it's really hard to fire people in the va hospitals. so you want to get the good guys in there and you want to get better care. >> but it's not changed. you reached the point that va hospitals are dominated practically like no other government bureaucracy by public sector unions that make it almost impossible to fire people. >> congress passed a law. >> you can't get any kind of dynamic change in that sort of environment and to rick's point that we have technology, look, a machine today is like a mainframe computer 30 years ago. we need a revolution that completely changes the way we think about creating and delivering health care products and services. it could be really great. one of the union agreements with the va talk about unions is 316 pages. you talk to doctors there, it's impossible to get real accountability. >> and i know rick is against monopolies in the private sector. the worst are monopolies in the public sector. we want to get rid of them. >> it's not a knock on government to say that anything the government wants well,

is a lot of fraud in everything. >> no -- >> with all due respect, many years i have toured the va hospital, and -- >> that means you know everything about the va. >> do you work there? >> we all know people that work somewhere. >> you can't say the entire va is -- just fraud. >> if you talk to doctors, and -- >> the nsa -- va is broken. >> the administration is protecting the idea that ultimately the government should be in charge of health care. if somehow they were going to have a mea culpa, let's offshore this to the private sector, maybe that hits to the heart of the ideology, and maybe you have to protect a broken system -- >> if you are going to put more money and continue to operate it, they have to go in and change the way the finances are spread. >> regardless of how you feel about the va, fair skies the way the government or anything treats soldiers, how do you think it's going to affect the health care? it's going to control us. >>> not many people seeing this, but at least nancy is. >> it's intact and beautiful. wondering what that is? that, my friends, is everything. and with

va hospitals serve an important and unique role but veterans should be allowed to choose where, when and from whom they receive treatment. if a va center is inconveniently located, veterans should be free to choose another doctor. this week the senate approved a bipartisan bill to empower veterans with the freedom they deserve. under this plan, veterans living over 40 miles away from va clinic would be able to receive their care somewhere closer if they so choose to do so. those who cannot receive a timely va appointment would automatically have the option to see another doctor outside of the va. bureaucrats would no longer override veterans' choices. the bill also holds va accountable by making it easier to fire anyone who falsifies or manipulates data and makes it much more transparent by requiring disclosure of medical outcomes. passage of this bill and new leadership at the va are just the first steps. congress cannot just hope the problems will now go away. the reason veterans' care has suffered for so long is that congress has failed to hold the va accountable. in the last four

toll from problems at va hospitals. may be many times greater than you thought. rs, now at olive garden. dive into our new pappardelle pescatore with the best of the bay. prepared from scratch daily and always served with unlimited salad and breadsticks. taste the flavors of the season at olive garden.

yet, not a single one of those va hospitals did the va agree with that. the office of special counsel has 50 pending cases alleging threats to patient health or safety. let me give you an example of one case. brockton, massachusetts, a veteran with chronic mental illness checks into a facility in 2003, doesn't receive psychiatric evaluation until 2011. eight years later. despite that fact, the va says, you know what, probably not any harm done to this patient. the osc says the va is routinely saying that these problems, although they are problems, are not affecting patient care and the office of -- >> drew, doesn't make sense, i do not understand how this report can say one thing and then completely say another. that these are horrific problems but, you know, everyone's okay. how does that work? >> this is what the office of special counsel is saying to the president. let's go beyond the va. let's go to the president. mr. president, president obama, we, the special prosecutors, in these cases, the prosecutors assigned to help the whistleblowers, no longer

hospital. we have a va clinic, but do not have a hospital. our patient-to-doctor ratio is on par with syria or panama. it's a developing country's doctor-to-patient ratio. we are having a hard time already. i like the idea of more incentives and ways to attract doctors and providers to our community, but when i meet with doctors, to your excellent suggestion of listening to the providers, they complain of having to perform functions that could much better be done by clerical staff. one doctor told me he actually had to write out a prescription for a veteran to be picked up by a van, taken to the greyhound station where he boards a bus to go to albuquerque, new mexico, five hours upstream on the rio grande. he says why can't somebody else do that? i would love to get each of your comments and thoughts about how we do more to support the current providers we already have, who by the way i think are doing be a excellent job. i do spot inspections in the parking lot of our vha clinic and talk to veterans leaving. i have not heard from a veteran y

