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Paula Zahn Now

Where Are London Bombers?; Untold Story of Lance Armstrong

Aired July 25, 2005 - 20:00   ET

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

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. Glad to have you with us tonight.
A fast-moving investigation that is still isn't moving fast enough.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): We know what they look like. We know what they use. But where are the London bombers hiding now?

How does a nice girl from the suburbs get to be the highest paid escort in New York City? Not by being a good listener.

(on camera): But aren't they also looking for sex?

(voice-over): Tonight, in a provocative interview, she tells me what she did for $2,000 an hour and what she learned about men.

What could be harder than winning the Tour de France seven times? How about doing it after cancer?

LANCE ARMSTRONG, TOUR DE FRANCE CHAMPION: Psychologically, it was a good thing for me to be so scared and so fearful.

ZAHN: The untold story of Lance Armstrong's incredible achievement.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: We begin tonight with the London terror investigation, more names, more arrests, more clues, and a new development in the other major part of the story, the police shooting of an innocent man on London's subway on Friday. We're going to get to that story in a moment.

But there's also a new photo of the two of the July 7 bombers whose bombs ended up killing 52 people. Check out this picture closely. Only a month before their terror attack, they were actually flashing victory signs while shooting rapids in Wales. People are now looking at that Welsh rafting center for possible connections between the July 7 bombings and last Thursday's attempted bombings, but still no sign of the four men who carried out last week's attacks.

Here's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the hunt for Britain's four most wanted men, new pictures and some names.

PETER CLARKE, METROPOLITAN POLICE: We now believe the man on the bus who attempted to set off that bus to Muktar Said Ibrahim, also known as Muktar Mohammed Said.

ROBERTSON: Police say Muktar and another bomber, now identified as this 24-year-old Yasin Hassan Omar, and a third man set off on their bombing mission together from a subway station in South London. The fourth bomber appears to have begun his mission alone in North London, before his bombed failed to detonate.

CLARKE: He then got off the train, probably by climbing through a window at the end of the carriage, and then made his way along the track for about 200 or 300 yards.

ROBERTSON: The failed bombings last week and a discarded bomb discovered in a North London park Saturday near where one of the suspects was seen running away are also providing police an important new lead.

CLARKE: All five of these bombs have been put in dark-colored rucksacks, or sports bag. All of them were made using the same type of plastic food storage container.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Maid in India, sold at 100 outlets in this country, this 6.25-liter tub is exactly the same as one used in all five bombs last week and could provide a vital link in catching the bomb-maker. And if -- and it is a big if at this stage -- if the same bombs were used in the two separate attacks in London, this could provide a vital link between the two terror cells.

(voice-over): A possible link the police are pursuing began with this photograph of white-water rafting trip in June. It shows two of the bombers who died in the July 7 attacks. Politics say the river rafting company is Wales helping their investigation into both bombings, but won't specify the link.

Al Qaeda expert Rohan Gunaratna suspects a connection between the two there cells.

ROHAN GUNARATNA, AUTHOR, "INSIDE AL QAEDA": They belong to the same network. It's because the operatives used the same modus operandi, the same tactics.

ROBERTSON: But the now dead July 7 bombers and the four bombers on the run are only the tip of the iceberg, Gunaratna warns, not just possibly more cells, but their complex support networks, too.

GUNARATNA: You need people to study the transportation system. And you also people to maintain the safe houses, the communication, to procure the equipment and the chemicals, and also to prepare the devices. ROBERTSON: Raids are continuing in London, five people arrested so far, the latest coming Monday. But none of the people in custody, it seems, is a suspected bomber.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: So, Nic, we just heard what your expert had to say about potential linkages between what he believes are two terror cells in some way that are related. But what are investigators telling you about last week's attempted bombings and the actual bombings of July 7?

ROBERTSON: Well, the day immediately after the failed bombings last week, the police said that they could see links, that, obviously, the three train and the one bus were the same. They said that there were potentially links with the explosives. They also saw that the bombers all used backpacks.

And, over the weekend, the police went a little further and said that they have seen more similarities between the type of bombs. They're not being specific about what type of explosives were, but they are saying they see those links, Paula.

ZAHN: And, Nic, earlier on in your piece, we saw you holding one of those simple plastic containers that investigators think are a critical part of what they're looking into. Tell us why.

CLARKE: Well, I have one of those tubs here.

