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Book Claims Barry Bond Used Steroids; Dana Reeve, 44, Dies of Lung Cancer; Medical Experts Provide Insight on Lung Cancer; Police Charged for Shooting Airman after High Speed Chase

Aired March 07, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips. We begin this hour with a developing story involving baseball, Barry Bonds and steroids.

Bonds, as millions of people well know, is the San Francisco Giants slugger who's been chasing the all-time home run record and running from persistent rumors of steroid use.

A new book titled "Game of Shadows" makes the case that Bonds did use steroids. It was written by two "San Francisco Chronicle" reporters who followed every twist and turn of Bonds' career.

Our Time Warner sister publication "Sports Illustrated" is running an excerpt in this week's issue. Its senior baseball writer, Tom Verducci, joins me now by phone from Phoenix where some of the game's best players have gathered for the World Baseball Classic.

Tom, let's just back up a little bit and tell us what you know about this book.

TOM VERDUCCI, SENIOR BASEBALL WRITER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Well, the book catalogs in very extensive detail years of a massive doping regimen that Barry Bonds used.

If you remember, that was the year McGwire and Sosa battled in the great home run race. And according to the authors, that was the impetus for Barry Bonds to get himself bigger and become a bigger home run hitter. And they go through six years of use, detailing sometimes drug by drug and day by day, his usage.

PHILLIPS: Now, Tom, we have interviewed the authors of this book, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, the reporters for "The San Francisco Chronicle", a number of times about this story. I didn't know they were working on a book. How long has this process been taking place?

VERDUCCI: Well, they've been on this story for two solid years, really exclusively covering this story. From my understanding, the book has taken shape over those two years. They've come across some more information besides what they have reported for "The San Francisco Chronicle." But really, for the last two years, they've devoted their energies to the BALCO case coming out of San Francisco. PHILLIPS: And just a part from that book, I want to get you to respond to this, Tom. It said, depending on the substance, Bonds used the drugs in virtually every conceivable form, injecting himself with a syringe, being injected by his trainer, Greg Anderson, swallowing pills, placing drops of liquid under his tongue. And in the case, as you mentioned, of BALCO's notorious testosterone-based cream, applying it topically.

It even goes on to say, Tom, that Bonds called for the restarting of cycles when he felt his energy and power start to drop. If Anderson, his trainer, told Bonds he was not due for another cycle, the authors write, Bonds -- Bonds, rather, would tell him, "'F off, I'll do it myself."

It sounds like, according to what we're reading and seeing, this was a hard-core addiction.

VERDUCCI: That's true. I mean, according to the reporting by the author, this was not someone who just dabbled and experimented with performance-enhancing drugs. The authors name at least 10 different substances that Bonds has used, and as you mentioned in varying degrees and varying forms.

Some he injected himself, according to the authors. Some injected by his trainer, according to the authors. And as you mentioned, some in pill form, liquid form and lotion form, cream form. So again, they're painting a picture of at least six years of what has been a massive doping regimen by Barry Bonds.

PHILLIPS: So what does this mean, Tom, for Barry Bonds now, for his trainer, Greg Anderson? And are there others in this book who have been pointed out as guilty with regard to being associated with this?

VERDUCCI: Well, Greg Anderson, his trainer, is serving three months in prison with three months of home confinement, as it relates to his plea in the BALCO case.

Barry Bonds testified in front of a grand jury in the BALCO case, was granted immunity, but that immunity did not extend to any possible perjury charges. It's possible, probably not highly likely, but possible that prosecutors could revisit whether he perjured himself in that testimony to the BALCO grand jury, based on this reporting.

PHILLIPS: Tom Verducci with our top story. We'll continue to follow it, Tom, as we get more information with regard to this new book out that is out now with regard to Barry Bonds and his steroid use -- alleged steroid use. Tom, thank you.

Well, it touches all of us, whether we suffer ourselves or suffer along with a parent or sibling or child. It can strike anybody at any age. And though it kills millions of us decades before our time, it can be overcome or prevented outright. It's cancer, a dreaded word encompassing dozens of sinister illnesses and myriad fears.

