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Senators React to President's Budget Appeal; Secretary of State Clinton Arrives in Mexico; U.S. Casualties of the Mexican Drug Wars; Housing Sales Up, Still Down Overall; Suicide Prevention in the Military

Aired March 25, 2009 - 13:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, break away to Cap Hill, Harry Reid responding to the closed-door meeting with the president about the budget.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: ... this budget will protect President Obama's priorities, education, energy, health care, middle-class tax relief, and cut the deficit in half.

Now, Senator Conrad, I appreciate very much your recognizing some states have been hit harder than others. Nevada's been hit real hard, and I want thank you for including a housing provision that will help Nevadans avoid foreclosure.

I'm confident that Senator Conrad will get the budget out of his committee quickly and that the full Senate will pass his budget next week -- Senator Conrad.

SEN. KENT CONRAD (D-ND), CHAIRMAN, BUDGET COMMITTEE: First of all, thank you, Leader Reid, for your strong support as we've gone through this challenging process. And I deeply support the -- I deeply appreciate the support of my colleagues, as demonstrated in the caucus.

First, I want to say we had a chance to meet with the president, the delegation from North Dakota as well as Senator Klobuchar and Congressman Peterson from Minnesota, about the very serious flooding that's going on in our area. My state is faced with disastrous flooding all across the state. My hometown, the capital city, is now faced with what the mayor has described as the worst threat to our city in its entire history.

So, this is a very, very serious time for the people I represent. Not only a major flood threat to Bismarck, North Dakota, the capital city, with evacuations already occurring in the midst of a blizzard, but also in eastern North Dakota, where we face a projected crest at record levels. So, my thoughts and prayers are, first of all, with the people that I represent and my family back home in North Dakota.

With respect to the budget, we have attempted to preserve -- and I think have preserved -- the president's key priorities. That's what he asked me to do when we got the reforecast of reducing our dependence on foreign energy, excellence in education, health care reform. All of those are possible to move forward in the budget resolution that I have written. They are all in deficit-neutral reserve funds, which means those initiatives will have to be paid for. But that was always the president's intention.

In addition, we have extended the middle class tax cuts, all of them, from 2001 and 2003. The president make work pay tax cuts are already provided for, for the next two years, as you know, under the stimulus package. And we are saying in my budget mark if they are to be extended, they would need to be offset. That's because of the new realities that we must confront with the new forecast. Asked us to dramatically reduce the deficit to attempt to hit three percent of gross domestic product by the fifth year, which we have done.

We've actually beaten that by a little bit, because the economists say that is the critical level at which you can handle the debt and stabilize the debt longer term. I think all of us understand beyond the five years of this budget. And let me emphasize, there have been 34 budgets written under the budget act. 30 of the 34 have been for five years. Our offering a five-year budget is nothing new. It's been done the last five years. It's been done, as I say, in 30 of the 34 years we have had a budget resolution.

PHILLIPS: You're listening to Kurt Conrad, chairman of the Budget Committee there.

As you know, within the past hour the president of the United States went behind closed doors to talk to members of Congress trying to sell his $3.6 trillion budget plan to Congress. You heard Harry Reid step forward saying they talked about reducing dependence on foreign oil, putting more money into education.

Of course, the president's goal is to cut the deficit in half with this plan. So far, it's looking good, it will go to the Senate next week. We'll follow, of course, every movement there in that plan to pass the budget.

The term "vicious cycle" could have been invented for the Mexican drug wars and the White House aims to break it. Drugs and violence flow north, guns and money flow south. But soon a lot more money and manpower will flow south for more patrols, more intelligence gathering and more interdiction on both sides of the border.

The head of Homeland Security talking up the plan in Congress today while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton starts a two-day visit to Mexico City and Monterrey.

Already one sign of progress, one of Mexico's most wanted cartel kingpins arrested hours after the government put a price on his head.

As we mentioned, Janet Napolitano is filling Congress in on the White House plan to counter the problem that's spilling over our borders.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET NAPOLITANO, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We're deploying 100 more Border Patrol agents to the port of entries also to help with southbound inspections. We're moving 12 teams of cross- trained canines to the ports of entry going south. These are cross- rained because they're trained to detect both money and guns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And Secretary Clinton landed in Mexico just minutes ago. More big names from the president's cabinet will follow early next month. The president himself visits later.

