dr. francis s. collins. applause] >> stephen: we will welcome back, everybody. -- welcome back, everybody. my guest tonight wants to map the human brain. or as it's also known: a menu for zombies. please welcome dr. francis collins. [cheers and applause] nice to see you again dr. collins. >> great to be here is. >> stephen: fourth trip back to the show. i love finding out whawr doing at the n.i.h. >> a lot of stuff, man. >> stephen: you are the director of national institutes of health. you led the government effort to map the human genome. >> right. >> stephen: tuesday president obama announced the brain initiative. >> yeah. >> stephen: why would you want to map the human brain? am i right? is this about mind control? >> how did i know you were going to go there? actually it's about this amazing stur, the human brain. >> stephen: i thought it was a nerf football for a second. >> it's not a real brain just to be clear. it is in these three pounds of material the most complicated biological structure in the u

dr. collins, not just for the introduction but for his incredible leadership at n.i.h. those of you who know francis also knows that he's quite a gifted singer and musician. i was asking whether he was going o be willing to sing the introduction and he declined. but his has been extraordinary. and i'm glad i've been promoted to scientist in chief. given my grades in physics, i'm not sure it's deserving. but i -- i hold science in proper esteem so maybe that gives me a little credit. today i've invited some of the smartest people in the country, some of the most imaginative and effective researchers in the country. some very smart people to talk about the challenge that i issued in my state of the union address, to grow our economy, to create new jobs, to reignite a rising, thriving middle-class by in facting in one of our core strength -- by investing in one of our core strengths and that's american innovation. ideas are what power our economy. it's what sets us apart. it's what america has been all about. we've been a nation of dreamers and risk-takers, people who see

dr. collins.e led the government's human genome project, completing the first finished sequence of the human dna just a few years back. stephen colbert famously asked you about making science sexy again. >> yes, he did. >> you want to make science sexy again. >> well, yeah, sure. >> have you thought about taking off your glasses and shaking out your hair? >> reporter: i thought you handled that well. >> well, i do think science is enormously exciting right now. >> reporter: sexy? >> i would say. >> reporter: it was not the journey he expected as that young boy, born on a sheep farm in virginia. he says he was given a gift from his mother -- curiosity. she home-schooled her son until the sixth grade. did you think you'd be here, growing up on that farm? >> the last thing i ever would have imagined was being a scientist. >> reporter: mapping the brain. >> and mapping the brain. >> reporter: and dr. collins knows so many are waiting for that map. 100 million americans suffering from diseases that aff

dr. collins helped with that genome effort. that's why we thought it would be good to have him here to announce the next project, and that's what we're calling the brain initiative. as humans we can identify galaxies light years away, we can study particles smaller than an atom but sill haven't locked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears. today sicientists possess the ability to study individual neurons and figure out the main functions of certain areas of the brain, but a human brain contains almost 100 billion neurons making trillions of connections. so dr. collins says it's like listening to the string section and trying to figure out what the whole orchestra sounds like. as a result, we're still unable to cure diseases like alzheimer's or autism or fully reverse the effects of a stroke. and the most powerful computer in the world isn't nearly intuitive as the one we're born with. so there's this enormous mystery waiting to be unlocked. and the brain initiative will change that by giving scien

dr. collins. i'm worried that brain research too muchto be giving [indiscernible]-- we have already started to blame certain behavior on parts of the brain. there's a certain part of the brain that's causing me to do .his trad this exacerbates this society where we don't take responsibility for our actions, it's because of a certain part of the brain. are there limitations to bring weearch and how much weight give to brain research? guest: it's a great question. other people working in this field, there is no attempt here in trying to understand how the brain works to eliminate the notion of human , or the reality of free will. we all make decisions based on evidence in front of us. studying the brain may help us in terms of circumstances where diseases strike that clearly, we somebody hope to -- .ho has parkinson's disease that is the goal of this enterprise. the concept of human personality and behavior and decision-making is so complex and so much fraud with interactions between what is going o

