>> reporter: you just heard that you might have breast cancer, and everything else went out the window. >> went out the door. >> reporter: vacarano had to wait two weeks for her report. >> it turns out it was false. >> reporter: it turns out like one in ten women in the u.s., she had originally gotten a false positive and in fact did not have cancer. >> when training the ai system, we fed it tens of thousands of example mammograms just like this one. >> reporter: to cam bat misdiagnosis, they developed an artificial intelligence system to assist doctors and pathologists to actively detect cancer in mammograms. >> this is not something we trained the system on, but when we showed the example, here is a potential suspicious region, here is one. and it turns out in this case it was cancerous. >> reporter: she says the ai model reduced positives by almost 6% and false negatives by about 9%, and caught suspicious

tissues on mammograms missed by the human eye. >> mammograms are the best studied. >> reporter: dr. elmore, professor of medicine at ucla is the brain behind an artificial intelligence program that helps correctly diagnosis breast biopsies. would it be a faster diagsis? >> yes. >> reporter: it would be much faster? >> yes. >> reporter: the computer was trained to recognize patterns of 240 breast biopsy images. and while still in the testing phase, the system is yielding promising results. in one test, the ai program outperformed doctors by close to 20% better accuracy. >> once a woman has a biopsy, the tissue is obtained, and this is an example of what the tissue can look like. i took the same exact glass slide of this and sent it to 27 different pathologists in the u.s. they independently interpreted it. and of the 27, only 13. >> reporter: only 13 came back with the right diagnosis? >> correct. >> reporter: that's a problem. >> it is a problem, because we have such different recommendations for surveillance

and treatment based upon that diagnosis. >> reporter: in the u.s., more than 42,000 people will die from breast cancer each year. it's a statistic that makes the promise of ai detection critical for patients like major. >> i was told and i believed and i believe most women are told the first line of defense is having a yearly mammogram, but the mammogram failed me. it field me for a decade. >> reporter: jamie yuccas, los angeles. >> the "cbs overnight news" will be right back. oh, hi, samantha.

you look more like a heather. do you ever get that? it's nice to finally meet you in person. you're pete nocchio? oh, the pic? that was actually a professional headshot. i'm sure that's it, yeah.

i, uh, i think i've lost a few pounds recently too. i'm actually doing a juice cleanse. wait! you don't... (glass breaking) (gasp) ah! oh...! with geico, the savings keep on going. just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. screen legend harrison ford put down his "star wars" blaster and indiana jones bull whip for his latest film. it's a screen adaptation of jack london's "call of the wild" with an animated dog and claims it was one of the most challenging roles of his career. he discussed it all with lee cowan. >> reporter: here is the thing about meeting harrison ford. you've had horses for a long time now. >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: and still do? do you still ride? >> yeah. >> reporter: your small talk becomes pretty pathetic, because your life is flashing before

your eyes. >> hey, man, i'm sorry if i scared you. >> reporter: one memorable movie moment. >> han solo. >> reporter: after another. >> i'm rachel. >> reporter: it's not just that ford embodied some of the most enduring characters ever put on film. and not just once but a few times. >> chewy, we're home. >> reporter: it's that after more than 40 years of doing it -- >> how do i look? do i look amish? >> get off my plane. >> reporter: ford remains unstoppable. he just wants to keep making movies, whether he gets top billing or not. >> look, i've enjoyed every job i've ever had because i love the work. but i don't have to be a leading man anymore. >> reporter: when you return to roles, whether it's han solo or indiana jones, what's the

challenge for you in coming back to the same role years later? >> trying not to look silly, you know running around in tight pants and high boots. i'll give you a more appropriate answer considering that i'm going to start doing indiana jones in about two months. you know, we have the opportunity to make another because people have enjoyed them. i feel obliged to make sure that our efforts are as ambitious as they were when we started. >> reporter: can you tell us anything about the new indiana jones? >> no. >> reporter: what he can tell us about is his latest role. >> watch yourself. >> reporter: in one of the best tales about man's best friend ever written, jack london's "the

call of the wild." >> wild places we could go. you and me. >> reporter: the challenge for ford was that his co-star, buck, wasn't real. he is computer generated, a former cirque du soleil performer terry notary is actually the dog's human stand-in. >> he gave me someone to establish an emotional relationship with. >> reporter: because you had to have that. >> you have to have something to work off. i mean, it's a little strange. i'm rolling around on the floor with this guy and scratching his tummy. >> reporter: you physically were doing that with him? because you had to, i guess. >> tere was money involved. >> reporter: just like for many of us, "the call of the wild" was required reading for ford in high school. jack london first published his naturalist work back in 1903. and of all the lessons it offers, one in particular hit pretty close to home.