Our Jill Dougherty in the Mexican capital.

Jill, what does Clinton hope to accomplish while she's there?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, we just heard it in fact from the pool, they just called in with a report from the plane and just as the secretary was on her way she came back, talked with reporters and she said really number one, of course, would have to be this issue of the drug violence.

She said that President Felipe Calderon is in a courageous fight against the drug cartels. But, she also said, there is shared responsibility. Namely, and we've been reporting on this, the money, the drug money, being laundered coming back in from the United States and guns coming from the United States into Mexico. Not to mention, of course, the drug use.

She also said that there was a broader, deeper relationship. And she went on at length about this. Talking about the economy, trade, energy, the environment, health, immigration, of course, and education.

She also talked a bit about cultural ties. She's trying to broaden the subject here. She said that many people in the United States, of course, have roots in Mexico. She even mentioned that she and her husband went on their honeymoon in Mexico. She did say finally on trade that they are trying very much, before the president arrives here in April, to come up with some type of solution about that looming trade war between Mexico and the United States over the trucking issue - Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jill, I mean, it's -- I guess courageous to hear about all the efforts that are going toward taking down these cartels and looking at all the money that's going to be put into this to help Mexico fight this, but at the same time there's a tremendous demand here in the U.S. for drugs and that needs to be addressed as well.

DOUGHERTY: Absolutely, and that is part of the plan. They're talking about more money for treatment, because so far, it hasn't been very effective. And that definitely, if there were no demand, there wouldn't be any market, and it would dry up. So, that's one of the things they definitely have to address, and they say they will.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jill Dougherty, appreciate it.

And whatever the plan is, the government can't sit on its hands. Americans in border cities are living and dying this problem. Guilty of nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our Michael Ware reports the painful details in 10 minutes.

And a developing story. Defense Department officials are watching closely, we're getting reports that North Korea has put what's believed to be a long range ballistic missile on a launch pad. That missile could launch either a warhead or a satellite. The North Koreans had announced that they intend to launch a communications satellite. We're working our sources now at the Pentagon on that one and we'll bring you more details as they become available.

President Obama just finished his closed door meeting on Capitol Hill. You saw it here live on CNN, trying to ease an epidemic of sticker shock. The source is the president's $3.6 trillion budget plan and CNN's Brianna Keilar is on the phone with the latest.

Brianna, he was in, he was out, it didn't last very long.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): No, it didn't last a very long time, Kyra. I think it was a little under 45 minutes.

And we spoke with some of the democrats who came out of the meeting. In particular, what we were looking for was centrist democrats, because they are some of the ones who have concerns with President Obama's proposed budget with the size of it.

And one of those conservative democrats that we spoke with, Mary Landrieu, she said - when we asked her, did he say anything to change your mind, was he just sort of sweeping concerns? And she said the way this meeting really went was that President Obama told them, here are my core values, energy, health care, education, and I am flexible on exactly how we get there in terms of a budget. She seemed encouraged by that.

We don't know the overall view from all of the Senate democrats. But the reason everyone, Kyra, is looking at this budget, which is not binding, this is a blueprint that Congress takes and figures out to divvy up the money. So, people are looking at it, though, because it is sort of a question of if democrats in Congress are going to deliver on President Obama's priorities.

And I have to, you know, it's important to point out that it does in a way kick the can down the road on some of this. Because some of the big-ticket items here, health care and energy, this plan right now, the Senate democrats are putting out, basically say that whatever is done, it has to be paid for, and it's not exactly laid out - Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Brianna, thanks.

Let's get now to CNN's Suzanne Malveaux, she's at the White House.

Suzanne, what is the president doing now to get his own people on board?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It really seems like they are conceding already here. I just spoke with Austan Goolsbee, he's one of his top economic advisors. And he said look, we are looking at 98 percent of what we wanted here, we didn't get everything. But we did get the critical areas when it comes to education, health care, energy, cutting the deficit in half by the end of his term. But there is something that is significant here, and it's called making work pay credit. This is something that he campaigned heavily on during the campaign.

