health director for psychotherapy and psychogeriatrics, office of mental health services, department of veterans affairs headquarters, washington, dc. kathryn, more than 2 million troops deployed to afghanistan and iraq. what are some of the behavioral health issues related to the returning vets that are there, the vets that are there, and the returning vets? i think all of us are paying great attention to the behavioral health issues of anyone who has been in combat. and, first of all, when we use the term "behavioral health," we generally are talking about a broad range of mental and emotional and substance abuse disorders and/or problems. we know that anyone who has been in combat will probably suffer from trauma and anyone who has been in a combat situation will have effects of that trauma. so, the first thing we really want to pay attention to is: how have the individuals who have served in combat absorbed that trauma and become resilient to that trauma? in addition, we are seeing a variety of behavioral adjustments having to do with post-traumatic stress, having to do with depression, having to do

taxpayer money to go into build the facility of that nature and have it said. >>> the department of veterans affairse best it can with what a it's got >>> the someone needs care now we will work with them to get them into one of the veterans' homes in california we have 600 homes they are operational >>> the only homes with in southern california >>> we have a home here are finished and complete with don't walk our families to travel to southern california to c.s. >>> it is totally unfair >>> to make matters worse once the fresno home opens the state says it will only accept aid veterans a month at that rate the holmes not beak full for three years >>> a bay area mother who left her 10 year-old daughter during a robbery attempt at a morgan hill grocery store has been arrested marcie kielan was taken into custody at a hotel east of reno she spent on the run for nine days after a 11 month old son was with their is in protective custody. he even left her daughter at safeway holding the bag after they tried to steal a car full of groceries the daughter is worth their grandmother and will not face charge

karlin, can the department of veterans affairs weigh in on these issues that have just been mentioned? well, we can and we can do it most effectively in partnership with samhsa, with the department of defense, with the community. and one key issue that we've been talking around but haven't really centered on yet, related to these discussions, is stigma. and we know that there is a significant barrier that gets in the way of individuals getting the help that they need. we now have treatments that work and work quite well, but individuals often don't get those treatments because of stigma. because of a psychological barrier that prevents individuals in many cases from getting the care that they need, due to fear of reprisal, due to fear of emotion or not being able to seek gainful employment. sometimes there's a perception, "if i go seek help, then i might not be able to get the job i need or i might not be able to advance in my military career the way i would like to." so it is so important that it is not just within va and not just within dod or samhsa, but is as a nation, that we're

then president obama asked me to help keep our sacred trust with veterans of all eras at the us department of veterans affairs worked to end the outrage of veterans having to sleep on the same streets they once defended. we improved services for female veterans and i reached out to young vets by creating the office of on-line communication. barak obama has also lived up to his responsibilities as commander in chief. ending the war in iraq, refocusing on afghanistan, and eradicating terrorist leaders, including bin laden. [ cheers and applause ] president obama pushed for fairness in the military, listening to commanders as we ended don't ask, don't tell. and on how to allow women to officially serve in more combat jobs. don't you think it's time that we stopped being surprised that america's daughters are just as capable of doing their jobs and defending liberty as her sons? [ cheers and applause ] when it comes to our men and women in harm's way, we have a clear choice on november 6. last week mitt romney had a chance to show his support for the brave men examine women he is seek to go command. but he chose

of other veterans, fighting a battle they never expected. one they frankly can't believe. they're fighting for benefits from the department of veterans affairs >> i thought they were there to help us. you know, i -- if it wasn't for my wife, i would be in the fetal position. i would be curled up in a ball. i couldn't do it. >> reporter: mike has been trying to get his disability claim processed for nearly two years. there has been lost paperwork, long wait times for appointments, and erroneous lab results. when mike was prescribed some medication, it was for a bladder infection he didn't have. mike first filed his claim in january 2011, right after he got back from afghanistan. in august, that same year, he learned his claim was finally in review. then in december 2011, he was told to expect a decision by the end of the year. that deadline came and went. keeping them honest, we asked veterans affairs assistant secretary tommy sours why veterans who risk their lives for this country are waiting months, even years, for disability. despite v.a. secretary eric shinseki's promises for a quick turnaround on claims. secretary shinseki said his goal

