Va Doing News Today

>> if the team approves the use of the drug. it is in its opening stages when it comes to that combination of drugs that the fda has approved for us, to see if we can make a dent in depression. >> sandra: finally, i want to get your thoughts on this. the fraudsters that have been indicted for this one million-dollar scheme scheme that targeted thousands of eric u.s. service members and veterans, what is the va doing to help them out? >> well, it was a department of defense issue that we were mad...

Something, and the red tape, and the constant struggle, and i just applaud -- theres so many great people in the va doing so many great things, but we got to streamline it a little faster and better, continue to focus on promises made to the veterans, given a blank check with everything to include their life for this country. >> very quickly, if you could, we heard a lot of people talking about how brave they would have been had they been outside stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida...

A certain procedure at a certain facility in virginia. whats being done in light of that. also overall how is the va doing as it tries to recover? >> the va has got a long way to go before they get back to where they need be in servicing our veterans and giving them the benefits they earned. secretary mcdonnell and sloan gibson are working every day and night to make sure that this agency is turned around. what was reported on your network just the other day was a couple of veterans who have bee...

A lot of new details about issues at these facilities came during visits to regional offices last month. bill? bill: so, peter, what is the va doing now to fix these problems? >> reporter: bill the va wants to be 98% of accurate with all disability ratings claims within 125 days, by next year. they say theyre on their way. a spokesman for the va emailed this morning to say, quote, the veterans benefits administration vba made significant progress to transform way it does business to eliminate th...

This is a systemic problem and they have been cheating and gaming this for years. >> you say this is a systemic problem. how do you -- i mean, how can you say -- how can you say that for sure? >> well, i guess i cant say that for sure. its certainly been going on in phoenix for years and talked the people at other vas and told me the same thing. basically when you have a system where if the hospital director turns in good numbers to the vision director, they get ahead. if the vision director tur...

Problem. how do you -- i mean, how can you say -- how can you say that for sure? >> well, i guess i cant say that for sure. its certainly been going on in phoenix for years and talked the people at other vas and told me the same thing. basically when you have a system where if the hospital director turns in good numbers to the vision director, they get ahead. if the vision director turns in good numbers to the va administration, they ahead. if congress comes and asked hows the va doing? numbers ...

The fact that now 26 facilities are under investigation, does that surprise you? >> no. this is a systemic problem and they have been cheating and gaming this for years. >> you say this is a systemic problem. how do you -- i mean, how can you say -- how can you say that for sure? >> well, i guess i cant say that for sure. its certainly been going on in phoenix for years and talked the people at other vas and told me the same thing. basically when you have a system where if the hospital director ...

From these wars are getting what they were promised they would get from veterans affairs. this is scathing. not only are vets not getting mental health help that we promised theyd be able to get, not only are our vets waiting more like 50 days or even 80 days to get a mental health appointment, the va isnt even being honest about how badly they are screwing this up. the inspector general calls the vas own data, their own reporting on how long theyre making our veterans wait for mental health car...

Everybody wants that. that said, as much as everybody in the country wants all the troops home, polls show that we are glad they are home from iraq, and we want them home from afghanistan. as much as americans are united in that, we frankly have some responsibilities as civilians to how responsibly bring those troops home. and apparently we are blowing it in at least one really important way. look at this. this is a new report from the inspector general for the veterans affairs administration. a...

As much as americans are united in that, we frankly have some responsibilities as civilians to how responsibly bring those troops home. and apparently we are blowing it in at least one really important way. look at this. this is a new report from the inspector general for the veterans affairs administration. a new report on whether our troops are coming home -- whether our troops coming home from these wars are getting what they were promised they would get from veterans affairs. this is scathin...