Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20140525

Disputed area, it is one of our topics this morning as we continue on the washington journal. Dan dollinger will be june Daniel Dellinger will be toning us from indiana discuss Eric Shinseki, later, the ambassador to ukraine will give us the latest on the elections in that country and what it means moving ahead for the u. S. Insia, and europe. You are watching and listening to the washington journal. Back in a moment. [video clip] i focus on trying to stop waste, catching people who did it in the past. Go out, figure it out, handed up, say it is 50 , 30 , 60 , we are spending a lot of money and my staff time staff time could be better spent trying to find and identify problems and correct them. I ask you has the American People got their moneys worth . Their full moneys worth . No, definitely not. Beensome good things have done. A lot of good things. We have a lot of hardworking at the department of agriculture, interior, people from the department of commerce, a lot of people have devoted their lives and energies over there. But have we gotten the biggest bang for the buck . No. That is what we find all the time. Poor planning, poor execution. Sopko, as taxpayer general, and how american dollars are spent. Tonight at 8 00 on q a. Movementeople in the decided to take the cause to the supreme court, which is what i decided to write about. I am really gratified that the New York Times called me a stunningly intimate story. I was fascinated. I wanted to know what it would feel like to be a plaintiff in a major civil rights litigation case. What did that feel like . What was the judge thinking as he was considering the evidence . It turns out that in one of the many crazy twists, the judge was thought to be gay. What does it feel like . Alternately, i wanted to convey what it feels like to want something that everybody else has and be told you cant have it. From the first attempts to eight to stop prop eight and the defense of becker, act, jo tonight at 9 00. Our Book Club Selection is it. Lls you back join other readers in the discussion at the tv. Org. Host joining us from ,ndianapolis, Daniel Dellinger retired army officer and National Commander for the american for the American Legion. Thank you very much for being here. Guest thank you for having me. Host last week president told us what would happen in the a facilities. Arember of investigations going on. Another one is by rob neighbors. Congress is also looking into that. On this first report, what do you expect him to tell the president . A good question. The assessments around the country are an extension of what has been going on in this country for many years now. There have been 50 reports already from the ig. That is one of our contentions, the fact that the secretary has with thoseything reports to confess correct the deficiencies that are resulting in the deaths of veterans. Why is that . He is obviously a retired army officer general himself. He understands what happens to those military veterans and their families. From your standpoint, why do you think that the organization why is this happening . We dont know. That is what we have based our. Indings on what we say really needs to happen, he needs to go at this point. Forave the utmost respect him, but it is failed leadership and failed oversight of the system. He was brought in six years ago to clean up the v. A. , get rid of the inefficiencies and move forward. They have moved forward in some aspects, but when veterans are dying, that is beyond comprehension. This is what president obama said early in his administration, august of 2009, he spoke about this issue to the vfw convention. [video clip] toirresponsibly we choose reward the responsibility and service of our families. Whether you left in 2009 or 1949 , we will fulfill our responsibility to fulfill the benefit and care that you earned. I pledged to build nothing less than a 21st century v. A. A lifelong soldier and Wounded Warrior will lead this fight, general richard shinseki. [applause] are genetically increasing funding for Veterans Health care, including hundreds of millions of dollars to serve veterans a rural areas, as well as the unique needs of our growing number of women veterans. We are restoring access to the a health care for the half of a million veterans who lost eligibility in recent years. Much there has been so misinformation out there about Health Insurance reform, let me say this, the one thing that reform wont change is Veterans Health care. No one will take away your benefits, that is the plain and simple truth. That was the president from five years ago. In may of 2014, what has changed . Or what has not changed . Guest nothing, really. This is a failure to reform and move forward as stated. He said it to us in our convention also, that he would do this along with the secretary, but we just have not seen it happen. Host why . Guest a good point. Every year the money continues to rise. 60 in the last six years. But it is how we spend that money. They spend it in bonuses for failure when you have a director in pittsburgh that allows six veterans to die and others being taken by legionella , for him to get a 63,000 dollar bonus, that is one example. How do you repair the system . What needs to be fixed . Should be priority that all veterans get the best health care in a timely manner, as needed. Screenings, the tests that veterans need to save their lives due to illnesses are just not happening right now and they need to get back in line. [indiscernible] host what have the experiences of federal fellow veterans been like . Guest it is like skin cancer. It you have small pockets of it and take care of it, it will be all right, but if you dont take care of it you will die from skin cancer. There are 151 hospitals, 140 of them are doing a great job, but there is a pocket of about 10 or 11. Some of them are getting great care. Others have suffered from this diagnoses, like phoenix, being one example. There are between 9 million and 10 million veterans in the v. A. System, there has been a huge surge of people coming back in need of medical care and Mental Health care. Does the v. A. Provide the assistance that you think he needs to for those who suffer from ptsd . Not guest no, they havent. I have been to 25 hospitals this year myself. I have only found two that have a fully stocked Mental Health section. They need to hire additional Mental Health specialists, goingr it is feebased, outside private entities, or hiring additional people on staff, they need to do a better job because we have 22 veterans for day committing suicide, which is not acceptable. Ust guest host walk through the process that has been put in place to call for the v. A. Secretary to step down. On april 18 i met with the secretary for over an hour in his office. We discussed many issues. The backlog of disability claims. The health care being given. The disk construction delays for hospitals. I asked about firing those. At that point the v. A. Had admitted to 23 preventable deaths and nothing had been done. Fire thosee need to people. He said i dont need to fire anyone, i need to retrain them. That put up a red flag for me. As we got to the spring meetings, that they word came out that there were probably up to 40 preventable deaths also in phoenix. With everything we had seen going on, with what we had documented over a number of years on our website, you could see the pattern of continued failures. That was just the last straw, phoenix. Andwe drafted a resolution the vote was unanimous, to call for the resignation of secretary shinseki and the undersecretary. Ist Daniel Dellinger joining a sermon the annapolis, the head of the National American legion, thank you for joining us this morning. Guest thank you, sir. Host we have aligned set aside for those of you who are veterans. Walter, fitchburg, massachusetts, good morning. Good morning. Commander, i am glad to speak with you. Ironically, i still see my physicians in new york, even though i am in massachusetts. I am aware of something that you just to talk about v. A. Personnel being fired and so forth, the conceit of the accountability bill, as it came before the senate, it has occurred to me that a large portion of these individuals that work within the health care are part of university hospitals. They are socalled partners. The question i have seen some andnge things, up to including, of course, the hospital in new orleans having not been opened since katrina, running. S up and what we essentially have is a hole in the ground for the veterans in new orleans. By the way, calling for massachusetts, i am thoroughly involved in these situations, and yet very few people know this. In new york the healthcare care system, the manhattan v. A. Hospital is run by new york university. Thank you for the call. Lets get response. Happened to be in new orleans back in the fall. Of course you have lsu there with tulane. Most of the hospitals in this country partner with local universities to assist in care and to provide a teaching experience for the universities. Those are good partnerships, they get highquality care at those facilities. But new orleans was behind schedule and over budget. Vegas denver, las we are 1. 5 million over budget, and averaging 64 months pints casual. Host lets get your reaction to a story that broke over the weekend, the secretary saying the department will work towards right hospitals. Turning towards those private hospitals to care for wounded veterans. Your reaction . Caller its a good thing, if they cant get veterans in for screenings and tests, they should be able to go to the outside. It is not our intention to do away with the va hospital system, because it is necessary. Veterans have unique needs. But if they could be assisted by local hospitals, we are in favor of that, to make sure they get the kind of care they need. Host Dan Dellinger, i want to go back to what the president said in 2009, he campaigned in 2008 that he would focus on Veterans Issues. It has certainly been one of the priorities for the first lady, the president made reference to that on wednesday when he spoke to reporters. Fivet to ask why you think and a half years after he took office, this problem has escalated to where it is today . Guest i think part of it is veterans are losing their health benefits. They are looking to be a now for care, you have more veterans that have agent orange that have come out. Now,get their care there and also ptsd never does go away. I think some of these mental issues also is part of that. Of course you have the influx of a rack and afghanistan veterans, the newming back figure i heard is 30 have three ptsd. All of these things they need help. As with the bas that up to do. Is set up to do. Host with a lack of leadership, or at combination of rising demand, higher need, and budget cuts . Guest you cant say budget cuts, because as i said earlier, va is continued to be funded, they turn down