in july 2011, obama's department of veterans affairs banned any mention of jesus christ during the burials at houston national cemetery. hundreds of demonstrators turned on out independents day to a protest and support a lawsuitag against that ban.ban after that, the ban was lifted.e in september, 2011, the u.s. army issued guidelines fort walter reid hospital that read,s no religious items such as are bibles and reading terribles ard allowed to be given away or used during a visit. tha the hospital rescinded thatgrsm policy only after congressman steve king reported it to the house of representatives. steve king said, ead from and whu allsit your son and a veterans' hospital. it means a priest coming to allsit a veteran on his deathbd could not offer the last right. this is outrageous. well, the walter reed hoswill tl officials were embarrassed, and they did cancel their policy. in a ft complaints from atheist the -- the air force removed 11 were for gun from the l ameo of the rapid tempo of his office. also removed the mob wri toen in latin which means doing gthe w's work with other peop

a laptop stolen from the department of veteran affairs. the state of cybersecurity is very bad. you can't overstate we're very, very vulnerable. the question is whether regulations would change that. and that's open to debate. you can't really dictate something that technology can't work around. one of the same gonzalez the online piracy debate. i you implement certain technical safe guards there will be a way for criminals to work around them, and behavior is all you can dictate and that's what the legislation is trying to do. trying to get companies to take seriously the issue of the threat. i think that they do, depending on the bottom line, and so if it's not -- if the threat is small enough that it's catastrophic, the company would go out of business. there are companies that basically that's the bet they're making. if they get hit with the attack, they're going out of business anyway, and that's frightening, especially if you're talking about a company that consumers depend on, power, transportation. that's the situation. >> there are corporate interests that want some typ

the bill would authorize the department of veterans affairs to cover the cost of invitro fertilization for veterans and their spouses who need it. the bill will now move on to a vote by the full senate. >>> whooping cough appears to be making a comeback. >> as edward lawrence tells us, its resurgence has many in the medical field questioning the effectiveness of the vaccine. >> are you ready? >> reporter: 5-year-old twins are getting their fifth dose of the vaccine today. it protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pa -- pe tuesday sis also known as whooping cowfer. a new study is raising concerns about the final dose of whooping cough vaccine and how long it protects children. kaiser permanente researchers found the effectiveness of the shots saves about 40% in the five years after the vaccination. >> every year it gets a little less effective. >> reporter: this is a record year for the whooping cough. doctors are reporting at least 26,000 cases so far. infants under six months old are the most susceptible because they're not fully vaccinated yet. in the study 80% of the kids who hade

prevent suicide includes an executive order to hire 1600 mental-health workers for the department of veterans' affairs. medicare will now cover screening for depression and 55 million dollars in federal grants for states and local communities. in the workplace, help may come with the simple act of including a co-worker in an activity. "sometimes, it's easy to only invite 'fun' people, but if you invite the loner, too, you might be helping somebody who's alone and that's when people succeed at suicide." the goal of this renewed effort in suicide prevention - saving 20,000 lives within the next five years. in fact there is an epidemic of stress in the american workplace! a report in the journal neurlogy says on-the-job stress can increase heart disease by 25%. we already know it costs employers hundreds of millions of dollars a year in absenteeism and lower productivity. the report says the easiest thing to do to reverse this is to get smokers to quit. so you know, job stress is defined by high demands at work or when you don't have enough control over your hours or work conditions. a study shows many s

support for families not only through the department of defense but also as far as through, um, the communities as well. and now the department of veterans affairs is getting very involved in helping families through their vet centers. so, there are a lot of areas which families can go to. but sometimes, they don't know what they don't know. and there is so much out there that they just don't know, where, um, um to go. um, and that was the piece that was missing for me when i came home. and we have those pieces now, like, my brother, he's done phenomenally because of, we had the information, we had all the programs available to us that weren't available before. what programs did he access, for example? he accessed the yellow ribbon programs that was one i heard, also the, all the va programs. i didn't know about them when i came home, he does, so and he had all that information because he had an educated family who knew what was happening, knew what he was going through, knew what to look for, and where to send him. very good. mike. well, and i think one of the things was just brought up is, is the other side of a very positive coin, meaning tha

the bill creates a veterans job corps through the department of veterans' affairs in cooperation with other departments where thousands of veterans will be able to work on conservation and research -- i'm sorry, resource management in our nation's public lands. now, under this bill veterans will have the opportunity to restore and protect parks and forests and other public lands, whether they be national, state, or tribal. veterans will be hired to maintain the infrastructure and facilities on these public lands, the bill will also provide funding for veterans to become firefighters and law enforcement officers. it will also provide license -- licensing and certification for certain skills that veterans had when they were -- when they were deployed, emergency medical -- in emergency medical , nursing, nursing assistance, and also drivers. so many men and women drive in in -- in these theaters, and so just to ease their getting certification, this bill does that as well. but this part about working with in our nation's parks and these national lands that are so treasured, this is reall

