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Hugo Chavez Taken Ill; Lance Armstrong May Confess to Doping; Italian Fashion Designer's Plane Missing; Gun Control Legislation to be Introduced in Congress; Cancer Survivor Discusses Life after Cancer; Common Medical Mistakes Revealed; William Shatner Discusses One-Man Show; Movie Critic Assesses Favorite Films

Aired January 05, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Martin Savidge. Thank you very much for joining us this hour here in the CNN Newsroom.

Hugo Chavez is fighting for his health, interesting way of putting it, according to Venezuelan officials. The country's 58-year-old leader has a severe lung infection. His fragile health has a lot of people wondering whether he will be able to go through with his inauguration next week. And just moments ago, Venezuelan lawmakers elect elected a president of that country's national assembly. Joining me is senior Latin Affairs editor Rafael Romo. This national assembly election is really crucial. Tell me about it.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: It is crucial because it ensures continuity. Those people who are loyal to President Chavez at least have the certainty that whatever happens, and there are two possible scenarios, either the vice president or the president of the national assembly in this case the man who was just re-elected, would have to step in in the case that President Chavez is unable to take office.

Now, he's scheduled to take office next Thursday, January 10th. And the constitution spells out a coup of different possibilities. They're already talking about flexible plans, postponing that inauguration fur a later date to give Mr. Chavez enough time. The other option is maybe he is sworn in in front of the Supreme Court even if the Supreme Court has to travel to Havana, Cuba, where he underwent cancer surgery.

SAVIDGE: This has all the earmarks, Rafael, after a power struggle that's going to be created, especially if Chavez were to die. Is that wa we're starting to see play out?

ROMO: It is a possibility. So far what we have seen especially when it comes to his loyalists is a very unified front, showing the world that they are unified behind the figure of president Chavez who they say is the legitimate president. He won the elections with 54 percent of the vote on October 7, and as far as they're concerned, he will come back and take office at a later date.

SAVIDGE: Let's talk about the potential implications for the United States here. What are they? ROMO: A lot of people say Venezuela, who cares, right here in the United States? Well, after Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, Venezuela is the fourth largest oil supplier to the United States.

SAVIDGE: A lot of oil.

ROMO: And not only that, if you want to talk about diplomatic and international relations, Venezuela has been constantly time and again defying the United States when it comes to international policy, becoming friends with Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, inviting China to invest in Latin America. And it is responsible for the most part to the fact that Cuba has remained a viable country because it gives Cuba a lot of money in terms of oil and in terms of help and other kind. Without Venezuela, Cuba would probably have failed already. It's also responsible for countries like Nicaragua buying satellites from China instead of the United States. So the geopolitical implications as to what happens in Venezuela are very important and can hit Americans directly in their pocket when it comes to oil prices.

SAVIDGE: So is there any way perhaps that the U.S. can try to influence whatever this transition is likely to be?

ROMO: The latest word from the State Department is, whatever happens in Venezuela is going to be a made in Venezuela solution. The United States is not going to interfere in anything that is internal in Venezuela. That's the latest we heard on Thursday at the state department.

SAVIDGE: We'll have to see how the health of the president plays out. Rafael, thank you very much.

Today angry protesters are gathered in Steubenville, Ohio, where two high school players Ma'lik Richmond and Trent Mays, are accused of raping an underage girl. This morning the city's police chief talked about the investigation and a video that surfaced showing some teens joking about the alleged rape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM MCCAFFERTY, CHIEF OF POLICE, STEUBENVILLE: Early in the case during the first week after we were made aware of this incident, we obtained this Virginia video. I too as all my officers who investigated were appalled by these morally inept statements made. The new prosecutors, the special prosecutors for the high attorney AG's office, everything was submitted to them. They decide what charges if any would be filed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: I asked national correspondent Susan Candiotti earlier why so many people had turned up for this protest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They don't think some of them that police have done a thorough job of investigating it. They allege that there has been a cover-up. Now authorities in the city insist that there has been no cover-up, that they are doing a thorough investigation and that the people that have been charged will have justice done at a trial coming up next month. But there are a lot of people here on both sides. They're staging a noisy protest here and many of them feel that the city hasn't done enough to get down to the bottom of this. We'll all find out as that trial begins.

