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Sanjay Gupta MD

Ebola Outbreak in Guinea; Parents Losing Kids Over Medical Marijuana; Interview with Bob Harper

Aired April 19, 2014 - 16:30   ET

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


DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN HOST: Welcome to SGMD.

We've got a lot to get to today, including this -- parents in trouble for using marijuana legally. We'll explain.

Plus, Bob Harper, he's going to stop by. He's going to tell us about the food you need to get fit.

But, first, as you may know, I'm just back from Africa where I had the frightening experience of reporting pretty close up on this disease that kills up to 90 percent of the people it infects. It's Ebola. And the safety measures these doctors have to take to treat people to keep it under control, they are just remarkable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): You're about to go inside an isolation ward in Guinea. There's a reason you may not have seen images like this before.

These patients are fighting one of the deadliest diseases in the world, Ebola. It has disarmed their immune system, shut up their blood's ability, and invaded the organs in their body. Up to nine out of 10 patients will die.

But this horror is isolated in Conakry, Guinea. We found traffic to still be busy here. Markets are full. Children, lots of children, still smiling.

(on camera): You see, as scary as Ebola, it's not particularly contagious. It doesn't disperse easily through the air and it doesn't live long on surfaces either, and people don't typically spread it until they're sick, really sick.

(voice-over): And if that is the case the patients are not up walking around on the busy streets, they are down in bed in hospitals or worse. Even the dead are highly contagious.

DR. PIERRE ROLLIN, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: The story unfortunately always the same.

GUPTA: Dr. Pierre Rollin from CDC has helped traced Ebola outbreaks for more than 30 years.

ROLLIN: The risk is not the people doing with Ebola patients. It's the people doing with regular patients not thinking of Ebola.

GUPTA: You see, it only takes a small amount of the virus anywhere on your skin to cause an infection. And as I learned, no precaution is too small for the doctors who care for these patients.

(on camera): So nothing gets in.

TIM JAGATIC, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: Nothing gets out.

GUPTA: Nothing gets out.

(voice-over): Tim Jagatic is one of the Doctors Without Borders. He's from Canada. He comes into these settings for weeks at a time. He is not married. He has no children. That would be a job liability, he tells me.

Multiple pairs of gloves and masks. The head is completely covered. A multi-layer of gown, boots, and then an apron. It's positively suffocating in the 100-degree weather.

JAGATIC: And these are the final pairs.

GUPTA: Preparing to treat a patient with Ebola is like preparing to land on the moon. But you're their only visitor, the only person helping them survive. They do this so people outside these wards, the people on the streets will never know what it is like to be inside.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: And I can tell you I'm so far on this latest outbreak there are more than 220 people who have been infected, at least 135 have died. Where I was in Guinea where you saw there that's where the majority of the cases are but people have also become infected and died in neighboring Liberia, making this one of the most widespread outbreaks in history. I want to keep an eye on it for you.

Now in the other news as well, Monday is the Boston marathon, the site of that tragic bombing one year ago. You know, like a lot of people, I was so touched by the strength of those people who were hurt, but who had survived.

In fact, I spent time with Marc Fucarile, he was the last person to leave the hospital and I remember thinking at the time would he ever get his life back together. Well, that was then. This is now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): It's what every couple dreams of on their wedding day, a simple dance. But a year that should have been spent planning their big day, instead has been filled with pain and loss.

When we first met a few weeks after the Boston marathon bombings, Marc Fucarile was weighing a difficult decision. He'd already lost his right leg.

MARC FUCARILE, BOSTON BOMBING SURVIVOR: Oh, that hurts. GUPTA: The big question, would he keep his left leg. It was riddled with problems. Not the least of which was pain, searing pain, almost palpable even to me.

FUCARILE: Sometimes I feel, like, I just know, I just know it's going to be hard forever with this leg.

GUPTA: We knew Marc was facing a long road, so I was a little apprehensive when I went to visit him earlier this month.

(on camera): I didn't know what to expect seeing you now. Whether you're going to be a broken-down guy who is frustrated, depressed and angry or you're going to be a guy who looks like you.

FUCARILE: No, it wouldn't break me. It would have to be a lot worse and I still don't think if it was a lot worse it would break me.

GUPTA (voice-over): He's not broken but he's also not whole. The pain and the indecision about his leg still nags him.

(on camera): Is there a point when you say that decision has been made, I am keeping this leg?

