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Glenn Beck Reveals He Is Sick; Actress Ricki Lake Makes Push For Medical Marijuana; Tensions Grow Between Israeli Authorities And Palestinians In Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank

Aired November 11, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Weed is a budding industry. It is also a growing source of hope for young kids dying from cancer. Thousands of investors are gathering this week from around the world at a marijuana convention in Las Vegas. They want to capitalize on new opportunities in the pot industry benefitting from new momentum after Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. just to in Colorado and Washington state in approving pro-marijuana laws.

And with them, an unlikely champion for medical marijuana in curing young kids with cancer. Actress and talk show host Ricki Lake. She is making a new push for medical marijuana in her documentary "Weed, the People," drawing attention to stories like this. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The large flight center area is the tumor. They were putting cannabinoid (ph) oils on the baby's pacifier twice a day and within four months you can see that the tumor is essentially gone. Currently the child is being called a miracle baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is some cell death, the tumor is dying in certain areas. There's no new growth. I'm just thrilled. This is the most amazing news I've ever gotten.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a good deal. I can actually see the future. I can see walking (INAUDIBLE) down the aisle and taking, you know, her first dance recital and all those things you want to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Miguel Marquez is out at the convention with Ricki Lake.

Miguel, tell us about what she's trying to accomplish.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is the ark view group investor forum here. About 300 investors. They have millions of dollars to spend here. It's lunchtime here at ark view and there's about 20 companies that are looking for millions in investment. What better place than Vegas to look for possible investments or risks and one of those folks that are raising money here is Ricki Lake and Abbey Epstein.

Thank you for being with us. You're raising money for "Weed, the People," the film. How is this film different from everything else that has been done on marijuana?

RICKI LAKE, ACTRESS: Well, we are focusing on the people, the families that are struggling for children with cancer.

We've been following in some cases, children and baby diagnosed at nine months of age who just turned two and we're documenting her progress along the way using cannabis and chemotherapy. They've had unprecedented cell death with her tumor. So amazing stories of real people taking their health in their own hands. And that's what we're exposing. We're not medical marijuana advocates as far as legalization. Obviously I'm pro legalization, but that's not our issue with the film. It is really got this for the story.

MARQUEZ: And Abbey, schedule one, marijuana is still a schedule one drug. Is that the hope the government will loosen those restrictions?

ABBEY EPSTEIN, PRODUCER, WEED, THE PEOPLE: I'm really hoping by the time our if I can is released in a year or so that that's changed. I mean, I think as long as marijuana's schedule one, you will never be able to do the research and we'll never be able to really unleash the potential for these cures. So what you're seeing in our documentary is that families don't have the time to wait for this reclassification. They're just using this medicine.

MARQUEZ: And you are someone who had never used marijuana until you fell into this?

LAKE: Well, I did a couple times in college, you know, I didn't inhale. But no, I was not a pot smoker. It is not my thing. I've since become a patient. I live in the state of California and I see it as medicine. I see it helps with anxiety, helps with my sleep issues. But again, I'm not even speaking out for myself. I'm speaking out for children that are suffering from these diseases that they're going to die from unless they have medicines.

MARQUEZ: When you were on "Dancing With The Stars," you came across one of these kids?

LAKE: Yes. This little girl Tory, yes. She found me on social media, her mom reached out to me and I wanted to help this little girl. She was going through chemotherapy and she was 30 pounds and I felt like there had to be other options. Again, Abbey and I got on a plane to Mend Chino (ph) and kind of stop it there and researched options for her. And that is how we got into this whole film.

MARQUEZ: All right. Well, good luck. You are raising money today. Good luck with that. You guys have a presentation at 2:30 this afternoon. They and several other businesses also raising money here. It's fascinating to see how quickly this industry is growing -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. And so much new information, too.

Miguel Marquez, thank you for that.

Are attacks in Israel just the first chapter of a bigger uprising? And can Israel contain the violence before it gets out of control? We'll take you live to Jerusalem next.

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KEILAR: Almost daily violence in Israel in recent weeks raising new worries about stability across the entire region. Tensions between Israeli authorities and Palestinians include deadly incidents in Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank.

Earlier today, Israeli troops killed a Palestinian man during clashes in a West Bank refugee camp. And on Monday, a 20-year-old Israeli soldier was fatally stabbed at a Tel Aviv bus stop. Three Israelis were stabbed, one of them killed near a West Bank settlement. Let's head now to Jerusalem and bring in our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson.

Nic, there are serious concerns these relatively small-scale incidents could really explode and grow into something much bigger.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There really is and that's a huge concern at the moment. And when you listen to the state of the political rhetoric that we've heard today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that he will send more troops into the West Bank to keep security there. That he will put tougher penalties on though protesters, potentially even finding their parents.

He also said the Palestinian authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, is lying when he says that Israel is trying to bring about a religious war over access to religious sites inside Jerusalem. We've heard the Palestinian president alleging that today against Prime Minister Netanyahu. So when you listen to the political leadership you can hear the tension there.