SAVIDGE: I understand Susan, you have exclusive new details of an alleged text message that was sent from the 16-year-old girl to Trent Mays. And he, of course, is one of the boys accused of raping her. What did the text say?

CANDIOTTI: That's right. This comes to us from the defense attorney for Trent Mays. Now, he tells us and it says, quote, "I know you didn't rape me." Now, he says that this was sent on August 14, but let's keep in mind here he did not show me the text. We don't know the context of it, whether that's the only text, whether there were several texts, did some precede it, did some follow it, what were the tone, these are all some of unanswered questions that we have. Here's the timeline to remind people.

SAVIDGE: There's been discrepancies talked about the victim and what state me might have been in. I'm wondering what does her attorney say about her physical state?

CANDIOTTI: Well, that, of course, is what we wanted to know, too. He will not comment, nor will many other people about the evidence of this case or about the text message in particular. But he did have this to say about the text message or messages that may have been sent that night. Listen.

BOB FITZSIMMONS, ATTORNEY FOR ALLEGED OHIO RAPE VICTIM: This young girl was unconscious so she wouldn't have the ability to know whether she was raped or not on the day after or two days after, three, whatever the timing of that was. We also don't know and we don't know whether the defendants were texting trying to coerce or talk people into making statements and trying to build up a defense for themselves after they started realizing, this thing kind of unfolded.

SAVIDGE: She was unconscious, so how do we really know what happened that night?

CANDIOTTI: Well, in fact, there's even been testimony in a probable cause hearing back on October 14th that she told police she didn't remember anything about what happened that night. However, there are at least three witnesses that testified at that hearing, one of them testified that he saw this 16-year-old girl being raped.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: By the way, the trial of the two 16-year-old suspects is scheduled to start on February 13th.

Well, a plane carrying a famous Italian fashion designer missing. Vittorio Missoni and his wife and four others took off from a small island off Caracas, Venezuela, yesterday. That plane vanished. Searchers are still looking for any signs of a crash or any information about Missoni and the other. He and his brother Luca and sister Angela run the fashion House.

Alina Cho, who covers the world of fashion, now joins us, and she is on the phone. Alina, you've been speaking to a lot of friends of Missoni. I don't want to get into the thinking the worst here. We're going to stay very positive. But what are people saying?

ALINA CHO, CNN FASHION CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, you're right. I've spent much of the morning speaking to several very close friends of the Missonis. Obviously, the family is worried but still hopeful. I can tell you from what I understand the family has flown to Venezuela to be near the search, to get as much firsthand information as they can about this missing plane. It happened from what I know yesterday morning. Vittorio Missoni who is 58 years old and his wife Maurizia and another couple I understand were on the plane. Vittorio is quite an avid scuba diver, known by one friend as a beach boy. Loves to swim and spent many vacations in Venezuela.

Obviously, they were headed back from what we're told to Italy. Next week is actually Missoni's men's show in Milan, and so never a good time to get this type of information, but it comes at a very busy time for the company.

SAVIDGE: Yes. Tell us just how big the Missoni name is in the fashion world.

CHO: It's very big. In fact, there are few names bigger. It's a company that was founded in 1953, really an iconic label built on knit wear, bold colors and patterns and you're talking about sweaters essentially that were made into dresses and gowns and blouses and pants, even swimsuits, really was a very, very hot brand for quite some time. In recent years, I would say not so much so, but last year as you mentioned, Missoni did a collaboration with Target which sold out immediately. I would venture to guess that it is the most successful Target designer collaboration to date.

