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Madoff's Son Hangs Himself in New York Apartment; Cancer Foundation Sends Family to Los Angeles, Creating Great Memories; Principal Uses Zip Ties to Hold Up Baggy Pants

Aired December 11, 2010 - 17:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: There is a fast-moving blizzard, moving across the country and the freezing temperatures are making it much, much worse. One airline has had to cancel 500 flights. East coast, look out, you are next.

Losing a parent to cancer is tough, especially for young children. One foundation is trying and succeeding at making it easier, by creating fond memories while the parent is still alive. Tonight, you'll meet a family who has experienced their good will.

Relationships and marriages are built on monogamy, right? Well, a new study is showing why that might not be the best way for a happy and long lasting relationship? Would you let your wife or your husband sleep with someone else? Stick around for new rules on sex for the not single person.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

But we begin with new developments in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. His $50 Billion window has claimed another victim. His own grown son Mark. Mark Madoff was found dead this morning in his New York City apartment, an apparent suicide.

Let's go right now to CNN's Susan Candiotti. She's standing by live in front of the apartment. So, Susan, Mark Madoff appears to have killed himself on the second anniversary of his father's arrest. Explain the chain of events here. Who found the body?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN ANCHOR: It was the father-in-law that found the body. And perhaps, the saddest part, one of the saddest part about all of this is that when this happened, Madoff's 2-year-old son was sleeping in the next room.

Here's how it all happened. This is from the police, Don. They said at about 4:00 in the morning, Mark Madoff sent a series of e- mails to his wife, who was in Florida at the time. And in the e- mails, he said words to the effect of, someone should go and check on our son.

At that point, the wife contacted her father, who lives in New York City, he came over to the apartment and that is when he found Mark Madoff's body hanging from the ceiling from a pipe with a dog's leash around his neck. At that point, of course, the police were contacted. They came and this is while the police commissioner Ray Kelly says that no precise suicide note was found, he did described further those e- mails.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: Mr. Madoff apparently left some e-mail notes. There's no note at the scene, but communicated with members of his family. Mr. Madoff's father-in-law was there, was called by Mr. Madoff's wife to check on the 2-year-old, who was there and the 2-year-old was fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: And an autopsy will be performed on Mark Madoff to officially determine the cause of death on Sunday.

LEMON: All right. Susan Candiotti standing by in New York at Bernie Madoff's son's apartment where he took his life apparently this morning. Thank you, Susan.

More on the suicide of Mark Madoff is just ahead. We'll speak with Diana Henriques, he's a "New York Times" financial writer who is working on a book on the Madoff scandal.

Also developing tonight, one of the best known U.S. diplomats Richard Holbrooke is in critical condition in a Washington hospital following surgery for a tear in his aorta. Holbrooke who is 69-year- old is the Obama administration's special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He holds one of the most important jobs in U.S. Foreign Relations. He integrated a meeting -- interrupted, excuse me, a meeting yesterday with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and walked to the State Department's medical unit. From there, he was taken by ambulance to George Washington University Hospital.

Secretary of State Clinton visited Holbrooke at the hospital this morning. And we are told Holbrooke's family is also by his side right now monitoring his progress. Richard Holbrooke has been involved in U.S. Foreign Policy since the 1960s.

And before taking on his current post covering Afghanistan and Pakistan, he was chief architect of the 1995 Dayton Accords which ended the war in Bosnia. Holbrooke has also served as ambassador in Germany. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and he was also a member of the U.S. delegation to the Vietnam peace talks in Paris.

More than 1,200 people gathered today in North Carolina to remember Elizabeth Edwards. The estranged wife of former senator and democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards died Tuesday after a six- year battle with cancer. She was 61 years old. Her daughter Cate was among those who eulogized Mrs. Edwards. She read from a letter. Her mom wrote in anticipation of her death. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATE EDWARDS, ELIZABETH EDWARDS' DAUGHTER: These are her words she wrote. I have loved you in the best ways I have known how. I admit my shortcomings more than you know. For when I was less than I could have been, should have been, I did not -- you did not get all that you deserved from me. For all I've said about life, I want you to know that all I ever really needed was you, your love, your presence, to make my life complete. You are a complete joy to me. I hope you will always know that. Wherever I am, wherever you are, I have my arms wrapped around you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Elizabeth Edwards separated from her husband John Edwards earlier this year after he admitted fathering a child out of wedlock during the couple's marriage. John Edwards entered today's service with daughter Cate and the couple's two younger children, Jack and Emma.

