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CNN Live Today

Women and Lung Cancer; The Fight for Iraq; University of North Carolina Campus Attack

Aired March 07, 2006 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome back to CNN LIVE TODAY.
From CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan.

First up this hour, Dana Reeve. Her death is putting a new focus on lung cancer this morning. Reeve was the 44-year-old actress, activist and dedicated caregiver for her husband, "Superman" star Christopher Reeve.

Dana Reeve died just seven months after announcing her diagnosis. She says she never smoked.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN (voice over): The public image of Dana Reeve is one of extraordinary grace and devotion to her husband. She became Christopher Reeve's strongest ally and one-woman support system after he was paralyzed in a horse riding accident in 1985. That transformed her into an activist.

She spent years pushing for better treatments and a possible cure for paralysis. Together, the couple founded the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis resource Center six years ago. After her husband's death, the board of directors of Christopher Reeve's Foundation named her as chairperson to fill his seat.

And it was less than a year after he died and just months after her mother died of ovarian cancer that Dana Reeve revealed the stunning news that she, a nonsmoker, was being treated for lung cancer.

DANA REEVE, ACTRESS: And I got this diagnosis in the summer, and it's been -- you start to wonder. It's a rocky road. And -- but I do feel that with the support that I've received, and just our family unit is so tight, that we're going to get through this like we got through everything else.

KAGAN: And there Dana Reeve did get through tough times with the help of the couple's family and friends. Some of them famous.

But beyond her activism on spinal cord issues, there was another side to Dana Reeve, her role as mother. The couple had a teenage son, Will.

REEVE: This boy has had a lot of lessons that he's learned in life that I would rather he hadn't had to learn so young, frankly. And -- but at the same time, it is a kind of gift, and I think one of the greatest gifts we can give our children are the tools to face life's inevitable adversity. And he is the definition of resilience.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And we'll have more on the Reeve family in just a bit.

Right now, Dr. Michael Thun is with the American Cancer Society.

Doctor, thank you for being here with us this morning.

DR. MICHAEL THUN, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: Thank you.

KAGAN: I think a lot of people are shaking their heads, and saying, how does such a vibrant, young 44-year-old woman, a nonsmoker, die so quickly of lung cancer?

THUN: Well, it's a terrible disease. It's one of the cancers in which treatment has made the least progress.

KAGAN: And why is that? Is it lack of funds? I can't -- I can't believe that. Or lack of will and desire?

THUN: Well, it's actually the first, plus several things. It's a complex disease. Now, when we find it and diagnose it, it's usually already spread. But lung cancer, for its importance, in terms of number of deaths and the suffering that it causes, gets disproportionately little funding, as does tobacco control.

So, paradoxically, the cancer that causes the most deaths is really upstaged by other important cancers, like breast cancer and prostate cancer.

KAGAN: And those are important in their own right.

Lung cancer, I think there might be a lot of smokers out there perhaps being smug this morning, saying, oh, look, she's a nonsmoker, and look, she died anyway, that doesn't really affect me as a smoker.

Let's talk about why that's a misconception.

THUN: Sure. Well, smoking causes roughly 90 percent of lung cancers overall. So that's nine out of 10 lung cancers. And we've made a lot of headway in reducing the uptake of smoking in kids and in encouraging smokers to quit. We still have a long way to go there, and there's a lot that could be done by states and clean air laws, raising excise taxes, and also by the will of smokers to quit.

KAGAN: What about individuals? First of all, you can quit. Second of all, you talked about early detection, but lung cancer isn't something that you go to the doctor necessarily to get screened for. Especially in your early 40s.

THUN: That's right. Unlike breast cancer and colon cancer, we don't know that early detection yet will improve survival. We do know that helical CT scanning can find nodules when they're smaller than you can see them on a conventional x-ray, but we don't know whether finding them and removing them will actually improve survival. There's a large trial that will be finished in approximately two years that will answer that question.

KAGAN: So what's the message?

THUN: Well, the huge message in lung cancer is, one, don't smoke. Two, we're going to have the answer pretty soon about whether early detection with this new screening saves lives. And three, there have been advances in treatment.

Basically, by characterizing the molecular nature of lung cancers, they've developed some targeted therapies which -- Tarceva and Avastin, which work in a small -- in a percentage of people. And now that we understand really the way lung cancers work, what makes them so aggressive, the potential for more treatment is getting better.

KAGAN: And what is it that makes them so aggressive?

THUN: Well, the first is that they've spread before you find them.

KAGAN: OK. So it's late in the process.

THUN: Late in the process. And that's a huge thing.

