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Afghanistan Election Dispute Still Unsettled; IEDs Take Major Toll on U.S. Troops in Afghanistan; Obama Goes to Dover for Returning U.S. Dead; Wounded Soldiers Struggle With Physical and Emotional Healing
Aired October 31, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONA GRIFFIN, MOTHER: When you don't have someone in your family that's in the military it's very easy to forget the sacrifices that are made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, the war in Afghanistan. The pressure mountains for U.S. troops, the Afghan people and the president of the United States. His personal contact with the families of the fallen could impact his decision to send more troops. The incredible danger those troops face on the ground in Afghanistan -- tonight, our Anderson Cooper on patrol and right in the middle of it. And so is CNN's Michael Ware.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A hidden Taliban roadside bomb, an IED, is about to hit this Afghanistan police gun truck. A CNN cameraman and I are riding in it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Attacks like that one can kill, and they usually do. What about those that survive with injuries? What we doing to care for our wounded heroes? We talk to the people in charge.
The injured and the dead are someone's sons and daughters. Their lives are changed in an instant. You'll hear live from a mother about her and her injured son's journey back to health.
Plus this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome home, heroes!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The people who send our men and women off to war and welcome them back, if and when they return. Tonight, a report on a new documentary honoring hometown heroes.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. For the next hour, we're going to take an up-close-and-personal look at U.S. policy in Afghanistan and the high price that many American vets have already paid. Many will live with the scars of Afghanistan for the rest of their lives.
And what are they fighting for? The U.S. has high hopes for a vibrant democracy in Afghanistan once U.S. troops leave. But tonight, those hopes might be dashed and could effectively hand the election to the incumbent, President Karzai. One of the prime candidates in next weekend's run-off presidential election, Abdullah Abdullah, is threatening to pull out in protest if certain demands aren't met. CNN's Nima Elbagir is in Kabul tonight to tell us what Abdullah wants.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The demands which are being seen here even amongst the international community as being incredibly ambitious are that he's calling for the dismissal of three cabinet ministers who campaigned on behalf of the incumbent, President Karzai. And he's also calling for the dismissal of the international electoral commission chief, Azizullah Ludin, on the basis that he was appointed by President Hamid Karzai.
But the problem for Dr. Abdullah is that all of this is perfectly constitutional. The seven members of the independent electoral commission are all presidential appointees, and that's all within a context of the constitutional electoral law.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, the election dispute could weigh on the president's decision about whether to send more troops to fight the Taliban. CNN's Elaine Quijano tonight is at the White House for us -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says if Abdullah Abdullah decides not to take part in Afghanistan's run-off election, that does not affect the legitimacy of that run-off. The secretary is traveling in the Middle East right now and she was asked about this issue during a news conference with us Israel prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: I do not think that that in any way affects legitimacy. And I would just add that when President Karzai accepted the second round without knowing what the consequences and outcome would be, that bestowed legitimacy from that moment forward. And Dr. Abdullah's decision does not in any way take away from that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Meanwhile, President Obama had a chance to hear from the military's top brass yesterday. He and his senior advisers sat down with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Now, this is important because the Joint Chiefs are the heads of all the military services who are ultimately responsible for providing troops for the fight in Afghanistan.
The United States right now has some 68,000 forces in Afghanistan. The top commander, General Stanley McChrystal, has asked for an additional 40,000 troops. There are, however, concerns about that. It could put added strain on U.S. forces. Also, more U.S. troops could certainly fuel more violence in Afghanistan. And something to consider, as well, the price tag for the requested troops could top $500,000 a soldier.
So Don, those are just some of the weighty concerns that the president and his team are grappling with as they move through this Afghanistan review -- Don?
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Elaine.
The war in Afghanistan is not going away any time soon and it seems likely that more U.S. troops will be heading there soon. The question is, How many and when? President Obama is weighing the advice from his top military advisers. A final decision could come any day now. Launched eight years ago as a direct result of 9/11, those attacks, the war in Afghanistan is now deadlier than ever. Nearly 1,500 troops have died there since 2001, almost a third of them just this year.
And for every fatality, more than a dozen are wounded. Improved armor, tactics and battlefield medicine mean many troops can survive their wounds, but their lives are forever changed. For the rest of the this hour, you're going to meet some of them as we look deeper into the toll their sacrifice takes on the troops, their families and also the country.