A major blast of winter weather is hitting the Midwest right now, and one of our eye reporters showed us the harsh winds and near sideway snow in her city of St. Paul, Minnesota. She says, conditions are getting worse by the hour. Iowa and Wisconsin are also seeing heavy snow. This has been accompanied by a dangerous drop in temperatures. The wind-chill that could be get as worse as lowest, 20 degrees below zero in the upper Midwest. Boy, can you imagine that? Pools expected to be felt.

As far south, as Florida, our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN severe weather center. Jacqui, I understand at this hour that Delta has canceled all of its flights into and out of Minneapolis for the rest of the night, that's up to 500 flights.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right. Yes, and you know, it used to be northwest by the way, so people like, what Delta, Minneapolis, it used to be northwest, and so they've taken over all those flights. This snow has just been incredible coming down so very heavy in fact, as much as two inches per hour. And this is our light power camp for affiliate Carol Levin (ph), and you can't even see anything anymore. Visibility is less than a quarter of a mile. The airport was closed basically for four hours. One runway is open now. The New York Giants by the way supposed to play the Minnesota Vikings tomorrow, they are stuck in Kansas City. They had to be rerouted and hopefully they're going to get there by tomorrow, but they may not have that flight tonight. So, it's going to be a close call.

In fact, a lot of football fans there, as well. Visibility there you can see is poor. It feels like about two degrees in the twin cities. Now, Omaha, Nebraska, you really getting in, in the winds right now. Let's check in on you, there you can see a picture from downtown, from KE-TV. Your wind-chill now, 12 degrees below zero and the winds are gusting at 53 miles per hour. So we have a bona-fide blizzard going on in some of these areas. And it's covering so much of the Midwest. The snowfall totals have been incredible so far. Oakdale, Minnesota, 20 inches. Woodbury, that's a several from Saint Paul, 15 inches, you know, I've been checking these all day long. And it's like, as soon as I update my Math, the totals go up again. Because the snow is coming down so heavy. You know, two inches every hour, and somebody out of this thing is certainly going to end up with about two feet of snow. Let's go ahead and zoom in and show you this system.

And where the worst of the weather is -- right now, and it is around the twin cities, south, where the northern parts of Iowa into South Western parts of Wisconsin. So, that's where the heaviest of snow is. The strongest of the winds are back here on the back side, and that's all going to be pushing in this direction.

Those of you for example in Chicago, Milwaukee, are too warm for the snow right now, but that's going to change late tonight. And your accumulations will be a little bit lesser.

As a result of that, we also want to mention the severe weather on the south side of this system. A tornado watch just issued for parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. This line of thunderstorms could produce tornadoes over the next couple of hours. So, be aware of that. Tomorrow, this storm moves into the northeastern corner.

Mostly rain along the coast. So that's good news for those of you say, Boston, New York City, down to D.C. But on the backside, it's going to get windy and colder. Temperatures 15 to 30 degrees below the average. And take a look at these wind-chills, tomorrow morning, from the 30, 20s below zero. This is dangerous, Don. So cold that people's skin could freeze in a matter of 5 to 15 minutes. So, you really need to stay home, travel not advice in the Midwest.

LEMON: All right. Good advice, Jacqui Jeras keeping an eye on bad weather within the country, thank you so much, Jacqui.

You know, one of the sons of Wall Street's most famous swindler takes his own life. Mark Madoff actually turned his father Bernie in to authorities. We're looking at his role in and the fallout from his father's scandal.

Also, one school principal has had enough of student's pants on the ground. He's got a way to make sure kid's pants stay on their waist and he doesn't care what people think about it. We're going to talk to him.

And the unexpected surprise, a woman found inside a toilet. Go ahead, insert your joke there. But we'll show, kind of get an idea right there.

And I'm connected and I know that you are connected too. So, check out my social media accounts so you can always connect to me, I want to hear from you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The apparent suicide today of Bernie Madoff's oldest son highlights a tingle financial in part the father left behind. More than 16,000 claims have been filed by Madoff's victims, but 80 percent of them have been denied.

Diana Henriques is a senior financial writer at "The New York Times," she's currently writing a book about the Madoff's scandal. Diana, your reaction to hearing about Mark Madoff's suicide today?

DIANA HENRIQUES, SENIOR FINANCIAL WRITER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, it was the news that woke me up this morning after a very busy day on the litigation front yesterday. So, obviously it's a tragic development for the Madoff family.