. >> i actually want to focus on the va hospital scandal right now, sir. i understand you visited the hospital there in north las vegas this past week. so what did you hear from the veterans there? >> well, i had an opportunity, as i often do, to just drop by and meet with the veterans at our local va hospital which is located in nevada's fourth congressional district. and what i heard from many of our veterans, are that they are frustrated with the fact that they have to wait an hour or more when they have a scheduled appointment for their medical care. that they do have very long wait times in order to receive their benefits. and while there are plans in place to fix it, it's not happening fast enough. and so while we may have a resignation now by the secretary, and that is one step, now it's incumbent upon congress to fix what is systematically wrong with the va. and one of the things that's wrong is a lack of funding and resources for our va hospitals and our benefits offices. >> you bring up secretary shinseki. are you -- were you supportive of his re

because at the end of the day, it's my view, that in many parts of the country, the va hospitals and clinics are simply understaffed. they don't have the capability of providing care in a timely manner well. address that. we also in this bill -- provide funding for 26 new major medical facilities around the country which have kind of been held on the shelf for a number of years. we are going to got out and build them. that should help a lot of communities around the country in terms of providing good care to the veterans. >> when the house republicans passed their own piece of veterans legislation, one of the thing that they really foregrounded and, and pushed to the top of their priorities list, was essentially making it easier to fire va personnel now. you had raised the concern that

not like other va hospitals across the country.eeting comes just days after a scathing report found 1,700 veterans using a va hospital and they were kept on secret wait list with the majority waiting more than two weeks to be seen. the report cited similar problems at va hospitals nationwide. established patients usually have to wait five to six days to be seen at the palo alto facility. >>> in the meantime the acting va secretary will visit the phoenix facility today. sloan gibson will meet with staff members and talk about the allegations that numerous veterans actually died waiting to get appointments. gibson who took over friday after eric shinseki resigned said his department reached out to veterans who were placed on those secret waiting lists. >>> we are edging so close to the official start of summer now. will we see esummer's temperatures. let's check in with christina loren and a look at your forecast. >> you must have a friend in weather. not just a fair weather friend in me, sam. taking a live look at san francisco and

the access to va care and that is quite different from when the veterans are in the care of the va hospitalse have to see, is this some bad gangrenous limbs of the va system? and other parts of it are doing well and the vets like it, that's something that we ought to investigate and find out about, and we ought to determine if this is survivable. from the looks of it, four years of this sort of thing going on, there's a lot of people saying let's throw it out. maybe throw the baby out with the bathwater. >> it's early in the process, but this goes on. thank you gentlemen very much. in the meantime, michael bloomberg doesn't strike me as some raging conservative, but he did raise a point about liberal bias on college campuses. >> worldwatch education must not be an education in the art of unlimited cash back. let that phrase sit with you for a second. unlimited. as in, no limits on your hard-earned cash back. as in no more dealing with those rotating categories. the quicksilver card from capital one. unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase, every day. don't settle for anything les

the access to va care and that is quite different from when the veterans are in the care of the va hospitalse have to see, is this some bad gangrenous limbs of the va system? and other parts of it are doing well andthe vets like it, that's something that we ought to investigate and find out about, and we ought to determine if this is survivable. from the looks of it, four years of this sort of thing going on, there's a lot of people saying let's throw it out. maybe throw the baby out with the bathwater. >> it's early in the process, but this goes on. thank you gentlemen very much. in the meantime, michael bloomberg doesn't strike me as some raging conservative, but he did raise a point about liberal bias on college campuses. >> worldwatch education must not be an education in the art of >> this spring it has been disconcerting to see a number of college commencements withdraw or have their invitations rescinded after protest from students and shockingly from senior faculty and administrators who should know better. in each of these cases, liberals silenced a voice and they denied an honorary

hospital. we have a va clinic, but do not have a hospital. our patient-to-doctor ratio is on par with syria or panama. it's a developing country's doctor-to-patient ratio. we are having a hard time already. i like the idea of more incentives and ways to attract doctors and providers to our community, but when i meet with doctors, to your excellent suggestion of listening to the providers, they complain of having to perform functions that could much better be done by clerical staff. one doctor told me he actually had to write out a prescription for a veteran to be picked up by a van, taken to the greyhound station where he boards a bus to go to albuquerque, new mexico, five hours upstream on the rio grande. he says why can't somebody else do that? i would love to get each of your comments and thoughts about how we do more to support the current providers we already have, who by the way i think are doing be a excellent job. i do spot inspections in the parking lot of our vha clinic and talk to veterans leaving. i have not heard from a veteran y