And one of the reasons why, because they're sold in stores in Britain. They want to appeal to the public, for people to, if they've seen -- a storekeeper has sold a number one of these, then they want that person, that storekeeper, to call in.

We talked to a storekeeper this evening who lived just a few miles away from one of those stations, the Stockwell station, where three of the bombers got on the train together. He has sold several dozens in the last few weeks. Indeed, he says he has been running a special offer, one for $2.50, three for $5. He says he gets so many people, he can't tell who may have come in and bought them.

ZAHN: Well, we hope that leads to some help for the investigators there.

Nic Robertson, thanks so much for your insights.

It's pretty easy to understand now how tense London police must be, after two sets of terror bombings in just two weeks. Just look at what happened on London's subway on Friday when police shot and killed an innocent man. Today, we learn the man was hit eight times.

Here's Soledad O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): He's being called the 53rd victim of the London terror, another commuter in the wrong place at the wrong time. But Jean Charles de Menezes was killed by police last Friday, more two weeks after the deadly terrorist bombings.

(on camera): To piece together the last minutes of this man's life, you have to begin here, at the apartment he shared with his two cousins on Skosher (ph) Road. It's blocked off with police tape now.

He walked out at 10:00 on Friday. He was unaware the building was under surveillance. He was wearing a heavy jacket. It was zipped up on a warm day. Police thought that stuck out and so they followed him.

(voice-over): The building had been under surveillance, one of the apartments inside a possible terrorist hideout. But Menezes wasn't a terrorist. He was an electrician, a 27-year-old Brazilian immigrant on his way to work.

He walked a few blocks to a bus station in Tulse Hill. Plainclothes police followed, keeping out of sight. He got on the bus heading to the Stockwell subway station, police still watching his every move.

At Stockwell station, chaos. Exactly what happened is up for dispute. Police say they yelled at Menezes to stop, but instead he ran on to a train. Everyone agrees the officers tackled him and shot him eight times at close range as he crouched on the floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He looked horrified, though, absolutely. I caught sight of his face for a split-second. He looked horrified -- absolutely horrified. And then -- and then he was on the floor and dead.

O'BRIEN: And it was all a horrible mistake. Today, Brazilians rallied at the site of the shooting.

LUIS DE SAUZA, FRIEND OF JEAN DE MENEZES: We are victims of a state of terror.

O'BRIEN: Among them, Luis De Sauza, Menezes' friend. His thoughts, he tells us, are with the victim's impoverished parents.

DE SAUZA: It's just a shock, because of -- you can't imagine the family. We're -- we're just thinking about the family, how far they are.

O'BRIEN: In Brazil, Montesino (ph) and Maria de Menezes mourn their son. Maria had begged Jean to return to Brazil after the recent bombings.

MARIA DE MENEZES, MOTHER OF JEAN DE MENEZES (through translator): This is the worst suffering of my life, something I never thought would happen.

DE SAUZA: I needed to find an electrician to do the light fixtures. And then someone introduce me to Jean. O'BRIEN: Luis De Sauza owns Brazil By the Kilo, a popular Brazilian restaurant. Jean Menezes was a regular and a friend. But Luis says Jean's heart was always in Brazil.

DE SAUZA: Very homesick. All the time, he's talking about his family.

O'BRIEN: He remembers one of their last conversations, about a week ago.

DE SAUZA: He went to send some money to -- for his parents. And he said -- I remember exactly what he said like that. I got to work another two years, make a little bit of money, and go.

O'BRIEN: Instead, he was caught up in the hunt for suicide terrorists, where police believe they sometimes have to shoot first and worry about the consequences later.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Of course, there are other things that many people agree on, Paula, and that is that this, at the end of the day, is just one huge tragedy -- Paula.

ZAHN: Yes. You'll have complete agreement on that one.

I guess what is less clear, because there are a bunch of theories floating out there, is why this man didn't listen to the police and stop. What are investigators about why he ran onto that other train?

O'BRIEN: You know, to some degree, what the investigators say and what the friends say are contradictory. And you're right. It's essentially the $64,000 question, isn't it?

We may never know the actual answer. But what his friends say is this. He was in a fight a week earlier. Maybe he thought the plainclothes policeman who were following him were the thugs who tried to beat him up a week earlier. And so, fearful for his life, he ran. And, of course, in the end, he sort of was right to be fearful for his life, but for all the wrong reasons -- Paula.

ZAHN: Soledad O'Brien, thank you. I know you've been at work a long time today, with the time difference there. Thanks for the update.

