>> i like the last guy. just like, whatever, it's new york. >> from the devil baby to the drink baby, the fake baby game has come a long way on the ridiculist. thanks for watching. blockbuster of the story of "american sniper" starts now. biggest weekend ever for a film in january. >> "american sniper." >> the greatest war movie of our time. >> $300 million. >> hopefully we can educate those of us who aren't really familiar with the plight of the soldier and the soldier's family. my only regret is i couldn't save more. that's what keeps me up at night. >> he knew he was serving a purpose, saving lives. >> did he tell the troops. >> a propaganda film that is authentic as any aired. >> he was a protector. always has been, from the time

we were little. >> the trial of the man accused of killing kyle, "american sniper's" success will impact jurors. good evening, everyone. i'm alli ssyn. despite not winning the best picture award, it is considered the most popular war movie in u.s. history. >> the main reason is probably the man at the center, former navy s.e.a.l. sniper chris kyle. his war experience and perceived here roism in iraq clearly resonates with millions, and not just americans. then you have his murder at the hands of another veteran suffering from mental illness, a man chris kyle was trying to help. all of this taken together has the markings of a phenomenon. and that is exactly what "american sniper" has become. >> i just want to get -- >> the american movie that has

become a national moment. >> i'm ready. >> clint eastwood's "american sniper" earned just one of the awards it was nominated for, but it is the unquestioned champ at the box office. $400 million. the highest grossing war film ever. it's chris kyle's story. the navy s.e.a.l. known as the deadliest sniper in u.s. history, at least 160 confirmed kills in over four tours in iraq. >> do you ever think you might have seen things, or done some things over there that you wish you hadn'ted? >> oh, that's not me, no. >> what's not you? >> i was just protecting my guys. the thing that haunts me are all the guys i couldn't save. >> and it is the story of what battles were fought by kyle and others after the war that may be deepening the film's impact. >> called snipers cowards. questions about the real-life sniper.

>> hits the box office bull's-eye. >> controversy has followed the lionizing of kyle. critics questions a prodigious killer and say it paints a largely rosy picture of america's invasion of iraq. >> don't pick it up. >> fuel to the fire came in a familiar form of michael moore, who galvanized military supporters with this tweet. my uncle killed by a sniper in world war ii. we were taught snipers were cowards. will shoot you in the back. snipers aren't heroes, and invaders are worse. the criticism started a debate. was chris kyle a hero, or a coward? >> the very freedom that michael moore has is a gift, that's given to him by god and protected by a strong military. >> this one is just american hero. he's a psychopath patriot, and we love him. >> moore later clarified on facebook he hadn't been referring to the movie specifically in his tweets. >> you're home? what are you doing?

>> i guess i just needed a minute. >> but there is a larger dynamic at play. sniper explores post-traumatic stress disorder, ptsd, a largely underrepresented and underserved reality facing america's fighting men, women and their families. >> it's about the struggles that people go through being at war, being at home. more and more military vets are coming back than ever before because of medical advancements. we have to take care of them. >> kyle and his friend chad littlefield were killed by ed routh. the victims were trying to help routh, a u.s. veteran diagnosed with ptsd. a reminder of the human toll at the heart of this blockbuster. the loss of a hero and a painful demonstration of a mental health plague affecting too many of america's warriors. >> it's sort of a picture of

humanity, and we're affected by it and we have to fight to find our way back to each other. >> who was chris kyle? let's bring in jeff kyle, chris' brother and u.s. marine. scott mckuehne, co-author of american sniper, and james snider marks. he assigned kyle to his first mission in iraq. jeff, i want to start with you. i just saw the movie yesterday. it is so powerful. so affecting. and it's impossible not to think that your brother was such an appealing guy. what did you think about bradley cooper's depiction of your brother? was he just like that? >> cooper did a really good job. i think he captured most everything about chris and put it in the movie. >> your brother is better looking, though, let's be honest. >> oh, sure. >> there's a scene in the movie you also served. you are a veteran and thank you for your service. there is a scene in the movie,