money saying they didnt need that much. Was, are theyere using the right numbers . Are they cooking the books . If the number of visits are down, they think they have enough money based on the number of visits. Going on alls around the country, how many of these numbers are skewed . That is where the budget comes into it. The secretary needs to come out and have that leadership that he showed in the military. Put it to use in the va. Of ourhis tweet from one viewers, there is no proof that 40 veterans died as a direct result of delayed care. Do you want to respond to that point . Guest right now, i would say i dont know how many. I said up to 40. During with a persons our recent town hall meeting in itenix who came forward was supposed to be in our commented that being three hours and 45 minutes. We listen to 62 different individuals talk about their health care, eight of them did talk about deaths that their loved ones sustained it due to either lack of timing, or misdiagnosis at the va in phoenix alone. Host if you are listening on cspan radio, were talking about the American Legion, the va hospital system. Our guest is Dan Dellinger, he is the National Commander for the American Legion, joining us from indianapolis, ed is on the phone from an kennedy. Caller i was wondering about the funding issue, whether congress is going to look into this, and whether theyre going to examine the budget problems. I just read a study from john f. Kennedy school of government, and they said they va never anticipated the large number of iraq and afghanistan veterans needing health care. It was never funded, it was never planned for, and part of this goes back to the bush of ministrations administrations horrible planning. They want a light footprint in iraq that they could get away with, and a light footprint turned into an eight year slaughter slog. Ingot bogged down afghanistan, which was not planned for an eight year, nineyear war. I blame partially congress for not looking into these things, not investigating they are going to investigate benghazi for the next five months. But they are not going to investigate the funding for the va. I think switching singh jackie shinseki, and putting a different person and their wont cut it. You need to put more reform to it, do some planning an investigation. Host thanks very much for the call. ,uest with that, it is true and the senate as their hearing on the 15th, chairman sanders and members of the Senate Committee stated that once these came out, and if there is a need for additional money, that congress will go back and spend and add money to the ba to deliver the care that is expected. You go back to the secretary about his resigning when the president s advance team came to the white house and met with the bush administration, they were told at that time that there were possible problems with the way it was spent. This was the very first term. Since that time, the general has been hired, he is supposed to work with the administration to take care of these issues. But it has been a failure all along. It hasnt been completely addressed. Host if you are interested, the department of veteran affairs does have a map taking a look at the veteran population on a statebystate basis. It is Available Online at va. Go v, this is what looks like as we go to james from taxes. James from texas. Thing i wouldrst like to tell you is there is one mistake that everyone is making. The mentioned originally of the Veterans Department was to help those coming out of world war ii with medical problems. That mission has changed. The new mission of the Veterans Administration Medical Center is doctors. The needs of the doctors and the interns they come before the veterans. That is every Veterans Hospital i have been in. They schedule you according to what that in turn needs for his residency. That is a fact. Host james, thanks for the call. Dan dellinger, your response. Guest i really havent heard that, but we have what is called a system where saving goes in the hospitals and talks to the physicians and nurses, to see the quality of care they are given. We write a report at the end of each year. We submit that the congress, i would need to go back and review that to see if i have actually seen that. You have arue that lot of young doctors come in to satisfy the requirements, and they unfortunately do go on instead of staying, because they are not paid what they could receive in the outside arena. Week the house this past took up a measure that passed overwhelmingly to allow the vga bea the va to have more control. This cumbersome and opposed hr 4031. What is your reaction . Guest im disappointed that the senate dropped it. I dont know how they can look a veteran in the eye and say they would vote for this. You have to hold those administrators and those doctors accountable for preventable deaths. Host how big of a problem from your standpoint is this the president . Guest it should be huge. Get with the program, and fix these decisions, and make the bea what it is supposed to what iske the va supposed to be. If youhad it host had a chance to tell the what you wanted, what would you say . Guest i need to tell them again that he needs to do a better job with the va hospitals, promotable deaths are not acceptable. I have talked to a couple of veterans, and they say getting some feedback, if you could go to another room, or else we will have to move on. Caller i have talked to quite a few veterans that cant get in to the va system, i dont know what the situation is. Something about their serving in the military, i just cant get in there. I dont understand why. Not only that, i have seen quite i have seen several thats the passed away, and they couldnt get a flag on their coffin, because they couldnt come up with a dd 214. I wish that can be changed, in some way, somehow. Host ok, we will get a response. Dan dellinger. Guest around the country we have Service Officers, and these Service Officers are trained and certified to help veterans with their claims. That is in anybody need of assistance, and we dont recommend any veteran try to navigate this bureaucracy, and get into the system. You can go to our website, go to go to services, and if you need a Service Officer, you can find one of those. It is inize charge, it doesnt cost a cent. The American Legion pays for everything that happens there. You can utilize that to get into the system if you are eligible to get into the system. Flags, we fight that all the time. But again, if the Service Member has on record, or he is a part of the va system, he has a dd 214. We can also assist with obtaining those through st. Louis. If anybody needs that, there are links that you can find out how to apply for your copy of your dd 214. To the local American Legion post and have it on file there, so when the time comes no Family Member at that time, in bereavement, needs to be trying to hunt down a dd 214 to get a flag placed on their loved ones coffin. Host this post from the pittsburgh postgazette, 60 million americans, mostly men serving in world war ii, called the greatest generation by tom brokaw, the greatest generation is quickly vanishing. One million out of the 16 million world war ii vets remain alive. The Washington Post took a look at veterans who served in congress. This was the last world war ii veteran to serve back in the 1980s, about a third of congress was veterans. You can see a pretty significant decline from their early mid 1980s to now im about 20 in the house and senate. Dan dellinger, as you look at these numbers, does this in any way impact the passion that lawmakers may have towards Veterans Issues . Guest i would hope not. I would hope better and would be put above politics, thats where they deserved to be. They put the uniform on, they fought for their country, they deserve the best health care and benefits possible. There are 17 senators, i think 78 congressman and women that served. And they are currently in the congress. I seetly saying something across the country where a lot of these races, veterans are more and more starting to run for those offices. So it shouldnt depend upon whether or not you serve, because as i said, veterans are above that. Host our next call is bob, from new jersey. Welcome to the program. Caller good morning. Good morning commander. Thank you for jumping into this issue. I am 100 disabled, and i have heard a lot of people talking about the negative aspects of the va. I have to tell you, the Pharmacy Program is outstanding. It is an online program. Do of the things they try to is educate veterans, and where i go, i see a lot of people who were waiting for the va to do things for them, but they are not making too much of an effort. A class i went to, the instructor was excellent, the number of the guys were just there. All they did was complain, they didnt have anything to offer in the way of a solution. Goes, as general shinseki with his imperatives that he set out in his plan, he needs to have a scorecard. There needs to be a serious evaluation of the results. Petitioners,nurse technician or is that have operated on may, that have done ultrasounds and mris, they have been terrific. The problem is the support staff, a lot of people Walking Around doing nothing. Everyone knows that, someone needs to just put it on the table. Host ok bob, we will get a response. Guest i agree with him. Says is a survey out, and 85 of all people that are seen in a va hospital are satisfied with their care, 95 of bears 95 of those would go back to a va dr. Thats a part of the leadership that needs to be exerted by the president and the va. Our veterans are getting good care. I testified in front of congress in april, promotable dents preventable deaths. A congressman asked me if i the va, i said the care is 85 percentile, the care is less than that. Host let me get your reaction to this tweet, too bad they panetta out of retirement. Who do you think would be a good replacement if Eric Shinseki steps down . Guest i dont know. Im not in the medical field. I dont use used to be somebody who is strong in medical, or it ministration. This is a large corporation, it is the second Largest Agency in the federal government. There has to be someone brought in to make who can handle that and move it forward. Host do you think you think youll stay on through the end of the president s term . Guest he has said he will not resign, the president says he is doing a good job. We still think you should go because of his failed leadership and oversight issues. I dont know. Host weighing in on all of this, senator Bernie Sanders. He held a hearing that included Eric Shinseki earlier this month, he also talked about some of the looming issues facing the va hospitals around the country. Heres a portion. [video clip] theyre waiting list, why is that so . In certain parts the country, they may not have the staff they need. I have called for more funding. Obamas level of funding has been pretty good, but over the last three years, the system is increased i 1. 