. >> and tbi is no small thing. mike quigley, good to have you on the program. >> any time, thank you. >>> up next, more on those u.s. troops in the iran attack. we'll speak with arwa damon. she was the first reporter to arrive at the al asad air base. she spoke to witnesses about it. let's see what she saw. y're acty pulling out the minerals from the enamel. i like to recommend pronamel to my patients. pronamel will help push the minerals back into the enamel to keep the enamel strong. i know it works and i hear nothing but great things from my patients that have switched to it. a former army medic, made of the we maflexibility to handle members like kate. whatever monday has in store and tackle four things at once. so when her car got hit, she didn't worry. she simply filed a claim on her usaa app and said... i got this. usaa insurance is made the way kate needs it - easy. she can even pick her payment plan so it's easy on her budget and her life. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa and with the sxfini

, not necessarily being screened in case they have tbi, these are concussions, this is real. said they think they expect them all to be returned to duty soon. or when they can. >> shorter than i wanted it to be, but you packed a lot in. thanks. >> i'm a talker, thanks. >>> a state of emergency in a capital city in fear of what might happen at a pro gun rally. why all the alarm? a pro gun ral. why all the alarm? make fitness routine with pure protein. high protein. low sugar. tastes great! high protein. low sugar. so good! high protein. low sugar. mmmm, birthday cake! pure protein. the best combination for every fitness routine. the better question would be where do i not listen to it. while i'm eating my breakfast... on the edges of cliffs... on a ski lift... everywhere. for a limited time, go to audible.com to save $50 on your first year of membership. looking to get your business off to a fast start in the new year? it's go time! switch to comcast business and get fast internet on the nation's largest gig-speed network. plus, complete reliability with 4g lte backup. and, cl

service members being treated for concussions and tbi in addition to, of course, your reaction to what well, i'm appalled by what the president has said. those few short remarks that he made undid a lot of work that the va and the d.o.d. and veterans community has been working on for years now, well over a decade on traumatic brain injury. in fact about 30% of the injuries that occurred in iraq during my time there in the early 2000s were traumatic brain injuries. so i'm just appalled that the president, the commander in chief, would say something like that at a time we're trying to get help to all of our troops. >> tbi obviously very serious. what's your reaction to the fact that there are 50 service members who have been treated for concussions and tbi? >> well, i'm not surprised, unfortunately, because this is a very common injury and it's a hidden injury. i'm glad that they have been diagnosed. i'm glad that they're going to get the help and long-term monitoring that they need. but of course any time one of ou service members is injured, i am very concerned about their safety and t

member received treatment and return to duty. 16 service members who were diagnosed with concussion and tbi remained and have returned to duty. >> the pentagon and president trump initially said no service members were injured or killed. traumatic brain injuries are not always and immediately apparent right after they happen . >>> a powerful earthquake struck eastern turkey killing at least 21 people and collapsing buildings near the epicenter. >> this was the chaotic scene last night outside of the building. a magnitude 6.8 earthquake followed by dozens of aftershocks and there are reports that the quake was felt as far away as syria and lebanon. more than 900 people are being treated for injuries. >>> searchers are looking for 30 people believed to be trapped in the rubble of damage buildings. countless people have been unable to stay in their homes. those unable to get to shelters have been forced to sleep outdoors were temperatures have dipped to 17 degrees fahrenheit. >>> a location where new units could become available. >>> a former congressman who represented parts of the bay area h

treatment to receive mris to be evaluated more fully to see if they have traumatic brain injury, and tbisomething that the military has had to deal with more and more of the recent wars as the folks who are not directly exposed to the blast, but suffered the s m shock wave or sound wave and those folks who were in the bunkers. once the symptoms were manifested they were sent for more tests. the pentagon, the top leadership, is only informed of the injuries and the casualties when they involve a life of limb or life or eyesight, and these injuries are not reported unless they are the point to where the forces are evacuated out of the country for additional treatment. it is at that time the pentagon was aware and they sent out a statement correcting the record. originally they said there were no injuries, but now they corrected the record to say that this is being investigated. and so it shows that the bunkers were not designed for the missile attacks and the troops were under threat and suffering concussions, but potentially could have had worse. wolf. >> we hope they are okay with the tr

what we know now is that for tbi, traumatic brain injury, there is no requirement to notify the pentagon immediately. immediate notification is for wounds such as loss of limb, eyesight or something like that. it is a very interesting question. traumatic brain injuries, symptoms can emerge days later and it is the silent injury of war. no blood, no bandages, but it is very serious, of course, to those who suffer from it. kate? >> arwa, you were first journalist to visit the base after the attack. let me play some of your reporting from inside for viewers real quick. >> reporter: crammed into bunkers that weren't built to withstand missiles like these. these small bunkers exist throughout the base, bought they're meant to protect against rockets and mortars. the ballistic missiles fired are about 3,000 times more powerful than that. the blast from this one knocked over a four ton t-wall, but if that hadn't happened, those who were sheltering here probably would not have survived. >> you can clearly see the destruction and damage. you lay out how these -- some of the bunkers were ill equip

