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CNN CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT
Cancer Hoax Exposed; Robert Blake Behind Bars
Aired January 16, 2003 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: Good evening. I'm Connie Chung.
How could a mother tell her 7-year-old daughter she's going to die when the girl is perfectly healthy?
ANNOUNCER: She was told she was dying of cancer, only to find out it was all a hoax.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. DAVID REESE, URBANA POLICE DEPARTMENT: The mother was shaving her head and giving her sleeping pills to make her groggy, to make her appear that she had leukemia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Her parents charged with faking a deadly disease for profit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's going to have to pay for what she did to her little daughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: The twisted lie and the betrayed child.
A precision bombing run by two U.S. pilots...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJOR HARRY SCHMIDT, AIR FORCE: Bomb's away. Breaking left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: ... goes horribly wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope that was the right thing to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, their families come to their defense. The reality show madness, when will it end? Tonight, the B-list celebrities get their next 15 minutes of fame.
Trapped in the Antarctic winter, a woman makes a horrifying discovery. She has cancer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JERRI NIELSEN, SOUTH POLE SURVIVOR: I had to do a biopsy to see if I really had cancer. So, I actually did it myself, but I also trained a welder to help me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Dr. Jerri Nielsen's heroic battle from the South Pole, "Beating the Odds."
And our "Person of the Day" is out of this world.
This is CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT. Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York: Connie Chung.
CHUNG: Good evening.
Tonight: the unimaginable. A little girl is told she's dying of cancer by those who should love her the most, her parents. Now police are saying it was all a big lie. The motivation, authorities say: money.
CNN's Brian Cabell has the mindboggling story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than six months, 7-year-old Hannah Milbrandt thought she was suffering from leukemia. That's what her mother told her, according to authorities.
REESE: The mother was shaving her head and giving her sleeping pills to make her groggy, to make her appear that she had leukemia.
CABELL: It turns out it was all a hoax, perpetrated, police say, by her parents. Police say Hannah's mother, Teresa Milbrandt, has past convictions for credit card fraud, welfare fraud and writing bad checks. But the lawyer for her father, Robert Milbrandt, denies he was involved.
MARK FEINSTEIN, ATTORNEY FOR ROBERT MILBRANDT: Well, if your spouse said, our 7-year-old is deathly ill, you're not going to have any reason whatsoever to be suspicious and to investigate and to look into it.
CABELL: Hannah's grandmother has been charged in the hoax. Her attorney told CNN she had no comment.
The entire community of Urbana was taken in by the sad story. Posters seeking help went up. Cans soliciting donations were placed around town. And the gifts and money came pouring in, $10,000, by some accounts.
REESE: A lot of the firemen have made donations out of their own pockets, on top of what the fire union gave. So, at this point, we don't know how much money even anybody's given, including the fire department.
CABELL: According to police, Hannah's mother claims the scam was a little white lie that just got out of control. Her neighbors aren't buying it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has got problems in life. And to tell the truth, she's going to have to pay for what she did to her little daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just appalled at the whole situation. I couldn't believe that that had happened.
CABELL: Hannah, who, at one point, was given counseling to prepare her for dying, is now in foster care. Her mother and father face charges of corrupt activity, endangering children, theft, and possession of criminal tools. CNN's calls to Hannah's mother for a response have not been returned.
Brian Cabell, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: Joining us now are David Curnutte, a firefighter who helped raise money for Hannah, and his daughter Emily, who was in Hannah's class; and Tish Turnmire, the mother's manicurist, who also raised money for Hannah.
Thank you all for being with us.
Emily, let's start with you.
Emily, everybody thought that Hannah had cancer. Did she seem sick to you?
EMILY CURNUTTE, CLASSMATE OF HANNAH: Yes.
CHUNG: Did she wear a mask and a hat on her head?
E. CURNUTTE: Yes. She wore those every day.
CHUNG: Do you know why she was wearing them?
E. CURNUTTE: Because she -- everybody thought she had cancer.
CHUNG: Emily, when you found out that she didn't have cancer, what did you think?
E. CURNUTTE: At first, I felt really bad for her. And then I was glad, because she's not going to die.
CHUNG: All right, dad, David, when was the last time you saw Hannah's mother and Hannah?
DAVID CURNUTTE, MOTHER OF HANNAH'S CLASSMATE: The last time I saw them, I saw them at a grocery store here in town. That was probably some time before Christmas.
CHUNG: And what did they tell you? What did the mom tell you?
D. CURNUTTE: At that point, Hannah's mother had told us that Hannah's cancer was progressing to her jaw area and that it was getting worse.
CHUNG: And now, according to authorities, in fact, she does not have cancer. I, personally, can't imagine any parent doing such a thing.
D. CURNUTTE: Oh, I agree totally. I don't think any of us here in Urbana can totally believe what has happened. Being parents that we all are, it's just mindboggling how any parent could come up with such a scheme on their 7-year-old kid.