Early Thursday morning, we saw something we have not seen before from a U.S. President, not since 1996, when President Clinton did it. President Barack Obama flew to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before dawn to personally salute the caskets of fallen troops as they arrived back in the United States. The military plane carried 18 flag-draped coffins, transfer coffins, including Sergeant Dale Griffin, killed Tuesday by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
The president met with Sergeant Griffin's parents. As Jane Santucci of our affiliate WTHI reports, the Griffins had their own message for President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE SANTUCCI, WTHI (voice-over): A knock on the door changed the lives of Gene and Dona Griffin forever.
GENE GRIFFIN, FATHER: And I went, Well, ask him what they want, you know, through the door. And then she looked back through the peephole and saw that they were military. And she said, They're Army. We knew.
SANTUCCI: They knew their son, Sergeant Dale Griffin, was gone. Griffin died with six other soldiers as they traveled with an Afghan interpreter. Gene and Dona flew to Dover, Delaware, on Wednesday as their son was brought home in a flag-draped casket. President Obama saluted as Griffin's body was taken out of a military plane. The president met with the Griffins afterwards, offering his condolences.
DONA GRIFFIN, MOTHER: And I leaned up to his ear and I said, Mr. President, don't leave our troops hanging.
SANTUCCI: The Griffins returned to Terra Haute on Thursday without their son's body.
GENE GRIFFIN: As challenging as it is to do what we did and to leave there, we carry him in our hearts and we know that it's not just a memory of a picture or a video, that he truly lives and that he is with his father in heaven.
SANTUCCI: The war in Afghanistan, measured in casualties, now has a face, a name and a family.
DONA GRIFFITH: When you don't have someone in your family that is in the military, it's very easy to forget the sacrifices that are made.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That was Jane Santucci of our affiliate WTHI.
I want to bring in now CNN's Michael Ware. He has covered some of the world's most dangerous places for CNN, including the war in Afghanistan, and just got back from there just a couple of weeks ago. You hear those stories, Michael, and of course, it just breaks your heart. But this week, we saw the president going to Dover. We have seen members of the administration going to visit veterans, the president meeting with the Joint Chiefs and his chief advisers.
If you -- you know, you've been doing this. He is weighing 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan. What do you think? Are more troops the answer here?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it depends upon how President Obama decides what his goals in Afghanistan and this war really, really are. I mean, if you want to apply the military pressure to put a clamp, to seriously undermine the Taliban, then, yes, you need more troops. But if his military goals are less than that, then perhaps he can get away with fewer troops.
Certainly, I know the commanders on the ground want to fight this war and they said they need 40,000 more. Now, that will still only be a small number of what's actually required. But as it stands right now in the battle in Afghanistan, the U.S. effort is barely touching the Taliban's war machine. It's disrupting it, but it's done nothing to dismantle it. So if you want to put pressure on that organization, you need more boots on the ground.
LEMON: Hey, listen, Mike, I know this is sort of -- you're not a politico here, but reading the tea leaves, many people who are politicos are saying if you see the president going out to Dover, you see the first lady and you also see Mrs. Biden going to veteran hospitals, the vice president talking about Afghanistan, the secretary of state saying, The president is considering a different approach and mission in Afghanistan -- there are those who say all of this means that the president probably will not be sending 40,000 troops into the region there. Have you heard anything about that?
WARE: Well, no, I haven't. Obviously, the military is keeping things tight, as is the White House. I certainly know what the military wants, and I would suspect that the defense secretary, Robert Gates, will be leaning towards a higher number than a lower number. But again, that's only speculation.
It all comes down to this decision from the White House. Now, the fact that the president and the first lady and others have been paying due attention to America's fallen and wounded at the moment could be going either way with regards to this decision. At the very least, it's poignant and timely that the administration is at least addressing and getting something of a first-hand account of the true human cost of this war before such an important decision is made.
Perhaps it's a sign that he's going to send more and he wants to say that, I know the cost. Or it could be the other way. I can't read the tea leaves, Don.
LEMON: Thank you. Thank you very much for that, Michael. Michael, as I said, was in Afghanistan just a short time ago and also experienced what many troops are experiencing there, Michael, and that's IEDs. We're going to talk to him about that in just a little bit. He's going to rejoin us.
First, they are the number one killer of soldiers on patrol in Afghanistan, the IED, those hidden roadside explosives. We're going to take you down the same dangerous roads traveled by our U.S. troops.
Also, please weigh in on this story, Twitter, FaceBook or iReport.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, we're taking a close-up look this hour at the policy, the U.S. policy in Afghanistan. They're called improvised explosive devices, IEDs for short, and they're responsible for most of the U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan. CNN's Anderson Cooper joins some Marines on patrol.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "360" (voice-over): It is the most dangerous position on patrol, out in front, on point. Lance Corporal Phil Howard quickly waves a metal detector in front of him, searching for signs of an IED.
