SOTU Scoop

By CNN's Tracey Webb

Get your daily scoop of what State of the Union is watching today, May 29, 2014

1. VA crisis.  A growing list of Democrats is calling for VA chief Eric Shinseki's ouster, after a preliminary report by the VA Inspector General's office found at least 1,700 military veterans who sought medical care were never scheduled for an appointment and were never placed on a wait list at a VA hospital in Phoenix.  Since Wednesday, Democratic Senators Mark Udall of Colorado, John Walsh of Montana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Al Franken of Minnesota, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Mark Warner of Virginia, and Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico have said Shinseki should resign.  All but Heinrich are up for re-election this year. With the White House acknowledging that Shinseki is on "thin ice" pending the outcome of the IG's investigation, it many now be a matter of not of if, but when, President Obama cuts the retired four-star general loose.

2. A court fight brewing?   The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee says he is prepared to take the VA to court in order to get to the bottom of the mess at VA health facilities.  Rep. Jeff Miller (R) FL, says he does not think the department has complied with his panel's subpoena.  "Our next step is federal court. I will be filing the necessary legal required action to have the federal courts compel the Department of Veterans Affairs to fully comply quickly with the subpoena," Miller said.

3. MH370.  The area of the south Indian Ocean where a nearly two-month search occurred for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight is probably not the right place, according to the joint search agency.  "The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has advised that the search in the vicinity of the acoustic detections can now be considered complete and in its professional judgment, the area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370," the Joint Agency Coordination Centre said in a statement.  But Australia Deputy Prime Minister Warren Tuss told the country's parliament that officials are "still very confident that the resting place of the aircraft is in the southern ocean and along the seventh ping line."  The U.S. Navy said the pings detected in the search area were not from the plane's flight data recorders.  Flight 370 vanished without a trace March 8 with 239 passengers and crew aboard.