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Heading to Afghanistan; Amanda Knox Found Guilty; U.S. Military Snapshot; Employment After Combat; Mental Health & Warriors
Aired December 05, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, Democratic senators are working the weekend and pressuring the president to join them. They're getting their way. When will the president show up?
U.S. troops get their marching orders from the defense secretary -- how many, how soon, and exactly where? Answers from the Pentagon tonight.
And later, the American soldier. Who is he or she? What kind of life do they face overseas? What awaits them when they return? Insights from the people who know.
And the story stopping (ph) a commercial jetliner this weekend. An emergency appeal from the pilot. Passengers and crew jump in. It is a boy. We check on what went on at 30,000.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.
The first wave of additional U.S. troops will ship out this month for Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates signed the order just yesterday. It means about 1,000 marines will deploy in coming weeks, forming the vanguard of 30,000 extra troops. President Obama has called up for active duty to Afghanistan.
The Army says its first contingent of soldiers won't ship out until March at the earliest.
Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, is traveling with U.S. soldiers already in Afghanistan. One concern for the new troops will be gaining the trust of the Afghan people and, of course, this winter, there is the weather to contend with -- Barbara.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Don, it's another cold blustery day in Afghanistan and winter is setting in. That's going to be a major challenge for U.S. troops as the surge of 30,000 U.S. forces is beginning to become under way here.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has already signed the orders that will send some of the first troops here. The Marines are expected to be among the first to arrive, to be followed by a good number of Army forces and other support units.
All of this aimed at carrying out this policy -- this strategy, if you will -- of protecting the Afghan people and providing enough security to take the oxygen out of the Taliban movement, out of the insurgent forces.
And we already saw some of that at work earlier today when we went on a foot patrol with some U.S. forces and saw them interact directly with Afghan villagers. That's what it's all about, trying to provide this new profile of U.S. troops being here to help but also here to provide that security to make the Taliban realize they don't have the future in the country.
It's going to take a long time to see if all of that works. And security will continue to be job number one. The Air Force planes you see behind me here, they are a crucial part of that. They are here to work, to provide that security, to conduct air missions against the insurgents when they find them. But also to make sure that they are not inadvertently killing civilians in their missions as, unfortunately, they have done so in the past.
So, all of this working together, all of it is going to take a long time. But the hope -- the hope of the U.S. strategy is that they can begin to see progress and begin to perhaps withdraw some U.S. forces in 18 months -- Don.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Barbara Starr -- thank you very much, Barbara.
With the U.S. still engaged in two wars, the military has taken on a larger role than ever in American life. Later this hour, we'll take a deeper look at the state of the U.S. military. How many men and women are in uniform, which branches they serve in, what kind of salaries they make, and the high cost in life and limb many of them ultimately pay? We're going to look at that at the bottom of the hour for you.
To Capitol Hill now where senators wrapped up a day of debate about 30 minutes ago. The issue is -- what else -- health care. They're back at work tomorrow and they're going to get a visitor when President Obama stops by to visit with Senate Democrats tomorrow.
They're going to need all 60 of their party's votes. And some Democratic moderates are balking at the current plans for so-called public option. That is a government insurance plan that would compete with private insurers.
Now, party leaders are banking on the president to convince wavering members to get behind the current plan.
Patience is wearing thin at the Capitol today. Republican John McCain today criticized meetings between the Obama administration and health care industry groups that took place as Democrats crafted their health care reform bill.
Democratic Senator Max Baucus took issue with McCain's remarks and the normally collegial Senate floor turned quite tense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: They're not too interested in seeing...
(CROSSTALK)
SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D), MONTANA: ... yield and the time be equally allocated on both sides on this colloquy, Mr. President? Will the senator...
MCCAIN: I don't know what the deal was? I don't know what the deal was?
BAUCUS: Well, I'm going to tell the senator. I'm going to tell the senator the deal. I'm going to tell the senator the deal.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The senator from Arizona has the floor.
MCCAIN: I don't know what the deal was, but we'll find out what the deal was. Just like the deals were cut...
(CROSSTALK)
BAUCUS: I'm going to tell the senator what the deal was.
MCCAIN: ... which is full of lobbyists. I can't walk through the hallway here without bumping into one of their lobbyists.
BAUCUS: The senator wants to hear the deal?
MCCAIN: And the senator keeps interrupting. He is violating the rules of the Senate. I thought he would have learned them by now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: But often deal often criticized by Republicans, a June cost cutting agreement between the Obama administration and pharmaceutical companies. That agreement has been incorporated into the overall Senate bill.