CHUNG: David, apparently, Hannah's mother said it was a little white lie that got out of control. What do you think of that?
D. CURNUTTE: She had to know what she was doing to plan all this. It just doesn't happen out of a little white lie.
CHUNG: Yes.
Tish, I know that you gave manicures to Hannah's mom. And, in the beginning, she came in and why was she so convincing?
TISH TURNMIRE, HAIRDRESSER OF TERESA MILBRANDT: She was just telling me about Hannah and how sick she was and that she had leukemia. And she would tear up and I would go over and console her, when she got to talking about Hannah and how sick she was.
CHUNG: I know you raised a lot of money, mostly -- many from your clients, to help them out. But, at one point, did you become suspicious?
TURNMIRE: Yes. My daughter and I, we kind of wondered about things. She had said that they weren't going to have Thanksgiving, so we had gone over to our church and put in for a Thanksgiving basket for them, delivered it to the house. Hannah was up and running around, playing with the dog.
And my daughter and I both said that, when we left, that, if we didn't know better, that we thought Hannah was a healthy 7-year-old kid.
CHUNG: David, I know that you and your firehouse raised a lot of money and you personally gave money to them. Do you have any idea what they did with the money that you contributed and your firehouse contributed, because it's estimated to be as much as $10,000?
D. CURNUTTE: I'm not really sure what they did with the money. I know that our union gave $500. We were able to get the family a trip to King's Island, all expenses paid. Personally, I'm not really worried about the money. I am happy that Hannah's going to be OK. And I hope justice will be served.
CHUNG: All right, David and Emily Curnutte, and, Tish Turnmire, thank you so much for being with us.
Still ahead: the anguished cries of an innocent man or just the latest performance by accused killer Robert Blake?
ANNOUNCER: Still ahead: A woman trapped at the South Pole discovers she has deadly cancer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIELSEN: I thought that it was going to go all over my body and I would die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Her courageous fight for survival, "Beating the Odds."
CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will continue in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: For the first time since he went to jail, we now are getting a revealing look at actor Robert Blake behind bars. Blake, as you know, is accused of murdering his wife.
Yesterday, at a deposition, he made a tearful plea, saying he wants to talk and he's not being allowed to do so. His criminal defense attorney told him not to answer the questions which were posed to him by the lawyer representing Bonny Lee Bakley's family in a wrongful-death suit against Blake.
Before the questions could even begin, Blake wanted to tell his version of life behind bars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BLAKE, ACCUSED OF MURDER: I have no human contact. I get offered 10 minutes every other day for a shower by myself. I get lawyers visits by myself. I get a priest for a half-hour on Sunday, when he's in town, in my cell, with two guards watching to see that I behave. I get to shake his hand. That's the human contact that I have. Once a week, I get to shake a guy's hand.
ERIC DUBIN, BAKLEY FAMILY ATTORNEY: What are you so afraid of, Tom?
THOMAS MESEREAU, ATTORNEY FOR ROBERT BLAKE: I'm not afraid of anything. This is a circus and a clown show that you've put on to get publicity. You knew he wasn't going to answer questions, because I was going to order him not to. DUBIN: He wants to talk.
MESEREAU: You want publicity.
(CROSSTALK)
DUBIN: Why not tell the truth?
MESEREAU: Mr. Dubin, it's obvious what you're doing. You're putting on a nice circus and a nice clown show for the media.
DUBIN: You're the only clown here right now.
MESEREAU: He is not going to respond. Mr. Dubin, you a very professional, very, very...
DUBIN: Let me talk.
MESEREAU: Mr. Dubin, I told you what his response is going to be to every question.
DUBIN: Are you going to cut me off every time I talk?
MESEREAU: Mr. Dubin, ask your questions. Don't lecture us.
DUBIN: OK.
Do you love Bonny Lee Bakley?
MESEREAU: Mr. Blake, I'm ordering you not to respond to that question. And, as your agent, I am asserting all of your constitutional rights and privileges under the United States and the California constitutions.
DUBIN: And do you love your baby with Bonny, Rosie?
MESEREAU: Mr. Blake, I'm ordering you not to respond to that question. And, as your agent, I am asserting all of your constitutional rights and privileges under the United States and the California constitutions.
DUBIN: Do you want Rosie to know the truth about this crime?
MESEREAU: Mr. Blake, I'm ordering you not to respond to that or any other question. This is strictly a publicity stunt by this lawyer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: And joining us now from Los Angeles, where he's been covering the case, CNN's Charles Feldman.
Charles, thank you so much for being with us.
It was quite obvious that that was two lawyers bickering, because that's what they do, but can you sort of give us the short version of what was going on?
CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Connie, let me tell you, if any of the old episodes of "Baretta" were half as interesting as what happened yesterday at the deposition, that show would still be on the air.
