hey there. thanks for joining us. another busy news week here. new jersey governor chris christie reveals he underwent an operation to lose weight. some say it's a step closer to a 2016 presidential run. we'll look at that and explain what's involved in the operation. biggest loser trainer bob harper will share his three week plan for super charged weight loss. and jonny lee miller's marathon to save the life of a 4-year-old boy named jonah. but first -- >> what did you think when you saw your parents? >> go ahead. you can say that. >> i was very, very happy and relieved. >> did you give them a big hug? >> yep. >> in the cap is alicia

kosakevic. she was kidnapped by a 38-year-old man. she was sexually assaulted, held prisoner in his essentially home made dungeon 11 years ago. she's with us today. she runs the alicia project, devoted to protecting children from predators. here with us is a clinical and forensic psychologist jeff guardier. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> i have daughters. watching that, how was it for you to watch now? i know a lot of time has passed. i wonder about the impact to look at the clip. >> that was really hard to watch. i don't think i have actually ever seen that clip. to see my dad be so protective, so guarded. that's interesting to see. >> you looked to him when you were asked the question. he said it's okay to talk about. are you still -- how are you today? are you still haunted by this? >> i certainly am. i have my good days and i have my bad days. there are a lot more good days though. i still have flashbacks and

nightmares. >> we'll bring in jeff in a second. these women, everyone around the world has been following the story. you have a better idea than most of what they are probably going through now. it's unimaginable for everybody. what would you describe how they are feeling now? >> in the video you can see how clearly happy i am. i have a huge grin on my face. that's how i imagine the girls feel now. just so happy, so relieved and excited to have their life back and be back with their families. that's shadowing the pain a little bit. certainly they are going to have so much pain and they are going to likely suffer from ptsd, nightmares, flashbacks. that's really okay because they have been hurt. showing a moment of weakness does not mean that you are weak. >> sometimes we call it the heroic period. this period now where there is a lot of attention.

as you said, the smiles. as a lot of this becomes more of a reality, it might be more difficult. jeff -- >> yes. >> what would you say to them if they were here? how would you describe what their therapist, what they would be going through? >> to enjoy the happiness, that's real and it does counter a lot of the ptsd and depression. the anxiety, the anger and so on. but you're right. both of you. the reality does begin to set in that there is a different reality. there is a world that you have to transition back into and now that you are out of that horrific, traumatic situation, you are going to have the flashbacks and the intrusive thoughts and trying to avoid anything that reminds you of that situation. that's when the real hurt actually takes place. while you're in there, you are surviving. now you're out of there and now you have to begin to process it. that's a healthy thing that we do with therapy.

it also retraumatizes you as you get to that point of where you can live what would be considered a new normal. i love what you said that there are really great days and some days it's a little bit dark. that's the reality. it's not a fairy tale. >> having a conversation like this, i think, is hard. you know, i don't know how -- what was appropriate in terms of how people asked you about this or talked to you about it. i know this is something you deal with. you're trying to help other people. is there a right way? what should people be saying to these women, do you think? their friends, their family. >> outsiders really do need to respect their privacy. for my family it was so difficult. the media was very invasive. that was really hard. so we unplugged the phone, turned off the television and really tried to ignore it as best we could.

ignore what other people were saying and really live through our experience with it. >> you know, we are the media to some extent. to the extent people can learn something from this, it's part of the reason we continue to talk about this. but, you know, what do you think is the most helpful thing for these women now? if people are talking to them about it, is there a right way, a wrong way? how do they approach this? >> the most important thing i have seen people like alicia, jaycee duggard, elizabeth smart, they are giving words of wisdom. they went through it. like the veterans of war that went through ptsd they say, thanks, go through the treatment, but they want to be with other people who experienced it. specific to your question, what do these young women need to know, what do we tell them? we love them. we support them. as they go through the rituals that perhaps sustained them in

those horrific situations, they will relive some of those things. maybe sleeping on the floor. appetite issues. you know, not trusting, being very hyper aroused with people around them. startled easily. that it's okay to feel that. we will support you no matter what. we are going to give you the space and we are there and we love you. that's how you give them that warm environment that allows them to go through the therapeutic process in dealing with a lot of the outside forces. i must say, i congratulate you on making this much more instructive and supportive as far as the media. that's what the media needs to do. >> i completely agree. again, when you are parenting and watching your father in that clip it's very touching. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. to learn more about alicia's work protecting children from predators go to facebook.com/loishproject. still ahead, more americans are choosing surgery to lose weight.

new jersey governor chris christie did it. i will explain how it works next. brought to you by honey nut cheerios. be happy. be healthy. and by cancer treatment centers of america. care that never quits. ♪ i don't wanna be right [ record scratch ] what?! it's not bad for you. it just tastes that way. [ female announcer ] honey nut cheerios cereal -- heart-healthy, whole grain oats. you can't go wrong loving it.

