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Pope's Christmas Address; Wedding Makes Miracle for Young Cancer Patient; Most Important Health Stories of 2014

Aired December 24, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And on Monday, Pope Francis used his annual Christmas address to try to bring his own house in order delivering actually his most critical attack yet to the Vatican's governing power calling the Curia diseased with vanity and rivalry. So, let's talk about all of this here. Let me bring in CNN religion commentator Father Edward Beck and CNN senior Vatican analyst John Allen who is live in Rome. So exciting. Looking at these beautiful live pictures, John Allen, let me just begin with you as we are seeing the crowds and the cardinals gathering here. Tell me just what is in store for the Christmas events this week at the Vatican and what is the message that we anticipate?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you indicated tonight Pope Francis will celebrate the traditional Christmas Eve liturgy. The mass of Christmas night. Tomorrow he will deliver his traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing that is the blessing to the city and to the world. On Sunday he will deliver the usual Angelus Address. That's a noontime prayer that the pope always does. And then of course next week on New Year's Eve he'll lead a vespers service. On New Year's Day he will celebrate a mass.

In terms of what the message here is, I mean these are the most solemn moments on the Christian calendar and so I don't think you should expect the pope to deliver any kind of hard hitting policy address either about the internal politics of the Catholic Church or external issues of diplomacy and the issues of the world. I think these are going to be very spiritual meditations, but that said, I do think Francis will return over and over again to the kind of core themes that we have seen emerge during the course of his papacy, which is the kind of preferential love God has for the most forgotten and the most humble among us and meanwhile the need for those who hold kind of exalted positions, not to exploit them for personal power, but to use those positions in a spirit of service. I think you'll hear the pope talk about that repeatedly, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, those are the themes that we'll be listening for. You said not hard hitting, but, Father Beck, we mentioned the blistering criticism on Monday saying that members are at risk of what he called "spiritual Alzheimer's disease." Father Beck, who was he targeting there?

FATHER EDWARD BECK, HOST, "THE SUNDAY MASS": Well, he was targeting the bureaucracy there in Vatican. But Brooke, it's very interesting that we're celebrating here the prince of peace. The birth of the prince of peace. And you mentioned those images from Bethlehem. We remember when Pope Francis did go there in May and he stopped at that separation wall, separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem. And he prayed that the wall may someday come down. Well, just today before the mass, the senior cleric in Jerusalem Latin patriarch Twal, he also prayed that there be no separation wall. That we build bridges of peace instead and that peace comes from justice and this has been the message of St. Francis.

There's a banner that's hanging at that Church of the Nativity today, this evening in Bethlehem that says "All I want for Christmas is justice."

And so we're reminded once again of the conflicts throughout the world and this pope has continued to remind us of that. So when he spoke his Christmas message at the Vatican, those 15 spiritual illnesses if you will, he was saying that these are the issues that bureaucracy must be engaged and concerned about. He said you can't be about your pathology of power. There's the most powerful man in the church saying there's a pathology of power in the church. There's a terrorism of gossip. There's an arrogance. He is saying, no. Issues of justice and peace. This is what you must concern yourself with.

BALDWIN: So, you know, you mention the wall there in Bethlehem and now he is, you know, talk about international issues and domestically, John Allen, looking back at the year he broke new ground indicating an open approach to homosexuals, a stronger role for women in the church. There was the letter that really sort of helped, you know, begin this thaw between U.S. and Cuba. Flash forward to the next year, John Allen. What do you think he will tackle, discuss, lift the veil?

ALLEN: Well, first of all, Brooke, I think this pope ought to come with a warning label. Like a pack of cigarettes that says, caution, predictions are hazardous to your health.

(LAUGHTER)

ALLEN: I mean this is a pope of surprise. OK? So, we never really know what he's going to do. But if we just look at what's already on the books for 2015, first of all, in January, he's taking a trip to Sri Lanka in the Philippines. Another outreach to Asia and to the developing world. We know that sometime early in 2015, he's going to release an encyclical that's the most important form of papal teaching on the environment. The first time a pope has ever devoted such a teaching document to climate change and ecology. We know that in September he's going to make his in the flesh debut in the United States. He's going to visit Philadelphia for a Vatican meeting of families and then he's probably also going to go to New York to address the U.N. and Washington, to address the joint session of Congress.

We know that in October, he's convening another summit. What the Vatican calls the Synod of Catholic bishops from all around the world to talk about hot button issues having to do with the family. For example, what role that homosexuals out to have in the church and whether divorced or remarried Catholics ought to be able to receive the communion. So, even though we don't really know what the surprises of 2015 are going to be, just looking at what is already on the schedule, Brooke, we can say for sure this is going to be another extraordinarily eventful year for Pope Francis in 2015.

