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Cash for Clunkers Program Extended Through Weekend; 27 Dead in Baghdad Blasts; Black Officer Defends Actions in Gates' Arrest; A Closer Look at Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and Traumatic Brain Injury in Troops; What the Intrepid Center Hopes To Do for Distressed Troops and Their Families; Longtime Soldier Commits Suicide After Diagnosed with Brain Injury

Aired July 31, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Also, staying on top of healthcare reform, it looks like Congress will break for the summer recess with the issues still very much in limbo. I want to get the latest from Capitol Hill now and congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar. All right. So Brianna, the Senate has one more week, but the House actually closed up shop. Where does the issue stand, exactly?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the House actually is probably going to close up shop here in a few hours and we're going to see that mass exodus, Heidi. But in the House, it looks as if things are on track to move health care reform, their health care reform through that third and final committee that it needs to go through. Of course, there is not going a vote on the House floor. We already knew that.

But if things are moving kind of slowly in the House where they are pretty much moving like molasses in the Senate where last night, negotiators of this key bipartisan group, the gang of six from the Senate Finance Committee really put the brakes on any idea that may come to an agreement before they leave for recess in another week. That's because Democrats on this committee had to basically give in.

You see Max Baucus, the chairman of the committee on the right. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on this committee and Democrats had to basically capitulate to Republicans and say, OK, we're not going to have a vote in this committee before August recess. They had to do this, Heidi, because otherwise they risked these talks completely collapsing.

COLLINS: Yes.

KEILAR: So that's where things stand there in the Senate.

KEILAR: Well, one of the big sticking points -- I think everybody knows is how to actually pay for reform. There is a new idea though right? That is getting a little bit of a bipartisan attention, what is it all about?

KEILAR: This is a proposal by Senator John Kerry and it is to tax these Cadillac plans that you may have heard of. You know, the average health care plan in the U.S. costs $12,000 for the premium every year. These Cadillac plans sometimes go up to the cost of $40,000. So the idea is to obviously tax the insurance companies, but not the people who get these plans, Heidi.

You know, maybe that would sound good. We talked about this last hour to unions. So, hey, the actual consumers of the insurance don't get taxed, but actually there is some bipartisan support for this plan and there's a lot of bipartisan opposition. You've got unions who say, no, no, this cost will just be passed on to us. Some of their members, of course, have these plans.

And then I also just spoke with the Republican Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah and he said it's not just these people with Cadillac plans that are going to foot the bill. These will be passed on -- these costs will passed on by insurance companies to all consumers. So, it's still a really sticky issue on how to pay for this despite this proposal.

COLLINS: Absolutely. All right. We're watching closely, only a week. Brianna Keilar, thank you so much. Live from Capitol Hill this morning.

Also watching this. This morning a key reading on the nation's economy, a new government report shows the economy shrank one percent from April through June. Well that decline in the gross domestic product is actually much better than what analysts expected. And that raises hopes the recession finally could be winding down. The economy has contracted for four straight quarters. That is the longest stretch since this measure came into place in 1947.

So, later in the hour we're going to check in with CNN's Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange to break down more of what the numbers mean and how investors are reacting. We can quickly take a look at that ourselves right here. Look at the big board for you now. The Dow Jones industrial averages are down just slightly there, by about eight points or so. Still well above the 9,000 mark there by 148 points or so. We'll continue to watch those. We'll check in with Stephanie later.

The cash for clunkers program has been a big hit apparently. By the irony is that success could actually spell trouble. After just one week, car shoppers may have burned through the $1 billion Congress set aside for rebates. We actually just heard from the White House. The program will continue through the weekend now. But what happens after that, we really don't know right now. We want to get more on this from personal finance editor Gerri Willis. All right. So Gerri, they are going to extend this at least through the weekend.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes. That's the big news here. The White House saying we'll extend it through the weekend and we're going to look for funds. You should also know that Congressman Fred Upton from Michigan, he is the co-chair of the Congressional Auto Caucus is momentarily expected to announce he's going to be asking Congress for more funding for cash for clunkers. Clearly, he's going to have to do it pretty quickly because everybody is going on vacation.

Now, Heidi, I want to mention to you that the program only started on Monday and yet it's close to burning through all its funding. I want to show you some numbers just to give you an idea of how quickly this thing has gone. Some $95.9 million has been approved to be given out already. That's according to the federal government and I have to tell you that several days ago, the number is probably a little bit higher than that.

