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American Morning

Homeless Beatings on the Rise; Dana Reeves Dead at 44; "New You Revolution" Wrap-Up

Aired March 07, 2006 - 08:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back. We're starting with a live shot outside of our window here at Columbus Circle. A story that we are sadly bringing you this morning is the death of Dana Reeve. Dana Reeve, of course, who led her husband's foundation, the Christopher Reeve Foundation, has died of lung cancer.

She is one of the very rare cases, in fact, of lung cancer in people who have never smoked. Only 10 percent of non-smoking women and 20 percent of non-smoking men get the disease. And she had said, and we spoke to her on AMERICAN MORNING as well, that she was hoping that she would soon be sharing the news of her recovery. The couple, Christopher Reeve and Dana Reeve, have a 13-year-old son whose name is Will, who is now left without either of his parents. Terrible news to have to report this morning.

(NEWSBREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get to San Francisco now, where the police say they want the public's help to find the attackers of a homeless man. A store surveillance camera -- take a look at this. It shows the beating. Watch that. They're stomping this poor man. It happened about 4:30 a.m. on Sunday. That's Pacific time. The shop owner found it when he was watching the tape on Monday morning. No record of the beaten man getting any kind of medical help. Of course, there's been a dramatic rise, as we've even seen, on attacks on homeless people.

AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian reports from Boston this morning, beginning with an attack that we told you about on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was an unthinkable act. A 30-year-old homeless man, who doesn't want to be identified, was kicked in the stomach, doused with flammable liquid and set on fire as he slept on a park bench in Boston.

MAYOR THOMAS MENINO, BOSTON: I was very outraged by the fact that anybody would do such outrageous thing to an individual, a homeless individual. But anybody.

LOTHIAN: The victim was attacked by two suspects, one of them wearing a black White Sox hat. The homeless man was able to rip off his own clothes, but not before his left leg was burned. (on camera): Are you concerned when you see this level of violence against the homeless?

LYNNE CHAPMAN, V.P., PINE STREET INN: Certainly!

LOTHIAN (voice-over): The homeless outreach agency Pine Street Inn is now handing out flyers, warning of the potential dangers on the streets.

CHAPMAN: Making sure they were aware of someone having been assaulted in the area in which it happened so they could be more, you know, vigilant in their own surroundings.

LOTHIAN (on camera): This case highlights what homeless advocates say is a big problem: unprovoked attacks, sometimes ending in death. Last year, 13 homeless people were killed nationwide; 73 others were assaulted.

(voice-over): But the National Coalition for the Homeless warns that many crimes may go unreported, and that the number of assaults may be much higher.

The suspects are typically teenagers, as was the case in this attack in Ft. Lauderdale almost two months ago. A surveillance tape captured the beating of Jacques Pierre (ph). Another homeless man was allegedly killed by the same attackers later that night.

In Boston, Clyde Williams, homeless for 16 years, says the streets are getting meaner.

CLYDE WILLIAMS, HOMELESS: You got to constantly watch your back and try to get a friend to watch your back, you know? It's just rough times right now.

LOTHIAN: Homeless advocates say it's especially disturbing when the most vulnerable are being targeted.

CHAPMAN: It's hard to imagine, you know, what motivates someone to do that.

LOTHIAN: The latest victim is improving, but remains hospitalized as police hunt for the suspects. Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: The National Coalition for the Homeless shows a sharp increase in attacks over the past three years. They say it happens all over the country, and that the accused attackers are as young as 11 years old, and in some cases as old as 75.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Andy is "Minding Your Business." That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Before we take a short break, we want to give you an update on the story we shared with you a little bit earlier. Dana Reeve has died of lung cancer. She's one of the rare cases of women, non-smoking women, who die of the disease, who develop lung cancer. Of course she was just given incredible kudos for her work in standing behind her husband, Christopher, who was a quadriplegic and who died after dealing with his tragic accident for nine years.

Brutal news, of course, for the family. They have a 13-year-old son named Will, and she had said -- she announced back in August that she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and it was absolutely shocking. But then in November, she actually was saying that the tumor was shrinking, that she was feeling better, that she felt that, you know, that she may be coming out of it, so this truly comes as a shock. This news coming to us from the foundation itself. And now we're going to continue to update you on this story.

What horrible news. And you know, talk about a man who affected so many people with his courage in the wake of his horrible accident, she, in many ways, became the carrier of that message. To have a terrible ending to her courage is very sad as well. Dana Reeve dies of lung cancer at the age of 45.