5 Million People coming into the system, including some with serious issues. Do they have the resources to do it . Vaond of all, is the allocating its resources appropriately tr . People,ecretary firing does he have the capability to do that . We will do a hearing on that assumes the recess is over. Host your response to the comments of senator sanders. Guest i think it is spot on. He knows what is transpiring in todays va. That is what we have based our calling for his resignation on. There is failed leadership, there needs to be a better job done there. Ptsd, they dont have enough clinicians in the hospitals. Y rarely do i go around the directors will tell me, give me that lipservice and say yes, we have enough personnel. Maybe not in the right positions, but we have personnel. That is not what were looking for, you have the right number of doctors, right number of nurses and Mental Health specialist to take care of our veterans . They need hire additional people. Host the department of Veterans Affairs indicating it is servicing nine to 10 million veterans across the country. Heres a breakdown of veterans by age. Those who are 70 or over only about 6. 7 million veterans, those between the ages of 41 to , the1 point 6 million total number of veterans in the u. S. Is 23 million. Caller good morning to the Veterans Affairs veterans member. I think that the leadership starts with him in. They have never addressed females being attacked, they have never addressed racism. Feel they are attacking obama on political lines, but they do want to say it. If he has 85 approval, they are definitely in a good percentile. They are moving up all the time. We know that we had a bailout, we had money problems you have these wars, you have veterans coming back with all kinds of injuries that nobody has ever seen before. And hes saying leadership is not doing the proper thing. They are trying to keep up with the lack of leadership that came from past people, such as yourself. You have been in that organization a long time, and now you are putting your face out there. But your face should have been out there 15 years ago, 20 years ago. The veterans have no one to fall but themselves, because the organization is run by veterans. Host we will go response. Dan dellinger . Guest we know there have been issues with the baa, thats why 10 years ago we put together a system worth saving. Hall meetingn before we go into a hospital, the next day we go in, get a briefing from the director, whoever may offer that. Clinicians, we talk to the patients, see what kind of health care they actually get. It is a tough duty, but we have been there, we will continue to be there. 1919 to makeed in sure we took care of veterans, we have been doing a good job of that for the last 95 years, we will continue to do that. As i told congress back in september, this is the cost of the plains of the bullets, this is the cost of 50 years of health care afterwards. This is what the administration it is not political. Believe me, it is not political. We feel is of the veterans deserve to be above all politics. That is what our stance. Host one of the news photographs, this from the Orange County register, as communities across the country pay tribute to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in americas battles overseas. We have a lot of comments about the wars in iraq and afghanistan, do you think the bush admin is ration thought through the full application of what we were about to undertake in those two wars . Guest that is a good question. Wars ook at those two i dont know if all the facts will be out for a number of years. It seems as if it takes 20 years after war, after all of the review of everything, whether or not enough effort was put into that. Those are all good questions. We are going to make sure that we are ready to take care of the 1. 2 million men and women that will be coming off active duty here in the next four to five years. I think historians will have to tell us that. Host william, joining us from virginia. Also a veteran. Caller good morning. We have a clinic in reitman, West Virginia, that is a. Ontract run clinic it is the best run place i have ever seen. If you have a 9 00 appointment, and you get there 10 minutes till nine, you are out the door soon if you dont have a serious problem. The staff is really fantastic, they care, my personal doctor there is a contract dr. She is not a be a doctor she is not a va dr. We are losing all this. Theyre going to bring in a va dr. From god knows where, to handle all of the veterans in the franklin, West Virginia area. One day a week. That will be four days out of the month we will have an actual doctor. If we have something seriously wrong, they will have the video conference. That wont work, you know that. , we are ruining our system have a contract that works perfectly. They are going to spend a bunch of money on a building across the street to put in an elevator , which i dont understand that at all. But our system is great, our doctors are great. If something is wrong, like when i had stints put in, i went to washington dc. The people there were fantastic. Host william, thanks for the call. Dan dellinger, did you want to respond to that . Guest yesterday. Do, ie with him yes i agree with him. Of therson each part country is divided up into these different divisions. They look at the health care within each one of those. , why fix it if it is not broke, that is the old saying. We need to continue to deliver that health care. Amounthey feel as if the of money theyre are spending for those contracts can be reduced. Of course they are always looking to try to reduce costs. Maybe they didnt have a doctor at that point, when they went to the contract. The va issomething b always looking at. Sometimes we agree, sometimes they dont. Overall, the veterans are happy with the health care they receive. That is another example of that. I hope they look at that again, hopefully with these assessments, they will take that in to review when they make their choices. Our guest is the National Commander American Legion, he is a former Army Infantry officer. He served during the vietnam war, in georgia. In thered from the army 80s, is a graduate from the university of pennsylvania. Joining us from indianapolis. Viewer, do you a feel it partnership have a committee to look into this . Guest yes we do. There needs to be oversight. Congressional oversight. I know congressman miller and senator sanders are very adamant about getting information from the va so they can look into these deaths, and how the baa is running how the va is running. Host our caller, lisa. Seeing a have been doctor for 18 to 20 years, i dont get help from the va, we couldnt get help because they said his problems were before his enlistment. Frustrated, i have been taking care of him all this time. Homeless stufft from him, because he has a dog, and he doesnt want to live in a is, andre his va center he doesnt want to take psychiatric drugs. I think the Homeless Program money is way too restrictive, and i would like you to comment on how the money gets allocated, who designs the programs, and why are they so restrictive . Do you think theres anything that could be done to loosen up a little . Voucher like a 25 day for these guys, that would get them a cheap motel room or pay somebody in a private residence to give him a room with access to the kitchen would be a good idea. Program people say that would fix the homeless problem, but they wont do it. Unfortunately, with the Homeless Programs, they do have a are restrictive. , americanpennsylvania legion post actually have homes where they will take that and taken veterans, and help them. As far as getting benefits, i suggest he contact the local American Legion, or find a Service Officer within that area and see what you can do to help that individual. We are always there, that is why we were formed, to make sure we take care of our veterans. We will continue to do that. Contact the local American Legion, see what you can do. If not, and contact the state headquarters. Host let me conclude on one final point, this is a story from the Dayton Daily News that takes a look at the va budget. The most recent figures say they billion, in 2006, the budget was 71 billion. It is doubled in a decade. If money isnt the problem, what is . Guest the problem is the leadership, and how those funds are allocated. I think that is why we need a Major Overhaul of the pa system and that wastem, what the general was hired to do. He has failed, and that is why we asked for his recognition. Host Dan Dellinger joining us on this memorial day weekend, looking specifically at the va. You can get more for by logging onto legion. Org. Thank you for being here. Guest thank you sir. Host well be live in arlington Memorial Cemetery tomorrow, oh the president and the Vice President with remarks at artisan Memorial Cemetery. We want to turn our attention to some news from ukraine, the election going on there today. Former u. S. The ambassador. Look at other programs Available Online at www. Cspan. Org. You are watching washington journal, on the sunday, may 25. We will be back in a moment. Exterior Service Thanks for your service. Im glad youre here. A very going to have nice surprise when you go into the memorial. It is beautiful. Get my wife and here, where is she . Am so proud of you all, how are you doing . Are you in the navy . I was in the marine corps. Oh the marine corps. It was tough. Thank you for being here today. And thank you. Thank you for all your service. Bob dole regularly greets visitors at the world war ii memorial in washington. It is part of this threeday memorial day weekend, monday night at eight eastern on cspan3. For over 35 years, cspan brings Public Affairs events from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, readings, and conferences. In offering complete gaveltogavel coverage of the u. S. House. All as a Public Service of private industry. We are cspan, created by the cable tv industry 35 years ago, and brought to you as a Public Service by your local cable or satellite provider. Watch us in hd, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter. Washington journal continues. Host john herbst is currently at the United Defense he served as ambassador to ukraine until 2006. Iq for being with us. What are you looking for in the election . Guest turnout. I high turnout would give legitimacy to the outcome of the referendum. The second most important thing is whos going to win, and will someone win outright in this vote. Poroshenko has high polls. If hes the boat, gets the vote, he will become president. If there is a runoff, it will againstly be poroshenko someone else. Host joining us live on the phone is Michael Birnbaum, he is correspondent from the Washington Post. Thatfrontpage story says turnout today is based on generational issues, can you explain . Guest yes, there are many divisions in ukraine right now. There are