. >> so you consider tbi a serious injury. >> yes, but, again, there is a big scale of that that cane return to duty in one day or have severe traumatic lasting injury and i think he's describing thankfully what end of the scale that lies on. >>> so the world is still in shock this morning after nba icon kobe bryant was killed yesterday in a los angeles area helicopter crash. nbc news's national correspondent miguel almaguer has the details. >> reporter: the fiery wreckage of the helicopter carrying kobe bryant and his daughter gianna. >> we do have one copter down. >> reporter: was still smoldering when first responders arrived. >> all units responded to the brush fire. 125 reporting one acre, one copter down. >> reporter: in the canyons of calabasas officials confirmed the 41-year-old basketball superstar was with his 13-year-old girl and seven other people including the pilot when the chopper went down. headed to a travel basketball game flight radar shows the sikorsky s-76 seen here with clooint had been flying since 9:00 a.m. it appears to have crossed over downtown los angeles,

but he is playing into a pernicious prejudice about tbi. he doesn't think it's as bad.bout. this isn't a damn headache. serious concussions, brain injuries that affect processing, processing of emotions. they can be ever bit as debilitating as any other injury. the veteran of foreign wars one of america's oldest vet groups called it misguided. they demand an apology. so far silence. i thought you respected the troops like nobody else. you are embarrassing on a level that we need awareness. don't be part of the stigma. fix it. apologize. show you'll do it for the troops. be on the look out. thanks for watching. stay tuned. news continues here on cnn. feeling sluggish or weighed down can be a sign your digestive system isn't working at its best. taking metamucil every day can help. its psyllium fiber forms a gel that traps and removes the waste that weighs you down. it also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption, promoting healthy blood sugar levels. so, start feeling lighter and more energetic by taking metamucil every day. take the metamucil two-week challen

. >> i met a lot of people who suffered tbi from exactly attacks like this and it is a serious thing.to talk about impeachment. you served as republican in the house, and in the senate here. what is your reaction when you see the vast majority of republican senators, only a handful that say they're open to it say, i don't see any need to call any witnesses or see any new evidence. that was the house's job, i'm ready to move on. >> well, john gene wrote a book called blind ambition about what took place during the watergate years. this is a case, i think, of blind loyalty. almost of hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. we don't care what the facts are. we don't care what the evidence is, we made up our mind. we are not going to give any credence or credibility to this process. so it is over as far as we're concerned. i think that's wrong. i think they will be embarrassed ultimately more and more information is going to come out, going to be quite critical of how this has happened. we need to go back and focus on what really happened. get rid of all of the circus atmosphere we have

in a vfw statement it says "tbi is a serious injury and one that cannot be taken lightly.erves an apology from the president to the service men and women for misguided remarks." >> they know, john, this is a malady, a trauma that the military and the department of veterans affairs have been tracking for about 15 years now. they have changed their approach to this. in fact, military medicine has driven changes and more research by the center of designees control and even by the american college of emergency physicians. this is a big deal. as dr. gupta said, you know, the initial treatment is a series of protocols that you look for. if there's not change in the -- in the military member, if things don't happen differently, it's an indicator of more severe things that have occurred inside the cranium. and what's fascinating to me is we have known these kind of things for events, roadside bombs with relatively minor pressure compared to the kind of pressure received from these ballistic missiles that struck. so you could have the kind of instances like vomiting or nausea or di

i know that there are injuries like this, like tbi, that can happen to those soldiers, and we're seeing. it's serious. men and women have made a lot of sacrifices for the last 20 years fighting these wars. they continue to. we should take that seriously. we should take those sacrifices seriously. we need to make sure they're getting the attention and care they need. >> sdwhat it tell you the commander in chief doesn't think these are serious injuries and they're headaches, as he said. >> well, if you zoom out at a high level, i think there's this larger sense that the president truly doesn't understand the experience of men and women in uniform. the thrust of this issue that we're talking about in the trial, the use of national security money, national security aid that jeopardizes not just our national security but our 60,000-plus soldiers stationed throughout europe to benefit his own political campaign speaks volumes in and of itself. it says he's more concerned about his own politics and his own interests than he is being the commander in chief that he needs to be to put our men and

i don't know how many citizens will be on ybi or tbi near medical services.having benches to go to. are there guidelines or is that an add on? >> just going through my rating system in my head, it does show up in things like required benches for transit stops and those facilities in terms of regular benches on the public soacspace. i agree the idea of street furnishing and benches is in the walkable streets credit. i don't think there is an actual requirement. >> i am not an expert in this area. >> i don't think there is a requirement but i endorse your concept. >> transportation. is that under your purview the vehicles? >> no specific topic is under my individual purview in terms of deciding what is going to happen. i am trying to link it. i think the concept is sustainable transportation. bike, scooter, tdm, transit. autoautonomous vehicles look wih other solutions and allow it as independent not integrated with other transportation planning would be a problem. it needs to be integrated with the bucket of sustainability in transportation as the topic. >> th