LEMON: But he was not implicated, at least in the larger portion of the scandal, at least it's not believed that he was in collusion with his father about this, is it?

HENRIQUES: That's true. Neither he nor his brother Andrew had ever been notified they were the subjects of a criminal investigation by the federal prosecutors. Of course, they had been the defendants in a large number of civil lawsuits, but there had never been any indication that they were criminal suspects at all.

LEMON: Yes. And they had never been charged and Mark and Andrew actually turned their father in.

HENRIQUES: They did. Their father confessed to their sons after they pressured him about a plan he had to deliver some bonuses to members in the firm about two months ahead of schedule. This was in the aftermath of the great financial crisis of 2008. They thought it was unwise and they challenged him about it.

And in response, he asked them to go with him to their family apartment near the office and it was there that he told them that the business they thought was the family heritage was, in fact, a Ponzi scheme. He put the price tag himself at $50 billion.

They were stunned, and left immediately to consult with an attorney later that day, and it was on their attorney's advice that they immediately reported at the law enforcement. That led to their father's arrest the following morning on December 11th.

LEMON: Yes. This is one of the biggest financial scams really in history. Since he hasn't been charged, I know that civilly he may have had some exposure, but do you think it was just the weight of this? I know that you have been writing a book of him, so you may know some inside information, but just the weight of this entire scandal that may have forced him to do this?

HENRIQUES: Well, as you know, Don, you can never know what's in the minds of someone who is so distressed that they will take their own life. But certainly, Mark Madoff and all his family members had been under an enormous amount of pressure over the past two years. A great deal of public scorn. A great deal of ridicule and speculation about what role they may have played. They were trying to put their lives back together again, but as I'm sure you understand, it was hard for them to find work.

It was hard for them to make friends. Many of the friends that they had had as part of their life, Mark especially, had been investors in their father's fraud. And that has shattered those ties. So, it had been a very hard journey, I think, for Mark over the past two years. And the anniversary without doubt sort of focused all of that weight on one spot.

LEMON: Yes, it brought it all back. And one can understand considering the gravity of all of this. Diana, what was -- do you know about Mark's personal circumstances? What were they like following this scandal, when the scandal broke?

HENRIQUES: Well, you know, initially it was sort of a holding pattern. No one was quite sure for several months what the value of the firm might be, whether any assets would be found out of this massive fraud. And of course, they were all braced for the possibility of a trial and Mark and his brother had been urged and advised by their lawyer not to be in touch with their parents or their Uncle Peter who was Bernie's business partner. In case they might have to testify.

So it was a very surreal situation where the family was quarantined, one from another, in those months. When Madoff pleaded guilty and a trial on his behalf became less likely, by then the litigation over assets had begun.

Mark, his brother, his uncle and his cousin were all sued by the Madoff trustee last summer, the summer of 2009, to try to recover salary bonuses, loans that they had received while working at the firm. Mark himself was sued again in this past week as part of -- in his role as a director of the London affiliate of the Madoff firm. And even his children were named anonymously in a lawsuit filed at the end of November. So it just must have seemed like the drumbeat of litigation was never going to stop.

LEMON: As you're sitting there reeling off all of that, I can only imagine, I'm sure of yours can only imagine again, as we said, the weight, the gravity of all of this, and then the anniversary. It just must have been and of course, you know, we're just guessing here, just too much from Mark Madoff.

Diana Henriques is a senior financial writer of the New York Times. He's currently writing a book on the Madoff's scandal.

Thank you for your time.

HENRIQUES: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: We go now to some interesting stories from across the country that caught our attention today.

Near our nation's capital, a combination of honor and holiday spirit. Volunteers laid fir wreaths with red ribbons on the graves at Arlington National Cemetery. The group, Wreaths Across America, that's their name, Wreaths Across America. Also hold a ceremony for our fallen troops. There's Comicon, but did you know there's also a Santacon as well? The convention of self-described non-denominational, non- political and nonsensical Santas to place today, in New York City? Fun filled the air as well as good will. Participants were supposed to bring two food items for Santacon food drive. It's all for good will there. And now from Santas, we go to squirrels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DISPATCHER: What's going on there, ma'am?

CALLER: I have some kind of an animal in the toilet in my bathroom.

DISPATCHER: Like, what's it look like?

CALLER: Well, it's gray, that's all I can tell you. I didn't look real good, because it scares me to death. I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That's right, one of those little fellows prompted this call to 911 in Edmond, Oklahoma. The rodent had gotten into the woman's toilet and police had to use tongs and a portable kennel to catch it. And they did release it, so the little guy wasn't in custody for too long.