BALDWIN: I couldn't help but think, you know, thinking of his role in the thaw with U.S. and Cuba and you are mentioning him visiting Washington. That's where I am today. The thought of him going to talk to Congress. I guess perhaps he could help there as well. Father Beck, my final question to you. My final question to you, I guess. When I was just so stunned by how the pope was so integral in helping broker those relations between Castro and Obama. And in your lifetime, and thinking of the pope's past, has the pope had that kind of power and that kind of sway?

BECK: Well, certainly if you think of John Paul II and the Iron Curtain coming down. He was very influential during that whole period in the fall of communism in those countries. So, it is not without precedent that the pope has been involved in these political processes. But the point is that it's not about politics for the papacy. Not to say that there is nothing political about it. However, it is about issues of peace and justice. The pope gets involved when people are suffering. When there's a call for liberation. When there's a call for justice. And, of, course Cuba has been that issue when they intervened in Syria that's the issue. In the Middle East that's the issue.

And all I can say, Brooke, if that was the Christmas message that he gave that we heard, I can't wait to hear Good Friday.

BALDWIN: Father Edward beck and John Allen, merry Christmas to both of you. Thank you so much for joining me.

BECK: Merry Christmas

BALDWIN: You know, it was an incredible year for health stories. 2014 was the first year we saw Ebola in the United States and Africa continues to fight this crippling epidemic. We'll tell you what other stories make our top ten list and next, holding onto hope, as young woman gets a crushing medical prognosis, given weeks to live, but after a wedding to the love of her life, something has changed. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I can't wait to share this story with you. You know, a little while ago this 25-year-old young woman was given this prognosis. Liza Heaton was just told she had a few weeks left to live. This rare form of cancer known to plague younger people had returned after three years of remission. But she gathered a hundred or so loved ones around the country to say perhaps good-bye and I love you. But she and her boyfriend came up with an alternative. A wedding instead. So now just a day after the ceremony, doctors are seeing new gains in her treatment. And Liza is no longer at home care. So, Liza and her new hubs Wyatt are joining me now in front of their gorgeous Christmas tree there in Shreveport, Louisiana. Welcome to both of you. And congratulations.

LIZA HEATON: Thank you so much.

WYATT HEATON: Thank you.

BALDWIN: So, I'm going to ask and get the full skinny on how you pulled off this surprise wedding. But Liza, just first to you, how are you doing health-wise today?

LIZA HEATON: I'm doing so much better than I was two weeks ago, I guess, when we were in Baltimore. I started taking a chemo pill and I think we're on the eighth day now so I can definitely start to feel the side effects. I hope that means it's working. But I'm feeling pretty great really. As well as you could feel when you're doing chemo.

WYATT HEATON: And her attitude is great.

BALDWIN: Phenomenal. Phenomenal. I see it through the smile and the lovey doviness (ph) between the two of you. So, let's get this conversation started. So you have, you know, people in town from all over the country in Shreveport, and then whose decision was it to instead of have a gathering to have - surprise, a wedding?

WYATT HEATON: Definitely collaborative. We talked about it, but then when we knew that a lot of people were coming into town, we knew that something that was really important to the both of us, and it was - it couldn't have been a better ceremony. I think that there was hardly a dry eye there. And we just had the night of our lives.

LIZA HEATON: I thought, you know, we only have a few weeks and as a girl I never thought we could plan a wedding that fast. But he thought we could pull it off, so he kind of convinced me, I guess, so we could really turn it into a surprise wedding.

BALDWIN: So, so, he convinced you. How did you pull off getting, I don't know, like decorations and most importantly that dress?

LIZA HEATON: Of course, the dress was so beautiful. But actually, a girl that grew up down the street from me, she was a few years older. So, she had been married a few years ago. And I saw her wear that dress. And I always had wanted to wear it. You know, and I always thought well, whenever I get married, I will just call her and figure out, you know, who made it and where I can get it and I used to always joke around with one of my best friends about, you know, what if I just asked her to borrow it? Because she's kind of the same size as me.

And so, when we decided that we are going to plan a wedding in two days, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to ask her. And so, I really just called her up and she said yes. She was so gracious. She said, you know, I could get it alter and I could do whatever I wanted to it, but really it ended up fitting perfectly. We didn't have to do anything. So, that just was really lucky.