Guilty -- that is the verdict for which Amanda Knox and her family prepared themselves while hoping for a different outcome. An Italian court found the Seattle college student guilty of murdering her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, and sentenced her to 26 years. Now, the court also sentenced Knox's former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito to 25 years. Prosecutors had asked for a life sentence.
Knox's mother spoke to reporters after leaving prison where her daughter will serve her time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDDA MELLAS, MOTHER OF AMANDA KNOX: Amanda, like the rest of us, is extremely disappointed, upset about the decision. We're all in shock. We're all heartened by the court, not only from the people of Perugia, many Italians, all over -- people from all over the world have been sending us messages of support all through the night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Meredith Kercher's brother expressed his family's thoughts on the verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYLE KERCHER, BROTHER OF MEREDITH KERCHER: We are very satisfied that, you know, the prosecution had put the case together and worked very hard for it. It has reached a climax as it were if it's not the ultimate climax for now because, of course, I'm sure there will be some ongoing, you know, appeals and so on -- which, you know, I'm sure will be discussed later. But ultimately, you know we are pleased with the decision, pleased that we've got a decision. But it is not time, you know, it's not a time for celebration at the end of the day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Two families, two very different reactions to the Amanda Knox verdict.
CNN's Paula Newton is in Perugia with that perspective.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the real contrast of the suffering of two families today, the Amanda Knox family saying they'll continue to fight on. Amanda Knox herself is staying strong but has had quite a day and has been really inconsolable during certain parts of the day.
But the family of Meredith Kercher, again, what a contrast. They really have been keeping a dignified distance so far, but today, told us that they were satisfied with the verdict.
What will happen now is an appeals phase in which all those controversies that we heard about during this trial will be able to get heard. And this whole concept of reasonable doubt that the appeal will begin to really peel back the layers of that forensic work, a lot of the controversy surrounding how the police investigators interrogated Amanda Knox -- all those little points they will begin to look into.
But this appeals process will take a long time. You won't have an initial hearing for several months. And the key thing is they have to wait for the motivations, the reason why Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, why they were convicted, that expected within the next 60 days.
Paula Newton, CNN, Perugia, Italy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Paula, we will be watching. Near Cincinnati, a barn filled with harness racing horses burned to the ground early today. At least 43 horses were killed along with two men. It is not clear who the men were or why they were in the barn. The wooden building at the Warren County fairground was the size of a football field. And by the time fire fighters arrived, around 4:30, it was already too late.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. KRISTA WYATT, LEBANON, FIRE DEPT.: Our first engine arrived to find barn number 16 fully evolved in fire. The roof had already collapsed into the building.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no idea who this individual could be. And, of course, we have some circumstantial things. People may have been there last night. But, of course, that changes daily.
SHANE CARTMILL, ONE STATE FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE: The other thing that will complicate looking for victims and animals as well is because the similar structure, bone structures of the animals to the humans. So, we want to make sure we are very thorough, methodic and take our time. It's not something that we're going to rush through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Today's racing schedule was canceled because of that tragedy.
A special delivery on board a Southwest Airlines flight -- a bundle of joy at 30,000 feet.
And later, snow in the South, where is it headed next?
And, of course, we want to know what's on your mind tonight. Make sure you log on to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or iReport.com. We'll get your comments on the air. We're focusing on the American soldier tonight. I'd appreciate your comments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We have an early warning for you. It would be a weird winter, right? OK, could be, I should say, a weird winter.
That's a cute little snowman. It's from our iReporter.
Hey, send us iReports. We'd love iReports.
So, listen, two weeks before winter officially begins, some parts of the South got snow even before some parts of the North. That's a little odd.
One of our iReporters in Texas took this picture of a snowman who, judging from the sign, may be an iReporter himself. I thought that was a graphic. That's actually the iReport sticking out of the snowman. Very clever there.
Snow started falling in North Alabama last night. It was just a dusting. Most streets and roads were dry by morning. Probably not long after the snow came down. But some bushes and lawns were still white when people woke up this morning.
Elsewhere in the South, Louisiana got its earliest snowfall since they started keeping records. There's the iReport right there, from Louisiana. And there's our Karen Maginnis.
Karen, we got this weird weather going on. California fog.
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
LEMON: It's a major problem for the Sacramento area. What's going on there?
