dr. edwards is planning to go home in time to celebrate the new year. we will talk to dr. edwards, his wife and the surgeon who gave him his life back, coming up. >>> begin with the senate striking down the military's ban on gays openly serving in the military, the vote the commander in chief has been hailing this morning. mike viqueira is at the white house. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester, unexpected help from republicans, receipt peel of don't ask, don't tell passed with plenty of room to spare it is a second straight success for the president who is now pressing for passage of another top priority before christmas. for backers of repeal, it was a solemn day 17 years in the making. >> no, sir dib look at those graves and say move this one because we just found out that soldier died in battle was gay? >> reporter: all but given up on just a week ago, the effort gained unexpected momentum as the saturday session wore on. >> when we are talking about worrying about having two wars and terrorism at every front, we need to know that all of our best and brighte

dr. edward chou. -- chow.applause] he has been in private practice for over 40 years, since he was 5 years old, and he has been addressing health disparities in both the national and local level for over 25 years since he was 5 years old. he has worked with the chinese hospital and the chinese community health care association to create the nation's first and only bilingual and culturally competent health class. he also spearheaded the creation of the chinese community health resource center, which today serves over 30,000 san franciscans. he currently serves on the san francisco health commission, which he has served for over 20 years, where he has been a staunch advocate of our community, requiring culturally competent programs, rebuilding lebanon hospital, san francisco general hospital, and encouraging support for the hepatitis b three program. he was quoted in today's "new york times" for his advocacy to that program. one of the first individuals are asked to come to my office to greet me was none other t

dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: in 2007, having been in remission from breast cancer and working on her husband's presidential campaign, elizabeth edwards announced her cancer had returned, was advanced and malignant and she did it very publicly. >> every cancer survivor that you know personally has exactly that experience, of knowing that that pain they feel in their side, the ache they feel someplace could be the sign of something worse. this turned out to be. >> reporter: she took what for many is a private fight and made it public, testifying before congress as a patient about the need for universal health care. >> we have an obligation to, as human beings, to make certain we answer this call. >> reporter: issuing a call for more medical research. >> research is going to save the lives of men and women who get cancer after i do. i believe strongly in trials. >> reporter: believed so strongly that she volunteered for a clinical trial. doctors collected her tumors and her continued transparency was an inspiration. >> she helped people by being so transparent, by actually looking straightforward at the issues, by not ducking them, by n

edwards, their kids in north carolina. talk about the latest development with dr.a yellin. >>> mexico's brutal drug cartel may be recruiting teenaged hitmen? you'll meet a 14-year-old boy who's killed repeatedly for drug traffickers. now back to "larry king." ♪ ♪ >> larry: how did you defeat alcoholism? >> well, i didn't defeat it. one doesn't look at it that way. >> larry: how long are you sober? >> all i can say is, i'm never sober. i don't want to be sober. but i have to say, i don't just don't drink, but a part of being involved in alcohol and the way of that life and all, which is today it's extremely interesting to see the way it's dealt with today. mainly because of the dui's because of drunk driving, because that's -- that's just -- that's not permissible. but aside from that, people drink and -- it's a different world today because of the scrutiny and the attention being paid to us. in my day, it was an old part of being -- as they used to say to sir lawrence olivier, what's your favorite part of acting? he'd say the drink after the show. it was all part o

dr. richard besser. i saw elizabeth edwards in october. we were at stand up for cancer in los angeles. and many felt that she was looking well. she was as gracious as ever. but many people feel that this is kind of sudden. what are you hearing about her current condition? >> you know, as we've talked to cancer experts, what they're saying is that her course is fairly typical. when breast cancer occurs in many parts of the body, it's no longer curable. it can be controllable. and each round of treatment that you give somebody, your chances of control go down. and the side-effects of treatment go up. so you eventually reach the point where, as one doctor put it, there are things that medicine can do to you, but not much that it can do for you and she's reached that point. >> this is the lesson that she's teaching us and doctors, too. >> it's really incredible. you know she is teaching so much right now. she is teaching doctors about the importance of listening to their patients and developing that relationship. she is saying that that's enough. that's enough treatment. there are probably

dr. jorge pardes are seeing fewer mammographies. >> those on the fence drop out and say "i don't need this." >> reporter: elizabeth edwards, who died from breast cancer, said she had not had a mammogram in four years when she found a lump. >> how would you have lived your life differently based on what you know now? >> i certainly would have gotten mammograms more often. >> we see women who present after not getting a mammogram for two, three, five years, and they have this horrific cancer that are advanced and the game is over. >> reporter: in spite of the government guidelines issued last year, the american cancer society continues to recommend women begin yearly screening at age 40. katie? >> couric: all right. dr. jon lapook. jon, thanks so much. and later in the broadcast, we'll meet a young girl who's beating cancer and inspiring others like her to do the same. but up next, rampant corruption, soldiers who won't fight-- can afghanistan ever stand on its own? we'll put it in focus. mom, new shoes? old legs. p.a.d., the doctor said. p-a-d... p.a.d. isn't just poor circulation in your legs causing you pain. it more than doubles

father edward beck, an abc news consultant and author of "soul provider, spiritual steps to limitless love." and drand merry christmas to all of you. >> good morning. >> what is the mood in your congregations this christmas. i know the economy is allegedly recovering. but a lot of people aren't feeling it yet. max, let me start with you. what are you hearing this christmastime? >> these are tough times. a lot of people who are singing "joy to the world," although they're not finding much in their own. and they're wondering, what is it about christmas that is so special? december can be a tough month for people. it can either be the greatest month of the year or the toughest month of the year. and a lot of people are passing through tough times now. >> father beck, are you hearing similar sentiments in your church? what do you tell people to get them into the spirit when they're feeling low? >> it's been an interesting year for me because i've been sharing my own personal struggle with my dad's illness with my congregation. and telling them, i didn't feel much like christmas this year. and i didn't

dr. paul kengor. [applause] >> thank you, heather. john and everybody here heritage, everybody for coming. lee edwards. i really struggled with how to organize this talk because i turned in a manuscript of 250,000 words and about a thousand pages, and i think the book called and ronald reagan was around 100,000 words, it gives you an idea of just how enormous the task was and probably as well how many dupes are out there. i'm not joking when i say this could be volume one and a multivolume set. i didn't know where to stop coming and there were a number of people at different points that i thought i would have full chapters on and so much information that would fill an entire box and mark for the simple henry wallace and then at some point i make it into a whole book on this guy so i'm going to focus a little bit first and going to give you an overview why did this and why i chose this subject. my goal hopefully the importance of the issue and then work up towards chronologically through three cases that i feel are very telling and represent different types of officials, academics, somebody involved in

dr. richard besser will be back with answers for us. >>> we begin with elizabeth edwards. ron claiborne is in chapel hill, north carolina, outside the edwards' home. ron? >> reporter: good morning, george. well, as robin was just saying, the funeral services for elizabeth edwards are planned for this weekend on saturday. this as tributes continue to pour in from around the country. the end came quickly. faster than even her doctors had expected. but elizabeth edwards was not in pain and never lost consciousness. she had a chance to say good-bye and i love you to her children. her youngest were at school when she finally passed shortly after 10:00 yesterday morning. the official announcement said simply, elizabeth edwards, mother, author, advocate, died surrounded by family. also there, john edwards from whom she separated earlier this year. elizabeth edwards' rapid decline from the cancer she had fought for six years shocked many, herself included. only a week ago, her doctors told her she had week, not days left. her eldest daughter, 28-year-old cate, came to visit just b