We're dealing with it today in a special way. Not just the news of another famous victim, but information that we hope will touch your life and maybe even save it.

First, a death that touched the nation.

She was married to Superman, but to millions of admirers, Dana Reeve was the real superhero. There was one enemy, though, she couldn't defeat. Reeves (sic) has died of lung cancer at 44, just months after learning that she was ill.

Our Daryn Kagan looks back on her aspiring life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The public image of Dana Reeve is one of extraordinary grace and devotion to her husband. She became Christopher Reeve's strongest ally and one woman's support system after he was paralyzed in a horse riding accident in 1995.

That transformed her into an activist. She spent years pushing for better treatments and a possible cure for paralysis. Together, the couple founded the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center six years ago. After her husband's death, the board of directors of Christopher Reeve's Foundation named her as chairperson to fill his seat.

And it was less than a year after he died and just months after her mother died of ovarian cancer that Dana Reeve revealed the stunning news that she, a nonsmoker, was being treated for lung cancer.

DANA REEVE, SPINAL CORD ACTIVIST: And I got this diagnosis in the summer, and it's been -- you start to wonder. It's a rocky road. And -- but I do feel that, with the support that I've received and just our family unit is so tight, that we're going to get through this like we got through everything else.

KAGAN: And there Dana Reeve did get through tough times with the help of the couple's family and friends, some of them famous. But beyond her activism on spinal cord issues, there was another side to Dana Reeve: her role as mother. The couple had a teenage son, Will.

REEVE: This boy has had a lot of lessons that he's learned in life that I would rather he hadn't had to learn so young, frankly. And -- but at the same time, it is a kind of gift. And I think one of the greatest gifts we can give our children are the tools to face life's inevitable adversity. And he is the definition of resilience.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's an aggressive predator that can take lives quickly without mercy, and it's killing people as we speak. Lung cancer is the No. 1 cancer killer of all time. It might shock you to learn that it kills more women than breast cancer. And a lot of people don't even know that they have it.

So what do you need to know to keep lung cancer from attacking you or your loved ones? Let's find out from our senior medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

I know you've been talking about this, Sanjay, all throughout the morning and now into the afternoon. But it seems like there's a lot of misconceptions about this, too. What's interesting in our meeting, the first thing that people said, or that people asked, was she a smoker? So it raised that discussion of it's not just smokers that get lung cancer.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not. You know, it's not in any way to undermine the message that smoking is still the No. 1 preventable cause of cancer. I mean, people should quit smoking if they're smoking, for sure.

But there is a percentage of people, Kyra, as we're learning, that have never smoked and get cancer. It's actually higher, in fact, in women than in men. About 20 percent of women who have lung cancer never smoked. About 10 percent of men who have lung cancer never smoked. So that it happening out there. It is more unusual, but it certainly can happen.

PHILLIPS: And researchers now studying whether nonsmokers do better in general on chemotherapy than smokers?

GUPTA: Yes, and I think that that's true. And probably another reason to quit smoking. But if you are a nonsmoker, you tend to have a better course or better response to chemotherapy than if you were a smoker. Could be because the smoking tend to damage the cells, causes certain changes themselves that are harder to fight.

But Kyra, let me just say this. And you mentioned it already. But lung cancer is a killer, for sure. It is one of the deadliest cancers out there. It kills more women than breast cancer. It kills more people overall than breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer combined.

We don't talk a lot about lung cancer and part of that is that we're not very good at treating it. You know, Kyra, 60 percent of people who get lung cancer die in the first year, and 85 percent die within five years. And remember, you and I talked about Dana Reeve when she was diagnosed. It was right after Peter Jennings had died after four months, only, of diagnosis, to death. And it's a very aggressive cancer.

PHILLIPS: And you and I talked about a number of drugs, as well. And I'm reading here some of the notes that you had made to me that nonsmokers also respond better to -- and tell me if I'm saying this right, is it Oresa (ph) and Tarceva?