But a little bit more about the family, as well. You're talking about a three-generation family, incredibly close. Vittorio was the eldest son of Rosita and Otavio Missoni. Rosita, the matriarch, still very influencing in the family, just celebrated her 92nd birthday. Margarita Missoni, a member of the third generation just got married last year. So a very happy time for the family. Vittorio was the marketing director, is the marketing director. His sister Angela is the creative director of the company, meaning the designer of both the men's wear and the women's wear, and Luca, the middle child, was more involved from what I understand with the company but less so in recent years. I can also tell you --

SAVIDGE: I'm sorry to interrupt. We're going to have to keep moving. We will, of course, keep our thoughts focused on the very best that the family is going to be found alive and well. Their plane missing off the coast of Venezuela. Thanks very much for the update.

Meanwhile a deadly shooting this time in Aurora, Colorado the town where a gunman went on a rampage last year. We'll have all the details.

And the president says gun control is one of his top priorities. Now House Democrats have a new task force looking at the legislative options. We'll meet the man who is going to head that and hear why he doesn't even think we should call it gun control. Interesting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Four people including a gunman are dead in Aurora, Colorado after a standoff inside a home. We know from our affiliate KUSA that that incident started early this morning. Swat teams reportedly shot and killed the suspected gunman and then found three others dead inside that home. Aurora, of course, is where 12 people were killed and 58 injured when a gunman opened fire in a movie theater last summer.

To Washington now, where the first day of the new congress, lawmakers introduced nearly a dozen bills related to gun violence. They come in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting and promises from president Obama to take concrete action to prevent a repeat tragedy. Big political obstacles remain. CNN's Athena Jones explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As students at Sandy Hook Elementary returned to class, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, nearly killed in a mass shooting two years ago, visited Newtown, Connecticut. And on Capitol Hill, lawmakers arrived to begin a new session of Congress with members in both chambers taking aim at guns.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, (D) CALIFORNIA: This is a fight that the American people are going to have to stand up and stiffen their spine.

JONES: California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein plans to introduce a bill to ban more than 100 assault weapons eight years after the old ban she championed expired. Another Senate bill would ban high capacity magazines, and among nearly a dozen gun bills introduced on day one in the House are efforts to ban online sales of ammunition and to require background checks for all firearm sales, including at gun shows. Two bills from freshman Republican congressmen would allow more guns around schools, echoing the position of the National Rifle Association.

WAYNE LAPIERRE, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are better than 32 more gun murders every day.

JONES: Pro-gun control groups plan to keep press for action. But what are the prospects for their success?

JOHN GRAMLICH, "CQ ROLL CALL": If you're talking about stuff around the edges like maybe banning high capacity ammunition, magazines, that might be possible. The NRA is the big issue. I wouldn't say it's necessarily on the Republican side only. It's on the Democratic side also. Have you fully half of your new Senate has an either a plus a or a minus rating from the NRA. You have to have half the Senate upsetting the NRA if you want anything to happen. That's a difficult proposition.

FEINSTEIN: There is no more uphill fight than this. The question is, do we fight or do we knuckle under?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: President Obama says he wants action on gun legislation this year. He's asked Vice President Biden to lead a task force to come up with recommendations on gun policy. They're expected this month. Martin?

SAVIDGE: House Democrats are also taking a closer look at gun control and they have created a task force to look at the legislative options. The man heading that task force is California Congressman Mike Thompson, a Vietnam veteran, a gun owner and a member of the Congressional Sportsman's Caucus, and he joins he now from San Francisco. Thank you for being with us.

REP. MIKE THOMPSON, (D) CALIFORNIA: Thank you, Martin. This is an important issue and I'm glad you're interested in it.

SAVIDGE: You've been quoted as saying one of the best ways to persuade colleagues on gun control is not call it "gun control." I find that interesting. What is it about the language perhaps creates challenges unto themselves?

THOMPSON: Language is certainly important. A lot of times when you talk about gun control, you turn off more than half of your audience. And this is more than just that. What we're doing is we're working to prevent gun violence. It's a very complicated issue. And there's a lot of moving parts, everything from the background checks to the assault magazines, the assault weapons, the mental health capacities that we have. Our culture of violence seems to be so overwhelming right now. All of these things have to be at the table and everybody needs to be at the table if we're going to figure out what the best public policy is to move forward to make our schools and our neighborhoods safer.