OK. When it comes to relationship, is monogamy passe? One article suggests that an emotional connection to your partner is what's important, not sexual fidelity. So, is it OK to play around? Would you let your partner sleep with someone else? We're asking.

And a sign of a future candidate for President Sarah Palin. Is it overseas tonight in a troubled nation?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's update you on your top stories here on CNN. A day of deadly violence in Afghanistan. Seven people thought to be civilians were killed in a NATO-Afghan military operation. It happened in the Paktia province where Afghan officials say NATO-led forces were targeting militants. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, 14 people were wounded in a suicide attack on an Afghan army post and six were hurt in a bombing.

Sarah Palin is in Haiti tonight as part of a humanitarian delegation led by Evangelist Franklin Graham. The former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate has not commented on the trip. Her visit comes as Haiti fights a massive cholera outbreak that has killed more than 2,000 people. The delegation is expected to stop at the cholera clinic to deliver holiday gifts to children.

The nationwide manhunt for a missing Virginia girl is over, 12- year-old Brittany Mae Smith is safe and her accused kidnapper is in custody now. A tip from a San Francisco supermarket led them to the girl. Police say, someone in the store recognized the pair from the many times they had been featured on CNN.

OK. So, traditionally, we have heard that monogamy is the key of a solid relationship, right? Well, two people committed to each other, no matter what. That's what it's supposed to be. Well, an article this weekend "Clutch" magazine, calls all that into question. Tasha Fears (ph) writes that as long as a couple is emotionally connected, then sexual fidelity isn't that big a deal.

Dr. Wendy Walsh is a psychologist and a blogger for her momlogic.com. I know, she has a lot to say about this. So, is this like saying, it's OK to play around as long as it doesn't mean anything, there's no emotional connection, it's just sex.

DR. WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: Wouldn't it be great if just sex could be that clean and neat and tidy? We have two major films out right now, Don about how the fact to how love gets in the way. Once called what love drags and our love in other drags, and the others called, no strings attached. The truth is, sex partly was invented besides for pro-creation to actually create a bond. To keep people together, long enough to have children, they're seeming to get them up on their feet.

So we have this wonderful hormone in women, called -- it's the female bonding hormone and it's only released in massive quantities in two times woman's life during breastfeeding, for bonding and during female orgasm. So, even if women are trying to hook up, many of them are having trouble adapting to a kind of hookup culture or infidelity.

LEMON: OK. So, Dr. Wendy, what's going on? You and I talked about people are waiting specifically women are waiting longer to get married. There is a gene that can be responsible for cheating. And may not be your fault. And then, this new study basically saying that an open relationship might be the best formula for a long lasting, happy, successful relationship. What's going on in our culture?

WALSH: I'll tell you what's going on in our culture, I think people have wonderful wishes, that they could be pleasure seeking without any kind of consequences. You know, it used to be very dangerous or more dangerous for women than men to have sex because of the potential for an unwanted pregnancy or the potential of public shame because of the double standard, or the possibility of contracting an STD.

But we've found ways to kind of protect from some of those things. We have contraceptives. We have condoms to help protect from STDs. And now we have this hookup culture where women can be as comfortable expressing their sexuality as --

LEMON: Doctor, let me ask you this. I mean, might we need to sort of re-asses and change what we think about a relationship, instead of this puritanical way that we judge or base relationships on, I mean, is the culture changing, it might some other stuff be right?

WALSH: No, I think, what's changing is we're moving away from relationships based on religious doctrine on law, and we're trying to find some common ground where men and women can share emotional intimacy and trust and that is easier said than done during monogamy. Now, monogamy doesn't have to be lifelong.

It's suggested there are hundreds gathers in fact that monogamy probably lasted four to seven years. And that about as long as it takes to get pregnant, protected woman during a few vulnerable years of pregnancy and breastfeeding. And then maybe have a second child and then move-on.

So, until this whole idea of "till death do us part," was invented when death was pretty imminent. So, now that we have these long lives, people are having more of a kind of serial monogamy.

LEMON: They rear like, is this it, is this the only person I'm going to be with the rest of my life? And men and women know, they probably have different approaches to this. I'm sure men may be a little bit more open to this idea of an open relationship.

WALSH: Of course, because men don't have the same biological wiring to bond through sex that women do. So it's much easier for men to hook up and not women.