GUPTA: That's right, Tarceva.

PHILLIPS: Tarceva.

GUPTA: Right. And there are some good drugs and newer drugs out there. Avastin is another drug out there, as well, that has just been approved for lung cancer, specifically -- recently approved, I should say. And the thing, though, Kyra, is that it becomes one of those issues of how do you measure success? The best that these drugs really have done overall in the studies is maybe prolong life by a few months. Now, that's a lot or a little, depending on your frame of reference, for sure.

But you know, in terms of actually causing a long life, prolonging life, extended life, we're just not getting the numbers that we'd like to see.

PHILLIPS: In looking at Dana Reeve's age, we're talking about 45 years old. That's so young. And only three percent of lung cancers occur in people under 45?

GUPTA: That's right. So she was unusual for two reasons. One is the fact that she wasn't a smoker and the other is that she is very young. Typically, it's people in their 60s or 70s who develop lung cancer. So it was a couple of things.

And it's interesting, as well, Kyra. I mean, being of young age both works against you and for you in some ways. People usually say youth is a good thing when you're fighting a disease because your body is more resilient.

But the problem is that the reason she may have developed lung cancer may have been a genetic component, which is why she developed it early in life, and that may have made it a more -- more -- tougher, or virulent, we call it, cancer to beat. So that may have been the reason that it was so aggressive in her particular case.

PHILLIPS: And let's talk about the emotional impact on individuals. She was caring, of course, for her husband, Christopher Reeve, who had been through that tragic accident. She knew that eventually he was probably going to pass. How much does that type of stress on a regular basis take on our bodies?

GUPTA: Yes, that's a great question. And you know, this isn't something that can be measured. But there are a couple of things. There's something called the bereavement effect, for example, that has been well studied. Actually looked at couples and found that, within nine years of one or the other dying or being very ill, the other spouse, the spouse in this case, was either hospitalized or an third of them actually died themselves within nine years. So that's pretty significant.

I don't -- this is an emotional toll obviously, Kyra. These are impossible things to measure, but it obviously takes a toll on someone's psychological and perhaps physical health, as well.

PHILLIPS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, I know we'll be talking a lot through the next couple of hours. Thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, dealing with cancer, a disease that has taken so many lives and has touched so many people, we know you have questions. So e-mail us at LiveFrom@CNN.com. Dr. Gupta will take your questions in the next hour of LIVE FROM. And Dr. Otis Braly (ph), a cancer specialist at Emory University, he's going to join us also in the 3 p.m. hour, along with a stage four cancer survive.

Our special continues straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REEVE: It isn't fair, but I think that I learned a long time ago that life just isn't fair, so you better stop expecting it to be. And -- and so that was hard.

And then I got this diagnosis. Just when you think you're coming out, you know, and you think, "OK, it's all right. I see the light at the end of the tunnel." Then I got this diagnosis in the summer. And it's been -- you start to wonder, it's a rocky road. And -- but I do feel that with the support that I've received and just our family unit is so tight that we're going to get through this, like we got through everything else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It kills hundreds of people every day. Yet, many don't know they have it until it's too late. Two such victims of lung cancer, whose names are well known, have put that cruel disease into the spotlight and given rise to some urgent and potentially life- saving questions.

Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has some answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): After the tragic news of Peter Jennings and Dana Reeve, it seems people have thought about lung cancer more than ever before. In fact, the number of calls to quit smoking headlines went up by 50 percent as a result.

Just about every smoker and former smoker was worried, more worried than normal. And many of them could relate directly to Peter Jennings.

MICKI MCCABE, LUNG CANCER SURVIVOR: We smoke, as Peter and I certainly know, that that was a big factor.

GUPTA: Micki McCabe had her own scare 12 years ago. It was a cough that wouldn't go away, so she decided to get it checked out by her doctor.