LANCE CPL. PHIL HOWARD, U.S. MARINE CORPS: It's kind of scary being up on point and knowing that if somebody's going to pull something on you or you step on something, it's going to be the front guy.
COOPER: Every second, Howard has to remain alert. One mistake could kill him or a fellow Marine behind him.
(on camera): That'd be tough, too, because you never really know who's a friend and who's the enemy.
HOWARD: Exactly. Like, you can look around right now, and you know, the guy on the (INAUDIBLE) could be a good guy, could be a bad guy. You never know.
COOPER (voice-over): IEDs have become the number one threat to U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In Helmand province, they're responsible for some 80 percent of all casualties.
(on camera): They can either be buried in the road or detonated by a member of the Taliban who's hiding in underbrush like this. That's why it's important for the Marines to keep about 10 or 15 meters in between each Marine on patrol, so that in the event that an IED is detonated, the damage is limited.
(voice-over): Since they arrived in Helmand province a little more than two months ago, the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment has lost one Marine to IEDs, 48 others have been wounded. In July, Lance Corporal James Buttery's vehicle was hit. He escaped with just a concussion.
(on camera): And where'd you -- you landed literally right over there?
LANCE CPL. JAMES BUTTERY, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Yes, the front of the truck was pretty much where that tree was. It knocked the tree out and was laying right there. The front end was (INAUDIBLE) and I was able to crawl out, and other -- other Marines here were able to jump in and grab the Marine that was in the canal. And we were all conscious. No serious injuries.
COOPER: You're lucky.
BUTTERY: Yes.
COOPER (voice-over): The Marines collect parts of the IEDs they discover. Pressure-plate devices like this one are common.
LANCE CPL. REESE BARNETT, U.S. MARINE CORPS: When you step on that, this charge goes off. And that's how you get your explosion. They make a lot of stuff out here that -- for these pressure plates. You see how they do it, little metal strips right there, can make it real hasty-like. Put the sticks on there, it goes down. And then that's how it connects. And then they also make a...
COOPER (on camera): So that's -- I mean, that's amazing, something as permanent as that. It's basically just two pieces of wood with some metal.
BARNETT: Yes, sir. I mean, I'm not going to lie. They're very smart about doing this. But we're finding them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen anything out of the ordinary around here, around the village? COOPER (voice-over): Today's patrol is not just about finding IEDs, however. It's about meeting local residents, building their confidence in U.S. forces and in the local Afghan government. It's not exactly what 1st Lieutenant Chris Conanan expected to be doing in Afghanistan.
1ST. LT. CHRIS CONANAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Initially, I thought I was going to have pretty much just a firefight every day, just a running gunfight. What I've seen is that we haven't taken contact in maybe a month or so in terms of small arms, which is a good thing. And right now, we're simply just having tea with village elders.
COOPER (on camera): (INAUDIBLE) tea.
CONANAN: Exactly. I've had -- I can't even remember how many cups of tea, and a couple dinners, which is always an interesting experience.
COOPER (voice-over): Building trust, however, takes more than tea. It takes time. And with the Taliban growing in strength in many parts of Afghanistan, U.S. officials acknowledge time is not on America's side.
(on camera): Do you think the people here believe you're here to stay, or do you think they're still kind of on the fence?
CONANAN: I think the majority of them are on the fence. We have some supporters and we have some people that think that we're going to leave tomorrow. But for the majority of the people, I think they're on the fence.
COOPER (voice-over): To get them off the fence and on the side of the Afghanistan government, the Marines are trying to fund local development projects and show residents they're not going to let the Taliban return. In the town of Kaji Baba (ph), the Marines meet with two village elders. Both are courteous but aren't willing to say if they support the U.S. or the Taliban. Lieutenant Colonel Bill McCullough tells them Marines will be here at least until next summer. But beyond that, he can't promise.
(on camera): So a lot of people here aren't willing yet to choose sides.
LT. COL. BILL MCCULLOUGH, U.S. MARINE CORPS: They're waiting for -- for a little more bona fides from us that we are here to stay. That's what we're trying to develop here, is if they trust us, they can trust their own government. And once these folks pick sides and say, you know, We're with the government, I believe that is it. It's not a win, but it's a sign that we're winning.
COOPER (voice-over): Anderson Cooper, CNN, Helmand province, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, from Anderson Cooper to CNN's Michael Ware, who knows a thing or two about the danger of IEDs. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WARE (voice-over): A hidden Taliban roadside bomb, an IED, is about to hit this Afghan police gun truck. A CNN cameraman and I are riding in it. By some miracle, it detonated a heartbeat too soon. Otherwise, we'd all be dead. Instead, gravel rains over us.
