>> hello, tagg. >> i'm so very angry, father. >> mm-hmm. >> i wish i could punch america in the face. i do, i tell you. >> now, now, now. >> i'll be back at the top of the how at 8:00 a.m. eastern time. first sanjay gupta m.d. begins right now. hey, there. and thanks for being with 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, soda tax. i've got some thoughts on that. also this beautiful young woman. opera singer. she came back from a double lung transplant and she had to go through the story again. the story has an amazen ending. here's a hint. you're going to hear her think. and there's a new book how to train your brain to do anything. you seem to have boundless energy. i've written a couple of books. it takes me a long time. >> i write every day for two hours, meditate every day for

two hours. i exercise, and i have boundless energy. i sleep very well. and when it stoops, then it stops, but right now it's a go. >> it is a go. with deepak chopra. dr. deepak chopra. that's in just a few minutes. but first the election. "under the microscope." beyond the raise for the presidency and congress, there were a few things i was watching very closely tuesday night. first off in massachusetts voters rejektsed a doctor-assisted suicide law. i had an eye on california where richland and almonte reach ed te decision on a soda tax. the voters in both cities said no tax, and it wasn't even close. and then marijuana. voters in washington state and colorado voted to legalize it for people over 21 for recreational purposes. in oregon, they said no.

and supporters of medical marijuana went one for three. we've talked about this before with dr. julie howl land. she's a psychologist. she's editor of "the pot book." she joins me now. 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 passing medical marijuana law. how will it work, do you think, there in massachusetts? >> well, you know, i think they have some planning to do. they need to figure it out. they're planning on having these state-run dispensaries, at least one per county, no more than five per county. and you'll go to your doctor. and if you've got a debilitating medical condition like aids or hiv or cancer, multiple skpler row sis, major medical

conditions -- although there's a bit of a loophole because it says other conditions. if the doctor feels cannabis is right for you, they'd right a recommendation and you'll get a c card and go to the dispensaries and if there's a problem, you can grow your own. >> there are people who use it for nausea, hiv aids, or pain. you and i talked about this last time. in medicine you want to know, does it work, is it safe, and is it more effective than other things that are out there. how do you say it compares to other medicines? >> well, it's different. you know, there are some papers that aren't treated very well by opiates. for instance the things called pins and needles, that you can get as a side effect from other medications, a neuropathic pain, opioids aren't good as treating

that but cannabis is. they work synergistically and this would allow the patient to take fewer pain meds, which would be better in terms of, you know, tolerance, dependence, withdrawal. you want people taking as little opened yous as well because it depresses the respiratory center. there's no problem with that with can bus. you can't overdose on it. if you combine these two medicines, you take fewer prescription painkillers which in the long run is very toxic. >> it's great to have you on. a lot of people listen to what you have go say, last time and we hope to bring you back as well. >> my pleasure. thank you, dr. gupta. if you watched president obama's acceptance speech you may remember this particular part where he talked an family he met in ohio during one of his last campaign stops. here's a story. a father told the story of his 8-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 -- >> we tracked down that little girl he's talking about. her name is erin potter. she's, in fact, fought leukemia three times, most recently this year, and hopefully that's the last time. airplan erin along with her two sisters and her parents met the president at that campaign rally. in case you're curious, having that mentioned at the president's speech, that was completely unexpected to the family. >> when i saw it 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 our friends but now the president is recognizing erin's journey and kevin's chance to speak and introduce him. it's pretty remarkable actually.

>> erin's mom says if her daughter's insurance coverage had maxed out because caps were still in place, she would have had to kwits her job to be able to fall in the minimum family income to allow for medicaid coverage. that's what they would have had to do. rainbow's babies and children's hospital in cleveland said they would never withhold any medical treatment but the cost of her cap would have to be covered by the hospital and subsequently fwi the family. keep in mind, medical costs, the number one cause of bankruptcy in this nation. up next, deepak chopra on his new book. he's got advice on how to tap into your brain's capacity to heal itself and to change. [ male announcer ] when this hotel added aflac