It is $400 for working singles, $800 for couples. The president wanted to make that permanent. That did not happen. It is going to expire in two years, while Goolsbee says that they'll take a look in two years or so, revisit that issue.

I also talked to the head of OMB and the way he described it, he said, look, our legislation, their legislation, they're not twins but they're brothers that look awful lot of alike. They are for the most part saying that they are pleased with this, but there's a campaign pledge there obviously when it comes to that tax credit that they just can't deliver on -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We hear that Obama is having another town-hall meeting tomorrow, is that correct? And what do we expect to hear from that?

MALVEAUX: This is really going to be unique, Kyra, because what this is, he's going to be live before an audience of about 100 people here at the White House. But what he's been doing is whitehouse.gov, he's soliciting people to go online to that site, submit questions to the president about the economy, tell us what your favorite question is and then ultimately the most popular question is the ones that are going to be chosen tomorrow. That's going to be put to him tomorrow.

There's also You Tube. They're asking for video selections submissions to go ahead, so you're going to see President Obama tomorrow taking questions from a live audience, from You Tube video as well as from texting, you know, from the internet texts that he gets. So, already if you take a look at the tally, 17,000, Kyra, people have already logged on, submitted more than 20,000 questions for the president.

PHILLIPS: All right, Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks so much.

Despite huge political gains he is -- OK, we're now going straight from the White House to the president of the United States. A busy man. He went straight from Cap Hill trying to sell his budget plan, now he is at Arlington Cemetery. He's getting ready to lay a wreath there at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Why is he there? An extremely special ceremony honoring the Medal of Honor recipients. And not only are the Medal of Honor recipients there, but also the runner-ups to that incredible military honor.

(WREATH LAYING CEREMONY)

PHILLIPS: All right. I definitely want to apologize, because we've been getting information about what exactly this is. And I was not given the proper information. This is not the Medal of Honor recipients. Obviously, this is a total different thing of what's happening here. But what is happening is pretty unique and pretty fantastic as we've been able to put together what's taking place here.

The president of the United States at Arlington cemetery, you saw him laying a wreath there at the tomb of the unknowns. These individuals that you are seeing standing in front of these wreaths are ordinary citizens like and you me and our neighbors, but they have done extraordinary things, and they're being honored for that today.

You see the Medal of Honor for those in the military, you see the Congressional Medal of Honor that the president gives to outstanding individuals in the United States for doing courageous things. What we're seeing here is the above-and-beyond citizen honors and each one of these individuals from all over the country is receiving this because of their values, their courage, their sacrifice, some sort of selfless service.

And let me take you back to one story that we covered back in 2007, August 1st. Remember the bridge collapse in Minneapolis? And remember that story that we told you about the young boy, Jeremy Hernandez? He was that youth worker that was with 50 children on a school bus heading to a summer youth program. And when that bridge collapsed, he's the one that helped save those 50 kids and get them off the bus. We had a chance to tell his story, to meet him, and to cover that. He was one of the heroes within that bridge rescue effort.

Well, he is one of the young men that will be receiving the above-and-beyond citizen honor, an honor that the president will hand each one of these individuals for their courageous work. They will actually get an embossed citizen honor certificate signed by the president, and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

Pretty awesome honor.

We're going to take a quick break, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Despite huge political gains for African-Americans, big social and economic gaps between the races still persist in the United States. The Urban League's latest state of black America report found these troubling numbers. Blacks are twice as likely to be out of a job, three times more likely to live in poverty and six times more likely to be in prison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC MORIAL, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE: And while recent economic trends exacerbated by the current economic meltdown show that all Americans are losing ground economically, it is abundantly clear and perfectly clear that African-Americans are faring much worse.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Among other things, the group is calling on the nation's first African-American president to increase funding for job training, pass a homebuyer's bill of rights and restore a small business loan program, set up universal health insurance and fully fund the no child left behind act.

After yesterday's losses the markets are trying to bounce back. Checking the big board right now, Dow Industrials down 15 points. Just two days ago we saw those Dow Industrials rally up 500 points. Today down 12.

One thing fueling the surge on Wall Street, an unexpected rise in new home sales. The Commerce Department said they rose 4.7 percent last month, that was the first increase since last July. Despite that ray of good news, the February sales were still the second worst on record, with January being the worst.