(on camera): You all right?
(voice-over): Then comes the shooting, a so-called "death blossom (ph)," police firing aimlessly to ward off further attack.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Michael, we are certainly glad that you -- you said if it just -- a fraction of a second later, and you might not be here. Talk to me about that experience over there because many of the troops are facing that same experience.
WARE: Absolutely, Don. I mean, that's the troops' worst nightmare mare. As you say, it's accounting for more casualties, the IED, than virtually any other threat that they face almost combined. And the worst part about these things is, obviously, you don't see them coming. Many are found. Many are defused. Many are blown up where they're discovered. But some still get through. And as we saw this week, seven American soldiers died in one vehicle alone.
Now, in our vehicle -- we were in an Afghan gun truck, which is just a pick-up, and we were sitting in the back. If that bomb had detonated just a nanosecond later, then we may have a very, very different story to tell. Indeed, the patrol I was on contacted me, this police patrol, Afghan police patrol -- contacted me a week later and said the exact same spot where we'd been hit, two men lost their legs and another man lost his sight in yet another IED. They're the true mark of the war in Afghanistan now, Don.
LEMON: I want to talk to you about a couple of different things here because -- we'll get to what they're doing and how they're improving the equipment, technology, medicine there. But there is a new danger on the horizon that I'm being told, and by you, as well, Michael. It's coming from the Iranians, this new device called an ESP, which is even more dangerous than the old IED. Is that correct?
WARE: Well, it's a very particular form of roadside bomb, and it is lethal. Now, the Iranians are specialists in the creation, development and deployment of these bombs. We saw them starting to appear in Iraq as Iran stepped up its campaign against U.S. soldiers.
So far, we haven't seen them become a major threat yet in Afghanistan. But I can tell you, I had it confirmed by the U.S. military that they are finding caches or dumps of these weapons or their components. So some of these bombs are getting in the country. Now it's just a matter of time, perhaps. And when these things go off, they can punch through the armor of an Abrams battle tank like a fist through a piece of plywood. These are devastating bombs. And from my time in Iraq, I can vouch for that, Don. LEMON: Yes. And Michael Ware tells us even with the technology, there are improvements in medicine on the battlefield, that's helping, improvements in armored vehicles, equipment-jamming devices, as well, but if you have a new type of device and it's going to pose an even new challenge and you may have to start over again.
Michael, I could talk to you about this all day. We appreciate you joining us. We're going to move on. We have so much to cover in this hour. This is a huge story that we want to give our viewers as much information about as possible. Thank you, Michael.
When a soldier is wounded, they sometimes return home needing lots of support to make the challenging transition back into society. Caring for the wounded warrior next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, there's sometimes -- they are sometimes forgotten heroes, wounded American servicemen and women, who return home suffering from serious injuries after sacrificing body and soul for their country. Sergeant Klay South was shot several times in the head while clearing a house in Fallujah, Iraq, nearly five years ago. He and his mother join us live from Indianapolis with their story. Thank you so much for joining us.
SGT. KLAY SOUTH, INJURED SERVING IN IRAQ: Thank you for having us.
JANET SOUTH, VETERANS OF VALOR: Thank you.
LEMON: Klay, how's the recovery going?
KLAY SOUTH: You know, like I was talking earlier before, the physical aspect is the easiest to do. You know, it's easy. But you know, I still struggle with the emotional and the mental part of it, with the PTSD and the TDI.
LEMON: You know, and we spoke to people in the VA, as well, and they said many times, obviously, the physical injuries are very difficult to deal with, but sometimes the mental injuries are even worse because you can't go in and sew it up like you can a wound, you know?
KLAY SOUTH: Right. Yes. Yes. That's totally right. You know, it's -- you know, you can see your face get put back together, or you know, you can see the prosthetics, and you know, that's -- that's fulfilling. But the whole mental aspect of it and the psychological part, it's -- you can't fix that, you know, right away. There's no quick solution to that whatsoever.
LEMON: I'm sure there's not a day that goes by -- Mom, we're going to talk to you in just a little bit. But I'm sure there's not a day that goes by that you don't think about what happened. Can you remember it? Sometimes our wounded men and women in uniform can't even remember how they got injured.