of veterans' measures that run the gamut of issues, such as improving the policies of -- on notifications of data breaches of a veteran's personal information, the reform of the department of veterans affairs fiduciary program to ensure that veterans with no known next of kin receive the dignified burial they deserve. i thank all the members for their hard work on all these measures, particularly chairman miller and ranking member filner, chairman runyan of new jersey and mr. mcnerney of california, chair and ranking member of the disability assistance and memorial subcommittee, mr. johnson of ohio, mr. donnelly of indiana, chair and ranking member of the oversight and investigation subcommittee. their bipartisan work on the committee, along with the staff efforts, have helped ensure that the provisions of this bill are meaningful and sound for veterans on all fronts. h.r. 5948 contains language from a bill introduced by mr. donnelly which will significantly improve the v.a.'s notification requirement following a data breach involving a veteran's sensitive personal information. we must work harder to protect veterans' personal identityification -- identifiable information, including their

these are figures from surveys conducted by the va, the department of veterans affairs, and the militarytself, by the way, so -- but they are still fewer than the ones not raped. i give stats in the book, but the numbers are so horrific that i felt it was really important to focus on this because other books were not and hasn't. people were not aware of the degree to which we are hurting our own soldiers. >> host: is this a typical book for a journalism professor to write? >> guest: well, in our journalism school, we are working journalists, and a lot of us do in-depth invest good faithive reporting -- investigative reporting, but we have academics among us, but we are working journalists who teach. that's been the profile of the school since it was founded. >> host: have policies changed because of the experience of women in iraq and afghanistan? >> guest: yes, there have. there's been many congressional hearings about the issues of harassment, and i've testified twice to congress myself. they have changed some rules and policies and approaches and introduced more prevention training, s

the department of veterans affairs estimates that anywhere from 11% to 20% of our troops returning fromistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. they estimate about 10% of gulf war veterans are affected and 30% vietnam veterans. therapists aet the university of central florida think that they've hit on one that may, and it all centers on the sense of smell. it's called the trauma management therapy program and so far it has been a big success. here to tell us how it works, director of ucs anxiety disorder clinic deborah bidele along with sergeant army first class kevin todd, a recent graduate of the program. good morning to both of you. thank you for being here. >> good morning. >> good morning. thank you for having us. >> deborah, i'm going to start with you. why the sense of smellsome why is it such a trigger and why is it so important in the treatment of it? >> well, smell is very unique in the traumatic memories. what we know is smells are processed very quickly but more importantly they're processed in the part of the brain that also has to do with emotion, so what happens

. >> it is not backed by the department of veteran affairs. procedure works in 70 percent of the patients showing a 50 percent improve stimptoms. >> i have imagine it is changing lives. >> it is night and day for a lot of people. the biggest thing for them, no more pills. patients remain off all related medication and the most marketed improvement is sleep. the nightmares going away. he treated vietnam vets and one came back from war in 1968 and hadn't slept through the nights for decades until his first treatment. >> i was apprehensive. but it is not painful at all and if i had to do it again, i would say let's go for it >> the cost of the injection is a $1,000 and fully covered by the nonprofit which is call would chicago medical innovation. >> what a blessing. he hadn't slept through the night since the 1960s. >> and it is helping women who are victims was sexual adduce and have ptsd on that. >> incredible. anna thank you for much. an airline passenger is reunited with a missing ipad and now they found it. found out where. and plus, this is

. >> sgb is not backed by the department of veterans affairs for treating ptsd. but chicago doctor says it works in 70% of patients showing at least a 50% improvement in symptoms. >> the wonderful thing about this approach is it's a departure from the usual same old thing, mitigation. it hasn't been very effective, as you know. many times it works in 30 minutes. it works very rapidly. >> and the most marked improvement is in sleep. the nightmares going away. the cost of the injection is approximately $1,000 and is fully covered by the doctor's nonprofit chicago medical innovations. >> arthel: very interesting. anna kooiman, thank you very much. >> rick: to the weather now and keeping an eye on tropical storm miriam as it strengthens in the pacific. it could be become a hurricane by monday. maria molina, hi there. >> good to see you. we're tracking tropical storm miriam, currently pretty weak tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour. like you mentioned, we're expecting the storm to continue to intensify over open water and it could become a

