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Police Helicopter Crashes into Pub in Scotland; Amish Family Flees with Child Undergoing Alternative Medicine Cancer Treatment; Bone Marrow Deficiency Patients Profiled; Individuals Recount Near- Death Experiences
Aired November 30, 2013 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, there. I'm Miguel Marquez in for Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the top stories we're following in the CNN Newsroom.
At least eight people have died after a police helicopter crashed into a pub in Scotland. The pub was packed for a concert when part of the roof came down last night. Police say three victims were on the helicopter, the other five inside the pub, and there's a chance there could be more victims that crews have not been able to reach quite yet. Correspondent Richard Quest spoke to witnesses and what they saw around when this happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
A local member of parliament Jim Murphy said he arrived moments after the crash.
JIM MURPHY, MEMBER OF BRITISH PARLIAMENT: Most of the helicopter appeared to be inside the pub, only part of it sticking from the top.
QUEST: Murphy says he saw at least 10 people injured, including people struggling with consciousness, and others with bleeding wounds to the head. Christina O'Neil, who saw the crash from her apartment across the street, said she heard what sounded like a low-flying airplane.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- a couple of seconds, and then I heard a massive crash.
QUEST: After the sounds of the impact, she saw smoke and people running from the pub. One witness who was inside reported not hearing the crash, because there was a band playing, and all of a sudden there was a whooshing sound and a lot of dust that came down from the ceiling. Then more of the ceiling fell, and people started running out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Awful. More than 30 people were rushed to hospitals and police say about 14 are still there seriously injured. The helicopter has not been removed. Investigators say that will be a very delicate process. The NTSB is investigating a small plane crash last night in Alaska that killed four people, including the pilot. Police say there were 10 people on board. The others survived. There is no word on how those six are doing. The Cessna crashed in southwestern Alaska near St. Mary's Village.
North Korea's government claims a California man detained for a month has apologized for crimes during the Korean War. The north also accuses 85-year-old Merrill Newman of spying and other subversive activities. In a new video, the Korean War veteran says he's sorry for killing civilians and troops. In the alleged apology Merrill also says the U.S. isn't telling the truth about North Korea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MERRILL NEWMAN, KOREAN WAR VETERAN: I gave the document written with their addresses and e-mail addresses to the guide at the hotel, the DPRK government and the Korean people again. On this trip, I can understand that in U.S. and western countries, there is misleading information and propaganda about DPRK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Clearly reading off a prepared statement -- shocking. Until now, North Korea had not explained why it was holding Newman. The North took him into custody about a month ago from a plane minutes before it was about to leave the country.
Tonight at midnight is the deadline for healthcare.gov website to be up and running smoothly for the vast majority of users. The president's counting on it working so he can move on to other things and improve his approval ratings. Listen to what he told ABC's Barbara Walters last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS: It's hard to sit up with you, Mr. President, and say this, but a lot of the criticism is personal. People just don't think you're trustworthy.
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I don't think that's true, Barbara. You know, the truth of the matter is, is that I got reelected in part because people did think I was trustworthy and they knew I was working on their behalf.
WALTERS: I know that by now, you both have fairly thick skins, but when you hear your husband being booed, the president, at a recent basketball game, how do you feel?
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: It's part of being president of the United States of America.
WALTERS: So, it doesn't get to you?
MICHELLE OBAMA: It's part of the job.
WALTERS: You have said that you would rather be a good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president. Which are you?
OBAMA: Well, I think the best would be a good two-term president, so that's what I'm going to be shooting for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Coming up in our 3:00 hour, we'll talk to experts on first families. We'll get the inside scoop on what life's like for the Obama as at the White House and what they talk about around the dinner table each night. That's at 3:00 eastern right here on CNN.
The black Friday deals at a Philadelphia mall weren't all that shocking, but what happened outside one of the stores was.
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(SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Oh, dear. That buzzing you heard, yep, that was a stun gun. The man who shot the video told CNN affiliate WPVI THE two guys started yelling at each other, then the lady started brawling. One of the women zapped, the other -- you can still hear it -- with a stun gun. No one arrested, but they were kicked out of the mall, thankfully.
And in Texas, shoppers ran from deals at a Wal-Mart after police used pepper spray. Cops in Odessa said they had to use it Thursday night after people stormed a pallet full of tablets and headphones. No one was hurt.
