You where they want you. Lisa fletcher is recruiting for isis similar to recruiting for child trafficking . Jeff tiegs it is, . My opinion, identical. Annie waldman im looking at a new strategy at the pharmaceutical industry. Insteffed paying off doctors or lobbying congress, now the pharmaceutical industry is turning to academics in order to help them justify high drug prices. Sharyl when you say they are turning to academics, what are they doing . Annie waldman they are hiring academics to do research which seems to support their end theory, which is that their drugs are highly valuable and therefore they should be able to set whatever price they want. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] sharyl hello, im sharyl attkisson. Welcome to full measure. Since 2002, billions of u. S. Tax dollars have been spent rebuilding afghanistan after its decades of war. A big chunk of that money pays Afghan Soldiers and police. But it turns out a lot of those troops may not, in fact, exist. We investigate how your tax money is being wasted on ghost soldiers. John sopko weve been raising this concern about ghosts going back a number of years. We first heard about it actually i want to say we heard about it from ashraf ghani years ago, before he became president , he warned me about ghosts, so we started looking three years ago. Sharyl john sopko is the Inspector General watching over the u. S. Taxpayer billions spent to rebuild afghanistan. When you say ghosts, what are you referring to . John sopko what were talking about are policemen, Afghan Policemen, Afghan Military, afghan Civil Servants who dont exist or they have multiple identi c by we i mean the United States and the international community. And we started finding out that we had no capacity to measure the number of soldiers, teachers, doctors, military people who we are paying their salaries. Sharyl for years, multiple audits have shown theres no way to prove that the money we send for salaries is going to a real live body. And the payroll numbers just dont add up. For example, sopko says, in june 2016, the supposed number of Afghan Military and police was 319,595. But an afghan official told ap the best internal estimate of the real number was around 120,000. This implies fraud, obviously. John sopko oh, absolutely. Major fraud. And whats happening is the commanders or generals or other higher officials are actually pocketing the salaries of the ghosts. And i remember president ghani again, at that time he wasnt president saying john, you, the United States government, are paying the salary of an afghan whos a teacher, hes a civil servant, hes a doctor, he is a policeman, and hes a soldier. And its the same afghan. And he doesnt exist. Sharyl paying for reconstruction in warravaged countries is an american tradition. After world war ii, there was the Marshall Plan named after secretary of state george marshall. The u. S. Spent, in todays terms, 103 billion over four years to rebuild 16 european countries. Today, u. S. Taxpayers have now far outspent the Marshall Plan on Afghanistan Reconstruction ore than 117 billion. 68 billion of that has gone for Afghan National defense and security forces, the countrys police and military. Last year, the governor of helmand, afghanistan reported discovering at least 400 nonexistent ghost soldiers on that provinces payroll. And helmands police chief was also quoted as saying that of 26,000 Afghan NationalDefense Security forces assigned there, 40 to 50 percent did not exist physically when we asked for help during operations. John sopko so youre talking about instead of 300some thousand, it may be only 150thousand actually exist. Especially in helmand province, the new provincial governors down there were raising serious concerns that most of the police and soldiers that they needed during the last fighting season werent there. Sharyl in multiple letters and audits, sopko has taken the pentagon, which manages the money, to task stating, persistent reports raise questions regarding whether the u. S. Government is taking adequate steps to prevent taxpayer funds from being spent on socalled ghost soldiers. And he says the ghost phenom and security paychecks to other forms of aid. John sopko its not just the salaries. But were funding schools based upon the number of students, so if you invent or inflate the number of students, youre going to be paying more money. On the soldiers and the police, were paying for extra boots, for food, for everything else, logistics for numbers that dont exist. Sharyl is there any way to tell whos taking the money . John sopko its difficult because of the security situation. We in the u. S Oversight Community cant get out. Even the u. S. Military cant get out anymore. So its very difficult. Its really up to the afghans or designing systems for the afghans to implement. Sharyl who would it be that could conceivably help fix this . Or who is responsible for the misspending . John sopko well the misspending is obviously the afghans. Theyre the ones who are stealing the money. Who we are Holding Accountable is the Us Government for not considering this to be an issue when we raised it 3 or 4 years ago, but also not implementing some reforms to ensure that there actually is a soldier on the other end of that pay statement. Sharyl the pentagon is implementing a new system of biometrics in afghanistan using fingerprints, photos and blood type. It recently said up to 95 percent of Afghan Police and 7080 of soldiers are now enrolled. The