not early on, but when you're supposedly in theater and you run across each other. did that ever really happen? >> no, sir. no. >> because it was supposed to be portraying, you're four years younger, you were having a hard time in the war, and then your brother comes. how was your relationship, if your brother knew you were having any kind of trouble there, what do you think he would have done? >> he would have dropped everything to do everything he could to come assist me. for sure. and vice versa. >> but did you two have philosophical discussions about the war's mission? >> we did. after every deployment, then we would get together and that was our decompression time. we used each other to decompress. and we talked about our missions. and talked about everything that was going on. and helped each other through everything. >> scott, i want to bring you in. this movie has broken all sorts of records. it is a bonanza. the most popular american war movie ever they call it.

why do you think it has struck such a chord with the american public? >> well, i want to say, first of all, jeff, it's good to see you. your brother really respected you. and loved you. and he made it very clear that you were very important part of his life as well. i haven't really had a chance to tell you that. but that scene in the movie was not from the book, as you know. but i'll have my discussions with jason about that later. yeah, i think it's broken all records because of the fact that it really breaks down the experience of hundreds of thousands of troops that have been in battle for this country for the last 13 years. a lot of people don't realize it, but we've had back-to-back deployments by people like chris and jeff and others from our military for almost 14 years now in afghanistan and iraq. and what we wanted to tell was not just the story of chris, but the story of all americans and their families that have gone to war, come home and had to deal with the deployments and the things that you have to deal

with with your family. so i think it struck a nerve with a lot of different people. not just because chris was such a patriot and amazing individual, but also because of the fact it's an experience that all of america's gone through and a lot of people know a lot of people that have been through similar things. >> it's a reality that you can't repeat enough. general, you know, the statement about you sending him off on his mission or not, what was the reputation of the man, and tell us why you do believe and echo what scott says that there are a lot of soldiers' stories that this molds? >> there really are an immense number of incredibly personal stories. look, i did not know chris kyle, but i knew thousands of chris kyles. the mission that he went on was really essentially started the war in iraq. it was the gas/oil platform on the northern gulf. and we had to secure that. our concern was certainly that saddam was going to set it afire. so the s.e.a.l.s had that mission. and chris was on that team.

so this is very special in a whole bunch of ways. it's quite an amazing story, because what i think it does is it grabs the viewer, and it puts him and her in this rather fullsome experience of combat, and the in and out of combat. you're in combat and then you're back home. how do you achieve some degree of normalcy. clearly chris struggled with it. i would argue that most veterans do when they come back from combat. because in combat, you're so narrow, and you're so deep in the complications of living, it's just been kind of pushed and washed aside. the real heroes are your brides that are left at home and your family members that have to deal with all of that while you fulfill your mission. >> jeff, you're nodding along as you listen to general marks talk. what emotional condition was chris in when he came back from these tours? >> you know, he was just like the rest of us that came back. it took a toll on him, you know.

to the outsider, you couldn't tell. but to the family, and, you know, to his close friends and his teammates, yeah, you know, because we all know, we've been there. we know what he's struggling with. and we could tell. >> did it help you with each other? you may not want to deal with what was inside you, but you saw it in him and vice versa, especially as brothers? >> right, right. like i said before, we would discuss everything after each deployment. and we would compare how, you know, each other's deployments were. and would decompress. i think that would help us get through our next deployments. >> there's this really affecting moment in this movie where another soldier tries to thank your brother for saving his life. let's just play a little clip of that. >> chief chris kyle? >> yes, sir. >> my name is matt. we met in fallujah. you saved my life. >> i did? >> yes, sir.

