rn more at boost.com. [ dad ] i choose great taste. i choose boost. good morning and thanks for being with us. i'm dr. sanjay gupta. on tap, it's hard to be a little girl when you're not. one psa that shocks parents into better health. does it work? is it appropriate? a girl a going to join me in a moment. a true inspiration on top of the world, kyle maynard. no arms and no legs. we'll explain. i want to begin this morning with politics.

as you know, the presidential race tightened up with rick santorum winning in missouri, colorado, arizona. as we go forward, we want to check up on the claims regarding health care. what adds up and what leaves something to be desired? something you have read about, the contraception controversy. they chewed out the president for a rule that requires insurance plans to cover contraception. even plans for those with religious organizations. just in the last several days, the administration said under obama care, religious organizations like schools catholic schools, catholic hospitals have to provide for free contraceptives and free morning after pills, abortive pills for employees, in violation of the religious

conscience of those organizations. >> after that, the white house said look, you know, governor romney was flip-flopped. romney responded to that. here is how it went down. >> former governor of massachusetts is an odd messenger on this given that the services that this rule would provide for women around the country are the same that are provided in massachusetts and provided when he was governor. >> he needs to check his history. that provision was put in massachusetts before i was governor. then when i was governor, i tried to have it removeed from the health care plan. i worked hard to get the legislature to remove all of the mandated coverages including contraception. so, quite clearly, he needs to understand, that was a provision that got there before i did and it was one that i fought to remove. >> all right. so here is the real deal as best

we can tell. mr. romney is accurate. the law did exist before he became governor. if you ask people in massachusetts, they differ on how hard he tried to remove the law. some say he was happy to leave it alone. it's not something he put in place. more than two dozen states have laws requiring insurance cover contraceptives. who is exempt varies. one thing to keep in mind is the federal rule does not affect the services provided by catholic hospitals and doesn't put requirements on doctors or health providers. this is about insurance whether catholics or prod stent hospitals have to cover it. rick santorum gave a speech on health care blasting romney for the plan he got passed in massachusetts. he says it's virtually identical to the federal law, some people

call it o bbama care. it is similar. santorum also said that -- >> nothing that romney care did anything like obama care to reduce costs, which is the principle problem. the uninsured went from 92% up to 94%. 2% increase in the number of insured while the cost for the state of massachusetts skyrocketed. they now have costs higher than any state in the kucountry. >> that's true, but, the number of insured went up 2% but down in the rest of the country. so, it is successful in that regard, an important point. massachusetts does spend more money per person on health care than any other state. it was true before romney care. you can't say it's just because of the law. newt gingrich campaigning in ohio had this to say about medicare and medicaid fraud.

>> the governor is a competent administrator of your money. $16 billion and $110 billion of your cost. in south florida today, professional criminals say it is safer and more profitable to steal from medicare and medicaid than to sell cocaine. >> obviously, it's tough to make that apples to apples comparison. statistics on fraud is hard to compare. the government estimates on the high end, one in $10 of medicare and medicaid spending is lost to fraud. worth noting, the federal government put more resources into finding fraud and trying to recover more and more of that money. coming up, an ad campaign with real kids talking about real issues and how it hurts to be obese. some people say it is shaping the kids, changing the children

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we are going to start with a stair race. ready to do this? >> i was born ready. >> that was first lady michelle obama on "late night with jimmy fallon" to tackle obesity. others are taking a different approach as well. here is how one hospital is atlanta is trying to do it. >> when a doctor said she had type ii diabetes, i never thought what we ate made her sick. i thought she was sick like her momma. >> they include messages like being fat takes the fun out of being a kid. it's hard to be a little girl if you're not. >> there are critics that say the ads are too negative and feed hurtful stereo types. the hospital says obesity is killing our kids and flowery messages don't grab attention.