idea is to dispense with old ghosts, and ensure proof of life among a faraway force funded by u. S. Taxpayers. What kind of money are we talking about . John sopko hundreds of millions of dollars, were talking about, that may be lost. Sharyl the pentagon expects to complete its personbyperson verification of afghans army and police in july. Sharyl still ahead on full measure the oldest profession, with a new twist sex traffickers take a page from isis through online recruiting, pushing teenagers into prostitution. For years, fios has been promising fast internet to small businesses. But for many businesses, its out of reach. Why promise something you cant deliver . Comcast business is different. We deliver superfast internet with speeds of 250 megabits per second across our entire network, to more companies, in more locations, than fios. We do business where you do business. Sharyl prostitution is sometimes called the worlds oldest profession, but these are dangerous new times. The ageold image of streetwalkers is being replaced by cybersex hookups. The thinly veiled alleged prostitution platforms hiding in plain sight are contributing to a rapid increase in sex trafficking. And that includes both recruiting and exploiting teenagers. According to one advocacy group, 63 of child sex trafficking Lisa Fletcher travelled to portland, oregon and found a thriving Online Market for pimps trafficking Young American girls up and down the west coast. Lindsay whittaker im in like the smallest, skimpiest outfit. Its freezing and its raining outside. Hes trying to rob me and im just scared for my life, like im in somebody elses car, like he could have easily killed me. Lisa Fletcher Lindsay whittaker is one of the lucky ones. She was a prostitute for six years and lived to talk about it. Born in vancouver, washington, lindsay ran away from home at age 12 and landed on the streets of portland. At what point did you go from being a run away kid with a troubled life at home, to a run away kid who was pushed into sex trafficking business . Lindsay whittaker mainly just being around the wrong people. Theres pimps and mean dirty people like that everywhere, a they approached me, i told them what was going on because i was scared, you know, a little child in the streets not knowing where they are going to eat, where they are going to go, so when you dont have that and somebody comes and tries to comfort you and take you in, you know, youre a kid and you fall for it. Lisa fletcher they sort of groom you . Lindsay whittaker yeah, like they train you, they slowly manipulate your mind and slowly say little things, that just get you to where they want you. Jeff tiegs these predators out there, these terrorists out there are looking for their rey. Lisa Fletcher Jeff tiegs leads the guardian group, that works to disrupt sex trafficking in the u. S. Jeff tiegs he just got engaged, this is an indicator that shes working for him. He is also a counterterrorism expert who spent 25 years in Us Army Special operations. Is recruiting for isis similar to recruiting for child trafficking . Jeff tiegs it is, in my opinion, identical. Lisa fletcher so, theyre looking for somebody whos vulnerable. Jeff tiegs yes. Lisa fletcher then what . Jeff tiegs they befriend that individual. So they begin to groom you and give you the things that you need, but ultimately, that grooming shifts to a breaking phase where they want you to do something that violates your character. That can be something from the terror world as violent as, and final, as a suicide bomber, or in the trafficking world, they convince you to start turning tricks and having sex with men. Lisa Fletcher Lindsey whittakers pimp sold her through strip clubs in portland and also posted her availability online. She looked young, and that was fine for the clients or johns were there johns that specifically requested you because they knew you were a kid . Lindsay whittaker yeah. Yeah, definitely, like thats, thats probably why a lot of them chose me anyways. Um, obviously, we wouldnt broadcast that i was a minor, but it was very clear, like, when youre a child you look like a child. Act like a child. Lisa fletcher do you remember how old you were the first time you were raped . Lindsay whitaker around that time when i first got on the streets, around like 12, 13. Lisa fletcher if you had to guess how many times you were raped, what do you think it would be . Lindsay whittaker oh, i cant even say a number. Thats just a lot. Lisa fletcher more than a hundred . Lindsay whittaker yeah. A lot. A lot. I dont know, its a sick world, that whole part that world, its just horrible. And i dont want, i dont want any girls to ever have to go through that, you know what i mean . Like, i would save every single one if i could. Chad opitz the main goal is if we get any minors, but the traffickers are the other things. Lisa fletcher in beaverton, oregon, a suburb southwest of portland, detective chad opitz makes it his mission to save as many of these girls as he can. Posing as an interested client, he sets up a date. You know, i was watching you text this morning setting up these dates, and i was thinking, you could be booking a plane ticket or dinner reservation. I mean its that easy. Chad opitz yes. Its sadly its too easy. Lisa fletcher how many texts a day do you think these women get on average . Had opitz i would say dozens. And thats probably being a safe number, it is pretty much right when they post, they get inundated with, with potential