FUCARILE: It's going to be more the other way. It's going to be a point where I say I'm taking this leg off.

GUPTA: That could still happen.

FUCARILE: Oh, yes.

GUPTA (voice-over): Fucarile knows that keeping this problematic limb likely means spending the rest of his life in and out of hospitals, but at least for now, hope sustains him.

Instead of mourning what was lost that day, Fucarile and his fiancee Jen will celebrate by getting married, a year and two days after the bombs went off. You wanted to dance at your wedding.

FUCARILE: Yes.

GUPTA (on camera): You're going to do that?

FUCARILE: I'm going to make sure I can, yeah. Still trying. Yes.

GUPTA: Practicing your moves?

FUCARILE: A little bit, yes.

GUPTA (on camera): As it turned out, he did dance, on a prosthesis and on his left leg. Still intact for now.

(on camera): How have you changed over this past year?

FUCARILE: I didn't know I was as strong as I am, you know? I didn't think I was as tough. I didn't think I could endure so much. Life is a decision. You know, you make a choice, you either live or you don't. You know, like, you sit and dwell on the negative or you live and enjoy the positive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Here's wishing Mark and Jen (AUDIO GAP). You know, he's a charming guy. He's got a lot going for him, but he's got some tough decisions ahead still obviously with that leg. Good luck, Marc.

And up next, as if medical marijuana weren't controversial enough, we certainly know that on this program, there's a new twist to all this. Some kids are being taken from their parents it appears because of marijuana use that's actually legal under state law.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUPTA: Welcome back to SGMD.

Medical marijuana may be legal now in 20 states but using it is still against the law federally. And in many places, police and other officials are not very accepting of this. You know, where it really gets messy, sticky, and where more and more states are taking a closer look is when children become part of the picture.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're going to take her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you stealing the baby?

OFFICER: Sir, they have a court and prevention order signed by a judge.

GUPTA (voice-over): This is difficult to watch.

(CRYING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you people doing this?

GUPTA: Children removed from their homes by child welfare officials, but at the center of these cases, medical marijuana.

OFFICER: I want you to understand that your baby doesn't need to be subjected to marijuana.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What makes you think he is?

OFFICER: Because your house really smells bad of marijuana.

GUPTA: Shawnee Anderson and Aaron Hillyer live in northern California. In early January, the couple had a loud argument and the police showed up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're wanting to take my child away because we had an argument. GUPTA: They discovered a home in disarray and this --

OFFICER: Because the marijuana laying out here.

GUPTA: The scene isn't pretty, but according to California law it's not illegal either. Anderson and Hillyer have legal prescriptions for marijuana.

AARON HILLYER, MEDICAL MARIJUANA USER: I was pleading with them, look, you guys, I understand your perception, but we are wonderful parents, hard working. They just kept telling us, oh, no, no, they couldn't conceive of the fact that you can be a wonderful parent, decent human being, and medicate with marijuana.

GUPTA: A social worker placed the couple's 11-month-old son into protective custody.

We wanted to get more insight into their reasoning. But CPS, Child Protective Services, won't speak about individual cases. But here's what a spokesman did say they look for.

MICHAEL WESTON, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES: Is there a danger to the child? Is the child being neglected? Is there a safety, you know, hazard that could potentially put that child in harm's way.

GUPTA: And he noted, CPS policy does not differentiate between medical marijuana and nonmedical use.

Bridge Freisthler studies medical marijuana and its relationship to parenting.

BRIDGET FREISTHLER, UCLA: Drug use and drug abuse for years have been looked at as a risk factor for child abuse and neglect, so now, you make marijuana more easily accessible, more easily available, and the concern is, is it going to alter their parenting behaviors? And we don't -- the reality is, we don't know.

JENNIFER ANI, ATTORNEY: Oftentimes, there's a knee-jerk reaction.

GUPTA: Jennifer Ani, an attorney representing Hillyer and Anderson said CPS should dig deeper into cases involving medical marijuana.

ANI: What the social worker is supposed to do is look at a case by case basis at individual circumstances, and that's what's not happening.

HILLYER: There you go.

GUPTA: Hillyer and Anderson say a deeper inspection would have found no danger, that they're do doting parents gainfully employed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're silly.

GUPTA: Ultimately, the parents' son spent 12 days in foster care.

HILLYER: I mean -- I -- worst nightmare ever. I can't really imagine anybody having to go through anything more difficult.

