here now, and i'm known, as such ♪ ♪ can't touch me. i told you, home boy. can't touch this. that looks like a lot of work to edit that, didn't it? that will do it for me, the news room continues at the top of the hour with don lemon. and thank you for joining us, the dust is starting to settle from the election, but there are probably a few things you may have missed. marijuana, right to die. a soda tax, got some thoughts on that. also, this beautiful young woman, opera singer, came back from a double lung transplant. and then she had to go through the whole thing again. the story that has an amazing ending. there is a hint, you're going to hear her sing. i just read this book "how to train your brain to do just about anything." you seem to have boundless energy. and i have written a couple of books. it takes me a long time. >> i write every day for two

hours and meditate for two hours, and i feel boundless energy, really. i sleep very well, and when it stops, it will stop. but right now, it is a go. >> it is a go, with dr. chopra. but first, the election under the microscope. you know, beyond the race for the white house and congress, there were a few things i was watching very closely tuesday night. first up, in massachusetts, voters rejected a doctor-assisted suicide law. also in california, they reached voting on a soda tax. now supporters out there said if you make soda cost more, they will drink less and be healthier. but the voters in both cities said no tax, and it was not even close. and in states where they voted to legalize marijuana for

recreational purposes. in oregon, they said no. and supporters of medical marijuana went own fn for three. we talked to her, she joins me now from new york. welcome back to the show. >> thanks for having me sanjay. medical marijuana was rejected in arkansas, as you know, montana essentially tightened its law on this, but massachusetts became the 18th state to pass a medical marijuana law. how will it work there, do you think, in massachusetts. >> well, i think they have planning to do, they have to figure it out. planning to run the state-run dispensaries, no more than five per county. and you will go to your doctor, if you have a difficult medical condition like aids or hiv or cancer, ms, couldn't of you

know, major medical conditions, although there is a bit of a loophole, because it does say other conditions. if the doctor thinks that marijuana is beneficial for you, they write a card and you can go to the dispensaries. and if you can't get to a dispensary, there is a sort of hardship law, you can grow your own marijuana. >> you mentioned the medical difficulties, people who studied it for nausea, for example, and studies on chemotherapy or hiv-aids. but also pain, you and i talked about this last time, using a pain medication. in medicine, you want to know, does it work, is it safe, is it more effective than other things out there. how would you say it compares to other medicines? >> well, it is different, some pains are not treated well by opiates, pins and needles that you can get as a side effect of other medications. it is a sort of neuropathic pain.

opiates are not really great at treating that, but marijuana is. this would allow the patient to take fewer pain meds, which would be better in terms of tolerance, being dependent, withdrawal, want them taking as little as possible, you take too many, you stop breathing. there is no problem like that with cannabis, so if you can combine the two medicines, you take fewer pain medicines, so in the long run it is less toxic. >> certainly, we hope to have you back as well. >> it is my pleasure, dr. gupta. >> and another thing, if you want president obama's acceptance speech, you may remember this particular part where he talked about this family that he met in ohio during one of his last campaign stops. here is the story. >> a father told the story of his eight-year-old daughter

whose long battle with leukemia nearly cost their family everything. had it not been for health care reform passing just a few months before, the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care. >> well, we tracked down that little girl he is talking about. her name is erin potter. she has, in fact, fought leukemia three times. and hopefully that is the last time. erin, along with her two sisters and the president, were at the campaign rally. what you heard at the speech, well, that was completely unexpected to the family. >> what i saw in the morning, it was just like a dream. you can't imagine how impactful her story has been on so many people locally, and of course, our family and friends. now, the president is recognizing erin's journey, and kevin's chance to speak and introduce him. and it is pretty remarkable,

actually. >> erin's mom says if her daughter's insurance coverage had maxed out because caps were still in place, she would ha had to quit her job to be able to fall into the minimum family income allowed for medicaid coverage. that is what they would have had to do. the rainbows babies and children's hospital said they would never with hold the medical treatment, but the cost of the cap would have to be covered by the hospital, and subsequently the family. keep in mind, the number one cause of bankruptcy in this country. up next, dr. chopra, he has a way to tap into your brain's capacity to heal itself. ♪