Doctors say an 11-year-old Amish girl with leukemia has just months to live, but her family stopped the chemotherapy and fled the country. Next, we'll speak to the family's lawyer about a shocking claim the family's making about the girl's health.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARQUEZ: An Amish family on the run and hiding, refusing chemo treatments for their daughter. Now, as CNN's Nick Valencia reports, the family claims she's cancer-free.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Can holistic medicine cure cancer? The Ohio family of an 11-year-old Amish girl with leukemia says yes, according to their attorney.
MAURICE THOMPSON, HERSHBERGER FAMILY ATTORNEY: The alternative treatment that they have been pursuing has been very effective. She's had CAT scans done, and those show that the cancer has significantly receded or may even be gone.
VALENCIA: But doctors at Akron Children's Hospital, where the girl was initially treated, may not get to see if she's cancer-free. Why? The family is now in hiding, refusing to comply with a court order to treat their daughter with conventional medicine. Her last chemotherapy treatment was in June. Doctors say if she's not treated again soon, she'll likely die.
DR. ROBERT MCGREGOR, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, AKRON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: At this point, we don't know to what extent the disease has become more aggressive or whether we really did get a little bit of a stall with the first round of chemotherapy. With treatment that would be continuous from the time she presented, she has an 85 percent chance of five-year survival.
VALENCIA: The girl's father says his daughter's future is in god's hands.
ANDY HERSHBERGER, FATHER: Our belief is that the natural stuff will do just as much as what that does, if it's god's will.
VALENCIA: Born and raised in Ohio's rural Amish country, the family of the 11-year-old has not been seen since this summer. Their lawyer says they left the U.S. to pursue alternative treatment abroad. He says the case comes down to a parent's right to choose how they want to care for their sick child.
THOMPSON: It's not just a constitutional right, but the moral right to refuse conventional medical treatments that carry their own risks that may be as great as the harm from the disease itself.
HERSHBERGER: If we do chemotherapy and she would happen to die, she would probably suffer more than if we would do it this way and she would happen to die.
VALENCIA: But with no proven track record of success using alternative treatment, doctors say the little girl's time is running out.
Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, Maurice Thompson joins us on the phone. He is the lawyer for the family. Mr. Thompson, how can you assure us that this little girl is, in fact, cancer-free?
THOMPSON: Well, I can't assure you that, and nobody can. She's being treated outside of the country, and the family says the CAT scans have been done and that the cancer has significantly receded, but that's all I know at this time.
MARQUEZ: Can you tell us where she is and what sort of alternative health care she's getting right now? What exactly is she receiving?
THOMPSON: I can't tell you where she's at. I'd rather not. And I can tell you that it is an alternative to chemotherapy that has some track record of success. And apparently, she is doing much better, from what the parents tell me. That's all I know at this time. MARQUEZ: Look, we know that chemo can take a lot out of a person. We know it can look very dire, but at the end, it can help. The doctors at the hospital say that it is treatable, that it will help her, but if she does not get chemo that she could die. I mean, are you going to represent this family if that occurs?
THOMPSON: I certainly am, because what we're fighting for here is the moral right to refuse medical treatment that you disagree with. What we have here is two courses of actions, and the decision is, who chooses? Is it the parents that should choose for their child or is it the government to choose for their child? And our view is that parents and not government should raise children. So, that's the moral principle is at issue here. And I would die for that moral principle, because you don't want a society where government --
MARQUEZ: A lot of people might say that the moral principle here is that a little girl should get treated properly.
THOMPSON: The parents live with her and observed her daily and believe that the chemotherapy was killing her. And in fact, chemotherapy can kill people this age, and it certainly can make them infertile, sterilize them, cause all kinds of other health problems. And so the parents aren't even opposed to chemotherapy in the abstract. They simply want to try an alternative, less invasive treatment first, and that's when the hospital got aggressive.
MARQUEZ: Look, I fully agree, and I've seen it myself, chemo can have horrible effects on the body and it can do terrible things. But in case after case, people do come back from that, especially younger people who can recover more easily. You know, isn't this just a huge risk on the part of the parents?
THOMPSON: Well, what we have here is two very risky options. The chemo is very risky and the alternative treatment also carries its risks, and the point is that parents should be able to weigh those two risks and choose between those risks instead of the government doing that for all of this nation's parents.