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but after a long day of helping others, he gets some helpful advice. just two aleve have the strength to keep back pain away all day. today, jason chose aleve. just two pills for all day pain relief. try aleve d for strong, all day long sinus and headache relief. i had[ designer ]eeling enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months, and keeps it clearer up to 9 months. [ male announcer ] because enbrel®, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region

where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. if you've had enough, ask your dermatologist about enbrel. how would you like to have a user's manual for your brain? think of it as a way to train your brain to be more cooperative. deepak chopra's 65th book is called "super brain."

thank ts for joining us. >> thank you it's right in my wheelhouse. i enjoy this sort of thing. you call the brain a three-pound universe. i thought that was an interesting metaphor. what did you mean by that? >> well, first of all, the brain itself is activity of the universe through which the universe sees the activity. the brain is an activity. right now as we're speaking to each other, we're actually turning on genes and neurons that are being turned on to make protein to actually create works 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's our sensations, feelings, thoughts, images that actually create the neural network. so you can constantly change the neural network in your brain. you can shut off the reptilian

brain which is responsible for the stresses in the-year-old wo. you can turn off the limb zbik brain. that actually restores home owe stasis or self-regulation in the brain. so, you know, our emotions regulate our self-repair mechanisms. then you have the cortical brain where you use it for inside intuition, creativity, conscious choice-making, inspiration. >> right. >> it's amazing. we are the user of our brains. we're not the brain. >> i think that was a point that came through loud and clear in the book. that we are in control of our brains as opposed to our brains being in control of snus that's right. and genes. >> and genes. and this is admittedly hard to study when thinking of the brain overall. there's been paper os every the years, over the last few hundred years but you say it's like picking a step oh scope to the astro dome to see what's going on inside. >> absolutely. now that we have the technology and function of the mris, you

can track the thought and see what it's doing to each part of your brain. there's not a single event that has a neural representation and there's. >> knurl representation that doesn't have a biological effect. i've been speaking about the mind/body connection for 25 years but it's the mind/brain connection that creates the mind/body connection. >> this is a pivot in the way you think about things. when you think about the baseline brain i think as you call it and turning it into a super brain, which is the tight ofl the book, what d us that mean to you? >> it means we now have insight is into how we age and how we review the parts of the body. home owe stasis, immune functions, skin thickness, the number of wrinkles you have. >> that gets everybody's attention, right? >> you know, we just did a study

on tell omris that measures tell mears. when people meditate it goes up by 30%. this is amazing insight. a mental event can actually change your biological thought. >> can you give bhe an example? so someone's listening to this and is saying, that all sounds good. i'd like to do that. is there a simple thing they can incorporate into their lives to make that happen? >> right. get good sleep every day. very important. the importance of sleep is unts estimated. exercise every day. cult vat emotional well being through relationships. and, of course, diet is very important. diet that's rich in phytochemicals which are nutrients derived from the sun, seven colors of the rainbow of the food and the tastes of sweet, salty, bitter, pungent.

>> plus, have a happy friend. the happiness of your perceived enemies is good for your well being. >> it's always a great pleasure to speak with you. i feel like i learn a lot. i'm amazedive single time. so thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. just ahead, an opera singer who made it through not one but two double lung transplants and then she came back to sing again. [ woman ] ring. ring.

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>> she's an opera singer and performs all over the world and the survivor of two double lung transplants and continues to sing professionally. for her, to sing is to live. she's performed on some of the most prestigious stages in united europe. >> singing is something i can throw myself into and that i love and that i could do and there is a prospect of losing that and losing my life. >> these because in 2004 charity was diagnosed with a rare lung disease. called pulmonary hypertension. it cares blood from the heart to the lung. for five years she was able to

manage it with medication but eventually her lungs became too weak. >> i was in the hospital. i still didn't think i needed the transplant until one night my doctor came in and he said, charity, you can't wait anymore. you're going to die if you don't get a transplant now. >> she was in the hospital, in recovery, and eventually made it back to the stage, sharing her voice with the world at lincoln center. ♪ >> i went on the stage and i sank, and it was everything that i malked. >> but the euphoria didn't last. >> i started to reject my lungs just a little less than two years ago. >> her doctors 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

weren't going to make music that and music they made. charity is able to sing again. and on this day she's performin. it's her doctors and fellow transplant patients at the cleveland clinic. >> it's just such a bless 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. >> just imagine a singing after two double lung transplants. just a remarkable woman. still ahead, find out what was once the fattest city in the country and what they're doing to get their waistline and their wallets, by the way, under control. what's next? he's going to apply testosterone to his underarm. axiron, the only underarm treatment for low t,

can restore testosterone levels back to normal in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet, or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. see your doctor, and for a 30-day free trial, go to axiron.com.