SAVIDGE: Yes, and I think you do a good job of sort of explaining. This is a complex and broad issue. It is not just the weapon itself. But let me ask you this. You know, where do you stand say on the ban for assault weapons, and what do you think is actually achievable in congress?

THOMPSON: Well, they may be two separate issues.

SAVIDGE: I think they are.

THOMPSON: Personally, I'm opposed to assault weapons. As you noted, I carried one in Vietnam. I'm a gun owner. I think assault weapons are a pox on the home of every gun owner. I think that's the thing that's going to cause the overwhelming majority of the people in this country who aren't gun owners to have negative feelings about those of us who are gun owners. I don't believe that there's any reason to have an assault magazine. I've never had more than three shells in my rifle. And federal law prohibits you from having more than three shells in your shotgun when you're hunting migratory to birds. If you're duck or dove hunting or goose hunting, it's against the law to have more than three shells in your gun.

Now, interestingly, the fine is stiffer for having more than three shells in your shotgun, the monetary fine, than it is for owning an illegal machine gun. That's a little ridiculous.

SAVIDGE: Limiting ammunition magazines and accessories like that could be one way of sort of taming this problem?

THOMPSON: I certainly think that the assault magazines should be off the market.

SAVIDGE: Let me ask you -- I'm sorry to keep interrupting.

THOMPSON: I think it's important to note also that the background checks for individuals, there's so many holes in that program, a lot of people have access to firearms who shouldn't have them either because of mental health issues or because of criminal issues.

SAVIDGE: Right. And very true that in many cases people have seen a loophole when they go to a gun show they didn't necessarily go through a background check. What do you think of the NRA's suggestion that we put more armed guards in school across the country?

THOMPSON: I think everything needs to be on the table but you're not going to solve this issue by arming every school teacher or every principal. You'll lead into this interview was what happened in Aurora. You're not going to arm every projectionist in a movie theater. We just had a shooting in a mall in Oregon. You're not going to arm every storekeeper in the mall. It doesn't make sense. Most teachers don't want to even think about that. We've got bigger issues and we've got more relevant solutions. And those are the things that we should be working on.

SAVIDGE: Congressman Mike Thompson from California, it's been a pleasure talking to you. I wish you well in your endeavor in trying to resolve this very tragic issue. Thank you.

THOMPSON: Thank you very much.

SAVIDGE: Have you ever just wanted to string up one of your fellow airline passengers? We'll tell you what happened to one apparently annoyed traveler in the skies over the Atlantic. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Few people can say that they have had cancer five times, much less that they have survive survived it every time. In this week's "Human Factor" chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta profiles a chef who decided to take that luck and pay it forward. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHEF ERIC LEVINE, CANCER SURVIVOR: I'm the executive chef at aqua catering.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Eric Levine got off to a rocky start on the Food Network's "Chopped." But the fact that he showed up to compete at all defines resilience in the face of adversity.

LEVINE: The night before I had the chemo radiation treatment I found out I had six to eight months to go. At that moment, it was like a light bulb went off. It was, wow, look at the opportunities that I have. Most people would give their soul to have what I have.

GUPTA: Eric survived the chopping block and he won $10,000. But more importantly, he's now survived cancer five times. He was first diagnosed when he was just 29 years old.

LEVINE: After I had beaten the cancer for the fifth time I wanted to have something to remind me every day of life. So the five on the outside represents the five times I've beaten cancer and the IM is the indestructible master of one theory that I have. For that, you take responsibility for your happiness and your actions and what you do in life if you pass that on to one person every day.

Good afternoon, how are you? How we doing today? How are you enjoying your dining experience so far?

GUPTA: Levine, who is now 43, is using newfound celebrity to inspire and push others to reach their full potential. He begins in his own kitchen.

LEVINE: Throughout the kitchen we have different phrases or different signs of different things that I think is kind of important to our well-being in the kitchen and the mindset of the kitchen.

GUPTA: Levine shares his culinary and cancer survival experiences at events held at his restaurant as well as when he lends his time to the American cancer society.