MCCABE: I had the CAT scan, which did seem to indicate there were some tumors. I remember asking him then did it seem very likely that I had lung cancer? He answered me very forthrightly that more than likely I did have lung cancer.

GUPTA: Micki was lucky. The CT, or CAT scan, did reveal lung cancer, but it was caught early enough that an operation was able to remove all of it. She was cured.

MCCABE: I'm certainly grateful to whatever spiritual forces are in the universe that -- that were part of my getting a good break.

GUPTA: But it was more than just a spiritual force. Micki had demonstrated a basic tenet of medicine: catch cancer early and you're more likely to beat it. Not so fast, says Dr. Sanjay Saini.

DR. SANJAY SAINI, EMORY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Whether or not CT -- lung cancer screening with CT does in fact save lives, we don't know the answer to that yet.

GUPTA: He buys into the idea that catching cancer is good but...

SAINI: Unfortunately, as we look inside the human body, there are things that we find that can be potentially bad. But we also find things that are of no consequence.

GUPTA: and it's those inconsequential findings that bring into question just how useful CT scans are. We call them false positive result, and they're estimated to occur somewhere between 25 to 70 percent of the time.

SAINI: The patient ends up having other tests done, potentially even surgery done, to determine what that is, and that's the downside risk to patient.

GUPTA: Doctor Len Horovitz says that may be true, but it's still worth the risk.

DR. LEN HOROVITZ, LUNG CANCER SPECIALIST: If there's a 25 percent false negative rate that means that there's a 75 percent positive rate.

GUPTA: And he points out another possible virtue of a false positive. Simply having any kind of abnormality, even if it turns out to be nothing bad, can still scare people enough to make them stop smoking.

But as it stands now, organized medicine hasn't yet decided whether CT scan should be as common as mammograms for breast cancer or colonoscopy for colon cancer. Recommendations like that could still be years away.

Micki McCabe, though, didn't wait for any recommendations. She's convinced that she's alive today because of one scan years ago.

MCCABE: The early detection probably is why I'm talking to you now.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Even though Dana Reeve never smoked, many smokers will react to news of her death without a single thought. It's time to kick the habit. There are many stop smoking ads on the market, but experts say the key to success is finding out what's right for you.

Here's CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lung cancer is the deadliest form of cancer. It's estimated that it killed 160,000 Americans last year. By now, most everyone knows that for smokers the key to preventing lung cancer is to stop.

DR. MICHAEL TUHN, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: This is a hard thing to do, but it's the best thing a smoker can do for themself.

COHEN: And quitting at any point can dramatically benefit your health. Many studies have shown you can reap the benefits of quitting just 20 minutes after you put out that last butt. And after 15 years of being a nonsmoker, you cut the health risks associated with smoking by nearly 90 percent.

But the endless onslaught of quit smoking products can be dizzying. So how do you sort through it all? Doctors say they all work, but not necessarily for you.

TUHN: The trick is to find what works for you.

Most people still quit cold turkey. But some people profit from using a nicotine patch, which delivers nicotine in a very steady way. Some people combine a patch with gum to get through the hard parts, the cravings. Sort of the more sudden ways to get nicotine are through either the inhalant or the nasal spray.

COHEN: Nicotine gums, candies, nose spray, inhalers, can all cut cravings by releasing small bursts of nicotine into your system quickly. But there are downsides. A quick burst now may leave you wanting more very shortly in the form of more gum or even a cigarette.

And how about the patch? It keeps nicotine levels in your bloodstream more constant so the cravings are reduced. But it still releases much lower levels of nicotine than a smoker is used to.

TUHN: The cigarette within two or three seconds, the nicotine hits your brain. And so the nicotine patch is not satisfying in a way that the cigarette is for someone who's addicted. But -- but it is an effective way of avoiding real troughs in nicotine.

COHEN: Some people choose other methods, like individual or group therapy, anti-depressant medications such as Zibane (ph) or alternative treatments like hypnosis or acupuncture.