But when analysts look at this they say OK, right now we cannot see a coherent push by a particular group to bring about what might be called the third intifada. They say look at the intifada, the last intifada 2002. In a month back then there were 122 Israeli deaths.

Now, we're looking at just a couple of deaths a week. Terrible and bad but not at the state it was before. So they don't see this organization trying to drive this current violence higher. But there is real concern to a spark because things are so tense right now could escalate this into something that has been seen before, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. It's smaller scale, but as you said still concern and we'll be watching because of that.

Nic Robertson, thank you very much.

It's veterans day and we're recognizing our nation's warriors with medals and ceremonies. But what about those who have had more difficult time returning to civilian life? Jake Tapper visits a prison to shows the less talked about side of life for veterans.

Plus, Glenn Beck is sharing a secret he has kept for years, he says, an illness that was so painful at times he was forced to curl up into a ball. Now he's telling fan what is it was and the controversial treatment he says healed him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Across America as we thank our veterans for their service today, CNN's Jake Tapper has been granted exclusive access to special program for vets whose post-military path has led them to prison.

Jake, this is sort of fascinating story. And certainly one that I think a lot of people know nothing about. They don't even realized this is happening.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, we spent a lot of time on "the LEAD" talking about veterans, talking about people who have been awarded high honors, distinctions, the medal of honor. But a lot of veterans come back and have struggles and some of them even fall through the cracks.

So we went to the Haynesville correctional prison in Virginia and spent time in the special dormitory that is just veterans and they try to provide these veterans with guidance on what to do when they leave. It's for their last two years of their sentences. And it really was quite a remarkable situation. They -- a lot of these veterans first of all can draw a line from their combat experience to how they ended up there, usually because of drugs and post-traumatic stress disorder.

But also a lot of them didn't know what to do once they got out of the military and they're finding themselves getting guidance in prison that they did not get from the military when they left. So there's this one gentleman we spoke with, Jimmy Jackson, he was incarcerated because he was forging checks to pay the rent, to pay for food.

I asked him "what do you want people to know about veterans in prison? What do you want people to know when you come to them trying to get a job?"

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY JACKSON, INCARCERATED VETERAN: We're all human, we all mess up. But we do try to correct what we did. Like they said, you know, hopefully people like -- they take chances in us and help us progress in life, progress further than what we were -- helping us out if we need it. Pretty much just kind of be there. And that's what a lot of us like is just somebody there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It was quite a remarkable experience. And I have to say, Brianna, obviously, we don't want to stigmatize veterans, most veterans come back and become law abiding members of society, contribute, have no problems segueing. But there are those who slip through the cracks and we felt it was important to pay attention to some of them on veterans day.

KEILAR: No, it certainly is and it's also interesting, I think, some of their shared experiences that we have this maybe folks who've come back and certainly been more successful. There are a lot of issues out there that's important to talk about.

Jake Tapper, thanks so much. We will be watching "THE LEAD" with you and it starts at the top of the hour.

TAPPER: Thanks.

KEILAR: Well, he has built a network on his talent for talking, but radio and television host Glenn Beck says he's kept his mouth shut on one secret for years and that's his health. Beck just opened up on his network "the Blaze." He revealed the feign tom pain, no sleep, poor brain function and more that kept doctors guessing for years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN BECK, RADIO AND TELEVISION HOST: We didn't know at the time what was causing me to feel as though out of nowhere my hands or feet or arms and legs would feel like someone had just crushed them or set them on fire or pushed broken glass into my feet. I can't tell you how many nights -- how many nights my wife would sit in the light looking at the bottom of my feet to make sure that there really wasn't any glass in them.

The doctors tell me that up until recently I hadn't had any real REM sleep in maybe as long as a decade. I know when I couldn't figure out simple math problems or remember series reporters, I was in real trouble. I was told at the time that I would have somewhere between five and ten years before I would no longer be able to function. I would be like that old man except I would be 55.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Joining me now to talk about this, the host of HLN's "Dr. Drew On Call," Dr. Drew Pinsky and senior media correspondent and host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter.

I want to ask you first, Drew, about really what is ailed Glenn Beck. He talks about his being autoimmune disorder, adrenal fatigue. What really could cause the symptoms, horrible symptoms that he describes?

DR. DREW PINSKY, HLN HOST, DR. DREW ON CALL: Right. I'm glad you are picking up on he is being very vague about what the exact diagnosis is. Autoimmune syndrome, what autoimmune syndrome? And number two, I challenge anyone to open up a medical textbook and find something called adrenal fatigue. There is no such thing.

What he did, however, described that can explain everything is his sleep disorder. He said he hasn't a real sleep for ten year. And I believe that is true. And if you look at people that have severe fibromyalgia, which is really what he is describing here, you often find a profound sleep disturbance and I think that's his primary problem.