A short break and we're back in just a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Before we get to our "New You Resolution," which we are closing out and updating for you, we want to -- because have Dr. Sanjay Gupta in the studio, ask him some questions about some of this breaking news that we've just given to you. Dana Reeve, who has died at the age of 45 with lung cancer.

So, Sanjay, before we move on to "New You," let's ask you a couple of questions. It was said that she never smoked, and it was short of shocking, I think, at first when we heard she was diagnosed with lung cancer at all.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and the vast majority of people who do get lung cancer still are smokers, but there's been some stunning sort of developments really with regards to the number of nonsmokers that actually get lung cancer as well. In fact, if you look at men and women, for example, about 10 percent of men who never smoked get lung cancer, and that's about 20 percent for women as well. They don't really know why that is, for sure, but they think it might have to do with the fact that estrogen, which is a female hormone, might actually be a fuel source, might sort of fuel the fire when it comes to lung cancer, just like it does for breast cancer as well.

S. O'BRIEN: She announced in August that she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Then in November, she said, very publicly, that she was feeling better, that the tumor was shrinking, and I think all of us, because her struggle and her family's struggle was so well known. I think we all sort of breathed a big sigh of relief. They have a 13- year-old son. Is that -- I'm just so surprised that in November, the tumor would be shrinking, and today we have this horrible news to report.

GUPTA: Yes. I mean, it is shocking. You got to keep in mind that lung cancer is the most lethal of all cancers stills. It kills more women for certain than breast cancer does. It kills more than breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer combined. This is a bad, bad cancer. Peter Jennings died four months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. She died, I guess, it's about seven months.

You know, 160,000 people die every year of lung cancer. Sixty percent of people who are diagnosed will die in the first year after being diagnosed with lung cancer and 85 percent within five years. So it is difficult.

O'BRIEN: Brutal, brutal numbers.

Well, we brought you in because of course today is the day we're wrapping up our "New You." And in a way, you look at all of these numbers and these statistics, and I think it's because we're trying to take control of our health and do what we can, you know, in spite of what else may be out there in our futures. So I know we have all of our guests back today, because there are things like diet and exercise and, you know, and living well that you can control and maybe some other things you can't control.

So let's talk about the eight weeks since we started "New You."

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's been eight weeks since we met out power pairs. Gosh, they look great today, don't they? They really do. They all look excellent.

S. O'BRIEN: Healthy.

M. O'BRIEN: The "New You" teams. You've guided them through. Some would you say you're like a drill sergeant, Sanjay, because you have a bit of a record to defend here...

GUPTA: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: actually, a perfect record within the context of the eight-week period, right?

GUPTA: Yes. We have 100 percent success at eight weeks. We've been doing this for three years now, and this year was no different. I'll tell you, some of the numbers were staggering to me as well just how people did.

As you mentioned, all six are back here today. We're anxious to find out if they met their New Year's resolution, but first, let's take a look at what they've gone through for the past couple of months. It's our "New You" in review.

(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!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: You know, we can measure all sorts of different things. The number of push-ups they can do, the number of cholesterol points they dropped, the weight, pant sizes. But they all look great. They're all healthy, and...

S. O'BRIEN: Everybody won.

GUPTA: Healthier, certainly. So congratulations to all of you.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow, good work! That is so impressive.

I have to say, though, the couple I identified with was the Rampollas. Because your life, like with the split-screen, you know, that's my life. The four kids, you're running around. And then also in the back of your mind, you're thinking everything I eat they're looking at. So it's not just, you know, that you're eating badly or not exercising. You realize you're sending a message, too, to your kids, that's not a good one. Do you think your kids learned something from this experience?

D. RAMPOLLA: Dramatically learned some things.

S. O'BRIEN: Really? Like what?

D. RAMPOLLA: Yes. We've changed their eating habits. They're more aware what they choose on a menu when we go into a restaurant. They've learned that the entertainment factor in some of the food that is offered on children's menus is not necessarily the best or the healthiest thing for them. Some of the new things that they've been eating, soy beans....

P. RAMPOLLA: Some of the snacks that they know they're going to have, now they know what they're going to have.

D. RAMPOLLA: Rice cakes, soy cakes.

S. O'BRIEN: And all that stuff tastes good, it's just getting used to it.

D. RAMPOLLA: Yes, exactly.

P. RAMPOLLA: Well, they've gotten used to it.

S. O'BRIEN: Good work. All right!

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Frank and Donna, your turn. First off, you were skeptical, Frank. I'm curious. And I guess being in Washington, you develop a little skepticism...

