Top 5 headlines: June 3
These are the stories making news this morning. We've also included a bonus video of Sgt. Bergdahl's father reaction to Bowe's release as questions still loom over the swap. Have a good day.
>>> McCain, Kirkpatrick criticized on VA: Staffers for U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., are defending their handling of a whistleblower's allegations of delayed care at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, charges that have set off a nationwide scandal over patient wait lists.
Dr. Sam Foote said his warnings were ignored by the two Arizona members of Congress. The now-retired VA doctor charged that 40 veterans may have died while on secret waiting lists, launching widespread investigations and leading to Friday's resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.
Kirkpatrick's involvement has caught fire as a campaign issue, as three Republican challengers seek her swing seat. She is the highest-ranking Democrat on the subcommittee for investigations and oversight on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.
Foote said he elevated his allegations to Congress in February, frustrated that the agency's internal watchdog had made no findings public months after he had asked the VA Office of Inspector General to investigate.
That month, he e-mailed a second letter to the inspector general, copying McCain and later Kirkpatrick and the U.S. Attorney's Office. He described "gross mismanagement of VA resources and criminal misconduct" that had caused "systemic patient-safety issues and possible wrongful deaths."
>>> Brewer asks Obama about migrant drop-offs in Ariz.: In a letter sent today to President Barack Obama, Gov. Jan Brewer expressed deep concern over reports that scores of undocumented immigrants from Central America have been released at Greyhound bus stations in Tucson and Phoenix over the past several days after they were flown to Arizona from south Texas.
At the same time, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar has asked Rep. Darrell Issa -- chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- to investigate the policy.
Last week, the U.S. Border Patrol in Tucson confirmed federal officials flew about 400 migrants -- many women and children -- apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to Tucson to be processed. He said the migrants were flown to Arizona because the Border Patrol does not have enough manpower to handle a surge in illegal immigrants in south Texas.
The move has drawn criticism from both sides of the immigration debate. Brewer, who has long been at odds with Obama over illegal immigration issues, wrote that it is "especially disconcerting" that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security instituted the operation without notifying her office, the Arizona Department of Public Safety or the Arizona Department of Homeland Security.
She asked the Obama administration to provide information on the "unconscionable policy," including who authorized it and when, why Arizona is the "target," how many immigrants have been transported from other states and released in Arizona, what information does the federal government know about the immigrants, what steps are federal officials taking to set up emergency housing or detention space for the immigrants and what is being done to secure the border in Texas.
Arizona faces significant challenges stemming from Obama's failure to secure the border, Brewer wrote, adding that state and local governments, law enforcement agencies, health care providers and non-profits are "stretched to the breaking point attempting to manage the enormity of these challenges.
"By systematically transporting and releasing more illegal aliens into Arizona, your administration will exacerbate this problem," her two-page letter states. "This unwarranted operation is another disturbing example of a deliberate failure to enforce border security policies and repair a broken immigration system."
>>> Dan Marino joins concussion lawsuit against the NFL: Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino is among the latest group of NFL players to file a concussion-related lawsuit against the NFL.
Marino and 14 other former NFL players filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Pennsylvania May 28, joining more than 4,500 others who had previously accused the NFL of misleading players about the long-term dangers of concussions.
The NFL and the plaintiffs agreed on a $765 million settlement last August, but the settlement was rejected by a federal judge in January.
The suit filed by Marino and others is similar in nature to hundreds of earlier lawsuits, and accuses the NFL of "carelessness, negligence, intentional misconduct" regarding concussions, according to the documents filed last week and obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
The plaintiffs in the latest lawsuit are seeking money for medical treatment and compensation for long-term or chronic injuries. The 18-page filing does not include specific details about Marino's current health.
Marino, 52, retired in 1999 after playing 17 seasons for the Miami Dolphins. He did not have significant history of documented concussions, but dealt with a neck injury late in his career. He missed 11 games in 1993 after suffering a torn Achilles' tendon
>>> Teachers absent from class way too much, study says: Teachers in the USA's largest school districts missed an average of 11 days, according to a report on teacher attendance released Tuesday.
The study from the National Council on Teacher Quality looked at attendance for more than 234,000 teachers in 40 districts during the 2012-13 year and found that 16% of all teachers were classified as chronically absent because they missed 18 days or more.
"While these big-city school districts are struggling to improve student achievement, they may be overlooking one of the most basic aspects of teacher effectiveness: every teacher being regularly on the job, teaching kids," said Kate Walsh, president of the Washington think tank that advocates for reform in recruiting, retaining and compensating teachers. It receives its money from private foundations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Nancy Waymack, the council's managing director for district policy and co-author of the report, said teacher absences affect student achievement.
"No matter how engaging or talented they are, teachers can only have an impact if they are in the classroom," she said.
Among the cities with the lowest average teacher absences: Indianapolis; Washington, D.C.; Louisville; Milwaukee; and Tampa. Those with the highest teacher absences were Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Nashville; Portland, Ore.; and Jacksonville.
"Most of the time, teachers are showing up like clockwork. They have a 94% attendance rate at the districts we studied, but it varies significantly from teacher to teacher," Waymack said.
>>> Weather: It is going to be hot, hot, hot today through the end of the week under sunny skies! Expect another high of 110.