GUPTA: They still face significant legal hurdles and concerns that they'll lose him again.

HILLYER: But there are family out there destroyed over a medicinal plant. It's baffling. It's really just baffling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: You know, this issue has come up in several states. And even Colorado lawmakers are now debating a proposal whether to make it easier to take children away when marijuana is in the home even though it's legal under state law. This is only going to heat up as more and more people, more and more parents come to use this medication, whether medically or recreationally.

Up next on SGMD, Bob Harper who's going to stop by. He's paving the way to quick and permanent weight loss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUPTA: The CNN Fit Nation triathlon challenge culminates in the big Malibu race five months from now. Getting a little nervous.

Our athletes have been training hard but, you know, exercise is just part of the equation. You, of course, recognize Bob Harper from NBC's "The Biggest Loser." He looks like he could crush a triathlon right now. But he's still got time to write a book. It's called "Skinny Meals: Everything You Need to Know to Lose Weight Fast."

It's full of recipes. We put a lot of them up on our Web site because people want to know this, Bob, as you know.

But I enjoy talking to you in part selfishly because I have a lot of questions from myself. And these rules, you know, I adopted a lot of rules from the last time we spoke and it really makes a big difference in people's lives.

So, welcome back to the program first of all.

BOB HARPER, NBC'S "THE BIGGEST LOSER": Thank -- thank you so much for having me here. I always enjoy talking to you.

GUPTA: Yes, same here.

If I can -- let me just go through a couple of these rules and then I got a couple of specific questions about training overall. But first things first and I say this all the time, we walk around I think as a society chronically dehydrated.

HARPER: Yes.

GUPTA: We tend to reach for foot when we are, in fact, thirsty. You say drink a large glass of water before every meal no excuses. Is that right? HARPER: Yes. What I try to do is a set of routine for people. I think one thing I have found working on "The Biggest Loser" for now 15 seasons is people that are lacking a routine. So, if I can get them to drink a large glass of water when they get up in the morning and before every single meal, you're going to be naturally hydrated just like you said, those times that you're feeling hungry, chances are you're probably dehydrated.

And if you have that big glass of water before you have that meal, chances are you're going to be a little bit more full, you're going to be a little less likely to overeat.

GUPTA: We're also both big believers of breakfast. My saying is, and I think we talked about this last time, I say eat breakfast like a king and eat lunch like a prince and eat dinner like a peasant. You know, you sort of front load your meals. But, you know, I find, Bob, and I don't know what you find, but breakfast is a tough sell for a lot of people.

Why do you think that is?

HARPER: Well, I think for a lot of people chances are especially if they're dealing with weight problems, they can get up in the morning and not feel hungry at all because their metabolism is so slow. So, in their mind they're probably thinking, OK, do you know what, if I'm not hungry right now, I'm going to not eat, I'm going to go as long as I possibly can without eating.

And what's going to happen then? No resolve whatsoever. Bingeing will happen. Overeating will happen. And it will happen at night -- at night when you're supposed to be watching every single thing that you're eating.

GUPTA: That's right. So, the two rules, again, for morning, just to reiterate, drink that water in the morning because you're probably dehydrated. Eat breakfast, eat that so you don't backload a lot of those calories later it on in the day.

There are three things I think that become really important when you are thinking about training and think about your health overall -- diet and exercise, but also sleep. And, you know, people tend to think, OK, look, I'll just forgo a little bit of sleep to get the exercise in.

I mean, how do you sort of rank order if you will these things?

HARPER: Well, I think if I had to rank order, nutrition would be number one. Exercise would be number two. Sleep would be number three, and then stress. I think that stress -- or stress management.

I think that sleep is crucial for your brain, for your body, for your mind. It could help promote weight loss. I think that getting eight hours of sleep is also age defying. I tell people that don't ever underestimate sleep, because it is when your body is just restoring itself. It's when your body is just, like, getting at peace and finding that balance and that's what we're all looking for, right? We're looking for that balance of the body and you get that with sleep.

GUPTA: Yes. You know, physically and mentally.

HARPER: Absolutely.

GUPTA: I know that you can't store memories. You just don't perform as well.

You know, none of us are perfect, Bob. I have vices, everybody does. Mine is -- mine is ice cream. One of the things that we do is we try not to keep it in the home so I actually have to have some effort if I want to have some ice cream.