I want you to watch now what's about to happen and ask yourself, would you carry this in your purse or have one in your own home? Coming up next, a stun gun company gets quite aggressive. And it's making some people angry.

And a little bit later on, I think her story is absolutely fascinating, absolutely titillating. What did this confidential escort do to earn $2,000 an hour? I'll ask her when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ZAHN: Still to come tonight, someone who's inspired me and millions of others. And what's incredible is that there's so much you don't know about Lance Armstrong's long, hard road to success.

And a little bit later on, she was one of the best-paid escorts in New York City. What she did might infuriate you. But can you empathize with why she did it for $2,000 an hour?

But, first, at 15 minutes past the hour, Erica Hill at Headline News to update the other day's top stories.

Hi, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Paula.

Unfortunately, we're starting off tonight with the tragedy happening today at the opening session the Boy Scout of American Jamboree in Bowling Green, Virginia. The organization says four of its leaders were killed in an electrical accident while setting up camp. Many than 35,000 Boy Scouts take part in the jamboree. It lasts for 10 days.

Meantime, this is one I know you can relate to, Paula, another day of blistering heat for the Midwest and the Atlantic coast, as temperatures soared past 100 degrees in several cities. The National Weather Service has posted heat warnings for states from Illinois to Louisiana and Nebraska, all the way to the nation's capital.

A 27-year-old American woman is among those killed in last week's bombings in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik. Kristina Miller was on vacation when three bombs went off, killing at least 84 people and wounding more than 200 others. Egyptian authorities say at least two of the dead were suicide bombers and that some suspects may have a Pakistani connection.

And a major rift in American labor. Today, the Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union voted to leave the AFL-CIO. Now, the two unions say they will form a coalition to focus on recruiting new members. And that's also getting a lot of -- lot of attention in the business world, too, Paula.

ZAHN: Lots of debate about that on the air today.

Erica Hill, thanks. See you in about a half-hour or so.

Coming up, I recently met someone whose story might surprise you. I know it surprised me, not just because of what she did, but because of how she feels about it. The money was huge, $2,000 an hour. But what can be good when you're a New York confidential escort?

And then, a little bit later on, Lance Armstrong's amazing ride to the top and to the history books. How does he do it, especially after a long battle with cancer?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ZAHN: So, I would like you to take a look at this. It's the cover story in "New York" magazine just a couple of weeks ago. And this one really jumped out me. It says "New York's Number One Escort Reveals All."

So, exactly who is she? And how did she end up as an escort and land on the cover of a major magazine? She was an aspiring actress. It's a quite a story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): There's more to this 25-year-old Natalia McClennan than meet the eyes.

NATALIA MCCLENNAN, FORMER ESCORT: I was here for quite a few years doing some off-Broadway theater. I had such a strong feeling about how...

ZAHN: It's a classic New York story. Natalia grew up in an upper-middle-class family in the suburbs. In September of 2000, Natalia took off to pursue her dreams in the Big Apple, leaving behind an older brother and her parents. But her life would soon change dramatically. Natalia says she was caught up in an abusive relationship. She needed money to get away and she needed it fast. Natalia became an escort.

MCCLENNAN: It was something that I had never considered doing, never even entered my mind as an option. This wasn't something dirty. It wasn't something that was going to hurt me. But it was an opportunity to be able to take care of myself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Natalia is creative, fun. She's the coolest chick I've ever known.

ZAHN: Natalia began working for Jason Itzler, the founder of New York Confidential, an escort service that claimed to have on its roster the finest women in the business.

(on camera): So, going into this, what was your understanding of what an escort did?

MCCLENNAN: I really didn't know. I didn't know what an escort was.

Maybe it's someone who goes out on dates. I didn't -- I didn't really know. But I think part of -- part of what I liked and the reason why I did it was because, with New York Confidential with Jason, it was a girlfriend experience.

ZAHN (voice-over): Girlfriend experience, or GFE, meant Itzler's escorts would spend several hours entertaining their clients.

(on camera): I understand, before you met a client for the first time, he sort of trains you to walk up to the hotel...

MCCLENNAN: There was a mantra. ZAHN: ... room door and you said: "I'm in love with my boyfriend. I haven't seen him for three weeks."

MCCLENNAN: Right. That works.

(LAUGHTER)

ZAHN: Well, what did it do?

MCCLENNAN: Well, it puts you in that mind space. You know, I would go up to the door. And I would kind of like be, OK, get into that -- it's like acting.