Now, what's really interesting is that, you know, jealousy is wired in us from our early anthropological days and women are more jealous of emotional infidelity in their men. There is one of my favorite studies, Don, asked women, would they prefer that their husband saw a prostitute once an hour, once a week, or had long lingering intimate lunches with a female co-worker? And most of them chose the prostitute. Because that was a quantified amount of resources living the household.

But in an emotional intimate connection could mean they could be totally rejected and all the resources could be diverted to the new woman. So men more fear physical infidelity, because of course their fear is that they'll end up supporting a child that's not biologically theirs.

LEMON: OK. Well, Dr. Wendy, I learned a lot from that. And I need to -- and talk to you because I didn't get the jealousy gene, I don't what's going on, maybe that's, you know, I'm weird in some way. We'll talk about that later. Thank you very much.

WALSH: OK.

LEMON: Just ahead here on CNN, taking a vacation from cancer. When a family is living with a death sentence, the best medicine can be an all expense paid trip to a luxury location. You're about to meet the man who started the Jack and Jill late cancer foundation and one family who briefly put cancer behind them to take a much needed trip to Hollywood for the American Music Awards.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Funeral services were held for Elizabeth Edwards, who died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. She, of course, was the estranged wife of former presidential candidate, John Edwards. She leaves behind three children, Kate, Emma, Claire and Jack. And, of course, one of her sons died when he was 16 years old.

The Jack and Jill Late-stage Cancer Foundation understands what it means for children to lose a parent to cancer. So it does something about it while the parent is still alive. We call it creating great memories while the parent is still around. And hopefully, the parent won't go anywhere. It treats the entire family to a once-in-a-lifetime luxury vacation to give the children wonderful memories with mom or dad, of mom and dad.

A few weeks ago, the foundation sent the Wilson family of Tennessee to Los Angeles to attend the American Music Awards. Must have been nice. They were put up in a VIP suite at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, very swanky. Everything was aimed at taking their minds off the cancer and to focus on making fun memories together, including being entertained in a private magic show.

Let's meet the family now. Rosann Wilson is here, with her family, her husband, Ray, and son, Christian.

Thank you. Good to see you.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Also with us is John Albert, the founder of the Jack and Jill Late-stage Cancer Foundation, which he and his wife, Jill, launched when she was dying back in 2006.

So, Rosann, thank you. Your diagnosis is so grim. I know this trip meant a lot to you. Before you tell me about the trip, how are you doing? You just recently had another round of chemo, right?

ROSANN WILSON, LATE-STAGE CANCER PATIENT: Yes, I did. Wednesday was my last treatment. And I'm doing pretty well, a lot better than what the doctor anticipated I would be doing at this point. As I started treatment in July actually on this round of chemo. So I'm doing significantly better than what the prognosis was at that time.

LEMON: Very good. We're thinking about you and we're praying for you. Being with your son and your husband here on that trip, what did that trip mean to your family, to you and your family?

WILSON: As I was telling John, it was a series of "wow" moments. From the moment we got off the plane, until we got back on the plane, everything was red carpet, as far as we're concerned. They took excellent care of us from the beginning to the very end. Just very personal attention to us and our needs.

LEMON: How old are you, Christian?

CHRISTIAN WILSON, SON OF ROSANN: 17.

LEMON: 17 years old. So you understand what's going on here.

CHRISTIAN WILSON: Yes.

LEMON: What was it like to spend this special time with your mom here? Because I know you have seen her deal with the chemo and getting diagnosed.

CHRISTIAN WILSON: Yes. As you said, I understand what's going on. When I was younger, of course, when she was first diagnosed, I didn't really know. But now that I understand and I have to go through this every day, going on this trip was a really great experience. It accomplished what the Jack and Jill Foundation is supposed to accomplish, creating great memories.

LEMON: To you, what does this mean for you?

RAY WILSON, HUSBAND OF ROSANN: This was huge. I've seen her go through so much. And for four consecutive days, I saw my wife smile. She didn't have to worry about the next treatment. She didn't have to worry about anything. Jack and Jill just really created the situation where she could just relax and enjoy life for four days, and not think about any of this, and that was the best part of it.

LEMON: John, you hear what they said about what it means to them. How did you come to -- obviously, your wife was sick, right?

JOHN ALBERT, JACK AND JILL LATE-STAGE CANCER FOUNDATION: Uh-huh.

LEMON: Was this something that you thought about together? Was this some epiphany you had that you needed to create memories not only for your family but for others?