for years i've been talking about the dangers of obesity, and believe it or not, today i've got some good news to report. i've been waiting for day like this. philadelphia has been on the frontline of this epidemic, but

they've also recently turned the tide and childhood obesity there 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. >> reporter: mrefl is known for food. after all, it's the home of the cheesesteak. changing that, especially in a city where poverty and violence are also high, well, that's easier said than done. >> it's really easy as doctors to sit with patients and say that you need to eat more healthfully, you immediate to be physically active, but people live in environments where unhealthy stuff is readily available. it's cheap. it's heavily promoted. >> when talking about the issues of overweight and obesity in this country people point the fingers in lots of different directions, but here in philadelphia a lot of fingers get pointed in stores like this, the corner store, or the bodega. this is where they say battles

can be lost and won. enter this nonprofit group, the food trust. >> corner stores, in philadelphia is this the frontline? >> this is the frontline. children were receiving the majority of their calories every single day at corner stores like this. >> reporter: to the tune of some 700 calorie az day, according to one study. that's more than a point a week. lehman and her team approached local store owners and helped them to start replacing some junk products with healthier options. >> before you had those types of foods here, what were the kids eating? what would they buy after school? >> chips and soda. cakes. >> cakes. >> yeah. >> a lot of junk food? >> yes. >> that stuff is still here, but now they also carry fresh fruit and vegetables, and both store owners and customers are eating it up. >> how about you as a business owner? is this a money losing proposition because, again, have you to store the stuff and get it fresh? >> no, no. it's not losing at all. we sell it all. >> reporter: get this, there are

hundreds of stores doing this in philadelphia, and they just might be helping. there was rint study that found philadelphia bucking a marshall trend with obesity down nearly 5% over a two-year period. this group didn't just stop at the corner store. >> this all strawberries rsh. >> reporter: now the kids have a taste for the healthy stuff, she's helping them actually grow it in their neighborhoods. sfoo people watching think i might want to do something like this in my own community. what would prevent them from doing so? >> this is a model that works. we're doing it in 600 stores all throughout the city of philadelphia, and we would like to take this into other cities. if we could do this successfully in philly, we can do this anywhere. >> to add to that point since i visited philly they've added an additional 50 stores to their network. you want to find out more about the corner store's initiative go to the food trust.org. it's time now, though, for chasing life. am. when it comes to sodium, we simply eat too much.

on average about 4 grams per day as an adult, and we really need about half that. about 2 grams per day. there was a study that came out that said if you get down to two grams per day, we could save potentially 150,000 lives a year simply from that one thing. frozen foods, they're going to have a lot of today wrum in there for lots of different reasons, but mainly because sodium is a good preservetive. that's why it's in there. also, canned foods. you know, a lot of parents, again, like me, will go to canned foods. the problem is you get about 950 grams, almost a gram of sodium just from something like this. far too much for an adult, and far too much for most kids as well. cereals also, obviously an important food choice for many homes. make sure to read those labels again. one thing about reading labels as well, when are you reading labels try to find foods or foods like this that have less than five ingredients. that's going to help. when it comes to sodium, again, one thing we do in our house, we never leave crackers or cookies sitting out in a big box. we'll pour a little on a small table and that's important to

try to find salt substitutes as well. we don't leave salt shakers out there. if you find a substitute like this, no salt, for example, or just some flavorings, you can both cut down on your sodium and increase your potassium and possibly solve a lot of those problems. how much salt are you actually eating? a lot of people think about this. well, just this week the american heart association put up this list calling it the salty six. six popular foods that may, in fact, be loaded with excess sodium. that can increase your risk for heart disease and stroke. now, some of this may surprise you. of the top sources of sodium in today's diet are bread and rolls. you see there? cold cuts, cured meats, poultry, soup and sandwiches. now, the aha, the american heart association, recommends looking for the heart check mark. that's it right there. this seal means that the meal has been, in fact, certified to meet new traditional criteria for being heart-healthy, including low sodium. eat that heart-healthy diet and chase life as well to