What you had was, you had Robert Blake at a civil deposition being ordered to give testimony. He had his criminal lawyer, Mr. Mesereau, ordering him not to answer questions because, of course, the criminal trial has yet to happen. And then you had the attorney, Eric Dubin, who represents the estate of his slain wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, who was trying to ask questions.
So, it became an absolute circus. And, as you heard, you had Robert Blake trying to get out his side of the story. You had his criminal lawyer on one side saying, hey, don't answer those questions. And then you had the lawyer for the Bakley family wanting to press his points. And it just -- it deteriorated. And after about two hours, everybody came to their senses and they called off the whole thing, Connie.
CHUNG: All right, Charles, also, apparently, Blake was making this tearful plea. He wanted to talk. And he got into a tiff with his own lawyer.
Can you explain what Blake's reason was for wanting to talk and why this lawyer doesn't want him to talk? And what will happen? Are they going to split?
CHARLES FELDMAN: Yes.
Well Blake says: Look, I'm in jail now for a long time. I may be in jail for a lot longer. And he thinks that the media has not given him a fair shake, that he wants to get his side of the story out. And so, as you said, yesterday, it got so tense between him and his own attorney that the guy actually broke down and started to cry, wanting to get his story out.
But his attorney, his criminal attorney, did the right thing. I mean, his job, Connie, is to make sure that his client doesn't say anything that could end up being used against him when that criminal trial comes around. And that's almost a year away. And so his job, Mr. Mesereau's job, is to make sure that his client keeps his mouth shut. The problem is, Mr. Blake doesn't want to go along with that. He did reluctantly at the end, but it's not so certain, Connie, that he is going to continue to keep his mouth zippered.
CHUNG: All right. And this lawyer is going to stay on the case, or no, you think?
CHARLES FELDMAN: Well, this lawyer, for the moment, is staying on the case. Tomorrow, there's going to be a court hearing. One of the other criminal lawyers, she's going to split, because she doesn't agree with Blake wanting to keep talking to the press. And there are a lot of rumors around here in L.A., Connie, that Gerry Spence -- I'm sure you know him. CHUNG: Sure.
CHARLES FELDMAN: That's the criminal lawyer who likes to come into courtrooms dressed in a cowboy outfit, although he has an Ivy League education. There are lots of rumors that he wants to come on board. And, if he does, then it's questionable whether Mesereau will stay or whether it will become a one-man show. Actually, with Blake, make it a two-man show.
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: All right, Charles Feldman, thank you so much.
When we come back: Did U.N. weapons inspectors find a smoking gun in Iraq?
Stay with us.
ANNOUNCER: Next: Two U.S. pilots take the heat for a tragedy a world away. Their families speak out on their behalf.
CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Potentially damaging testimony today against two U.S. pilots at a hearing to determine whether they should face a court- martial for the deadly friendly firebombing of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. An Air Force commander testified there were standing orders to pilots warning of allied exercises in the area.
And, as CNN's Ed Lavandera report, the Air Force yesterday released onboard tapes of the fatal mission.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're seeing what the pilots of two F-16 fighter jets saw while flying near Kandahar last April. Major Bill Umbach's view is on the left, Major Harry Schmidt's view on the right. They report seeing threatening rocket- propelled ground fire. Schmidt wants to launch a warning shot.
SCHMIDT: I've got a tally on the vicinity. I request permission to lay down some 20 mike-mike.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's just make sure that it's not friendly. That's all.
LAVANDERA: The ground fire continues. After waiting 80 seconds, the pilots aren't told if the ground forces are friendlies. Schmidt decides he can't wait any longer.
SCHMIDT: I've got some men on a road. And it looks like a piece of artillery firing at us. I am rolling in, in self-defense. LAVANDERA: During testimony in the Article 32 hearing, the allied communication director that night said the pilots should have waited longer; 20 seconds after declaring self-defense, Schmidt lines up the target.
SCHMIDT: Bomb's away. Breaking left.
LAVANDERA: Another 20 seconds pass and you see the bomb strike the Canadian army unit. Then, 10 seconds later, the dreadful words.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bossman, disengage. Friendlies, Kandahar.
LAVANDERA: The communication director also says the pilots should have known they were flying over a restricted operating zone, or RAZ. That means it was likely allied troops could be in the area. But the cockpit recordings show neither the pilots nor the surveillance crew knew this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was no RAZ effective in that area tonight, as far as our brief was concerned. Do you concur?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bossman concurs.
DAVID BECK, ATTORNEY FOR UMBACH: You cannot wait. When you are in a position to where you believe you're in immediate danger of being shot down, or your wingman is, you cannot wait.
LAVANDERA: Before the recordings are turned off, you can hear the pilots trying to make sense of what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had a group of guys on a road around a gun. And it did not look organized, like it would be our guys. I hope that was the right thing to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me, too.
