dr. jennifer ashton reports. >> reporter: five years ago, it took several mammograms and weeks of waitingwas diagnosed with breast cancer at age 50. today she's hoping a new test is better. >> this machine for me is such a huge advance. it's something that everybody should know about. >> reporter: lang is getting a new type of mammogram that gives doctors a three dimensional view of the breast. >> now we have the ability not to just look at the breast, but to actually look through and around structures we weren't able to see before. this is the picture of what cancer looks like -- >> reporter: compared to the traditional image, studies found it increases the doctor's ability to spot cancer by 7%. the 3d mammogram also reduces the number of women called back when a result is unclear. >> so it's going to help us both find more cancers and decrease these number of false positive call backs. so that's huge. >> reporter: but some critics say it's more hype than help. the 3d mammogram uses more radiation than a traditional mammogram. it's expected to be more expensive, though the cost won't be

dr. jennifer ashton, thank you so much. for more information, you can go to our partner in health news webmd.com and search "mammogram." meanwhile, nearly a decade after 9/11 we have a new perspective on the attack here in new york. this video was taken from a police helicopter hovering near the burning twin towers. the officers on board had hoped to rescue survivors from the roof top but the smoke made it too dangerous. one officer shouted as the first tower fell. >> it's gone! the whole tower. it knocked the whole freaking thing down! >> couric: the video was released today by the federal agency that investigated the collapse of the towers. and coming up next, she wore his name on her wrist since vietnam. now he's finally coming home. [ male announcer ] this is lara. her morning begins with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. jus

dr. jennifer ashton is with us once again.d morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> cham, let me ask you, i know you have a colleague at the tokyo electric company which is the company that runs the fukushima plant that you've been in contact with. what exactly are they saying over there right now? because we're getting so many different reports. >> well, these 50 people that are still at the reactor complex in the control room, although they were evacuated last night briefly, and now they're back in apparently, yeah, one of them had a pretty compelling quote. he said that, i have been radiated, i'm not afraid to die, and this is my job. and that's a direct quote. you just got to admire those kind of people. right now, they are the ones that are preventing this crisis from deteriorating even further. >> and they really are the last line of defense there. these people, like you said, they seem to be committed to giving their lives in order to protect whatever people they possibly can right now. >> they are.

dr. jennifer ashton for closer look at radiation exposure. we heard conflicting reports of what we are seeing. we are being told low levels of radiation. what are the factors that go into whether or not you may develop something from radiation? >> when you talk about radiation exposure, we deal with it every day in the hospital on a different level, of course. you are talking about three key factors, the time you are exposed, the distance from the source and whether there is shielding. that could be anything from being inside a building, lead apron or protective clothing. >> who is the most at risk for some sort of radiation exposure? >> two big groups of population. one is the cleanup workers. the people working at these facilities, they are taking extra precaution. they are limiting their time to the highest radiation sources and, of course, they are wearing protective clothing. those people are at greatest risk. the general japanese population. children up to the age of 18 tend to be most at risk because they have the most actively dividin

dr. jennifer ashton, thank you. >> you bet. >> good to see you this morning. coming up on the "early" show, the whale back performing in shows. why some people say that's a dangerous idea. [ male announcer ] when mike rowe heads home, his family knows what to expect. hun, mike's coming -- let's get crackin'. [ male announcer ] but what mike rowe doesn't know is that his parents have armed themselves with unquilted viva® towels. place looks great. [ male announcer ] mike doesn't know that every concentrated viva roll is made of strong, fiber packed sheets, making it one tough towel. but his mom sure does. wow, for me? you shouldn't have. i insist. [ male announcer ] hey, if viva can handle mike rowe's mess, just think what it can do in your home. grab a roll for yourself and grasp the unquilted difference. 8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- grab a roll for yourself wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle

dr. jennifer ashton will discuss where this medical technology stands. she will be on the "cbs early show" starting at 7:00. >> cool if you have never been able to see and all of a sudden -- >> amazing. >>> it is 6:27. students and teachers set to support the governor's tax cut today to save education funding. >> 100 miles an hour with a woman clinging to a hood. what she held on for 42 miles. why she doesn't fault her husband even though he was behind the wheel. coming up. >>> day 2 of the federal investigation into the san bruno pipeline explosion. we'll tell you who is on the stand right now and what they are saying. >>> the wind picking up a little bit out here as the rain keeps falling down. we'll tell you about some of the potential trouble spots in your morning commute coming up next. >> >>> your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. >>> a big good morning, everybody. it is wednesday, march 2. a little wet out there. i'm frank mallicoat. >> i'm sydnie kohara. the weather is causing travel trouble. we just got off the phone with the duty man