And some $1.2 billion is projected to be given out by the industry. So dealerships have already sewn up 1.2 billion worth of these vouchers. Now, the plan was only $1 billion to begin with. So you can see it's already sort of, probably under water. Demand for the program, overwhelming. 23,000 dealerships signed on. Experts say that dealerships started declining people for the program earlier this week and the program was supposed to go on until November 1st. Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. OK. Well, once they've received confirmation that they're actually eligible for this program, you know, for people who decided to do this, what do they do if they've already accepted and have a new car?

WILLIS: Right. Well, see, the devil is in the details here, right?

COLLINS: Yes.

WILLIS: What you want to find out, dealerships may have had you sign a waiver that indicated if the program didn't go through, that you had to pay the voucher back or return the car. Now, if you did get a new car, make sure you look at any documents like this.

COLLINS: Yes.

WILLIS: But, of course, as I said before, there's a lot of talk that we're going to get more money, more funding, continue the program. I mean, you have to say this is one of the most successful programs for bailing out the economy that we've seen to date from the administration. Originally, the program was funded at $4 billion. Congress dialed that back to $1 billion. And, you know, obviously you can shop through the weekend. But beyond that, I would wait to see what Congress is doing.

COLLINS: Yes. In fact, we might have a little more information, Gerri, right now. Because we have our Ed Henry, White House correspondent standing by to tell us a little bit more regarding the details of this. So, Ed, tell us how it went down and if you have any more information on what people can expect, if there's a longer extension...

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We do.

COLLINS: Please do tell.

HENRY: We have important new information, Heidi. We just out of a meeting with White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. He is telling reporters that in fact the certificates that Gerri is talking about will be honored, at least through this weekend. What he's saying is his initial reports late last night suggesting Cash for Clunkers has been suspended. It's not true. The program is up and running right now. And Robert Gibbs said if you have plans to go out this weekend to go trade in your clunker, if you will, get a more fuel efficient vehicle. Go ahead and do it.

And Robert Gibbs is saying that the White House is saying, on the record, they will honor the certificates that are processed through this weekend. He says right now to give you an idea of the popularity that Gerri is talking about, the government estimates there are about 20,000 certificates that are still waiting on a pile somewhere from the government to be processed. People who have traded in clunkers for more fuel efficient vehicles.

However, he is saying that they cannot guarantee that after this weekend, the program will be able to go on simply because of the popularity of it. It's running out of money already. The big news coming out of that then is that Robert Gibbs is saying the president wants this program not only to continue but basically to be expanded.

So right now, top administration officials are working furiously behind the scenes with congressional leaders to try and push something through quickly, to pump more money into this program before the House heads out of session for the August recess, which you know is about to happen. The Senate going out in a week. They are trying to get something done quickly here so this program can be extended and expanded, at least, through this weekend.

Robert Gibbs saying this has shown to be a real boost for not only car dealers and car companies, but when you look at the environmental impact that cars that are not very fuel efficient are being taken off the road in exchange for more fuel efficient vehicles, it sort of accomplishes two goals potentially. More, you know, in terms of energy reform but also in terms of boosting the economy. Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Any idea, Ed, when we will hear if they're, in fact, going to put more money in? It doesn't sound like anybody is denying that the money is kind of gone.

HENRY: Robert Gibbs is saying he hopes to have more news on this later this morning. So my expectation based on the way in his body language and what not, it seems like the White House was moving extremely quickly to get this done with Congress so that people can go into this weekend not only feeling confident that the certificates that they get this weekend are good but that expanding it through the rest of the summer at the least will be good, as well. So we may have more news. We'll get it to you as soon as we know more.

COLLINS: Great. And people are going to want to know where that money will come from, too, as I'm sure you will know. Ed Henry, sure do appreciate the update regarding the cash for clunkers program. Thanks so much. Live from the White House this morning.

Now I want to get you to Baghdad where at least 27 people are dead this morning. Victims of roadside bomb blasts near five Shiite mosques. CNN's Arwa Damon is live now for us this morning, from Baghdad. Arwa, can you update us with what's the latest here now? ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, the figures that you just mentioned. They are the latest that we have. These were six explosions that were targeting five mosques. They all went off near simultaneously just as worshippers were finishing leaving the mosque after Friday's prayer. What these attacks do, and they do bear the hallmarks of Al Qaeda, is served to re-ignite fear that the sectarian violence that ravaged throughout this entire country could be ignited once again.