LEVINE: For me it's all about paying it forward and paying it to a good cause and very involved with the American cancer society.

GUPTA: In the end he says fight the fight. Do what you love every day. And above all, have some fun.

LEVINE: I think the fun factor is what it's about, besides the hokey- pokey. The hokey-pokey is obviously what it's about. But I look at me, I go, OK, I get it. I'm not winning any sexiest men of the year awards, but I'm the happiest person in the universe.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SAVIDGE: In about two hours from now, Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us how a father's desperation led to what might be a breakthrough treatment for severe head injury using of all things fish oil. You can catch "Sanjay Gupta MD" at 4:30 eastern only here on CNN.

Meanwhile, a disgraced champion looking to get back into the sport. We're talking about reports that Lance Armstrong may admit to using performance enhancing drugs. CNN spoke with the cyclist who claims to have witnessed Armstrong doping. Stay right here for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Lance Armstrong may be on the verge of crossing a line that he has spent years trying to avoid. "The New York Times" reports Armstrong is thinking about confessing to doping. His attorney denies Armstrong is in discussions with U.S. or world anti-doping agencies about making the move. It's been a little more than two months since the athlete was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after an anti-doping agency said he took performance enhancing drugs. Armstrong has repeatedly denied that he did, but multiple people say they witnessed Armstrong doping, including a former teammate who spoke to CNN last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYLER HAMILTON, FORMER TEAMMATE OF LANCE ARMSTRONG: What I do know is, yes, back in '99, there was a positive test for cortisone that was covered up with a back-dated prescription. You're allowed to take cortisone if you have a prescription for it.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: So Lance Armstrong got tested positive for cortisone and got a doctor, fake prescription, a doctor to back date a prescription saying --

HAMILTON: A backdated prescription, correct. Correct. And the UCI knew it was going on. They allowed this backdated prescription, you know, to happen.

COOPER: What do you want to say to Lance Armstrong?

HAMILTON: You know, did he call us liars? No, probably not. You know, he's got some -- you know, I understand it's hard. I lied for a long, long time. And you start believing some of your lies. He's got himself backed into a corner. You know, I feel -- I feel for the guy. But I know speaking from what I went through, coming out and telling the truth, it feels great. You know, people will eventually forgive Lance Armstrong. And he's a hero to many. And sure, he's disappointed some people, but, again, people will forgive.

COOPER: I'm curious to know when you look at him -- honestly, after reading this report and the details of it, the evidence is just -- it is overwhelming. And you know, suddenly I would see a picture and was looking at him in a different way. I'm wondering when you see him, what do you see? Do you see a hero?

HAMILTON: Maybe I'm not the best person to answer that question. You know, Lance and I have been through a lot together. He's, you know -- he tried to intimidate me a year and a half ago in a restaurant in Aspen, Colorado. You know, I'm definitely not his biggest fan. So maybe you should ask somebody else.

COOPER: OK.

HAMILTON: I don't --

COOPER: Fair enough.

HAMILTON: I don't care to say anything to Lance.

COOPER: It's interesting, though. You feel like when you did come forward that a weight was lifted?

HAMILTON: Anderson, it was huge. It was huge. I had been lying since my positive test back in 2004. You know, part of the reason for lying was to protect -- to continue with the code of silence within the Pelatone, the top tier of cycling in Europe. I believed that was my only way back into the sport after I served my suspension.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Let's take a look at some of the stories that are trending on the web right now. A plane carrying Italian fashion mogul Vittorio Missoni is missing off the coast of Venezuela. The aircraft took off north of Caracas Friday morning.

In Minnesota police arrested a pilot just as he was about to get behind the controls of a commercial jet. He was scheduled to fly an American Eagle commercial jet with 53 people on board from Minneapolis to New York but the airport police say a security agent smelled alcohol on his breath. Charges are now pending.

Take a look at this. That is a passenger restrained by zip ties and duct tape on a flight last Thursday. The picture went viral when posted to Facebook. The airline says a disrupted male passenger on a flight from Reykjavik to New York was hitting screaming and spitting at other passengers while yelling profanities. The man was arrested when the flight landed but no charges were filed.