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thank you for joining us. it was a great book, i have read it, obviously, and it is in my wheel house. you call the brain a "three pound universe" that was interesting, what do you mean? >> well, first of all, the break is an activity through the universe, through which the universe sees itself. right now as we speak to each other, we're actually turning on genes and neurons, being turned on to make protein to actually create the networks. and people who are listening to us, are turning on their genes, too. >> right, and so the way anybody sees or hears the same event is very individualized to that person? >> right, it is that sensation, feelings, images, thoughts, that actually create the neuro networks, so you can create them in your brain. you can shut off the reptilian

brain, which is responsible for all the stress in the world. you can turn on the lymbic, and you can have love, compassion, joy, it actually restores self-regulation in the brain. so you know, our emotions regulate the mechanisms. and then you have the cortical brain, where you use it for intuition, inspiration, it is amazing. we are the user of our brains. we're not the brain. >> and i think that was a point that came through loud and clear in the book, that we are in control of our brains, rather than our brains controlling us. >> and genes. >> and genes, this is really hard to study, you said it is like putting a stethoscope o--

>> you can track a thought, with the mris, and see what the brain is doing. there is not a single event that doesn't have a neuro-representation, and there is not one that doesn't have a biological effect. so now, i have been speaking about the mind-body connection for 25 years. but it is the mind-brain connection that actually creates the mind-body connection. >> this is a pivotal way that you think about things. when you think about the baseline brain, as you call it, and turning it into a super brain. what does it mean to you? >> it means that we will now have insight into how we age, and how we can reverse the biological markers of aging, blood pressure, body repair mechanisms, homeostasis, skin thickness, the number of wrinkles that you have. these are -- >> that gets everybody's attention. >> you know, we just did a

study, on the enzyme that regulates. >> this is amazing, the event that can actually change your biological clock. >> so can you give me an example? somebody is listening saying that all sounds good. i would like to do that. what is a simple thing to help make that happen? >> right, get good sleep, the importance of good sleep is under estimated. exercise is important, culture the relationships, and of course, diet is very important, with phyto-chemicals, the colors of the rainbow in your food. and, most important, social well-being. if you have a happy friend, your happiness will go up by 15%, but

if your happy friend has another happy friend, it goes up by 10%. ultimately, the happiness of your perceived enemies is good for your well being. >> it is always interesting to speak with you, i'm amazed by you every time. so thanks. thank you. and just ahead, an opera singer that made it through not one, but two double lung transplants. and then she came back to sing again. [ male announcer ] can a car be built around a state of mind? ♪ announcing the all-new 2013 malibu from chevrolet. ♪ with a remarkable new interior featuring the available chevrolet mylink infotainment system. this is where sophisticated styling begins.

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. charity tillemann-dick is an american-born soprano, performing in opera houses and concerts all over the world. but she is also a survivor of two double lung transplants, and she continues to sing professionally. for charity tillemann-dick, to sing is to live. she has performed on some of the most prestigious stages in the united states and europe. >> singing gave me something that i could throw myself into that i loved and that i could do. and there was a prospect of losing that and my life. >> reporter: that is because in 2004, she was diagnosed with a rare lung disease, a serious disease that causes blood

vessels carrying blood from the heart to the lung to harden. for five years, she was able to manage it with medication, but eventually her lungs became too weak. >> i was in the hospital and still didn't think i needed the transplant. until one night, my doctor came in and said charity you can't wait anymore. you're going to die if you don't get a transplant now. >> reporter: the operation was grueling. recovery was even harder. she was in a coma for more than a month, rehab for several more. but eventually she made it back to the stage, sharing her voice with the world at lincoln cente center. >> i went on the stage and i sang and it was everything that i imagined. >> reporter: but the euphoria didn't last. her doctor said finding a second lung donor would be even harder. fortunately, charity got that