LAVANDERA: The pilots' attorneys say this tape is missing almost three minutes of cockpit recordings before the bomb was dropped. They say those conversations show how communication officials did not pass along crucial information to the pilots about who was on the ground below them. That information, they say, could have saved the lives of four Canadian soldiers.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: And joining us now, Bob Umbach, brother of mission commander, Major Bill Umbach.
Sir, how is your brother doing?
BOB UMBACH, BROTHER OF WILLIAM UMBACH: As best we can tell, pretty good. We don't get to see him a lot. He's pretty busy in meetings after the hearing and brief visits with him during lunch, maybe dinner sometimes. Fairly well. CHUNG: But he's coping, no doubt, as best he can?
UMBACH: I think as good as he can, yes.
CHUNG: Based on that tape that we just heard, it does appear that your brother was concerned that he and Major Schmidt did the right thing. So, does that give you pause to think that maybe they feared that, in fact, it was friendly fire?
UMBACH: From what I saw on the tape, I believe that they felt there was a threat there and they were acting on their rules of engagement.
CHUNG: I understand that a good deal of money has been raised to help your brother, about $150,000. It must be heartwarming for you.
UMBACH: It really is, yes. The people around the community in the Springfield area, the surrounding smaller communities, just -- the money and the cards, everything is coming in. It's wonderful.
CHUNG: All right. Bob Umbach, I thank you so much for being with us. And our best to you and your family.
UMBACH: Thank you.
CHUNG: Of course, there are many sides to this story. The pilots are blaming their superiors and the military. The military is blaming the pilots. And the Canadians are blaming pretty much everyone.
Joining us now from Tucson, Arizona, to give us some perspective is CNN military analyst Major General Don Shepperd.
Thank you, sir, for being with us.
Based on what you have learned about this particular case, do you think that what the two pilots did was justified or reasonable?
RET. MAJOR GEN. DONALD SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Connie, there's a couple of things here that you have to consider.
It's clear that it was justified at the time in their minds. It's clear that they did not know about the friendlies in the area, for whatever reason. That is being investigated. It's also clear that Major Schmidt, at least, thought that he or his wingman were under attack and that he could roll in under the self-defense rules.
That, however, will not be what this case centers on. What the case will center on is, despite those two factors and other factors that will be introduced, were the actions taken by the pilots reasonable and prudent under the circumstances? That's what the case will turn on. And it's under investigation right now. The initial recommendation was that it go to a court-martial.
This investigation will determine, for the commander 8th Air Force, whether he basically throws out the charges, takes a lesser punishment, or refers it to a court-martial, which becomes a trial, Connie.
CHUNG: But, General, when you say it will be based on the circumstances, each side views the circumstances differently. Clearly, the pilot said, they should have been told that there were Canadians down there with live exercises and that they didn't get information back. And they thought that they were being hit. So, they were going to respond.
SHEPPERD: Yes, that's absolutely true. That's what we have heard. And, of course, we have only seen a tape briefly. And we've heard a little bit about this investigation. It has not been made public. So, we're hearing bits and pieces, not the whole picture.
But it's fairly clear that that's what they believed, that they should have been told. And, definitely, they should have been have been told that there were exercises in the area. I don't know whether they were or not. But, again, the key will be, not only were those exercises known to them, but -- and not only did they feel they were under attack, but did the actions they took as a result of what they faced, were they reasonable, proper?
Did they violate any other regulations or directives, or common sense, for that matter, in what they did, Connie?
CHUNG: General Shepperd, I thank you so much for being with us.
SHEPPERD: Pleasure.
CHUNG: Right now, news that raises the prospect of war in Iraq, that tops our look at "The World in: 60."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): U.N. arms inspectors found 11 empty chemical warheads in excellent condition while inspecting bunkers outside Baghdad. A 12th warhead required further evaluation. A U.N. official said the find does not necessarily mean Iraq violated U.N. resolutions. Iraq denies any link between the warheads and weapons of mass destruction.
Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law is under house arrest in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. wants to talk to Mohammad Jamal Khalifa over his alleged ties to terrorist groups in the Philippines thought to be part of the al Qaeda network.
President Bush urged Congress to reform medical malpractice liability. The president said that limiting jury awards in malpractice suits is the best way to solve the skyrocketing cost of health care.
A spectacular five-alarm fire devoured a foam factory in St. Louis, Missouri. Because foam production uses highly flammable materials, the building was destroyed in less than two hours. All employees were evacuated safely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: Still ahead: She fought for her life in the middle of the South Pole, 10,000 miles from home, "Beating the Odds."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Tonight, our series "Beating the Odds" continues with perhaps the most daunting challenge of all, one that held the world spellbound as a woman trapped at the South Pole faced odds no one ever had before.
It was 1999 Dr. Jerri Nielsen discovered she had breast cancer. She really thought she was going to die. But she was wrong, because she and dozens of people in the South Pole rallied to help her. And they were more capable than ever of "Beating the Odds."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIELSEN: This is what it looks like underneath, the ice world.