The second thing is that they change rapidly and they're very complex. So they become resistant to the conventional chemotherapeutic drugs.

KAGAN: Because when Dana Reeve first announced that she was diagnosed and being treated, she said, "I'm responding very well and the tumor is getting smaller." And she seemed very encouraged.

Did that seem like a typical story, that early treatment might go well, but then things cycle in a different direction?

THUN: Yes. Yes, there's different kinds of lung cancer, but that is definitely -- you have to realize that lung cancers are not all the same, and these targeted treatments first have to identify which treatment will work in whom. And they have -- you have to have a treatment that will have a sustained benefit that the tumor can't develop resistance for.

KAGAN: And when you look at a young, incredible woman like Dana Reeve, her legacy as a cancer victim is, what, awareness?

THUN: Yes, her -- I mean, basically, this couple has experienced horrible tragedy, but what they did through their courage is, he drew attention to spinal cord injuries and she has drawn attention to lung cancer, two dreadful diseases that -- that we have a lot of progress to make on.

KAGAN: Dr. Thun, thank you for your time today.

THUN: Thank you.

KAGAN: And as we have reported, that despite being a nonsmoker, Dana Reeve still had lung cancer. That is not as uncommon as you might think. About 17 percent of new lung cancer patients are nonsmokers.

Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Three winters ago, Sandy Britt had a feeling that something was terribly wrong.

SANDY BRITT, CANCER PATIENT: I had noticed over the winter that I was getting one cold after the other.

COHEN: Sandy, who is 43, told her doctor she was worried about lung cancer. Her father and brother had died of the disease. She says the doctor told her not to worry.

BRITT: I could have been saved. You know, at that point, it was completely curable. And now it's not. Now I have a terminal diagnosis.

COHEN: Three years later, her suspicions turned out to be true. She was diagnosed with lung cancer so advanced, it had already spread to other parts of her body. Doctors told her she had eight months to live.

BRITT: I really believe that the reason I was ignored was that I was a young, healthy looking woman who never smoked.

COHEN: Sandy Britt, Dana Reeve, part of a group you don't hear much about. Studies show that as many as 17 percent of newly diagnosed lung cancer patients are life-long nonsmokers. 80 percent of those patients are women. That's approximately 11,000 women diagnosed each year and the overall survival rates of lung cancer are grim. Six out of ten people will die within a year of being diagnosed. Eight out of ten people will die within two years.

BRITT: There's a whole subculture of us that people don't know about. And I can get lung cancer, if Dana Reeve can get lung cancer, then nobody is safe. Anyone can get lung cancer.

COHEN: Sandy says it's bad enough that she has a fatal disease, but people who don't know her well often assume she brought it on herself. But she's never smoked. Not ever.

BRITT: People don't care because they say, "Well, you know, you smoked. You brought it on yourself." It absolutely infuriates me to have lung cancer, to have a smoker's disease, when I actually hate smoking, you know. I belong to Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. I do everything possible my whole life to avoid it. COHEN: Sandy is fighting for more money for lung cancer research. Twice as many women die of lung cancer than breast cancer, but breast cancer is something that everybody knows women get. So I think it's more logical, it's more easy to accept.

COHEN: Her statistics are on target. But today, thanks to an experimental therapy, Sandy has lived three months longer than her doctors expected. But she's also writing her will.

BRITT: One to five years, if I'm lucky, I'll live five years. I mean, it could be any time.

COHEN: While she's still alive...

BRITT: You know, my mantra is, "I am a miracle. I'm going to go the distance." And, you know, I do hope and pray that I will be one of the few that actually survives this disease. I mean, I am a realist, and I have to plan for, you know, the fact that there's a good chance I'm going to die.

COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And to update that story, we checked, and the woman is still fighting the disease and still fighting on.

Getting back to Dana Reeve -- getting back to Dana Reeve's story now, she truly lived her life up until the end. It was just weeks ago that she appeared at Mark Messier, the hockey great -- it was his retirement ceremony and he wanted her to sing. She was there.

Before she did that, she sat down and gave her last interview, and she did that with Kathie Lee Gifford, who called in, in the last hour, and shared with me her memory of that interview and her impressions of Dana Reeve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHIE LEE GIFFORD, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDER": She's really about the business of taking care of herself at that time and her son. She's just recently lost her mother, as well as her husband, so this was a woman who was concentrating on just getting better for her family's sake.

And she -- she was there for her friend Mark Messier, so she was caught up in the joy of his evening. You could tell that, that she just adored this man.

She loved hockey. They were a big hockey family. And she wanted to sing for him.

