Thats what i was trying to do. Just in the last hour the top u. S. Official responsible for caring for our nations veterans responded to the unfolding controversy over false claims he made about his military record. In a report that aired on cbs, Robert Mcdonald was seen on camera telling a homeless veteran that he was in the special forces. Special forces. What years . I was in special forces. Although mr. Mcdonald is a veteran, he served with the 82nd Airborne Division and not in the special forces. Mcdonald recounted his motivations behind the incident and he apologized. In an attempt to connect with that veteran, to make him feel comfortable, i incorrectly stated that i, too, had been in special forces. That was wrong, and i have no excuse. My biggest motivation was to connect with the veteran. It was a misstatement. It was a mistake. The white house says it accepts mcdonalds explanation. When pressed about it earlier today, josh earnest reiterated the president s support for secretary mcdonald. He is somebody who understands firsthand the sacrifice that our men and women in uniform make on a regular basis. He also understands why what he said about his service is wrong. Thats why it was appropriate for him to apologize, but there is no reason to think that the mistake that he made should interfere with his ability to continue to lead the fight for our veterans and to continue to implement the kinds of reforms at the va that are so critical to making sure our veterans are getting the benefits they desefb. Desefb deserve. On meet the press earlier this month, he said 60 people had been fired for misconduct related to long wait times. That number was actually fewer than 20. Secretary mcdonalds tenure at the department of va began this summer after it was revealed that veterans faced mistreatment and extraordinarily long wait times at va facilities across the country. Joining me now my my guests. Gentlemen, thanks for joining me. Congressman murphy let me go to you first. This is not a lie, he said before. This was an attempt to connect with a fellow veteran. What did you make of the apology . I thought he was spot on. Listen alex where are we in American History where we cant have any person commit the Public Service make any type of mistake . He made a mistake. He owned up to it. He called the reporter. He did a press conference. He was connecting with this homeless veteran. Alex as you know, there are 49 9 49,000 veterans who are out on the streets. He was trying to connect with this person. Was it right . No. He was wrong. But it wasnt like he was full of bluster or he put this on his official document. It was a misstatement, it was wrong, and he owned up to it. What did you think of the idea this was about connection with someone who has served in the armed forces . I absolutely understand his attempt to draw that Straight Line connection to this veteran. I see it day in and day out in conversations with other veterans. Some people try to find some baseline, some commonality, to relate to the people with whom they are speaking. It joe let me follow up on that. When it is revealed that that attempt at connection is a false one, does that in turn hurt does this hurt secretary mcdonald in your eyes, in the eyes of the folks that serve . I understand how it could possibly hurt him. What i am impressed by is his willingness to fall immediately on his sword, come out and approach the community in a sense of humility and acknowledge he has made a mistake and ask for forgiveness for his mistake. That speaks more of his nature than the mistake itself. In terms of the other exaggeration about the number of folks who have been fired in the wake of the scandal at the va, in some ways that seems, perhaps, more distressing because theres a lot of misinformation about exactly whats going on at the va and i wonder what you made of if statistics he made and the reality about who actually has been fired. I read the Washington Post piece as well. There was some firings, less than 20 but there was some forced retirements of people who didnt want to retire. Part of it is he doesnt want to throw people that served for 20 or 30 years in that Agency Completely under the bus, even though it was time for them to go. I thought that was again, he wasnt as clear as he should be but alex i have known bob mcdonald. This is a leader of character. He went to ranger school. He was in the 82nd Airborne Division. He did desert training. He did arctic training. He did training with special forces. He wasnt in them but he apologized for it. He made a mistake, and hopefully it wasnt happen again. Lets play the sound of secretary mcdonald on meet the press when he talked about those figures as far as who had been fired in the va since he took over. 900 people have been fired since i became secretary. We have 60 people who we fired who manipulated wait times. Joe, i think theres wide acknowledgment that there are problems at the va. 900 people fired, thats par for the course as far as turnover at the va. Its unclear how many of those firings were truly related to the aftermath of the scandal. Anecdote anecdote anecdotely, in terms of your experience is there a sense that it is Getting Better . I was in active service in 2004 and 2008. Problematic would have been an understatement. It was completely uncustomer centric, meaning that the soldiers that these employees were attempting to serve felt the least served in their entire community. The attitudes, the professionalism, all needed vast improvement. And i support what my fellow veteran and prior congressman just reiterated about mr. Mcdonald, and that is as a veteran, i feel like he brings the leadership skills and skill necessary to correct and move forward in a better manner with the va and lead from the front as opposed to from the rear. I think it is not just that the va is still plagued by problems. There seems to be institutional failure issues but here is the secretary of Veterans Affairs on the streets of los angeles talking to a homeless veteran in the United States of america. It is inexcusable that this is the lot of the men and women who are ready to give their lives and put their lives on the line in the name of our nation. I mean thats probably the most inexcusable part of all this. No doubt, alex. We all know in the media, if it bleeds it leads, but whats not being told is that heres this secretary of the va whos out there in the streets late at night in los angeles making sure were bringing those Homeless Veterans back into the fold. I will tell you homelessness among veterans has been cut 1 3 in the last few years. As i told you, theres 49,000 Homeless Veterans which is 49,000 too many but look at the other statistics as well. Theres 2200 veterans that commit suicide every day. The last thing you want to see is people looking at these reports who wont trust the va and go into them. It is Getting Better. Theres no doubt, but theres a lot more work that needs to be done. Indeed there is. It is good to talk to two men who have served who have distinct and a very important viewpoint on this. It is a scandal what has happened to the veterans in this country. If anything, days like today are good because they remind us of the reality. Thank you guys for your time. We have some breaking news in the past hour. President obama