MAGINNIS: Well, we had a 33-car pileup. We've got some pictures out of Lodi, which is near Sacramento. Let's go ahead and show you those pictures right now. Terrible car pileup.
Take a look at what happened this earlier in the day. It was right around 7:30 in the morning. It started with low visibility. One tractor crashed into another. And that created a chain reaction.
There were no fatalities. But it was thought to be triggered by low visibility. Closed down a portion of Interstate 5 for about five hours. There were about 13 injuries that were reported.
All right. California is going to kind of be in the danger zone for the next 24 to 72 hours. Take a look at this. In southern California, here we see in Los Angeles, in that green shaded area, right around an inch of rainfall in the next 48 hours. But there you can see in the coastal areas.
Now, naturally where you see this green shaded area, backed up against the Sierra Nevada and western Nevada, that's where we're looking at the snowfall. That's the higher elevations. That's where we are looking at significant snowfall totals. In some cases, 10 to 20 inches, very high wind gusts.
I want to show you some of the snowfall amounts that we are anticipating. There you can see in the purple, in dark purple. Dark purple -- 20-plus inches of snowfall, but not just there, San Juan, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, some of those ski resorts, are really going to be enjoying some of this beautiful powder.
However, I want to say if you are traveling around this region, across western Nevada, in through the Sierra Nevada, Owens Valley region, it is going to be horrific traveling over the next couple of days. If you are trying to get to the ski resorts, I think it's going to be extraordinarily dangerous with -- just very, tricky travel.
There we go. Now, we've got the pictures coming out of Lodi. There you can see just how horrific this travel situation was. Now, the visibility when this was taken, a whole lot better than it obviously was just two hours or several hours before this. One car piled up on top of another car. As I mentioned there were no reports of any fatalities. There were injuries reported, about 13 injuries. It did shut down a portion of southbound Interstate 5 for a couple of hours. But they did reopen that.
I want to show you what's happening as far as California is concerned. Here you can see the Sierra Nevada. Starting Sunday into Monday, we have winter storm watches in effect. Now, I mentioned Sunday into Monday. But I think it's going to turn into warnings as we watch a storm system plow out of the northwest, arctic air, we're not talking about temperatures dropping 10 or 20 degrees.
Into the Pacific Northwest, places like Seattle, you're going to see some of the coldest temperatures of the season. Snow levels dropping down dangerously low. In sections of Montana, temperatures with wind- chill factors, are going to make it feel like 20, 25, 30 degrees below zero. The actual outside air temperatures, like zero or one degree.
I have a niece who happens few live in Wyoming near Yellowstone Park, and she said the temperature outside was like five degrees.
So, terrific system coming in affecting not just the interior west -- even into southern California, Don, it's going to be pretty tough going. Start of the workweek and just kind of this rollercoaster ride for the next several days, at least.
LEMON: Amazing. Amazing, Karen. And that video that you talked about from Lodi near Sacramento.
MAGINNIS: Yes.
LEMON: Just getting some information, we're trying to get more information. But those pictures just came in to CNN that you reported on.
One man named Gary Williams said the cars just kept coming, kept coming, smacking into each other. Drivers said they were blinded by a sudden, quote, "wall of fog" about 7:00 this morning. It left them helpless and they were stuck there in their cars.
They had at least 13 chain reaction crashes on Highway 12 over a period of about a half-hour. And one victim said it's a miracle that nobody was killed in this accident. Look at that.
We're trying to get more information -- and all of this because of that fog, that wacky fog that you talked about, Karen. Karen?
MAGINNIS: I'm sorry, my...
LEMON: Yes.
MAGINNIS: My earpiece was going in and out. What did you ask me?
LEMON: Yes, I just said it was all because of the weird fog that you talked about in that area? MAGINNIS: Yes, and it can come and go just like that. They were in it. And then out of it along Interstate 5. They're just some areas, one place in Tennessee, they -- this was years ago, they had over 100 cars that were involved because the fog just -- it suddenly there and then it's not.
LEMON: All right.
MAGINNIS: And visibility goes to absolutely near zero in a very short time.
LEMON: And you can see it as a testament to that video.
Karen, we're going to check on that story and if there's any more information, we'll it back, get more information to our viewers.
Thank you, Karen Maginnis.
MAGINNIS: Thanks.
LEMON: Well, this next story gives new meaning to the phrase "Baby on board." A woman gave birth to a bouncing baby boy on Southwest Airlines Flight 441. It was Friday. It's near Denver.