>> and coming forward in a va hospital in arizona. recently tried to conceal the detects o deaths of veterans. [ laughter ] smoke? nah, i'm good. [ male announcer ] celebrate every win with nicoderm cq, the unique patch with time release smartcontrol technology that helps prevent the urge to smoke all day long. help prevent your cravings with nicoderm cq. >> a new study finds that folks with bachelors and associates degrees earn more money over their lifetimes even factoring what college costs them. that research comes from the federal reserve bank in new york. and a third of all college graduates remain underemployed most of their careers. >> and roughly an hour away. law makers from both pears and chambers are sitting down together and agree on one simple bill what most agree is a broken health care system. they have passed separate bills to make it easy to practice health care in hospitals and bombshell new allegations and a new whistle blower coming forward and keeper of the so- called secret list and accusing others in facility o

he was considered a favorite to stepped down last month over scandal involving va hospital wait times veterans. some veterans were waiting more than 100 days to get an appointment and show many va hospitals hid that fact by keeping the waited list under wraps. >> state of arizona can treatment people suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and medical marijuana. that is result of court ruling this week. health service direct tore has a month to accept the ruling, change it or reject it altogether. and he says he'll study specific of plan before making a decision. >> fire company in delaware county marked a very important milestone today brook line fire company celebrated 100th anniversary today with parade through the streets of havertown. meteorologist david murphy serving as grand marshall as a thank you for operation 6abc save a life campaign. takes long running effort to promote fire receivety and district smoke detecttors to homes across the region. david enjoying sunshine. >> yes. >> like many of us and more to come. >> it was, walter,mentty of sun. temperatures above aver

. >> on wait times at va hospitals, the inspector general for department of veterans affairs, recommended prosecuting officials who broke the law. and manipulated data. the va released its own data today, 125,000 americans are still waiting for va health care. it's getting rid of its two week scheduling goal for appointmen appointments. mike viqueria has more. >> seeing eric shinseki lose his job in a constantly e engulfing the veterans administration. new patient primary care the worst facility, honolulu, hawaii, 145 days, a dubious distinction. specialist care, the longest wait time there harlogen texas, 125 days. durham north carolina having the longest 104 days. for specialist care. monday evening making it more rare, a number of conclusions coming out of a hearing held this night. expected to see veterans the appointment time the outside being 14 days, that has proven to be unreal iivelg. these facilities are overwhelmed and, that provided the incentive for some of the facilities to cook the books. antiquated computer systems whereby the appointments are taken care of. they have got

the dynamic for all of those, to include, by the way, world war ii veterans that are still in va hospitals today and getting va treatment as outpatients. >> by the way, it could explain, colonel, to your point why it's been difficult to find a replacement to take over the va job because he or she is quickly discovering that there's no backup and inability to fire people and punish people so they're stepping into a hornets' nest that by its very design is meant to breed incompetence. >> presidents pay lip service to this. one of the questions that i wanted to ask general shinseki, who i now know is named rick, when he was secretary of the veterans administration, how many private meetings did he have with barack obama? how many times did barack obama pick up the phone and say, you know, rick, i campaigned on fixing the system. come on over here and give me an update. i'm not talking one of these pro forma cabinet meetings that take place once every quarter at the white house, i'm talking about a meeting that says tell me your problems. the president of the united states is going to use the

historic wait times at va hospitals. billions of wasted dollars. widespread criminal activity. excessive salaries and bonuses for va workers. whistleblowers facing fear of retaliation and the list goes on and on. the report also takes a swipe at congress for not doing enough to stop it. senator coburn authored that report. he joins me now in this first on fox. senator, welcome to the program, sir. >> well, thank you, stewart. >> beyond -- this obviously goes beyond long wait times. let's go through the list of what you found in this report. widespread criminal activity. what's that, sir? >> well, it's anything from harassing patients to overutilization of police, of stealing veterans' things, to rape, to accosting patients, to ignoring patients. all criminal activities. >> so you're talking about the standard of care. that what's happening to our veterans when they go in the va system. you also say billions, plural, of wasted dollars. what's that? >> well, here's how you can look at it is just on four hospitals where $1.3 billion over on the construction of four va hospitals. an