issued his first veto since republicans took control of both chambers of congress rejecting a bill approving the keystone xl pipeline. House Speaker John Boehner called the veto a national embarrassment. Mitch mcconnell is promising a vote to override the veto. After the break governor Chris Christie delivers his Budget Proposal a day after a federal judge says he broke the law. Apple says santa can be black. Theres an emoji for that. Using pot is way less dangerous than any other drug including alcohol. All of that is ahead on now. [announcer] if your dog can dream it purina pro plan can help him achieve it. Driving rock metal music stops music resumes music stops music resumes [announcer] purina pro plans bioavailable formulas deliver optimal nutrient absorption. [whistle] purina pro plan. Nutrition that performs. Would you be willing to give up sharing your moments . Sacrifice streaming all night long . Is it okay to drop a connection, when you need it most . If youre not on the largest, most reliable network, what are you giving up . Verizon. Its another blustery day in new jersey and much of it is coming from governor Chris Christie. Today is budget day in the garden state and fiscally speaking, there are slippery roads ahead. Christie used his annual Budget Proposal today to announce a new road map to deal with states crippling pension problem. The state would work to pay what it owes to the pension city while Public EmployeesUnion Employees would have to work to cut health care costs. We will not push this off. We will not leave it for another day, another year, for another generation. Inaction is unacceptable. Repeating the mistakes of the past would be irresponsible. Christies proposal comes just a day after the federal judge ruled that the governor broke the law when he declined to make the full payment into the states Pension System last year ordering him to find and pay over 1. 5 billion in delayed funds. Christies office has vowed an appeal blaming an unanticipated revenue shortfall for the delayed payments. The states 6. 2 jobless rate remains higher than the national average, which may help explain why the governors Approval Ratings are the lowest since he took office. Louisiana governor bobby jindal is struggling to close a 1. 6 billion budget gap in his statement. Wisconsins scott walker is facing his latest rounds of protests this time from the college crowd. The Marquette University dropout thinks wisconsins Higher Education is ripe for the chopping block. Nick lets begin with governor christie. Is it possible that the hatchet been buryied between him and the Public Employee unions . It is pretty fascinateing. Whats interesting here is the early signs that the teachers unions, especially are willing to look at and deal. It is two possibilities for Chris Christie. His plan to the latest payment was dealt a sharp blow by a state judge. You cant back out of your end of the deal if the workers are keeping up their end. On the other hand, this is a real crisis. It is not an invented crisis. There is a pension problem. It seems to me that the union mightunions might come to the table now and work with him. Its also interesting that his rhetoric today is all about not pushing off the inevitable to face ones demons today as opposed to tomorrow. This is a governor who has pushed off paying out these pension payments year after year. Thats right. It was a little cheesy to go out there and say were not going to push it off. He tried to push it off. He said we dont have the money. I have to delay these payments. There is a problem that has to be solved and the question is how do they get together and what happens next for him. Nick this is coming at a time when christies Approval Rating is low. Theres a lot of questioning about how much support he is going to get from republican donors if he decides to run in 2016. Beyond the investigations theres a real serious debate about his fiscal stewardship of the state, something you and i have talked about numerous times. This would seem to be the latest woe for him in terms of their eight credit downgrades since he took over. The higher than average unemployment. Were talking major liabilities ahead in the bid for the office of president. Its true. I think the records do matter for all these candidates and for Chris Christie who has now been in office for more than one term. It is sort of harder and harder to say i inherited these problems. For some of these other governors governors were seeing a bit more of a structural problem. Thats harder for them to manage politically. Chris christie does have democrats in the legislature. I have to deal with these guys. I have to meet them halfway. Thats appealing to some voters and some donors and mainstream republicans who want to see somebody who can make a deal. And the question is how big is that constituency in a primary process. I dont know. This is the conservative model. Scott walker has executed on it. Bobby jindal has executed on it. We see where the states are. They have over billion dollar shortfalls because of their resistance to raising taxes and revenue. You cut taxes without paying for it. Right. Its one thing to not want to raise taxes, but then to deliver a tax cut and then realize you dont have the political will to tax to pay for tax cuts doing budget maneuvers, you cant do it forever. It eventually catches up to you if you are a governor. Scott walker are Cutting University funding and all sorts of things that create pain in other areas. It is easy to take a whack at the Public Employees. They are kind of public enemy right now. It is harder to cut colleges and Public Schools that your average voters cares about. President obama has issued a veto on the keystone xl pipeline. This has been heralded as the opening salvo in the veto era. Mitch mcconnell is vowing to take this up again on march 3rd. What ultimately do you think what happens here . Im not entirely convinced he eventually doesnt approve this. What he said today is it is not up to congress to unionlaterally approve a pipeline. Hes saying i want to go through that process. Is he buying time . Is he running out the clock . Its possible. Its also possible that all the approvals come in that the studies say, yes, we should do this, and then he eventually signs off on it. Which seems weird because it seemed like a principled stand. If he approves the keystone pipeline, it upends the narrative. It is very important for the president at this time to say, look, these are the powers and prerogatives of the executive branch. Im not going to back down just because you won a midterm. This is a process. The executive branch is in charge of it. Im not going to get railroaded by congress on this. I think that is an important thing to do. This is not the last veto we will see out of the white house. Nope. Always good to see you, nick. Thanks for your time. Coming up, a major announcement from attorney general eric holder nearly three years to the day after Trayvon Martin was fatally shot. I sure hope so. With healthcare costs, who knows. Umm. Everyone has retirement questions. So ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. Now you and your ameripise advisor. Can get the real answers you need. Start building your confident retirement today. 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