johns. These two just responded for pobbles. Lisa fletcher opitz showed us just how easy it is to buy a girl online, thru websites like backpage, a classified advertising site. Chad opitz right now we are waiting for maya to show up, she posted as an 18 year old here on backpage. And shes supposed to be showing up probably in the next 15 minutes. Chad opitz hi detective opitz, Beaverton Police department, how are you . Maya ended up being 16 years old. Chad opitz i just need to find out who you are and i need to make sure that youre okay. Ok . Lisa fletcher she was taken back to the police department. Counselor have you ever been in this sort of situation before . She received counseling and was Lisa Fletcher eventually released into the custody of her mother. While portlands brick and mortar sex shops are dwindling, the internet has only made it easier for prostitution and sex trafficking to flourish and for men interested in young girls to find exactly what they want. Jeff tiegs every single one of these girls is for sale right now. And you can see the time and date stamp on when they were posted, and the thing that we work with Law Enforcement on, is there, there are clues hidden in these ads that, that help you understand who they are, where they are, and help Law Enforcement become more efficient. And as we move closer and closer to that capability in the United States, trafficking is going to get crushed. Sharyl what is backpage . Lisa fletcher backpage is an Online Marketplace similar to craigslist. In january, a Senate Homeland security subcommittee ac of the things they found is that backpage knows it facilitates prostitution and child sex trafficking on its site. In two weeks well report on that investigation and into why congress hasnt taken stronger teps to shut down backpage and we did reach out to back passenger, they said bought of ongoing litigation they wouldnt talk to us or do interviews. And they are currently facing suits in states and both have been brought for allegations. Sharyl thanks, lisa. Next on full measure, mixing drugs and academics, were looking how some companies sharyl with the high cost of prescription drugs a matter of current debate pharmaceutical companies are hiring College Academics to convince congress the high prices are necessary. But these academics dont always disclose their company ties, according to Annie Waldman who investigated for propublica and recently talked with me about her findings. Annie waldman im looking at a new strategy at the pharmaceutical industry, which is, instead of paying off doctors, or lobbying congress, now the pharmaceutical industry is turning to academics in order to help them justify high drug prices. Sharyl attkisson and when you say theyre turning to academics, what exactly are they doing . Annie waldman they are hiring academics to do research which seems to support their end theory, which is that their drugs are highly valuable and therefore they should be able to set whatever price they want. Sharyl the pharmaceutical companies you reported have mounted a pr blitz, touting, for example, new cures for hepatitis c. Funny enough, ive seen new ads on tv that are urging all baby boomers to get tested for hepatitis c. Gilead sciences ad be sure to ask your doctor to get tested for hep c. Sharyl when do you think is behind that in terms of this affiliation you describe with the pharmaceutical industry and academics . Annie waldman when the hepatitis c cure came out, it was incredibly expensive, and the reason was because the, the First Pharmaceutical Company that released the cure wanted to set the price at the highest point that the market would bear. So, they started pushing and they pushed congressmen, they pushed academics, they pushed doctors in order to get everybody tested so that they would have to purchase the cure; however, our government cant afford to spend all this money to save everyone, so they started rationing the drugs. Sharyl whats wrong with the pharmaceutical industry trying to convince the government that these are good products and whats wrong with them getting paid whatever the market will allow them to make for all that research and development that theyve done . Annie waldman well, we all want innovation. We all want cures. And in other countries, you look at any other industrialized nation, they allow the government to get involved with drug pricing. They allow the government to say, you know is this really how much we want to spend on our drugs . But in the United States, were the only industrialized country where we say, hey, drug companies, whatever you want, charge, and well, well spend it. Sharyl in the broader sense, do pharmaceutical Companies Often make use of universities and academics to lend an air of neutrality to whatever it is theyre trying to push or publish or convince the government to do . Annie waldman definitely. I mean the relationship between industry and academia is not unusual. Theyre, they often collaborate in order to do research on drugs, in order to do drug testing, in order to even do economic reports. But the difference here is that if you have such a tight relationship with industry, there is a question of a potential for bias. There is a question of, you know, are you touting the industrys point of view or are you touting your nonbiased academic point of view, and the public has the right to question that. The public has a right to know that. Sharyl would you go so far as to say some academics in colleges have almost put themselves