while they are waiting to receive word on their disability benefits. these are veterans of all wars, veterans of all ages. but 53 every day. and that is not just some weird way of parsing the statistics to make a shocking-sounding statement. it is so common for american veterans to die while waiting on their disability claims that there is an alliterative phrase that people use to describe it. they call it "delay, deny, wait till i die." quote, the common refr

. & obtaining benefits from the va has always been like pulllng teeth. ss caaled the veterans benefits & manaaement systee as thought to be the answer to many, many takes to process vvterans claams. as it turns outt-- that new, costlyyssstem is a complete failure -- making it far worse than it ws before. [sot joseph sots]ii 50:19 "one progrrm after anooher, after &the only ones being hurt by phis are, our vettrans."trt=09 [va eexeriors]the va spent 273 pmillion dollars for software 3 to digitiil and inimize errors. but as phillip swarts, with the waahington guardian, discovered -- the vaafailed to propprly test the softwa. [take sot phillip ]sot in 51 "iivestigators in the of oofice of inspectoo general aren't sureethat the system ccn be fixed and they are worried that it miiht need to - be scrapped and compleely start back from square one." 3 new ssstem?[standup]sot in - "va employees told innestigators - under the old 'paperwook process itttook about four minutes to prrcess a claim. under the shhny, new takes 18 minuues to do thh &psame work."trt=[broll

there's actually insurance available through the va, only for him and not for his family. urance, president bush signed that into law in 2008. and he didn't know about it and didn't get it. part of the problem is there are some services out there, but the dod is not very good at communicating that to the vets. >> alisyn: joining us now to talk about all of this, the ceo of concerned veterans for america, hi, pete. >> hi, how are you doing? thanks for having me. >> alisyn: what an expose' on so many levels, this guy, phil bronstein says he checked and rechecked many sources and this is the shooter of usama bin laden. how can this hero go without a pension, go without benefits, go without health care? how is that possible? >> well, his story is very powerfulfully exemplifies many dysfunctions and difficulties our warriors are facing when they come off the battlefield. in the transition process sometimes happens in a matter of days with little information as he powerfully demonstrated and also in the va system which while it may be caring for him isn't always able it to care f

recently before i retired from the va, i was the coordinator for incarcerated veterans. i've also worked with the homeless veterans in the street of san francisco. [speaker not understood] just got here a year, he was faking. i knew people on the street. for me i see myself speaking for the voiceless veterans. there are veterans here that need help and [speaker not understood] shocking warriors, i call them. from grenada to vietnam to -- on and on and on, all veterans -- [speaker not understood]. we guys go to war, come back and we kind of dismiss them. for me, i was drafted. i was pissed, but i went. a lot of veterans need help. for me, currently i'm covering a project in the jail. [speaker not understood] for the last couple of years. and here in the city we're talking about starting a veterans court which is something i think is well overdue, at least veterans in san francisco. so they can get a fair shake in court. things are happening due to the military service. thank you. >> thank you. thank you. >> i have a question. >> you have a question? sorry. supervisor cohe

recently before i retired from the va, i was the coordinator for incarcerated veterans. i've also worked with the homeless veterans in the street of san francisco. [speaker not understood] just got here a year, he was faking. i knew people on the street. for me i see myself speaking for the voiceless veterans. there are veterans here that need help and [speaker not understood] shocking warriors, i call them. from grenada vi

recently before i retired from the va, i was the coordinator for incarcerated veterans.

it all starts with going to the va. there's a whole community of veterans that just want to help you out. it's for the guys who couldn't come back, you owe it to them to live well. because they're not here with their families. a new film airing on pbs offers a fascinating look at silcon valley before the go-go days of the internet boom. filmmaker randall maclowry of the new documentary "silicon valley" is here via skype. good morning to you. how far back does your film go? > > good morning and thank you for having me. our film starts in the mid-50s. that is the time when a gentleman byt the name of william shockley, who was one of the coinventors of the transistor, moved to california and set up shop. and along with him he brought some of the best young minds in science and engineering at the time, and from that group of people, about a year after shockley started, they broke off and started their own company, kind of the first prototype of start-ups that would be followed many times over in silicon valley. robert noyce