It also begs the question of how can this happen in Baghdad where you literally have tens of thousands of Iraqi army soldiers and Iraqi policemen fanned out, checkpoints where you have bomb searching detection devices and numerous Iraqi security forces on foot patrol. How are the insurgents able to break through the security infrastructure, still continuing to exploit these weaknesses? And this is, of course, a growing concern as the U.S. takes more of a back seat in this war. Most certainly also for Iraqis raising the question of what is going to happen to them when the U.S. pulls out completely.

COLLINS: Arwa, I know that you are aware that we are doing a special show today. We're really focusing on our forces. And you were recently embedded with U.S. troops right there in Iraq. Obviously, roadside bombs, IEDs still a major concern for troops.

DAMON: They are. And a lot of the concerns right now that the U.S. troops have, of course, the concern for their own safety does remains at the forefront. But also a lot of the concerns that they have is with regard to the Iraqi security forces and how well are they going able - how well are they going to be able to maintain these current security gains because for the U.S. troops, they're so used to being on the offense. They are so used to being in control of this fight and now they have to take a back seat to the Iraqis.

But so much American blood has been shed here that there are serious concerns among these American soldiers that perhaps those losses will end up being in vain if the Iraqis are not able to maintain this security gains. They're worried about that. They're also still struggling with the difficulties of being on multiple deployments, being away from their families.

COLLINS: Right.

DAMON: And even though, you know, when they were out in the little microcosms that they patrol, although less so right now, they are able to see these small signs of improvement. There is perhaps a slightly stronger sense of optimism that the U.S. project here is going to succeed. But again, at the back of their minds, as we saw with the violence today, is the reality that nothing here is guaranteed, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. Arwa Damon for us right there in Baghdad. Arwa, thanks so much.

In fact, there are about 62,000 U.S. troops now on the ground in Afghanistan, as well. Our Ivan Watson was recently embedded with troops in one of the country's most dangerous areas. He is joining us now live with more on this. So Ivan, what were the soldiers you were with actually talking about, some of their greatest concerns?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, compared to last year, with the U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan, when a lot of the marines were complaining about being on a forgotten war, now it seemed like the marines were much more confident, that they have the backing of the U.S. government, the number of American troops on the ground have nearly doubled since last year.

And some of the interesting things that I heard over the last month, you had one of the largest American military operations in this eight-year war and some of the marine officers that I spoke with were concerned that the news coverage of that back in America had been overshadowed by the death of Michael Jackson and they clearly wanted more attention to what they felt was a history-making moment.

COLLINS: Wow.

WATSON: Now, Heidi, many of these soldiers and marines that I saw on the ground, some of them 20 years old, have already done previous tours in Iraq. They were very drawing comparisons to Afghanistan. It's not nearly as developed here, very concerned about roadside bombs. Some of these young men were in junior high school when the September 11th attacks took place. They seemed very gung ho on the front line units. Some of them had re-enlisted, in fact. Junior officers going back in the service, signing contracts again to serve for several more years.

In fact, at some of the larger bases, away from the front line, we did hear much more complaints, grumbling, I can't wait to get out of here. So you tended to have different opinions there. I have to point out this had been the bloodiest month of this eight-month war for U.S. forces on the ground. At least 44 Americans service men and women killed this month in Afghanistan. Four people died, three due to combat-related incidents over the past 48 hours. Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, we are hoping to hear more next week from the top commander, Stanley McChrystal, about formally asking for more troops to be put into Afghanistan. We, of course, will stay on top of that. Ivan Watson, thanks so much. Coming to us live from Afghanistan today.

As part of our focus on troops today, we wanted to tell you about a major change that could affect their futures for generations to come. It's actually a new G.I. bill. It will go into effect this weekend and provides a tremendous jump in education benefits. Jumping from the current level of about $16,000 a year to an amount equal to the tuition at some of the top state schools in the country. And for the first time, those benefits can be passed on to family. Again, the G.I. bill goes into effect tomorrow.