Luckily, a doctor and two nurses were on board the flight to help the Denver baby, to help deliver the baby, I should say. It's a Denver baby as well. And you won't believe what the doctor gave the newborn as a parting gift. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JOHN SARAN, HELPED DELIVERY BABY ON PLANE: I pulled the shoe strings out of my shoes so that baby is walking around with one of my shoe strings on its umbilical cord.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: It's a nice story. The plane out of Chicago made an emergency landing in Denver where an ambulance met the mother and baby at the gate. They are reported doing fine. We have been speaking to the doctor and we're trying to get him on 10:00. We'll let you know if we get him tonight.
The job hunt is tough these days. But what if you're a veteran? A look at what American soldiers face when returning from abroad. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Very disturbing story coming out of Russia. A packed Russian nightclub erupts into flames. More than 100 people are killed and a criminal investigation is now underway. Investigators are picking through the burned out club. It's called the Lame Horse Club. It's a night spot in the industrial city of Perm that was celebrating its eighth anniversary yesterday.
As many as 109 people are dead and 130 more injured. Police say the blaze started when a performance artist, juggling cold flame pyrotechnics caught the ceiling on fire. The club owner, the manager and several others have been detained by police.
This has been a year of big stories dominating the headlines, such as the economy and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, tonight, we're taking a look at some that may have slipped through the cracks. We have asked our correspondents to share their thoughts on some stories that may not have gotten the attention they deserved.
Matthew Chance looks at some remarkable U.S./Russian cooperation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matthew Chance in Moscow.
And Russia's space program is one of the areas I've been most interested in this year. You know, between 2010 and 2015, Russia is the only country that will be sending manned rockets to the International Space Station. The U.S. shuttle will be offline and NASA has had to buy seats on Russian craft just to get its astronauts off the ground.
Already, the Russians are training NASA personnel. I can tell you it's pretty intensive stuff because I've tried it. And it's a good example of how these former Cold War rivals, Russia and the United States, are increasingly working together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You're going to hear from another of our correspondents in the 10:00 hour on stories that didn't get enough attention in 2009.
From civilian to soldier: a California teen heard the call of duty, and now, he is kissing his family goodbye. We're watching the transformation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We want to check your top stories for you right now.
Senators are debating health care reform this weekend. They finally went home just about an hour ago. And President Obama is heading to Capitol Hill tomorrow to rally some wavering Democrats who are opposed to current plans for a public option that would compete with private insurers.
Now, the Senate bill is projected to cost almost $1 trillion over the next 10 years. Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he hopes to get it passed by Christmas. We shall see.
American college student Amanda Knox spent her first day in prison since being convicted of murdering her British roommate. Knox and her former Italian boyfriend were found guilty yesterday in an Italian court of killing Meredith Kercher. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison. Prosecutors had asked for life in prison. Her attorneys plan to appeal.
About 1,000 marines will ship out this month for Afghanistan. They will be the first wave of about 30,000 additional U.S. forces President Obama has called up to fight the Taliban and try to win over the Afghan people. NATO has pledged another 7,000 troops as well. At full strength, there will be about 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and about 50,000 NATO forces.
Few reporters have spent as much time in the field and on duty with those U.S. troops as our Frederik Pleitgen. He has gotten to know them personally and seen them up close in combat. Fred joins me now from Kabul, Afghanistan.
Fred, good to see you. Tell us about the troops, their personal side -- what you have discovered and noticed and witnessed over the past couple of months.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, what I'm seeing, Don, is a big change among a lot of the soldiers. I can tell you morale is still very high. And most of the soldiers still have a lot of faith in their commanders -- also, of course, very much in their commander-in-chief.
And I can tell you, with this troop decision that's just come up by the president, that has certainly given the troops here in Afghanistan a big boost -- especially down in the Kandahar area. You know, when I was -- I was actually in that area about half a year ago and a lot of the guys were saying their big problem is, you know, they keep fighting the Taliban. They keep winning these battles, and then they have to withdraw because they simply don't have enough soldiers on the ground. And now, there's really a feeling that some of that could be turned around very quickly.
But I can also tell you, one of the big problems that I've -- you know, that I've discerned from talking to a lot of the soldiers on the ground is a lot of them are afraid that this would mean more multiple deployments.
It's really hard right now to find any American soldiers in the battlefield here in Afghanistan who aren't on their second, third, fourth, or even fifth tour, somewhere in the battlefield either in Iraq or in Afghanistan. And that's certainly is taking its toll on some of these guys that, you know, they're having to go through the same things again. They're now trying to build another nation. They're in a new war -- a new war is coming to the forefront.