of the va hospital sees in the annals of family medicine published two years ago. it is not about the number of doctors. it is about actually working in getting the job done. we have some great physicians in the v.a. system. we have some great hospitals, but we have problems. this bill is about addressing those problems. vix i will be very brief. as you can imagine -- >> i will be very brief. if you can imagine, being a veteran in the phoenix area and waiting an average of hundred 15 days for an appointment, some longer, and if you can imagine living in my hometown, snowflake, and having to get drive hours for a checkup, this bill will make sure they can see somebody else. that is a we have to do to fix the system. >> questions. >> senator, thank you. technically, i am told that if right now, veterans waiting over 30 days can already access a private doctor. can you describe the mechanics of how your choice card would differ from the system in place now, and if i might, senator burr, you are on veterans affairs. he can -- can you address what happens to the funding

a lot of people consider the quality of care at the majority of va hospital to be as good or better thanther hospitals. they really figured out a lot. some of the hospitals in minnesota, cleveland, and boston provide care that will compare with any other great hospital in the country. the question is, why is the service that other hospitals not as good? if we have such great va hospital elsewhere? that is the sort of thing that people will try to get to. i don't mean to discourage people from going to the v.a. there are va hospital's that provide tremendous health care. says, how didter congress let this happen while watching? guest: there has been so much of the last few years. the one place there has not been any budget battle is the v.a. the budget tripled. congress is very concerned with all of these veterans coming back from the wars. they want to make sure they have all the service they need. we had a big uproar over walter reed. it is not a veterans hospital, the cares for people who come back from the war. that was probably 10 years ago. a lot of people do not want to be seen as

you can watch the hospital in va hospital in fresno, california.ogizing for blocking this channel. a veteran brought it to our attention of the local fox affiliate. >> i know fox has been heavy on the government things especially the va scandal. >> the hospital spokespurpose confirmed that fox was blocked from the waiting area and said it was all a misunderstanding. glad we cleared it up. >> a police force, and the pentagon with a deal too good to be refused. they are giving away military trucks. the move is drawing fire from critics. >> as the wars in iraq and afghanistan wind down. surplus military equipment is going to local police departments including hadn'teds of ambush protected vehicles. >> we go out on high risk warrants. if the situation goes bad. our officers can get in and have cover and won't be shot. >> the sheriff's office a kwoiring this was a no brainer and it didn't cost them a doim. >> it is a benefit to the taxpayer and they don't have to by that capability and ability to benefit from what the government no longer needs. >> but

the meeting comes just days after a scathing report found 1,700 veterans using a phoenix va hospital ere kept on secret waiting lists. with the majority having to wait two weeks just to be seen. the report cited similar problems at hospitals nationwide. according to palo alto weekly established patients have to wait five to six days to be seen at the palo alto facility. >>> in the meantime, the acting va secretary will visit the embattled phoenix facility today. sloan gibson will meet with staff members that hospital and talk about the allegations that numerous veterans died while waiting to get aaappointments. gibson who took over friday after secretary eric shinseki resigned said they reached out to veterans who were placed on those secret waiting lists. >>> pg&e will face new charges with the deadly 2010 pipeline explosion in san bruno. the utility company told nbc it is waiting for federal prosecutors to file a super seeding indictment. it's not clear what the new charges are. in april the utility company was indicted on charges that it knowingly violated federal pipeline safety l

altered, some even in recent weeks to hide how many people died while waiting for care at the va phoenix hospitalew coverup in the new on going va scandal, de-iced quote unquote receipts removed so veterans wouldn't have to be counted as having died while waiting for care. so even to the phoenix facility four times, are you aware of this new revelation? >> i'm not aware of the revolution. i am aware the oig is looking carefully at the deaths that occurred. i do not know of any attempts to hide deaths, congresswoman. >> phoenix is still doing this kind of stuff and you guys have had them under the microscope and physically been there four times and this is new? >> congresswoman, i don't know the details of the acquisition. >> today we finally got a response from the va, neither confirmation or denial, spokesman saying quote the allegations made in phoenix are completely unacceptable and must be investigated. there were more hearings today from the whistle blower. drew griffin has been reporting from the beginning. >> you broke the story, the allegation someone is the phoenix va is trying to hide t