it all starts with going to the va. there's a whole community of veterans that just want to help you out. it's for the guys who couldn't come back, you owe it to them to live well. because they're not here with their families. you're busy beyond belief. so what do you do to get through the day? you have your daily to-do list, of course. just check off the tasks as each one gets done. but you know, there may be a better way to organize your day. through writing, consulting and speaking, barry molz helps businesses large & small get unstuck, and you have been doing some reading and thinking about this. what's wrong, barry, with the list method? > > well, to-do lists are just all nonsense, bill. what do you do? you get your to-do list, and at the end of the day, what do you do? maybe you've checked a few things off, but then you just keep re-copying it over and over again every single day, and it makes you feel bad. you don't really get anything done. you are busy, but not productive. > kind of a slave to the list. > > it

in fact, mikulski said baltimore had the worst record if the entire va system. she said an entirely new system that will share information eel troncally will help -- electronically will help. >> it will use the best tools of technology that have been tried in other field offices. by june 10th of this year we'll have a fully automated system that our veterans and those who adjudicate the claims can us. >> mikulski said the budget to help handle veteran claims doubled to $2 billion. the va said they're also bringing in experts from other offices to get baltimore up to speed. >> now you can go to tuhc. towson university is, t.ing the campus to harford county. the school is opening a satellite building across from harford community college. plans are now approved. students can attend at harford community and easily transition to towson. despite the new partnership, that new building is all about towson. >> everything about the building will be about towson university, so while the instructors, the curriculum, the books will be towson university. >> all right. constru

it all starts with going to the va. there's a whole community of veterans that just want to help you out. it's for the guys who couldn't come back, you owe it to them to live well. because they're not here with their families. and there's a big advantage parents can give their kids -- making sure they get active at least 60 minutes each day. studies show that physical activity not only helps kids stay healthy, it can enhance important skills, like concentration and problem solving, which can improve academic performance. this means physical activity can help your kids in the most important game of all -- life. film studios are hoping for a "love connection" with moviegoers. three films are opening on this valentine's day. our movie guy is here to tell us which ones he thinks will win your heart, and your money, of course. starting with "safe haven." and they are really playing this up. it is a true-blue valentine's movie. > > yeah. as we have seen over the last couple of years, the nicholas sparks brand has really been

hell, the va does that on a daily basis. ad to believe that the department spokesperson said that they crush the souls of bureaucracy. but they can never say that publicly. and the staff would have to believe that the head of the department of affairs plans to award the tan beret of the army rangers to all gitmo detainees. if he are going to represent the army in the classroom i want them to look sharp doing it. and if the staff read the article on the duffle blog which by now is a humor website for veterans if the staff read that article they would have read this quote from a gitmo prisoner. this is [ bleep ] cried prisoner sa 212. i filled out all of the forms and i was enrolled in school and they said it was fine if i didn't pay up front. now i have been dropped from all of my classes and the school hasn't been payed. i would rather be sprayed with a firehose than wait for the va to paid. that article provoked mitch mcconnell's staff to send a letter to the department of defense asking if the story is true. thanks to "wire

osha faulted the va center for not providing vaccines. the va center says since then, it has taken several actions to remedy the problems. >>> only on 2, our exclusive ktvu field poll shows governor jerry brown is enjoying his highest approval rating since being elected two years ago. 31% say they do not approve of his performance. the same poll found 48% of voters think the state is headed in the right direction. that's the highest percentage in five years. however, 42% of californians think the state is heading in the wrong direction. >>> the san francisco giants will soon begin their quest for another world series title. see how their success could cost you, even if you never go to a game. >> clear skies out there tonight, but it's going to get cold. temperatures in the >>> the sack -- success of the san francisco giants is leading to a spike. not just in the price of tickets, but for parking. live outside at&t park about how much meters are increasing. >> reporter: julie, as you know, come game day, parking in this area, and driving i

plans to improve the compensation claims, that backlogged the va office. she is hosting the press conference with secretary of vee rans affairs -- veterans affairs. stay with us on twitter and abc2news.com. >>> it's a final resting place for your beloved pet. the pet cemetery is not getting the care it deserves. the community association will meet to address the situation. speaking before the group, is jim jones who documented the vandalism of the decrepe decrepit cemetery. the meeting will happen at johnny d's lounge. a virus is sickening people overseas. what does it mean for us? it could make its way over here, we will give you the latest. how do we take an unpolished room and make it shine? we get doing... ...with a store full of ways to get it done. we can all throw on our work clothes... ...and throw out any doubt. because right now's the time to take those rooms from... ..."think i can do this?" to... ..."let me show you what i just did." more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. outsmart your budget with glass and stone mosaic til