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: And you've lost in excess of 20 pounds? Is that right? Or more?

S. O'BRIEN: Thirty...

M. O'BRIEN: Thirty-some...

PURCELL: Since Thanksgiving, I'm down about 35 pounds.

M. O'BRIEN: And that was like when you were selected, so sort of before the official period. All right. Was it the exercise or was it the change in the eating habits? In other words, if you just exercised, do you think you would of done the same?

PURCELL: I don't think so. The fact is that the nurse anesthetist for whom we work had been longtime promoters of patient safety and personal wellness. And even all of these important messages were not enough to get across. The key thing is to make the changes in your life, not so much that you're just focusing on doing one more thing like, I got to fit in exercise or I got to fit in a good diet. You've got to work it so that it is part of your whole life.

M. O'BRIEN: Holistic...

PURCELL: Because if it's just one more thing, you're not going to do it.

S. O'BRIEN: But that's hard!

M. O'BRIEN: All right. That is tough. Now, Donna, you know we got to bring this up. It wasn't officially on your "New You" agenda.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you need me to hit him now?

M. O'BRIEN: We're talking about -- I'm going to get hit! Smoky treats.

S. O'BRIEN: If you could see her look!

M. O'BRIEN: She's going to take me out later.

S. O'BRIEN: I can hit him for you, if you want.

BRIGHTHAUPT: I'm working on it.

M. O'BRIEN: But, otherwise...

S. O'BRIEN: Seventeen inches total.

BRIGHTHAUPT: I think she added all of that up. I believe it's four inches, ten pounds. I reached my original goal and I feel great.

S. O'BRIEN: Fantastic. And that really isn't...

M. O'BRIEN: Next year, you go after the...

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, will you get off her back? She just lost 17 inches!

GUPTA: Speaking of drill sergeants. All right Mark, look, every -- a lot of people can relate to you, because they travel. They're on the road a lot. And I know I myself have, you know, gone for the fast food because it's easier sometimes. You don't do that anymore. How do you stop doing it?

M. RASCH: Well, I think the easiest thing to do is just literally stop doing it. When you get to the airport, you can grab a salad, you can grab some fruit. Or, you know, just drink some -- drink more water, drink more fluids and you're not as hungry. A lot of times, you're eating out of habit, out of rote, because you're there and you think you should get something. You're not really hungry.

So sort of listening to your body and, you know, exercising. Even on airplanes, you can exercise, get in the back of the plane in the galley, instead of asking for a second cookie, which they sometimes have there! You know, stretching and getting a little bit of a workout, even there on the plane.

GUPTA: Well, you look great. And you dropped from 38 to 34 waist size in two months.

M. RASCH: Thirty-three. Don't cut me short!

GUPTA: Remarkable. So let me ask you real quick...

S. O'BRIEN: God, they're competitive.

GUPTA: I'm not going to ask who won, because we're getting away from that. Stuart, you dropped 80 points in your cholesterol. A lot of people need to listen to this. Eighty points without any meds in two months.

M. O'BRIEN: That's amazing.

GUPTA: It can be done.

S. O'BRIEN: So what's your number now?

S. RASCH: One ninety eight.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow.

M. O'BRIEN: That's great.

GUPTA: How did you do it? Real quick?

S. RASCH: Diet and exercise. Watch what you eat and if you exercise enough vigorously and really concentrate on what you're doing. More of a little bit of everything.

GUPTA: That's great. I hope a lot of people are listening, because you can do this without medications, as well. Congratulations to all of you.

M. O'BRIEN: Give them a round of applause, crew! Excellent job. You inspired us. Great job, guys. We had a lot of fun.

GUPTA: And we did something different this year, as well, you guys. You know, a lot of people participated online and we hope all of them had equal success at home, as well.

All of three of our power pairs were an inspiration. But most inspiring -- because we have to do this -- according to our quick votes online CNN.com poll, the Rampollas! Forty-two percent of voters found you the most inspiring.

D. RAMPOLLA: (INAUDIBLE) families in America!

S. O'BRIEN: It is. I think you're right. It's, you know, mom and dad working and running around like headless chickens and trying to fit it all in, which is really everybody's story. I mean, everybody's story.

GUPTA: Well, you've inspired all of us. I can tell you that for sure.

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: Thank you very much.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it. Congratulations to you. A short break.

When we come back in just a moment, we're give you an update on that story we've been talking about, the death of Dana Reeve, at the age of 45, from lung cancer. An update on that's just ahead. Stay with us, everybody. We're back in a moment.

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