regional divisions, there are western versus ukrainian divisions. The very big division here right now is that of young people versus old people. Young people who were born or grew up in a ukraine that was independent from the soviet union, versus their parents and grandparents who matured in the soviet era. Those two groups have very different feelings about what ukraine is, and what it means to be ukrainian. Host there have been reports of the polling in most of the country has gone relatively smoothly, except in Eastern Ukraine, where some of the prorussian separatist have blocked or shut down some of the polling locations. What have you seen today . Of sitting here in key pollingkiev, the stations have been well organized, good turnout. Says itague in donetsk is very difficult to find anyone voting. If you speak to Election Officials there, very few polling stations are open. Even at polling stations that are open, ballots of disappeared and been stolen. It is a big region, more than 10 of the voting population. It seems like if anyone wants to vote, they are to have a very hard time doing so. The Michael Birnbaum, once results are announced, if there is a runoff in the next few weeks, what is the reaction expected to be from russian president putin . Guest Vladimir Putin has said in recent days he will work with whatever new leader there is in ukraine. Whethert either it comes today, whether it comes in three weeks time, he said he is willing and ready to sit down and have a discussion. Said the same thing, he is that he is ready for dialogue with russia. So long as there is a recognition of the legitimacy of the results of this election. If there are another three weeks before a final victorias determined, a lot of people here are worried that there will continue to be the kind of instability and violence we have been seeing for the last month in ukraine. Host let me ask you to comment on your colleagues a story in the Washington Post, saying the results in ukraine could be one of two things. First, it could be the beginning of the end of the people in the region, or the start of many more International Problems between the west, the u. S. , and europe, and Vladimir Putin. Know is very difficult to what is going to happen, those are two very different outcomes. Thathere is some hope here if the situation in ukraine stabilizes, if there is a strong president endorsed by the ukrainian people, that some of the conflicts between ukraine and russia will diminish. That would ease the way for the United States and europe to thoroughly resume normal relationships with russia. I dont think anyone thinks relations will go back to the way they were before the situation. But at the same time, there is a terminus amount of violence still in ukraine. There are escalating conflicts elsewhere in the region. It is quite possible that this will continue for some time. We will see what happens after today, a really, there are a lot of possibilities that could come out. Host Michael Birnbaum, stay on the line. Reaction. T, your guest first of all, the piece about generational differences in ukraine was excellent. That is an important reason why there is very little support in the streets for the russian led insurrection. The young people are not on the side of those who want to turn towards russia. What to look for going forward, i think it is highly likely that russia will continue to run this insurgency in ukraine. Decide to. Putin may recognize the victor of the president ial elections. I think clinton still has the objective i think putin still has the objective of destabilizing the country as long as they have a western orientation. Go nko russian setshenko looks to ukraines Economic Future in line with europe. Let me just ask you about these prorussian separatist that are in Eastern Ukraine. Who are they, and was behind their efforts . Guest well, the main phases of the prorussian separatists are local population, people who did not have particularly important jobs before they seized government buildings in various luhansk the donetsk and regions. The United States and european governments say they are back speciald by russian forces, this is something that russia has denied. But occasionally, reporters in interviewedine have people with russian passports to are involved in the fighting. If you look at opinion polls, there was a queue Pew Research Poll taken in ukraine last month. The support for separatism is relatively low in Eastern Ukraine. But these are people with a lot of guns, the russian leg which media is playing up fears about ism coming from the government in kiev, and people are scared. Host Michael Birnbaum is Washington Bureau chief for the Washington Post, the ukraine vote could highlight a generational gap. Thank you for being with us, and adding your perspective on todays election in ukraine. Is a graduate of georgetown university, and former u. S. Ambassador to ukraine. We appreciate you being with us. Guest my pleasure. Host our phone lines are open democrats, call 202 5853880, republicans, call 202 5853881 watchingose of you outside the United States can call 202 5853883. How do we get to this point . Prowesterns a movement, the toppled the president ukraine, and interim president , and now todays election. Guest before i answer, i want to add something to what mr. Bierbaum said. There is russian leadership of the movement in Eastern Ukraine to pull the area away from ukraine. The president of the peoples republic of donetsk is a russian citizen, and a political consultant based in moscow. The Lieutenant Colonel who has been running the military operation as a Russian Military an. I understand yes to be careful, he is accredited to moscow, it is important to demonstrate the russian translating this insurgency. How about the situation is relatively simple. Whenall began in november, the government of mr. Yanukovych turned away from a trade agreement with the eu. This led to demonstrations involving tens of thousands of people. Crackdown on the demonstration, two days later he had hundreds of thousands of people protesting. Now they were protesting out against the failed deal with the european union, they were corruptng against the and authoritarian regime led by mr. Yanukovych. He tried over a threemonth. To deal with these demonstrations by a combination of repression, and half concessions. This failed. Finally, he ordered the use of snipers against these demonstrators, and scores of people died. This is the middle of february. At that point, he realized he had a problem that required serious concessions, and a deal was reached with eu negotiators for him to reduce his powers, and for there to be elections at the end of this year. But at that point, the people in the streets were not going to accept this deal, which kept young coach in power. They saw which kept young yanukovych in power. He fled the government, the parliament voted amount, and they established an interim government led by acting , and remains in power. Russia. Nukovych fled to guest yes. He has denied the legitimacy of the interim government. Then, russia decided as a response to this, to send its soldiers in the crimea to seize it. Soldierscall, when the first appear, russia claimed they were not russian soldiers. Mr. Putin that knowledge to two weeks ago that they were in fact russian soldiers. By russian aggression, crimea was seized. It was a sham election in crimea , the kremlin claimed that 97 of the population turned out. , 97 voted in favor. 30 , andut was like 60 of those who turned out voted in favor of annexation. A total of 18 of the people voted to join russia, and russia seized it. Russia didnt stop with that, because mr. Putin realized that if ukraine decides its future, even without crimea, which was the most prorussian the area in crimea. They would vote clearly to move westward. Therefore he started the insurgency in Eastern Ukraine. He was hoping the west would not respond strongly to that, but the fact that the west, led by president obama, immediately began to levy sanctions was something he did not count on, and he was concerned with. That explains kremlin policies right now. Hes trying to destabilize ukraine while avoiding additional sanctions. That is why he is announced he is willing to work with the elected government in ukraine after this ballot today. The same time, he continues the insurgency in the east. Host there is a piece available at the New York Times online, looking at the lack of tourism in crimea, despite the efforts of the russian government. We go to richard. Caller good morning. Obviously, the events surrounding russian aggression in ukraine, it is not the first time they have shown aggression. Obviously, in georgia several years ago, there was aggression shown towards the georgian people. I think one of the symptomatically the president lyrical entourage is they are the sort of people that had gotten used to stealing what they want. Mid1990s,ntil the there were still russians that were queuing up for bread while there were still russians partying in the mediterranean. I witnessed that on holiday when i was a child, or teenager with my parents. To basicallylike ask whether or not you think that we should actually have gone in there, into russia, and the west should have supported them at the end of the cold war . Host richard, thanks for the call. Guest we did support them at the end of the cold war, not very skillfully, but we supported them. The west was involved in promoting the privatization of state held assets, factories and such. That privatization as it turned out was essentially a theft by wellconnected russians of state resources. That is an unfortunate fact. Host a question from one of our viewers, what is the cias role in ukraine . Guest the head of the cia was in ukraine in february, and i am sure they have provided information to our government. They may be providing advice to ukrainian authorities, but i dont think its much more than that. Host adrian joining us from sam marcus, california. Caller good morning. Just more of a comment, thanks to his or her host their mr. Herbst there. You are very knowledgeable, i have been listening to your comments. With what yourew assessment is for russia. I hope the russian people dont have to suffer anymore than they already have. It seems like they keep getting kicked around. Guest i agree with you. I think mr. Putins policies have been good for his cronies, himself, and the russian elite. But they have not served the interest of the russian people very well. You have state access by people in positions of authority, doesnt help the russian people. Host kyle is next from over, oklahoma. Good morning. Caller hello. Herbst,like to ask mr. Do you think that a president that sits on his hands and says , as we use, and i cant are sick and tired of war should still have to take it . Imagine you are referring to president obama when youre saying that. Right . Rite am i my view is that obamas role in this crisis has been