Four men and some beer. A meeting of the minds -- the president, the vice president, a Harvard professor and a Cambridge police officer sit down at the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Chatting with the president and vice president over beer. Cambridge Massachusetts police Sgt. James Crowley and Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., were special guests at the White House yesterday. They came for a so-called teachable moment. After Crowley's July 16th arrest of Gates and their racially charged uproar that followed. The professor and the officer say, they'll talk again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. JAMES CROWLEY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. POLICE DEPT.: Professor Gates and I bring some perspectives to these issues and have agreed that both perspectives should be addressed in an effort to provide a constructive outcome to the events of the past month.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: No date for a future meeting has been announced.

A black Cambridge police officer was at the scene of Gates' arrest, as well. He defended Sgt. Crowley's actions. Sergeant Leon Lashley wrote a letter to Sgt. Crowley asking him to share some of his concerns during the White House get together. Our Don Lemon is here now with more details on this letter.

OK. So you've seen this letter. I've seen a little bit of it. What was it all about?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting that the different facets that this story has been taking. I got a letter yesterday, just in the lead up to that beer summit from Sergeant Lashley. He is a 26-year-old veteran of the police department. I'm going to share it with you and we're going to talk about it, Heidi.

In that letter, he says, Dear Jim, would you kindly share this with the president. He goes on to say, subsequently, I have also become known, at least to some as an Uncle Tom. I'm forced to ponder the notion that as a result of speaking the truth, Heidi, and coming to the defense of a friend and colleague, who just happens to be white, that I have somehow betrayed my heritage. And then he goes on to say -- in closing I would simply like to ask that Mr. Gates deeply reflect on the events that have unfolded since July 16th and ask himself the following questions, which I found interesting.

He says what can I do to help heal the rift caused by some of my actions. What responsibility do I bear for what occurred on July 16, 2009? Is there anything I can do to mitigate the damage done to the reputations of two respected police officers? And then he says, thank you in advance, your friend Leon K. Lashley.

COLLINS: He wants to be introspective.

LEMON: Yes, to be introspective to say that to the president but also some tough words to African-Americans who are some of them quite frankly are calling him an Uncle Tom. And after - and I can understand where he's coming from because after I read this letter on television yesterday, I got some of the same comments to me just from reading the letter and just from reporting it.

So yes, so it's very interesting. So that's what he's asking. You know, this story is very fascinating. It goes far beyond this but it's also something that should be considered because I think his concerns are valid.

COLLINS: All right. Well, I'm glad that you shared it. Absolutely. And hopefully some of those questions - Gates, he did not answer any questions on camera as the police sergeant did, right?

LEMON: He did. He gave an interview to the "New York Times" this morning, talking about what he hopes will come from this. But he did not go on camera as Sergeant Crowley did with the local station there.

COLLINS: OK. Understood. All right. Don Lemon, we sure do appreciate it. Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you, Heidi. Always good seeing you.

COLLINS: You too.

All right. Let's go head and head on over to the severe weather center now. Rob Marciano is standing by. Rob.

MARCIANO: Hello, Heidi. Thunderstorms developing especially on the eastern third of the country and the heat is beginning to break out west. That shuttle is trying to land in the next half hour. Weather's coming up. The CNN NEWSROOM is coming right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Lots of damage, but no reported serious injuries in the Memphis area. Severe storms, including one confirmed tornado slammed into Tennessee late yesterday. Today, homes and businesses are in shambles. Part of the traffic light system is out and some neighborhoods are now flooded.

In the Nashville area, also reported fallen trees and power outages. Boy, that video just looks really, really messy, obviously, to say the least. Now looking at that, no roof in place. Rob Marciano is standing by to talk a little bit more about this. Where are the bad parts today? Are they going to get hit again.

MARCIANO: No everything has moved a little bit farther to the east. By the way, the National Weather Service went out and checked it out. It was an F-1 tornado. So winds close to 100 miles per hour and a width of about 250 years. So, that was a doozy and it happened right up at rush hour. Here is what we're looking at today as far as where most of the action is going to be east of the Appalachians and then across the eastern seaboard is where this very, very slow moving front is going to persist.

And as it does that, because it's so slow moving and this is an area that's already seen a lot of rain, we've got flash flood watches that are posted for the Appalachians. And also across parts of the New York City area, they are going to get more rain in what is shaping up to be one of their coolest and wettest Julys on record.