People don't realize that she was a very good singer. And I watched her breath control that night, and she wasn't gasping for air.

She sang beautifully. She looked lovely. She was wearing a wig, of course. She had been through chemo and radiation. And she was very thin, which you would expect somebody going through what she was going through.

But there was a beauty about her that was -- that seemed a healthiness. It's just that's what's so surprising about this. When I heard it on the radio this morning, I was absolutely stunned because she told me that day that the tumor was shrinking, and she was the picture of optimism that night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: That was Kathie Lee Gifford sharing her memories of interviewing Dana Reeve just about six weeks ago.

Our own Larry King has had the chance to interview Dana and Christopher Reeve a number of times over the year, and he called in last hour and shared his memories as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: On the phone with me right now is our own Larry King. Larry, who has interviewed both Dana and Christopher Reeve on a number of occasions.

Larry, thanks for calling in and talking with us.

LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: My pleasure, Daryn.

KAGAN: I'm sure when you woke up this morning and hear this news it was shocking, indeed.

KING: Yes, Dana -- Dana Reeve was a -- she was a special lady, as other people have already told you. They -- you know "one of a kind" is a trite kind of phrase, but she was one of a kind. And her loyalty to her husband and her whole outlook toward life -- one of the great memories of my life is the memorial service for Christopher Reeve.

I had never seen a more poignant yet upbeat service. It was incredible from start to finish. And her poise, her manner, her way of -- you know, they say people die as they live. I would bet she died bravely and well.

KAGAN: Have you had a chance to interview her in the year since Christopher Reeve died?

KING: Oh, yes. I've interviewed her, gee, I guess twice since he died, and on a number of occasions before he died. And, of course, I interviewed them together when he was in the chair.

I didn't know her when -- before the accident. You know, I knew of her. I know Chris a long, long time. I knew Chris from Broadway when he did the play "The Fifth of July." And I knew him before "Superman."

KAGAN: So you... KING: But I didn't know her. I only knew of her.

KAGAN: In the interview, you had a chance to interview her since she was diagnosed with lung cancer?

KING: No. I knew she had lung cancer, but not since she was diagnosed with it.

KAGAN: But just as the woman herself, and what you took away from interviewing her with Chris, just the grace and the dignity and the strength?

KING: Yes, and as -- as Dr. Gupta told you earlier, you know, this is the worst of all cancers. It's very hard to detect, that we don't have a good test for it. At least a test that people can easily afford.

It's -- most of the times people think it hits smokers only, but I know four people who didn't smoke who died of lung cancer. In fact, a friend of mine's girlfriend who doesn't smoke was just diagnosed with it a week ago.

It's a terrible, terrible disease. Cancer is a hard disease to begin with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: That was our Larry King. Larry also shared with me that he and his staff are getting together a show for tonight, people who knew Dana Reeve, both of the Reeves, and share and celebrate their life and legacy.

To get the latest health news online, go to our Web site. You'll find the top medical stories, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.

A lot of news taking place overseas. We'll go live to Baghdad after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Live pictures from the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top Pentagon brass speaking about Iran and Iraq, among other issues. A briefing with Rumsfeld and the Joint Chiefs chairman under way.

Here is what we expect to hear. On Iran, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency meets in Vienna today. The meeting could begin the move toward possible U.N. sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.

Pentagon officials are likely to face questions about the new investigation into former NFL star Pat Tillman's death. The Army has launched a criminal probe into Tillman's death by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

Iraq is also expected to top the Pentagon agenda today. Sectarian violence has raised concerns about the threat of civil war.

Let's go live to Iraq now for more on what recent developments mean for the future of U.S. troops there.

CNN's Aneesh Raman live in Baghdad.

Aneesh, hello.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning.

Some startling comments coming today from the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, quoted in the "LA Times" as saying that "We have opened" -- reference to the U.S. -- "opened the Pandora's box, and the question is, what is the way forward? The way forward, in my view, is an effort to build bridges across Iraq's communities."

Now, that is a very loaded term, "Pandora's box," one used by the French president back in the buildup to the war as a reason why the French were not going to support it.

Zalmay Khalilzad also said he believes that the potential still remains for Iraq to descend into a civil war if another insurgent attack ignites fury on both sides. This latest statement seemingly at direct odds with what we heard over the weekend from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, saying that the situation here is going "very, very well."

All of this brings into focus the central issue of how long the U.S. will be in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN (voice over): Nearly three years after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, and after a string of free elections, American officials in Iraq find themselves exactly where they don't want to be: in the middle of everything.

