♪ good morning. i'm pat lawson muse. every day people in this country die waiting for organ transplants. right now there are an estimated 1,600 patients in the district on the waiting list. you could hold the gift of life for someone who's waiting. our focus this morning is organ donation. organ donations that save lives every single day. my guest is attorney bridgette greer who is a double lung recipient. clive callender from the national organ and institute, and he's the chairman emeritus of the department of surgery and a professor of surgery at howard university's college of

medicine. and dr. flavia walton, a kidney don donor, an organ donor who has done tremendous things. thank you all first of all for coming. you're a double lung recipient, nine year who doesn't look one. >> i definitely am. >> how you? >> i'm doing wonderful. i work, i do exercise, involved in the community and the church. my husband and i are guardian of the 14-year-old nephew. so life is great. >> no one would ever know the ordeal you went through. >> no. if you didn't know me back then you wouldn't know what i endured. >> how long were you waiting? >> i moved to durham, north carolina, in january of 2006 in preparation and i was listed on

march 7th and i received the call on march 13th. >> dr. callender, that would be a miracle. doesn't happen like that often. >> i don't know of instances where you only wait a week so that's wonderful. >> there's good news in the district regarding donors. you have worked in the trenches for decades now to raise awareness to spread the word to reorient people, to educate people. and finally, you are in a position where there were more african-americans donating organs than when you began. >> yeah. i'm happy to share with you the fact that when we looked at the -- you know, the donor list, african-americans were the number one ethnic donor in the united states of america with latino/hispanic number three. i live to see the work come to

fruition and say that while we said at first no blacks would donate, now we are and we're leading the pack. >> so that's the good news. >> the great news. >> the not so good news is that the donation level has fallen in the other groups. >> yes. and that's why -- the other reason i'm here is to try and promote the fact that guardians -- of going out in the community and empowering them with the grass roots efforts and media efforts like here today. it worked for the african-american community and might work for the other ethnic groups so we need to share that methodology with all the other groups. people do social media, but they sometimes forget about the nitty-gritty work about going to churches and sharing it so that the community is empowered and educated to make a difference. >> so we mentioned 1,600 people on the district's waiting list,

on the waiting list in d.c. for organs. across the country some 30,000 on the national transplant list and the greatest need is for kidneys. dr. walton, you can talk about that. you have given one. >> i have, i have given a kidney. my late husband and i were part of a kidney exchange. and i gave a kidney so he could receive one. up he and i were not compatible for donations. so i gave one in order for him to receive one which is a wonderful way that individuals can receive kidneys. if they can get a friend or a family member to give to someone else so that they can get one it's a tremendous opportunity. >> and how long does it generally take to get a kidney? >> if you don't have a donor it takes five years in general. >> wow. >> for a kidney transplant. that's why when you talk about somebody receiving the lung transplant in a week, that's sensational. >> that's why it's such a wonderful thing. a lot of people in our community are on dialysis now. many of them didn't have the option.

>> yeah, many weren't given the option to get transplanted until it was very late and then of course you have to wait five years. you don't have somebody like flavia walton to donate for you, you might die waiting, and you can share this in life or after death. so it's something that's very valuable. >> we'll take a break. we'll continue our talk this morning about the gift of life. maybe you could give one. we'll be right back. stay with us.

welcome back to "viewpoint." we are talking this morning about giving the gift of life. ms. greer, you received your transplant and you were very, very ill. you were one of the least likely patients to get a transplant

because of your condition. tell us what was going on with you. >> that's right. i had sarka doe sis of the lungs and i had fungus growing in the lungs and then i developed asthma. so that complicate -- complicated matters. i went to johns hopkins for the evaluation and johns hopkins turned me down because they said i was too high risk. they referred to duke university medical center. university of pittsburgh and the cleveland clinic and i decided to go with duke university. >> that must have been a glorious day for you when they said we'll do it. >> yes. yes. because i had to go through an evaluation. a week long evaluation process there. it was still the possibility that they wouldn't accept me, but they did. they saw me as a high risk patient. they were into accepting high risk patients. >> dr. callender, i think many people who need transplants

would want tos a -- to assume there's a facility willing to do it, but it's not always the case. >> i can assure you when you have an infection, there are few transplant centers who are capable of getting a patient successfully through the transplant. >> so she was very lucky. >> she is blessed. that's the term i use. she's miraculous, to be honest with you. >> how many transplant centers are there that accommodate patient like that and how many transplant centers period? do they all do the same? >> well, we have about 80 transplant centers and probably maybe about 20 or so do lung transplants. and there are precious few who will take on a case as complex as hers, especially nine years ago. there are more now. >> dr. walton, access to care and to doctors and to resources, to organs, those are big issues. in all of our communities.