by paying for non va care in addition to operating half empty hospitals va appears to be paying for two systems of care. do you know how many va hospitalsfy that description? >> i don't. >> can you give me that number? i found the ft. wayne one quickly. >> i think there are facilities that are struggling. they're older facilities not always in ft. wayne where they're in larger communities. sometimes they're in smaller communities. the population they support is small and oftentimes difficult for them to support an icu. those are difficult decisions but we need to look at our facilities where they are and we need to assure that we're using them optimally. >> and then i guess my follow-up question would be what the ig warned us about which is who is looking at those numbers to figure out, for example, in ft. wayne, those numbers for fee-basis care are skyrocketing every year. once i found out there's no icu and there's using criteria who they can take and can't take, they may have to send somebody to cross the street for a risk basis procedure because there's no icu. so who looks at those

altered, some even in recent weeks to hide how many people died while waiting for care at the va phoenix hospital that point to a new coverup in the new on going va scandal, de-iced quote unquote receipts removed so veterans wouldn't have to be counted as having died while waiting for care. so even to the phoenix facility four times, are you aware of this new revelation? >> i'm not aware of the revolution. i am aware the oig is looking carefully at the deaths that occurred. i do not know of any attempts to hide deaths, congresswoman. >> phoenix is still doing this kind of stuff and you guys have had them under the microscope and physically been there four times and this is new? >> congresswoman, i don't know the details of the acquisition. >> today we finally got a response from the va, neither confirmation or denial, spokesman saying quote the allegations made in phoenix are completely unacceptable and must be investigated. there were more hearings today from the whistle blower. drew griffin has been reporting from the beginning. >> you broke the story, the allegation someone is the phoenix va i

the joke is that if you've seen one va hospital, you've seen one va hospital. the stuff that's been going on in focus, the stuff that's been going on in seattle, that's limited to that hospital, i think. i have received excellent health care at the va. i used va education benefits to go back to graduate school and study writing. and that's how i came to found the veterans writing project. so that part of it worked for me. getting into the system and getting my case adjudicated, which was a part of where the supervisor was laughing at me, that wasn't health care, that was adjudication. and so that is get5=ng were bet. the va has recently opened an office for complimentary and alternative care, so they're looking at things like writing as therapy. i hope they'll call. i'd love to talk to them about it. we're working with the department of defense at walter walter reed teaching writing there. we're not therapists, we're writers in the writing project, but the therapists there are using writing as a tool and a program that i wrote. so so the dod gets it, the departm

with regard to capacity last year, the va served 390,000 female vets and yet, a quarter of the va hospitalsdo not have the a fulltime gynecologist on staff. a quarter. with regard to quality, half of the women veterans received medication through the va health care system that could cause birth defects. despite the fact that many are of child bearing age and the majority were not on contraception. this is much higher than would occur in the private practice. with regarded to care coordination, the vaoig said that 60% of female veterans at community clinics didn't receive the results of their normal breast cancer exam within the required two weeks which is your own policy and even more disturbingly, 45% of those results never made it into the electronic health records data system. i mean, i find this these statistics are as bad if not worse than some of the others that we've been talking about just generally speaking. and they indicate that the issues of access to quality care and proper coordination of care may be even worse for our female veterans than they are for the general population.

and i'll be honest with you, i've been out of the army for 12 years now and i haven't been to a va hospital for anything yet. and the reason i'm sort of that way is i'm fairly healthier for one thing. that's a good thing. the other thing i feel if i go i'm taking up somebody's time and space that -- a veteran that really needs the time and space to be taken care of. so i just -- i'll bide my time and maybe one day i will, but otherwise i'm willing to go across the street and i use my insurance through tri-care and things like that. so i'm okay with that. but everyone can't do that. some people might need that kind of care, like you said, go across the street. we need to provide that as part of the process, and when it comes to money, i recently saw how much we pay people that work in the va hospital in phoenix issue was stunned. we could hire 200 more people for the amount of money we're paying people out there, as an example. >> j.r., thinking about what day and black hawk down and it was a goal originally to help feed people and the poor african country, danny and buddies the middle of a