KLAY SOUTH: You know, fortunately, I can. You know, it -- I look in the mirror every day and it reminds me of what happened. But I remember just plain as day, you know, I kicked open a door and I got shot point-blank in the face by an AK-47. And then unfortunately, I had my own grenade blow back in my face and take what was left of my face off. So yes, I remember it just as plain as day.
LEMON: Yes. And we're showing some of the pictures there -- difficult to look at, but that's the reality. I mean, now your face -- you look fine. You're a handsome young man. Mom, it must have been incredibly difficult to watch your child have to deal with this.
JANET SOUTH: It is difficult. But Klay maintained a sense of humor throughout. Even the first time we saw him, he had -- he couldn't speak, but he did hand motions for us to read. He is an amazing young man.
LEMON: What do you say about the treatment, both of you, that you get -- meaning medical treatment for healing when you come home? Are there improvements for -- do you see places for improvement, or do you think that it's pretty much up to par.
KLAY SOUTH: You know, when I was in Bethesda at the National Naval Medical Center out there, outside of D.C., I got treated like a king. I mean, I was treated like a rock star. And my hat goes off to the military doctors, you know, out there in Bethesda. They treated me -- I couldn't have been treated any better. I don't think of -- I can't think -- if I want to complain, I couldn't. They treated me with the utmost respect and -- they treated me like I was the president.
LEMON: Now, whose idea was it to start Veterans of Valor and the Web site? Whose idea was it to work on that? Mom, I know you blogged for Veterans of Valor, and I was actually looking, but there are other Web sites and blog sites that pick it up, so I'm looking on there and I'm saying, Oh, it's on USMC and what have you. But it goes everywhere.
Tell us about that and whose -- what was the impetus behind this?
KLAY SOUTH: You know, it was kind of like my -- one of my brainchilds. I have many, so you know, some aren't as good as others. But fortunately, this was a good one. (INAUDIBLE) with Veterans of Valor just the mere fact is, you know, I wanted to give good gear to the guys that were wounded and the gals. You know, people come back from overseas. And the reason why my gear is so good because I know what it's like. I've been there. And so I just started -- that's how we started. We started passing out backpacks and the we did Dave (ph) and Busters (ph) events, and now we're working on a PTSD retreat for the guys and the gals and the families.
LEMON: Mom, Janet, you've got to be proud.
JANET SOUTH: I'm very proud because Klay couldn't remember in the beginning how to tie his shoe, how to put his uniform together. He had severe memory loss, and he still has memory loss for his childhood and other events. But he had -- I call it forced therapy as he developed Veterans of Valor, but he always had a heart to go to the rooms of his wounded brothers as he did his recovery. Even though he couldn't speak, he would use a dry-erase board. LEMON: Oh. All right. Janet and Klay South, we wish you the very best, and we appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedules to come and join us.
KLAY SOUTH: Thank you so much.
JANET SOUTH: Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you.
When ABC News anchor Bob Woodward was wounded while on assignment in Iraq, it literally changed his life forever. Now every year, Bob and his wife host a major fund-raiser to change the lives of the soldiers at war. You're going to hear from them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, you may never be the person to write or check about a foundation, but the idea is called "Do Something." It's very interesting. Former ABC News anchor, Bob Woodruff, was severely injured back in 2006 while on assignment in Iraq. He and his wife, Lee, started a program to meet the needs of injured service members and their families.
On Wednesday they will host their third charity benefit, "Stand up for Heroes," to raise money for wounded vets. Now, I spoke with them just the other day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB WOODRUFF, FORMER ABC NEWS ANCHOR: This is going to be massive. Maybe the funniest one you've ever been to and certainly about the best music you've ever been to before. In fact, a lot of people say this is one of the greatest charity events they've heard of.
We got, you know, Springsteen is going to come and play again this year. It's the third year in a row. Colbert is going to be there. Brian Williams is actually going to be the emcee of it. We got three incredible comedians coming by and Lee's going to be there which is not bad either.
LEE WOODRUFF, WIFE OF BOB WOODRUFF: I'll have my own brand of humor. It's actually called "Stand Up For Heroes" and the thought is that people heal when they laugh so our organization flies 50 wounded heroes and their caregivers to be in the front row for the show.
LEMON: But Lee, you know, it's all about fun. I mean, that evening but really I guess at the top of it, it's about raising money and awareness and tell me what you want to raise money and awareness around?
LEE WOODRUFF: Well, as we are seeing, there's so many returning from these wars who don't make it in caskets, but they're even more, 13 injured to one dead, returning who are wounded and whose lives are changed forever with the hidden injuries of the war, which is the signature brain injuries, amputations, burns, whatever they may be, a lot of posttraumatic stress disorder.