is the va prepared for all of the soldiers coming back and the long-term care they are going to needer types of mental illness. >> they are and they aren't. they are in the sense that the va medical system and va mental health care have a far more if it's indicated expertise than we give them credit for. they aren't and this goes back to some of the discussions in newtown and sandy hook. let's fix mental health. you have to incent i'ivncentivi. otherwise if you don't financially incentivize folks to stay in the military to be treating veterans, to get the best doctors to provide the best services, then are you going to have a community that naturally fills the void and people like chris kyle may be exceptionally qualified, but they are in harm's way. >> i'm sorry. >> please. >> the va is, you know, a great place to go, but access to the va for our veterans isn't what people think. they spend hours and -- >> we have done so many stories of that. especially when it comes to suicide. >> we need to do a better job of getting facilities in the population where our veterans are. >>> we'll

osha faulted the va center for not providing vaccines. the va center says since then, it has taken several actions to remedy the problems. >>> only on 2, our exclusive ktvu field poll shows governor jerry brown is enjoying his highest approval rating since being elected two years ago. 31% say they do not approve of his performance. the same poll found 48% of voters think the state is headed in the right direction. that's the highest percentage in five years. however, 42% of californians think the state is heading in the wrong direction. >>> the san francisco giants will soon begin their quest for another world series title. see how their success could cost you, even if you never go to a game. >> clear skies out there tonight, but it's going to get cold. temperatures in the 20s in some places. >> the club drug with the innocent sounding name, sold to bay area teens. the side-effects that remain after the high is gone. mom, i invited justin over for lunch. good. no, not good. he's a vegetarian and he's going to be here in 20 minutes! [ mom

i think that intervention, while worthy, and we are working on it at the state level and with the va, is still, in my view, is still experimental. >> thank you. one last thing. i really thought it was really off base for the ranking member to use your willingness to come here to testify to moan about his weekly commute. [laughter] >> let me introduce a man who has already spoken for -- reintroduce him. and that is dr. reinhardt. he is the james madison professor of political economy at princeton university, and contributing writer to "the new york times" economix blog. thank you for being with us. >> i am very honored by it. i should have added that i was delivered by a midwife, and of course my mother. i once told that to a member of the american medical association. he said, it shows. i am not sure what he meant. i divided my written statement into three parts. is our medical capability efficiently used? the answer is no. the second is, what public policy levers does congress have, given that we want more primary-care physicians, to move them into that field, and also to practice wh

the federal government for over three years have been involved in vasr, va supportive housing and like section eight and provided to veterans and in san francisco we have done a good job at locating chronically homeless veterans and a year ago from the time of with processing and moving was many days and there were veterans applied 100 times and rejected 100 times and we are living in a city that obviously has strong forces with individuals, a lot of young people are coming to work in the tech industry, but they're making good money and have 750 credit scores and a veteran coming out of homelessness is not going to compete successfully so we are done work in championing veterans and i want to say in the chinese american communities they are respectful of veterans and open to renting to people but we realize we have to be aggressive so you have seen veterans commons open in the last two months and housing for chronically homeless veterans and we're excited at a building at 21st and mission which i know the director knows where majoule used to be located and we are able to rent all units

incredible story how he left the va ladies and gentlemen and his father booted him across the river and said don't come back until you get your education so he did this and he walked into this urban area and everybody was looking at him if you ask most men there in the back, what's the most proudest moment in your life, most of the men will say the birth of my first born son. not him, he will tell you the proudest moment in my life is to see my two daughters going to school here in the village. the woman on the extreme far right, she's the first girl to get an education in that valley of about 4 thousand people. she first wrote with sticks in the sand and now she's her second year of medical school scoring in the 90's. her father said you should not become a doctor it's really messy but she's determined to go back to her village and become a physician to help her community and it's an incredible story of how like her father she's persevered. this girl is from the afghan border valley of about 4,000 people. she was the first girl to get an education in our village. the communities there

and the va -- virginia texting while driving law is heading to the governor's desk.e to pull drivers over for that alone. also raises the fine to $250 for the first offense and $500 for the second one. a similar law bobs are already in the district and maryland. in late night tv great is headed back to washington. we will tell you what conan o'brien is packing his bags for the nation's capital and when you can't expect him. >> and coming up later tonight -- >> it is called out there, it is tough enough. but could use imagine if you were actually allergic to the cold? it happens. people allergic to a draft coming through an open door, to touching a call so the, to going grocery shopping in the freezer section. sometimes of the allergy is worse in the heat of the summer. >> the 85th annual academy awards are on sunday, and excitement building around hollywood as preparations move to the final stage. academy award nominee seth macfarlane preparing for the big moment. this would be his first time as host. he said he reached out to a former oscar host to get a few tips. >