we were stuck in a house until you came in with the first marines. you were the one who carried me out. >> how are you? are you all right? you holding up? >> i'm just grateful to be alive. >> the movie makes it seem as though that's an uncomfortable moment for him. he doesn't really want to be thanked. >> he didn't. because he wasn't doing it for the thank yous. you know, he did it because he cared about each and every one of the americans over there. and about the citizens over there. you know, so he wasn't doing it for all the publicity. he wasn't doing it for the thank yous. he wasn't doing it to earn the name, the legend. he did it because he actually cared. and that's what his whole mission was. >> scott, one of the challenges for you is when you were writing the book, is nobody sees themselves the way others do. and what was it, do you think, that chris kyle had to accept in the process of doing his story with you about himself, that he

may not have wanted to ascribe to himself? what qualities of his did you have to convince him, yes, this is you? >> i think that chris was very unassuming. and really not even the type of guy that would want to tell his stories outside of the fact that his teammates and everyone else expressed to me that this guy really was an amazing story. and chris got into it, and started telling the different things that had taken place during his deployments. particularly in fallujah and ramadi where it was such a difficult time. not only for chris, but the s.e.a.l.s and the marines, such as jeff, because it was really a mess. and these guys were dropped into the middle of a fire fight every day. and they really were living every day almost like a norm andy or iwo jima or something of that nature, because it was fire fights that were constant day after day after day. and i was amazed when i heard it and said, chris, i think this is historical. beyond the fact that you have

the -- you know, the most confirmed killed in the united states history. what you guys went through, and what you lost with the loss of ryan jobe and mark lee should be told. and i think as far as history is concerned, this is our times, you know, battle of normandy beach or battle to take the mountain at sara batchy or wherever else. i thought it was that historical. i tried to get him to talk about it even more because of the fact that i felt it was something that really generations to come should know about this generation of war fighter that where patriots such as chris and the rest of those that fought for this country. i was really happy i was effective in finally getting him to do it and tell his story. because the whole part of the coming home and family thing kind of came later. it started out to be first a story about his experiences with the men on s.e.a.l. team 3 and charlie and the others he fought with with the marines.

i felt it was important that we got that down. >> scott, jeff, stick around if you would. general marks, thanks so much for being on and your expertise and service. thank you. >> thanks, guys. >> we're talking about chris kyle, who he was. you got a better handle of that now. but what mattered to him, especially when he came home. it's something that is also creating this movie's momentum. we're going to tell you what that was, and why he cared so much. with my android from tracfone, i can... order safety goggles. play music for seedlings. post science fair projects. schedule guinea pig feedings. video chemical reactions. take pics of mr. bones. time the next launch. calm down principal jones. i can do all that with my android from tracfone. 90-day plans start as low as $20. for a limited time get the samsung galaxy centura with the spongebob movie kid's watch and exclusive case cover. look for specially marked packages at walmart. tracfone. do everything for less.

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it was a little ambiguous and thoughtful. this one is just american hero, he's a psychopath patriot, and we love him. >> "american sniper," glorifies war, or simply shows one man's truth? you just heard bill maher slam the movie as propaganda.

but he's not alone. let's discuss the real deal here. >> we're joined by jeff kyle, chris kyle's brother, and scott mckuhn. and u.s. army ranger, and best selling author of outlaw platoon. jeff, are you surprised by some of the controversy and pushback that the movie's had? >> no, not at all. those people are always -- there's always going to be naysayers out there. it doesn't matter who it is, it doesn't matter if it's chris or somebody else. they are always going to say something derogatory about somebody else. so, you know, we did what we did for them to be able to talk their trash. so you're welcome. >> you go with the hate is going to hate and you give them that right by fighting for that freedom. you're there over doing the mission. this is what you are told to do. nobody asks you if you want to do the mission once you volunteer, nobody asks you to discuss the merits of the