CHUNG (voice-over): Antarctica is the land of extremes, extreme cold, extremely isolated.
NIELSEN: It was like living on a planet in a different galaxy. You never thought of yourself as living on this earth. In fact, we referred to the rest of the Earth as the world.
CHUNG: The people here are scientists, nicknamed polies, renegades in search of an adventure at the remotest frontier of the planet, studying everything, from the ice to the atmosphere. Life at the bottom of the earth is cramped; 41 people live in a tiny dome built for 17. Icicles hang from the heated hallways. Showers are limited to twice a week.
Fresh food? Well, there's not much. It's not the kind of place most people would go to to get away from it all, except if you're Jerri Nielsen, who struggled through a divorce and estrangement from her three children.
NIELSEN: I had been through a time in my life that was real difficult. And I had made some big decisions to change. And I tried changing a little at a time, day by day. It didn't work. I decided, what I need is a big change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the last plane out.
CHUNG: It was a year-long commitment for Nielsen. Six months of it would be in complete darkness, so cold and dark that, during the Antarctic winter, there would be no way out. No planes could fly in for 8 1/2 months, not even if someone was sick.
NIELSEN: This is the doctor's office.
CHUNG: That's why Jerri was there, the only doctor on the pole.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which one do I need? Straight up?
NIELSEN: Yes.
CHUNG: Her job was to treat everything, from broken bones...
NIELSEN: X-ray?
CHUNG: To frost bite.
NIELSEN: The only (OFF-MIKE) in the American Antarctic, so that we could treat hypothermia.
CHUNG (on camera): You turned out to be, actually, a shrink, a dentist, postmaster.
NIELSEN: The dentist was the scariest part.
CHUNG: Why?
NIELSEN: For everyone.
(LAUGHTER)
NIELSEN: One of my friends, I remember looking at her. And I was so scared, because I'd had five hours of dental training. That's all. She had such terror in her eyes. And I thought, you don't know I'm more scared than you are. I said, are you afraid of dentists? And she said, oh, yes. I said, don't worry. I'm not one.
(LAUGHTER)
NIELSEN: But that was our way of life there. And that was what was so beautiful is, I think all of us are capable of so much more than we know, both spiritually, as far as our strengths, and also as far as our abilities, our skills. And that place makes you learn that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's my hero.
CHUNG (voice-over): At the time, Nielsen had no idea how fast the tables would turn on her. Ironically, before she left for the pole, her father had predicted it.
NIELSEN: He said, what if you get cancer?
CHUNG (on camera): He actually said that?
NIELSEN: Yes, he did. My dad said, what if something happens to you? If other people get sick, they have a doctor, but you wouldn't have a doctor.
CHUNG: Did you have an answer for him?
NIELSEN: I said, don't worry. I'd take care of it myself. And my brothers, knowing me, said, oh, yes, she will.
CHUNG (voice-over): An eerie foreshadowing. It was five months into her stay. The last plane delivering supplies had left in February and would not be able to return until at least November. Jerri made a discovery that would change her life forever.
NIELSEN: I found a lump. And I realized I had 8 1/2 to nine months to go and I would not get treatment.
CHUNG (on camera): What did you think?
NIELSEN: I thought I was done for.
CHUNG: Really?
NIELSEN: I really did. I thought...
CHUNG: Did you think it was cancer?
NIELSEN: Oh, yes. And I thought I'd gambled and lost, because I knew that it was a big gamble to go live at the South Pole with no way out.
So, what I did is, I didn't tell anyone. And, instead, I readied my hospital for other people to take over if something happened to me. And everyone thought I was like a clean freak, putting everything in little baggies with directions. But I thought, well, if I get really, really sick, I'm going to make sure they know how to set bones and use the equipment and drill teeth and that type of thing.
You can't just go up and down, because you'll just go to the same channel. You have to wiggle.
CHUNG (voice-over): It was a race against time. She was getting sick very quickly, exhausted and feeling the lymph nodes near her breasts growing, a sign the disease may be spreading. A preliminary test she performed on the lump led her to believe it was cancer. Now she needed to do a biopsy to figure out what kind of cancer she had. And, for that, she needed help from the polies.
NIELSEN: See, I got it.
WALT FISCHEL, WELDER: Yes. Right there. That was -- that's the method.
NIELSEN: I also trained a welder to help me.
FISCHEL: There's what happened first.
NIELSEN: OK. That's good. That's exactly what we want.
And he did it also. So what we would do is, I used a potato, a dried-up potato and taught Walt the welder how to operate. And he was real good. A lot of people say to me, why did you pick a welder? You had eight physicists? Well, wouldn't you rather have a welder work on you?
(LAUGHTER)
NIELSEN: And he did great.
Wow. That thing feels like it's got fluid in it.