These families, some of them aren't making it and some of them are having a difficult time. And it's a difficult thing to fit back into your life. We want to keep America's attention focused on these wounded veterans and we want to raise money and dollars which we do with the Bob Woodruff Foundation, remind.org, to support the organizations all around the country that are helping our veterans.
BOB WOODRUFF: You know, they're getting a lot from the government too and there's just not enough coming from the government that people have to really back this up by private money and certainly the charities around the country in these local communities where the people are going back to.
LEMON: So, tweet to remind them? What are you trying to get everyone, is it $11.11? What's the significance of that?
LEE WOODRUFF: Man, you did your homework. Yes. You know, Veterans Day is coming up on the 11th. And so we're hoping that when you tweet, tweet to remind and you press the hatch tag, you will donate $11.11. We're trying to raise a dollar for every one of the 1.9 million now veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
LEMON: Well, you know, let's talk about that. And Bob I think I heard you talk about it. You know, Afghanistan and Iraq, but mostly Afghanistan, a lot of IEDs and a lot of guys and girls, men and women in uniform being injured there. What do you think needs to be done? Besides what your organization is doing to help out there. But do you have any thoughts about what can be done there now in the moment?
BOB WOODRUFF: Well, certainly, we want to see - we have more defense against - about the IEDs. About 85 percent of those injured in Afghanistan are from IEDs. Probably about 85 percent of those injured are Afghanis and the rest of the United States military and of course the coalition as well. But when they come back it is we said many times, it's like an invisible wound.
You know, not many people know in many cases that there is injury in this. And so therefore, in their community where they are going back to, they need to get those that want to help the most. You know, people in these cities - whenever they meet some of these veterans when they come back, they want to do something.
In a lot of places though they haven't actually gotten a chance to meet those in their neighborhood that have served in the war. As soon as they do, they want to help and so we're trying to identify, you know, the local charities, the people that are working in these towns. We in fact vet them to make sure that they're legitimate and efficient and then that's where the money is going, things we've already checked out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. I also spoke with Bob and Lee Woodruff about the president's tough decision regarding troop levels in Afghanistan and Bob's injuries in Iraq. You can see our entire conversation on our blog, go to cnn.com/newsroom and just click on Don.
And if you want to donate, you can do it right now. Do it right now but by logging on the tweettoremind.org. I'll say it again. Tweettoremind.org. Tweettoremind.org. It's a great organization. The goal is to raise nearly $2 million. And let's hope they get it.
When the subject of the wounded warrior comes up, Tammy Duckworth is an expert on this topic and not so much because she wants to be, it's because she is one of them. My conversation with Tammy Duckworth next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Tammy Duckworth was a high-flying helicopter pilot in Iraq when her aircraft took a direct hit from a rocket-propelled grenade. She lost both of her legs. Today, she has turned her wounds into action as an assistant secretary of Veterans' Affairs. I spoke with her about how the VA is reaching out to the veterans no matter where they live.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, ASST. SECRETARY OF VETERANS' AFFAIRS: (INAUDIBLE) what we can do is we can actually use an IT or information technology back bone and provide care directly to the veteran. They can go into a local clinic, for example, we're doing telemedicine through - with PTSD counseling where a veteran can actually go into a local clinic and be counseled by PTSD counselor or psychiatrist who is in a completely different location but they're interacting through a computer monitor and they're talking to one another.
And we're actually finding success with it. Because some veterans don't actually want to be in a room with a human being right at the very beginning but they're willing to come in and look into a computer monitor and talk to a counselor.
We also just stood up our first chat room, a PTSD chat room so our veterans who are still deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan can actually get suicide counseling and mental health counseling on the internet in a chat room to a licensed counselor.
LEMON: That's what I want to ask you. How do you - do you go to a web site? How do you find out this information?
DUCKWORTH: Well, the chat room is actually a web site and we can get you that information. Hopefully, you'll be able to display that. But that is actually a web site that a veteran can just go right into and he can connect as if - if you can go to a catalogue at Christmastime an order and talk to a customer service representative real-time, we wanted to make sure that we had something even better than that, to make sure that we provided mental health counseling to our veterans real time wherever they are in the world.
We always had that 1-800 number that veterans could call but our guys are overseas can't call an 800 number so that's why we came up with a chat room. LEMON: Yes. And we're going to put that information on our blog. You mentioned something very interesting here when you said a lot of times when the men and women are injured they don't want to be in a room with someone else when it happened. So we know that injuries, physical injuries can heal. But a lot of the times, it's the mental health that is toughest to deal with.