KEILAR: Brian, this is pretty fascinating because you actually interviewed Glenn back at length during this summer.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: Right. KEILAR: It is about the time that he would have kind of dealing with

some of this.

STELTER: And when he says he was starting to feel better. He dropped no hints about it over the summer. He seemed to be in good health.

But you know, he did talked about how he's trying to move away from politics, which he doesn't says -- he doesn't care much about and towards culture. And he has talked to at length that as gain, yesterday, about how he's taken his personal issues and use them to decide what really matters, what is really important to him. In this case, not politics so much his culture.

And again, last week, that was a midterm, he was talking about civil war, you know, potentially in the United States. So he is clearly still polarizing, political guy. But he wants to evolve his business in a way that he cares about it.

And I think health plays into that. You're a guy who is struggling what is wrong with you. You may not be able to focus as much on your business. I think he's coming out now talking about his past health problems because he's ready to reinvigorate his business, his network to Blaze, maybe ready to reinvigorate the programming, add new shows. So I think he's introducing his health and explaining to viewers to set-up some additional, some denounces for him in the future.

KEILAR: But some -- I mean, it just shows how polarizing he is. Some people have suggested, you know, that it's kind of a ploy or even if it's real he's just using it to benefit off of it.

STELTER: You know, I've had people ask, is he somehow supported financially by the hospital that he went to? Because he was singing the praises of this brain center, (INAUDIBLE) brain center, that he says really made a difference and helped him turn the corner.

Well, no, there is not a financial relationship there. But the fact that these questions get asked, just goes to show how polarizing this man is. There's nobody like him. He himself says that he acts somewhat paranoid. For a while he was wondering if he had been poisoned, you know. I guess I was understand why he was having to question everything. Because if you're faced by a mysterious sort of disease like this --

KEILAR: You really do start to question it.

And Dr. Drew, I wonder if that isn't one of the reasons that people are so fascinated by this. This has gotten so much attention. There are a lot of people who have symptoms. And maybe they haven't been able to get a diagnosis and I imagine that whether it is Glenn Beck or not, there's sort of fascinated by how did he find, you know, a solution to his problem?

STELTER: Yes. Now, he is still works like yours.

PINSKY: Well, and part of that is how we describe against syndrome in such vague terms. I mean, who hasn't felt pains in their limbs, sleep problem, mood disorders, feelings of having fogginess, difficulty concentrating? That's something that we also have problems at some point or another. But this is at the a point where it's a medical syndrome.

And again, I want to emphasize, he has not told us what it is yet. But I can tell you pretty certainly is a sleep disturbance. And the fact that he's not calling it fibromyalgia, I think it's actually a disservice to people who have fibromyalgia. People, that syndrome needs to be discussed. And it's a disabling condition that a lot of people suffer from and he's doing all the kind of treatment that people normally get to recover from that.

So he's doing all right itself but he's not getting really any specific medication, I doubt. He is changing his lifestyle. He is sleeping better. He is reducing stress. He is taking care of his emotional health and all that improved the syndrome.

KEILAR: Yes, it certainly does.

Dr. Drew Pinsky, thank you so much. Brian Stelter, covering all the angles for us. Really appreciate it.

You can catch Brian on Sundays. You can catch Dr. Drew on HLN tonight.

You know, not many people can get away with making fun of the president. But George H. W. Bush was the target of some good-natured jokes from the man who knew him pretty well.

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KEILAR: Well, across much of the United States, record-breaking snow and bone-chilling cold. Winter is still more than a month away. So what is up with that?

We have a storm system straight from the arctic and it's blasting parts of the Midwest and great lakes and as heavy snow fell in Marquette, Michigan, visibility was just about zero. Some areas are buried under a foot of snow and more is on the way. Over the next few days, even parts of the Deep South will be in the deep freeze.

College station, Texas, witnessed a poignant moment of history lays this morning with an event honoring former president George Herbert Walker Bush. Bush 41, as we sometimes say, now is 90-years-old. He is the subject of a new biography written by his son, Bush 43. Bush, his number was there as well. He spoke of serving in the oval office as his father watch from the sidelines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It mattered to be able to get these notes from dad or phone calls from dad. Because in that he was president, he knew what the pressures of the job were like and he knew moments could be very trying and to have him interject some humor and or a love note really made a huge difference during my presidency. You know, look, I recognize there's a lot of psycho babble about our

relationship and that's not exactly our long suit here in our family. But anyway, it is -- there was -- people can't possibly comprehend and hopefully this book -- one reason I've written is to help people understand better that when you admire somebody as much as we have all admired George H. W. Bush, and he offers help in your comfort, it means more than any advice he can possibly give.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: He also said he wrote the book because his father's term was over shadowed by that of his predecessor Ronal Reagan. And he said that his father was the greatest on-term president in history.

I'm Brianna Keilar in New York. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.