One thing helping sellers unload those new homes, super low mortgage rates, some lower than five percent.

How do you find them? Personal finance editor, Gerri Willis joins me now with some answers.

All right Gerri, go ahead and give us the scoop.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi there, Kyra.

Everybody is asking me about how to get these low mortgage rates, but many folks who are trying to, they can't even get their lender on the phone. They're frustrated. I've done this myself, I understand it it's hard to get your banker to the table.

The chief economist of Fannie Mae spoke to me yesterday, he told me it will take as much as three months for the mortgage industry to start working at full capacity. They took so many people out of the business in the mortgage meltdown. They don't have enough folks now to fill out these applications. His full-year outlook for mortgage rates right now, 4.8 percent to five percent, is that not attractive? The take away here, you're going to have to be patient, because there are going to be lines.

PHILLIPS: What does that mean for consumers?

WILLIS: Well, it's big opportunity, right? Thirty-year fixed- rate mortgages are at 4.6 percent. Historically, the rate is eight percent. That's significant.

Take a look at these numbers. If you took out a 30-year fixed loan at five percent your monthly payments would be about 915 bucks. At eight percent you'd pay $1,250, that's $335 of savings a month or $4,000 a year.

Now, we told you it might take longer to get a refi. Now there's something else you want to be aware of, according to bankrate.com Fannie and Freddie have increased their fees and you have to pay those, so you could be paying extra fees of one or two percent of the loan amount, or sometimes even higher on top of all those other closing costs. So that's something to know. Some bad news amid the good news.

PHILLIPS: OK, well, then, how do you get the best rate?

WILLIS: Having enough equity is one of the biggest things that will guarantee you a good rate. It's hard to do but it's the best thing. These days you need at least 20 percent to get the best rates. Make sure you keep your credit score as high as possible and get copies of your credit reports, we always say look at annualcreditreport.com for free copies and then you really have to shop around. Get your paperwork together now. Here's a list of the things you need to have if you're going to refi.

Obviously, you have to have a refinance application. Two years of tax returns, one month of pay stubs, three months of asset statements, that means anything about your mutual funds, your investments, your most recent mortgage statement and a copy of your deed. So that's everything you want to gather together so you can fill out the application, get everything right and lock in those fantastic rates. You got to do it now. This is a good deal for people who are having trouble making their mortgage payment every month.

PHILLIPS: Thanks Gerri.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: A Texas man knew his wife was dead when he saw this, their car shot up by drug cartel killers. Part of his life and death in U.S. border cities right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We've talked about Mexico's drug war and how Uncle Sam plans to deal with it and for now enough about policy. Let's talk about people. Americans are living and in some cases dying through this every day.

CNN's Michael Ware takes us to the front lines and we're warning you now, the reality isn't pretty. Some of the pictures you're about to see are pretty bloody and graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is how American Jose Molinar knew his wife was dead. He saw these television pictures of her bullet-riddled car broadcast from just across the border in Juarez City, Mexico. Minutes from his Texas home.

JOSE MOLINAR, WIFE MURDERED: As soon as the image came up, I saw her truck. And I knew what had happened right then and there.

WARE: His wife Marisela, a U.S. resident and mother of two, was gunned down, doing a last minute favor, giving a Juarez government lawyer a ride to go shopping. MOLINAR: Wrong place, wrong time. That's the only way I can describe that.

WARE: Marisela died close to the border crossing just yards from U.S. soil. It was her passenger who was the gunman's target. He was shot multiple times. She was killed by a single shot to the chest.

This is the cartel war in Mexico. A conflict raging on America's doorstep. A conflict in which Juarez police officers like this one under attack from a drug gang are fighting for their lives. While the drug cartels are battling throughout the city for control of a lucrative drug route into the United States.

Sixteen hundred people killed in this city last year. That's three times more than the most murderous city in America. And 50 of them were police officers.

This year, in just two months, 400 more already murdered. We saw the most recent victims lying in the city's morgue overflowing with bodies. Many unidentified cartel members destined for mass graves. They'd been brutally killed by rivals, beheaded, tortured, strafed with bullets.

