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>> it has been in recent years. a lot of questions about whether americas veterans are getting from the department of veterans afairs the services that they need. are they getting that health care, that medical care on a timely basis? theres been a lot of talk from the white house and the administration about trying to improve it, but still, i think, even the department of veterans affairs would say a very long way to go. but what we are seeing here today at arlington really is the history of am...

Is a beautiful image that were looking at right there, as we continue our discussion. as john was alluding to, the scandal that rocked the veterans affairs administration, rocked the v.a., it is a scandal that made -- that is the reason that the previous secretary lost his job. we now have robert mcdonald on the job. what are the reviews that youre hearing so far in how he is tackling and taking on and making progress in the face of this intense, intense scrutiny? >> you know, i actually talked ...

>> hello, everyone, im john berman. >> hello, everyone, im kate bolduan. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. an important show today for us and a very important day, a salute and a tribute to our nations veterans for their service and for their sacrifice. were looking live right now at the official veterans day ceremony. its getting under way at arlington national cemetery. >> these are live pictures from the nations most hallowed ground, as is traditio...

Anniversary of the end of world war ii. and the beginning of our 50th commemoration of the decade-long war in vietnam. to those who fought in both wars, thank you for your selfless service. americans are ever grateful for your sacrifices. the president and vice president understand and value the service and sacrifice of veterans. thats why theyve provided strong and increasing resources for care and benefits, support of the new g.i. bill to educate the next generation of american leaders, tremen...

>> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. [ playing "hail to the chief" ] ♪ >> unfortunately, his face blocked by one of the teleprompters right now, but right there you can see the introduction of president obama standing right next to the v.a. secretary, robert mcdonald. spider, your thoughts on what barbara was stalki intalking ab quickly. >> the homelessness problem is one we need to get our arms around and the v.a. is doing quite a good job. 600 service members a day be...

Care. the service member who signs up today, the 18-year-old who comes in today, is going to be this veteran 80 years from now. hopefully 80 years from now. yet theres this great divide. d.o.d. is in virginia. v.a. is in washington. there has never been a larger divide across the potomac than you can imagine. that database. young spider marks at 18. is that completely continuous over the v.a. so i seamlessly transition to somebody else who owns me. right now that disappears. this is a very, very...

Our tributes today will ring hollow if we do not ensure that our veterans receive the care that you have earned and that you deserve. the good news is is that in recent years, weve made historic investments to boost the v.a. budget, expand benefits, offer more mental health care and improved care for our wounded warriors, especially those with posttraumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. weve now slashed the disability claims backlog by nearly 90%. were reducing the outrage of veterans homel...

In los angeles and especially for veterans, young veterans in particular, is extremely significant. and a lot of work being done by private organizations and partnering with the v.a. indeed to try and find solutions to that. but this gets back to what were talking about. americas veterans population is a very dynamic always-moving population. people constantly get out of the military. they constantly, over the last 14 years, have come home from americas wars, and many of them do face a number of...

And i loved the line when he said about the veterans, an unbroken chain of set rans even pointing out the oldest known world war ii veteran female 108 at the ceremony. she was there. i wish we had a camera there and we could have seen her when he pointed her out. what do you think that the m message should be? what is the message going forward? >> well, clear ly the chain is unbroken and individual links within the chain periodically snap and break, and can the v.a. and the brothers and sisters ...