>> we come and go, don't we? this is always here. we're in danger of losing the support of nature for our lives, for our economies, for societies because nature doesn't need people. >> yeah. >> people need nature. >> reporter: while he has quietly campaigned for a myriad of causes since the early '90s, when the u.s. pulled out of the paris climate accord, that brought him to the front lines. you spend a lot of time working with big business on trying to get their focus. >> yes, businesses, ngos, municipalities, state governments have all stepped in to the gap. i'm now seeing that we're coming close to being able to really commit the resources and enrgy to confronting the issue. because it's taken up on the

highest level of politics, it's taken up on the streets by young people. >> reporter: this is a bottom line issue. >> yeah, this is it. this is it. >> that's the carpenter. >> reporter: he often brings his passions into his films. while he may not be an archaeologist, ford is a first rate carpeter in real life, or at least he used to be. >> do you still get a chance to do much anymore? >> i -- every once in a while i sharpen my tools, but i just don't find enough of a block of time to get back my chops. >> reporter: your dad also had a shop, right? >> my dad had a shot, but he was there when he cut the end of -- he cut his finger off cutting a piece of plywood on a table saw. >> reporter: maybe not the best person to learn from? >> well, maybe having seen that, look, look. >> reporter: they're all still there. >> thanks, dad. >> reporter: he likes process,

whether it's building a cabinet or flying airplanes. that's a hobby that got a lot o ation five years ago. >> five 3178, engine failure, immediate return. >> reporter: after a mechanical problem in his vintage ryan pt-22 forced him to make an emergency landing on a golf course. shattering his pelvis and his back. you're still flying? >> oh, yeah, absolutely. i love to fly. i love being up in the air. i love the experience of the third dimension. we're living in two dimensions down here. you get up there and you see. >> right there, harrison! >> reporter: it's easier to get away from prying eyes up in the sky too. ford is by no means a recluse, but he is a private man, pragmatic to the core. you're not a big fan of diagnose red carpets and interviews like this. >> i understand the utility of it, and i think it's important to be able to bring people's

oduct.ion to when you have a new so it's part of the business. it's part of the business. i think of the people that go to my movies more as customers than i do as fans. fans feels kind of weird to me, but always has. >> reporter: he also knows his celebrity pales in comparison to the size of the world's problems, but at 77, this somewhat reluctant superstar hopes that he can at least help get people talking to one another again. you're midwesterner. you don't really talk politics much. but i think that's changed a bit. >> i think it's come to the point where we've got to start talking politics, where we got to talk about it in a positive way. we've got regain the middle ground. we're in these ideological enclaves. but the truth is in the middle.

progress is made in the

the coronavirus currently ravaging china is also taking a heavy toll on one of that country's most endangered animals, the pangolin. chinese scientists floated the idea that these scaly mammals kicked off the epidemic. tom hanson has more. >> reporter: at the brookfield zoo just outside chicago, scientists are working around the clock to save some of the most vulnerable creatures on the planet. meet biggie, one of 11 white-bellied three pangolins living here. the pangolin has spent most of its existence in obscurity. but after a group of chinese scientists recently labeled them as the potential transmitter of the novel coronavirus, now it's at the center of a pr nightmare. >> what they found was a coronavirus that was very, very similar to what they're seeing now coming out of wuhan. and so there is that

possibility. it's still -- that research still needs to be vetted or have peer review before anyone can say with any certainty at all that that's where it comes from. >> reporter: scientists across the globe, including bill ziegler at brookfield have questioned the findings of the research. still, the potential backlash against these endangered animals is worrisome. >> my concern is if we don't word it right and people become afraid of pangolins, they may go out and if they find a pangolin in the wild in which case there is no real issue there, it's not a danger to you as far as transferring a disease, they would kill it anyway, because they're afraid of it. >> reporter: even though it's illegal worldwide, these odd-looking animals are heavily poached for their prized meat and their scales which are believed to have medicinal value, earning them a title as the most trafficked mammals on the planet, and causing some populations around the globe to drop to critical levels, something ziegler's team is trying to change. the brookfield zoo is one of

seven groups in the u.s. working to breed pangolins, and they're one of the most successful, with nine births over the past four years. but here's what scientists are up against. it's estimated up to half a million of these animals are poached every year. it's a daunting challege and a critical time, but ziegler and the consortium of scientists hope education will save these gentle animals from disappearing. >> you're going to see an increase in the breeding and the successful birth of these animals as we build the science behind the reproductive physiology of these animals. and that's our goal, not only to help provide the science to erve the species, but we want to establish a sustainable population here in north me. >> reporter: tom hanson, brookfield, illinois. >> that is the "overnight news" for this tuesday. for some of you, the news continues. for others, check back with us later for the morning news and of course "cbs this morning." from the cbs broadcast center in new york city, i'm errol barnett.

it's tuesday, february 18th, 2020. this is the morning morning. coronavirus crisis. the number of the cases in the u.s. has almost doubled. more americans are diagnosed after returning from asia as infections climb worldwide. crash into the wall -- into the air goes newman. >> fiery crash. the daytona 500 ends with the lead car crossing the finish line on its roof, losing the race. driver ryan ynewman rushed to te hospital. scout scandal. the boy scouts fight accusations of sexual abuse.