Keeping them Honest: Lawmakers from both parties call for Shinseki's resignation
A White House official tells CNN that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki is "on thin ice" with President Obama. The number of lawmakers from both parties calling for Shinseki's resignation is growing. Lawmakers vented their frustration after senior VA officials testified at a House hearing yesterday evening. Drew Griffin's reporting on the VA scandal has been Keeping Them Honest for months.
Anderson looked at the enormity of this crisis for the White House with political analyst David Gergen and Congressman Jeff Miller, who is the Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Report: 42 VA hospitals now under investigation
A shocking new report on problems at the Phoenix VA hospital details at least 1,700 veterans who were waiting to see a doctor and were never scheduled for an appointment. They were also never placed on a wait list. A new report from the VA's Office of the Inspector General confirms much of what AC360 has been reporting for months now. It found vets spent months waiting for care and Phoenix employees cooked the books to hide it. The scandal is expanding with 42 VA hospitals now under investigation. Drew Griffin is Keeping Them Honest and has the latest on the shocking report.
Anderson discussed the findings with Drew Griffin along with Paul Rieckhoff, founder and CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Keeping Them Honest: Daughter blames VA for her father's death
The daughter of a Vietnam veteran talks to Drew Griffin about the father she lost and his ordeal trying to get care from the Phoenix VA hospital. Priscilla Valdez says her dad spent months trying to get an appointment, but was continually told to wait longer. Pedro Valdez died of acute respiratory failure. Now she wants to know if his name was on one of the alleged VA secret waiting lists.
Keeping Them Honest: What will the inspector accomplish at Phoenix VA hospital?
President Obama's point–man on the Veterans Affairs scandal arrived at the Phoenix VA hospital today. Rob Nabors' visit comes as VA Secretary Eric Shinseki released a statement promising to act "if any allegations under review are substantiated." But VA officials failed to show up to face questions from the House committee investigating the scandal. Drew Griffin has been covering the VA's care crisis for months and has the latest from Phoenix.
Paul Rieckhoff is the CEO and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. He discussed the scandal with Anderson saying "most of America is just finding out about this now, but veterans have known about it for years"
Keeping Them Honest: VA Whistleblower says war vets go from the front lines to waiting lists
Today President Obama responded directly to allegations of VA hospitals manipulating records to hide alleged deadly delays in care. This is a story that Senior Investigative Correspondent Drew Griffin has been reporting on for months, and the details are shocking. Drew spoke with Dr. Kathrine Mitchell, a whistleblower who runs the Phoenix VA's Post-Deployment Clinic. She described vets returning from the battlefield with traumatic injuries and forced to wait for care "six months, nine months or longer." She also told Drew how she saved and hid the alleged fake waiting lists before they could be destroyed.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are also taking action. Anderson Cooper and Drew Griffin discussed all of today's developments with Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
26 Veterans Affairs facilities under investigation
For months on AC360, CNN Senior Investigative Correspondent Drew Griffin has reported on the delays at VA hospitals. Some veterans have died while waiting for care, according to a former VA doctor.
An internal Veterans Affairs memo from 2010 has now surfaced after being first disclosed during a congressional hearing. The four-year-old memo shows VA deputy undersecretary William Schoenhard warned of "inappropriate scheduling practices" and a growing practice of "gaming strategies" being used to cover up excessive waits for veterans.
Drew Griffin and Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta report the latest details. Plus, the first whistleblower from the Phoenix VA, Dr. Sam Foote, joins the conversation and weighs in on the developments.
Keeping Them Honest: President Obama learned of Phoenix VA allegations from CNN
The growing crisis at the VA has President Obama "madder than hell." That's according to his Chief of Staff who says he has "the scars to prove it." Drew Griffin spent months investigating the VA and uncovering a doctor's shocking allegations that a Phoenix VA hospital was keeping a fake waiting list to hide long waits. While AC360 is Keeping Them Honest, Drew is also keeping the White House informed. Jay Carney acknowledged today that the President learned of the allegations at the Phoenix VA from watching CNN.
Rep. Miller speaks out about VA Secretary Shinseki's testimony
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki testified today at his first congressional hearing since AC360's reports about allegations patients died while waiting for care got national attention. Shinseki testified to the Senate Veterans Affairs' Committee that he was cooperating fully with the investigation and he was reviewing all VA operations.
Chairman of the House committee on Veterans' Affairs, Rep. Jeff Miller, talked to Anderson about the Secretary's congressional testimony. "The Secretary did an absolutely abysmal job of trying to reinstill faith and confidence in a very broken system." Rep. Miller told Anderson, "They are cooking the books," and that he is "less convinced" of the VA leadership's appropriateness after the testimony.
Rep. Miller says he doesn't "have faith that the department is able to do what it needs to do to correct the course that it’s on," and suggested an independent group rather than the government agency should be in charge of the investigation.
VA Secretary on the congressional hot seat
WASHINGTON—The former Army general who has been heading the Veterans Administration since the beginning of the Obama presidency tells a Senate committee that in his view, systematic cooking of the VA’s books to make patient wait times appear far shorter than they actually are is rare.
In his first congressional appearance since CNN Investigations Correspondent Drew Griffin first began reporting on the problem, Eric Shinseki says there’s evidence it’s happened “in a couple of cases” but told senators these were isolated incidents. A former VA doctor tells CNN that in his view, false stacking of those waiting lists has led to perhaps as many 40 deaths.
Drew’s reporting for AC360° continues tonight and a Democratic member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee says it’s high time the FBI began its own investigation.
Was the VA 'gaming the system' as veterans waited for care?
An email made public by another whistleblower at a VA hospital could turn out to be a smoking gun in the scandal that Drew Griffin has been reporting on for six months. The email details how a VA hospital in Wyoming was "gaming the system" to hide the long waits for medical care. Drew Griffin is Keeping Them Honest.