KEN POLLACK, SABAN CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN POLICY: Where things stand now is that Iraq simply lacks the governmental and military institutions capable of holding the country together.

RAMAN: Iraqis went to the polls last December, electing a parliament that has still not convened, forcing U.S. officials to become increasingly involved in the attempt to form a unity government among Iraqi leaders who are finding it difficult to compromise.

And in terms of security, American troops are also now, many say, equally critical.

ADNAN PACHACHI, IRAQI PARLIAMENT MEMBER: The only hope to maintain, to keep Iraq together, is the presence of American troops.

RAMAN: What little hope there might have been for a large-scale disengagement by the U.S. this year ended with the attack at the end of February on the Shia Askaria mosque, which ratcheted up sectarian tensions dramatically and forced American officials all the way up to President Bush to get directly involved in an effort to head off civil war, aware that what happens here is not simply an Iraqi issue.

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: We regard Iraq's success to be our success. And as I've said before, god -- god forbid, Iraq's failure will be also ours.

RAMAN: And the latest political stalemate over who will be prime minister is the latest example of why U.S. involvement could go on for quite some time.

POLLACK: U.S. officials admit that in private there is no expectation that the Iraqis will be able to handle either their political situation or their security situation entirely on their own. Probably for several years.

RAMAN: In the interim, Iraqis are waiting desperately for security and for leadership from their own politicians. There was at least six car bombs in Iraq on Monday, further fueling public outrage against the country's government.

"Everything is destroyed in Iraq!" screams this woman. "All the politicians care about are positions. We need an honest man to rule this country."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN: And Daryn, today another further political delay. Yesterday, Iraq's president said the parliament would convene for the first time on Sunday. Now the governing Shia alliance wants to push that meeting by about a week, because there's still no answer to the main issue of who will be the country's prime minister -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Aneesh Raman, live in Baghdad.

Thank you.

And for viewers at home, we will continue to listen in and monitor the Pentagon briefing and bring you any highlights as they come up.

Meanwhile, it does appear the number of U.S. troops who have deserted since the 9/11 attacks is down sharply. "USA Today" looked at Pentagon records. They show nearly 4,000 desertions in 2000. The paper says by 2005 that number had fallen by half to a handful of over 2,000. Overall, the "USA Today" count shows about 8,000 troops have deserted since the Iraq war began.

Well, he admits it. He tried to kill them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED TAHERI-AZAR, PLOWED INTO PEOPLE AT UNC: Yes, sir. I just hit several people with a vehicle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: A calm admission from the man behind the wheel. A driver explains his rage. More from the University of North Carolina campus, where emotions are running high.

LIVE TODAY is back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Difficult pictures to watch from the streets of New York City. It's a freak bus accident, and it is caught on tape. As we go to the pictures, here's what happened.

A sanitation worker somehow loses his footing, falls from the garbage truck, and then he's hit by a bus. An ambulance rushed to the scene, took the man to the hospital. Fortunately, we can tell you he survived. He's said to be doing OK.

Ooh, that is a bad day at work.

Now to North Carolina. An Iranian-born man who admits he intentionally mowed down a group of people at the University of North Carolina now faces attempted murder charges. Some students though on campus say, hold on a second, this is a lot more serious than that.

Rick Sanchez has the story

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICH SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From the air you can see the chaos, victims sprawled out after being plowed into by an SUV. Then from this very place comes a call to 911 from the very person who drove the SUV.

OPERATOR: Orange County 911, Josh.

TAHERI-AZAR: Yes, sir. I just hit several people with a vehicle, and...

OPERATOR: OK. Sir, you said you hit several people with a vehicle?

TAHERI-AZAR: Yes.

SANCHEZ: The 911 operator sounds incredulous. The suspect, strangely cooperative.

TAHERI-AZAR: I don't have any weapons or anything on me. You can just come and arrest me now.

SANCHEZ: This from a man who deliberately hit and injured nine people.

How do we know he did it deliberately? Because he says so to reporters as he's being placed in a police car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you trying to kill people?

TAHERI-AZAR: Yes. SANCHEZ: If you listen carefully, you can detect an accent that's part Iranian and part southern. That's because Mohammed Taheri-azar, a UNC grad student, has been in the United States most of his life. But he blames the U.S. government for his actions.

OPERATOR: Can you tell me why you did this or...

TAHERI-AZAR: It's -- it's really to punish the government of the United States for their actions around the world.

OPERATOR: So you did this to punish the government?

TAHERI-AZAR: Yes, sir.