CHUNG (voice-over): Nielsen had proved her father right. She took turns with the welder, operating on herself. Incredibly, she stayed awake during the entire procedure, using ice and a local painkiller to numb the area. Thanks to the hard work of another polie...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you see the one on the right all right?
CHUNG: ... the images of the tumor were sent by computer to Jerri's doctor in the states. Diagnosis? A very aggressive and deadly cancer. Yet it was months before the pole would open. Jerri was stuck at the South Pole with no cancer medication. How would she survive?
NIELSEN: The Air Force asked for volunteers. And they took a volunteer team of very courageous people. And they flew over the pole in the middle of the Antarctic night. It was 86 below zero where we stood. It was much colder above. And they dropped, by parachute, the medications I needed.
CHUNG (on camera): This was mission impossible, wasn't it?
NIELSEN: Oh, yes.
CHUNG: You begin the chemotherapy. Everything seems to be going all right?
NIELSEN: Oh, yes.
CHUNG: You're losing your hair.
NIELSEN: Well, yes, but I expected that.
CHUNG: So, was the cancer shrinking?
NIELSEN: Yes. At first, it did. At first, with the Taxol, it shrunk. And I thought, oh, this is wonderful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, the Taxol, when it goes in this bag...
NIELSEN: And then it started to grow and it was growing very quickly. So, we tried...
CHUNG: So, what did you fear?
NIELSEN: I thought that it was going to go all over my body and I would die. And I'm trying to not let anyone know how bad things are. But I'm now falling, unable to walk well, and short of breath, and have pains. So, at that point, I realized I was really in trouble.
CHUNG (voice-over): That's when the National Science Foundation and the Air National Guard decided it was time to bring Jerri home.
(on camera): Again, a mission impossible. NIELSEN: Exactly.
Well, it had to be above 50 below zero or the fuel would turn to Jello and the hydraulics wouldn't work. And no one had ever come in that early to the South Pole. It was thought to be impossible. So the idea was, we'll wait until the weather gets warm and then we'll come in quickly, give me three minutes to get on board, and take off again.
CHUNG (voice-over): But there was an unexpected challenge. Right before the plane was to land, a terrible storm kicked up, a total whiteout.
NIELSEN: The pilot, McAllister, told me that he saw nothing and he thought that he was inside of a ping-pong ball.
CHUNG (on camera): Oh, my gosh.
NIELSEN: He said that's exactly what it felt like. But he decided that he had to land. We couldn't believe it when we heard them, because we couldn't see them. They went -- I went like, wow, they're here.
CHUNG: So you were very weak at that point.
NIELSEN: Very weak. Very weak.
CHUNG: But your friends were around you. They were ready to...
NIELSEN: Lift me up and physically throw me onto the plane.
CHUNG: Is that what they did?
NIELSEN: Yes. And I landed on my hands and knees. And when I turned around to say goodbye, everyone was gone.
CHUNG (voice-over): And just that quickly, the pole was behind her.
NIELSEN: Do mom and dad know that I'm out?
CHUNG: She was immediately reunited with friends, family and fresh vegetables.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Salad.
(CROSSTALK)
NIELSEN: Oh, my gosh.
CHUNG: Nielsen quickly fought her cancer: surgery, more chemotherapy. Today, she's cancer-free.
NIELSEN: It's wonderful, is what it is. It's the wonderful grace. It's a miracle, because so many people took care of me. CHUNG: As a result of her battle with cancer, Nielsen struggles with a chronic illness called lymphedema, recurrent infections and swellings in her arms. Sometimes, it can be life-threatening.
But for the doctor who survived so much, it's now part of daily life. Today, she travels around the world, sharing her experiences. She also works out, tai chi for her mind and spirit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to five minutes on this for a warm-up.
CHUNG: And treadmill and universal work for her body. And can you believe it? Just weeks ago, Jerri went back to Antarctica to that barren land. It was a vacation with her mother and brother. But, this time, she only stayed a couple of weeks.
NIELSEN: I think that, when you fall off a horse, you've got to get back on right away.
CHUNG (on camera): How do you think your life changed? And how do you think your friends' lives changed?
NIELSEN: Wow. My life's changed so much. I'm not afraid of very much anymore. When you realize that death isn't bad, what are you going to be scared of?
CHUNG: Are you still practicing medicine?
NIELSEN: No, I'm not.
CHUNG: Will you?
NIELSEN: I want to practice medicine so bad. And I went back to work in Baltimore in August and I got an infection and I had to quit. So, I am trying again. And I will continue to try to go back, because I love it. I love taking care of people.
CHUNG: Is there any way you can repay all these people who helped you along the way, those in the South Pole, those who dropped the chemotherapy, those who picked you up?
NIELSEN: Yes, I think, by living well. They gave me my life. Now I have to live it well. I have to make my life meaningful. And I'm trying to do that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: If you think Dr. Nielsen's life makes an amazing story, you're not alone. Just today, it was reported that Susan Sarandon will star in a television movie based on Dr. Nielsen's book, "Ice Bound."