ZAHN: So, were you acting, ultimately?

MCCLENNAN: Well, you know what? I wasn't acting. But that's how I approach acting as well. I'm always there. I'm always present. I'm not like just putting on some theatrical show.

ZAHN (voice-over): Natalia says clients began pouring in, paying $2,000 an hour, with a minimum of two hours for her time. Some clients even booked her for an entire weekend, the price tag, $30,000. She brought in $1.5 million a year.

(on camera): They had to expect more than someone just talking to them.

MCCLENNAN: Everybody has expectations. Everybody has expectations. But I would just present myself in a way to let them know that I wanted this to be a great, happy, fun time.

ZAHN: But aren't they also looking for sex?

MCCLENNAN: Sure. I think a lot of people in life are looking for sex.

(LAUGHTER)

ZAHN: But there was a period of time where you were being booked so aggressively that you were actually having sex with strangers four times a day. How did you deal with that?

MCCLENNAN: I've always been a sexual person. My sex life is private. But I always felt come comfortable with my choices. And I always had fun. I made sure that it was good.

ZAHN: But I think what is so hard for those of us who are looking from the outside in is...

MCCLENNAN: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: ... is to understand how you could ever get comfortable with the notion of sleeping with four or five strangers a day?

MCCLENNAN: That wasn't commonplace. That didn't happen very often.

ZAHN: And when it did, how did you feel?

MCCLENNAN: I felt fine.

ZAHN: You never felt dirty?

MCCLENNAN: No.

ZAHN: Never felt used?

MCCLENNAN: No. No.

ZAHN: A lot of the escorts who end up leaving the business...

MCCLENNAN: Right.

ZAHN: ... developed a very strong sense a guilt about accepting money for what they did.

MCCLENNAN: Right.

ZAHN: Did you ever feel that guilt?

MCCLENNAN: Well, I always approached it that people were paying for my time and companionship. So, as I -- in terms of guilt, I don't have any guilt. I'm comfortable with the choices that I made. I'm happy with them.

ZAHN (voice-over): So, as you have just seen, Natalia walks a very careful line with me. Admitting she had sex in exchange for money could lead to her arrest. Prostitution is illegal in the United States, except in certain counties in Nevada. But being an escort is not.

MCCLENNAN: Most of the clients that I see are really successful people who just don't have time to go out and find someone to spend time with or find someone to date.

ZAHN: So, who are these men who could afford to pay $2,000 an hour for the services of an escort? Although Natalia wouldn't given us any names, she did say most were wealthy professional athletes, attorneys, even government officials.

MCCLENNAN: When I saw the cover of the magazine, I kind of absorbed it, went OK. That's an interpretation. But it's not what I feel is accurate.

ZAHN (on camera): So, what's an accurate interpretation?

MCCLENNAN: That I was an escort. I do believe in that term and I believe in those -- in those -- in that definition of what it is.

ZAHN: So, if you were to define the key difference between a prostitute and an escort, it would be what? MCCLENNAN: It would be that a prostitute clearly exchanges sex for money. For different sexual acts, they demand different amounts of money. It's clearly -- that is clearly the boundaries in what that relationship is about, that interaction.

And an escort is someone who is paid for her time and companionship. It's not about sex.

ZAHN (voice-over): Although Natalia denies that she was a prostitute, in January, the NYPD raided New York New York Confidential. Its doors and Natalia's career were shut down. Jason Itzler was arrested and charged with promoting prostitution. At his arraignment, Jason pled not guilty.

Jason and Natalia's careers in the business were documented in this series, "Inside New York Confidential," which hasn't been released yet.

(on camera): As you try to help an audience understand what your old was about through a documentary, do you think people have a lot of misconceptions about that life was?

MCCLENNAN: Right.

I want my family to know and the people around me to understand what my experience was and to know that it didn't hurt me and it wasn't damaging.

ZAHN: Will you ever be an escort again?

MCCLENNAN: No, I don't think so. I don't think I'll ever be an escort again. It's not something that I dislike. It's not something that I have any bad feelings about at all.

But I just think that my life is moving in a different direction now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Natalia McClennan continues to work on the series "Inside New York Confidential." The producers say they are now in talks with the networks and hope the miniseries airs sometime in the fall.

Meanwhile, the man you saw a little bit earlier on, Jason Itzler, is still in jail. He has a court date in September.

