>> the first, the big story in california this week, tuesday is voting day and on the ballot, the controversial new tax. an extra dollar. it can also reduce the number of smokers. that's the intent. but some say the law itself is flawed. tobacco is fighting it tooth and nail. >> ahead of voting day, california tv screens are full of ads, not for mitt romney or barack obama, instead, proposition 29. >> yes on 29. >> no on 29. >> and here's what's at steak. california voters will decide the fate of proposition 29, raising the tax by $1 on every pack of cigarettes. >> there's tremendous evidence from all over the world when you increase the tax on cigarettes,

increase the price, people smoke less. it would raise an estimated $735 million a year. and most of that money would go to cancer research. >> no on 29. >> according to map lite, a nonpartisan research firm, nearly $47 million is spent to try to stop proposition 29. more than half of that from big tobacco. $27.5 million from philip morris. another $11 million from rj reynolds. it will cost philip morris and reynolds about a billion dollars. and that's why they're in here spending $40 million or $50 million trying to stop it. >> supporters have spent just $12 million. one of the biggest backers is live strong, a nonprofit founded by cancer survivor lance armstrong. >> yes on 29. >> i should say i'm a board member. >> not one penny goes to new funding. >> all the ads against the cigarette tax, a few stand out

to me. they feature doctors seemingly taking the side of big tobacco. >> i thought prop 29 was a good idea, then i read it. >> i really wanted to talk to dr. porter, but she wouldn't take our calls. i did find other critics of prop 29, and they said smoking might be bad, but it doesn't require a new tax. >> it's ballot box budgeting that puts a group of nine elected officials in charge of billions of california tax dollars in a time where they're facing a $16 billion tax budget and it's an example of the state legislation. >> they have a reputation as a leader when it comes to healthy l living, and the cigarette taxes are among the lowest in the country. just 87 cents a back. on tuesday, voters will decide if they want to keep it that way. joining me now to discuss it further, a general practitioner

in california and laurie bremner, a volunteer with the american cancer society. laurie, i know you have been very busy as a volunteer with the acs and making a lot of phone calls to voters about this. give us a little bit of the sort of atmosphere right now in california. what's the mood like regarding this particular proposition? >> well, it's really interesting. thank you for having me on today. when we called voters, sometimes we hear them sort of spout back the deceptions that have bib put forth from the tobacco company's advertising. when they speak the truth, they come around to understanding voting on prop 29 will save lives and invest in important cancer research in california. we got into interesting conversations with smokers themselves who most often say i wish i didn't smoke. i don't want kids to start and cigarettes have been more expensive when i was a kid, i

might not be addicted now. >> what is the biggest misconception? can you summarize that? >> well, the biggest misconception is that the money will be misused. the money is going to go exactly for what it's going to go for. the american cancer society, the american heart association and the american lung association wrote the initiation carefully. it's going to be invested in cancer research here in california and on tobacco prevention and cessation programs to protect kids and reduce smoking here in california. that's exactly what it's going to be spent on where the biggest misconception is it will be wasted or used otherwise. >> let me bring in the dr. as well. you have been thinking and talking about this quite a bit. thanks for joining us. we're talking about something i think is important to all of us as doctors, cancer research, reducing smoking. just the optics of it, people are surprised to hear a doctor at least apparently taking the

side of big tobacco. why are you against proposition 29? >> first of all, thank you very much for having me. and i'm speaking today as a physician but also as a responsible citizen here in the state of california. when i initially read the law, i wasn't reading it as a doctor. i was asked to read it for one of the groups i belong to. i belong to a legislative counsel and they asked me to take a look at it. i was shocked to see where the money is going as it's written in the bill. 20% of the money does not even start to go to cancer research. the money actually goes to pass taxes. it's just another tax, and of course, the state of california hasn't been spending money wisely. it goes to build bureaucracy,

and research. >> you said a lot. let me try to ask you a couple. do you think the taxes would cut down on smoking, yes or no? >> california in the country has the second smallest rate of smoking. there's no place to smoke here in california. you can't smoke in public. we have been very successful here in the state of california without a tax. without the poor, which is where the tax will go, and without putting more money into the public coffers, we have been very successful at having people stop smoking and decreasing the number of people smoking. >> there's data on this, though, and i'm sure you looked at some of it. they do have an impact on

smoking cessation. i don't want to get mired in too much. we only have a few minutes. let me ask you, look, just globally speaking, you know the hippocratic oath which is i will prevent disease wherever i can, the prevention is preferable to cure. don't you worry about the optics of this, as a doctor, i understand your position on taxes, but weighing in on this, you may be sending a message to people who don't hear the entire message that you are in some way condoning smoking. do you worry about that? >> anybody who knows me and has listened to the first part of my statement, i hate smoking. i don't condone smoking. >> i read this bill. we don't do surgery, we don't put our hands in a plastic bag and pick out the surgery we

think is necessary. we're very specific and focused. we follow the laws and the rules of the markets. we believe in principle specific focus answers, legitimate answers. as a physician, you would agree with that. we don't just do things because they're politically correct. >> what i also agree with is that no bill is perfect, and i'm reluctant as a lot of people are throw to beye out with the bath water. there's a concern here. we're talking about tobacco. arguably the most addictive substance on the planet, to condone this or promote smoking or at least not deterit, i have a problem with that as a physician. thanks for sharing your story. >> thank you. >> we're going to continue this discussion right after the break. we're also going to hear some of the nitty-gritty, tell you about who should be screened for lung

cancer. the head of aamerican lung cancer society will talk to us.

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now, before the break, woe were talking about proposition 29. it got a little fiery. it's on the ballot in california this tuesday. it would raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. it would raise about $700 million a year, and about three quarters of that would go to cancer research. joining us, the red of the

american cancer society. thanks for joining us. we had a chance to talk about the issues quite a bit. this money would go to all kinds of cancer research. not just lung cancer, is my understanding from reading the bill, but lung cancer is a big one, we know in a perfect werld, people would never smoke or quit before they get cancer, but if you indulge me, i want to give you the benefits that are almost immediate when someone quits smoking. 20 minutes after smoking, your blood pressure drops back down. within hours, your risk of having a fatal heart attack goes down. within a year, your risk of heart dezee is half way back down to that of a nonsmoker. these are insecentives to try t get someone to think about this. let me ask you something specific. can an ex-smoker get their cancer risk down to where it is for a never smoker? >> very close. it doesn't go down as fast as for heart disease, but it's like a stair step and goes down, and

about 15 years out, they get back to the baseline of lung cancer rates of someone who never smoked. >> we talk about lung cancer. it's a flightening prospect if you're diagnosed. where do we stand on screening. is there any effective screening test for lung canc snr. >> we think there is for the first time. this is over five decades of research. they can catch early lesions and in a study, a very well done study with the american cancer society, helped recruit 50,000 patients. people who were 55 and older and had a 30 pack a year history who were scanned and there was a 20% reduction in lung cancer mortality in those screening. it's not a perfect test, but the first time we had something that reliably picked up early lung cancer. >> it's arguably one of the moers addictive substances on the planet. let me ask you about 29. how much of the money from prop

29 would go to programs to help people quit smoking? >> well, it would be several millions of dollars, but the thing i heard the earlier part of the conversation. the thing about prop 29, it's very enlightening on public health policy and economic health policy for the state of californi california. it would create new jobs, better paying jobs. about a $1.2 billion increase in economic activity and save 100,000 lives and protect 222,000 kids from ever getting predicted and it will spawn life saving rerch. a point i want to point out, it would make california the second largest funder of cancer research in the entire country. the pay line at nci a decade ago was 1 in 3 proposals done. now it's 1 in 10. we know grants that would yield a benefit aren't getting funded. now they could get funded. it's a tremendous opportunity for california to do the right thing not only for california but the whole world.

>> a lot of people should pay attention even if you don't live in california, as to what is happening there. it could be an inflection point in what has been happening for a long time with big tobacco and smoking cessation. i don't get to see you in person, but thank you for seeing us. >> up next, beautiful and bold. we get the story behind these children's dolls that have no hair. stay with us. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning.. you can feel. introducing the all new cadillac xts, available with the patented safety alert seat. when there is danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class.