>> they're huge issues. huge issues. because in our community and in the african american community we're disproportionately represented in all of the health issues that lead to a need for transplants. and access to appropriate and quality medical care is important. it's important that we get the care, not only preventably so that we can avoid the need for transplants, and take care of those issues that lead to them, but also to ensure that there's a healthy -- that there are healthy organs for those that need them eventually. so we do need to get people to health care, make sure -- advocate for adequate and quality health care. and also insist that the medical care that's available in our communities reach out to -- into our communities. that's also an issue because sometimes there is a chasm

between the community and health care providers. >> dr. callender, we know that diabetes and hypertension are raging in african-american communities, and have created a crisis. health care crisis. is there a shortage of donors of kidney donors or is the problem a shortage of healthy kidneys? >> it's actually both. and in our ethnic group, we had more diabetes, more hypertension so therefore getting donors who are healthy is harder. so this is why the live donor rate is not as high as we would like it to be. we still have -- we have room to grow in the area. because we have to find healthy donors so it's a problem both. the view of it is, yes, african-american donors are now coming forth.

but we need now is to get more donors of all types for everybody. i think the beauty of having her here today is we have become more aware of the need for organs outside of kidneys. lungs, pancreas, small intestines and the other organs out there and then the tissues that are needed so the lame can walk and the deaf can hear again. we're getting -- we can go to the pearly gates and st. peter will say it's what you did at the end of your life that is the purpose. >> did you believe in being an organ donor or believe in receiving a donation before you had -- before your circumstances

dictated it? >> i had donor on my driver's license but i never thought about it, because i never interacted with anyone who had a transplant. so it was new to me. >> is that a common experience, dr. flavia? >> i think it is. often you don't think about it until someone dear to you has a need. but i think now with the education that's going on and the information that's being provided, it is certainly changing things and also i want to make the point there are so many strides being made in transplantation. we're reading now and knowing about faces being transplanted. hands, arms, et cetera. so it's not just organs but there's so many parts of the body that can be transplanted. and we need to think about even if we have medical procedures, those tissues that perhaps are removed can be used for research that can lead to better treatment, procedures and even more advances in transplantation. >> all right. we'll continue our talk about the gift of life, when we continue.

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welcome back. we are talking about organ donation this morning and dr. callender, everyone has a right to decide what they want to do with their bodies but they need to let their families know, right? >> yeah. we desire that make it makes things easy. you have a right to decide and in the court of law your decision is binding. we still wouldn't want the family to know what you want to have done and it makes it so much faster to use the organs and tissues after you die. >> it can get pretty complicated. >> it can and it has. the laws are such that the legal person is you. you have the right.

that's why signing up to be a donor and registering to be a donor becomes very important. because they go to the registry and then they inform the family. >> what about your family, ms. greer? was it discussed, has it been discussed since your transplant? are there donors in your house or family who might have never considered it before? >> i can't say that, but my mom unfortunately she passed a year ago. when i had my organ donation, for first time that exposed her to the issue and she said if she was younger, because my mom was 86, she would have been an organ donor. but we just never discussed it. i think that my family by seeing me and what organ donation has done for my life, then i think they're interested in becoming organ donors. >> dr. walton, is fear still a big factor? >> fear can be a big factor. there's still the thought in some circles that stemming from

the tuskegee study, if something happens they'll pull the plug and that's still operative, but it's not true. it's illegal. you know, it doesn't happen. it just doesn't happen. so we're still trying to dispel those kinds of fears in the community. >> dr. callender, one of motep's missions is to motivate people. isn't knowledge one of the greatest motivators in convincing people to do something that they may find uncomfortable? >> to me, that's the single most important point. education is power and empowering the community to love yourself, take care of yourself and then to donate organs in life and after death. recognizing that organs and tissues can help the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk and