these are from surveys conducted by the va, department of veterans affairs and the military south by the way. but they are still fewer than the ones who were not rape. and i give statistics in the book. but the numbers are so horrific of academic proportions that i felt it was really important to focus on not because other books weren't and hadn't. people were not aware of the degree to which we are prostituting our own soldiers. >> you're a professor of journalism. is this a typical book for a journalism professor to write? >> at journalism school we are working journalists and a lot of this to mean that investigative reporting. we also have the academics among us. but we are journalists, working journalists who teach. that has always been the profile, joseph pulitzer founded. >> of policies changed because of the experience of women in iraq and afghan and? >> yes, they have. many congressional hearings about the issues of harassment. i've testified twice to congress myself. they've changed the rules and policies and approaches. they've introduce prevention training, sexually assault

then president obama asked me to help keep our sacred trust with veterans of all eras at the u.s. department of veterans affairsof veterans having to sleep on the same streets they once defended. we improved services for female veterans. and i reached out to young vets by creating the office of online communications. barack obama has also lived up to his responsibilities as commander in chief. ending the war in iraq, refocusing on afghanistan and eradicating terrorist leaders including bin laden. [ applause ] president obama pushed for fairness in the military. listening to commanders as we ended don't ask don't tell and on -- [ applause ] and on how to allow women to officially serve in more combat jobs. don't you think -- don't you think it's time that we stopped being surprised that america's daughters are just as capable of doing their jobs and defending liberty as her sons? [ applause ] when it comes to our men and women in harm's way we have a clear choice on november 6th. last week, mitt romney had a chance to show his support for the brave men and women he is seeking to command. but he chose to criticiz

figures from surveys conducted by a the department of veterans affairs and the military itself. i do give the statistics in the book but the numbers are so her effect i felt it was important to focus on them because other books were not as a professor of journalism is this a typical type of book? >> we are a working journalist we have the academics and has always been the profile of the school. >> change change the experience of iraq and afghanistan? with those issues of harassment i testified twice to congress. they have introduced sexual assault counselors for women and men have been reforms the rate of sexual assaults is not dropping it is scandalous leave low congress has been pressing the military for many years early in the productive way it is a lot of denial. >> host: should women be allowed to serve in combat? >> yes. your human beings and right to have whatever jobs we want not all of us want that job but not all men want to be and compact either it is very materialistic -- paternalist ic to deny the women the job because of their gender. in "new york times" wrote this

of these families use facebook daily. to help protect these families, we launched a resource center for veterans, active-duty members, and military families in partnership with the department of veterans affairs. there's a crisis line which provides specialized support from counselors over the phone or on the web. we are working to create tools on facebook that connect to other mechanisms that goes beyond the web and that is something we want to keep doing and developing with the help of all of you. every suicide is a tragedy. though we may not be able to prevent the present one of them, we want to be able to do everything we can to at least try. in collaboration with others, we can ensure that when people visit facebook, that have access to the resources that will help them feel more connected and receive greater support. through technology, our ability to communicate over vast differences and distances is nearly limitless and with the ability to share and connected friends on facebook, social networks may represent a unique opportunity to quickly reach anyone at risk or who are already in distress. it will enable people to speak up and take actio as soon as they see signs of a friend or fam

then, president obama asked me to help keep our sacred trust with veterans of all eras at the u.s. department of veterans affairsto in the outrage of veterans having to sleep on the same streets they once defended. we improved services for female veterans, and i reached out to young bets by creating the office of on-line communications. barack obama has also lived up to his responsibilities as commander-in-chief, ending the war in iraq, refocusing on afghanistan, and eradicating terrorists, including bin laden. obama pushed for fairness in the military, listening to commanders as we ended "don't ask, don't tell", and on how to allow women to officially served in more combat jobs. don't you think it is time that we stopped being surprised that america's daughters are just as capable of doing their jobs of defending liberty as her son's? with comes to our men and women in harm's way, we have a clear choice on november 6. last week, mitt romney had a chance to show his support for the brave men and women he is seeking to command. but he chose to criticize president obama instead of even uttering the word afghanista