nations acting veterans affairs secretary takes steps to improve access to care at philadelphia's va hospital. secretary sloan gibson toured the hospital with congressman patrick meehan and john runyan, gibson promised to take action to make sure vets get the care and services they deserve. congress mal meehan says that is an important step. >> he talk about specifically making available care outside of the va system where it is necessary and where it needs to be ton to create timely and responsive, you and i think those are good signs. >> philadelphia va hospital recently created 100 new appointment slots to expand access by adding weekend and evening hours. >>> 5:10 the time. we have breaking news out of nigeria. witnesses say extremist have abduct 60 more girls and woman. thirty-one boys, in northeast nigeria. we will stay on top of this and bring you very latest and it comes in. boko hard ram abduct hundreds have of young laid business a month ago. >>> great white shark, was spotted in south jersey this weekend. >> we first showed you this yesterday, there was a fisherman from avalon stev

nation's acting veterans affair secretary, takes steps to improve access to care in philadelphia's va hospital. secretary sloan gibson toured the hospital with congressman pat meehan, john runyan, gibson promised to take action to make sure to get the care and services they deserve. philadelphia va hospital recently created a hundred new appointments, to expand access by adding weekend and evening hours. >>> today, capitol hill hearing will focus on the irs. and continuing a third day of investigations and interrogations. irs commissioner seen here, was grilled by lawmakers for a second time since friday about lost e-mails. irs officials say two years worth of e-mails connect to former administrators lewis learner before lost due you to a computer malfunction. her e-mails are viewed in critical as in connection to the congressional investigation in the irs accused of harshly scrutinizing tea party groups, seeking tax exempt status. >>> meantime secretary of state john kerry is spending second day in bag dade and is prepared to take military action even if baghdad delays mythical reforms. kerry

veteran whose want to see real action and real results over the scandal at the treatment delays at va hospitals. here is kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: tonight the va is a bureaucracy and crisis with veterans demanding action from florida. >> i think they should put someone in there that know what is they are doing and that really has the veterans on their side. >> reporter: to phoenix. >> i just like the veterans to be treated with some respect through the va system, and not just be used to try to get a promotion. >> reporter: in washington where one drama is over after the president accepted friday's resignation ending eric shinseki's time as va secretary. >> we're concerned that the air might get let out of the balloon and the american people will move on. >> reporter: multiple investigations are underway, falsified appointment times are a major focus. the first chapter of the internal audit finds a systemic lack of integrity within health administration facilities. one key example, 13% of va scheduling staffers said they had received instruction to enter a different date in the system than t

we have details of abuse at va hospitals.ou have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, like me, and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping me lay the groundwork. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage in many adults. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. t

as a scheduling clerk at the va hospital in san antonio, texas, he saw how appointment times were beinge excessive waits for care. he also saw how some veterans were suffering because of it. yet when he blew the whistle, he says he was shut up. >> there was never a response back, except for to get a direct order not to say anything else to anyone. >> they shut you up? >> they shut me up the very next day. the very next morning i was called into an office and told not to e-mail another person. >> reporter: the office of special counsel said it is currently investigating 50 whistleblower cases that allege threat to patient health or safety. in jackson, mississippi, whistleblowers brought forth a laundry list of complaints, including unlawful prescriptions for narcotics, unsterile medical equipment, and chronic staffing shortages. in grand junction, colorado, the drinking water was tainted with legionella bacteria. and in montgomery, alabama, a lung doctor just copied over patient readings from previous appointments in 1200 records instead of putting in current information. yet in case aft

and we have lots of great va hospitals. we're better in certain areas than anybody in the world, but we've heard the statement several times today, the va care is good. well, if you put the books on appointments, you have no idea whether the va care is good. so we don't know that it's bad, but we don't know that it's good because there's no true transparency in terms of quality outcomes in the va. there's nothing to compare it to. so if you really want to fix the va, you have to make it totally transparent, you have to give the management the capability to truly hold itself accountable, and if they do that, we'll live up to the commitment that abraham lincoln promised them. >> thank you. congresswoman brown. >> ranking member for opening for the veterans conference report. i've been on the va committee for 22 years, and let me just say that the va is one of the best systems in the united states of america as far as veterans' health care is concerned. now, i want to start out with that. i sent a letter to my colleagues for th