What are you doing with that? And what do you say to men and women in uniform who have been injured about physically, mentally, I should say, recovering?
DUCKWORTH: What I tell my buddies about mental injury is this is a combat wound. This is a war wound. This is no different than if you had been shot in the arm or if you had an explosion that took your leg. If you were willing to go get care for a wound to your leg or a bullet wound, then you need to go get -- the wound to your brain taken care of.
And whether that's traumatic brain injury or post traumatic stress disorder, these are very real wounds and you deserve to have care, the very best care. And so I'm very open about the fact that, you know, if I watch too much war coverage I'll dream about Iraq. I'll personally dream that I spent an entire day in Iraq and I relive entire combat missions and I wake up completely exhausted the next day.
But you know what, I talked to people about it. I'm very opened about it and I'm still able to hold down a great job and continue to help the vets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Tammy Duckworth, assistant secretary of Veterans' Affairs. Thank you, Ms. Duckworth for coming. The web site that she mentioned again, it's suicide prevention lifeline.org. Suicidepreventionlifeline.org. Go there for information.
They are often the last people American troops see before they're shipped overseas to Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY MUNDY, MARINE TROOP GREETER: I read the casualty list every day in the paper. And I say to myself, I wonder if I shook that guy's hand?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A new documentary reveals how the loss of U.S. service members affects these Maine troop greeters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Troop greeters have a profound impact on service men and women as they pass through U.S. airports on their way to and from Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of these greeters are senior citizens. They say they get as much out of the experience as the troops.
A new documentary focuses on the greeters at the Bangor International Airport. They are called appropriately, "the Maine troop greeters."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): Bill Knight, Jerry Mundy, Joan Gaudet -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome home, heroes.
LEMON: Since 2003, these seniors have sent nearly one million U.S. service men and women off to war and welcomed them back. Why do they do it?
JOAN GAUDET, MAINE TROOP GREETER: It's just such a good feeling to see them coming home. I love to see it when they come down and the guy also run up and hug each other like we made it! We're back!
LEMON: Joan's son, Aron Gaudet, has made a documentary film about the Maine troop greeters called "The Way We Get By."
ARON GAUDET, DIRECTOR, "THE WAY WE GET BY": I didn't understand why suddenly she's out at 11:00 p.m. or 2:00 a.m., and talking to my brothers and sisters, they said oh she goes to the airport and greets troops and I didn't quite understand what that meant until I went there and saw it myself.
LEMON: In making the film, what he saw was that his mom, Bill, and Jerry, were fighting their own private wars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody's got to die sometime and nobody can get out of this world alive yet.
LEMON: Bill is 87, a world war II veteran now battling prostate cancer.
BILL KNIGHT, MAINE TROOP GREETER: It's not a very good thought to think that something eating your body right out from under you, you know. My life don't mean a hell of a lot to me but if I can make it mean else to somebody else, that's my endeavor.
LEMON: Jerry has a bad heart but his biggest enemy is loneliness after losing his dog, Flannigan.
JERRY MUNDY, MAINE TROOP GREETER: I'm very gregarious when I'm around people but when I'm alone and always have been alone and the dog has always compensated for that. I love doing it. I love the men. And that's the best part of it all is just telling them, thank you, and wishing them luck when they leave.
LEMON: Joan's knees are racked with constant pain.
GAUDET: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 - 10 pills I take in the morning. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - 7 pills at night.
LEMON: So, she does whatever it takes to get to the airport as often as possible.
JOAN GAUDET: A lot of times she'll go out when everything hurts. If you get out and you get down there and you're around people and you get to talk to the soldiers, you kind of forget.
I feel like I'm letting them down when there's flights I can't go to. It's really an addicting thing.
LEMON: In her son's film, Joan describes a proud but difficult day when she had to send her own granddaughter off to Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes it's safer above the ground than it is on it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't worry about it.
JOAN GAUDET: They're in the middle of war. How can you be safe? Not like being home.
ARON GAUDET: I'm sitting behind the camera on deployment day when my niece is deploying and my whole family is breaking down in front of me, you know, and I'm trying to watch it through this lens and not break down.
LEMON: The Maine troop greeters also pay tribute to those killed.
MUNDY: The minute they get down there we are, waiting for them. They'll go over to the wall where we have all the pictures of the fallen.
I read the casualty lists every day in the paper. And I say to myself, I wonder if I shook that guy's hand? And I think of how hard it's going to be on his family.
LEMON: All of the troops who pass through Bangor International Airport leave a little of themselves behind, coins, patches, plaques, pins, some left in the care of Joan, Bill, and Jerry.