Coming up, we are all afraid of crime, but could you pull the trigger on one of these if it was aimed at a real person? Now one company says, its stun guns aren't for just for cops anymore. But are they for you? And are the police worried about that?

Please stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: So you want to keep your family safe, but maybe you think a gun is too dangerous, so would you buy a taser, a stun gun that can deliver a 50,000 volt shock, and knock a person off his or her feet. The people at Taser International are hoping the answer is yes. And tomorrow, they're starting a campaign in Florida to market stun guns to you, the general public, and it's going to be extremely controversial. Here's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As more and more police departments turn to tasers. A controversial, but mostly nonlethal, way to drop an offender to his knee. The company that makes the stun gun is staring an advertising campaign to get its product into more civilian hands. Want to drop a bad guy, zap him with 50,000 volts.

TOM SMITH, PRES., TASER INTERNATIONAL: There's a lot of people out there these days that are concerned for their safety and there well-being. And this is just providing another tool, you know, to be able to defend themselves and make themselves more confident.

CANDIOTTI: In just over a decade, Taser says it sold more than 100,000 of its guns to consumers.

(on camera): How big of a seller are they?

JAVIER ALONSO, MIAMI SUPPLY COMPANY: We sell about, anywhere between, 15 to about 25 tasers a month.

CANDIOTTI: You consider that good?

ALONSO: Well it's nowhere near our firearms sales. But it is pretty brisk.

CANDIOTTI (voice over): Taser's banking on it. Models start at about $400 and go up to $1,000. The company kicks off its new advertising campaign in Miami. Phase one uses print adds. This one features a woman opening her door to a stranger. The headline reads, "Because not everyone is a salesman." What's left unsaid is whether the woman should consider answering the door with a taser at her side. On Taser International's Web site, using high-tech graphics, an announcer makes a product pitch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE ANNOUNCER: Taser X26 C brings the power of police proven EMD technology to protect you and your family. Safely and effectively.

CANDIOTTI: Though not required by law, this Miami merchant does conduct criminal background checks as Taser suggests. And Tasers says it will offer personal home instructions for its customers. Taser has long promoted its product for police as less harmful than a whack with a baton, even when dealing with unruly teenagers. This Florida high school student was tasered.

JAML CURTIS, STUDENT: It's just like down right pain. Just all shooting all up in through my chest area. My whole upper body was just like, I couldn't move, I couldn't control myself. CANDIOTTI: Taser insists its products are safe. Critics, including Amnesty International, say Tasers have claimed 100 lives. Tasers blames most, if not all of those deaths, on drug use or other preexisting health problems. But some law enforcers are uncomfortable encouraging the public to buy tasers.

CHIEF JOHN TIMONEY, MIAMI POLICE DEPT,: If it's out there in the general public, in the public domain, it's apt to be in the hands of people who won't be using it for the right reasons.

CANDIOTTI: Miami Police Chief John Timoney says new laws are needed to regulate tasers just as they do firearms.

TIMONEY: There is no form of registration, no form of training, mandatory training. There is no requirement on the part of the seller to do a background check. And so you could have people with a criminal background, people who are emotionally disturbed going out and purchasing tasers.

CANDIOTTI: Seven states, and the District of Columbia, already now ban tasers. But in Florida, there are no restrictions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: That was Susan Candiotti reporting for us, tonight. Tasers, by the way, don't always stop a person. In Sarasota, Florida, early this month, police were forced to shoot a drug suspect after two officers tried to subdue him with tasers.

Coming up, you might think that there's nothing harder than winning the Tour de France. But Lance Armstrong knows better, he had to beat cancer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE ARMSTRONG, CYCLIST: Naturally, my first question was, to myself and to the doctors, when am I going to die?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: There is so much of his story you don't know. And it is truly inspiring. I know it was to me. Please stayed tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: What a beautiful shot tonight, if all goes as planned the Space Shuttle Discovery will roar into orbit in just a few hours. But as we all know, plenty of things can go wrong. Why most of us are willing to bend the rules now and then, should NASA even attempt this one. Miles O'Brien is standing by at the Kennedy Space Center watching the countdown for the Shuttle Discovery. He was there last week, when the mission was scrubbed. So what kind of rules are they going to bend here, Miles?

