June 1, 2014 -- Updated 1624 GMT (0024 HKT)
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has resigned, President Barack Obama announced on Friday. FULL STORY
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SHINSEKI IN FIRESTORM
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VA AUDIT REPORT RELEASED
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OBAMA ANNOUNCES SHINSEKI RESIGNATION
Shinseki resigns, but will that improve things at VA hospitals?
May 31, 2014 -- Updated 1741 GMT (0141 HKT)
The journey to Shinseki's resignation
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Obama accepts VA secretary's resignation, says Shinseki doesn't want to be a distraction
- Shinseki says his commitment to veterans drove his decision to resign
- The move comes after months of reports about problems with the VA medical system
Shinseki's resignation
concluded a firestorm of criticism and growing calls for him to step
down following revelations of sometimes deadly delays for veterans
waiting for care at VA hospitals, allegations exposed by CNN in a series
of exclusive reports.
Details of the delays were first exposed by CNN last November
in an investigation into two VA hospitals in the Southeast. Since then,
CNN's reporting has expanded to include numerous other VA hospitals,
culminating with details about secret waiting lists at the Phoenix VA
that may have played a role in the deaths of 40 veterans.
New details about Shinseki resignation
President Barack Obama
went before reporters at the White House minutes after meeting with
Shinseki, saying the retired Army general told him "the VA needs new
leadership" to address widespread issues that were chronicled in new
reports this week. Obama said Shinseki "does not want to be a
distraction."
"That was Ric's judgment
on behalf of his fellow veterans, and I agree. We don't have time for
distractions. We need to fix the problem," Obama said.
Calls for Shinseki's
resignation snowballed in recent days from across the political spectrum
-- Republicans and Democrats, as well as veterans' advocacy groups --
because of the misconduct.
In a farewell message to
VA employees, Shinseki didn't address the scandal specifically but did
say he resigned with veterans' interests in mind.
"My personal and
professional commitment and my loyalty to veterans, their families and
our survivors was the driving force behind that decision," he said.
"That loyalty has never wavered, and it will never wane."
Shinseki says 'situation can be fixed,' but not by him
Earlier Friday, Shinseki announced steps to address the VA shortcomings, including removing senior leaders in the Phoenix VA medical system,
eliminating performance awards for VA leaders in 2014 and wait times as
a metric for evaluations and accelerating care to veterans.
He also apologized to veterans and Congress, but declared: "This situation can be fixed."
But Shinseki won't be part of the solution.
He went to the White House to present Obama with findings from his internal audit of what was happening in the VA system, including that many audited facilities had "questionable scheduling practices" that signaled a "systemic lack of integrity."
The President
acknowledged that scheduling issues didn't rise to the attention of
Shinseki, whom he praised as a man who "has served his country with
honor for nearly 50 years."
At the same time, Obama said that he and Shinseki agreed that a shift in leadership was necessary.
For now, Sloan Gibson -- a Shinseki deputy -- will head the VA until a new secretary is named and confirmed.
"Part of that is going
to be technology. Part of that is management," the President said. "But
as Ric Shinseki himself indicated, there is a need for a change in
culture within the VHA, and perhaps the VHA as a whole -- or the VA as a
whole that makes sure that bad news gets surfaced quickly so that
things can be fixed."
Breaking open the scandal
Problems in the VA
system date back decades, but CNN's reporting of long waits at VA
hospitals brought the issue into national focus at the end of 2013.
An April report by CNN in which sources said 40 veterans died at a Phoenix VA facility that used secret waiting lists to cover up the problem prompted angry calls for action.
The VA has acknowledged 23 deaths nationwide due to delayed care.
CNN also obtained an
e-mail written by an employee at a Wyoming VA clinic that said staff was
instructed to "game the system" to make the clinic appear more
efficient.
A preliminary inspector
general's report made public Wednesday described a "systemic" practice
of manipulating appointments and wait lists at the Veterans Affairs
Medical Center in Phoenix.
According to the report, at least 1,700 military veterans
waiting to see a doctor were never scheduled for an appointment or were
placed on a waiting list at the Phoenix VA, raising the question of
just how many more may have been "forgotten or lost" in the system.
In a recent USA Today
opinion piece, Shinseki ordered VA officials to contact each of these
veterans "in order to bring the care they need and deserve."
The latest report by the
VA inspector general's office and Shinseki's auditors indicated a link
between employee bonuses and covering up patient wait times.
There also have been
calls for a criminal investigation into fraudulent record-keeping to
cover up delays at VA hospitals. Obama said Friday that would be up to
the Justice Department, which has been collecting information but has
not launched any investigation.
Shortly before he
resigned, Shinseki told a veterans group that he was shocked by the
inspector general's report, especially the prevalence of wait lists for
veterans needing medical care.
"That breach of
integrity is irresponsible, it is indefensible and unacceptable to me,"
he told the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans just before heading
over to his final meeting with Obama.
"I said when this
situation began weeks to months ago and I thought the problem was
limited and isolated because I believed that. I no longer believe that.
It is systemic," he said.
At the same time, the VA chief of more than five years said that others had misled him.
"I was too trusting of
some, and I accepted as accurate reports that I now know to have been
misleading with regard to patient wait times," he said. "I can't explain
the lack of integrity among some of the leaders of our health care
facilities. This is something I rarely encountered during 38 years in
uniform and so I will not defend it because it's indefensible, but I can
take responsibility for it and I do."
Whistleblower: VA was 'way too focused on ... good numbers'
As the accusations
mounted -- including the latest one in which Reps. Mike Doyle and Tim
Murphy of Pennsylvania claimed 700 veterans had been placed on a primary
care waiting list for doctor appointments at the Pittsburgh VA center,
with some waiting since 2012 -- so too did the pressure on Shinseki.