nation's acting veterans affairs secretary takes steps to improve access to care at philadelphia's va hospital. secretary sloan gibson toward the hospital along with congressman patrick meehan and jon runyan. gibson promised to take action to make sure vets get the care and services they deserve. congressman meehan says, that's an important step. >> he talked about specifically making available care outside of the va system where it's necessary and where it needs to be done to create timely and responsive, you know, care for the veterans so i think those are good signs. >> the philadelphia va hospital recently created 100 new appointment slots to expand access by adding weekend and evening hours. >>> and now to the crisis in iraq. secretary of state john kerry is in baghdad and warning the united states is prepared to take military action even if baghdad delays political reform. kerry met with iraq's prime minister today urging him to give more political power to political opponents. he also met with other iraqi leaders a firming washington's commitment to iraq's security. sectarian violence i

your disability must be caused by a va hospital care or medical treatment.tute of limitations. the claimant only has one year though to appeal the denial of any claim. and you can fill out application online or by contacting the va regional office. to fill out the application or find out the regional va office closest to you, go to www.va.gov. i will also put that little primmer on my facebook page this afternoon. you can go there as well. >>> apple making some major announcements. live at its worldwide developers conference. we'll have all the latest on mac's gadgets and software. can you keep up with all of it? >>> he's got the moves on the golf course but was he making any moves in the stock market that could get him into trouble now? charles payne will join us with more on phil mickelson right after this. >> i've got no problem cooperating. i've been cooperating and i've done nothing wrong. [ dennis ] it's always the same dilemma -- who gets the allstate safe driving bonus check. rock beats scissors! [ chuckles ] wife beats rock. and with two checks a ye

our investigation uncovered new allegations that a va hospital may have changed or altered patient recordso high just how many veterans died. simply waiting for care. but up next, the six-term u.s. senator facing a tough tea party challenge today. we'll take a closer look at the republican runoff in mississippi. we'll highlight some other races you need to watch today. ups is a global company, but most of our employees live in the same communities that we serve. people here know that our operations have an impact locally. we're using more natural gas vehicles than ever before. the trucks are reliable, that's good for business. but they also reduce emissions, and that's good for everyone. it makes me feel very good about the future of our company. ♪ humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional better car replacement, where if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask an insurance expert about all our benefits today, like

. >>> the senate expected to announce a bill to end long delays for veterans at va hospitals, allowing vets to seek care outside of the va if private doctors' offices, military bases or community health centers. it also calls for emergency funding to hire new doctors and nurses. so many doctors and nurses needed. this would forgive college loans for health care professionals who agree to work at va medical centers. >> that is a really, really interesting, interesting initiative there. >>> we're learning details this morning about the nsa's global surveillance program, citing documents from former nsa contractor edward snowden. "the new york times" reports the agency is building a comprehensive facial recognition database by intercepting millions of electronic images, often from e-mail, text messages, social media. the report says nsa officials believe this new technology will revolutionize how they find intelligence targets around the world. >>> president obama kicks off a four-day trip to europe today. the goal, strengthen ties with u.s. allies over the situation in ukraine. the presi

former head resign on may 30th amid the scandal about long delays and faked appointments at the va hospitals. >>> the pakistani girl who survived the death attempt by the taliban will be the recipient of the liberty medal. terrorists shot malala who was showsen as the honorary because of her continued fight for education opportunities for children around the world. the presentation ceremony will take place october 21 at the national constitution center. we'll air the ceremony on 6abc at a later date. >> warm today a little more humid and then the hot stuffer comes back. storm tracker 6 live double scan we're dry so far. as we take a look outside, it's a decent morning, might feel a tad humid to you, but as you step outside, there's not a big deal problem, obviously we're drive and cloudy skies, currently. 68 in philadelphia. 67 in wilmington, 69 in allentown, 66 in millville. we are in the low 70s in sea isle city and you up the coast n the boardwalk in amplet -- ac. as times we'll break out with sunshine and other times it will be clouds out to the west. the big hit in terms of thunderstorm