It was the first trading week of 2013 and a pretty busy one and full of uncertainty. Let's go to Alison Kosik in New York to find out just how the markets did.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It was quite the volatile week on Wall Street, martin, between the fiscal cliff, the shorter trading week and the jobs report, there were some major forces for investors to contend. In the end stocks ended with a bang, the Dow tacked on almost four percent, the NASDAQ rose almost 5 percent and S&P close the at its highest level since 2007. Getting to that point was no easy feat. Monday, New Year's Eve, the Dow soared more than 160 points even though Wall Street was closing out the year without a deal on the cliff. But investors focused on the positive especially after president Obama said a deal was within sight. Just after the ball dropped in Times Square, the Senate passed legislation to avert the fiscal cliff. Marks were closed Tuesday and that night the House moved the deal forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thanks to the votes of Democrats and Republicans in congress, I will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest two percent of Americans while preventing a middle class tax hike.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: With that in mind the first trading day of the New Year kicked off with a bang. The Dow soared more than 300 points. Financial shares surged. Visa and MasterCard shares reached all-time highs. The deal wasn't the grand bargain people hoped for but it allowed the economy to avert the fiscal cliff at least for now, and that was good enough for Wall Street. Thursday and Friday were pretty tame days by comparison. Wall Street managed to post gains on the back of a so jobs report. And so, Martin, a crazy week, but one with a positive ending.

SAVIDGE: We like those, Alison, thanks very much.

Well, to most people he is a great actor. To Star Trek fans though he is a god. I'm talking about William Shatner. He dishes on everything from his time aboard the star ship enterprise to what he's doing now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: He's been in everything from "Star Trek" to "Boston Legal" to Priceline commercials, and, of course, I'm talking about William Shatner. Now he's inviting you to his world as he tours across the U.S. he's acting out his own life story in "Shatner's World, We Just Live in It." My colleague Don Lemon spoke to Shatner why he chose to reveal so much of his life on stage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SHATNER, ACTOR: The reason for doing it is because I had something to say, something to entertain, comment to make. So I've got a wonderfully entertaining show that's filled with laughs and some poignancy. And the audiences have been very good.

What a night working late, I throw myself across Candice Bergen's desk. She said are you going to play the scene that way? No, I'm in pain. She said you're passing a kidney stone and she's right. I passed the biggest kidney stone in the history of man, bigger than my wife's wedding ring, same clarity and purity I might add.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: What's your favorite career highlight? Do you have one?

SHATNER: Well, I think of it in moments. But again, in the one-man show, I talk about motorcycles. I talk about horses, talk about love, I talk about death. I talk about comedy. There are songs. I mean, I go through a multitude of I riff on a multitude of subjects and yet at the same time, there's prepared enough script so there are a lot of visuals attached.

Any one moment -- no, I don't think in those terms, although you know a lot of people point at "Boston Legal" as being a thing they watched and I enjoyed doing that. But if you were asked were to ask me what is a highlight in my life, I would say right now the one-man show for an hour and a half in front of an audience and entertaining people by myself. I'm an actor who is vitally interested in what he's doing and it can't end and I don't want it to end. And I'm running as fast as I can every bit as much as I did when I was 21.

LEON: What I do like about you too is that you have a sense of humor. And your role in "Star Trek" some people may want to, may have wanted to define you by that. You did not let that happen. And many actors or some actors I should say are not happy about the roles that made them famous because they think they stereotype them. You don't feel that way about Captain Kirk, do you?

SHATNER: No, on the contrary. I'm only eternally grateful for the opportunity to have appeared in that show. And my feeling toward "Star Trek" has moved almost in a complete circle. I loved doing it when I did it. As the years went by afterwards, I thought these people are dinning me and dunning me with various moments bon mots from the show, and I got a little tired of it.

But then I began to understand that people watching and "Star Trek" and going to these conventions, I did a documentary on it. It's part of a ritual. It's part of a mythology. It's a wonderful thing. And I've grown to be very proud of my contribution to "Star Trek" and its meaning to the people who continue to admire it.