dr. collins. how important is it? >> i think it is the most important life science initiative in a long time. an effort to try to understand the most complex organ that we know of in the universe, namely the human brain. and to apply that that will lead to insights on how to treat a long list of diseases from autism, schizophrenic, traumatic brain injury. it is a start that is being announced today. this will go on for quite a few years. it will be exciting to take shape and launch an effort that will change our understanding of the brain. >> my understanding was that we had already made a lot progress in understanding the brain. it is extraordinary how much we do understand but this does not necessarily translate into fixing problems. >> you are right about that. we understand some of the language in which the brain conducts his business. we can record from individual brain cells and see when they are firing and take images of the brain and living people and see some pretty amazing details. we don't really understand

dr. collins because the issue of cost has come up. of course we were tasked to fix were preexisting conditions, not messing up the system as it currently exists and third the cost and looks like we failed on all three points. with respect to cost, the commonwealth fund put out a paper from minnesota, that talks about the activated patient where the costs were lower for someone who actually was an active participant in their care and we had all the hearings leading up to the affordable care act and we heard from experts on medicaid, experts on this and experts on that, we never brought in say, governor mitch daniels from indiana, with the his healthy indiana plan, creating that active patient population found he brought his costs down significantly over a two-year span. it seems like that would be a logical way to approach things. we're talking about states expanding medicaid. we're not talking about people who are already mandatory populations. that is people in nursing homes. people who are blind and disabled children. we're talking

dr. collins estimates that there return, a seven to one that every dollar in research grants generates about seven dollars in economic activity in the community where those rearch grants and up and turns of jobs and scientists. this is a win-win investment that the president believes in. >> i hope as we continue to talk about and see the impact of sequestration, the demonstration will speak out on this because we are -- it is a very shortsighted approach, particularly when it comes to the nih budget. i hope that we can get organizations and institutions, whether it is the institute of medicine or others, to put pencil to paper and really measure this, as you just did with that seven to one ratio. may be saving a few dollars now, but it will cost us millions if not billions more if we do not continue the investment in research. so i hope we can make that point to our colleagues here. thank you. i think senator portman, you are see why. -- >> thank you. i think i am lasted only. thank you for being here. i would make the obvious point that that part of our budget is being squeezed more and mor

dr. matias' concerns became reality. collinsther inmate and was confined to his cell while officials investigated the matter. >> apparently another guy over there said that i hit him and that's all it took because of my, you know, my history for violence on the idu. it means a setback. a serious setback. i'm not allowed to come out but one hour a day. no matter what i do. i can whistle dixie all day long, not talk to nobody, cause no problems, not say nothing, i'll still be over there. he told me that. >> how badly injured was this man? >> no injuries. not a mark on him. >> i got the impression he was vastly minimizing what had happened. i think that part of the problem is we're a television crew standing in front of his cell, and for him to admit it, other people would have heard the truth. indiana state prison allowed us to give certain inmates little personal cameras that we would leave with them and they could film themselves. i gave a camera to brian, and all i asked of him was to be honest. he might be a little more honest

dr. collins is here, head of north american maple croft. welcome. so, look, first of all, how complicating will this be for the investigation if they're unable to get him to speak? it sounds as though he's beginning to write. >> yes. thanks for having me on this morning. it's important in the beginning context and for this instance. so this is the first islamist attack on the united states since 9/11. in 2006, we had the liquid bomb plot that was foiled. and there's the underwear bomb plot in 2009. the times square plot in 2010. this is the first real attack since 2001. >> first successful attack is what you're saying. >> exactly. so it's quite a shock for the united states. in some ways, it's -- obviously, there's the two brothers involved in this incident. the older brother would have been a more significant person of interest in terms of the intelligence because he was the person that traveled to russia and there's the possible links with chechan terrorists in russia. >> and this is an interesting angle of this, as well. the first successful isla