If you are doing some travel today, La Guardia already has a ground stop until 11:00. Houston seeing an hour delay there and Newark seeing 1 hour, 45. So the rain is really just moving in now. Atlanta and Philly seeing lesser amounts of delays. Here is a live shot from New York. Central Park, not the best day to be jogging out there. A lot of haze and certainly some rain has been falling on and off and that's only going to get heavier as we go through time.

All right. As far as where the radar is right now, beginning to fill in western parts of P.A., upstate New York and that will be sliding down to the south in to New York, Philly and D.C.. A line of storms is moving across the southeast. We're watching that filling across parts of Georgia. Florida looking OK. They are making their way through the atmosphere and on their way to the Kennedy Space Center is the shuttle "Endeavour," in about - well, 30 minutes, 28 minutes or so.

COLLINS: Cool.

MARCIANO: We're looking at that landing. That should be fun. I hope we'll be able to show it live - no promises there, but we'll at the very least, show you the tape, what we hope to be a successful evening.

COLLINS: Yes. I love to show that. All right. We'll keep our eye on it. Thanks so much. Rob Marciano, we'll check back later in with you.

MARCIANO: Sounds good.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, we are keeping the focus on our forces today. Still ahead, living with the horrors of war. Some veterans find their most harrowing struggles far from the battlefield.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: All throughout the morning, we've turned the focus on our forces. Right now, we want to take a closer look at post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. And one soldier haunted by the horrors of war. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows you just how serious the problem is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Baghdad, Sadr City, 2005. Army Private Chris Goldsmith serving his first tour in Iraq.

PRIVATE CHRIST GOLDSMITH, U.S. ARMY, POSSIBLY SUFFERING FROM PTSD: My primary purpose was photo documentation of everything my platoon encountered. Eventually, I started having to document exhuming mass graves and that type of thing.

GUPTA: Body after body. His pictures intense. GOLDSMITH: I was a 19-year-old kid taking pictures of mutilated men, women and boys and little girls. And those are the type of images that never really go away.

GUPTA: Haunted by what he saw, Goldsmith left Iraq at the end of 2005. He knew something was terribly wrong.

GOLDSMITH: I get, like, flashes of rage, which goes hand in hand with alcoholism that I've been fighting since I got back from Iraq.

GUPTA: A volatile, sometimes violent temper, chest tightening anxiety attacks, trouble sleeping, suicidal thoughts.

GOLDSMITH: That's not who I was before I deployed.

GUPTA: Chris didn't know it at the time, but it's likely they were all warning signs of post dramatic stress disorder. According to a recent study done by the Pentagon in 2004, about one in six veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD, and more than 60 percent of those suffering will never seek help.

GOLDSMITH: I just wanted to get out of the Army. I figured all my problems would go away once I got out of the service.

GUPTA: But when he and his brigade were stop-lost in early 2007, it was a breaking point.

GOLDSMITH: I was going to deploy to Iraq the same week that I was supposed to get out of the Army.

GUPTA: It got to the point where you thought you would be better off dead than to continue on.

GOLDSMITH: I chose to try and take own my fate into my own hands, and I tried to commit suicide. I took enough Percocet to probably kill someone two or three times my size. And I drank my usual poison of a bottle of vodka. I didn't imagine it being possible for me to survive.

GUPTA: But Chris Goldsmith did survive. And his unit deployed to Iraq without him. His official diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder at a VA hospital came months after he was discharged.

GOLDSMITH: Right now, I'm doing a lot better. I've been through a lot of therapy. And I've been surrounding myself with other veterans who are going through the same thing.

GUPTA: Chris says the most important part of his therapy is speaking out against the war. His mission, now advocating for his fellow vets.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Wow. You just heard the heart-wrenching story of how one soldier was affected by post traumatic stress disorder. There are actually thousands of others. Now more is being done to help the troops and their families.

Joining me now, Brigadier General of the United States Marine Corps Loree Sutton. She is a neurosurgeon and the director of the newly established Defense Centers for Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. Hello to you, General. Also with us this morning, Bill White, the president of Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Bill, thanks for being with us, as well.

General Sutton, I want to start with you first. In that piece, we heard the numbers. We heard a little bit about the culture. But I really would love it if you would frame this for us and tell us more about how important PTSB and TBI, as we call it, or traumatic brain injury, is not only to the soldiers who are going through it, but also their families.