MILES O'BRIEN, SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Well it all goes back to a faulty fuel gauge, matter of fact, I have a spare one right here, Paula. You know you were talking about a vehicle with 2 million parts. And it all comes down to this -- this is the actual sensor which detects the amount of hydrogen, that is inside that external fuel tank. And this system is the system in question. You need four of them. Or at least tat was the old rules, in order to launch. And now, NASA is trying to understand why one of these gauges is not working properly. And they say, the engineers say, if they can fully understand the problem, isolate it, they will fly with three operative sensors. That is the thinking right now. But there's a lot of testing wrapped up in a countdown which remains ahead of us, beginning at about midnight tonight.

First of all, let me walk you through where these sensors are using the telestrator here as we go out to launch pad 39 B. Right at the base of that external fuel tank there are four hydrogen sensors, there are four at the top oxygen sensors. As they go through the countdown tonight, they'll look at the problems, if the problems are similar to what they have seen thus far, and isolated in a way that they understand, they will continue the countdown, and will go for launch. If there's a different sort of failure with those sensors, they say they'll stop and scrub. The people in the firing room are going to be really on the hot seat tonight, looking very closely at these monitors, watching for these problems with the sensors. At any given point, they may have to make a decision to scrub. And hopefully that decision will be made before the crew gets strapped in, as they were back on July 13th.

There's the White Room. Right now, the crew there -- not the space crew, getting ready for the eventual arrival of the crew. It is hoped that will occur around 10:39 a.m. Eastern time, when the launch is expected to occur. Weather situation, quickly, Paula, 60 percent chance there'll be favorable conditions. But the situation in Florida is, you never can predict it at any time of day in the summer -- Paula?

ZAHN: I just can't imagine being in the crew's position where you're a little more than 12 hours away not knowing really with any degree of certainty whether you're going to go or not.

Miles O'Brien, thank you for walking us through all of the different variances of what we might expect tomorrow. And we'll be looking for you tomorrow, as we all hold our breath collectively, at 10:00 a.m., 7:00 pacific, when our continuous coverage of Discovery's launch gets going. Thanks again, Miles O'Brien.

Coming up next: What can seven-time-Tour-de France-winner Lance Armstrong teach all of us? A lot more than you probably think.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALLY JENKINS, "WASHINGTON POST": He's got an absolute willpower to do anything he puts his mind to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: So the question is: How do you get that kind of willpower? Please stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: "LARRY KING LIVE" gets underway at the top of the hour. Larry, forget show for 16 seconds. I haven't talked with you in ages.

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": I know. Paula, how have you been?

ZAHN: I've been fine thanks. Very busy here.

KING: Yes. We've been kind of busy, too. Any -- what an interesting show tonight, Paula. I like saying that.

ZAHN: Paula.

KING: Paula.

ZAHN: Sound like Alberto Tomba (ph) when he used to say my name.

KING: We have all of the parents of Natalee Holloway. We have her mother, her stepfather, her father and her stepmother and the investigator and our own Susan Candiotti and phone calls from around the world. All dealing with this extraordinary case that seems to have no end. The Aruban mystery.

ZAHN: Yes. It's certainly a position none of us wants to put ourselves in as they await the DNA tests that might help suggest what has happened to their daughter. Thanks, Larry. See you at the top of the hour.

KING: You're welcome, Paula.

ZAHN: Thank you, Larry.

After 23 days and 2,237 miles, Lance Armstrong peddled into Paris today -- or yesterday that is to claim his seventh Tour de France championship. He's been the best for so long it's almost seemed a sure thing, but I know I held my breath yesterday when he barely avoided -- ouch! -- a pileup in front of him.

Well, as many of you know, he made it and now says he's retired and plans to spend more time with his three children and girlfriend his rock-star Sheryl Crow. An amazing career for someone who's only 33 years old and is good for millions and millions of dollars of endorsements. He is the focus of tonight's "People in the News."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): What does it take to spend three weeks in agony, enduring hour after hour of pain, racing more than 2,000 miles with a bull's eye on your back?

SALLY JENKINS, "WASHINGTON POST": He's got an absolute willpower to do anything he puts his mind to.

ZAHN: What does it take to battle a disease that is conspiring to kill you, then ride with the hopes and dreams of so many cancer survivors on your shoulders?

LANCE ARMSTRONG, PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST: For the people that don't believe in cycling, the cynics and the skeptics, I'm sorry for you. I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. This is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it. So, vive la Tour, forever. Thank you.

ZAHN: What does it take to be Lance Armstrong?

LINDA ARMSTRONG KELLY, ARMSTRONG'S MOTHER: Lance was a high- energy young man. Definitely like a little tornado coming into a room.