But now the cartels are renewing a favored tactic, intimidating government leaders. This time they're doing it by killing cops, one by one.

MAYOR JOSE REYES FERRIZ, JUAREZ, MEXICO: They started killing police officers, and not while they were doing police work, but when they were coming out of their homes and getting into their cars to go to the police station.

WARE: This sign says it all. A cartel vowing to kill one person every 48 hours until this man, the chief of police, stands down. At first, he refused to go, until on one of the days when we were there. And he'd finally had enough, after the cartel had killed eight of his officers in less than a week.

In the hours following his resignation, we rode on patrol with police officers out on the streets, the entire force on high alert. The cartel war grinding on.

(on camera): And it's going to be a long war, with most of the advantages in the cartel's favor. Their gunmen outnumber these police and they're better armed. And the body count continues to rise.

(voice-over): Now, the mayor's family is being targeted. A cartel threatening to behead them wherever they are. Police in the U.S. suspect the cartel is planning to cross into Texas to get to the family where they're hiding. Over the past year, the Mexican army has moved in. Over 7,000 soldiers sent to Juarez. As part of a huge operation that has 45,000 troops combating the cartels across Mexico.

ENRIQUE TORRES, MEXICAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: This is not going to be won quickly, says Mexican government spokesman Enrique Torres. While we know the monster is big, we don't have any idea just how big it is.

WARE: And though the U.S. this year is giving Mexico about $400 million to combat the cartels, officials on both sides of the border privately agree, the war as it's fought now cannot be won. Which is something Jose Molinar's wife probably knew before she was gunned down.

(on camera): This drug war in Juarez robbed you of your mother. I mean, how do you carry that?

ALBA PRIETO, DAUGHTER OF MURDER VICTIM: Day by day. Just I always think she's at work.

WARE (voice-over): And the unwinnable war that killed her mother rages on.

Michael Ware, CNN, Juarez, Mexico.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: CNN's Anderson Cooper is reporting from the border. Be sure to catch his "AC 360" special, "THE WAR NEXT DOOR," live from the Mexican border, that's tonight and Thursday night 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Outrage over the way some veterans are being treated by the V.A.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIE JACKSON, VIETNAM VETERAN: I'm shaking right now. I'm not kidding. I'm shaking right now until I get in there and somebody tell me that everything is OK, then I'll feel better.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Why he and thousands more vets are being urged to come in for important medical tests and how some lawmakers are taking up their cause.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Fargo, North Dakota, is bracing for the worst. Floodwaters there could soon reach record levels.

Chad Myers, you've been keeping track of this, talking about those flood levels for a while now.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and the record is something that we saw back in 1987. Or 19 -- yes, 1997. And then also again in 1897. One hundred years apart.

And let's just go to some of the pictures, because it's just hard to describe what these people, again, are going through. I remember seeing these pictures 10 years ago where literally cities burned to the ground as the water came up into the cities and there was just no way to put the fires out. Now, this year, I mean, and last year as well, every year they kind of do this, but this year they're getting these sandbags up 5, 10, 15 feet above where some of these levees are made to hold.

Well, you know what, sandbags are great for a lot of things, but I'll tell you what, Kyra, they're not safe all the time. If you're going to spend the night behind a sandbag wall, I recommend and suspect going to a little bit higher ground for sure.

PHILLIPS: We've been getting in pictures, video. What else have we been receiving?

MYERS: We've been getting here calls for volunteers to go to Bismarck to get to some of the sandbagging now in Bismarck, a completely different river. I mean, we're talking -- this here, this is Grand Forks, this is the Red River. It's just going straight north. This river doesn't actually go to the south. It starts down south and moves north up into Lake Winnipeg, and the water still going up in many, many areas, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll keep tracking it, Chad, thanks.

MYERS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Soldiers die and it's a grim truth as old as war itself, but what's killing U.S. troops in alarming numbers isn't the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan, but the battles inside the GIs themselves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: President Obama's choice to be ambassador to Iraq faced the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today. Chris Hills' message, Iraq is in a really crucial phase, but security there can be maintained even as U.S. troops withdraw.

Despite some skeptical republicans, the veteran diplomat says that he's up to the task even though he hasn't served in the Middle East. The committee is expected to confirm Hills' nomination and pass it on to the full Senate.

Multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan are stressing the ranks of the U.S. Army. Last year the Army reported 128 suicides. And in January of this year alone, there were 24 suspected suicides.

One officer, who knows the painful reality of suicide is Major General Mark Graham. Not a day goes by that he doesn't think about his son, 2nd Lieutenant Jeffrey Graham, 23, killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. The young leader was protecting his platoon.

But this is where the pain intensifies even more for General Graham, because he lost his youngest son first, Kevin Graham 21, a top ROTC student at the University of Kentucky hanged himself June 21st, 2003. No one knew that he was depressed. And for him the enemies within were worse than those on any battlefield.

His dad, Major General Mark Graham joins me live from Colorado Springs.

Sir, good to see you.

MAJ. GEN. MARK GRAHAM, U.S. ARMY: Hi, Kyra, thanks for asking me.

PHILLIPS: I know this is tough for you to talk about, but boy, when you do, people listen. You've done amazing things to draw attention to the issue of this, an issue we're seeing getting bigger and bigger by the day.

I just want to go back for a moment, if you don't mind. And there's a picture within your family album that I think about, it moves me, I think it's going to touch everybody out there that understands just what it takes to be a military father. And that's your boys pinning you when you were becoming major.

What do you remember about that day? About your relationship with your boys, and how they interacted with you and just loved you and respected you so much?

GRAHAM: Well, I remember that day. I didn't really want to do a promotion ceremony. Oftentimes, we like to just get promoted quietly and keep serving. But I remember my boss was adamant about it, that the family would be there as well. So we did a promotion and I took my jacket off and knelt down and my boys each pinned me. Our daughter was a little girl at the time, Melanie, and I just remember those times with the kids and how wonderful, wonderful times we had with our boys and also with our daughter.

We used to do a lot together. Oftentimes, I would say you know what, guys, we're kind of going overboard with some of these events and my wife Carol would oftentimes say, if it's worth doing, it's worth over doing. We would do a lot and, of course now we don't regret any of the things we did with our kids. We're a very close family. Spent many times with them, instead of doing other things, we did family things instead.

PHILLIPS: You did. You did a lot of that.

You know, Kevin was young. He was strong. He was the top ROTC cadet. Did you know that he was struggling with depression this badly?

GRAHAM: We knew he was struggling with depression. We knew he had some -- he was on medication. He went on medication we think that fall of 2002. And he was on Prozac. We knew he was struggling with depression.

But I will tell you, we did not know depression could kill you. We did not know you could die from depression and the suicide, of course, is the result. Kevin came off his medication, we understand, prior to this happening, and it's important for people to know that sometimes depression medications take longer -- take weeks before they actually start working. And once they start working, you need to continue to take them unless you go to a doctor's care, you can't just stop taking them, because the side effects can become exacerbated because of that.

PHILLIPS: And General, you know, there's this stigma within the military that you got to be a man, you got to suck it up, you can't deal with post traumatic stress, you can't deal with depression and you probably dealt with a lot of that as you were coming up through the military. Now that you have seen how this affects the young men and women and your son, what do you tell the military about that attitude of got to be tough, got to suck it up, don't deal with this stuff?

GRAHAM: Well, a few things. One is every door that a soldier walks through for help needs to be the right door. When a soldier goes and asks for help, they need to go to a door that's open to them and that they can get help and we think we're fixing that. The senior leaders of our military, Admiral Mullen and Chief of Staff General Casey and the Vice Chief General Corelli are personally involved in this. We want to make sure our soldiers know it's a sign of strength not weakness to come forward and get help.

But we train our soldiers to be hard, to be tough, for a fight, because their life depends on it, so we do that. We also train them to help those fellow soldiers that are hurt or wounded and if a soldier's got a broken leg, they know exactly what to do, they take them for help.

So what we're trying to do now is get in front of suicide, to help our army understand the warning signs. What are the signs. What do you do if a soldier starts feeling sad. If he starts seeing that sad feeling in him or if they're not sleeping or if their attitude changes or they start drinking too much, what do you do? Well you do something. You don't just say hey, you know, I'm worried about you, you need to take care of that.