i want to introduce you to a 14-year-old and her high school principal who is going to discuss the challenges schools face when tackling the problems. thanks to both of you for joining us. it was quite a shocking ad when i saw it as well. i think -- how did this all come about for you? what was it like being in it? >> we came about the ad online on a casting site. it came to my mom's phone. she saw it and asked if i would like to be a part of it. i was hesitant at first. i took a chance, i auditioned and got the part that same night. i went in to do the taping the next day. >> was it nerve -- were you nervous? how did you feel about it emotionally? >> i was really nervous because i wasn't sure how people at my school would take it. i knew it would be a good opportunity for kids like me to

see they are not alone. >> you were doing it to inspire other people. i mean you work with kids. you have heard critics who say this is going too far, they are kids. they are young people. what do you think, first of all? >> first of all, we want our kids to be healthy. whatever message we can send, it's important to do that not just for the kids today, but their future. i'm proud of maya and the way she's tried to change her life. she sets an example for students across the country. >> we have talked about the impact of carrying too much weight, being obese. it's something people generally know. how hard is it as a leader to combat this? where do you begin? >> the challenge for us as a public school is there are no state or federal money to address nutrition and health and

wellness. for us, as a school, you know, we don't have the same resources we might have for english, math, science and social studies. much like, you know, as a result of the recession, aspects of our economy, as budgets get cut, the resources are becoming tighter and tighter. >> it's funny. that's important. we talk about this all the time. schools serve healthier food, serve salad instead of fried food. can you do that? >> in schools across the country, we have healthy options for students. the problem is, sometimes when given those choices, students or kids don't understand the consequences of the decisions. they choose the fried food as opposed to the salad. that's the concern, the kids aren't educated about the em pact of their decisions. >> how educated were you, maya? did you know some of these things? >> i don't think i did. i don't think i was educated. along the way, the whole process, i think that i became

more educated about making better choices and food choices and fitness choices as well. >> has it made an impact for you? >> it has. i can feel it when i do certain things. like two months ago, it feels better now. >> the reality and everything that comes up is vending machines and buying junk food or sugary drinks in schools. the vending machines help pay the bills, don't they? >> we get county, state and federal money to teach children. all the extra things we need come from extra revenue we can bring in. we are dependent upon the vending contracts to do football helmets to graduation ceremonies and student recognition. itis a challenge. we are dependent upon the moneys and we have to decide how important is that money and what are we willing to sacrifice to do that. >> people called me after the ads ran.

some pediatricians and people who focus on this. again, you are the one in the ad and some people found it tough to watch. is this too much for a young person like you. what do you say to that? >> i think you have never been in this situation that you can't really judge. then, at the same time, i see where they are coming from. but, they are helping me along the way and they are getting me to learn how to change my habits and they are teaching me deferent ways to get in exercise. if it's raining outside, i can't go outside. they are teaching me to exercise inside. they are helping me along the way also. >> sounds like they are changing your friends as well. you are cheer leading tonight, is that right? >> yes. >> are we going to get you there in time? >> yes. >> it's tough. i have three daughters of my own. i think about this all the time. thank you for being courageous and being with us. thank you for joining us. very inspiring.

another true inspiration. a man named kyle maynard. you met here last year on "sgmd." he's done the impossible. this morning, he's going to tell us about it.

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i guarantee you, he's one of the most inspiring individuals you will ever meet. you are going to meet him here this morning. he's a graud rup l amputee. we have been following his journey. a few months ago, i told you he began training for his biggest challenge, the become the first to do nothing less than summit a mountain. i'm happy to report he did just that. he made it, essentially bear crawling all 19,336 feet to the top of the mountain. amazing. he's here with us now. first of all, is that right, 19,336 feet?

you must have the number memorized and sered into your brain. >> at 19,000 feet, it's half the amount of atmosphere we have here at sea level. >> the images are here behind you of what it looked like. i'm so inspired to have you here. thank you for coming. tell us about how you did it. we saw you training for this, climbing stone mountain. you had gear that looked like this. talk us through it. what is the gear? how do you do it? >> this gear was further along in the progression. it's something i started when i first climbed. i had towels around my arm and a rope. that was it. this is sort of things we came up with from just shopping at walmart. the bike tires. it was just -- >> bike tires, tape.