BRIG. GENERAL LOREE SUTTON, DIRECTOR, DEFENCE CENTERS FOR EXCELLENCE: Heidi, thanks so much. It's really good to be with you this morning. Let me start out by saying as much as I admire the Marine Corps, I'm actually in the Army.

COLLINS: Oh, forgive me!

SUTTON: As much as I might have, at one point, thought about neurosurgery, I'm a psychiatrist. But we're all in this together. So, with that as an opening point, let me answer your question. First of all, when we think about post traumatic stress disorder, it's important to recognize that, yes, at the far end of illness, roughly 50,000 of our troops have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder since the beginning of this war.

What's very important to recognize is that the vast majority of individuals experience actually post traumatic stress. Here is our challenge, just as we saw with the story illustrating Chris Goldsmith's situation. The earlier we can intervene, the better. What we want to do is we want to prevent those individuals who are experiencing post traumatic stress from progressing to a disorder.

COLLINS: Mm-hmm.

SUTTON: And so part of that is making sure that we support our leaders in transforming the culture, that we get the message out. You're not alone, and we help our troops understand that you cannot drink your way out of this problem, you can't drive, sex, drugs, all of those high-risk behaviors. That's the challenge.

COLLINS: How are the services doing that?

SUTTON: We are working in a variety of ways with each of the services as well as with communities all around the country. For example, the resilience building programs that the services are launching forward. In fact, the Army has just announced its comprehensive soldier fitness program. This is a program that is designed from the very first day of basic training to start teaching troops and their family members what the role of resilience is and how tough, operational, realistic training will help foster that. The other services, as well - we're working very closely in a variety of ways with partnerships around the country.

COLLINS: Yes. And one of those partnerships is a very important one. In fact, I want to bring in Bill White. Bill, I know you've been instrumental in providing support, fundraising, of course, for the National Intrepid Center for Excellence, which is going to deal specifically with PTSD and TBI. Very similar to the Center for the Intrepid that dealt with the other wound, which would be amputation. How is this going? What is the progress? Why is it going to be so different than any other facility?

BILL WHITE, PRESIDENT, INTREPID SEA, AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM: First, I want to thank you, Heidi, and thank General Sutton and all of the great doctors and nurses and folks taking care of our brave American heroes returning from Iraq and Afghanistan that are suffering, suffering seriously as you saw from that piece from TBS and PTS.

One of the things we want to make sure that everyone knows is this center is on the way to being built. We just finished the concrete on the second floor coming up next week. It's a $60 million state-of-the-world facility. It's going to be the best place on the planet for these troops that are, you know, really suffering and their families are suffering, too. So, we want to be able to provide them the best possible care on the planet. They're going to get that.

It's going to be open in June of 2010, so less than a year from now, and it is just going to be spectacular. And we're working hand and glove with General Sutton and the military, so it's a public/private partnership, one that really all of America can be proud of.

COLLINS: Well, I think it's set to be opening in the fall, as you said, and I'm not sure how many people are going to be able to be treated. Obviously, from what the general is telling us and from the piece that we saw, there are an awful lot of soldiers who are going to be requiring care.

WHITE: Yes, that's true. One of the things that's important is diagnosing these people from the start, and that's what the military is doing such a great job at now is learning how to get these soldiers, sailors, airmen, marine and coast guardsmen into this facility that will be built in the future. This is just the first step. And General Sutton and her team are such a great job. We raised $57 million in the last 12 months from over 300,000 Americans. A hundred percent of every penny that we raise is going to this effort.

And I have to tell you, Heidi, the best MRI machines, the best scanning machines -- there's a place called Central Park, which is right out the back window from where I'm sitting. You know, where you go to Central Park to sit and relax and get away from the things that stress you out in this world. That will be a place where the soldier and the family member can go and be one with each other and learn how to cope with this, and so that Chris and others don't have to take this into their own hands ever again.

COLLINS: Yes. Well, that's terrific. General Sutton, one more for you here. When we hear about all of this very special equipment that will be used there at the state-of-the-art facility, what are you hoping to accomplish? I know that you're going to have a great deal to do with the National Intrepid Center of Excellence. Tell us more about what people will receive and how they will come out of that care.

SUTTON: Heidi, think of this as a network of networks. We are joined with the Intrepid Center as the hub of our national or global network. Together we are committed to not only building resilience, but maximizing recovery and promoting reintegration to our troops and their families, communities of choice around the country.