What -- do you have a vice, a splurge thing that you do as well?

HARPER: Well, I think that what you just said not keeping it in the house is so smart. Because I tell people all the time, clear out those temptations because you get home at night and you're exhausted, and if there's a big chocolate bar sitting in your cupboard, you're going to eat it, so get it out. But in regard to my splurge, I go for more savory. I don't want the ice cream as much as I want the chips and guacamole or give me Italian food. I love that. I like that savory.

GUPTA: You know, you know, Bob, your books are great. I don't know where you find the time to write them, but they're great. And they're simple rules, but they make a lot of sense. And as I said, I've adopted a lot of your rules into my own personal life as well. So, wonderful to have you on the program again.

HARPER: Thanks so much. It's so nice talking to you always.

GUPTA: You too, Bob. Thanks for joining us.

HARPER: Up next on SGMD, heaven is for real. This is a little boy's astounding story of his trip to heaven and back. We're going to dig into it when we get back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I've been here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think we've been here before, pal.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yes, your grandpa and pop, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He died when I was about your age.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: He's very nice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You saw my grandfather? Where did you see him?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: In heaven.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this him? Is this the man you saw?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: No. In heaven, everybody's young.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this him?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yes. That's him. That's pop.

GUPTA: That's a clip there from the new movie called "Heaven is for Real" starring Greg Kinnear and he plays Pastor Todd Burpo whose son Colton came back from a near-death experience claiming to have visited heaven.

And Pastor Burpo joins us now. Thanks. Welcome to the program.

TODD BURPO, PASTOR: Hey. Thank you for having me. I'm glad to be here.

GUPTA: Thank you. I want to get into some of the details here of this whole story in just a minute, but --

BURPO: Sure.

GUPTA: -- in the clip that we just saw, what was your reaction? You were Greg Kinnear's character is.

BURPO: Yes.

GUPTA: What was your reaction when your son told you that?

BURPO: Well, I think when he could recognize a picture of my granddad that was taken back in the 1940s, it kind of totally takes away all those explanations of the drugs and chemicals causing his brain to play tricks on him and give him memories that he never had. That picture that he recognized of my grandfather he'd never seen before, so I was convinced the only explanation for him recognizing that picture is he had to meet my grandfather somewhere besides here.

GUPTA: Let me back up the story just a little bit for people who don't know it. Back in February of 2003, you think your son has the stomach flu.

BURPO: Yes.

GUPTA: It turns out to be appendicitis and his appendix actually had ruptured. He's very sick in the hospital.

What happened at that point? What did the doctors tell you was happening to your son Colton?

BURPO: Well, when they finally did a CAT scan on him and they put him in emergency surgery, he was so sick. I remember asking the doctor if my son was going to be fine and he just looked at me. He didn't say anything.

But in that surgery is where my son says he closed his eyes and spiritually, he must have opened them and found himself sitting on Jesus' lap in that first surgery.

GUPTA: I do wonder as again from a neuroscience perspective when you look at something like what happened to Colton, you think there are so many different things that are happening in the brain at that time, memories that seem remote suddenly take on a significance. You see different sorts of images during sort of comatose-like state. Sort of many neuroscience sort of explanations perhaps for what may have happened to him.

BURPO: Uh-huh.

GUPTA: Does that change it to you if someone says, look, here's a scientific explanation for what happened to Colton?

BURPO: Well, I think what really impacted me the most is when I talked to Colton's surgeon, because when he started talking to me things about things like this, I wanted to check his medical records. And I asked him, did he ever flat-lined? Did he ever code (ph)?

I remember talking to Dr. Hollerin (ph) directly about this because he was the main surgeon operating on Colton and he was very quick to tell me, oh, wow, Colton is not my first person to have an out of body experience and while I've had people cold tell us who where we were, who came into the room, what we did on him. As a matter of fact, Dr. Hollerin was very much not surprised by what Colton was sharing with him. And that was a surprise to me.

GUPTA: I appreciate you sharing this story. There's always a tension, as you know, Pastor, between science and obviously --

BURPO: Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: -- are what they are. But it's a good discussion to have. And I hope you appreciate the questions I asked you.

BURPO: Sure.

GUPTA: And I appreciate you for being on the program. Thank you.

BURPO: Thank you for having me.

GUPTA: That's all the time that we've got for SGMD today.

Time now, though, to get you back in the "CNN NEWSROOM" with Jim Sciutto.