reporting on it. >> do the cartels have the ability to silence the press? "saint makers." what does it take to become a saint? ask this baptist who used to be blind. >> that's why it's a miracle. >> his unlikely role in an indiana nun's path to sainthood. revealing investigations. fascinating characters. stories with impact. this is "cnn presents" with tonight's host, randi kaye and dr. sanjay gupta. >> good evening. we begin tonight with this unbelievable story of how u.s. soldiers were used as human guinea pigs. during the cold war, the military embarked on this top-secret program to test chemical and biological weapons. >> the researchers used animals, but believe it or not, they also used humans, volunteers from the army who had no idea what they were signing up for. >> nearly half a century later, some of these human guinea pigs, well, they're emerging from the shadows with disturbing stories about what the military did to them and how they're being treated now. ♪ >> i enlisted, joined at 18 years of age. it was the height of the vietnam war era and really felt a sense of duty to my country to go and serve. >> i went straight to ft. bragg. it was the thing to do. it was my duty as an american. >> i was drafted and i was placed in the 85th missile detachment. we were supposed to be security guards for the nuclear warheads that were going in missiles. >> reporter: three american soldiers, tim josephs, rank rochelle, bill blezinski called to arms from different backgrounds but about to share an experience that would change each of their lives. at edgewood arsenal military base in maryland. >> a couple of doctors from edgewood arsenal came and gave a presentation. >> they presented it as not everyone would be chosen. >> there would be a guaranteed three-day pass every weekend. >> three-day passes are the rule. >> no duties, no guard duty, no kitchen police. >> this is what we filled out. they ask you about your criminal background. they asked you if you drank, they asked you about your parents, they asked you about your brothers and your sisters. silly questions like did you like your mother better than you did your father? >> i took the test and got chosen. and you got to take a couple days off at home and then reported to edgewood for two months. >> when you got chosen, were you excited? >> yes, i was glad to go. it was like a plumb assignment. you would get all the weekends off. and the idea was that they would test new army field jackets, clothing, weapons, things of that nature, but no mention of any drugs or chemicals. >> in the beginning, that's what we were told and that we'd be doing, testing equipment, not drugs. >> reporter: but edgewood arsenal was testing drugs beginning in 1955. >> this is edgewood arsenal. the united states army's chemical commodity center. >> reporter: this was the cold war. and the united states wanted defenses against a possible soviet chemical attack. >> psycho chemical attack may come in the form of an explosion, an invisible vapor, a cloud of smoke. >> reporter: the u.s. was also developing psychochemical weapons of its own. >> here is a group of normal soldiers responding correctly to a series of routine drill commands. after receiving a small dose of lsd, they're kwuzed and undisciplined. >> reporter: edgewood arsenal was where much of the research took place. using men like tim josephs. >> when i got there, it just did not look like a military base. more like a hospital. >> reporter: describe it. what was it that you saw? >> everyone's in lab coats. some military doctors, i guess, and some were civilian doctors, but you were well aware that you were a private and they were a captain and up. and i expressed my concern right from the beginning. they took me aside and said, you know, you volunteered for this. and if you don't do it, there's most likely prison and a dishonorable discharge. >> reporter: you were intimidated? >> yes. >> reporter: coerced? >> yes. >> reporter: forced? >> forced. >> reporter: you didn't sign up for this. >> no, not at all. >> i reported up there september the 3rd. and that started my ordeal. i trusted my government. i trusted the army. we were assured that we would not be harmed in any way. >> reporter: they said don't worry. was that the right message for them to be giving you? >> not at all. >> reporter: you trusted them. >> sure. >> reporter: and how about now? >> i don't trust them very much at this point. >> reporter: and there's good reason for that. the army was testing substances ranging from lsd to nerve gas on human subjects. coming up -- >> the private received a high dose of the incapacitating agent. in 15 minutes, he won't be able to focus his eyes properly. >> reporter: never-before-broadcast films of what went on behind closed doors. in the army's top-secret testing program. edgewood arsenal. and the health problems these veterans say followed them from edgewood and haunt them to this day. [ man ] predicting the future is hard. but i have this new smartphone. and now i can see everything more clearly. ♪ i can organize the analysis. sort through all the data. maybe even rattle some cages. i predict that i'm going to like the future. because the future is where i'll be serving up humble pie. a la mode. [ male announcer ] at&t introduces the samsung galaxy note. phone. tablet. both. ♪ your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have 6 grams of sugars. with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. [will be giving away new passafree copiessmart. of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. during the cold war, the u.s. military launched a top-secret program to see what sometimes dangerous chemicals could do to the body and the mind. veterans of these tests say they faced health problems long after the drugs wore off, and they say the government has not livered up to its promise to take care of them. some of the army films you're about to see have never been broadcast before. >> these are the men of baker company. a special volunteer troop detachment at edgewood arsenal, maryland. >> reporter: for 18-year-old army private tim josephs, the tests started almost as soon as he arrived at edgewood. home to a top-secret military testing program using human subjects. >> sometimes