SANCHEZ: It's a sentiment the 22-year-old psychology major affirmed when he showed up for his first court appearance. There he was formally charged with nine counts of attempted murder. None of the victims was seriously hurt.

His bail is set at $5.5 million.

Meanwhile, back on campus, college Republicans held what they called an anti-terrorism rally. They want federal terrorism charges brought against Taheri-azar because they don't see it as a simple crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If everyone thinks it's just a simple crime, which a lot of people do, then we cannot have -- we cannot hope to have a good response to it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does not represent Islam. He does not represent Iran. He represents nothing but his own crazy thoughts.

SANCHEZ: CNN made repeated phone calls to the FBI to ask if terrorism charges would be filed. They would only tell us they're looking into it.

Rick Sanchez, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: On to health news now.

We are more than two months into 2006. So let's have a little chat.

How are you doing with those New Year's resolutions? Yes, yes, that's what we thought.

CNN has been following three teams, co-workers, siblings, spouse who resolved to adopt healthier habits this year.

Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta checks in with one of them one last time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GUPTA (voice-over): The two D.C. lobbyist, Frank Purcell and Donna Brighthaupt may the yin and yang of their office.

DONNA BRIGHTHAUPT, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: I was so afraid, so I put the whole office in so he wouldn't yell.

FRANK PURCELL, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: She didn't expect me to go along with it.

GUPTA: But Donna couldn't have picked a better New You partner.

BRIGHTHAUPT: Hopefully when I see him in here with a couple of sagging pants, I'll get upset and say, no, I can't let him win.

PURCELL: If I'm going to get to 184 pounds, that's going to take me a while, unless I lop off my left leg.

GUPTA: But by week one, Frank was already 20 pounds ahead of the crowd.

BRIGHTHAUPT: Frank started a whole two months earlier! Oh, and I actually waited until after New York.

TASHA COOPER, GOLD'S GYM TRAINER: Yes. She started real late. So she's doing good.

GUPTA: How good?

COOPER: Overall you lost about 17 inches from head to toe.

GUPTA: And her bad habit?

PURCELL: One, smoking less. That's good. And, number two, the chin thing that you see still on me, that was in that picture, is gone!

GUPTA: And Frank cut out his candy addiction.

PURCELL: The M&M guy is pretty empty.

BRIGHTHAUPT: If I see him losing more weight, I'm sneaking him M&Ms.

PURCELL: Oh, I wish you wouldn't do that!

GUPTA: And lost weight as a result.

PURCELL: Two thirty six.

COOPER: Two thirty six. He started at 259, so he is doing really good.

GUPTA: So who won?

BRIGHTHAUPT: Oh, man! I'm not eating crow, because I was successful, too! He just snuck up on me, that's all. I'm going to still win!

GUPTA: From day one, it was obvious that Denise and Pedro Rampolla attended to crazy schedules.

DENISE RAMPOLLA, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: Organized chaos, actually.

GUPTA: And that frenetic lifestyle made fitting in a new health plan difficult.

D. RAMPOLLA: I'm hoping it becomes fun.

GUPTA: But they would come to embrace the tips for eating better and the new workout. "New You" was never about weight loss for these two, but fighting family histories of heart disease.

D. RAMPOLLA: That's definitely going to decrease the chances that we will have issues or if we do have some issues, it's not going to be triple bypass.

GUPTA: It's also been about making the power of pairs, being healthy together, work for an otherwise frenzied life.

PEDRO RAMPOLLA, NEW YOU PARTICIPANT: As long as Denise and I are bouncing off each other, then we're fine.

GUPTA: For this military couple, "New You" spells a new life.

Before Mark started the "New You" program, his abs looked like this and his breakfast looked like this.

MARK RASCH, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: I think I'll have 16 pancakes!

GUPTA: His only exercise, walking his kids to school, and on the road, lifting cheeseburgers to his mouth. But he learned that good choices do abound, and that the pain of exercising...

M. RASCH: Oh, I'm going to die!

GUPTA: ... fades away.

M. RASCH: This is the new me. These are 34 jeans!

GUPTA: Stuart went from running around in the E.R. to running on the treadmill. His workouts meant less sleep, but...

STUART RASCH, "NEW YOU PARTICIPANT": I've lost two inches off my waist. I've lost two inches off my chest.

GUPTA: However, new eating habits are still the toughest challenge for Stuart.

S. RASCH: Seventeen.

GUPTA: Although sibling rivalry may have helped them progress...

S. RASCH: I still whipped his butt.

GUPTA: .. .it was the twins versus others that helped them win together.