Tomorrow, our series "Beating the Odds" continues with Mariel Hemingway, how she battled against her famous family's legacy of suicide, alcoholism, depression and other tragedies -- the Hemingway curse, tomorrow night. ANNOUNCER: Still ahead: What happens when your 15 of minutes of fame is up? You hitch a ride on the reality-show bandwagon. It's a "Surreal Life" -- when CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Just how far can they go? Apparently, not far enough.
I read in one of the papers this morning a quote from a network programmer that reality TV is like crack for network executives. Enter the WB's new "Surreal Life." They've been described as B-list with claims to fame from years back. Here are three at work: actor Corey Feldman, from "Stand By Me" and other movies, getting lectured by rapper M.C. Hammer, to the obvious delight of "Webster" star Emanuel Lewis.
Even if you want to, you just can't tear yourself away. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE SURREAL LIFE")
COREY FELDMAN, ACTOR: I've never made $13 million on any project.
M.C. HAMMER, SINGER: But you've got the potential to.
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: If you stopped dragging the last 15 years, if you would just be who you are, getting a script in your hand. There are some great roles waiting on Corey, when he releases whatever happened 12, 10, nine, eight years ago. Let's get it on and go get your money. And if you need me to go and be your agent, man, I'll read the script and get you the right one. I ain't got time to play! I ain't got time to play! I ain't got time to play!
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: Joining me now from "The Surreal Life" in Los Angeles: Corey Feldman. And here with me: Emmanuel Lewis and Gabrielle Carteris, formerly of "Beverly Hills 90210."
Thank you so much for being with us, all of you.
COREY FELDMAN: Hello, Connie.
GABRIELLE CARTERIS, ACTRESS: Hi, Corey.
CHUNG: Hi, Corey.
COREY FELDMAN: Hi, guys. How are you?
EMMANUEL LEWIS, ACTOR: What's happening, buddy?
CARTERIS: Take the B-list off. That's what I say.
CHUNG: OK, well, let's talk about that, because you have been called B-list celebrities, you know?
(CROSSTALK)
CARTERIS: I know, but is that just an easy thing for people to say. In fact, we talked about this as a group the other day, the idea that all of us collectively have had really incredible careers, and that it's so interesting that people want to go -- when you had -- I mean, really, if you look at -- when you say Motley Crue was bigger than the Beatles at one point.
(CROSSTALK)
CHUNG: OK. But I think the reality is that you have been spending your time in peaceful obscurity. Why would you want to do this?
CARTERIS: It's a whole new genre, the reality talk show stuff, I mean the reality shows going on right now.
COREY FELDMAN: Can I step in here somewhere?
CHUNG: All right, go ahead, Corey. Why would you want to do this?
COREY FELDMAN: Well, first of all, I have to say that, to lump all of these people in any way into one category is a bit absurd, because you're talking about seven people from very different walks of life, who are all at completely different stages of their careers.
One person may be at beginning of their career, somebody like Jerri or Brande, whereas other people have been doing it forever and sold millions of records or gotten Grammys or Golden Globes, or what have you. So, you can never really lump or label everybody into one package. It's not quite that cut-and-dry.
CHUNG: Well, Corey, let me go on to something else.
(CROSSTALK)
CHUNG: You said on the show that the show will give you the opportunity to show the world the person you really are. And you said you're more than an actor, more than a musician. "I'm a celebrity. I'm an icon." My God, you were being facetious, weren't you?
COREY FELDMAN: No. In actuality...
CHUNG: You believe that?
COREY FELDMAN: In actuality, what happened, Connie is that the way that it was edited is not exactly the way that it was filmed.
(CROSSTALK)
CHUNG: You mean it is not reality TV?
COREY FELDMAN: Well, what I'm trying to explain is that there was a three- or four-hour interview session, where I was talking all about my life and different aspects of it. And the question that was asked to me at that moment was, isn't it true, though? Aren't you like an icon of the times? Aren't you this? Aren't you that? And I probably responded by saying, well, yes, some people see me as an icon. And, yes, I could be considered whatever. And then they cut out, yes, I'm an icon or, yes, I
(CROSSTALK)
CHUNG: All right.
You know what? We are going to show a little clip of the program. And, also, we should just state the premise. There are seven of you who are thrown together and you do things together. You go to the grocery store together. You go camping together.
CARTERIS: We go camping. We go to church. When you asked why we did it, why is was -- and I think Manny can talk about it for himself.
CHUNG: OK. Go ahead, quickly. And then we want to show a clip.
LEWIS: Again, we all have private lives. And I think for you and a lot of people that are in front of the cameras, all that you see is their persona. All that you see is what they're scripted to say. And what you see is they're staging. And, in this reality show, you get a chance to hear our words. You get a chance to see our true emotions and our reactions.
