Emmy® Award-Winning AXS TV Host Dan Rather Produces A New Series Of Documentary Specials Focusing On Our Nation's Most Challenging Issues

'DAN RATHER PRESENTS: ONE WAY TICKET TO NOWHERE-AMERICA'S MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS' PREMIERES TUESDAY, MAY 6, AT 8pE/5pP

First Episode Focuses On Nevada's Dumping Scandal, Hospital Overflow And How Jail Time is Often the Result if Treatment is Not Available

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Apr 16, 2014, 09:17 ET

LOS ANGELES, April 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Emmy® Award-winning Dan Rather, whose fearless brand of investigative reporting has made him a legend in broadcast journalism, continues to tackle some of the country's most serious challenges when the new AXS TV documentary series, DAN RATHER PRESENTS, premieres on Tues., May 6 at 8pE/5pP.

The first episode, ONE WAY TICKET TO NOWHERE: AMERICA'S MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS, is an in-depth one hour report detailing how the nation is currently dealing with the mentally ill, who—by some estimates—make up as much as 25 percent of the U.S. population.

AXS TV Logo. (PRNewsFoto/AXS.TV) (PRNewsFoto/AXS.TV)

The riveting report, hosted by Rather, addresses how severe this problem has become for the nation's hospitals, law enforcement agencies and individual states. One state in particular, Nevada, is a primary focus of the special as the state has drawn heavy criticism for its mishandling of the mentally ill. Last year it was discovered that Nevada's Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital, in Las Vegas, had bused nearly 1,500 patients out of state since 2008. This practice, called "patient dumping," has inspired a federal court case and caused San Francisco to sue Nevada for discharging patients too early, in addition to bussing them out of state.

For the special, Rather visits Rawson-Neal Hospital one year later after the scandal broke and interviews Nevada's Director of Health & Human Services, and speaks exclusively with former Rawson-Neal employees who candidly discuss what it was like to work at the state's psychiatric hospital. Rather also talks to patients who have come forward for the first time to share their experiences at the Las Vegas hospital and describe what the conditions were like at Rawson-Neal. DAN RATHER PRESENTS was the first entity allowed to film in the hospital since the scandal.

In addition to highlighting the mental health crisis affecting hospitals, Rather talks to law enforcement officers about the growing dilemma of mentally ill persons who land in jail because of lack of treatment. The hard-hitting special also takes a look at the number of mentally ill who are killed each year by law enforcement officers, and new training procedures being put into place to better educate police on handling people with mental illness.

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ABOUT DAN RATHER PRESENTS
Legendary newsman, Dan Rather presents hard-edged field reports, in-depth interviews and investigative pieces in his new documentary series. Each story emphasizes the accuracy, fairness and guts that have been a hallmark of Rather's illustrious career, which has spanned more than six decades.

ABOUT AXS TV
As TV's premier destination for live music festival broadcasts, AXS TV delivers relevant, unpredictable and irreverent programming by presenting unfiltered access to today's top comedians, newsmakers, musical entertainers and their performances. Launched in July 2012 by visionary entrepreneur Mark Cuban, AXS TV is dedicated to providing the best in music programming and festivals, comedy performances, current events and mixed martial arts promotions. Indicative of the network's dedication to music programming, AXS TV Concerts is the official 2014 TV broadcaster of the prestigious Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (April 18-20), Stagecoach Country Music Festival (April 25-27) and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (May 1-4). AXS TV is a partnership between Mark Cuban, AEG, Ryan Seacrest Media, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and CBS. The network is available in the United States via AT&T U-verse, Charter, Comcast/Xfinity, DIRECTV, DISH, Suddenlink, Verizon FiOS, and other cable, satellite and telco providers. The network is also distributed in Canada and the Caribbean. For more information, visit the website, www.axs.tv; go to the Facebook page here and follow the company on Twitter, @axstv; on Instagram; Tumblr and YouTube.