M. RASCH: Stuart and I, of course, have kicked the lobbyists' butts!

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, for the "New You Resolution."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: We're going to get back to our top story in just a bit, the death of Dana Reeve. Her diagnosis, her struggle in her own words, and a look at lung cancer in women. In fact, did you realize that lung cancer is a bigger killer than breast cancer?

Also, another shocking death. The death of Hall-of-Famer Kirby Puckett. That's putting a new focus on a major health issue. Puckett dies yesterday after suffering a stroke. He was only 45 years old. I'll talk to a medical expert about the risks and the warning signs for stroke. It's information that could save your life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

KAGAN: A beloved athlete dies in the prime of life. The death of baseball Hall-of-Famer Kirby Puckett focuses attention on a major health issue, especially for African-Americans. Puckett died yesterday after suffering a stroke. He was only 45. Strokes affect about 700,000 people each year in the U.S. It's the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer. African-Americans are twice as likely to suffer a stroke and twice as likely to die from a stroke as are Caucasians.

Joining us to talk more about strokes is Dr. Wendy Wright. She is a neurologist and assistant professor at Emory School of Medicine here in Atlanta.

Dr. Wright, good morning.

DR. WENDY WRIGHT, EMORY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: I want to use Kirby Puckett, such a beloved figure in the sports world, especially in Minnesota, as an example in the textbook case that perhaps we can learn from. First of all, his career cut somewhat short when diagnosed with glaucoma. That also is more common in African-Americans?

WRIGHT: Yes, that's true. Glaucoma is a fairly common eye disease. There are several different forms. Some of them are more serious than others. But without treatment, that can lead to blindness.

KAGAN: Is that a warning sign you're at risk for a stroke?

WRIGHT: Actually, no. It's very unlikely that Mr. Puckett's glaucoma was related to his stroke.

KAGAN: So two separate completely different things?

WRIGHT: Yes, probably so.

KAGAN: Now one thing that's been pointed out, since he did retire he hadn't staid in the best of shape and had gained a significant amount of weight. How does that increase your risk factor for stroke?

WRIGHT: Well, that's a good question. It's not entirely clear if being overweight directly leads to stroke. However, it is certainly known that being overweight leads to high-blood pressure and leads to risk of diabetes, and both of those will certainly increase one risk of stroke.

KAGAN: So it's not that; it's your adding to other factors.

WRIGHT: Exactly, and it may be that obesity does increase risk of stroke; it's just not been proven in studies.

KAGAN: What about the race factor and stroke? What is happening there? Is it a genetic factor, or is it a lifestyle factor?

WRIGHT: It's almost assuredly both, and it's probably also a bit of socioeconomic factor as well. Certainly the risk of stroke in African-Americans must have something to do with genetics, just because the linkage is so strong and does seem to cross even socioeconomic barriers.

KAGAN: Because clearly, with Kirby Puckett, money is not an issue. He lived the great American dream as a super sports star.

WRIGHT: Exactly. And could presumably afford great medical care, so that shouldn't have been the problem.

But the genetic factors are probably very deep rooted.

Also, certainly cultural differences play a role. The diets that people are raised on. If people are used to eating a higher-fat diet, that can lead to obesity, which then again leads to higher blood pressure, or even higher cholesterol levels, which are a risk factor for stroke.

So probably the issues of race have to do with very many factors. But certainly different race groups are at different risk factors for stroke.

KAGAN: OK, the message, first to African-Americans?

WRIGHT: African-Americans are at higher risk for stroke, and they must take their risk factors very seriously. They certainly can't change their race, but they can change the risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes. They can watch their weight and they really should ask their doctors about the risk factors, especially if strokes run in their family. KAGAN: Medical care. If you don't have access to good medical care, you can't really do something about that.

WRIGHT: Absolutely. That's very true. But there are things that can you do. You can keep yourself informed. Most people these days do have access to the Internet or even access to the daily newspaper and know that you can watch your salt intake, you can watch your diet, you can lower intake of foods that are very high in cholesterol -- fatty foods and red meats and that kind of thing.

If you can gather information from family and friends, there are lot of public awareness groups like the American Heart Association that are more than willing to give out information about stroke. So it's true. If a person can't afford good health care, they certainly are not at a good advantage, but there are a lot of places to get information how to lower your stroke risk factors.

KAGAN: And finally, just the story of Kirby Puckett, which caught so many by surprise. But in your field of medicine, is this something you see regularly? Somebody of that age?

WRIGHT: Yes. We do see this regularly. And actually, his age -- he was young gentleman. But however in this case, his age probably worked against him.

KAGAN: Why is that?