mission. do you think that's lost a little bit in this when people criticize the war, why we got into it, how long we wind up putting the target on the fighting men and women for that criticism? >> i think that's absolutely the case. if you watched "american sniper" and you saw a political commentary on the iraq war, or saw a failed study on the intel surrounding the weapons of mass destruction that you were not seeing what most of america's warriors saw, and that was like a window into the heart of the american war fighter. it focuses on the struggle not just on the battlefield, but also at home. which is critically important for americans to understand for veterans like jeff and i and chris to come home. >> scott, do you think this is a pro-war movie, an anti-war movie? what is the message? >> what i like about it is the fact that you can't really tell. it's just reality. that's what clint and bradley and jason hall did such a good job of, is you leave it for what

it is. it tells the truth about the american experience. and the soldier's experience. i wouldn't categorize it as anything more than to say that if you're going to send our men and women into battle in foreign lands, then you better expect that there's going to be casualties taken, and you better give them the resources to fight and win the wars. and all i can say is that chris, and what clint did with his story is to tell you, this is what goes on. so america, we need to fight and defend this country, and if you're going to do it, then just be real about what happens when you do do it, and give our men and women the resources to win the battle. that's what this movie does a great job of doing of. >> maher is doing what he does, he's going for hyperbole there and make some outrage. psychopath is not just inaccurate, but it's certainly insensitive. so let's focus on chris' own words. put up the quote of what chris had said that got him blowback. i want context from it from those who knew him.

this is obviously about the number of kills. i only wish i had killed more, not for bragging rights, because i think the world is a better place without savages out there taking american lives. they can take that as, you think all iraqis are savages. you see, he's a bigot. do you think that's a fair reckoning of the statement? >> no. it doesn't matter what war you're in, yes, our era, they were iraqis, or afghanis. so yes, you have to have a certain hate for those people. because they're trying to kill you. if you don't have that certain hatred for them, you're not going to come home. any other war, the vietnam war, those men over there, they had a hatred for the vietnamese. they had to. that's just what we do. >> exactly. i don't think chris was referring to the iraqi people, i think he was referring to the enemy we faced. when i was in afghanistan, jeff was deployed to iraq, we fought

against an enemy that threw grenades in the cradle of newborn babies. we fought against an enmy that beheaded children, that stoned women to death. we fought against an enemy that didn't want women going to school, or they didn't want women to be educated. we fought an enemy that gouged out the eyes of children and knocked their teeth out so they would be more pleasurable in death. the world is a better place without them. chris knew and understood that. the interesting thing about chris is he had the purest form of patriotism and love of country that i've ever seen in my entire life. and it was contagious. i think we need more people like that in this nation. >> jeff, what message do you think your brother would have wanted to come out of the film? >> i think the message everybody's received, it wasn't him in that movie. every parent, every brother, every sister can put their sibling or their child in that position, and see what they went through while they were in country, and while they were who they were when they came home.

they weren't their little child anymore when they came home. war changes people. so i think this movie actually, it shows that. it's not just chris' story, it's every warrior out there that's ever been in combat that's been in country and then come home, it's all of us. >> shawn and scott and jeff, just great to meet you. thank you so much for sharing your story of your brother with us. we really appreciate that. >> thank you all. the hollywood drama playing out in a real-life texas courtroom in the trial of eddie ray routh, and how might this "seinfeld" clip prove that routh was sane enough to try to act insane. >> i'm talking about a pig man. i walked into the wrong room and there he was, a pig man. half pig, half man. >> we'll discuss that, next. it's more than a network.