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i tried other things. they hadn't worked. this was an opportunity to try something different. i'm doing it for my long-time health. this isn't like to feel better tomorrow. this is about being healthier for the rest of your life and try to extend your life as long as you can. >> big move by new jersey governor chris christie this week. made big news. going public about his decision to undergo a serious weight loss operation earlier this year. the governor is one of more than 200,000 overweight americans who turn to surgery each year to try and lose weight. >> the steps i have taken recently are for me and mary pat and the kids.

>> reporter: governor chris christie's lap-band surgery is considered minimally invasive. a band filled with saline is wrapped around the upper part of the stomach to create a small pouch like tying a belt around the stomach to restrict the amount of food the stomach can hold. people will feel full quickly, eat less and lose weight. it can be effective to get you back on track. in fact, studies show 80% of lap-band patients lose at least 30% of their excess weight and keep it off for a year. but keeping the weight off permanently is dependent upon lifestyle changes that patients need to make for life. if governor christine ever e go to eating the same amount of food the lap-band can stretch and many patients gain the weight back. of course with any operation there are serious risks and post surgery complication concerns. any operation like this should be considered as a last resort measure. my next guest said she knew she

neededed surgery to save her life. you will recognize her as my colleague holly hughes, frequent on-air contributor for cnn and hln. take a look at her back in 2006. this is holly at her heaviest. since then she had gastric bypass surgery and lost 155 pounds. you know, i saw the picture for the first time today, holly. when you look at that picture, what do you think? >> you know, it's the strangest thing. i always sort of knew i was fabulous, right? the amazing thing is after surgery, everybody else starts to agree with you. because you know who you are as a person. >> that's interesting. >> it really is about perception. i went to law school. i'm a lawyer. i'm practicing and doing my thing and i'm thinking i'm really accomplished. you hit a point in your life where you realize, that's nice, but my health has suffered. and i have not concentrated on my health like i concentrated on my career. when i look back at that i think, best decision i ever

made. best thing i ever did for myself. >> how quickly did you start losing weight? >> immediately. you just absolutely start losing immediately. within the first four months i was down 50 pounds. >> is that right? >> it just starts coming off. >> we have seen dramatic transformations from other well known personalities as well. for example, sharon osbourne, star jones, al roker. they all had lap-band. al roker had gastric bypass as well. what i found interesting is they are public about the fact that the operation alone wasn't enough. i guess that's what you are alluding to as well. >> absolutely. you have to be in a mindset. talk about perception. you have to be ready to change your own perception. i didn't just get here overnight. it's not going to get fixed overnight. but this was a great catalyst to get you started quickly. but you have to take it seriously. if i was going to undergo major surgery, because there is risk in everything. if i'm going to undergo major surgery, i'm going to take it

seriously. i'm going to exercise. i will take vitamins and i will be extremely careful about what i put in this body. i have this great jump start. but it is incumbent upon me to continue to do the right thing. >> as you said at the beginning, you were fabulous before. you're fabulous now. you look fantastic. >> thank you. >> thanks for joining us. >> absolutely. now to the power of memory. how that power works. we understand largely due to a neuroscientist named eric candell. he was born in vienna. his family fled to escape the n nazis. he wanted to be a psychoanalyst but found his life's work determining how memories are made which brought him the nobel prize in 2000. >> the brain is the most complex object in the universe. we are at the beginning of an enormous journey, but very much at the beginning.

my name is eric candell. i'm interested in the mechanisms of memory storage. rather than studying the most complex memory we had to take the simple form in a simple animal. human memory is more complicated than memory of the snail, but evolution is conservative. if it finds some set of mechanisms work it tends to retain those mechanisms in perpetuity. this marine snail is marvelous. they have the largest nerve cells in the animal kingdom and one can see them with the naked eye. my colleagues and i found that learning involves alterations in the strength of communication between nerve cells. short-term memory is a functional change. long-term memory is an anatomical change. as i tell my friend ifs you remember anything about this conversation you will have a different brain than you started