solid. Somewhat, but also effective. The sanctions which he put down on the kremlin, and he is persuaded europe to put down on the kremlin, has been an obstacle for mr. Putin in his policies towards ukraine. I think our response, president s response could be stronger. We could put down additional sections, we should be providing military assistance to ukraine. But obamas record on this crisis is not bad. Host we will hear more from the president on wednesday, there is preview today in the New York Times. His speech at west point, the class of 2014 in new york. He outlines with a administration is calling a agenda,reignpolicy likely to focus on ukraine and syria, and other International Hot spots. The speech will be covered on the cspan networks. Another viewer from great britain, gordon is joining us from england. Caller good afternoon. Host go ahead, you are on the air. Caller i would like to comment on what is being said about the crimea business, i think there are a lot of lies being told by western politicians. If you recall, crimea was given to ukraine by christoph, without a referendum. Dont recall western politicians complaining about that. Crimea, bynot invade the time of that referendum. [indiscernible] they have military bases on which they have paid rent. There are 25,000 troops, but didnt have that many there. Voted toe in that area go to russia, they didnt turn out, they have to stand by that. Opinion, it was a legitimate referendum. You cannot say that it was not legal, because the illegal Ukrainian Government then didnt give authority. Host peggy gordon. Thank you gordon. Guest you have to have all the facts. There was a poll taken in crimea about three months before Russian Troops seized the potential of. The peninsula. In that poll, only 40 said they would be interested in having increased autonomy from kiev, or be adjusted in becoming independent in joining russia. 60 in thatalmost poll, which was not taken with Russian Troops with weapons out for all to see, showed the true feelings of the crimean population. The understanding by which the treaty by which the russians had their black sea bass said they could have troops on their base, they did not say they could put those troops in december opal, the capital of crimea. That was a blatant violation of the treaty. At most 30 turnout, of 60 voting in favor annexation. Tore is no legitimacy crimea being part of russia, it was seized by force. Host do you see anything changing, or is crimea at least for the for siebel future part of russia . At this point, i dont see mr. Putin giving it back. This is aggression, i think this aggression has not been recognized by the international community. I think the Ukrainian Government is going to do everything he can to get crimea back. Or to extract a major price from russia for this act of aggression. Host as you pointed out, chris just basically gave the region to ukraine in the next 50s. Does this make ukraine more likely to move the west . Im not sure that mr. Putin understood that when he sees crimea, but he recognizes soon after. That is why the do stabilization insurgency began right away. Host should ukraine be part of nato . For ukrainians to decide. I can understand why that would upset the russians. I dont understand why that should upset the kremlin. When i served, there was no problem if ukraine joined the eu. It is worth remembering that this crisis began because the kremlin to strongarm steps against the government in kiev it was about to trade agreement with the eu. There is a huge trade deal about go through. Guest i think thats a sign of russian weakness. He is on a deal with china on , but theeveral years deal was never consummated because china wanted a lower price than russia was willing to give. I believe that we dont know what the price of this deal was, how much the gas is going to be. My suspicion is that prices low, and mr. Putin was desperate to show the west that he had an alternate to europe, as the consummate the deal. But of course, this deal will only produce gas for china in for five years. They have to build pipelines. Host a caller joins us from [indiscernible] were western backed provocateurs. It is never been disproven, maybe your guests could clear that up. It is true where it this was raised. With this story was based upon the statement of a doctor who was questioned by reporters, and he denied it. I think we can probably chalk this up to russian disinformation, of which there has been a vast quantity. Host another viewer saying that this has been a foreignpolicy failure of president barack obama. Guest i disagree. I think that we will know whether or not we will know how this turns out in weeks, or months, or years ahead. But what i see as president obama has reacted in a decisive way to russian aggression in crimea, and in Eastern Ukraine. That he is led europe, a reluctant europe, to impose serious sanctions on the kremlin. Tot he is led europe threaten sectoral sanctions, even more serious sanctions am a if russia disrupt the elections that are taking place today. I think that this explains why mr. Putin has drawn back, not entirely, but at least partly in his aggression. I think we are not going to see the russian army entering into Eastern Ukraine the way it entered into crimea. Host host lets go next to conrad in florida. Caller these people in ukraine want their own sovereignty. I would like to know whether they have the strength and the power to put down any aggression that putin might impose upon them. Guest i think that is very good comment. It is not realistic to expect the Ukrainian Army to be able to fight against the russian army. It is true that the russian tactic is to foment an insurgency in ukraine. The Ukrainian Military and theory, they, in able to handle that insurgency as long as the russian army does not invade Eastern Ukraine. So far, we have not seen the Ukrainian Army be able to. We are hearing reports after the election of decisive action. I hope that is right. I do not know if that is what is going to happen. Host if youre just joining us or listening on the radio, we are talking about the election today in ukraine. Our guest is the former and fastened her to the Ukraine Ambassador to the ukraine. I want to ask you, how did the europeans put themselves in such a vulnerable position . It probably depended upon russia for gas. Eastern European Countries some of them are 100 dependent on russia. Essentially a a story of resources. Russian gas or russian controlled task comes from central asia. The only logical economic resource, supply for much of europe. That is how this happened. It is true that since the kremlin demonstrated willingness to use nasas a political weapon, by turning off the supply in 2005 or 2006, and again a few years later western europe and Eastern Europe have begun to look for alternate supplies. Things are not so easy to acquire. The great increase of production of natural gas in the United States, the ability to liquefy that natural gas, there is a move to russian controlled natural gas to europe. I think we will see an alternative surface in the years ahead. It will take some time to build the infrastructure. Just also true, however, as europe is dependent on russia independence, they do not have an alternative in the European Market right now. Mr. Putin may just deal in china. That too is years away. Theyas russia is stuck, are stuck with russian gas now. Russia is stuck with the European Market. There are volatility some both sides. Host can anyone replace russia in terms of the amount of energy that russia provides to western europe . Guest with the development of liquefied natural gas the soliditys in europe, fac europe, the dependency on europe probably will go away. Host our guest is the director of the eurasian council. Joining us from san mateo california, good morning a representative was testifying before Congress Last week. He was in the ukraine last november, along with senator mccain. One of her comments was that we have spent 18 million supporting the people why aremy question is, we trying to paint this as being entirely the responsibility of russia . Clearly, the u. S. Was in their doing things ourselves. I do not like the tax money being spent on the stuff. Guest i think you are misquoting. I am unaware of the quote you referred to. What i know is this. I think you are confusing things. Support Civil Society around the world. We believe democracy is a good thing. Freedom is a good thing. We have programs around the world that encourage democracy and encourage freedom. We have programs that help local parties learn how to bring out voters. I am sure we could do some of that in ukraine. That is not the same as promoting demonstrations. Thes true, however, that government was an authoritarian government, which rejects political opponents. These all are wrong. These policies and opinions of the American People are wrong. Borrow not, however, money for demonstrations. We know that the kremlin did not like that people were demonstrating in a peaceful way. Who have people in kiev suggest using violence on peaceful demonstrators. I think that is wrong. Most americans would think that is wrong. Most europeans would think that is wrong. Host this is a photo of a demonstration from kiev. Similar to how you remember it in the early years . Guest certainly, the types of demonstrations we have seen in the past five months are similar to what happened in the orange revolution. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to protest an authoritarian government. Host i want to show you one picture, then move forward. We will see what it looks like more recently following the demonstrations. What are your observations . Know, that is an active Civil Society in ukraine. Many people have developed interests in how their country is ruled. Their country is ruled in an authoritarian way. They turn out and they demonstrate. Host we will go next to brian in dallas, texas. Good morning. Caller good morning. You failed to mention in october, when the eu mentioned their agreement with ukraine. They were not allowed to do business with russia. I was one of the caveats. The violence started out as peaceful protests. Then the violent people came in and the Peaceful Protesters left. The first nine deaths were ukrainian policeman. I think you are doing this onesided here. Guest there are several things about what you said. All, we deal with du on trade. That would not lead to ending trade in russia. Russiarue that because and ukraine have a close economic relationship with the boycott you to creating goods in fall 2013 there would be a heavy price to pay if ukraine reaches an economic deal with the eu. Your description of the demonstrations this is russian misinformation. Towing toow propaganda. The demonstrations were peaceful from the beginning. The government used beatings to sucquelch demonstrations. Everything,lso used including shooting live fire. That, in turn, led to some demonstrators shooting back. It is the police who were responsible. The police started it. It was the police, the government of ukraine, that used sniper fire against demonstrators. You are wrong when you say that the first nine people who died were ukrainian policeman. They were peaceful demonstrators. Host as you watch the returns from ukraine today, do you have faith in the results . Guest ukraine has had several honest elections in a row, starting with the elections of 2004, when i was there. The government that is currently running the country has imposed is composed of democrats, who want to see a free and fair election. Feel the problem is the fomenting violence by the russian insurgency. Host i want to go back to the earlier point about a runoff. How likely do you think that is . Guest theres a 50 chance. Every president ial election the last several in ukraine always had a runoff. If we did not have a runoff, it would be unusual. Candidatet have one garnering as much as 52 of the vote in the first round. That is with the polls have. No meansa good chance, sure a sure chance, of winning today. Host what is the biggest challenge . Guest the russian insurgency in ukraine. Is dealingchallenge with the economic problems of the country. The corruption has characterized the ukrainian economy. Host how bad is the economy . How highest unemployment . Guest it is in the 1520 range. There has been a big hit to gdp growth, which is supposed to be 0. 