Experts say these can work, too, and that finding the right combination of therapies, getting support from friends and family, and talking with your doctor is important, no matter what you choose to do.

TUHN: The important thing is to -- is one, decide to quit and, two, get the help you need. And that help will differ for everyone. COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, as you know, we're talking about cancer, dealing with the disease that has taken so many lives. And we know you have questions. We have doctors waiting to answer them. E-mail us at LiveFrom@CNN.com. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will take your questions in the 2 p.m. Eastern hour and Dr. Otis Braly (ph) will join us in the 3 p.m. hour along with a stage four cancer survivor.

And also, we put an e-mail out to CNN, basically everybody that works here. And I just asked them if they had a personal story, if they've survived cancer. You wouldn't believe how many e-mails just we've received. And I just want to share one with you, as we go to break.

This one comes from Trish Henry. She's one of our producers here, actually for "THE SITUATION ROOM."

And she said, "Kyra, in 1996, I was a scholarship swimmer at the University of Illinois. Two weeks before the Big 10 championships, I was in the emergency room with acute abdominal pain. I was 19 years old and in the best shape of my life. I underwent chemotherapy for over a year, surgery and radiation treatments.

"Well, that summer I volunteered for the Olympics on the pool staff so I would have the best seat in the house. My friend, Angel Marino, was competing in the programs. We talked about what I was going through. Angel won the first United States medal of the 1996 Olympic games in the 100 meter freestyle, my event. It was a bronze medal. And after the ceremony, she found me in the back hall and gave me her bronze medal. She told me I helped her realize that what was important in life and it helped her to focus on the Olympic experience.

"By telling my story, others going through similar experiences might see hope in their own lives, so I decided to go back into journalism. When I returned to the university, I changed my major and fought my way back onto the swim team. I graduated in 2000 with a degree in broadcast journalism and headed straight for CNN."

Trish Henry is now one of our own. We'll be back after a break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHY LEWIS, CHRISTOPHER REEVE FOUNDATION: She is my hero. And she is beautiful inside and outside and I think a role model for all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Developing story taking place. Betty Nguyen following it for us -- Betty. BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Kyra. Remember that sheriff's deputy out in California who shot an Iraq war veteran after a car chase? Well, just moments ago, the charges against that deputy were announced. Let's take a listen to what they are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL RAMOS, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: That we have the following charges filed against Deputy Ivory Webb. Attempted voluntary manslaughter, a felony, with a special allegation of great bodily injury and with the further allegation of use of a firearm. The maximum sentence for this crime is 18 years and 6 months in state prison.

On another note, we felt it was critical to hold accountable Luis Escobedo. But for his actions, we wouldn't be here today. We also filed, this morning, attempt -- attempting to evade a peace officer while driving recklessly, a felony. And driving under the influence, a misdemeanor. Maximum for this individual sentence would be 3 years, state prison, 6 months in county jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Now, Deputy Ivory Webb is on paid administrative leave while, obviously, the investigation is under way internally. His bail is set at $175,000. If convicted, he could face up to 18 years in prison.

But let's go back to exactly what happened. And let's put up the video so you can see for yourself. Basically, Deputy Ivory Webb, as you can see right here, shot Senior Airman Elio Carrion three times on January 29, as Carrion was getting up from the ground after the car he was in crashed.

Now, Carrion was a passenger in a Corvette that was involved in a high-speed nighttime chase. And prosecutors have been looking at this video that you see right here very, very closely. Because if you listen to this, you can hear that it appears Carrion was following a command to get up when he was shot in the chest, left shoulder and thigh.

Now, he's been released from the hospital but does remain on medical leave from the Air Force.

And again, here's the new talk to all of this. Deputy Ivory Webb is on paid administrative leave. He is being charged with attempted voluntary manslaughter in this case. And if convicted, he could get 18 years in prison -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Betty Nguyen, thanks so much.

It's also a big day in the Enron trial. The prosecution's key witness is facing off against his old bosses in court.

Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with the latest -- Susan. (STOCK REPORT)

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