So, certainly, that is weighing very heavily on a lot of the soldiers here. But I can tell you that, right now, with the troop boost, a lot of people are seeing what might be light at the end of the tunnel at least here in Afghanistan, Don.
LEMON: And that -- you know, that's a legitimate concern. They're concerned about being shipped off again and multiple deployments, as you said.
Let's talk more about the personal side though. Did they talk to you, Fred, what they want from a military career. Why they joined. If this mission, similar missions, if this is in fact why they joined the military?
PLEITGEN: Well, you know, that's actually a very good question. It is something actually that a lot of the soldiers here on the ground in Afghanistan, and also in Iraq, really talk about it a lot. And, I have been sort of thinking about this. You can really sort of - put these guys into, into three different groups.
There are those who basically join the military during the cold war. They are career soldiers, absolute professionals. They have also seen the military really have a big shift since 9/11 go from being a Cold War Army to really being an Army that is fighting an insurgency, an anti-guerrilla Army, if you will. And these guys are just absolute professionals. There's a huge group of soldiers who are - I would say around, 25 to 30. And those are really the one whose joined after 9/11 who said they wanted to help their country. They wanted to do something for America. That's why they joined the military.
And then, there is a third group, actually, and this is really interesting. There's a third group who were actually really young when 9/11 happened. It's something really where I really thought to myself, this has been going on for such a long time. I talked to one soldier who was 10 years old when 9/11 happened. Those are a lot of the really younger guys who really haven't known much of anything else than seeing the foreign deployments and were very much aware of the facts that this was going on.
But I can tell you throughout all of these groups, all of these people are guys who want to do something for America, who are very patriotic, some of them, of course, see this as a career path. But these are all people who are very patriotic. And just on another note, Don. One of the things that you see when you get into these command centers and a lot of the units - it is really bad for a lot of the unit commanders. You see guys who died then you see their birth date is 1990 or 1991 how heavily that weighs on a lot of the commanders.
Really, really tough right now especially here in Afghanistan and in Iraq, Don.
LEMON: Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much for that very personal side of our men and women in uniform overseas. We appreciate it.
Many Americans wonder where the Pentagon will find 30,000 additional troops for the Afghan war. It turns out 30,000 is just a fraction of the available forces. The U.S. has more than 1.4 million men and women in uniform right now. That makes it one of the largest militaries in the world. The vast majority, 83 percent are enlisted, the rest are officers. And about one percent are students in the military academies.
The U.S. Army claims more than a half million soldiers in its ranks making it the largest service branch. The smallest branch, the Marines, which accounts for 200,000.
What is it look to make the move from civilian life to the U.S. military? The Pentagon has granted CNN unprecedented access to the process. And part one of his exclusive series, CNN's Jason Carroll introduces us to a young man from a small town in California who decides to join the Army. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Will McLain, 18 years old and a week away from taking the oath to enlist in the Army.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More people.
CARROLL: We gave him a video camera to show us how he was passing the time. There were lots of parties.
WILL MCLAIN, U.S. ARMY RECRUIT: It was always funny. Because even when I party with my friend or something like that. They have to throw the Army jokes in.
CARROLL (on camera): How have your friend taken the news so far?
MCLAIN: They think I am doing a good thing. They figure it is better than just rotting away in Rosamond, you know.
CARROLL: Rosamond, California, Will's hometown. It's in the western Mojave desert, a large stretch of land with a small population, about 14,000. A place where dirt bike riding is surpassed only by motorcycle racing in popularity. A place Will McLain can't wait to leave.
MCLAIN: I'm kind of glad to be getting out of the little town, you know, just because it gets old. There are a lot of things you will miss, you know.
CARROLL: We met up with Will, his last day at home before he left to join the Army. A day his 12-year-old brother didn't want to leave his side.
MCLAIN: I think it kind of hits him more that I'm leaving. This last week it has truly hit them, my family.
CARROLL: Like a lot of high school football players, McLain had dreams of pursuing a career in the pros.
MCLAIN: I'm going to go pro, no matter what. You know then pretty much, junior year, I realized there were a lot bigger fishes in the sea.
CARROLL (on camera): Yes.
(voice-over): McLain says early this year he began to really think about advice from his uncle. MCLAIN: I know, my uncle used to yell at me. You need to have a backup plan. You need to have a backup plan. And that's why I figured the military would be the best bet.