ALBERT: When you're going through cancer treatment, it's amazing how many families we saw, moms and dads, in their 20s, 30s and 40s, late-stage terminal diagnosis, leaving behind children. And as awkward as this sounds, we wanted to develop an organization that was on the smile side, as Ray said, the laughter, the joy, the positive side of late-stage cancer. So as awkward as that sounds, that's what side we're on. We fly in the face of cancer with beaches and sunsets and music and ball games. And that's what we do. We give these families a time out, cherished time together while they can.

LEMON: What does this do for you when you see this happening, having gone through it?

ALBERT: When Ray said what he just said, that fulfills the mission of the foundation. It gives us a chance, in my wife's name, to give something back to these families. And they do go through a tremendous amount of grief, of turmoil, of sadness. And rarely, especially in today's day and age, will I use the word "entitlement" or "deserve," but this family and the 400 families we've treated across the country, they deserve that time-out.

LEMON: If you can talk about what Elizabeth Edwards family. You can only imagine what her children are going through. And there are many others dealing with a similar situation that you are. What can you say to people who are watching about hope, about dealing with it, about their feelings?

WILSON: Well, one thing that I say, whenever I encounter anyone who is going through it -- and I encounter people frequently, more than I anticipate, unfortunately, with cancer diagnosis. But I suggest, you know, just face your fears. I mean, we're all going to die one day of something, and in my case, I happen to know what it probably will be. But I don't fear that it's going to happen. I try to live each and every day to the fullest, get the most out of it, and keep a positive attitude. That, I believe, helps more than anything. It's just your attitude and the people that you have around you, if you keep positive people around you, that will keep your spirits up. It's healing when you are feeling good inside, even though physically you may not be great. But just stay positive. Live every day like it's going to be the last.

LEMON: Rosann, I'm sure you help a lot of people, just by you guys coming on and talking.

Christian, Ray, John, thank you so much.

And it's incredible what you do.

What's the web site to your foundation?

ALBERT: Jajs.org. We're on Facebook. And what we do is very conducive to Facebook. Because you don't see chemotherapy. You don't see radiation. You see smiles and laughter. The song, "Live Like You're Dying," is hopefully going to be our anthem. A beautiful song, and that really epitomizes what we are all about. So it's jajs.org. And we appreciate the consideration.

LEMON: You're an amazing inspiration, each of you all of you.

Thank you and best of luck, again. We're thinking and praying for you.

WILSON: Thank you.

ALBERT: Thank you very much.

LEMON: The best way to face your fears, and that is head on, just like these folks are doing. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to a man who did it at 1,500 miles an hour.

Also, he got fed up with students walking around with their pants falling off. You know that, pants on the ground. One principal took matters into his own hands. We'll talk to him about why he's using zip ties to keep them up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check your top stories on CNN.

The eldest son of Bernie Madoff apparently killed himself this morning in his New York City apartment. Mark Madoff's father-in-law found his body after the family received e-mails from him. Madoff's wife was in Florida, but their 2-year-old son was asleep in a bedroom. The boy was not harmed. Mark Madoff and his younger brother, Andrew, worked in their father's firm. They were the ones who called authorities when Bernie Madoff told them of the ponzi scheme. U.S. Diplomat Richard Holbrooke is in critical condition in a Washington hospital today following surgery for a tear in his aorta. Holbrooke is the Obama administration's special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was hospitalized yesterday after becoming ill during a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Secretary Clinton visited Holbrooke earlier today. His family is also by his side tonight.

More than 1,200 people gathered today in North Carolina to remember Elizabeth Edwards. The estranged wife of former Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards died Tuesday after a six- year battle with cancer. Her daughter, Kate, called her mom a lighthouse to all of us and she read from a letter Elizabeth Edwards left for her children. Elizabeth Edwards was 61 years old.

If you are severely claustrophobic, maybe the last place you would want to be is in a cockpit of a fighter plane. But that's where Lieutenant Colonel Rob Waldman (ph) found himself, having no choice but to face his own fear.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta has this week's "Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Screaming engines, mind-numbing speeds of over 1,500 miles an hour. This was Lieutenant Colonel Rob "Waldo" Waldman's daily ride. He had what many would consider one of the coolest jobs in the world.

LT. COL. ROB "WALDO" WALDMAN, CLAUSTROPHOBIC FIGHTER PILOT: It's an amazing jet, F-16.

GUPTA: But an innocent diving trip would change everything.