LEMON: It's iconic. Not only is it part of you know, a television history, it's a part of the American culture. And I wonder when I see -- when people do spoofs of you or they sort of mic you and do the stack cat toe, I am William Shatner, that doesn't bother you, does it.

SHATNER: No, because I don't recognize what they're doing. Some of those actors who most people in America don't recognize, Jimmy Stewart and Edward G. Robinson, did they recognize when people were doing imitations of them? With Edward G. Robinson and I said do you know that you go -- a lot. He goes, I go -- a lot? Do they recognize spoofs of them? The same way with me. I know what they're doing, but I don't see myself doing that, do I?

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: We'll bring you more of William Shatner unfiltered.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEON: Who would win in a fight, Captain Kirk or Captain Pickard, because I understand that you and Patrick Stewart are good friends in real life?

SHATNER: We are. In real life, he could probably kick my ass. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The former captain kirk offers a behind the scenes look at "Star Trek" coming up next hour on CNN Newsroom.

Well, let's face it, mistakes can have a much greater impact in some professions than others. And sometimes those errors can be fatal. We'll take a look at the growing numbers of medical mistakes and what you can do about them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Medical mistakes, they are a nightmarish possibility for anyone undergoing surgery. Now a new study shows that they are much more common than we think. CNN's Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has a special airing tonight on 25 shocking medical mistakes. And she joins me now. Elizabeth, this is, you know, it's troubling to say the least.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is troubling. It's not just a hypothetical. I did this special because of mistakes that had happened in my own family. So this can really happen to people. And this new study out from Johns Hopkins puts numbers on it.

Take a look at these numbers because it makes you go, oh, my goodness. I don't think people realize this. Let's take a look at wrong procedures. The wrong procedure is when you go in for a tonsillectomy and they give you an appendectomy, for example. That happens to 20 patients a week in this country, 20 patients a week have the wrong procedure. Now, same number of patients, 20 patients a week have an operation on the wrong body part. You go in to have your right knee replaced and they replace your left knee, wrong sided surgery.

And in addition to 39 patients a week, they have tools surgical tools left in their body and are sewn up. And yet you have to know these things going in so that you can be prepared.

SAVIDGE: I mean, you know as a patient or as just a layman, how does this happen?

COHEN: It happens because we're all human. It's not that doctors and nurses are bad. It's that we're human. We asked one of the co- authors of the study, Dr. Peter Pronovost at Johns Hopkins to help explain one such mistake, leaving a surgical sponge inside a patient. Take a look and see how he explains it.

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DR. PETER PRONOVOST, PATIENT SAFETY EXPERT: There's often blood, there's tissue. It's very difficult to see. And times sponges are tucked under an organ inside you that they're not in clear view but they're soaking up some fluid or blood.

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COHEN: You see exactly how it happens, right? It's not that hard. SAVIDGE: I listen OK, it makes sense. I still find it stunning it happens. You've got tips in your show tonight how to try to prevent this.

COHEN: we do. There are things you can ACTUALLY do. Let's take it from the beginning. Before you go in for surgery when you're in that waiting area about to be brought in and anesthetized, ask to speak with your doctor. This is not easy. My husband and I did this with our daughter. We said we want to talk to the doctor to go over everything.

SAVIDGE: A refresher?

COHEN: He had a busy schedule. How is he going to remember exactly necessarily? I know there are safety things to make sure he does. But we wanted to make sure we do, too. We said she's having this surgery on this side of her body and just made us feel better to know we looked him in the eye and told him, not the nurse but the guy holding the scalpel. So say it directly to the doctor.

SAVIDGE: A lot of presence of mind to do that. Many patients are just so worried.

COHEN: A lot of persistence. It's not just presence of mind. We have to be really pushy, because they said the doctor's schedule is busy. You can talk to the nurse. You can't talk to the surgeon. We said she's not going to have surgery unless we talk to the surgeon. That kind of did it.