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you know, i spent a good part of the week in florida training with our fit nation

six-pack. we are less than four months away from our bigot triathlon i malibu. after what i saw this week i'm positive they are all going to be ready. [ cheers ] ♪ april is our tough as nails fit nation coach. my next guest just wrapped up season 14 of "the biggest los " loser." he's helped hundreds of people shed tens of thousands of pounds. bob harper's new book is called "jumpstart to skinny." in three weeks. i have been reading the book. >> good. >> congratulations on getting it done. first of all, where did the idea come from? >> i found that people are very

goal-oriented, right? i will work with a bride and she's going to do whatever it takes to look good on that wedding day. what i don't want that bride to do is do a master cleanse or anything crazy that they are drinking, you know, lemon water with maple syrup and cayenne pepper. it's like, i will give you rules that are going to be extreme and that are going to be aggressive but as healthy as we can possibly do it and get the results i need you to get. >> the weather is getting warmer. a lot of people are thinking about this, even if they weren't getting married. they would love to get a jumpstart for the season. let's break down some of this. salt, first of all. >> yeah. we eat too much salt. everybody pretty much knows that. >> you say take it a step further in terms of cutting it back. >> i believe, again, we, as athletes need salt in our diets, of course, when we are working out. but so many people are eating

such highly processed foods and having so much sodium every day, if i can drastically cut that, there will be water weight right there that you are going to be able to see visually. so i have to think about here is this body. how can i get them to drop as much weight as possible. if i cut their salt i will see results really quick. >> you say a gram a day. >> absolutely. >> sugar. we eat too much of that as well. let's talk about sugar in terms of processed food and in terms of fruit. >> yeah. i eat fruit every single day. however, if i'm going -- if i have to get ready for a photo shoot or i have a person i'm trying to get weight off of, i will cut out -- and in jumpstart to skinny in the final week i will have you cut out fruit completely. it's another shock to the system that will get you the extra little edge. >> then the calories overall. this is a big one. i will say you have been a proponent of saying you actually

have to eat to lose weight. i have heard you say it. i believe that as well. you don't want to put your body into this sort of starvation mode. because you will start to hang onto fat. this is counterintuitive. what about calories? >> absolutely. it's been my mantra since i have been in the business that you have to eat to lose weight. with that said, we have a program set up that it is going to be aggressive. we have to think about being an athlete. calorie restriction is going to be beneficial at this time. for a woman, 800 calories. for a man, 1200. >> you do this for three weeks. the concern people have is they do this and they may have success. but then how do they maintain it? >> here's the deal. this book is specifically for a program. it is for that person that's got a special event. my book that i wrote before this was "the skinny rules." it's much more manageable.

you get to bring your calories up more but you are still working out. it's a nice transition. i don't want someone to go into something that's so aggressive that all of the sudden they just have to go far off left because they have been so far off to the right. >> in terms of order of things you say to exercise before you eat. >> i really like -- here is one thing i tell people. people are always looking for an excuse. it's like, well, i have heard i have to work out in the morning. i can't. so they never work out. i tell people the best time to work out is whenever it fits into your schedule. now on this program i want you to get up in the morning before you have that first meal. i want you to go on a low intensity walk, about 45 minutes. have a shot of espresso or double espresso, whatever you want. get that little boost of metabolism right there. a boost of energy. then you will get there and start to get the body moving. it sets up a routine.

everything i have done with every athlete i have worked with is give them routine. people like routines. they like rules. they like to be told what to do. i love to tell people what to do. >> you love it. we have a check of the top stories minutes away. first up, see what tv sherlock holmes is doing to help scientists find real clues to cure a rare disease before it is too late. stay with us. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. live the regular life. phillips'. even in stupid loud places. to prove it, we set up our call center right here... [ chirp ] all good? [ chirp ] getty up.

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last weekend on sgmd we introduced you to a little boy named jonah who suffers from san philipo syndrome. he has an ally in actor jonny lee miller. he ran a 50-mile ultra marathon last saturday to raise awareness and funding for urgent research. >> well done! let's go, jonny! >> as you see right there, jonny made it. he told me, you know, when you set your sights on a cause like this there is no backing out. it's too important. i can tell you running with a sense of mission can be very fulfilling. here is an idea for you today. find something you love to do and do it for a cause. there are crowd funding websites like crowdrise, gofundme, fundly and giveforward to help you raise money. jonny did it for jonah. who will you help to chase life?

that will do it for "sgmd" today. check out the featured fit nation section of the ipad app. keep it here for a check of the top stories. one of the cleveland kidnap victims is in a secret location right now. police know where she is, but they are not telling her family. what the russians didn't tell us about tamerlan tsarnaev. a source tells cnn the intel could have changed the investigation. emergency in space. astronauts take a walk to repair an ammonia leak. crash landing. look closely. that's a helicopter traveling down a street. and prince harry in the u.s. honoring wounded warriors. you are in the cnn newsroom, everybody. i'm don lemon. we are learning more shocking