BALDWIN: Incredible. So as you're surrounded by love and I had read that your dad said you were having the time of your life, I mean what were, a, how were you able to pull it off like hours and hours of, you know, being with loved ones and dancing and what was the reaction from all of your guests? LIZA HEATON: I mean I would say everyone was really happy. I mean

there's definitely tears, no dry eyes. I mean just so much excitement. So much love. But at that time we still thought I was only going to be able to do palliative care and go into the hospice afterwards. So, it's definitely a sense of that this was our last good-bye, but then at the same time, it's a wedding so it's all about love and fun and I love to dance. He definitely loves to dance. So it was a good time. But there was a lot of crying.

WYATT HEATON: And we had a lot of insiders helping us plan the wedding, take care of just the bare essentials. If you have seen the pictures, you can tell that someone was really taking care of us because the sunset over the lake was beautiful. I think that the general mood was just overrun with emotion. I saw people I have gone to college with, tough guys their whole lives who were crying the whole night just overjoyed and it was just - it was so special to share it with that many people.

LIZA HEATON: And really, I mean, you think with 48 hours you wouldn't be able to get most things you wanted but the wedding turned out perfectly. It was really my dream wedding. Everything I would have wanted to have in a wedding I took a year to plan it. I feel like I have there. So, it was great.

BALDWIN: I guess as I sit and talk to you and I'm so mindful of family, you know, this time of year here we are on Christmas Eve, just what is the message? Talk about just loving one another and spending time with your families, what message do you want to tell people as you sit there in front of your Christmas tree?

LIZA HEATON: I mean, I guess I realized once I thought I only had a few weeks left to live how important it is to spend as much time with your family and friends as possible and tell them that you love them and tell them, you know, that they are great or everything you would want to say. I think a lot of times things go unspoken. But once people realize, you know, I may only have a few weeks left, I know I just got an outpouring of cards and calls and texts and e-mails, like just little things saying I love you. I've always felt this about you or that about you and you helped me in this situation, you know, and just things that you would want people to know but you just never really take the time to say because you don't feel like you're going to run out of time. And I guess just spend as much time and say what you really feel to your friends and family.

WYATT: And I think affliction such as synovial sarcoma can make people feel isolated and just the sense of community and the love and support that we've had from everyone that we know, I don't think that we've ever felt more loved and we really appreciate that.

BALDWIN: My goodness you two. No words. Just love from here in Washington, D.C. Down to you in Shreveport, Louisiana, and gratitude. And I couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you, Liza and Wyatt Heaton. Best to you.

WYATT HEATON: Thank you.

LIZA HEATON: Thank you so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: How great were they. Liza's cancer, by the way, is very rare, and so money for its research is scarce. So, we were so taken aback by them. If you would like to donate, you can give online, phone or mail at Johns Hopkins. Make sure to designate your donation is going to the Love for Liza Fund and you can also contribute online gofundme/LoveForLiza. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: 2014 was a year of change and a year of crisis in the health arena including the deadly Ebola crisis and political issues involving medical marijuana. Our medical team, chief and senior correspondents Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Elizabeth Cohen count down the top ten health stories of 2014.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you are what you eat then what you probably are is confused. 2014 finally brought some transparency to our food. In February, the Food and Drug Administration announced proposed changes to nutrition labels. It was the first overhaul in more than two decades.

MICHELLE OBAMA: Families deserve more and better information about the food they eat.

GUPTA: In late November, the FDA ruled that establishments of self- prepared foods and have 20 or more locations have to post calorie counts clearly and conspicuously on their menus, the menu boards that are in displays. Companies will now have until November 2015 to comply.

BRITTANY MAYNARD: I will die upstairs in my bedroom that I share with my husband, with my mother and my husband by my side.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In October, 29-year-old Brittany Maynard became the face of a controversial right to die movement when she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer and given just six months to live. Maynard didn't want her family to watch her die in pain so she moved to Oregon to take advantage of the state's death with dignity law.

This is not a third world country. This is a major city in West Virginia. On January 9TH, the chemical spill at Freedom Industries released thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals into the Elk River and from there into Charleston's water supply.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't wash with it. Don't shower with it. Don't drink it.

COHEN: Hospitals in the area told CNN they didn't know of any illnesses related to the contamination, but the economic impact was real. GUPTA: Heroin made a big comeback in 2014 as more people began using

this as a cheaper alternative to costly prescription painkillers. Use of an antidote for an overdose s also on the rise. The drug is called Narcan and you're watching it in action right now. Naloxone, and it's also known, is now distributed to addicts, their friends and family as well as first responders across the country.