. >> news on the number of veterans waiting for doctors at va hospitals. >> reporter: this is how itls, nice and comfortable with dewpoints well below 60 in fact they are below 50 at this point. details in the exclusive accu >> it was a great turnout for the police athletic league of philadelphia scholarship lurch on. it gives pal recipiants a chance to pete supporters and tamala edwards served as emcee. >> that was this morning and she got here so fast. >> the kids were outstanding. the thing that they want to do, thanks to pal and the police officers who are involved. >> the station has such a good relationship with them. always trying to help out. >> reporter: speaking. wonder. the weather is wonderful out there. you gave us showers yesterday today we're redeeming yourself. it's nice and dry along woodhaven road. the dry conditions means construction that caused huge delays on the northbound side. they are scheduled to work between woodhaven and street road 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. restrictions because of a new water main break in south philadelphia along oregon avenue at second and

are experiencing long wait times for care. 57,000 new patients are waiting for appointments at va hospitals and clinics. >>> more violence in pakistan. four people have been killed three of them soldiers, are at a security standpoint in waziristan. >>> .ing pakistan taliban is claiming responsibility. the presidents of iran and turkey are meeting today. they'll be discussing trade between the two countries. turkey and iran's relations have been strained in part because they support opposing sides in the civil war. >>> bowe bergdahl sed he was tortured during five years of captivity. regarding the prisoner swap that led to bergdahl's release. >>> short term rentals have become more popular in recent years thanks to websites like air b & b. 550,000 listings worldwide. but as robert ray reports, many cities like new orleans are starting to fight aback -- back against this unregulated business. >> just blocks from the vibrant night life of the french quarter is barry's home. there's something wrong he says. >> that is your home. this is illegal short termen rental. >> illegal short term rental.

the review looked at more than 700 va hospitals. it find 64,000 vets who enrolled in va health care over the past decade have never had an appointment. on top of that, 13% of schedulers said their supervisor told them to falsify the data to make wait times appear shorter. >>> the owner of california chrome is apologizing for his outbus after his horse lost the belmont stakes on saturday. steve coburn made sharp comments about how unfair it was the winning horse skipped the first two legs of the triple crown. ed to, on good morning america, coburn said he is very ashamed of himself. he said he also apologized to the owners of the winner's horse saying he did not mean to take anything away from them. >>> is a swimmer on the gold coast learned that this sting ray was not to messed with. watch as he deliberately provokes the giant sting ray and dives at it. the ray didn't like that and he begins to sneak up on the man who remains oblivious until someone warned him. the man quickly dove to shore. neither was injured by the encounter. >> y

. >>> shocking, new revelations uncovered by cnn at the va hospital in phoenix. patient records changed or altered in a deliberate attempt to make dead veterans look alive and hide the startling number of just how many died while waiting for care. this new information comes directly from the scheduling clerk at the embattled hospital. and pauline dewenter says she was ordered to handle the secret waiting lists. news of the allegations quickly made its way to capitol hill last night before our report aired, prompting intense questions at the house veterans affairs committee hearing. >> i just got a note from a constituent that says there must be some kind of a cnn program on tonight and that there is a new revelation. it says records of dead veterans were changed or physically altered, some even in recent weeks to hide how many people died while waiting for care at the phoenix va hospital. a whistleblower told cnn in stunning revelations that point to a new cover-up in the ongoing va scandal. deceased quote/unquote, notes on files were removed to make statistics l

i find it really ironic that congress is so obsessed about figuring out who at the phoenix va hospitale circumstances of that why that are connected to the deaths of 40 veterans, when a lie that they told killed nearly 5000 written soldiers and over 100,000 iraqi civilians. and what they're doing is they're trying to do for blame blamehemselves -- defer from themselves. congress is the reason that we deploy to iraq and afghanistan and deploy over 2 million veterans and have this influx of veterans that are fighting to get v.a. health care. you raisenteresting this, because last week at this time, everyone nonstop across all of the media was talking about whether general shinseki would resign and about the horror of the v.a., the waits people have when they come home from war, one to two years. and within two days, that is all wiped off the face of the media and this is the controversy that takes its place. but you see these as connected. >> i'm not sure if they're connected. it could be this happened at a time when the obama administration anticipated general shinseki stepping down. i