SAVIDGE: Frightening but fascinating at the same time. Thanks very much for bringing this to light for us.

COHEN: Thanks.

SAVIDGE: Thank you. And you can watch Elizabeth's special tonight at p.m. eastern and, of course, right here on CNN, "The Empowered Patient, 25 Shocking Medical Mistakes."

These movies could inspire you to keep your new year's resolutions. Our critic shares her list of best resolution movies next.

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SAVIDGE: Have you made your new year's resolutions? I guess by now you probably should have if you were sticking to the game. If you are already having a hard time sticking to your goals, our movie critic Grae Drake has movies that could inspire you. Grae is of course the senior editor of RottenTomatos.com is here to tell us about the most inspirational resolution themed films. So the main characters basically do the same thing. They resolve to do something and they succeed, right?

GRAE DRAKE, MOVIE CRITIC: That's right. Happy New Year. Let's get this thing started with first of all a movie close to my heart, King Kong," the 1933 version. It has been remade so many times, but stick with me here because King Kong is this poor ape that is ripped from his homeland but you know what, all of a sudden love becomes the most important thing to him. So I think if one of your resolutions in 2013 is to find love and to find a partner, just take lessons from King Kong who will stop at literally nothing. I mean he'll even reach through a girl's bedroom window and just take her, which is not really a message that I recommend in real life. But the sentiment is there. Carpe deim, carpe love regardless of the cost and climb up your symbolic empire state building and make it work.

SAVIDGE: I love the way you put it into propose. "The Princess Bride," another fine film.

DRAKE: Absolutely. This is a movie that just had its anniversary released on to Blu-ray, one of my absolute favorites. It is full of a cast that has very, very decided motives like there's the love thing happening, of course. That's the main part of the film. But another resolution that a character makes is Inigo Montoya. What his resolution is to get closure. His father was killed by a mysterious six figure man and he swears he's going to find him and boy does he, because he just keeps at it. You can't stop this guy. So he's one of my favorite just most passionate men, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Again, not the best real life thing to do, but the sentiment is there.

SAVIDGE: Yes, definitely is. Now, another movie here "Rocky." which one is it, "Rocky 1" or "Rocky 12"? There were a lot of them.

DRAKE: Although there are many favorite things about the entire series, this one is all about "Rocky 1," Martin, because "Rocky" is the ultimate in the physical fitness resolution, which is who doesn't resolve in the beginning of the year to be more physically fit this year? I'll tell you what, there have been so many times when I've decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator and on purpose. I hum that theme song we just heard playing, because it's really motivating. And Rocky is training so hard to win the fight, you just know that he's going to do it.

And by the way, going back to the love thing, I think anybody could take a lesson from him because after he wins his big, big fight, spoiler alert, he just yells his lady's name. Can you imagine he's covered in blood and sweat, and just "Adrian." That's all he can think about? I love it. I think it's beautiful.

SAVIDGE: Powerful moment. A film I love, "Shawshank Redemption."

DRAKE: Definitely, "Shawshank Redemption" is a classic. Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman." The main character claims he's innocent but he's been convicted of murder. He goes on such a long journey in his incarceration. And he learns about pretty unsavory things going on in the prison. And through all of these peaks and valleys he really sticks to his passion and sticks to making sure that he does what's right, and he makes sure that everybody knows about the people that are not doing what's right. So I say that you know, if ever you're in a moral quandary and your 2013 resolution is to you know, really stick to honesty and stick to keeping the world a better place, I think "The Shawshank Redemption" is a really good lesson for us all.

SAVIDGE: Maybe we should watch them to remind ourselves of greatness in people. Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

DRAKE: Absolutely. I resolve to be more outgoing.

SAVIDGE: Good luck with that because you need to come out of your shell. I've been meaning to talk to you about it. I wish you well in that effort. Thanks.

(LAUGHTER)

SAVIDGE: Remember, you can get more from Grae Drake at RottenTomatos.com.

How about this, passengers on board a flight from Iceland to New York found a unique way to stop an unruly passenger and at the same time promote duct tape. We'll tell you what they did in a moment.

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