MUNDY: I carry one with me that a Marine gave me. He says, hang onto this until I get back. I told him when he gave it to me, I says, how am I going to remember you? He says, I'll remember you, you know. And hasn't claimed it. I hope the movie, if he sees it, he'll come and get his coin because I've got it right here now, ha-ha.
LEMON: Sloan Gibson with the USO says people like Jerry, Joan, and Bill are unsung American heroes and he hopes the film will inspire others.
SLOAN GIBSON, PRESIDENT/CEO, USO: I think one of the most important messages in the movie is the - the power of one individual to make a profound difference in another person's life.
LEMON: Making a difference through one handshake, one hug, one well wish at a time. MUNDY: The cell phones and radios, talk all you want. Call somebody up and make them happy, ugly or honey. There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, captain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for being here. We appreciate you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for everything you've done for us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Amazing, isn't it? I want to tell you this programming note, if you want to it watch, watch this incredible documentary about these guys and young ladies I'll say in Bangor, every PBS station on Veterans Day, 11/11, November 11, will air this. Check your local listings but it should be 9:00 p.m. in your time zone. Amazing story.
And straight ahead here on CNN, we ask a question how was the election of the nation's first African-American president, how has it impacted the lives of black men? "Essence" magazine editor-in-chief, Angela Burt-Murray, there she is. She joins me here to discuss the impact of this historic event.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. Look at this. Let's go to the White House now. The first family welcomed 2,000 trick or treaters to the White House for Halloween as it happens as we're approaching the anniversary of the election day of President Barack Obama. It is a victory, of course, look how cute.
Look at the first lady, I just saw that. Really cute. You know what, it is a victory that broke barriers and raised expectations all around the country and CNN and "Essence" magazine are taking an unprecedented look at President Obama's impact on black men in America.
"Essence" editor in chief Angela Burt-Murray now and she will join me tonight at 10:00 Eastern as we engage in real talk, real discussion about issues affecting black men in this country. This was your idea and, you know what, I think it's an amazing idea of "Essence" magazine because African-American men face some of the toughest issues in the country when it comes to incarceration, crime.
ANGELA BURT-MURRAY, "ESSENCE" MAGAZINE EDITOR IN CHIEF: Education. Employment.
LEMON: Yes. Violence. Yes. Tell us what was the impetus behind it, was that it?
BURT-MURRAY: Well, it was interesting. I mean, certainly when you look back to November last year, the African-American community came out of this election incredibly hopeful. Excited about the opportunity and the idea that this, you now, large barrier had finally been broken but what's the real impact of the presidency of Barack Obama.
So our editors at "Essence" Magazine wanted to take a look at some of the core issues that faced black men in particular and figure out over the last year have we made any real progress and what's the opportunity for the next three and a half to seven and a half years for black men to really make progress?
LEMON: When you see this, I mean, everyone it doesn't matter, you can be republican, you can be a democrat, you can be libertarian, whatever. We know it was a story.
BURT-MURRAY: Absolutely.
LEMON: And it was a story in the sense that I think that most African-American men will say seeing someone in that position -
BURT-MURRAY: Right.
LEMON: - gives them hope and a sense that they can achieve anything. Before they said we know our mom said that once you get to be an adult, my parents said you can grow up to be anything.
BURT-MURRAY: Right.
LEMON: But deep down in some places you never really believed it.
BURT-MURRAY: Sure.
LEMON: This changed things.
BURT-MURRAY: Absolutely. Certainly for African-American parents they were saying to their children I really do believe that you can be the president of the United States but what is the real impact of an Obama presidency? Are we going to be able to close significant gaps that we see in education, employment, health care and other issues that really impact the entire fabric of the African-American community.
LEMON: And as we said, real talk because there were some tough issues we dealt with in a discussion that I did at Moorehouse and there was some criticism of the president.
BURT-MURRAY: OK.
LEMON: There are men now, black men saying he could be doing something better. You know, it's not all rosy, we do real talk there. We do real talk there. We do real discussion.
BURT-MURRAY: Look forward to it.
LEMON: We're going to talk to Angela Burt-Murray about the reporting in "Essence" magazine that she found and CNN's reporting, as well. You don't want to miss this discussion tonight, right here on CNN. It's called "Black Men in the age of President Barack Obama," 10:00 p.m. Eastern tonight right here on CNN.
I'm Don Lemon along with Angela Burt-Murray from "Essence" magazine at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
Up next a gripping look at a man who held and kept the Washington, D.C. area in fear for months. The sniper who picked out his victims one by one. Soledad O'Brien reports.