second chance. >> i knew that there was no way that i got those lungs if they were not going to make music. >> reporter: and music, they made. charity is able to sing again. and on this day, she is performing for a very special audience. it is her doctors and fellow transplant patients at the cleveland clinic. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> it is just such a blessing and a joy to be able to sing for people who have had the same challenges that i have, and who might be facing the same challenges that i have. >> reporter: just imagine a singing -- after two double lung transplants. just a remarkable woman. and still ahead, find out what was once the fattest city in the country and what they're doing to get their waistlines and their wallets back in line. a tem in brazil. the secure cloud helped us get some numbers from my assistant's pc in new york. and before i reached the top, the board meeting became

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. you know, for years, i have been talking about the dangers of obesity. and believe it or not, today i have good news to report.

philadelphia has been on the front line of this epidemic, but also recently turned the tide. and childhood obesity is in fact going down. the question is, how did they do it? well, a big part of the answer is right on the corner, the corner store. philadelphia is known for food, after all, known for the philadelphia cheese steak. after all, it is one of the most overweight cities in the country. and especially in a city where poverty and violence are also high, so it is not easily done. >> patients and doctors, they're saying you need to eat more healthy, and be more physical. >> reporter: when talking about the issues of overweight and obesity in this country, people point their fingers in lots of different directions. but here in philadelphia, a lot of fingers get pointed at stores like this, the corner store or the bodega. this is where they say battles

can be lost and won. inter this nonprofit group, and the food trust. in philadelphia, i mean, is this the front line? >> this is the front line, children were receiving the majority of their calories every single day at corner stores like this. >> reporter: to the tune of several hundred calories a day. so they approached the local store owners, and urged them to replace some of the junk foods with healthier items. before you had this, what did the kids buy after school? >> chips and soda, cakes. >> reporter: that stuff is still here, but now they also carry both fruits and fresh vegetables. and both the store owners and customers are eating it up. how about this? is it a money-losing proposition. so you have the store, you have to get it fresh.

>> it is not losing it at all, we sell it all, yes. >> reporter: and get this, there are hundreds of stores doing this in philadelphia, and they just may be helping. there was a recent story that showed them bucking the national trend, with obesity down over a two-year period. and the group didn't just stop at the corner store. now the kids have a taste for the healthy stuff and she is helping them actually grow it in their neighborhoods. >> people watching would say i want to grow it in my community. what would prevent them from doing that? >> you know this is a model that works. we're doing it in the city of philadelphia. and we would like to take it to other cities. if we can do that successfully in philadelphia, we can do it anywhere. >> reporter: and to that point, they have added an additional 50 stores to their network. if you want to find out more about the corner food initiat e

initiatives. >> when it comes to sodium, we simply eat too much, about four grams per day as an adult. we really need about after that, about two grams per day. there is a study that says if you get down to that two grams a day, we could save a lot of lives. frozen foods, it is in there. to preserve, and canned foods, also parents like me will go to canned foods. you get almost a gram of sodium from this, far too much for an adult, and kids, as well. cereal an important food choice, make sure to read the labels, as well. when you read the labels try to find foods like this that have less than five ingredients. that will really help. when it comes to the sodium, we never leave crackers or cookies out in a big box, but put some

in a small bowl on the table. we don't leave salt shakers out there. but if you find a substitute like this, no salt, for example, or just flavorings. you can both cut down on the sodium and increase the potassium. so how much are people eating? well, just this week, the american heart association put out this list of six popular foods that may in fact be loaded with excess sodium, which can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. some of this may surprise you. the top sources of salt, bread and rolls, cold cuts, cured meats. pizza, poultry, soup and sandwiches. now the american heart association recommends looking for the heart check mark. this means that the meal, in fact, has been certified to meet the nutritiona