MARQUEZ: But the parents are under a court order to have the girl in the hospital, correct?
THOMPSON: No, the court order appoints a guardian ad litem who would take the daughter from the home and likely would force the medical treatment upon her, although she's not required to. And so, we've appealed that order based upon the constitutional principles of a parent's fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their child and also the fundamental right to refuse forced health care.
MARQUEZ: Maurice Thompson, it seems like a very, very big risk. I hope that she is fine and I hope this family turns out OK, but this is a very interesting case. Thank you very much for being with us.
THOMPSON: Thank you.
MARQUEZ: A near-death experience told by the woman who experienced it. She says she lay dying in the ICU and was given a choice to live or die. Her compelling story, coming up.
And doctors call this little boy's health a ticking time bomb. His fight to find a bone marrow donor match, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARQUEZ: The chances of finding a matching bone marrow donor may be harder than you think. For some, the odds are one in 2 million. CNN's Alexandra Field has more on two families' journey to obtain life-saving transplants.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miguel, if you sign up to be a bone marrow donor, the chance that you'll end up donating is 1 in 540, but doctors stress you may be someone's one and only chance for a life-saving transplant.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's going on?
FIELD: Mandy Manocchio was no stranger to miracles. Before she had her own family, she was found on the streets of Seoul, South Korea on Christmas Eve. She was adopted as a baby by an American family.
MANDY MANOCCHIO, TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT: May 6th, 1974. I was actually flown in to JFK.
FIELD: This Christmas season, she's hopeful another gift from overseas will give her yet another chance at life.
MANOCCHIO: Life has been turned around and upside down. I'm still trying to grasp everything that's happening.
FIELD: Last summer, the New York City fashion executive who's married with two young sons was given a diagnosis, acute myeloid leukemia. To survive, she'd need a bone marrow transplant, something her adopted family couldn't give her.
MANOCCHIO: I really thought my odds were against me.
FIELD: Finding a bone marrow match is a numbers game. Some match with one in every 20,000 people. For others, it's 1 in every 1 million or 2 million. And 70 percent of patients who need a transplant won't find one within their families, like Manocchio or two-year-old Owen Hogan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is his life. We come here at least twice a week.
FIELD: Hogan has aplastic anemia. Until a bone marrow match is found, his life depends on regular hospital visits, constant blood transfusions and a combination of medicines.
KATHLEEN HOGAN, OWEN'S MOTHER: The doctors have described Owen as a ticking time bomb, and if he had a match and a donor right now, he would be in transplant. FIELD: A transplant would replace Owen's diseased cells with healthy donor cells. Finding a match is the hard part, but registering to be a potential donor is surprisingly easy. There is no blood work involved anymore. All you have to do is swab the inside of your cheek. The DNA gets sent to a lab, and your information is entered into a database.
Groups like Delete Blood Cancer organize drives to increase the size of that database. Right now there are 10.5 million registered donors in the United States. The likelihood of finding a match depends on race and ethnicity.
DR. JOSEPH ANTIN, DANE-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE: If people are from an ethnic minority in the United States, then the numbers are not quite as optimistic.
FIELD: That's something Manocchio faced. Fortunately, after several months, doctors found what they call a nearly perfect donor match in Europe.
MANOCCHIO: I have so much to live for, and these cute, beautiful children.
FIELD: Manocchio's match donated on Thanksgiving Day. She's waiting for the transplant. The Hogan family is still waiting for a miracle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD: Most of the time, donating bone marrow is now as simple as having some cells removed from your blood. In other cases, liquid marrow is taken directly from the pelvic bone. It takes most patients several days to recover. You can sign up to be a donor at bethematch.org. Miguel?
MARQUEZ: Thanks, Alexandra Field. And we some great news to share with you. Mandy reached out to CNN to let us know that she's receiving donor stem cells as we speak. The cells were flown over from Germany and they arrived last night.
Transplant doctors make life-and-death decisions every day. They choose who will and won't get precious organs in short supply. A New York family says their baby boy was denied a heart for all the wrong reasons. You'll hear their story at 4:30 p.m. eastern time on "SANJAY GUPTA M.D."