Politicians largely
applauded Shinseki's resignation on Friday, even as they said that the
VA needed to do more than put new people in his place to resolve its
shortcomings.
"The denial of care to
our veterans is a national disgrace, and it's fitting that the person
who oversees the Department of Veterans Affairs has accepted
responsibility for this growing scandal and resigned," Senate Republican
leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in a statement.
Meanwhile, a VA
whistleblower who told CNN about the problems at the Phoenix facility
said Friday he was saddened by Shinseki's resignation under such
circumstances.
"The VA administrators
got way too focused on having good numbers and they forgot the most
important mandate, the reason we all work at the VA -- to take care of
veterans, to save their lives and give them good medical care," Dr. Sam
Foote said.
"The next secretary's
biggest challenge will be to get that refocused and make sure the number
one job is taking care of veterans - not worrying about their
bureaucratic careers," Foote added.
CNN's Chelsea J. Carter Jim Acosta, Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
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The Gitmo detainees swapped for Bergdahl: Who are they?
June 1, 2014 -- Updated 1259 GMT (2059 HKT)
These are photos, obtained by WikiLeaks that match the names of the detainees released by the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense would neither confirm nor deny their accuracy. Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa was
an early member of the Taliban in 1994 and was interior minister during
the Taliban's rule. He was arrested in Pakistan and was transferred to
Guantanamo in May 2002. During questioning, Khairkhwa denied all
knowledge of extremist activities.
HIDE CAPTION
Guantanamo detainees swapped for Bergdahl
Friends, family await Bergdahl's return
U.S. Army Sergeant released by Taliban
A plane carrying the
detainees left the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo, Cuba, after the
announcement that Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban in
Afghanistan in 2009, had been exchanged for the five men.
Saturday's transfer was
brokered through the Qatari government, a senior Defense official said.
According to senior administration officials, Qatar agreed to take
custody of the detainees and provide assurances they would not pose a
threat to the United States, including a one-year ban from travel out of
Qatar.
Two senior administration
officials confirmed the names of the five released detainees as Khair
Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Nori,
Abdul Haq Wasiq and Mohammad Nabi Omari.
They were mostly mid- to
high-level officials in the Taliban regime and had been detained early
in the war in Afghanistan, because of their positions within the
Taliban, not because of ties to al Qaeda.
CNN has published photos
obtained by WikiLeaks that match the names released by the Department of
Defense of men exchanged for Bergdahl. The DoD would neither confirm
nor deny the images' accuracy. And CNN has not been able to
independently confirm their authenticity.
CNN profiled them two years ago, when their names first surfaced as candidates for a transfer as part of talks with the Taliban:
Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa
Khairkhwa was an early
member of the Taliban in 1994 and was interior minister during the
Taliban's rule. He hails from the same tribe as Afghan President Hamid
Karzai and was captured in January 2002. Khairkhwa's most prominent
position was as governor of Herat province from 1999 to 2001, and he was
alleged to have been "directly associated" with Osama bin Laden.
According to a detainee assessment, Khairkhwa also was probably
associated with al Qaeda's now-deceased leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al
Zarqawi. He is described as one of the "major opium drug lords in
western Afghanistan" and a "friend" of Karzai. He was arrested in
Pakistan and was transferred to Guantanamo in May 2002. During
questioning, Khairkhwa denied all knowledge of extremist activities.
Mullah Mohammad Fazl
Fazl commanded the main
force fighting the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance in 2001, and served as
chief of army staff under the Taliban regime. He has been accused of war
crimes during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s. Fazl was detained
after surrendering to Abdul Rashid Dostam, the leader of Afghanistan's
Uzbek community, in November 2001. He was wanted by the United Nations
in connection with the massacre of thousands of Afghan Shiites during
the Taliban's rule. "When asked about the murders, he did not express
any regret," according to the detainee assessment. He was alleged to
have been associated with several militant Islamist groups, including al
Qaeda. He was transferred into U.S. custody in December 2001 and was
one of the first arrivals at Guantanamo, where he was assessed as having
high intelligence value.
Mullah Norullah Noori
Noori served as governor
of Balkh province in the Taliban regime and played some role in
coordinating the fight against the Northern Alliance. Like Fazl, Noori
was detained after surrendering to Dostam, the Uzbek leader, in 2001. Noori
claimed during interrogation that "he never received any weapons or
military training." According to 2008 detainee assessment, Noori
"continues to deny his role, importance and level of access to Taliban
officials." That same assessment characterized him as high risk and of
high intelligence value.
Abdul Haq Wasiq
Wasiq was the deputy
chief of the Taliban regime's intelligence service. His cousin was head
of the service. An administrative review in 2007 cited a source as
saying that Wasiq was also "an al Qaeda intelligence member" and had
links with members of another militant Islamist group, Hezb-e-Islami
Gulbuddin. Wasiq claimed, according to the review, that he was arrested
while trying to help the United States locate senior Taliban figures. He
denied any links to militant groups.
Mohammad Nabi Omari
Omari was a minor Taliban official in Khost Province. According
to the first administrative review in 2004, he was a member of the
Taliban and associated with both al Qaeda and another militant group
Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin. He was the Taliban's chief of communications
and helped al Qaeda members escape from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Omari
acknowledged during hearings that he had worked for the Taliban but
denied connections with militant groups. He also said that he had worked
with a U.S. operative named Mark to try to track down Taliban leader
Mullah Omar.
CNN's Elise Labott and Erin McPike contributed to this report.
COPY http://edition.cnn.com
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