So, the National Intrepid Center will be the place where when individuals in our surrounding network of treatment facilities, both military and, of course, the VA, we are absolutely linked with the VA, we reach out to be able to serve those who are still in uniform as well as our national guardsmen and reservists who are all around this country and have particular risks, given their remoteness geographically.

But to be able to bring in the best of what technology can offer, the best of what research is bringing forward as well as our integrated treatment programs to be able to make sure that we are absolutely using a team health approach that brings in the best of Western medicine, the best of Western medicine and really maximize those opportunities for recovery. And then we follow up with them so that we close the cracks.

COLLINS: Obviously, this is a very, very big part of all of this. Well, to the both of you, sure do appreciate this. I really want to stay on top of this and watch for this opening and watch for the soldiers who will be getting the care from the National Intrepid Center of Excellence.

All right. Let's see if I can get this right. Brigadier General from the United States Army and Psychiatrist General Lore Sutton and Bill White of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and, of course, the Intrepid, Sea, Air, Space Museum...

WHITE: And, Heidi, one quick thing...

COLLINS: Thank you so very much.

WHITE: If people want to go to our Web site at Fallenheroesfund.org, they can get involved today because I know people want to get involved and want to help, and this is a great way they can do it by donating and volunteering.

COLLINS: Looking at a live picture of the ship right there. Impact your world, go ahead and check out the Web site. Once again, everybody, sure do appreciate your time...

SUTTON: Heidi, if I could just thank you so much again for your interest. It really is a tribute to the indomitable will and spirit of our American GIs and their families. Thank you.

COLLINS: Absolutely. Thank you for your service, as well.

The focus on our forces continues. Still ahead today, he was on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan, served several tours and survived repeated bomb attacks. But for Lieutenant Colonel Reavis (ph) though, his biggest struggle came after he was sent home.

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COLLINS: OK. We didn't want to promise, but now we're promising. Because look, we have it. There's the space shuttle. Rob Marciano with me now, talking to us live about this. Live pictures, in fact. Uh-oh, in and out a little bit, but you see the shuttle Endeavour coming down.

Rob, what do we have? I guess it is about 13 -- or seven astronauts that are on board, right? There were 13 on the space station.

MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Thirteen on the space station and they began their burn just over a half hour ago. There they are. Zoom in pretty close. Makes a pretty good angle of attack or angle of decent, more so than your typical airliner would. And you get a good glance of that with that last shot.

Let's breathe here a little bit and you can listen to the play by play as mission control chats with the pilot up there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're flying at 400 miles per hour. Can see Endeavour interacting with stations on the ground to provide the best available range, elevation and asmos (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Houston copy, field in sight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One and a half minutes to touchdown. Less than 10,000 feet in altitude remaining. Endeavour's descent rate is twenty times higher and seven times steeper than a commercial airliner on the final approach.

One minute to touchdown. Endeavour's landing gear will be locked down in place at 300 feet in altitude.

COLLINS: OK, so, pretty cool here as we listen in to mission control guiding in space shuttle Endeavour. It's supposed to touch down at 10:48. We have by my clock 40 more seconds. They are definitely trying to do this on time, even though they had to wait until just about the last minute because of the range hours. Weather is always an issue, but we see the Endeavour here trying to level out a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty seconds to touchdown.

COLLINS: Thirty more seconds. Let's see. Coming down, obviously, to Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Landing gear is down and locked. Touchdown. Doug Hurley now deploying the (AUDIO GAP) chute. And commander Mark Polansky rotating the nose gear down to the deck. Nose gear touchdown. Endeavour rolling out on runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center, wrapping up a 6.5 million-mile mission.

COLLINS: Wow.

MARCIANO: How gorgeous is that?

COLLINS: It was perfect, right?

MARCIANO: I never get tired of that or the launch -- the launch is a little more dramatic, but that certainly takes your breath away, as well. You remember the last liner we had, we had weather problems, and they tried several times and delayed it a couple of days, as a matter of fact, and then they finally had to touch it down, I think, over there in California.

So -- and then it's a multimillion dollar jockey ride to get it back to the space center. So, they saved themselves quite a bundle by landing it at the Kennedy Space Center. As you mentioned, there were some worries. This is the time of year where thunderstorms can pop up in Florida, usually in the afternoon, but pretty strict criteria. The clouds have to be at least 8,000 feet. You can see the sun shining there and the rainfall, if any.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...Endeavor. Welcome home. It was a superb mission from beginning to end.