up for sale for the use of the pharmaceutical industry . Annie waldman i would definitely say that some academics have put themselves up for sale. You know, there is a growing trend of academics for hire in our society right now. Where academics, you know, maybe theyre not making enough money, maybe theyre not getting the right funding, through their, through their university, and so theyre turning to other sources and industry always welcomes academics. They always welcome academics who can lend that air of prestige to their work. Sharyl whats the most egregious example you can think of, or what is an example of which you know is an inappropriate collaboration between the pharmaceutical industry and the academic world . Annie waldman i would have to say that one example that i focused on was that of these academics, many of whom are economists, who are justifying high drug prices through complicated academic models, or complicated economic models. The reason why theyre doing this is that they believe that innovation should be funded at whatever cost. But then you have individuals like one woman i spoke with, emily scott in eastern tennessee who contracted hepatitis c through drug use, she cant afford the care. She cant get the care because essentially everybodys talking about, well we have to Fund Innovation down the road. But it has a real impact on real humans across the United States. Sharyl you can read more about the propublica investigation on our website, fullmeasure. News. Sharyl still ahead we go to salem, oregon. Weve done our pulse pieces in other towns but salem touches on a few subjects, that are out of sharyl we love taking some time in the cities we visit to stop and listen to what people have to say. This week its salem, the capital of oregon. Lisa fletcher, native, who brings us one topic of pulse conversation that weve never heard before. Lisa fletcher salem, oregon may be the legislative pulse of the state, but at mcmenamins pub, where homemade beer has been served from these taps for 27 years, bartender Betl Granados says theres an unspoken rule. Betl granados so they dont talk about politics, religion, and sometimes outer space. Lisa fletcher outer space . Betl granados yeah they get into arguments about that. Lisa fletcher no politics, no, religion, and no outer space. Welcome to oregon. Betl granados we try not to get into outer space you start dealing with quantum physics or getting very deep into black holes and things that we feel we arent talking clearly and its mostly opinion at that point. Were not astrophysicists so Lisa Fletcher outer space off limits. But in the backroom, earthlings like the siefer family cant help but talk a little politics. Konrad siefer they feel lik betrayed by the government is what theyre saying, they dont trust a lot of people up there. Lisa fletcher konrads father leo looks at the bickering back in dc with disdain. Leo siefer what happens that reminds me of what i saw in grade school. A lot of immaturity on both sides of the aisle. Lisa fletcher while ufos might be off the table, politics is all consuming, even for this college aged couple, gabi torgerson and riley berry. What sort of things are you and your friends talking about . Gabi torgerson right now the election, politics, donald trump, immigration laws, pretty much everything regarding american politics at now. Lisa fletcher but the seifers believe a love for the Great Outdoors bridges the political divide in oregon. Konrad seifer and i find that conservative or liberal, everyone has an appreciation for ust how green oregon is. A we have a little more unification than what might first appear. Were a little bit proud of it. Betl mixes drinks and keeps it simple. Betl ganados there are mostly oregonians here. We talk about beer we talk about wine we talk about the oregon ducks, things like that. Lisa fletcher in salem, oregon, im Lisa Fletcher for full measure. Sharyl my kind of place. Sharyl while everyone else is taking the same basic look at the first hundred days of the Trump Administration were taking a different approach. What are your reflexes so far on the medias treatment of donald trump under his presidency . Frank sesno this is a different ballgame. Weve always had a, an aggressive press, weve always had a political press, weve always had a snarky, white house press. But this is different. I think its different because donald trump has singled out the press and their treatment. Hes declared war on the press. Sharyl we look at the 100 days f the media and its war with president trump. Thats all for this week, thanks for watching. Did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back . Say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. Comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet thats over 6 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. Say hello to internet speeds up to 250 mbps. And add phone and tv for only 34. 90 more a month. Call today. Comcast business. Built for business. From washington d. C. And around the world, this is Government Matters with francis rose. Thanks for watching the Weekend Edition of Government Matters, the only show covering the news trends and topics of government. Im your host, francis rose. The armys Rapid Capabilities office had its first rapid prototype in project in the field. It will give the army a leg up on electronic warfare. Major shofr is in charge of the Rapid Capabilities. What is this project, and who are soldiers doing with it in the field . Thanks