CARROLL: Will had grown up with guns and always liked the idea of joining the military. So he tried to convince his parents to allow him to enlist before his 18th birthday in May.
MCLAIN: They didn't want to sign the papers and me to come back a year later and say I hate you, you signed the papers. This way they made me wait until I was 18. So that the blame is fully on me. Because the way my mom said she doesn't want to be responsible for sending me to Afghanistan.
CARROLL: And now with time running out at home. Reality is setting in.
MCLAIN: I would say about week ago it truly hit me. That's when I forgot how to sleep and stuff. So, I just pretty much lay there and think, oh, man, I am leaving in a week. I'm leaving in three days. I'm leaving in a day.
CARROLL: For Will's parents. Bill, a construction worker and his wife, Laurie, Will's future now taking shape.
BILL MCLAIN, FATHER: We don't worry that he will come home in one piece and he might be 5,000 miles away. But he knows there is people that care about him.
CARROLL: The next morning came the good-byes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
CARROLL: And one last word of advice.
BILL MCLAIN: Head down, brain on, OK?
MCLAIN: Easy enough.
BILL MCLAIN: She wasn't looking forward to this moment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: There's much, much more to this story. We are going to keep following Will McLain along the way. And at 10:00 tonight we'll see him take an oath, change his title and start training. And just ahead, how difficult it can be for veterans to find a job once they returned from duty.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. So listen to this $1,300 a month. That is the base pay for a private just starting out. The Pentagon uses a complicated system based on rank, years of service and many other factors to determine pay. But here are the basics. Take a look. Salaries for enlisted men range from $1,294 a month to up to $6,863 for a master sergeant with many years of service.
At the top end, generals can make between $7,500 a month to nearly $15,000 a month. The joint chiefs chairman and the heads of each service branch make more than $19,000 a month. Everybody deployed to a combat zone gets from $150 to $250 extra each month in hazardous duty pay.
So military pay can be a, can be a good living for many people. Pretty good living. But others don't like the lifestyle or feel they can do better in the private sector.
So what happens when somebody leaves the military to look for a civilian job. That's where we bring in our Garett Reppenhagen. He is a director of the veterans development for Veterans Green Jobs in Denver. He is also a veteran himself and he served as a cavalry scout in the U.S. military from 2001 to 2005 and deployed in a nine-month peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, also completed a combat tour in Iraq as a sniper with the first infantry division. You can see he is very well accomplished there.
Sir, thank you for joining us. And thank you for your service. Just how difficult is it for veterans to find work?
GARETT REPPENHAGEN, DIR., VETERANS GREEN JOBS: Well it's really challenging. I mean, veterans are coming home first of all with combat stress and physical, physical obstacles, that they have to overcome. Plus, just the culture shock of getting back to the civilian world. Getting accustomed to what the civilian world has to offer whether it is in a classroom, or on a job site is really challenging. So, there is many obstacles for a veteran to come back in to the job market.
LEMON: Is this one reason you started the Green Jobs for veterans, Veterans Green Jobs is because of men and women coming back having trouble finding work?
REPENHAGEN: It is. I mean, I came back, and I still feel like I want to serve my comrades and my veterans that are coming out of the military. And I want to do my part. And you know, I still have a good camaraderie with the men and women who are serving right now. And I want to help them. And it's a sense of service for me. I think a lot of veterans are coming home with that addiction to service and they want to serve their communities still. And this is one way that I can serve my community.
LEMON: Tell us what kind of jobs, Veterans Green Jobs, tell us real quickly. It's called veteransgreenjobs.org, that is your web site. What kind of jobs for veterans do you provide?
REPPENHAGEN: Well, we focus on a lot of jobs like energy efficiency and weatherization work, renewable energies as far as solar panels, solar thermal, wind power, a lot of green retrofit and taking care of our housing, housing structures out there, outdoor conservation, planting trees. So it is a wide range of jobs and traditionally there are a lot of trade skill type jobs that have been around for a long time. But now there is much kind of leaner technology and new ways to go about some of these jobs.
LEMON: How many veterans do you have working for you? Do you know how many jobs you have provided or at least helped provide jobs for?
REPPENHAGEN: Well we started - we started our first training last April. And this year, we'll have served I think 60 veterans as far as employed with us. We have, we do training, we do job placement. We do other, other work opportunities, and we actually have contracts ourselves that we employ veterans directly to do some of this work.