ZAHN: Lance Armstrong was born in 1971 and raised in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. His mother, Linda, gave birth to him when she was just 17 years old.

KELLY: I had every excuse in the world to fail having a child at 17 and I was determined that this would not be failure for me. And the fact that I had a child and I was a child, was the greatest thing that I could have ever wished for and I'm proud that, that happened.

ZAHN: Armstrong's parents divorced when he was a toddler. His mother remarried when Lance was 3.

JENKINS: The father issue in Lance's life is more about the absence of one. His real father evaporated before Lance was even a conscious human being. And then his stepfather, Terry Armstrong and he had a pretty fractious relationship. Lance is not fond of him. They had some real tension when Lance was growing up.

ZAHN: The bond between mother and son, however, was unbreakable. An independent young woman teaching her child as she herself learned about life.

KELLY: We would sit down and talk at the end of the day, over dinner and you know, I would have a bad day and he'd say: Mom, you know, why don't you just quit? And I'd say: Son, you never quit.

ARMSTRONG: She taught me a lot growing up, of course, normal things that parents teach their kids, but a lot of it just more mentality and attitude.

ZAHN: The Armstrongs lived in Plano, Texas, a mostly upscale area just outside of Dallas. Lance didn't fit in.

JENKINS: He was a kid who didn't have the kind of money the kids around him had. He didn't come from the right kind of parents. He didn't have a country club membership. He didn't play football in Texas, which was the thing to do. He was always on the outs, you know. He's an outsider and I think that in some ways, it was the making of him.

ZAHN: To escape, Armstrong would turn to his bike.

JENKINS: A bike is a great instrument for a runaway boy. And that's a bit of what Lance was. You know, he was trying to run away from some problems, maybe, trying to run away from Plano, Texas, maybe.

He got on that bicycle, he was free.

ZAHN: As a teenager, Armstrong competed in triathlons: Running, swimming, biking. And beating competitors years older than he was.

ARMSTRONG: I said, you can't make a living doing that. I'm making a living now doing triathlons. I don't want to do that, I can't make a living. I was wrong, I mean, obviously.

ZAHN: Armstrong was invited to train with the junior U.S. National Cycling team, and moved into the sport full time. He was a brash young rider who knew only one speed: All-out. Who seemed to ride with a chip on his shoulder the size of his home state.

CHRIS CARMICHAEL, ARMSTRONG'S COACH: Early in his career, he was very kind of -- had sort of a cocky attitude and headstrong about the way he wanted to do things. But you know, the interested thing is, is most of the time, he could back it up.

ARMSTRONG: I didn't really know a lot about traditional tactics. It's a very traditional sport and I came in with all this -- sort of this American attitude that, well, I don't care about your traditions.

ZAHN: By age 21, Armstrong became the youngest man ever to win a stage of the Tour de France and would later a capture a cycling world championship as well. He was young, rich and appeared destined for greatness.

JENKINS: Eddy Merckx, the world's greatest cyclist ever, predicted for years that Lance would be a Tour de France winner when he lost some weight and settled down and focused. The real question mark was whether he was ever going to work hard enough to fulfill his potential.

ZAHN: But when our story continues...

ARMSTRONG: On Wednesday, October 2nd, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

ZAHN: Lance Armstrong comes face to face with death.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: What a feat. Lance Armstrong in the winner's circle for the seventh time at the Tour de France. Keep that image in mind as we continue tonight's "People in the News" profile, because it was barely eight years ago that cancer almost killed Lance Armstrong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): Imagine being an elite athlete, capable of pushing a bicycle, pushing your body to nearly super human levels. Then imagine finding out you're very human indeed.

ARMSTRONG: Naturally, my first question was, to myself and to the doctors, when am I going to die?

ZAHN: Twenty-five-year-old Lance Armstrong was entering the prime of his career when he was diagnosed with cancer. Surgery removed his cancerous testicle. Armstrong vowed to beat the disease.

ARMSTRONG: I'm entering this battle in probably the best shape of my life. This isn't going to stop me. I might have a bald head and I might not be as fast as I used to go, but I'm going to be out there.

ZAHN: However, doctors soon discovered Armstrong's battle was bigger than he previously thought.

DR. CRAIG NICHOLS, ARMSTRONG'S ONCOLOGIST: He had presented with a mass in his testis. And at that time when it was discovered, he had -- had spread to his abdomen, to his lungs, and to two small areas in his brain. Literally, this is something that untreated or undetected would have swept over him in a matter of weeks.