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the "american sniper" murder trial is extraordinary on many levels. for example, its speed, both the prosecution and defense wrapping up their main cases in just over a week. >> at the heart of the case is eddie ray routh's mental health. ed lavendera tells us the conflicting factors the jurors must consider. >> reporter: far from the red karnts from hollywood, a texas jury will decide how to punish the killer of the navy s.e.a.l.

chris kyle. but here eddie ray routh is the lead character in the leel-life drama of the "american sniper" trial. defense lawyers painted the picture of routh as psychotic since opening statements. >> eddie routh. >> reporter: psychiatrist mitchell dunn, july 2011 he's diagnosed with ptsd. the next month, another hospital say, once again doctors say he shows signs of psychosis. in december 2012, routh is diagnosed as having major depressive disorder with psychotic features. and january 2013, just a week before the murders, doctors say he's paranoid and psychotic. the psychiatrist says routh believed some of his co-workers at a cabinet shop were cannibals, and feared pigs were taking over the world. they brought two psychiatric experts to paint a picture of routh as a drug addict desperate

for attention, not someone who is insane or someone who suffers from a personality disorder. routh often described kyle and littlefield as half pig/half man hybrids. a prosecution psychiatrist said the tv show "seinfeld" inspired that talk. >> i saw a pig man. he was sleemg. then he woke up and slookd at me and made this horrible sound. >> reporter: the psychiatrist said routh while held in jail likely saw this seinfeld episode where the character cramer becomes obsessed with seeing a half man, half pig patient running around a hospital. prosecutors argue he was in a state fueled by marijuana use. they say the video of him confessing on the day of the murders knew what he was doing was wrong but did it anyway. his family have detailed what they believe was the former marine's downward spiral into insanity. >> they went out to a shooting range.

>> reporter: routh's sister told jurors the person who came to my house is not the man who i knew as my brother. then she recalled telling him, i love you, but i hate your demons. >> they were watching it decline, but they could not stop. despite everything that they were trying to do. they couldn't stop. >> reporter: the question now is, which experts will the "american sniper" trial jury believe. ed lavendera, cnn, stevenville, texas. >> so you have what's going to matter and why, and how will it all be brought together in closing argument. let's bring in paul and joey jackson. we just heard about the experts. fundamentally, it's going to be which rationale makes the most sense under these facts. paul, the idea of "seinfeld." was that a parlor trick or do you think there's something there for prosecutors? >> no, there is something instructive there. they said they had evidence that the "seinfeld" episode involving the pig man and another reality show provided sort of a map for him. and he makes a lot of pig

references. so i think prosecutors were trying to show, this is a guy who can plan, he learns things from television, and that's why later on he would say, i'm a schizophrenic, and he was trying to prepare his insanity defense, in other words, in advance. >> joey, this is a case of conflicting experts. both sides have had medical experts, one who says eddie ray routh was in a psychotic episode and one who said he was faking it. >> very interesting, but not surprising. because generally speaking, you have the prosecution experts who are saying he knew right from wrong. of course, you have the defense who said he has no idea. that's not uncommon in a case. so they may indeed cancel each other out. what are they then left with, that is the jury, they're left with determining the other issues in this case. that they have to evaluate. the behavior of routh, right? before hand. and his mental health history. and they're going to have to, that is the jury, piece together if there was a mental health history here, which there was,

we know that routh was in and out of psychiatric hospitals. how did that affect him. we know that his mother pleaded with the va eight days before, don't let him out, he's not ready. yet she did. we know routh held his girlfriend captive. >> that's the case that they're going to make. let's just deal with the elements of it here. it seems a gamble here, paul, for the prosecution, is that you're saying he was faking it. >> yes. >> but there's so much evidence that he's not faking it. >> there's one important concept here. and that's, there's a major difference between severe mental illness and legal insanity. legal insanity is such a rare thing. it doesn't matter how insane you are medically, you have to be able to prove you didn't understand the wrongness of your act when you did something wrong. now, a lot of people with severe mental illness have all of the symptoms of schizophrenia, or psychosis, but they know when they're doing something wrong. here that's what prosecutors going to say.