LEMON: So you need companies to get on board with you to help provide the types of jobs that you need? So what companies, what type of companies do you have so far? And what type of companies would you look to hear from? Would you like to help you out?
REPPENHAGEN: Well, any, any in those green industries. You know, we are close partners with folks like Clipper Wind, and Energy Logic. Then we partner with college like Red Rocks Community College, Northern Virginia Community College and the Bucks Community College. All with MOUs with universities. So reaching out to businesses and academia to really get a holistic approach at really solving these problem for veterans is what we want to do.
HOLMES: Listen, if there is a message not even for green jobs. Because I'm sure you would agree that any veteran who is coming back, any person who has served overseas and is coming home deserves to be able to find a job. And I believe especially so since they have served their country. So what do you say to companies about hiring men and women who have fought for us overseas? Do you have a message to companies?
REPPENHAGEN: Well, you know, veterans just want to be put on par with their peers who didn't serve. So, you know, it's the huge value in resources that a veteran has. I think it's one of the largest untapped resources America has right now.
Huge leadership values, great work ethics, strong values, the willingness to serve and sacrifice and get a job done is important characteristics almost every veteran comes out with the military with. And that is critical for helping those veterans out and to put them into a job. It is not just a benefit for the veteran. It is a benefit for your business to hire those veterans.
LEMON: OK, listen. I gave the web site, it's veteransgreenjobs.org. If a company or a vet wants to get in touch with you is that the way to do it?
REPPENHAGEN: That's the best way to do it. We got all our contact information on the web site, veteransgreenjobs.org. You know, and veterans are coming home, and there is pretty much, they really squat for help for these veterans. So we really need to look at, you know, providing them a huge resource and get them plugged into these green jobs. And jobs with meaningful careers at the end of them. Not working at 7-11 or Target. That's great for the meantime. But we really want to look at giving them careers and helping them start their own businesses. LEMON: OK. You gave us valuable information. Garett Reppenhagen. And the website is up on the screen. We just took it down. But we will make sure if anybody reaches out to me on the social networking sites, we'll get it and we'll try to put it on our blog. Good information. That's why we have you here. Best of luck to you, OK.
REPPENHAGEN: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: All right.
The stress of combat. How are American soldiers must cope with many changes once they're home? And we'll talk about that in just a few moments. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We want to continue our focus on America's fighting men and women in uniform with a look at mental health issues. Maggie Haynes and Ryan Coyles are with a the Wounded Warrior Project. Ryan is going to join us a little bit by phone, a non-profit organization, dedicated to honoring and empowering injured service members. Thank you very much.
We want to tell you, Maggie, that Ryan got stuck in traffic. We certainly understand that that can be an issue. So listen, talk to me about the - when our men and women in uniform are in high stress, high combat situations they can come home or suffer a whole host of mental problems. Tell us the type of problems they face, on and off the battlefield with that?
MAGGIE HAYNES, WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: Absolutely. Over 300,000 service members are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, maybe suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression. And another 19 percent report potential traumatic brain injury while they're deployed. The military has coined a term called combat operational stress which is distinguished by feelings of hyper- alertness, problems with sleep, frustration, grief, which are linked to service. Nearly all service members are dealing with that once they come home.
LEMON: So listen, Maggie, I am here, according to the research that I have, one in five soldiers returning have been diagnosed with PTSD which is post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and major depression. Military would often term it as a personality disorder. The suicide rate is exponentially high among these soldiers. There is also secondary PTSD among caregivers and children of service members. So how do we deal with that? Because we want to help our men and women in uniform. So what do we need to do as American citizens in order to help them?
HAYNES: Absolutely. One of the things that we've been lucky enough to find within Wounded Warrior Project is the power of peer connection and the support from families and community members. And that's how our organization has been able to exist. So the idea of one warrior helping another, reaching out to someone that's maybe behind them in battlefield and helping them through some of the obstacles that they face.
By providing a social support network, we can also increase access to mental health care services and reduce the stigma around mental health by normalizing it.
LEMON: OK. Listen, let me ask you this. Post-traumatic stress disorder, is it worst when you have, if you have fewer time between deployments or when you're deployed a lot? We heard our reporter on the ground saying that while the men and women in uniform in Afghanistan - they felt, you know, some degree that help was on the way with the new deployment, but still they are concerned about being there longer and more deployments.
So with post traumatic stress, is it better or worse when it comes to these short deployments or multiple deployments, I should say?