5 this year. As a result of the crisis, it will probably drop. Host what drives the ukrainian economy . Guest it has a lot of production of heavy metals. A lot of chemical production. Worldclass soil, so good agriculture. And a very highly educated population. Unfortunately, that has not turned into economic growth. In theory, that could be an area. Host we have time for one more call. This tweet from a viewer the alternative is germany gets a 74 power from wind and turbines. Seems like a high number. Guest i do not know about that. Certainly, ukraine was in the process of developing energy. That obviously is not going to happen now. Some oil andhas natural gas deposits. Fracking may open up new possibilities as well. Energy independence in the future. Host carmella, indiana, good morning. Caller i would like to know what your assessment of the events in the last week have they increased or decreased the chance of russian adventurism . And as i understand the story in the wall street journal, it sounds like the people in other European Countries are euro. Singly against the how is that going to affect businesses . Does that make it more likely that ukraine might want to join the european union, but not adopt the euro . Guest regarding russian adventurism i think that the threat of sanctions has caused them to be more cautious. They are conducting this insurgency because theyre trying to claim theyre not involved. If the Ukrainian Government is able to put down the insurgency, you will find that if mr. Putin is willing to risk more sanctions. I do not know the answer to that. I think it is probably no. Regarding ukraine and the you and the euro, and the best of circumstances, we are still a ways away from ukraine joining me eu. Be morethere will Economic Cooperation between ukraine and the eu. I think that is a question that ukraine is dealing with now. After a very difficult period in the eu, a difficult economic period, we have seen a stability returning. With that, the talk of the euro going away is probably just talk. Ambassador to the ukraine, also served as ambassador to uzbekistan graduate of georgetown and tufts university. Voting is going on today. Number one focus is on what . Guest whether he wins in the first round. Turnout will be good, despite things. I think we will have either a running in a or runoff. Host thank you very much for being with us. Guest my pleasure, thank you. Host you can read his work online at the Atlantic Council website. We will turn our attention to president ial leadership. First, a check on what the other sunday shows have today. Nancy is keeping track of the guests and topics. On the sunday tv talk shows, some of the topics include Veterans Service and their health care. The vote in ukraine and politics. On can hear rebroadcasts cspan radio beginning at 1 00 eastern. And on meet the press. It is preempted by formula one racing. Replace begin at 1 00 with this week. Martin dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. And former utah republican governor, jon huntsman. Fox news sunday with kelly ayotte, derek bennett, and tom day. State of the union follows with mike pence, Bernie Sanders, and westmore. Face the nation with john thune, a south dakota republican. Adam kinzinger also on the program and david finkel, author of thank you for your service. Author ofn carson, one nation. They are on cspan radio and brought to as a Public Service by the network and cspan. Begin at 1 00 eastern with this week, fox sunday, and face the nation. Listen to them all on cspan radio. Across the nation on xm satellite radio. Download our free apple or listen online at cspan. Org. Thank you for your service. Glad you are here. Thankful to be here. Youre going to have be very nice surprise when you go to the memorial. It is beautiful. Thank you. Baller rightnavy now. Get my wife in here, where is she . Thank you. 1, 2, 3. Are you in the navy . Marine corps. That is tough. Yeah, that was tough. Well, thank you. Thank you for being here today. Thank you. Thank you for all of your service. Veteranr world war ii and senator bob dole regularly greets visitors at the world war ii memorial in washington, as part of his threeday Holiday Weekend on cspan3. You can now take cspan with you wherever you go. Have a cspan radio app for your smart phone or tablet. Listen to all three cspan tv channels or cspan radio anytime. Ofre is a schedule of each our networks, so you can tune in when you want, play podcasts of recent shows, take cspan with you wherever you go. Download your free app online for your iphone, android, or blackberry. Washington journal continues. Host we want to welcome back paul brandon. It is an independent white housebased service. We distribute content over twitter, television, and radio. We have stations all around the United States and world. We do a little bit of everything. We do that on every platform. We serve content in different ways. We have our content honestly platforms as we can. Host and the website is west wing. Org. So much attention based on the v. A. Situation. Prere calling on the sident to fire Eric Shinseki. Which gets to his leadership ability and decisionmaking process. How would you assess this . Guest i think he is kind of following his usual path, which is not getting involved until it is almost too late. I think it is important also to take a step back on these broad issues. We all know now that he knew his Transition Team knew as far back as 2010 that these problems exist at. Existed. He said this will be a job one. This was one of them. One of the things these brought selves in a way they felt would be helpful for veterans. Shinseki expanded benefits for veterans are getting. He said that a few were victims of agent orange, that was used in vietnam. You can now get benefits from that. The expanded benefits to folks to help them get treatment for posttraumatic stress syndrome. These things, along with the fact that they are running two different wars, overwhelmed the v. A. They had one case in 2009 and 2010. At the same time, this is the most troubling failure of all, they still have this giant paperwork system. Even the irs moved to a digital system back in 1990. It was only last year that the ba started to move its records to a digital system. They put all of these things together. It has just been a disaster. You can get more from Eric Shinseki if you want, but they have cut back on this backlog of cases. Said in 2010, we will eliminate all of them by 25th teen. I think it keeps. 300,000. Aown to think if you get rid of shins eki, it may not be such a bad thing to throw him overboard. Nevertheless, these things have to be solved. Host clearly, money is not a problem. It has doubled. Where is the leadership falling out . Why is this such a big issue for the president . Why, 5. 5 or six years later, when he campaigned on this issue, there have been delays why has this happened . Guest not just at the v. A. , of course. There are others involved. When you get down to the nittygritty, these things simply have not been happening. Shinseki i have no doubt that he, a decorated vietnam veteran, peers deeply about the troops. Pattern ofgeneral president not wanting to get his hands dirty. I think he outsources a lot of this work to others. Theres not a lot of followup on his part. He is a bit of a handsoff president. He trusted shinseki. I think he has done a reasonably good job. But these 40 deaths in phoenix that are allegedly tied to these bogus waiting lists clearly, that was a huge failure. They got an 8,500 bonus. The buck stops with shinseki. Host let me go back to some other issues, not necessarily direct the related. Warning syria about crossing the red line. Syria crossed that line. More recently, the problems with healthcare. Gov. The president said he heard about this through the news media. What does this tell you about his style . Guest he has a credibility problem with respect to what he says and what he does. There is no question that the president is going to ma ke a major foreignpolicy speech at west point. I think people around the world understand that he is not backed up by his words and actions. Syria is the most glaring example. He said we were making progress in syria because we removed to 90 of chemical weapons. The death toll in syria has now passed 160,000. How much safer is the middle east because of that . He simply does not want to get troops orhere u. S. Procedures on the line. That is something where people around the world are not believing what he says. Ast at what point, though, we move into an electionyear will the president find that the bully pulpit is not working . Guest i think he already knows it has been diminished. He has been hovering in the low 40s for probably since christmas time. I think that people Pay Attention to him less and less. He goes on the road and he talks. Whether at a minimum wage event he gets less airtime on the networks now. Lets play in newspapers. People simply are not paying attention to him like they used to four or five years ago. Last wednesday, the president took a very short walk from the white house to the interior department. What is noticeable about this is the video was released by the white house. You saw the video. Shookuld cancel it hands with tourists. What does this tell you about how the white house is trying to shape the message and the approach . Guest well, it is very manipulative. The president has tens of millions of twitter followers. They can produce these videos like the one you just mentioned. It allows them to craft their own message in such a way that allows them to bypass mainstream media. Why should they subject him subject officials to this questioning, when they can put up their own message and have a huge audience . It is a precedent that he has established. It is certainly going to follow. Why not . If you can get your message out unfiltered and unchallenged, who wouldnt want to do that . Host is it any different from Richard Nixon . He had a Record Number of speeches, trying to bypass the media. Or bill clinton, who would go on larry king for a primetime interview . For president reagan having a primetime News Conference . Guest the difference between now and then is there are so many more fact boards available. Even cable news is not nearly as watched as it was 1015 years ago. One of the enduring secrets is that cable news msnbc and fox, the audience is much smaller than people think. The white house does not necessarily have to worry. In clintons day, he got a lot of mileage out of that. They have their own platforms that are huge and widely followed. No need to go and play this game the other president s did. Host the one thing the president does have is fundraiser entry. Than two dozen fundraisers in the last couple of weeks. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee what can we expect ahead . Guest the number of fundraisers is 30. No question that the president wears many hats. Raising money is one of them. That is important. We are talking about his credibility. I think there are a lot of people in the Democratic Party complaining about how the president is doing. We have 5. 5 months until election date rid republicans will do well in the house. Maybe pick up 46 seats. There is a very real possibility as well that they could retake the senate as well. You need six seats they may get those seats. Seven democrats are defending seats in states won by romney. It is highly possible that republicans will take the senate as well. What is barack obama doing about that . He is raising money. He is not campaigning directly. He possibly might make a difference. He was at a fundraiser in chicago the other night. This is what he said. To push a need you little further that youre doing right now. We have to feel a sense of urgency in the selection. It is not good enough to sit back. The complaint about him is that is exactly what he is doing, in fact. He raises the money, but he does not have a skin in the game. He is not campaigning for these folks. The polls are not looking good for democrats, as you know. Time is running out. Host historically, as chuck todd pointed out, in midterm elections, democrats are notoriously lower turnout than in president ial elections. Guest the president talks about that all the time. Residential election nears democrats vote. In midterm years, they are really complacent. Unless he can get these folks out, one thing the president has done this database that they have is very granular in terms of zip codes. They have turned that over two candidates in particular states and districts to need this information badly. Powerfulnothing more than the president coming to your district and campaigning. He simply wont do that. Host one state he is likely to visit kentucky. I mention that because Allison Grimes won her nomination. Very quick to call for Eric Shinseki to step down. Guest she is running a very tight race against Mitch Mcconnell. They show that as a tire and a. I think that mcconnell will win. That is a deeply red state. By 16 obama lost points. In 2012, by 23 points. And even worse performance. That is a deeply red state, despite the fact that they seem to be running neck and neck. There are more democrats republicans than democrats. When the chips are down, they vote for conservatives. Host yet they have a democratic governor. Guest they do, but i put my money on mcconnell. Here is that 70,000 people in kentucky, for the first time in their lives, have help. That is a big deal. Race byl one his last 60,000 votes. If those 70,000 vote and say here is health care something that Mitch Mcconnell try to deny me, could that influence that race . Not the kind of people who typically go to the polls. Host one final note on that. We heard from Mitch Mcconnell last week, saying he would run a very Different Senate then harry reid. Has damaged itid beyond repair. Guest not quite sure how different it would be. Host the website, westwingreports. Com. Appreciate you being with us. We will get your calls and comments. First, david from minnesota. Caller good morning. I would like to say a word in support of general shinseki. His approach and the president s approach reveal that they faced several challenges, like expanding the care to veterans. The fact that we have been lied to by so many people in this organization is not something he should be faulted for. Thank you for your program. Host thank you. Guest nevertheless, the way politics work, i think people are looking for a head to roll. The head of the phoenix hospital has got to go. We will see whether the president gets rid of shinseki. He seemed to hint that he is expendable. We will not get a report until august. Reports of this kind of malfeasance go back for years. Not sure what the president is waiting for. Host Speaker Boehner says he is not ready to call for him to step down, but he is getting closer. Guest getting closer. I think that people do not doubt shinsekis commitment to helping veterans. Think boehner is being a little true here and waiting to see where the tea leaves fall. I would not be surprised at this report comes out. President kind of edging away from the person and gradually they are marginalized. Guest host not one of those browny, heck of a job moments. All right. You are a columnist for the week. Craig is joining us from massachusetts. Good morning. Caller what i would like to see is a national new referendum. You would take the senate and the congress and the executive branch and put the veterans in the same pool for medical benefits. They would not be held hostage to annual monetary constraints. At the same level. That at a national level, it would take a lot to institute. But i think, like a gandhi movement, where you show people who are so desperately poor, could change the direction of the government. I would like to see the veterans be put in the same pool. Then i do not think the congress and the senate, some way or another, it would hurt the veterans. We wanted to be an issue outside, where they do not have to worry about it. Host did you want to respond . Guest im not sure of the question there. Shinseki hast eric done, he announced that veterans can get more care outside of the v. A. I could be good or bad. Host this is from fred barnes. The president needs a lot of improvement. A couple of points on his vision. He says it is a leftwing vision. On his organizational capacity, he says this is a strength. When asked about effectiveness as a communicator, he regards the president as eloquent th ey are wrong, he has become boring, whiny, and unimpressive. Guest there is truth to a lot of us. This is a president who is very aloof. He does not reach beyond his circle very often. His office is a good example. All president s are entitled to downtime. It is a stressful job. Days all the 23 time. This point, but at he can play golf with every member of congress. Breaking the ice and all of that stuff happens on the golf course. He played with john boehner once. There was never a second round. Couldnt he just break it up and play with some others . Lay with some republicans, have a drink afterwards. He does not want to do that. He is very insular. It is a reflection of his management style. I think it is clearly hurting him. There is more than a kernel of truth to that point. Host the president is delivering a speech at west point. A historian from the new york ys sa there isd last night, no policy in syria, no strategy in syria. It is a bizarre situation. The white house chief of staff says they invited senator corker because these issues will loom large in the coming weeks. The administration thought there was a good backandforth. Sharp words by bob corker. Guest were those guys at the same party . Sounds like a very different thing. Coming back to syria, we have talked about the chemical weapons report. The death toll has passed 160,000. One thing is that the president , with respect to syria he does not want to get u. S. Troops involved. He was elected to wind down these wars. I understand. Look at the damage to the budget. All the people who have been killed or injured in the last decade. For what . Has it enhanced our foreign policies . I understand that is what he is elected to do. There have been false reports at least institute a nofly zone. There have been bombs on schools. He wont even do that. The death toll has shot up because he will not institute a nofly zone over serious. That would definitely prevent some of these casualties. Respect, someat of his republican criticism is particularly well warranted. Host a followup question. Does the president follow a pattern that is easy for president putin to pick up on . Has it ever changed . Guest Vladimir Putin is a different ace. The russian student that i am i spent five years in moscow. He sees the world the way he processes information. It is very different from how we imagined. Yes, there is a mindset where russia has been circled by the west. There is this view that there is a big i do not think american policymakers understand the way russians think about these issues. There is this disconnect between what the way he acts and the way he thinks and the way we analyze it. I think putin is taking advantage of this understanding. Host my guest is paul brandes. Good morning. Caller the first thing i want to make a couple of comments here. One thing with respect to the s leadership one thing that used to really irritate me. I am a news junkie. People are always talking. Are ahey knew no, there million issues being discussed in the white house. I do not think that is the way that leadership is supposed to work. With respect to general shi nseki, the person i hold responsible for more this was inside the hospital. They have these daily ongoing conversations with the veterans. Shinseki if a secret program is being operated that facility, there is no way for him to find out unless somebody comes out and gives that information up. Host thank you. Guest i think that is an interesting point. That reminds me of Something Else about the v. A. All of the focus on these 40 veterans who allegedly died because of these long waiting lists. It is understandable that americans are outraged. At the same time, lets talk about some other outrages. Whoe are 58,000 veterans are homeless. Another 1. 4 million are at risk of being homeless as well. 58,000 Homeless Veterans in this country. In my view, it is simple. No country that values the great work of its veterans can in good conscious allow these heroes to sleep on the streets. Yet, we do. As we express our outrage over these 40 folks who died, what about the broader issues that are happening in our community . 