tweets on the v.a. scandal. the problems might be old but the story isn t. we now have evidence of how ridiculously short the president has fallen in his promise to the vets. did they hold bush accountable? steve, they were slow, but in part it has been an old story the media has heard for a long time. they never look deeper to see deaths. clyde watkins, old story going on for years. fundamental reform to fix. media won t cover a story that long. it has been an old story that has been covered a little bit, and i don t know if the media will continue to cover it but any little bit helps. like to see the media suspend the a.d.d. and stick with this for a very lock time. brian williams took a secret trip to russia to interview edward snowden, the nsa leaker who some people consider a traitor. a lot of people who say you have badly damaged your country. have you performed, as you say, a public service? here s the back story. the interview was arranged by
allow terminally ill patients to use unapproved drugs. you have critics coming forward saying it could lead to more suffering and deaths. plus a new angle to this rapidly changing va story. cnn talked to a doctor who says active duty troops were forced to wait too long for treatment. and today, the va secretary caught in the middle of a fire storm reveals whether he is going to resign over the scandal. stay right here.
columnist for congressional quarterly. why is it that it took so long for this story to explode? i think one of the problems is that we don t pay attention to beat reporters all across the country. there is a real value in these reporters, especially as local newsrooms are cutting and slashing budgets. there were stories out of pennsylvania and georgia and south carolina that were very heart-wrenching, yet no one wove together all of those stories until cnn came along with its one-year investigation. but which newspaper initially broke this story about the phoenix facility? the arizona republic out of phoenix. and it was a gannett-owned newspaper. and my hat really goes off to the reporter who took on this story. but there was also a whistleblower who came in and said hey, you really have to examine what s going on here. and he did that after he retired. i want to take a moment to recognize drew griffin, investigative reporter at cnn, because he is not one of the
famous anchors or commentators or loud mouths, but who s been on this va story for a long time but even then fox did jump on it the next day, it was on every primetime show, but weeks have gone by, david, and only this weekend did the new york times and washington post put this story on the front page. why? this is a scandal that s been hidden from sight by another scandal. the va story has been so disappointing for so long that there s this whole extra dimension that in fact it s not just a matter of bureaucratic bungling but actually conscious malfeasan malfeasance. that was a hard thing to penetrate. people are used to bad news about the va. now here s worse news. and craig, it seems that television can only focus on two or three stories at a time. and maybe now some other things have faded and there s room to focus more heavily, as we should have all along, on what s happening in these va facilities. well, frankly, a lot of this story s been user driven. i think the publi
or loud mouths, but who s been on this va story for a long time but even then fox did jump on it the next day, it was on every primetime show, but weeks have gone by, david, and only this weekend did the new york times and washington post put this story on the front page. why? this is a scandal that s been hidden from sight by another scandal. the va story has been so disappointing for so long that there s this whole extra dimension that in fact it s not just a matter of bureaucratic bungling but actually conscious malfeasan malfeasance. that was a hard thing to penetrate. people are used to bad news about the va. now here s worse news. and craig, it seems that television can only focus on two or three stories at a time. and maybe now some other things have faded and there s room to focus more heavily, as we should have all along, on what s happening in these va facilities. well, frankly, a lot of this story s been user driven. i think the public seeing this has risen up in s