CHUNG: Yes, but why come out and do it? Because here you are -- was it the little red light and your ego wanted you to get out there again?
LEWIS: No, I don't think so. And I think you missed the point. I think you missed the point.
I said, when you're on TV and you have projects -- and I've done a lot of projects where you say you're going to be yourself -- and you have the script and you have this blocking. But at the end of the credits, it says "himself." This is the first project that I think a lot of us have had where, at the end of it, if the credits say himself, herself, that is actually what I am saying. This is not scripted. This is how I feel about this issue. This is what I believe. This is what went on.
CARTERIS: It's Manny.
LEWIS: So, it's really Manny. I don't know if there's a show where you can do that that freely and amongst so many different topics.
(CROSSTALK)
CHUNG: You do want us to show a clip, don't you?
CARTERIS: Yes. Show the clip and then I'll tell you.
CHUNG: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE SURREAL LIFE")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this?
LEWIS: Yes. There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew that Manny was a great dancer. So, I helped him to ask me with my notes. There you go.
LEWIS: There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something like that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
CHUNG: You're the only ones who are laughing, I hate to tell you.
CARTERIS: Oh, no, when you watch the show, it's so great, because, see, you haven't even the show. But when people saw it from before, before they saw it, they had all these things to say. Afterwards, I got calls from radio stations and TV shows: Please come on. It was the greatest show.
The reason I did it was -- when I was asked to do it, I said, I hate reality television. But for me, reality, the world of reality had been "Fear Factor," had been all the shows that were about exposing people.
(CROSSTALK)
CHUNG: And you don't think this exposes you?
CARTERIS: Wait a minute. No. You have to hear it.
What it did was, my manager said, Gabrielle, this will be a living sitcom. And I said, what does that mean? She said, it's seven eclectic people coming together. And it's putting them in situations and seeing how they act. It's not scripted. It was the most fun thing I have ever done in my career. I've done talk shows. I've been on a successful series. I do cartoons and voice-overs. And, Connie, the reason the audience loves it is because we had such a good time. And life is short.
COREY FELDMAN: And it is a fun thing. And I think it should be taken a bit more lighthearted. I mean...
LEWIS: It's true. It's entertainment. It's what it's all entertainment.
COREY FELDMAN: Yes, it's entertainment.
LEWIS: And we're not heart surgeons here. This is not surgery.
(LAUGHTER)
LEWIS: We're entertainers.
COREY FELDMAN: And we're certainly...
LEWIS: And we when you put entertainers together, you are going to see a different side of us than you would see Joe Blow. So it's -- we're not solving crimes here. It's not that kind of party.
CHUNG: OK, all right, OK, Manny.
CARTERIS: It's just fun.
LEWIS: It's just -- have some fun, baby, all right? Loosen up a little bit.
CHUNG: All right, I can do that. I'm telling you, I can do that.
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: OK, Manny, Gabrielle, and, Corey, thank you so much. I know you were trying to get in there and say something, but we're not going to let you do that.
When we return: new information on the untimely death of Bee Gee Maurice Gibb.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: A horrible story. It happened to young girls, but they were saved by a hero. We told you about it exclusively last night. And, tonight, an update tops our "Snapshot."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): The suspected mastermind behind a multistate sex slave prostitution ring has been charged with nine felony counts. Michigan prosecutors say Henry Davis used promises of money to lure girls as young as 13 into prostitution.
An autopsy report says Bee Gees member Maurice Gibb died of restricted blood flow to his bowel. His brothers have criticized the treatment Gibb received and questioned his doctors' decisions.
Singer Bobby Brown strikes a sour note with a Georgia judge and gets slapped with a bench warrant for his arrest. Brown, who faces a DUI charge in that state, failed to show up in court this week. He found the remains of the Titanic and other famed shipwrecks. Now explorer Bob Ballard has unearthed more ancient cargo, evidence of merchant trade in the Black Sea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Still ahead: Who will be our "Person of the Day"?
CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT will continue in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: Tonight: someone who lifted Israeli hopes and dreams above the clouds, literally, our "Person of the Day."
Ilan Ramon became the first Israeli to travel in space today flying on board the shuttle Columbia, the Israeli air force colonel carries with him a lot of Jewish and Israeli history. His father and grandfather fought for Israeli statehood. His mother and grandmother survived Auschwitz. Ramon himself played a part in Israeli history. He served in the air force for decades.
So, today's launch had the highest security ever, because it was such a potentially tempting target for terrorists. NASA went ahead with the launch anyway, and so did Ilan Ramon, making him today's "Person of the Day."
And tomorrow: buried by an avalanche under 5 feet of snow. But he was carrying something on him that saved his life. We'll hear his story firsthand, along with those who rescued him.
And coming up next on "LARRY KING LIVE": Laura Schlessinger.
Thank you so much for joining us. And for all of us at CNN, good night and see you tomorrow.
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