dr. collins estimates that is about a 71 return, that every dollar in research grant generates about $7 in economic activity in the community where those research grants end up in terms of jobs and scientists. so this is clearly a win-win investment, as the president very strongly believes in and supports. >> i hope as we continue to talk with and see the impacts of sequestration the administration will speak out on this because it's a very shortsighted approach, particularly comes to the nih budget and hope that we can get organization and institutions, whether it's the institute of medicine o others to put pencil to paper and really measure this as you just didwith that seven to one ratio. but we may be saving a few dollars now but it will cost us millions if not billions more if we don't continue the investment in research. so i hope we can make that point to our colleagues. thank you. i think senator portman, you are next. >> i think you, senator cantwell. i think i am last and only as well as next. [laughter] >> you never know who may come back. >> exactly. you just had an interesting

dr. frances collins, who runs the national institutes of health sees this as the project that has a lot of parallels to the genome mapping project. we need to map the brain. because whether it's looking at alzheimer's disease or the kinds of brain injuries that you have identified that wounded warriors are suffering or concussion that's affect our kids, we don't know enough what is happening to people and how to deal with it. how to prevent, slowdown, rehabilitate, some of these injuries and traumas. so there is a public/private partnership initiative announced which will include private foundations that are already working in the brain space in the department of defense who has a great deal of interest in this topic as you correctly outline the national institutes of health, where a number of institutes are already doing critical research but could accelerate that further. and really in a shared collaboration do the kinds of multiyear brain mapping, accelerated purest strategy that has been successful in a number of other areas. >> i have seen the help now as compared to the help five, si

collins a pioneer. the dallas mavericks owner will be here and daytime's tv giant dr. on an historic day in the netherlands. first, here's a look at today's "eye opener" at 8:00. >> no current athlete in the nba, nfl nhl or major league baseball has ever come out as gay until now. >> it's a revelation like no other. longtime nba center jason collins announces to the world he is gay. >> i think it's a positive thing. i think it's silly in 2013 that this kind of stuff -- people will look back on it years later and say are you kidding me? >> female identified on one of the fragments of the bomb used in boston. >> this becomes a critical moment. if that's her dna their relationship with her may change. >> cbs news learned the first shipment of u.s. aid to the armed syrian rebels happened today. >> how do you convince voters when they go into the voting booth not to focus on your marital history. >> we'll be on the first flight with important people. >> i'll be on the first flight with the most important people in this world which happen to be my children. >> would you do i

dr. conrad murray to treat jackson who failed to oversee him and resulted in jackson's death. he served a four-year prison sentence of the. >>> coming up, nba free agent jason collinsamera about his decision to come out as a gay player and what the president said just a short time ago. plus, our "news nation" gut check is on the president's comments today. he will again try to shut down guantanamo bay. and be sure to like the "news nation" on facebook. hungry for the best? it's eb. want to give your family the very best in taste, freshness, and nutrition? it's eb. want to give them more vitamins, omega 3s, and less saturated fat? it's eb. eggland's best eggs. eb's. the only eggs that make better taste and better nutrition... easy. eggland's best eggs. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. it's eb. better eggs. meet the 5-passenger ford c-mc-max one. c-max two. that's a super fuel- efficient hybrid for me. and a long range plug-in hybrid for you. now, let's review. introducing the ford c-max hybrid and the ford c-max energi plug-in hybrid. say hi to the c-max hybrids. i'm here in your home, having a pretty spectacular tuesday. ♪ but i don't notice the loose r

addie mae collins, denise mcnair, carole robertson, and cynthia wesley did not live to see dr. king's dream realized. but their tragic deaths catalyzed the civil rights movement and produced a backlash against these unthinkable acts of violence from across the country. as we have seen in recent tragedies, acts of violence often produce the opposite outcome that the desired perpetrators have. less than one year after the bomb went off at the church, the civil rights act passed out of this very chamber and became law. in 1964. a year later, in 1965, this chamber passed and was put into law the voting rights act. today the house continues to act. the legislation before us awards the congressional medal -- congressional gold medal which is the highest civilian honor given by congress to the four girls who sacrificed -- whose sacrifice advanced the march of freedom in this country. their memory is rightly recognized by those who love justice and it is befitting that we should honor them with the highest recognition. i urge passage of this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the

dr. collins estimates a seven to one return that every dollar and research grants generate $7 in economic community for the research grants and a terms of jobs and sciences.