58,000 Homeless Veterans. I do not see people talking about that. , more than this issue at the phoenix hospital. There are broader, more systemic issues that are damaging the veterans. Host another one of these otrs the president went to the shake shack on connecticut avenue. You can see from this photograph, some workers are involved in the infrastructure project. This is part of the administrations effort to focus on highway bills. Related to all of this, as we look at the president and Vice President together what is their relationship with why hasnt the white house leveraged joe bidens relationship with congress more . Guest joe biden behind the scenes does very well, gladhanding on the hill. Shake shack reminds me of Something Else. People complain about resident the president not having a grand strategy. The reason they picked that shake shack was because they pay their employees the minimum wage. Over 10 that is one of his big things. Raise the National Minimum wage to 10. 10. I think that sounds ok. Of americans do not understand from an economic standpoint what his grand vision is for the economy. This is an issue that does not necessarily resonate with a lot of people. People on the lower rungs of the latter i do head into november, not understand why he is trying to do on the economy. He is focused on minimum wage, but what about these broader issues . Host the president is making personal changes on friday. Taking over next month is the next secretary for health and human services. Her nomination not facing any major hurdles. Dat created a domino affect, onovan is moving over to her old position on omb. The mayor of san antonio will come in as hud director. [video clip] julian has been focused on revitalizing one of our most wonderful cities. Attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in investment. He has built relationships with mayors all across the country, become a leader in housing and economic development. There are great jobs in san antonio. My administration named the east side of san antonio a promise zone, a place where the federal government is working together with citizens to make it Better Family by family and block by block. Hecare deeply about people cares deeply about the people he serves and the city he loves. He has never forgotten where he comes from. Host he delivered the keynote address at the Democratic Convention a few years ago. They call this a big boost for an up and comer. Question, they have artie talked about him being a short list for Vice President in 2016. A really bright, rising star. 40 years old. He has a long way to go. It is also a plate to the hispanic population. Of whata huge part could obama oh top in 2008. It will go democratic in 2016, unless the republicans come around on immigration. Host do you think the house will take up the issue . Guest i do not think so. John boehner wants to take a piecemeal approach. They will start with border security. The white house claims it is already more secure than it was 45 years ago. The short answer is no. Host the torilla is next from oregon. Democrats line. Welcome to the program. Caller good morning. I am a registered nurse. I took care of soldiers during the vietnam war. I worked at the va hospital in the 60s. That was like the movie, born on the fourth of july. Conditions have really improved. My husband is a vietnam veteran. They meet for lunch, about 30 of them, monthly. Everybody is really very happy with the v. A. Here in oregon. They have satellite clinics. There was a bill to construct. That offers a lot more access. One of the problems is access. People who are schedulers, they are not medical types. If somebody called up for an appointment, there should be trigger words, like chest pain or pain. If they cannot deal with this, they should probably have someone at triage, who is a registered nurse. Someone who can direct those people. If we cannot see you, get to an emergency room. Call 911. Withw there is a problem preauthorization. That is probably the issue. Most of the guys that i know think things have improved. The Vietnam Veterans are still filing claims because of the agent orange situation. They were denied. Host thank you for the call and sharing your expertise. Mickey joining us from arizona on the line for republicans with paul brandus. Caller good morning. My question is about the v. A. I do want to make a quick comment. The last color was from oregon. It is so simple, how can it not be . How muchons were, influence does the union have and how things are going the response from the white house . There are extra benefits paid to bureaucracy. Bonuses . Caller exactly. Guest i cannot speak to that, but we do know that the hospital got this 8,500 bonus. Even while this investigation was going on. That has since been rescinded. Beyond that, perhaps other bonuses were available. If they werent, i am not sure it is appropriate. Host kim is next from georgia. Good morning. Caller i think that shinseki should be allowed to retain office. He has been used as a scapegoat. Peopleton likes to take to fall. Host he hung up. Is the secretary a scapegoat . I would like to show you a portion of the speech from august 2009. Hebasically outlines how wanted to create a 21st century be a system. It has been delayed by a number of issues, including a paperwork system in 2009 and 2010. Before,s i mentioned they did not even build this digital system until last year. Believe it or not the internet has been around for a couple of decades now. Even the irs started to allow he years back in 1980, 25 ago. They are way behind the times. Townsin the town square where they really take the cake here. That is what shinseki inherited. There is a huge backlog, 833,00 0. He has cut it down to about rehundred thousand. They have come an awfully long way. I think you can also make the argument that he has been made a scapegoat. Nevertheless, the way washington works, somebody has to go. Host will there be more internal changes for the white house staff . Either a new chief of staff or press secretary . Moving into the midterm elections, or after the november elections . Guest in the latter part of a twoterm president , there are normally people who had for the doors to secure a good job before time runs out. Jay carney has been on the job longer than a lot of his predecessors. His tenure is about host 2. 5 years. Guest about three. I would not want to do that job. I would be surprised i would not be surprised to see him go. Not sure who would replace him. Chief of staff, i would not be surprised to see go. Also, we will see. At the end, a lot of people heading for the door. Ost a lot of speculation lets go to kelvin on the democrats line from georgia. Caller ok. This is it. You have senate, you have represented from states. All of those people are supposed to be in charge of what is going on in their state. People in this situation. It has been going on for so long. Each of them knew about the situation long before. Even before this president was in office. Host the president made that point, in fact. This is been going on for decades. He used that as an excuse. Guest i dont think it is. Take a step back. The president gets blamed for everything. I have an email from a guy, i do not think he was joking. He said it is not quite as broken as balboa avenue. Why hasnt he fixed this stoplight . I dont think he was joking. President s get blamed for a lot of things, big and small. Host it is expected to be a quiet week in washington. The house is back on wednesday. The senate is in recess. There was an announcement that five democrats, led by the congressman from maryland, will meet on benghazi. Pelosi criticized boehner for this committee. Guest better to be inside the tent, then outside. I think they will participate. We will wait and see whether the republicans come up with investigations into benghazi. They have not come up with much. I think there are a lot of comments that have been made. Thert gates, for example, former defense secretary appointed by president bush, was asked if he would have done anything differently. He said no. He would have handled things exactly as they had done. Even the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff appointed by president bush said the same thing. Republicans tend to ignore these highly respected republicans. It is very convenient for them in an election year. As you get to fundraising pitches in this kind of thing. It is fine, raising money is how you win elections. That will not result in anything new. I tend to doubt it. Host john from newark, new jersey. Good morning. Caller hi. I am a korean war veteran. And korean war veterans, we really do not get any thanks for what weve done. They go through the Second World War to the vietnam war to the wars that president bush got us into. They barely rarely mentioned the korean war veterans. I have been to the Veterans Administration and i cannot go into the Veterans Administration hospital because of the fact that they could not keep their billing straight. I personally feel that shinseki should be ostracized for this. He is not a medical professional. They need to put a medical professional, who knows how to run hospitals, to run the va hospital. Host he makes a point that we have also heard. Money we may need some who will operate the implementation of the Affordable Care act. Someone beyond a cabinet secretary. Host time to rethink the way it is structured . Guest the federal government is highly dysfunctional across the board. It has always been like that. I hate to be trite, but the isernment in many respects like a giant department of motor vehicles. It is hard to get anything done. There are all kinds of privatesector practices making things more efficiently streamlined. Absolutely, that could be applied to the federal government. Also, they talk about making government better or reinventing it. Readapting to the 20th century. They may make progress in their. At the end of the day, it is just as function. Host we will check out your work on westwingreport. Com. Appreciate it. Tomorrow is memorial day, and we have a full program. Beginning at 7 00 eastern, doug brinkley, taking a look at the significance of memorial day. And the anniversary of the dday invasion that turned the tide in world war ii. We will also check in with leo shane on how the v. A. Is funded we will look at Veterans Affairs 101 and to then talk to the president and ceo of recruit military 101. That is tomorrow at 7 00 eastern. 4 00 for those of you on the west coast. Newsmakers is up next. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Happy memorial day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2013] on cspan this morning, vermont senator Bernie Sanders the discuss issues facing Veterans Affairs department. Later, a house debate on a bill having to do with the a management. Thank you for joining us