WRIGHT: If a gentleman in his 80s or 90s were to have a stroke, as he presumably had -- we don't have a lot of details out in the press -- if they were to have a large stroke, as it's reported he's having and then they were to go on to have swelling, an 80-year-old or 90-year-old gentleman would have a brain that was sort of shrunken and very aged, and very much smaller than a nice, healthy robust 45-year- old who had big, healthy brain. A little bit of swelling in a 45- year-old is extremely dangerous and almost always life-threatening.

That person -- I'm an intensive care neurologist who also deals with a lot of stroke. We would have known immediately that a 45-year- old with a big stroke was at a very high risk of dying right about this time, because the swelling tends to peak right at about two days. So this is not a surprising scenario at all for a young gentleman.

KAGAN: And yet a very sad one, indeed. And I know something -- another part of your practice that you must deal with. Dr. Wendy Wright from Emory University, thank you for the really good information.

WRIGHT: Thank you for having me, Daryn.

KAGAN: Appreciate that.

Now we turn to a story that some people -- they can't figure this one out. It's a search for a fugitive father. Authorities believe the Kentucky prisoner who got out of jail -- he got out of jail so he could donate a kidney to his son. But what did he do? He apparently took off. They believe he might be in Mexico. National correspondent Susan Candiotti looks at how the man might be getting around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A fugitive couple on the run in a Mexican paradise.

DAWN IZGARJAN, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE: People are -- are willing to help other people. And they're very kind. And they're very generous.

CANDIOTTI: In Boca de Tomatlan, fugitive kidney donor dad Byron Perkins and his girlfriend, Lee Ann Howard, found a perfect hiding place -- for about a week. Villagers say the couple worked the cobblestone streets, conning their way into the hearts of locals, spinning a sob story that their money and I.D.s were stolen.

RAMON PALAMERA, RESTAURANT OWNER (through translator): He said that he had been robbed of his papers and money, that he was desperate to get credit cards to replace the ones that had been stolen, and then he could pay me back.

CANDIOTTI: Ramon Palamera said he gave Perkins $20 a day for incidentals, and set up a tab at his beachside cafe for the seemingly down-and-out Americans. His brother, Angel, let them buy groceries at his corner store.

ANGEL PALAMERA, STORE OWNER (through translator): He came every day for cigarettes, beer, and food. He said he would pay me Wednesday, and never came back.

CANDIOTTI: They put the couple up at an apartment, and Perkins said he expected money wired to him any day.

An American couple, also duped by Perkins in Mexico, called investigators when they got home, saw him on CNN, and found out he was a fugitive. At their request, CNN agreed to protect their identity.

"JOHN," TOURIST WHO MET BYRON PERKINS AND LEE ANN HOWARD: I -- I just think he's the most despicable person I have met in a very long time.

CANDIOTTI: "John" and "Lynn" say they met Perkins and his phony bride on the beach, had drinks and dinner, saw Perkins give his girlfriend insulin. They said he bragged about his son, Destin, but never once mentioned Destin needed a kidney, that he was the intended donor, and that he had to run out on his son, and a life sentence for a string of robbery, drug, and gun charges.

"LYNN," TOURIST WHO MET BYRON PERKINS AND LEE ANN HOWARD: He made quite a point that he had read that -- the Bible, supposedly, cover to cover, 18 times. The things that we have found out about him since we have returned, it's hard to believe that he's a God-fearing person.

CANDIOTTI: Palamera says Perkins vanished after running up a $500 bill for food, drinks and lodging.

R. PALAMERA (through translator): I trusted him. I never thought he could be so shameless to leave me, a poor person, who works for a living, with his debts.

CANDIOTTI: A villager says he saw the couple late at night on a highway out of town a week ago, with a trunk and other small bags.

IZGARJAN: So, it's not going to be easy for them to -- to go anywhere. I mean, they're going to have to be picked up by a -- by a truck -- by a trucker, or by bus, or by a large taxi.

CANDIOTTI: Authorities are asking Mexican police to alert bus and truck drivers to the runaway dad, in case Perkins and his girlfriend continue to stay in small towns off the beaten path.

Back in Kentucky, Destin remains on dialysis, hoping his dad will one day be found and he will get a possible lifesaving kidney. His mother says he cannot understand why his dad skipped out on him.

(on camera): How does a young man recover from something like that?

ANGELA HAMMOND, MOTHER OF DESTIN PERKINS: I don't know that he will. I don't know that he will ever recover.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Susan Candiotti, CNN, Louisville, Kentucky.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: When we come back, we're going to back to the life and legacy of Dana Reeve. The shocking news today that she has lost her battle with lung cancer. But now that she's passed away and Christopher Reeve had passed away as well, what happens to the foundations they started, looking for a cure for paralysis? We'll talk about that just ahead.