WALDMAN: Three years into my 11-year flying career, I almost died in a scuba diving trip in the Caribbean.

GUPTA: Thirty feet underwater, Rob's scuba mask broke. Physically he was fine, but mentally he was shaken to the core, he developed severe claustrophobia.

WALDMAN: So if you can imagine barely being able to move with this helmet and mask on, gloves, your head two inches from the top of that canopy, you're like in a little coffin, enough for a guy with claustrophobia to really feel panicky.

For every single mission I flew, I had to deal with this fear of having a panic attack.

GUPTA: But a panic attack while going mach-2 is devastating.

WALDMAN: When you're strapped into a jet, you just can't say pause, let me just get out and deal with this.

On combat missions when there was a job to do and my wingman needed me, there was no abort option for me. GUPTA: Ultimately, Rob says it was planning, family and faith that helped him overcome his fears.

WALDMAN: I would simulate the environment that I would be in on the ground before the flight. And I would say, OK, I may have a panic attack here, how am I going to deal with it. I would look down on my checklist and I'd see a picture of my niece and nephew and it reminded me of what I loved and I said, I have to get home for them.

GUPTA: Now, after 56 combat missions over Iraq and Serbia, Waldo says he's kicked claustrophobia for good.

WALDMAN: I think about all the challenge and the personal growth that I had because I took a risk to fly that plane.

I didn't want to look back on my life and say, if I only had the courage to take action, I could have flown the coolest jet in the world, which, in my opinion, is the Lockheed Martin F-16.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: One school principal has had enough with student's pants on the ground. I've had enough too, not just students. Everywhere I see them.

(LAUGHTER)

He's found a way to make sure that kids' pants stay on their waist and he doesn't care what people think about it. We'll talk to him, next.

And talk about wanting the toy inside the machine really badly. One girl wanted it so badly that -- look at this picture. We'll tell you how she got in there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, it's called "getting Urkeled" and it is the last thing students want at Westside Middle School in Memphis, some of them at least.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JALEEL WHITE, URKEL ACTOR: If you want to do the Urkel dance, all you have to do is hitch up your pants. Bend your knees and stick out your pelvis, I'm telling you, baby, it's better than Elvis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: We're not talking about his dance. We're talking about his pants, that high-waisted style of his. Remember Urkel? Well, school staffers are using plastic zip ties as a belt to hold up student's baggy, saggy pants.

And Westside Middle School principal, Bobby White, came up this idea of Urkeling, and he's joining us live.

Principal White, thank you for doing this. This is one of my --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I can't even call it a pet peeve. I think it's so disrespectful when you see that on people, not only of others, but of themselves.

BOBBY WHITE, PRINCIPAL, WESTSIDE MIDDLE SCHOOL: Sure, sure. I understand exactly. I feel the same way, sir.

LEMON: Did you get this from watching the reruns of "Family Matters"? How did you get this idea?

WHITE: At Westside Middle School and in Memphis City School District as a whole, we are coming up with all kinds of different innovative ways to move all of our students to social and academic excellence. And we just decided to come up with a unique, innovative way to attempt to rid ourselves of this national epidemic. Not just a local problem, but a national epidemic. Of course, we all watched "Family Matters" several years ago.

LEMON: How do you get -- some people think -- I mean, obviously, if they didn't think it was cool, they wouldn't do it. So then, how do you get people to realize that it's not cool? Because I don't think -- maybe they don't care. This comes from jail and sort of indicates in jail which part in the relationship you will play in a male-male relationship. Do you think people understand that and they just don't care?

WHITE: I'm not necessarily sure if you are students are looking at it from that standpoint. They look at pop culture and the images that they see in the street. And this image that they see in the street from the older males is a cool image. Those are their heroes. Their heroes aren't educators or politicians or clergymen. Their heroes are the men on the street. And as a result, that image is what they see, and they see it as being cool.

LEMON: So I'm going to play to play devil's advocate. Some people are going to say, what is a big deal with kids wearing baggy pants? Does it really interfere with their schoolwork? Some people are going to say it doesn't. So why does it matter?

WHITE: For me, sir, it interferes in the thought process of a child who has to eventually compete in our society. It is a negative image. I already stated that pop culture glorifies it. At the end of the day, it's such a negative image and it breeds mediocrity. What we attempt to do in Memphis City Schools and, of course, Westside Middle is try to move our students from career -- from the cradle to the career, in a way to where they are prepared for mainstream society, not street life, but for mainstream society.