it was an injection. other times it was a pill. >> reporter: did they tell you what it is? >> the drugs, the chemicals, were referred to as agent 1 or agent 2. one test i was involved with, i was pretty much out of it all day. and that afternoon i woke up with parkinson's symptoms immediately. >> reporter: so you had tremor? >> and aching in the limbs and arms and some numbness. >> in this flask is a compound called cf. >> reporter: bill was exposed to cs, tear gas, three times at edgewood. >> this chamber looks familiar from the first test that i was. >> reporter: this army film shows volunteers in the gas chamber exposed to cs. >> almost at once. >> your eyes water. your nose runs. your skin burns. you start throwing up. it's a real mess. >> reporter: in another test, he received an injection before being taken to a room with padded walls like this one. >> i'm sitting on the bed. i'm looking at the wall. all of a sudden i'm looking at it, and it starts fluttering like a flag does. >> careful control of these chamber tests resulted in a dose of only two parts per million. >> reporter: frank row sell tested a similar drug in aerosol form. >> and i leaned over into a face mask, inhaled and exhaled and inhaled and exhaled. >> a low dose of agent was fed into the mixing bowl. >> reporter: this army film shows a soldier add edgewood named carpenter undergoing the same kind of test. >> within an hour, carpenter's hands will feel cold, his face hot. borderline hallucinations will come late in the experiment. like the soldier in the film, frank rochelle experienced hallucinations. >> people were calling my name, and there was nobody around. there were animals coming out of the walls. it appeared that all my freckles were bugs on my skin. i took a razor and i tried to cut some of them out. >> what was this business when you were lying down and looking at the all? >> reporter: in all, some 7,000 military volunteers or more were part of chemical tests from 1955 to 1975. the military tested at least 250 chemical and biological agents during the cold war including potentially lethal nerve agents like vx and sarin. incapacitating drugs like bz, tear gas, barbiturates, tranquilizers, narcotics, and hallucinogens. >> lsd. >> reporter: this army film shows soldiers performing drills under the influence of lsd. >> notice the volunteer who salutes several times. five minutes later, it caused the medical officers to end his participation in the tests. >> reporter: volunteers were ordered not to ever tell anyone what had happened at edgewood. >> the thing about this whole program, you were told up front, you don't talk about this. you don't tell nobody about it. we couldn't even talk to our doctors. we couldn't even talk to our physicians. >> it was hammered into us, we were never supposed to talk about it. it was top secret. >> reporter: these days he says he's suffering from inflammatory bowel disease, and a cancer of the blood. frank rochelle also has health issues. >> i have breathing problems. i have nightmares, you know, that i still remember and think about the tests. >> reporter: tim josephs has parkinson's disease. a condition that forced him to retire early. >> the whole thing stinks. i'll tell you, americans, if they knew about it, would not tolerate it, this kind of behavior toward our veterans. they would not allow it to happen. >> reporter: this attorney is suing the department of defense and the department of veteran affairs on behalf of edgewood veterans. what do you hope to get for them in an ideal situation? >> they're going to get nothing for themselves out of this case other than perhaps medical care. they're not going to get any money. they want to get proper notice of the substances they received, the doses, and the health effects. many of them had never been notified of anything. they were mistreated. and they don't want this to be swept under the rug and have everyone die and never see the light of day. that's why they're doing it. >> reporter: we wanted to talk about the lawsuit with the v.a. and defense department. they declined to be interviewed on camera, citing the pending litigation. they gave us a statement instead. the department of defense said it has made it a priority to identify all service members exposed to chemical and biological substances. and the v.a. has offered free medical evaluations to thousands of veterans. >> on the fighting front, ground action has been quiet today. >> reporter: palmer says most edgewood veterans have never been contacted by the v.a. >> the v.a., they don't want to know. >> reporter: and the v.a. has denied almost all edgewood-related health claims. >> our government has not fulfilled their duty. they have a duty to find and recognize every person, and they've got a duty to give them medical treatment >> they're hoping that we die off. you apply, get turned on, and it just goes on for years and years. and they want to wear us down. they want to use young men as guinea pigs and throw them away. >> that was so disturbing. >> yeah. >> what is happening with the lawsuit? >> well, it's moving, but pretty slowly. it's worth reemphasizing that the edgewood veterans are not asking for money specifically, but there's a lot of delays in a case like this. one of the hardest things is just trying to find documents from so many years ago. it's likely to go to trial next year, but it could take five more years after that. >> thanks, sanjay. up next, it's been called one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. and after you see our next report, you will understand why. i am loving this greek yogurt. i like yoplait. it is yoplait. but you said it was greek. mmhmm. so is it greek or is it yoplait? exactly. okay... [ female announcer ] yoplait. it is so greek. you'd use carbon fiber and machined aluminum, to make it more beautiful, and more durable. you'd use edge-to-edge gorilla glass for a stunning display in a more compact form. and you'd choose an intel® core i7™ processor for maximum processing power. everything that you could ever want in a laptop. introducing the dell xps 13 ultrabook™ everything. and more. ♪ forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. call now for our free guide and tips on planning for your retirement this tax season. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. in mexico, powerful drug cartels have reached into nearly every sector of society, including the press. for journalists covering the raging drug war, it has become a deadly beat. many have been silenced through murder, threats and intimidation. reporters feel they can't do their jobs because reporting on the drug trafficking can get them killed. and most of those murders go uninvestigated and unpunished. in the past ten years, the criminal justice system has failed to successfully prosecute more than 90% of the crimes against the press. kaj larson travels to one of mexico's most dangerous states. >> reporter: in some cities in mexico, there are no crime reporters left. since 2000, more than 60 journalists have been killed here. much of what is really happening on the streets is never reported. this is one of mexico's most violent states. bloody street battles between rival cartels and mexican security forces have left a trail of bullet casings and bodies. this is birthplace and base of the powerful cartel and home to some of mexico's top drug lords. it's a dangerous place. especially for journalists. 44-year-old javier valdez cardenas covers drug trafficking in a city where bodies turn up almost every day. the native is an author and co-founder of a small tenacious newspaper he launched in 2003. javier has somehow managed to report on the drug trade and stay alive. >> translator: you experience a lot of fear. you have to be looking in your mirror to see if somebody is following you. there isn't any safe place. not even your home. >> reporter: when you write an article about narco trafficking, are you afraid that somebody will retaliate against you? >> translator: i'm always scared. you know how dangerous it is to the commander who works for the traffickers. it's better to censor myself because i want to continue to write. silence is a form of death, of complicit. i'm not dead. i'm alive. >> reporter: but in life, he walks a very fine line. javier and his colleagues have received threats and one morning in september 2009, two grenades were hurled into rio doce's office causing damage but no injuries. just days before the attack, the paper had published a series on narco trafficking. i asked him who was responsible. >> translator: we don't know. it could be the government, the military, the police, the narcs. since in this country no one investigates, the only thing we know is the kind of weapon they use. >> reporter: but the message was clear. >> translator: they wanted us to be scared. we are scared. we are more scared than before. but we know this job has to be done. >> reporter: javier took me along on a story he's investigating into the disappearance of an 18-year-old boy named jorge. in the past five years, more than 5300 people have disappeared in mexico. the boy's mother tells javier just days after jorge vanished in 2010, she was asked to identify the body of a boy his age. >> translator: the body was in bad condition. i couldn't recognize the body. >> reporter: she asked for a dna test but has never gotten the results. >> translator: people know they can continue to kill and there won't be any punishment. that's the case of jorge. there are no results on the investigation because they haven't even come here to investigate. >> reporter: here life is cheap. the cemetery is full of the graves of young men and elaborate mausoleums built by the narco traffickers. the growing strength of the cartels has tipped the balance of power here. many areas are now completely lawless. this is an area outside, it's a very dangerous area. and we're going to go out on a patrol with the state police who have taken over this area because it's too dangerous for the local police to operate. last year 50 police officers were killed here. with more advanced military training, the state police hope to deploy more units like this one. but in many areas across the state, they remain outgunned by the cartels. as the patrol wraps up, we head back before dark. that's the reality of downtown. military police on one side of the street. funeral procession on the other. javier tells me in this war, no one is safe. in the past eight years, three journalists have been killed in the area. what happens here when a journalist is killed? >> translator: nothing. that's the saddest part. nothing happens. nothing happens with abuses, the injustices, the corruption, the impunity. no organization says, hey, this is enough. >> what kills journalists in mexico is impunity. >> reporter: veteran journalist mike o'connor has covered conflicts around the world. as the mexico representative for the committee to protect journalists, he's investigated some of the worst cases. >> you could kill a journalist and almost be guaranteed of getting away with it. >> reporter: he's the first call for many reporters under threat. >> for the most part, in mexico, journalists feel they can't do their job and don't do their job because to practice journalism in mexico among the journalists i talk to will get you killed. >> reporter: for javier, it's a daily struggle. >> translator: it's sad to live in a city where the principal feeling is terror, terror to go out, terror of dying in a shooting. this is what you feel, and it's palpable every day. >> reporter: next, we meet one journalist whose three editors were attacked and two murdered. but she refuses to give up. >> we're not going to let the bad guys win. i'm one of six children that my mother raised by herself and so, college was a dream, when i was a kid. i didn't know how i was going to do it, but i knew i was going to get that opportunity one day. and that's what happened with the university of phoenix. nothing can stop me now. i feel like the sky is the limit with what i can do and what i can accomplish. my name is naphtali bryant and i am a phoenix. have 46 grams of whole grains... mmmm. ...and a touch of sweetness. you'll be delighted to discover how good they taste. get your free sample of quaker oatmeal squares on facebook. get your free sample of quaker oatmeal squares imagine if you could always see life [music] in the best light. every time of day. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything t