Week In The News: VA Scandal, Primaries And The Tea Party, Chinese Hackers

The President and theVA scandal. Establishment Republicans win over the Tea Party. US Cyber-theft charges against China’s military.

Primary election votes this week, with establishment Republicans across the board turning back Tea Party candidates, but not so much Tea Party politics.  GOP eyes now on the Senate.  Democrats bracing for a fight.  The VA scandal draws tough talk from President Obama this week.  A promise of accountability.  Russia and China do a big energy deal, as the US brings charges against hackers in the Chinese military.  We’ve got a coup in Thailand, soft pushback on the NSA, and “Happy” dancers arrested and freed in Iran.  This hour On Point:  Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Ken Rudin, host of Ken Rudin's Political Junkie podcast. (@kenrudin)

Bryan Monroe, Washington Editor of Opinion and Commentary for CNN. (@BryanMonroeCNN)

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst.

USA Today: Tea Party challengers fall short in primaries — "McConnell's primary victory over businessman and Tea Party challenger Matt Bevin was one of several for the mainstream GOP Tuesday in primary races around the country that have at times suggested the party is at war with itself. In Georgia, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Idaho, Tea Party-backed candidates also lost to establishment favorites."

CNN: Obama: Shinseki stays for now, but VA misconduct will be punished — "President Barack Obama promised accountability, but he made clear Wednesday he won't fire Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki — yet — over excessive and sometimes deadly waiting times faced by veterans seeking government health care. The controversy has mushroomed since CNN first reported the problem last November in a detailed investigation examining several VA hospitals."

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Charges Five in Chinese Army With Hacking — "The Justice Department indicted five Chinese military officers, alleging they hacked U.S. companies' computers to steal trade secrets, a major escalation in the fight between the two superpowers over economic espionage. The indictment, unsealed Monday, marks the first time the U.S. government has publicly accused employees of a foreign power with cybercrimes against American firms. It also marks the most extensive formal allegations by the government of the kind of hacking that American corporations have long complained about, but until now have rarely acknowledged."