We have a program in the army called the A.C.E. program, Ask, Care and Escort. Ask soldiers, many times people years ago and part of the national stigma I think bigger than the army is you know don't talk about suicide, because it might lead someone to do that.

People that die by suicide, you need to ask the question, are you thinking of harming yourself or someone else? Are you thinking of killing yourself and dying by suicide? If they respond that they're thinking about that or they've thought about that, you need to care for them, listen to them. Let them talk to you and then escort them. Don't recommend they see someone, physically go with them. Say, let me go with you. Let me take you to get some help. And be with them.

We do the buddy system in the army for so many things, we need to continue to do it here. But we've got to get left of suicide, we've got to get to before suicide occurs. Know the warning signs. Just like you do with anything else in the army, if somebody's hurting or if somebody gets injured or hurt, you take them for care. We need to help our soldiers and our leaders understand what are those signs so that we can take them for care.

PHILLIPS: I know all this has definitely not only changed your life forever but also your leadership style. I know you've talked about it made you more compassionate. And, sir, I appreciate you being so direct and sharing the advice for our viewers. And I don't want to forget as we talk about Kevin and remember what you've learned.

I also would like to lift up Jeff as well. Your son, Jeff, was killed due to a roadside bomb when that exploded in Iraq. He actually died saving his platoon.

So, we remember both your sons, and we salute you for your efforts and I appreciate so much your time, Major General Mark Graham.

GRAHAM: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And the general and I are going to be in Washington next week for an event hosted by an incredible group called TAPS. They actually assist military members and their families as they deal with the death of a loved one, whether it's suicide or death in combat, and we're putting up TAPS' web address and phone number for you, the website is taps.org, and the number, 1-800-959-taps. There's always someone at that number around the clock to help you with anything that you're dealing with and support you.

You can also get involved with being a mentor which is exactly what General Graham is doing. He actually spends time mentoring young men who have lost a loved one in combat.

Well, growing outrage over the health care of some veterans. Now lawmakers are weighing in as thousands of vets are told to get tested for HIV and hepatitis after being treated with contaminated colonoscopy equipment. Florida Senator Bill Nelson and Congressman Kendrick Meek have asked the VA's inspector general to conduct a formal investigation. Veterans are frustrated and they're scared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WILLIAMS, VIETNAM VETERAN: My contract with the VA, they promised me that I'd have all the health care that I needed. They would take care of me if anything happened to me in Vietnam. And something did. And they haven't done it.

JACKSON: I'm shaking right now until I get in there and somebody tell me that everything is OK, then I'll feel better. But right now, I'm headed to the clinic.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And if you're a vet, and you think you may be infected, call the Miami VA Health Care System, you can speak with a staff member or set up appointments for screening at 305-575-7256. Here's a toll-free number as well 877-575-7256. Once again, those numbers, 305-575-7256 or 877-575-7256. Hey veterans, if you've received a letter about testing or you're already signed up to get the free screenings, we really want to hear from you. Send us your e- mails. Share with us your stories. The address is cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. We'd love to hear from you.

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PHILLIPS: We'd like to make a clarification for you about a story that we brought you earlier, just moments ago.

President Obama attended this wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery's tomb of the unknowns. Today the president was commemorating Medal of Honor recipients, 36 living recipients were there in attendance. You're looking at a number of them right there mingling with the president. Helping the president lay the wreath.

Four Medal of Honor recipients there.

Lieutenant John Finn, U.S. Navy retired. He served in World War II.

Also, Captain Thomas Hudner, he also is Navy retired. He served in Korea.

Then, there was Colonel Joe Jackson, he's Air Force retired, he served in Vietnam.

And also, Colonel Bob Howard, U.S. Army retired, he too, served in Vietnam.

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PHILLIPS: Breaking news to tell you about.

We're getting word about a U.S. fighter jet an F-22, it's crashed in the California desert, we're being told. The Air Force says it happened about 10:00 a.m. local time. That's 1:00 p.m. in the East. Some 35 miles northeast of Edwards Air Force base. No word on the condition of the pilot.

The F-22 is the military's top-of-the-line and most expensive fighter jet and this is believed to actually be the first crash of this aircraft. We're going to bring you more details as soon as we get them.

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