>> yes. towels inside there. from that, there was an amazing group in phoenix called the or thodices specialist that put together this carbon fiber system. it was incredible. the amount of time to put it together was the wear and tear on this. >> proof that we were there. >> this is essentially a shoe. >> that's right. >> and it looks like the right foot. and these are the carbon fiber you're talk about with, again, the grip on the bottom. >> a little more advanced than the towels and tape that i used before and that's really what made it possible to get to that point. >> were there surprises? nothing goes exactly as planned on these trips. what was the biggest challenge for you? >> one of my biggest concerns was getting blisters and the pounding that i was going to face on the ends of my limbs. and the -- you know, it was a pleasant surprise that my skin

held up and didn't tear. previously, climbing stone mountain, i had tore off the skin off the end of my arms and it was pretty painful. >> where did this idea come from, that this is what you want to do, you want to do something that is seemingly impossible. how did it all come about? >> our purpose behind this was to have this vision to have other people go and say, look, if you are unsatisfied with whatever conditions or circumstances are in your life, then you have the chance to create the life that you want and to be able to make the decision that you're going to do it. things aren't going to be perfect when you start, but just to go and say i'm capable of more. >> hopefully you're reaching a lot of people right now. someone told me you think you might even try to do a triathlon, as well. >> that's right. i know you guys are organizing something like that. september, right? >> it is in september. you're right. i've got an offer for you, man,

you can't refuse. no, seriously, if you want to do the triathlon, we would love to have you. short of that, it's been an incredible journey for you. i love meeting people like you and i love having viewers like you. >> without you, i wouldn't be able to go and share this message. it's that team effort. i appreciate you giving me the chance to do that. >> thank you. >> speaking of incredible journeys, do you know jeff dahler? >> i do. >> from fat to fit, take a listen. >> are you responsed on your spandex outfit? >> it will be sponsorsed by cnn, or 80s says on my, c-n-n. >> jeff, we've got you covered. you'll meet jeff and the lucky seven. that's next. stay with us. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy.

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we're back with stnd. as you know, last week, we kicked off training for the fit nation triathlon challenge. we introduced you to three of

our teammate peps this week, we have the rest of the gang. we call them the sexy seven, i think the lucky 7. we picked them and hooked up with them since then. they've got some personal trainers in their hometown to help them get ready to compete. they've got a bike. they're getting a wet suit, all of this in preparation for the malibu nautica triathlon. all of this and a trip to hawaii. thanks for being here, everybody. this has been great. >> i'm looking forward to this. >> so a little bit of a treat. you are a journalism teacher living in married. you sent in this video. one of the most amazing things for me, and this is because i got married a few weeks ago, but you're going to get married two weeks before this triathlon. you're putting a lot of things on the plate there. >> i hope that everybody can come. >> there's the invitation. >> that will be our taper week,

right? tapering down. what was the real inspiration for you to do this in your life? you have between 7-year-old children. >> right, you know, and i think i need to be a role model for them in their own health. i don't want them to see me as unfit. when my daughter was playing soccer and she said, mom, you can't be the coach because you don't look like one, i don't want her to think of me that way. >> we are not going to let you down. we're going to be right there with you. and jeff dahl is going to be right here with you, as well. atlanta radio dee jay. it was an emotional experience when i came and spoke to you on your show. what inspired you at this point in your life to do it it's a challenge that i never took on before. you know, being physically fit. so i thought maybe i could try to run a 5k, but that seemed too simple. >> so the triathlon was the -- >> yeah, throw in some swimming and biking. it's easy, right?

no problem. >> glenn, you're a truckdriver, you have a ministry, as well. what's the name of that town outside of dallas? >> burlgston texas. >> and they love you there. they're going to have a 5k in your honor, is that right? >> yes, they are. >> how did that come about? >> the city manager gom in touch with me. they said they're going to do a 5k named let's get started with glenn. so the whole city is going to come together. >> i think you've inspired many members of your team. what inspired you to do this? >> i've spent so much of my life trying to motivate people and let them know what they can do and what they can have, but then when they looked at myself, what i was saying was a lining up what i was doing and it was an awesome wake-up call. >> denise, you're an office manager from new jersey. i've had the luck to be able to sit down and talk to you a couple times atoday. you lost your leg as part of the softball accident, you had an

infection in your leg. tell me about the last couple of years for you. you're an athlete and now you're getting back into it. what's it like four? >> it's been a roller coaster ride, to see the least. there were still a lot of lows. i still remember the moment that i woke up from my surgery, was laying in the hospital bed and i looked down and was thinking, how am i going to live? what am i supposed to do? for me, just to be out here and training for a triathlon, really, it's almost too emotional for me to speak about. but, you know, i had my identity taken away from me and this identity was forced on to me. all of a sudden, i was labeled an amputee. i'm an athlete above everything. >> you're definitely an athlete. i understand you were worried people wouldn't love you. let me tell you something, you don't have to worry about that here. there's a lot of love for you. you're all very brave. it's just