LEMON: OK, principal, what have the results been and how have parents reacted? Students and parents?

WHITE: Certainly, within our school, we've seen a drastic reduction. I've been just blown away with the letters and the support, the e-mails that I've received from all over the country, every day since the story aired. All of the country, people are saying, thank you, thank you, thank you. We are at the mall, we hate what we see. Somebody's finally saying something about it and doing something about it. So it's really done my heart well with -- this has been something that was kind of controversial but, at the same time, something I knew would drive our students' thought process and get them toward being excellent.

LEMON: Bobby White, good job. You're my hero this week.

(LAUGHTER)

Bobby White is the principal of Westside Middle School in Memphis.

Again, good luck to you. Thanks again.

LEMON: Thank you, sir. Thanks for having me.

LEMON: All right.

You've heard by now that NASA is retiring the space shuttle. So what's next in space travel?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If the shuttle was a limo of spacecraft then this is the smart car, designed to be smaller, cheaper, safer than shuttle, and to go a heck of a lot farther.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The spacecraft designed to take astronauts to the moon and maybe to places they've never been.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A space ship in the works to take humans to the next frontier, beyond earth's orbit, even beyond the moon. And it's said to be way safer than the space shuttle.

CNN's John Zarrella gives us a peek inside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the inside of the future. It's a mock-up of the Orion spacecraft.

PAM MELROY, LOCKHEED MARTIN: Your head is going to be down there.

ZARRELLA (on camera): Right.

MELROY: So you probably want to kind of squat down a little bit.

ZARRELLA: Right.

(voice-over): If the shuttle was the limo of spacecraft, then Orion is, well, the smart car, designed to be much smaller, cheaper, safer than shuttle and to go a heck of a lot farther.

MELROY: By 2015, we hope to have humans onboard. And then after that, it's just a question of where we want to go next. Because this is a multipurpose vehicle and it can go anywhere.

ZARRELLA: Since the end of the "Apollo" moon missions no humans have gone anywhere except to circling the earth of to the space station. Orion, Apollo on steroids, could go there, too, but its real reason for being is to eventually take astronauts to the moon, perhaps Mars. Its first deep-space mission could be to an asteroid called 2008 EA9.

MELROY: So in 2019, we could be sending two Orions docked together with two crew members onboard out to do a space walk and scoop up some of that asteroid and bring it home.

ZARRELLA: One-time space shuttle commander, Pam Melroy, says two astronauts would be plenty comfortable inside the cylinder during the three-month trip, and no problem at all for four astronauts going to the moon.

MELROY: I assure you, in zero gravity, when you can float, this lots of room for four people.

ZARRELLA: Yes, easy for her to say.

Orion is supposed to be 10 times safer than the shuttle. One reason, a powerful launch aboard system. In its first real test, three rocket motors produced half a million pounds of thrust, pulling the crew module away from the pad in a matter of seconds.

UNIDENTIFIED NASA EMPLOYEE: Takes you from zero to 600 miles per hour in three seconds.

ZARRELLA: At the Kennedy Space Center, NASA and Lockheed Martin showed off a mock-up of the space system and a crew module.

Young Patrick Gallow (ph) has no problem with the notion of an Orion ride to an asteroid.

(on camera): Pretty cramped in there. I've been inside that thing.

PATRICK GALLOW, VISITED KENNEDY SPACE CENTER: Yes.

ZARRELLA: You're OK with that?

GALLOW: Hm-mmm. ZARRELLA: You'd go?

GALLOW: It would be fun to see something you've never been to before.

ZARRELLA: Now, there's one big stumbling block to all this talk about flying to the moon or an asteroid. Orion can't propel itself out of the atmosphere. You need a powerful rocket. And while it's coming, that rocket doesn't yet exist. Perhaps, a case of the cart before the horse.

John Zarrella, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: That is really cool. Thank you, John.

You know those claw machines with the plush toys? Put your money in this one the other day, and you might have gotten a real living doll, pinky included.

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Interesting news item you might have missed this week. She's 2 years old. She saw a stuffed animal and she just went for it. In a matter of seconds, this little girl in Pennsylvania was inside, inside that toy machine.

You know, it took about 15 minutes for firefighters to rescue the little girl. and luckily, though, she was not injured. The fire chief says the opening to the machine was big enough for not one, but two toddlers to climb through. We hear about that. That's not the first time we've heard about that. She's OK, though. She's OK. She went for it.

I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

"THE SITUATION ROOM" begins now.