those who would otherwise die have a second chance at life. and leave the gift of life so that in the pearly gates you'll deserve to be there. >> sometimes you can maybe donate organs that you think no one else would want. now i'm farsighted, would anyone take my eyes? >> your eyes would be wonderful because it's the corneas that many blind people can't see. if they had the cornea, that i can see again. far and nearsighted is compared to the ability to be able to see. >> and is ms. greer a good candidate to be a donor? >> yes, she is. >> in light of her health? >> yeah. her mother is 85 and the oldest donor i know is 100. you can't give organs but you can give tissues that's another thing to call attention to. that you can be a donor of organs and tissues. >> when you talk about tissue, what tissue are you talking about? >> the eyes, the skip -- the

skin, the muscles. those athletes who recover so quickly, they have bone and there are many ways that tissues can be used to enhance the lives of others in addition to giving others the second chance at life. >> dr. walton, what is the aaa effect? >> the aaa -- >> dr. callender? >> that's what we're doing. we're going from awareness to action to accountability. in other words, trying to get you not to be aware of it, but to become a donor. and that really is what i believe is the reason why we have been so effective. in addition to get them to love themselves, take care of themselves but also cut to the chase and really become a donor of all is said and done. organ or tissue donor. >> we have to take another break. we'll continue our discussion. in the meantime you can log on to be a donor.org to get more information. be right back.

welcome back. have you changed your lifestyle, ms. greer, since undergoing your transplant? >> no, i haven't. as a matter of fact, i'm much more outgoing than i have been in the last 15 years or so. i surprise myself based on how much i can do. before i had a limited breathing capacity but now i don't limit anything. >> lifestyle changing is key to prevention, isn't it? >> absolutely. now allowing yourself, exercising for 30 minutes five days a week. eating the right food. pushing back from the table. that is hard to do. these things -- eating the right

food. cutting out red meat and vegetables, fruit, those things make a difference because they help your organs be healthy so that when you die, your organs can be used. also, give you a longer life. because we race from the cradle to the grave. we want to lose that race, that's a race we win too far often. >> the one race we want to lose. dr. walton, your lifestyle, ms. greer is the recipient. you're a donor. did you have to change? >> not at all. >> has being a donor changed your life at all? >> i feel more blessed having -- >> you don't miss your kidney. >> not at all. >> if i could give the other one and still be here i would. >> dr. callender is vetoing that. >> yeah. >> are young people more apt to donate than older? >> yeah, it's clear that all groups are willing to give, but

the younger are more likely to do it and require less convincing. >> because they're more open-minded? >> apparently. i don't know if reason but i do know that it's a fact. that they are more open minded and yes, they are willing to donate. we had campaigns in the colleges and they were very successful. >> getting on a registry is very, very easy. talk about the process. there's the national registry and each state has its own. >> each state has a organ procurement registry. you can go to worc.org. be a donor.org. any of those will take you to the site. you can register on cell phone, ipad. >> what are the specific questions that have to be answered that should be answered? >> the -- >> on the registry? >> do you want to be a donor? that's really the major question. and after you say yes, if you want to, you can.

but if you say yes, you're saying yes to being a donor for organs and tissues. >> well, for any organs or tissues, the tissue that medical personnel would deem -- >> suitable. >> suitable. all right. ms. greer, what would you say to folks who are considering donating but haven't quite made a decision? >> i would ask them to take a look at me. if you knew what i was like prior to my transplant and you see me now, you wouldn't have known that i had a double lung transplant. my life is so much different. i'm able to do so much more. i'm just extremely blessed to have a transplant. and so i would encourage people to become a transplant -- organ donor. >> we are so happy for you. attorney bridgette greer, dr. flavia walton, dr. clive callender, thank you for being with us. i'm pat lawson muse. "news4 today" is next.