i think that when jurors hear this stuff, the judge's charge, it's so complicated. you've got one said of psychs saying he's crazy, the other said saying he's not. jurors look at the case and say, you know something, is he a threat to me or my family if i find him not guilty by reason of insanity. when they look at eddie ray routh, is he a general threat to the public, i would have to say, yes, he is. although he shot kyle and littlefield, it's sort of not because they were celebrities, but for a lot of other reasons. >> joey, do you agree with that? >> the reality is, the jury has a job to do. that is, is it more likely than not. this is not a whodunit case. we know whodunit. what motivated it is the issue. all the defense needs to show is it more likely or less likely he was insane. i think based on the mental health history, based upon routh and his conduct and his actions

and cannibals and pigs and hybrids and all of his actions, who goes to taco bell to eat after you kill someone. things don't make sense. so the jury's going to evaluate this and say, you know what, did he know right, did he know wrong? tough question, but i think it's a close call in this case. >> coming up, closing arguments could come at any time. so what do the lawyers need to say to make their case. what do jurors need to hear. we'll discuss who has the upper hand in the closing, next. the real question that needs to be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?" what the cloud enables is computing to empower cancer researchers. it used to take two weeks to sequence and analyze a genome; with the microsoft cloud we can analyze 100 per day. whatever i can do to help compute a cure for cancer, that's what i'd like to do.

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closing arguments could be key to a texas jury deciding whether eddie ray routh was legally insane or aware of wrongdoing when he shot chris kyle and chad littlefield. what do both sides need to do to make their case. >> all right, joey, the defense goes first. here are the two big points. one, the first big point is for the defense. that eddie ray routh was consistently deluded, right? indicating insanity. all the different crazy things that you're going to tell me about in a second. the second point is, remember who he is and what he did. he was a veteran, in iraq and haiti, and that changed him and caused mental illness.

>> for us to understand what he did that day, and taking two lives, we have to understand who he is as a person and what he went through. let's begin with the fact that he served his country in iraq. the reality is, his mom described him, his family described him as a happy go lucky person. he now then goes and serves his country. and he may not have been in combat in iraq, but certainly you see things there that are not normal. as he did here. he then goes and he serves in a humanitarian mission in haiti where he's moving bodies. that changed him. why? because we know that when he came back he was then described as very suicidal. and it's not only relying on family and those who knew him, we can rely upon the actual facts. what are those? he was in and out getting psychiatric treatment. we know that he was in a mental institution. we know he went voluntarily. we also know that he was civilly committed against his will. at that time, there was a psychosis. the grip of psychosis.

we're talking about hallucinating, we're talking about schizophrenia, a person on medication. then you move to the facts of the case. and you look at the statements he's making about cannibals, about eating flesh, about how his neighbors in the mexican cartel, everyone's out to get him. he's seeing flying pigs, they're half human, they're half people. you know what? the reality is, this is a person who clearly cannot distinguish right from wrong, as a result of that, he is legally insane. >> paul, here are the points that the prosecution is going to make. first, eddie ray routh's confession, he admitted what was wrong, he expressed remorse. texas is very unusual. their standard, the legal definition of insanity is easy to satisfy. >> eddie ray roth knew what he did was wrong for a simple reason. he killed two american heroes. you know, chad littlefield and kyle were -- they were people who had their lives taken away by a man who actually had thought about planned and

plotted this. remember, the psychiatrists who testified in the case indicated that he had picked up some ideas from television programming about how to do the homicide. and we also know that when he actually committed the act and talked to the police, he constantly expressed remorse, constantly saying that he was wrong in doing what he did. and one very important thing to remember. the law says that if you become voluntarily intoxicated with drugs or alcohol, and it makes your mental illness more severe, that's not legal insanity. there's a book, by the way, that outlines insane conditions. it's the psychiatrist's dsmv, almost 1,000 pages long. the law has one provision, if you understand the wrongfulness or rightfulness of your act, you're not legally insane. i submit that on this fact pattern he knew what he was doing was wrong and he took two human lives, and it's time for the jury to check off the right box on the jury verdict form.