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KAGAN: This was back in January. Friends and family remembering today Christopher Reeve's widow. They are remembering her grace and her courage. Reeve said she wasn't a smoker. She died last night from lung cancer just 10 days before her 45th birthday. Her death comes less then a year and a half after her husband died. Reeve also lost her mother to ovarian cancer after her husband's death. She is survived by her teenaged son, Will.

Questions today about what happens to the Christopher Reeve Foundation. Let's go the headquarters where we find our Allan Chernoff standing by.

Allan, hello.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Well, in fact, the Christopher Reeve Foundation very much will go forward. In fact, that is the motto of the organization, and they certainly have been inspired not only by Christopher reeve, but also, of course, Dana as well. And now we do have Kathy Lewis, who is the chief executive of the organization.

Kathy, first of all, this must have been quite a shock. It was only seven months ago that Dana Reeve announced that she did have lung cancer?

KATHY LEWIS, PRES., CHRISTOPHER REEVE FDN.: Yes, we were all so sad here. You can't even begin to imagine how sad we all are.

CHERNOFF: Tell us a little about Dana Reeve. She was quite a private person.

LEWIS: She was quite a private person who lived quite a public life, didn't she? With her husband's illness, she was right by her side, and lived her life with grace and courage, even though her current illness.

CHERNOFF: A real fighter.

LEWIS: Unbelievable. A wonderful human being.

CHERNOFF: Now she leaves behind a wonderful legacy as well, the Christopher Reeve Foundation. Tell us about your work.

LEWIS: the Christopher Reeve foundation has a wonderful organization, with two focuses. One is research, was really Chris' bailiwick, to find a cure for paralysis, and Dana's, which was to improve the quality of life of people living with paralysis. So those two aspects of the foundation are so important. They have helped millions of people over the years.

CHERNOFF: You make grants around the nation. In fact, I understand, you even made grants to organizations right after Hurricane Katrina. Tell us a little bit about that.

LEWIS: Absolutely. Our "quality of life" grants program gives grants to help people who are disabled. So after Katrina, there were so many people lost their wheelchairs. We So Gave grants to organizations to help people get their wheelchairs, to help build wheelchair-accessible housing, for them, too.

CHERNOFF: People who want to make donation, what would you suggest?

LEWIS: The family has asked, and we ask, that all donations get made to christopherreeve.org.

CHERNOFF: Very well. OK, people can find information right there.

And I understand that our anchor, Daryn, also has a few questions. Daryn, please go ahead.

KAGAN: I went on the Web site today, Kathy, and there was nothing there yet about Dana. I think a lot of people are going to go there looking for more information about her, any memorial that might there be for her or more information about her life. Any plans to update that?

LEWIS: We certainly will update it. As you can imagine, it's been a little busy here this morning.

CHERNOFF: Yes, understandable. Are there any plans for a memorial yet?

LEWIS: No. But it's very early. We certainly will create a memorial, as well as a memorial fund for her, but that information will be on the Web site as we update it.

CHERNOFF: And as you talk about moving ford an going forward, this motto, what are some of the upcoming goals of the foundation?

LEWIS: You know what, the goals of the foundation really are, in the spirit of Dana and Chris, is to continue funding incredibly cutting-edge research all over the world, and to continue to improve the quality of life of those living with paralysis, and their families and friends. And that is our goal, that was their goal, and we are emboldened to go forward, to make that a reality.

LEWIS: Kathy Lewis, thank you so much.

Allan, if you could just get the Web site up there one more time so people can know where they can get more information.

CHERNOFF: Right. It is christopherreeve.org, just christopherreeve.org, and information there as well. People also can receive one of these dog tags that Kathy is wearing. This "Superman Go Forward" dog tag. Why don't we just have a little close-up of that, if possible. Pardon my hand here. But those also for sale by the organization, and it really has been a wonderful fund-raiser for this great group.

KAGAN: Allan, thank you.

And, Kathy, once again, our condolences from all of us here at CNN.

We're going to take a break. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Today on "LIVE FROM," at 1:00 p.m. Dr. Sanjay Gupta and others will answer your questions about cancer. Just e-mail us at livefrom@cnn.com. And stay tuned for that. "Living with Cancer," coming up, only here on CNN.

I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is up next. Stay tuned for YOUR WORLD TODAY, and then I'll be back with the latest headlines from here in the U.S. in about 20 minutes.

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