ZAHN: In fact, Armstrong's chances of surviving were at best 50/50.

KELLY: What did I say to Lance was that I love you and we're going to beat this. There's nothing worse than someone getting sick and to have it be your only child. That wasn't going to happen. That just wasn't going to happen.

ZAHN: Armstrong underwent additional surgery to remove the tumors in his brain and began intense chemotherapy. The hours of pain he had experienced on a bike paled in comparison to the ravages of the disease.

ARMSTRONG: It doesn't compare to cancer, to the anguish, to the depression, to the confusion, to the torture of 12 weeks of chemotherapy. It's small.

KELLY: He had lost all of his hair. He had big, dark circles under his eyes.

BILL STAPLETON, ARMSTRONG'S AGENT: He never lost his fighting spirit, his attitude. But his voice would shake. He lost a lot of weight. He was bald. He had scars on his head. He looked like a cancer patient that was going to die.

ZAHN: But Armstrong didn't give up. In February 1997, after undergoing four rounds of chemotherapy and months of anguish, Armstrong's cancer was declared to be in remission.

JENKINS: Lance didn't beat cancer, he kicked it to death. He didn't just survive it, he stomped that bastard into the ground. He has no idea why he survived, nor does anyone else really. What part was science? What part was something bigger than science? What part was self-will and self-determination? He can't tell you what that mysterious calculus was. Not only that, he doesn't want to. He enjoys the mystery of it.

ARMSTRONG: I feel humbler now, more vulnerable.

ZAHN: Just a few months after finishing chemotherapy, Lance Armstrong could be found relaxing at his waterfront home in Austin, Texas.

ARMSTRONG: He survives cancer and dies from pneumonia.

ZAHN: He was healthy and strong enough to water ski, uncertain about his future as an athlete.

ARMSTRONG: I don't think I can win the Tour de France. I thought I could. A year ago, I certainly thought I could win the Tour de France, not that year but in years to come, not now.

ZAHN: But Armstrong's attitude would change. After a year off, he began a comeback.

JENKINS: What cancer did for Lance was give him a reason and an excuse to finally settle down and really become everything he should have been.

ARMSTRONG: Psychologically, it was a good thing for me to be so scared and so fearful, to be given another chance.

ZAHN: After months of rigorous training, Armstrong entered the 1999 Tour de France. He was considered to be beyond a long shot. But those who knew what he had been through knew better.

KELLY: I said, you know, you're so sick in that bed, there is nothing that will keep you from going up that mountain, when you think about how sick you were.

ZAHN: Over three weeks, Armstrong rode more than 2,200 miles over grueling terrain, overpowering competitors like he had overpowered cancer. At the race's end, Lance Armstrong wore a yellow jersey. He had won the Tour de France.

CARMICHAEL: I remember watching him come down the Champs d'Elysees and crying and just being like, man, this is -- I mean, this is just a miracle.

KELLY: Lance Armstrong puts his mind to something, and it's -- that's all it takes.

ZAHN: Four consecutive Tour de France victories followed, but Lance would face challenges in his personal life.

In 2003, Lance divorced his wife of five years.

JENKINS: I was surprised that he hadn't had more problems, to be frank. You know, as a friend of theirs and as an observer, watching what they were trying to do, the amount of work both of them were taking on and the amount of travel and the amount of training and the intensity of their lives. ZAHN: 2004 brought a new romance, with musician Sheryl Crow. The couple met at a Las Vegas charity benefit, and moved into Armstrong's house in Spain. She helped cheer Lance on as he won his sixth and ultimately, his seventh record-setting Tour de France title.

But for Armstrong, those victories meant more than one man beating the competition or one man overcoming cancer. They were victories for an entire community of which he was now a lifetime member.

ARMSTRONG: If the people could see one of their own, that was given not such a good chance of survival, see him return and thrive and be better than he was before, I think that's the most powerful message, and perhaps the one that they can get the most hope from.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Boy, does he ever teach us a lot about the power of one's individual will.

We want to thank you so much for joining us tonight. I'm sure you're all collectively cheering for Lance.

Tomorrow night, what would you do if someone pulled a gun on you? Take look at this -- this is a robbery attempt caught on video in Washington, D.C. And two men fight like mad to wrestle the gun away from the suspect. Join us for that story tomorrow.

That's it for all of us here tonight. Thanks so much for being with us. Prime-time continues right now with Larry King.

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