Next, we'll have some stories that will leave a smile on your face. Find out why these dogs made some folks in Illinois very happy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARQUEZ: Now time for the good stuff, stories that will make you feel a little better, leave a little smile on your face. Three little boys got a big surprise when mom told them they were going to Disneyworld. That's a pretty big surprise. But then they got an even better surprise when their dad, a soldier, showed up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tap and say Alakazam! Now, is this your card?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: I love those stories. Colonel Jason Lydell was deployed more than a year in Afghanistan. His wife was in on the whole thing. Of course she was. That's so lovely.
More good stuff. Meet Noah Fisher from South Carolina. He's four- years-old and adorable. He is adorable. He needed glasses, but then he was told he would definitely be getting them, he was not happy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said, put your glasses on, and he just broke into tears. And yes, it was the saddest thing. It just broke my heart. And I finally got him to tell me why he was crying, and he said because everyone's going to laugh at him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Oh, poor guy! Mrs. Fisher needed to get Noah feeling better about life with glasses, so she turned to the Internet. She started a Facebook page "Glasses for Noah," urging people to show him glasses can be cool. The response was overwhelming, more than 1,600 people liking the page and hundreds of them posting pictures of themselves wearing their glasses along with the words of encouragement. Noah's now getting used to those glasses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know how many more likes or pictures we'll get, but as long as I'm getting pictures, I'll keep showing them to him every night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for all the pictures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: I like it. I like it when Noah does that little thing.
And in Washington, Illinois, some therapy dogs were on hand this thanksgiving to give some special attention to victims of last week's devastating tornadoes. One dog, Smoky, served up a lot of love to go with that pre-Thanksgiving feast at a community center.
And now a story of second chances. A woman in the final throes of stage four lymphoma says she was given a chance to return to living or die. Her dramatic story is one of three stories recounted in the Anderson Cooper special report "To Heaven and Back" airing tomorrow night on CNN. Here's Randi Kaye. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But you could still see your husband. And how was he reacting to the fact that you were in a coma and he thought he was losing you?
ANITA MOORJANI: He was very distraught. He was there by my bedside. He was holding my hand, and I could feel he was willing me to come back.
KAYE: And you had a choice to make?
MOORJANI: I had a choice as to whether to come back or not. At first, I absolutely did not want to come back because why would I want to come back into this sick and dying body? But then, it was as though in the next moment I understood why I had the cancer. All the years of beating myself up, feeling flawed, had turned my own energy against me and manifested as cancer.
KAYE: Fear, in a way, poisoned your body.
MOORJANI: Yes, it did. And I understood that now that I knew this, my body would heal.
KAYE: You had this huge revelation. And Sony and your father both affirmed what needed to be done.
MOORJANI: Both of them said to me, go back and live your life fearlessly. And it was around that time that I started to come back.
KAYE: So, how long were you in the coma?
MOORJANI: About 30 hours. I was in the intensive care unit, but within four days, they were able to take off the oxygen, they were able to take out the food tube, and the tumors shrunk by 70 percent.
KAYE: And the doctors, they kept testing you, right?
MOORJANI: Yes.
KAYE: They kept looking for --
MOORJANI: For cancer.
KAYE: -- for cancer, they kept treating you.
MOORJANI: They were saying there is no way that cancer disappears like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: "To Heaven and Back," an Anderson Cooper special report, airs Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
Well, it's 3:00 on the east coast, noon out west. For those of you just joining us, welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Miguel Marquez in for Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the top stories we are following.
A police helicopter plunges into a packed pub in Scotland, killing at least eight people as authorities try to figure out how it happened. We talk to a witness who saw the helicopter fall out of the sky.
North Korea releases video of an 85-year-old U.S. war veteran who was taken custody a month ago. The North says he's confessed to spying and war crimes and he has apologized.
Plus, when his term is over, where will president Obama and his family live? You might be surprised who might decide that big family issue.
And we start in Scotland. Police have confirmed eight people were killed when a police helicopter crashed into a pub. More than 30 people had to be rushed to hospitals in Glasgow last night. Investigators have spent all day searching for victims. Richard Quest has the latest.
QUEST: Miguel, according to one of Scotland's most senior politicians, this was the news they had been dreading but expecting. Having spent most of the day with only one person confirmed dead, everybody knew that the number of fatalities would rise, and now they're saying eight people perished last night.
Nor are they able to say whether that is the final total, because, as the head of police Scotland put it, the helicopter is in the middle of the building, and until they can remove it, they don't really know what's underneath.