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in just a few days there's going to be new and different looks dolls on the stores off your local society store. they're thanks in part to theeft of one new jersey mom.

i want to introduce you to a cancer patient who successfully lobbied companies like mattel to create dolls that looked like her. jane bingham had bounced between doctors for more than a year before finally being diagnosed with an incurable type of hodgkins nonlymphoma. >> it's in your immune system. >> for five years, doctors were able to keep the cancer in check. then that stopped working. and doctors told her she would have to start chyme otherapy. only then did her daughter realize her mom was sick. >> he was 4 when i was diagnosed and had just turned 9 when i had chy chemo their ape and lost my hair. >> it became a defining moment for her and her young daughter. >> she knew me as long blond hair, and she said numerous times she missed my hair. she wished i didn't have to lose my hair. that was her big focus.

was the hair. >> her daughter's experience prompted her to petition toy companies to consider manufacturing a bald doll. companies are listening. mj entertainment has created bald moxie and bratz dolls as part of a new collection this june. mattel has promised to manufacture 10,000 beautiful and bald friends of barbie. >> i think it's important to focus your energies outward instead of just focusing inward on yourself. >> i tell you, doctors say jane will never be cancer free, but for now, her symptoms are gone and her quality of life has returned. we certainly wish her all the best. look for the dolls. >> at 54 years old, michelle pfeiffer can still take hold of the big screen. >> i mean to be a part of this family again. >> on one condition. >> yes? >> promise me that this will

remain our secret. >> a little goth there, but glamorous as always, alongside johnny depp in dark shadows. she's stopping by to reveal dramatic changes she's made to her own life and her diet as well. almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um. y the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. [ music plays, record skips ] hi, i'm new ensure clear. clear, huh? my nutritional standards are high. i'm not juice or fancy water, i'm different. i've got nine grams of protein. twist my lid. that's three times more than me! twenty-one vitamins and minerals and zero fat! hmmm. you'll bring a lot to the party. [ all ] yay! [ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat.

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your not talking about just reducing your chance of heart disease. you're talking utessentially reducing it. >> absolutely. the late wisdom is once you develop these plaques, they're

there. you are stuck with them. try not to let them get worse. is that faulty thinking? >> it's absolutely faulty thinking. here is a picture he likes to show of a heart patient with a blocked coronary artery. here is the same patient after going on a plant based diet. see the way the blockage has almost disappeared. that was part of my documentary called the last heart attack. we learned it struck a chord with a lot of people. among those people, actress michel michelle pfeiffer. she agreed to talk about the challenge of staying at the top of her game, an-list movie star at the age of 54. she said she's in the best shape of her life. you can see the full interview monday night, 9:00 eastern, but i want to give you some of the conversation on her new life now as a vegan. >> it's not easy. i mean, when we had lunch, we had a vegan lunch, which was fantastic, but i think most

people think vegan and think there's no way. how is it for you? >> i actually really love the vegan diet because i love carbs. and i don't really -- i have never really -- i've never really loved animal protein in terms of animal meat. i ate it because i thought it was good for me. and i thought i needed to eat the protein and vegetables to stay lean. it was all about vanity. and the older i have gotten, of course, it's still about vanity, but it's really become more and more primarily switched a little bit, you know. vanity is right under there, but i have to say it's a close second with wanting to, you know, live long and -- >> has it made a difference? do you know that you're healthier now as a result of being a vegan? do you get your bloodwork checks? >> i actually, i'm like such an old art now.

i did get my bloodwork checked. >> i'm a doctor, i can ask these questions. >> yes, doctor. i had unusually high cholesterol. >> is that right? >> for somebody who ate well and exercised well and did all of the right things. but it wasn't enough -- maybe some doctors would put me on medication, but i had a thing about medication so i didn't. so i go on this diet and i'm curious now because of these claims, two months later, i check my cholesterol, it has gone down 83 points. >> is that right? wow. >> 83 points. >> i'm delighted to hear that. >> yeah. >> you're going to live forever. >> stunning, right? i was pretty excited. >> and monday night, 9:00 p.m. eastern, i'm filling in as guest host for piers morgan. you can tune in then to hear about michelle's diet and her marriage of 19 years to david e.

kelly and how she ages so gracefully in hollywood. i'm working on a new project with david kelly called monday mornings based on my novel that came out earlier this year. >> you know, you just heard michelle pfeiffer talking about being a vegan. now, as you may know, a vegan d diet means no meat, no eggs, no dairy. eat nothing with a merth or a face. it could be very healthy, but if health is your goal, you don't necessarily need an all or nothing approach. if the only change is elimina eliminating red meat, you cut your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. it may have more iron than your body needs, and some meats have these harmful nitrates. my family and i eat meat occasionally, but we don't keep it in the house. for us,