2014 may go down as the year cigarettes went up in smoke. On February 5, CVS, the nation's second largest pharmacy chain announced it would stop selling tobacco products in all of its 7800 locations doing all of this by 2015. The company made good on its promise early. And on September 3rd pulled all tobacco products from its shelves. CVS said this would cost the company $2 billion a year, but that selling tobacco is also against its moral and ethical principles as a healthcare company.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anderson, as you know we've been reporting on your program on these delays and poor care at these hospitals.

GUPTA: CNN has spent more than a year investigating delays in care at Veteran Affairs hospitals. Our Drew Griffin and his team exposed systematic problems throughout the VA and CNN's reporting found that thousands of veterans across the country were waiting months, even years to see a doctor.

CNN's reporting also uncovered VA workers cooking the books to cover up long wait times. Congressional hearings were held and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki was forced to resign. President Obama brought in a new secretary Bob McDonald who has vowed to clean up the VA.

7.1 million more people had health insurance this year under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. As you probably know, Obamacare mandates that Americans be covered by an insurance plan or pay a penalty.

GUPTA: Last year I had somewhat of an epiphany about weed. This plant can have some real medicinal benefits.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marijuana is better than all those pills for you in terms of treating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

GUPTA: We saw families pack up and move across the country to get access to the only medicine that seemed to work for their children in states where medical marijuana is legal. Two states, Colorado and Washington also legalized all forms of marijuana including recreational use.

COHEN: On September 24th, the New Jersey four-year-old died in his sleep. It was the first death health officials could directly link to Enterovirus D68, which can cause severe respiratory symptoms. By the time the scare settled down EVD-68 had sickened hundreds of children in nearly all 50 states.

GUPTA: Without a doubt, the biggest health headline of the year, Ebola.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ebola.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ebola.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ebola.

GUPTA (on camera): You've been exposed to Ebola while in Liberia.

(voice over): What began as a single case in Guinea last December has grown into an epidemic of unprecedented proportions? In the first of its kind maneuver, two aid workers, Dr. Kent Brantley and Nancy Writebol were medevac'd back to the United States from Liberia. They survived, followed by others thanks in part to the selfless work of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who literally put their own lives on the line. As 2014 comes to a close, the World Health Organization tallies more than 6,000 deaths among roughly 18,000 sick. The outbreak in West Africa is far from over, but early stage vaccine trials are under way and they do look promising.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Sanjay and Elizabeth, thank you very much. Gosh, so much to talk about from this past year. I hope you join me for our top ten of 2014. It's a special we're airing here on CNN hosted by yours truly Sunday night 6:30 p.m. Eastern here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Stormy weather making holiday travel a little tricky and frustrating for a lot of you. Always mindful for those of you watching for planes of the airports here. Nearly 100 billion Americans will travel 50 or more miles this holiday season, that's according to AAA. Rain and snow making road conditions difficult, forcing airlines to delay or cancel a lot of flights. Then throw this in. Tornado watches lingered into today for parts of the south after deadly tornadoes killed four people overnight in Mississippi. Karen Maginnis is watching it all. Karen Maginnis, my flight was canceled last night. Thank goodness for trains and I made my way to Washington, D.C., but I can empathize with a lot of people.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN CORESPONDNET: I know that you can't, but because we were looking at hundreds of flight cancellations, and thousands of delayed flights and today not looking at nearly the volume, but they're still there. Newark and Philadelphia. Philadelphia has been socked in all day. Here you can see the reason why that warm, moist flow coming up from the South and the warm, moist air was also the trigger for those EF-2 and EF-3 tornadoes that touched down across south central and central Mississippi. Here comes with the wet weather moving in behind it across the Great Lakes and Chicago, I think they dodged a bullet. The computer models were all saying four to eight inches of snowfall, but on the back side of that it's going to be windy and cold. Here comes another storm system just kind of plowing across the interior west, moves across the central U.S. and the Midwest and Great Lakes over the next several days, but with temperatures in the 50s and some 40s in the northeast and New England, from New York to Boston, you're not going to see a white Christmas. You're looking at temperatures that are running a little bit above normal, but watch out across the West. If you're headed to some of the ski resorts it looks to be great, but yesterday we have four fatalities in Mississippi. Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: Karen Maginnis, thank you so much.

Thank you so much for being with me. The next time you see me it will be for the big show on New Year's Eve. I'll be live in New Orleans, definitely, too. And in the meantime, happy, happy holidays, but stay right here. The "NEWSROOM" with Dana Bash starts right now.