i don't know how many citizens will be on ybi or tbi near medical services.having benches to go to. are there guidelines or is that an add on? >> just going through my rating system in my head, it does show up in things like required benches for transit stops and those facilities in terms of regular benches on the public soacspace. i agree the idea of street furnishing and benches is in the walkable streets credit. i don't think there is an actual requirement. >> i am not an expert in this area. >> i don't think there is a requirement but i endorse your concept. >> transportation. is that under your purview the vehicles? >> no specific topic is under my individual purview in terms of deciding what is going to happen. i am trying to link it. i think the concept is sustainable transportation. bike, scooter, tdm, transit. autoautonomous vehicles look wih other solutions and allow it as independent not integrated with other transportation planning would be a problem. it needs to be integrated with the bucket of sustainability in transportation as the topic. >> th

i don't know how many citizens will be on ybi or tbi near medical services.having benches to go to. are there guidelines or is that an add on? >> just going through my rating system in my head, it does show up in things like required benches for transit stops and those facilities in terms of regular benches on the public soacspace. i agree the idea of street furnishing and benches is in the walkable streets credit. i don't think there is an actual requirement. >> i am not an expert in this area. >> i don't think there is a requirement but i endorse your concept. >> transportation. is that under your purview the vehicles? >> no specific topic is under my individual purview in terms of deciding what is going to happen. i am trying to link it. i think the concept is sustainable transportation. bike, scooter, tdm, transit. autoautonomous vehicles look wih other solutions and allow it as independent not integrated with other transportation planning would be a problem. it needs to be integrated with the bucket of sustainability in transportation as the topic. >> th

the public to understand better over the last decade or so, which is that traumatic brain injuries, tbisht not be as visible as losing a limb, but they can be horrifying, and the idea that anybody would denigrate them is not serious because they're not visible is just a display of ignorance about how significant those wounds are. senator santorum? >> i think there is a balancing act that the president is trying to -- he doesn't want to escalate. this was part of the de-escalation of this very, very tense situation between the united states and iran, that everybody thought we were going to go to world war iii, and i think what he was trying to do during this time is -- i don't think denigrate the injuries, but make sure he wasn't giving the signal that the red line had been tripped again. i know the president isn't strong on diplomacy, but i think there was an attempt there in this case to try to make sure that we didn't -- >> first they said there were no injuries. none at all. everybody is fine, just fine. all of a sudden they said, well, yeah, there were a few head injuries and some of

service members diagnosed with tbi. traumatic brain injury after the strike on the base in iraq.ismissed those as headaches. there were real injuries in that attack much as the president tried to downplay them. >> offensive to call them headaches. vfw and other groups pushed back. the iranians weren't at careful as a lot of people thought making sure there weren't attacks. willing to use missiles in a way that could have risked a lot of americans deaths and a lot more escalation. the seconda, the fact we didn't respond we don't really want an con conflict, even they sent more troops to the region it is not in the playbook of this administration to get involved in an escalation in that part of the world. again, it takes two to wind things down. the iranians have not stood down. my biggest message, this problem will return. i don't know where, when or how but the iran problem will return and in the middle east or conceivably elsewhere using terrorism, cyber maybe. we ought to be prepared for that, too. >> a lot of ground covered richard. thank you for that. that do it every day. ta

the entire problem with tbi, they have lasting impacts and are serious injuries. >> the people who decides injury are doctors, and military personnel. if you're evacuated from iraq and you're sent to a military hospital, it's serious. for the president to say it's a headache. not like they got their legs blown off is one of those, again -- as you said earlier, sort of talking to fill the space. i just needed to say something, and also i think there's a second agenda under that, which is, he doesn't want to go further with iraq. if he admits these might be serious injuries, it puts him in a bad situation, because the next question will be, well, then what are you doing about it? so he minimizes it, because you can't see it. he says some guys have a headache. it's not like there were limbs laying around. you know? that is just a typical kind of callous thing that i think was really a sad and offensive thing for the president to say. >> quickly further and underscore that point. that's part of the calculation. not wanting to escalate the situation with iran. feel they have a nice, tidy win.

tbis are injuries that sometimes last people a lifetime. to the people who were there than we unusually thought. >> jamie, the president has been severely criticized for suggesting these were headaches. >> these are not just headaches. these are serious injuries. it also was so politically tone deaf of him to say something like that because the military -- this is part of his base. these are voters he wants and he's very proud when he goes to visit them. it's -- i think he so desperately wanted to say that nothing happened, that no one was hurt,that he said something tone deaf. >> maybe he should go to walter reed here in washington just to get a sense of what's going on. stick around. there's more news we're following including the latest on the investigation into the crash that killed kobe bryant. and we're getting new video of the helicopter shortly before it went down. where's the truck? what? parked it right there. male voice: what did i tell you, boys? tonight we eat like kings! (chuckling) you're a genius, gordon! brake! hit the brak