>> gentlemen, excellent closing arguments. >> they're skilled attorneys. this is a tough one for the jury. no question that aside from the law, "american sniper" highlights a major battle our troops and their families continue to fight when they come home. and that is the battle against post-traumatic stress disorder. we have veteran war skoernt b correspondent bob woodruff talking about cha challenge. [ ] with life insurance, we're not just insuring our lives... we're helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow. transamerica. you can call mbut,allow... i have a wandering eye. i mean, come on. national gives me the control to choose any car in the aisle i want. i could choose you... or i could choose her if i like her more. and i do. oh, the silent treatment. real mature.

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the thing that haunts me are

all the guys that i couldn't save. and i'm willing and able to be there, but i'm not. i'm here, i quit. >> you can walk down any hall in this hospital, we've got plenty of soldiers need saving. >> mm-hmm. >> want to take a walk? >> sure. >> that's the moment in "american sniper" when chris kyle decides to dedicate his life to mentor veterans, especially those suffering from post-traumatic stress. the film's popularity and the vet accused of killing kyle and his friend have put pts back in the spotlight. >> let's talk about it and bring in the experts. heidi craft, a former navy clinical psychologist, and author of "rule number two: lessons i learned in a combat hospital." brandon webb is a former navy s.e.a.l. who helped train chris kyle, author of "among heroes."

and bob woodruff was hit by a roadside bomb in 2006, while reporting on the iraq war. it's great to have all of you here for this discussion. i want to start with you, brendon, because you have a fascinating job. you were the head instructor in the navy s.e.a.l. sniper program that trained chris kyle. i'm wondering, is there a particular personality type that lends itself to becoming a sniper? >> i think the guys that really excel as a sniper have a -- an ability to really manage stress and make complex decisions under pressure. and we look for those candidates. like you and i were talking earlier before the segment, we put them in situations artificially induced high levels of stress who see who has it and who doesn't. >> do you think that somehow is a buffer against pts, when they come home? >> i think the special operations community as a whole has a much lower rate, or frequency of guys that don't

deal with ptsd effectively. they show up to training and make it through because they have an ability to deal with adverse situations. and especially as a sniper, we look for those individuals, that have those characteristics that can really deal with some terrible situations and be able to make these decisions very quickly and make complex calculations for wind, and even sometimes the spin of the earth will factor into the shots at a longer distance. >> oh, my gosh. >> the functioning, dealing, those two things, while very useful, are not coping. and bob, you and i have known each other a long time. you've taken this very seriously for a long time. what have you seen in terms of whether you're a sniper or whether you're a cook, what happens for fighting men and women when they come back home, and how it affects their family? what have you seen? >> a lot of it is >> a lot of it is what they saw, what they lived through, absolutely. what kind of trauma that triggered it off. and this transition when you go from this very different world

of fighting in the war where you don't really know where the so-called enemies are or where the weapons are, it creates a stress, especially from these multiple deployments that all of ours that have served have gone through. but they're going through that -- but a lot of it depends on that transition, they're very close with their unit. every day they know pretty much what they're going to do. then you come back to this gigantic world that's spread out, and a lot of times you don't know what to do. but a lot of it's linked to the trauma you've lived through in a -- and then suddenly in a brand new world, and it's difficult to deal with. >> in the movie, it makes it seem as though chris kyle did come back with pts and that he was depressed and then that he found his calling by helping other soldiers who were suffering with pts, and is that realistic? can you come home and recover from pts and sort of put it behind you? >> absolutely. there's no doubt about that. we have treatment for all kinds

of trauma, both ptsd and everything on that continuum of symptoms. that we know are very effective to help people. for many of my patients and others who have gone through these kinds of situations, helping others and feeling like they are able to give back to their community and other people who might be in similar situations, it's really helpful, and it gives a great feeling of hope and looking forward and feeling like there's a greater sense of their being and what they're all about. >> you have can versus do, right? and do has two different layers. the first is are you ready? can you handle it? do you want to admit it, especially these types of men and women. who already feel like they put too much on their families, let alone add another layer of things i still have it burden you with back home. and then whether the system takes care of them. let's unpack that. how hard is it for someone to say "i can't handle this". there's something i can't handle.