COLLINS: "A superb mission from beginning to end." We're still hearing from NASA there and mission control. Very good. They're at the Kennedy Space Center there instead of Edwards, which Rob was talking about, where they oftentimes they have to divert, if you will. So, the mission lasting 16 days, spanning 6.5 million miles. Congratulations, NASA.

Meanwhile, we continue to focus on our forces. Still ahead this morning, he was on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. He served several tours and survived repeated bomb attacks. For lieutenant colonel Raymond Rivas, though, the biggest struggle came after he got home.

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COLLINS: For some troops, being wounded in combat is only the beginning of what can be another frustrating fight. In some cases, that means getting the proper medical treatment. Our CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr brings us one veteran's painful struggle.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Heartbroken family and friends gather for the funeral of Lieutenant Colonel Ray Rivas, a soldier whose invisible wounds finally became too much for him to bear. The 53-year-old soldier had dedicated his career to rebuilding war-torn countries, but war tore his own life apart. Earlier this year, Ray made a difficult journey to Capitol Hill.

LT. COL. RAY RIVAS, DIAGNOSED WITH BRAIN INJURY: I didn't choose to get blown up.

STARR: Remember those words. Ray had served several tours of duty, mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan and had been in repeated bomb attacks. The blast waves of each incident causing injury to his brain. Yet he kept getting sent back to war over and over. Doctors finally realized his brain was being slowly destroyed.

The final blast? Iraq, October 2006. Ray was medevaced to Germany, but then convinced doctors he was OK. Once again, he was sent back to the combat zone. A week later, ill and confused, he was finally diagnosed with an initial traumatic brain injury and shipped home for good.

He was sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center where the full extent of his injuries still seemed to allude doctors. Some thought he was just experiencing combat stress, one of his colleagues tells CNN. But it finally became clear, Ray was a soldier with a serious traumatic brain injury.

ADRIAN ATIZABO, DIABALED VETERANS OF AMERICA: This happens when a soldier is exposed to multiple blasts and their brain physically changes.

STARR: At that Senate hearing, his wife, Colleen, did most of the talking, explaining the devastation of Ray's brain injury.

COLLEEN RIVAS, RAY RIVAS' WIFE: He couldn't do simple things. And just getting dressed, just feeding himself, and he stuttered terribly.

STARR: In his written testimony to Congress, Ray said even when he was finally sent to Brook Army Medical Center in Texas, quote, "I was pretty much on my own for two, three months." Ray said the only help he got with his personal needs was from other soldiers.

C. RIVAS: When he first arrived at BMC, he just sat there in a room.

STARR: Finally, the military assigned a caseworker and Ray got the massive amounts of therapy. He seemed to improve.

But on July 15, he lost his battle. He died alone in his car here at Brook, an apparent suicide. There were prescription pills and notes he wrote to his family, according to colleagues.

(on camera): Ray's family declined an interview request. The military would not discuss Rivas' medical condition due to privacy issues. But CNN was given an internal military message written by those directly familiar with his case. It says at the time of his death, quote, "Ray was severely debilitated from his repetitive brain injuries. He showed signs of a patient with rapidly progressing Alzheimer's." (voice-over): According to the Army, perhaps as many as a third of wounded troops experience some level of traumatic brain injury from being in bomb attacks.

ATIZABO: If a soldier falls through the cracks and is doesn't get the care they need, they're not diagnosed, they're not treated for traumatic brain injury, their outlook on life is going to be -- it's going to be terrible.

STARR: Ray was also upset that after everything he had been through, three decades of military service in both the active duty and reserve, he still didn't qualify for a full military and VA pension.

R. RIVAS: I didn't choose to get -- to get blown up before I made sure and had 20 years of active duty.

STARR: Friends say Ray knew his condition would only worsen over time.

(on camera): It's not certain what happened in his final hours or how Ray Rivas got so many prescription pills. But Rivas's war ended here, steps from the front door of the hospital where he had been treated. A colleague says his friends believe Ray simply was in pain and tired of fighting those wounds that so many thought were invisible.

Barbara Starr, CNN, Washington.

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COLLINS: And we thank all the troops for their sacrifices and their service. I'm Heidi Collins. CNN NEWSROOM continues with now with Tony Harris after a quick break.

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