the va had 127 conferences that cost 72.7 million dollars. >> they he were a conference king and whenking to the general, the secretary, he said look, i've got a cultural change i have to make and somewhat defended it, but it's worse than what it appears. we asked for reporting over $100,000. it's a 15 billion dollar expenditure. we're looking literally-- >> we're looking at the tip. >> greta: if you had 99,000 conference, it's not reflected here. >> thaest's correct, if you broke it to it won't reported. and one of the most egregious, but it wasn't the largest. $150,000 done by the office of personnel management, we understand those are the people that oversee people in the government, they're supposed to make the rules for government. slash, the ig. it was the inspector general of that organization that had not one, but two conferences over $100,000 and one of them, out of $150,000 in expenses, $53,000 spent here in d.c. was for a vent planner. >> so the staffers could order the stuff. >> from a hotel here in the district. >> greta: equipment, can i be sarcastic, haven't they heard

it all starts with going to the va. there's a whole community of veterans that just want to help you out. it's for the guys who couldn't come back, you owe it to them to live well. because they're not here with their families. daniel stecich of tjm investments joins us to take a look at a couple of stocks you are currently trading. good to have you on the show this morning. > > thanks, glad to be here. > you have a homebuilder and an automaker. let's start with the automaker. it is ford. what do you see in the charts for this stock? > > you know what i like about ford is it is the only one of the three majors that didn't take any money from the government during the bailouts back in 2008, 2009. and it is a pretty solid company. they are getting their debt under order, and now are starting to be profitable. the biggest thing against them right now is their european operations, but i think with the u.s. sales, they are going to do all right. > what is your position that you currently have on? > > i am long position, just o

because we have got over 900,000 waiting in line for their claims right now at the va, because the guy like this does not know where to turn, the v.a. provides 5 years of combat health care for a guy like this, there are ways for transition assistance but a lot of people fall through the cracks, the system is full of holes we pump more money into problem without fundamentally reforming the way that va does, have you a pencil and paper bureaucracy in many places, they do not transition smoothly. from department of defense, have you look at department of veterans affairs and say, we're going to change the way we do business, because we should be customer focused, to a guy like this who served his nation for 16 years, he could have waited to 20, but it does not change what we owe him. >> we owe him a lot, his wife said she is thinking about changing her name there say huge danger for them, right, you know, if anybody finds out who they are, they have a bolt bag in the house to run out at any time, they live in fear, with no help, i think it is, just embarrassing and it is a shame. we shou

opportunity to participate in that equity even if they are not home own owners or building owns and that is the vas imagine of the customer and is so you get a progressive social impact they same time you have a high targeted complication and investment for an optimal performance and that is really the core concept here. >> all right we are 15 minutes into the presentation any other question? >>> mr. courtney? >>> i'm going to take the liberty and go into the presentation if i may can i get into one of the documents. >> whatever you want. >>> so i see here a document that is i believe fourth in a series of organizational charts. it's libel and i don't have my glasses but it's one 72 out of 442. it's the program that maximizes green jobs page and it has the three color coordinated references public over site and control, peck sector innovation and implementation and maximize local green -- would you speak belief on the maximized local green jobs as it relates to the local enforcement and job training please? >> yes this program we are projecting to create 3,000 jobs per year that would be generate b

they would go to the va and have another exam and disability rating. is being merged into one evaluation system. it has an acronym, i.d.e .s. people are frustrated at how long the disability rating takes. ideally, it would be one i desk -- one exam. host: mary, and toshiba -- mary, ky. caller: i have a lot of people that have been in wars. i just got a grandson that joined the army. i have known people that have talked to me about their experience. i think a good suggestion would be -- we have a lot of federal land. if they would allow some kind of a situation to be built on this property where the soldiers could come back to where there are trees, grass, flowers, water, and as a group, be able to communicate with each other first because they will all the talk to each other. they want to talk to their bodies. or someone who understands what in the heck they went through. you can go to for difference psychiatrists. each will give you a different disorder. guest: i appreciate those thoughts. there have been good efforts that have done things similar to