HAYNES: One of our biggest challenges is that we don't know yet because multiple deployments are signature for this conflict much remains to be unknown. What we do know is dwell time is a valuable resource for our warriors, sometimes that can range from as little as three months in an usual situation to as much as several years. Military officials are aiming for about 12 months. But that doesn't always happen, especially as things are amping up in Afghanistan.
LEMON: What do you think the adequate amount of time between deployments should be?
HAYNES: It's hard to say. Again, one of our challenges with post- traumatic stress disorder is that it is different for every service member, based on their own experience. I would say at least 12 months is necessary for the rest and recovery. There are warriors need as well as rebuilding relationships with family and loved ones.
LEMON: Do you think that your program is making a difference with soldiers?
HAYNES: Yes, I do. I have the privilege of hearing warrior stories day after day. And some of them are good and some of them are bad. But they are telling their stories. They are providing support for one another and they're making significant changes in their life, not only have they paid the ultimate sacrifice in our country but they are contributing members of our society by taking on leadership positions and providing that support for those that come behind them.
LEMON: Did we get Ryan? We don't have Ryan on, do we? We never got him. No, OK. We don't have Ryan. Ryan is stuck in traffic. Listen, I want to ask you, many people and at least - you know, I want to say I believe this - this may be an under reported story about our men and women in uniform coming back from war and the services they get and how they are treated, do you think that it is underreported? Would it help to see more stories of more people. I should say pay attention to the men and women in uniform and what challenges and what services they get when they come back?
HAYNES: Yes. I think the more that we can shed light on the challenges that our warriors are facing the more understanding that we can show as a society by providing opportunities and care for the warriors that return, the better off we will be in terms of having the most successful generation of veterans in our nation's history.
LEMON: Knowledge is power. We thank you very much.
HAYNES: It is.
LEMON: We thank you very much taking your time out to join us.
HAYNES: Thanks so much.
LEMON: You know, there are amazing organizations out there that can lend a helping hand to veterans in need. A closer look at how you can help coming up.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From Bushwish Brooklyn.
LEMON: So with America winding down the war in Iraq and ramping up the war in Afghanistan, our troops and their families are making lots of sacrifices. A New York real estate family is doing its part to make sure hospitalized veterans and service members have a place they can call home. Ken Fisher is chairman and the CEO of the Fisher House Foundation and he joins me now live from New York. Always good to see you, Mr. Fisher.
KEN FISHER, FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION, CEO: Hi, don. How are you?
LEMON: I'm doing very well. So for every service member who is killed in action, there are nearly seven who are wounded. Some of those wounds can be healed and then they can return to duty, of course, but for more others it is a life-changing injury, Mr. Fisher. So where does Fisher House come in here? Talk to us about your work?
FISHER: Well, we like to think we are partners with the magnificent work being done by the doctors and the nurses that is resulting in our troops living through horrific catastrophic injuries that would have been fatal in previous conflicts. Fisher House provides a home away from home for their families to stay in for as long as they need to free of charge while their loved one is recovering.
LEMON: You say that but that is a lot to do and that it takes a lot of money to do that. So where do you get the money from? I would imagine it's partly from the government, partly from donations?
FISHER: We get a grant from the government and the balance is private donations.
LEMON: OK. So you can use help. And where can people go if they want to help out and give a donation?
FISHER: Well, you can go to our web site which is www.fisherhouse.org. There is a variety of ways to get involved. We got a variety of initiatives, there is the lodging, of course. There is a program called hero miles, which is a partnership with participating airlines where people can donate their unused frequent flyer miles and we can use that to buy tickets for family members, that would not be covered by travel orders.
LEMON: I don't mean to put you on the spot there but I think it is important work that you are doing and I think if there is a way that people can give that they should be allowed to be able to do it. So listen, you have these - it's called comfort homes that your family's foundation is building. Tell us more about the comfort homes.
FISHER: Well, the homes were smaller when the program began almost 20 years ago. They were consisting of about six to eight rooms. But because the demand has grown and because, again the doctors and the nurses doing such magnificent work the size of the houses have increased so that we can help more of these families and veterans families as well. So now the houses are 20 rooms consisting of 16,000 feet.
LEMON: All right. Very good stuff there. Listen, we are going to have to call it quits. I'm glad we got the information out on how people can donate. 10,000 military families live in Fisher Homes and they're planning to build more. You got bigger ones, comfort homes. Good work that you're doing. Thank you for joining us. Best of luck to you, OK.
FISHER: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Have a good one.