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we're getting new information about this fire caught on camera. this as investigators search for a cause to the flames at the annapolis yacht club. and what you need to know about a planned emergency response on metro today. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today" on is sunday. sunday. >> it sounded like you were going to say summer. >> well, it could be. >> we forgot our fist bump. i'm angie goff. dealt with a little patchy fog on the way in. >> i think we'll have a repeat of yesterday, right, tom? >> we had a standing ovation from yesterday, so people are demanding an encore. and we'll do it again today. a little fog in some of the

rural areas especially and some of the visibilities are under a half mile. watch out for that this morning. temperatures up and down we go. nothing falling out of the sky. all clear on the storm team 4 radar. don't have any rain anywhere in the vicinitvicinity. rather chilly. into the mid-40s much of virginia, maryland and northern virginia generally upper 40s to around 50. reagan national is at 51. near 50 around the bay. to our west, it's in the mid-50s to 40s, shenandoah valley. it's another mild morning there. very similar to what it was yesterday morning. so what to wear today. you won't need the warm coat or rain boots or umbrella. you'll be comfortable in long sleeves and flip-flops and maybe short sleeves and shorts by the afternoon. a look at areawide afternoon high temperatures and the pattern for next week. that's coming in a few minutes. >> tom, thanks. new this morning, we just spoke with montgomery county police who tell us multiple people were stabbed overnight. this happened on georgia avenue

in silver spring in montgomery college. it is still early in this investigation and police are not releasing information about how many suspects are involved. we'll bring you updates once they come in. more than a century of history torn apart by flames. the annapolis yacht club is dealing with extensive damage from a major fire yesterday. two firefighters and another person were taken to the hospital. darcy spencer shows us how a community is absolutely devastated while investigators come closer to answers. >> reporter: the annapolis yacht club with a history dating back to the 1800s and a popular destination for the region's sailing community was virtually destroyed in a three-alarm fire. this couple has fond memories of attending functions at the club. >> there's a lot of history that was lost, i'm sure. a lot of historical documents and a lot of the models of the boats. but as long as no one got hurt,

we'll replace the building and we'll all be sailing again. >> reporter: the flames broke out about 2:15 in the afternoon. heavy smoke could be seen billowing from the building. it took several hours for firefighters to fully put out the fire. a worker tells me employees were preparing for a parade of lights party. it was canceled because of the fire. >> parade of lights is a real significant part of annapolis and a lot of the boat owners that put out so muche effort fo the parade was shut duown. >> reporter: they are investigating reports that it may have started around a christmas tree. club workers like natalia tindal are concerned because of not only the devastation but also not having a job just a couple weeks before christmas. >> the people i work with, they're really nice. it's a good environment to be in.

and now that i'm not going to be working for a while, it's going to be sad. >> reporter: darcy spencer, news 4. >> the building didn't have an automatic sprinkler system. yacht club members started a crowdrise fund-raising page online. $2500 has already been raised. we have a link on our nbc washington app. new details in a plane crash that claimed the lives of two maryland men. the coroner's office has identified them as kerry carlson and jason willham. their plane crashed friday after taking off from a private airport in pennsylvania. all of the victims worked for that company. the company identified the third man critically hurt as eric carlson. metro is shutting down its station this morning for an emergency drill. the forest glen station on the red line is closing in just in an hour. metro transit police and fire and rescue are practicing how to respond to a suspicious package.

trains will pass through the station without stopping. you can take a free shuttle bus. the investigation into a house fire in maryland is now being treated as a murder investigation. police say someone intentionally killed diana knight. she was found with what they are calling trauma to her upper body. the body of a man was also found in the the home of old camp knead road. not clear how he died. police say it was not random. a bicyclist seriously hurt in rockville last night. he was hit by a car. now, the car's driver did stay on the scene and talked with police. investigators didn't say if the driver will face charges. family and volunteers are not giving up hope in finding a missing college student. caitlyn akins has not been seen for more than a week. her family along with the organization save the next girl searched the fredericksburg area yesterday. that is where akins' luggage was found in a ditch.

the 19-year-old vanished last week after her stepdad dropped her off at the metro station. she was supposed to catch a flight out of reagan national but never made it. gun-control supporters are taking their message to downtown d.c. today. today marks three years since the shooting at sandy hook elementary. they're walking from freedom plaza to the white house this afternoon. 20 children and 6 adults were killed in newtown. since then, community members there have joined others calling for increased gun background checks and supporting laws to keep guns away from criminals. well, in the week ahead, coming up, montgomery county police department wilburry one of its own. officer noah, his viewing begins tomorrow at covenant life church. the funeral is tuesday. you may remember he died last thursday, days after being hit by a suspected drunk driver. on driver, montgomery county schools will add an islamic high calendar to the calendar.