>> i don't think that's a problem. but to heidi's point, and to your point, i think that the national conversation around pts needs to change to one of a more positive, solution-based approach. i hear a lot of complaining about the veterans affairs, and that's why myself and other veterans take matters into their own hands. we start a foundation like bob's foundation to change the way we set a positive example for transitioning veterans. we had a thing in the sniper program, we took our -- the way that we used to coach and teach from a very negative approach to a positive approach. and once we started changing the philosophy of the program, we saw a 3% failure rate go down to less than 3%. >> you've seen that with the foundation. when you give the resources and you make sure people know that there are people for them, that they have a network, what kind of changes do you see? >> i think heidi mentioned, sometimes it's difficult for people to talk about it in the beginning. that has completely changed over time.

getting over the stigma. it was considered to be unmanly to come back and say you've got ptsd. i think over time we look at it differently. a lot of us don't call it ptsd anymore. we take off the d, get rid of the disorder. >> we don't want it to be a disorder. >> it doesn't matter the kind of pts you have. and it doesn't matter what kind of pts you have, whether it's fighting in another country or you witnessed one of your friend's child die here in new york, it's the same kind of pts. and that's one of the things that's changed over time. and different ways. i think we've seen in the beginning we were really caring about those in icu, those that were just injured and then we help them when they go back to their communities, because nobody really knows many veterans in their neighborhood. about 1% of americans are serving in this war compared to previous wars that we've had. and now you're looking at veterans helping veterans. which is exactly what you're doing. those have been incredibly efficient and effective.

service dogs, you get some of these guys that come back and train service dogs to help others. it's helping them too. a good friend of ours has done the same thing that we backed and he's not even taking the drugs he was taking before to deal with his pts because now he's training these dogs to help some of his friends, so it's working well now and getting better as time goes on. >> hady, the movie did a good job of also depicting the trauma that the family back at home goes through while they're worried about the soldier overseas. what help is there for them? >> there certainly are many programs that are trying to reach out to our families, but this is more difficult, of course, because it's harder to know where they are at any given time. i think there is a greater understanding now when we talk about pts or ptsd, how trauma can actually be spread across terrible and horrible things happening to someone you love as well and that can still lead to

those symptoms. so we are having a greater understanding about all the people who may be involved in that soldier, marine, airman's experience and make sure they're all included. when we talk about that picture. as a clinician, i certainly am always asking about the family. i want to know about everyone who might be affected by the experiences that my patient might have experienced. >> and people have to want to help, also. and that's why it's important to have people in clinic the way heidi is, and for you two gentlemen, the work that you do, with your organizations, and that makes a difference because you're helping the right people. thank you for helping us get the message out as well. >> it's great to hear about all the progress being made. we'll have closing thoughts on "american sniper" right after this break. . and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com.

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"american sniper" is the highest-grossing war movie in u.s. history. chris kyle's story has clearly struck a chord with millions of people. some call it war propaganda. others believe the film is patriotic, not political, and it serves to celebrate the bravery of our men and women in uniform. >> and yet the movie itself is probably not what matters most. it's what remains, the families, missing moms and dads, and what -- and the battles that continue when they come home, especially the plague of pts. if you want, forget the politics

of the film, but pleess do not forget what matters most, helping our troops. and thanks for watching. cnn tonight with don lemon begins right now. oscar turns his back on "american sniper." this is cnn tonight. i'm don lemon. bradley cooper's star power helps the movie earn worldwide, but what does the sniper snub mean for the real live seal? plus, here's what happens when celebrity and politics mix. >> it's our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the united states of america. [ applause ] >> welcome to the 87th oscars. tonight we honor hollywood's best and whitest -- sorry -- brightest. >> well, talk is cheap,