we also participate in the mentor-protege programs for the defense department and the department of veterans affairs>> which is new since you were there. those are all newer programs, more recent. >> yeah. i think they were there, but they're being used much more now than when i was there. >> more publicly. >> more publicly used, and we think they're valuable ways to bring small businesses into the game and help us address these growing needs. so as it takes the community, the public sector, the private sector, when we receive contracts, we do look to small businesses and subcontractors to fill in those gaps, those unique gaps that we may have. >> so you can serve end to end? yes. >> correct, correct. >> great. tom, you certainly have a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders. you were used to being at dod, also, likewise, and not that i'm insinuating that you were up all night or anything, but you're probably privy to some serious issues that maybe not all of our viewers and all of us are. what does keep you up at night? >> well, the makeup didn't hide the bags under my eyes obviously. no. what k

veterans as well. and she gets a response from department of defense, department of veterans affairs at wanting to solve those problems. the permanent change of station order guidance that we gave, a number of you served in the military and can think back to what you were actively on duty and the challenges it can create economically for you and your families. people get permit change of station order, they have to move. they don't have any choice. that's part of their army duty or navy or whatever--whichever branch of the service. but they may not be able to sell their home. they may have to decide between leafing their family there because they are not able to sell it. it's under water or taking a huge loss which they can't afford. some hard choices that maybe civilians don't typically face. and the guidance we provided now makes that a qualifying hardship for the program and some other government programs that help people get mortgages modified. that's an advance. there have been any number of those types of stories that i can tell. people can get in touch with our service member office either throug

department of housing and urban development from considering our veterans' aid and attendance benefits as income. the benefit is an enhanced pension program provided by the department of veterans affairs to our nation's wartime veterans who are severely disabled and have little or no income. according to the v.a., veterans eligible for the aid and attendance benefit are defined as those requiring the aid of another person in order to perform his or her activities of daily living. such as bathing, feeding, dressing, using the restroom, adjusting prosthetic devices or protecting themselves from the hazards of their daily environment. in order to receive this benefit, our severely disabled veterans must first establish their eligibility for a low-income pension. once eligibility is determined, those low-income disabled vets can receive an additional aid and attendance benefit annually to help the cost of their medical care. this is an important point. the aid and attendance benefit is for medical care. it is not discretionary income. as you can imagine, these veterans struggle daily to keep the lights on, put food on the table and to keep a roof over -- keep a roof over their heads. add

veterans as well. she gets a response from the department of defense, the department of veterans affairs, wanting to solve the problems. the permanent change station order that we gave -- in number of you served in the military and can think back to when you were actively on duty and the challenges that can create economic problems for you and your families. people get a change the station order, they have to move, they do not have any choice. that is part of their duty, whichever branch of the service. they may not be able to sell their home. they may have to decide between leaving the family there because they are not able to sell it or it is under water, or taking a huge loss because they cannot afford -- hard choices that civilians and not to the if face. the guide is being provided now makes a qualifying arch of for the hamp program and other government programs that help people get mortgages modified. any number of this type of stories i can tell. people can get in touch with their service member opposite are website -- through our web site, consumerfinance.gov, or by calling our line. we have been

four decades, but was denied a chance to vote because his newly issued photo id from the department of veterans affairs did not contain an address. in addition we are seeing an assault on independent voter registration drives. last year the florida legislature pass a law that imposed $1,000 fine on volunteers who failed to return completed registration forms to a supervisor within 48 hours the leak, and it would ask our volunteers to take this risk, discontinued a registration drive, and we sued pitt we know that organization is like a leak are critical to ensuring not only that every voter has a chance to register and vote, but a minority voter has access to registration. census data shows a 15% of african-americans and hispanics have registered to vote as a result of the strike. the florida suit as it resulted in overturning the murder -- the law. are back to registering voters for the restrictions were in place for 11 months and so many eligible voters did not have an opportunity to register to vote. i have mentioned early voting, which has been cut back in many states. the legal purging of voters r

department of veterans affairs did not contain an address.addition we see an assault on independent drive. last year the florida legislature passed a law, which imposed $1000 fine on volunteers to fail to return completed registration forms to a supervisor within 48 hours. at the league, unable to ask our volunteers to take this risk is continued our registration drive and we sued. we know organizations like the league are critical to ensuring not only that every voter has a chance to register, but particularly minority of us have access to registration. census data shows 15% of african-americans and hispanics have been registered to vote as a result of such drive are ranked much i than 8.9% for whites. recently the florida suit has resulted in overturning the voter -- overturning the law. we are back to registering voters. that is the good news. the bad news is the restrictions were in place for 11 in so many eligible voters did not have an opportunity to register to vote. i've mentioned early voting, which has been cut back in many states.