the system, however, is not officially recognizing that holiday. the day will be used as a professional day for teachers. and on thursday, the man suspected in the murders of a d.c. family and their housekeeper will be in court. prosecutors say he killed the family before setting that home on fire back in may. although police believe others were involved in this crime, wendt is the only person charged. president obama praising a massive climate pledge signed by nearly 200 countries. it aims to keep global temperatures from rising between now and 2100. the u.s. agreed to cut its overall emissions by 26% in the next 15 years. >> i imagine taking my grandkids, if i'm lucky enough to have some, to the park someday to holding their hands and hearing their laughter and watching a quiet sunset all the while knowing that our work today prevented an alternate future that could have been

grim. >> the deal still needs to be approved by individual governments and the president may have a fight in congress. some republicans say the agreement will cost the u.s. jobs. now to decision 2016 where republican candidates are in an even tighter race. there's a big shift, ang. >> that's right. with the first presidential week about seven weeks away, the latest "des moines register" bloomberg poll put cruz ahead of trump by ten points. nbc's kristen welker breaks down the results. >> reporter: donald trump now trailing ted cruz by a whopping ten points in iowa in the wake of his controversial call to ban all muslims from entering the u.s. trump defended himself in south carolina. >> we don't want people coming in and knocking down world trade centers and having what happened last week in california with these two people. >> reporter: with protesters interrupting multiple times, some shouting "stop islamophobia." still trump's base unwavering.

>> love him because he's calling them all out. it's about time. i want my country back. >> reporter: though praise from cruz now on shaky ground as trump's once steadfast supporter now questioning his judgment at a private fund-raiser earlier this week. >> that's a question of strength but it's also a question of judgment. >> reporter: trump hurling insults at cruz, questioning his evangelical credentials by making a vague reference to his cuban heritage. >> i do like ted cruz but not a lot of evangelical come out of cuba, in all fairness. true. not a lot come out. but i like him nevertheless. >> reporter: cruz downplaying the dissolving bromance, tweeting "the establishment's only hope, trump and me in a cage match. sorry to disappoint @realdonald did trump is terrific. deal with it." chris christie in new hampshire where he surged to second place in a recent new hampshire poll refused to talk to former reality tv stars. i've known donald trump for 13 years. i can disagree with him and i

have. i don't believe he's hateful and i don't believe he's a bigot. >> reporter: and in an interview that will air on "meet the press," chuck pressed marco rubio on trump. >> you called his comments offensive and outlandish. that's a lot different than the tone you just took with me right now. >> it's offensive and outlandish in the sense that for example, it's not going to happen, number one. i think it violates a lot of the things that we think about our country, but also the practical reality. >> kristen welker reporting. you can see chuck todd's interview with rubio at 10:30 on "meet the press" right after news 4 today. coming up, trail of terror. the part of the search in the san bernardino shootings that police have stopped and how investigators say one shooter's ties was overlooked. it's all caught on camera. and why a teacher is in trouble for asking a student if

now to the latest in the investigation into the san bernardino shooting. a three-day underwater search for computer hard drive connected to the husband and wife shooters is over. authorities are being tight-lipped about saying what, if anything, they found in that lake. investigators say the couple may have tried to destroy electronic evidence. nbc's gadi schwartz has more. >> reporter: she wasn't shy about her quest for violent jihad on social media. american law enforcement officials told "the new york times" tashfeen malik supported it and said she wanted to be a part of it. nbc news has learned that fbi investigators now believe malik and farook were independently radicalized as early as 2010. malik's public social media

posts may have been overlooked when her visa was processed. immigration officials ran her name against several databases but don't routinely check social media as part of their immigration review. investigators also keeping a close eye on farook's friend enkey raymar questions who is not a suspect. but sources say he has been providing information on the guns he bought for farook who discussed a possible plot for another planned attack scuttled in 2012. while less than 100 miles away, a new investigation and an arrest for a firebombing of a mosque in what many fear is another crime of hate. >> as far as we're concerned, it is an act of terrorism. you know, the individual targeted us. we believe that it was targeted. ♪ >> reporter: a region on edge around san bernardino, the scars are still very real. a memorial wall where today the family of gonzalez killed in the paris attack met those mourning the 14 killed here at home. >> we're going to stand together and we're going to show