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dr. jennifer ashton will be here on the big changes that will impact millions of american families.ave to be aware of. >> absolutely. first we want to get to jeff glor standing by at the news desk with a look at our top headlines. >> erica, good morning. good morning, everyone. u.s. officials say the allied air assault on libya callsed heavy damage but moammar gadhafi is promising a long war. rebel troops claim they've retaken the city of ajdabiya this morning. a cruise missile hit one of gadhafi's compounds in tripoli yesterday but u.s. officials say gadhafi was not the intended target. just his communications equipment. allied forces destroyed libyan tanks near benghazi, as well. and defense secretary robert gates says the u.s. expects to hand over control of the mission to an international coalition within days. >> we will have a military role in the coalition, but we will not have the preeminent role. >> rebel forces today say pro-gadhafi troops are using libyan civilians as human shields. >>> japanese police now estimate more than 18,000 people died in the country's earthquake

dr. jennifer ashton.orking on, especially in the cardio exercises that we're doing, that i'm doing with sidney is really keeping my heart rate elevated and working for this target heart rate. why is it important to monitor your heart rate? >> this is really the key to any good fitness program. when you talk about your target heart rate, you have to know what your maximum is. take 220, subtract your age so that puts you around 185 as your maximum. and then anywhere from four to five zones. when you work out, you want to really use all of those zones because they do different things. one of them, which is really a fat burning zone, we call it zone two on this graph, it's shown in pink, that's where you're using most of your energy, about 85% of the calories you burn are coming from fat. so if you're there to lose weight, you want to do a lot of exercise, log in a lot of time in this zone. when you work out at higher heart rate zones, then you're using both anaerobic and aerobic zones so you're working your

dr. jennifer ashton here to explain all that. >> first, though, let's get to jeff glor with the braets andews this morning, including the death of elizabeth taylor. jeff, good morning. >> hey, erica, good morning. that's where we begin, with the loss of a hollywood legend this morning. there's the hollywood walk of fame. elizabeth taylor died this morning of congestive heart failure. bill whittaker this morning takes a look back. ♪ >> in the star-struck age, she was an ultimate celebrity. and the ultimate survivor. >> i had addictions. i've had weight problems. i've almost died a couple of times. i've been pronounced dead. i read my own obituary. they were the best reviews i've ever had. >> they say the movie act is all in the eyes. hers were violet many color. they suggested both passion and heart break. they made women green with envy. they made men absolutely crazy. she first went before the camera at age 10. she was born in london of well to do american parents brought to hollywood just before world war ii. ♪ >> reporter: she grew up at mgm. >> poor, lassie. >> reporter: 11 years old i

dr. jennifer ashton is here with more on this condition which affects at least 100,000 americans each and morning, chris. >> before we start i want to quickly read a statement that we got from serena williams yesterday, released to cbs. this is an extremely hard, scary and disappointing. so that's her statement. let's talk about exactly what she has been dealing with. >> we're talking about a pulmonary embolism. this is normally a blood clot that starts usually in the leg or lower extremity and then travels up the body, into the heart, and lodges in the lungs, can give you symptoms of increased respiratory rate, increased heartrate, some shortness of breath. >> could this have killed her? >> it could. when this clot is small it can cause a little bit of lung damage. when it's large, absolutely it can be fatal. >> a lot of people sitting at home saying she is a world class athlete, one of the best tennis players in all the world. how did something like this happen to her? >> we do know that serena williams has had two operations on her foot recently and surgery can be a risk factor. usuall

dr. jennifer ashton. i mean, revolutionary in so many ways.gh, who would be eligible for this? how many people could potentially benefit? >> potentially, 10 million people in this country who are blind from problems dealing with their retina. this is a part of the eye in the back where light images are converted into nerve signals, and then transmitted to the brain. we're not talking about people who are born blind here but for people suffering from mack lar degeneration or rightenitis pigmentosa which is the father and daughter in this piece has. potentially this is very, very helpful. >> it is still, though, experimental. we mentioned it was just approved in europe. when do you think the fda might approve it for use in the u.s.? >> the company told us they hope to file that application for fda approval in clinical trials here later this year. so there are only ten people in this country, this man being one of them, who have the experimental device. in europe, the cost is high. it's about $100,000 or more. excitingly, this company also told u

dr. jennifer ashton, psychologist dr. amanda bateman and -- ♪ >> i'm excited going into week two.ve goals in front of me and things i want to achieve. >> but it didn't take long for my schedule to get in the way. >> wednesday i had planned for a long time to go to mary poppins with my mom and my son, and i think that's important to make time for me. >> instead of hitting the gym, i hit the theater with my mom and my son. to watch his face and to experience it through his eyes and all the other kids that was worth missing any workout and any bit of sleep that i think i could have gotten. to have that moment. >> breathe, breathe, breathe. >> you only got two this week. >> to make up for it sydney pushed me even harder on the days we did meet. >> she's actually getting a lot better. her leg power is very strong. she was actually kicking me back. >> definitely working harder. i also need to fuel up better for my workout. >> getting more energy meant even more changes to my diet and for that i turned to dr. amanda. >> can you sdee subscribe for me the way that you see your energy movin

dr. jennifer ashton, thank you. we'll be right back. early show" here on cbs. >> narrator: "cbs health watch" sponsored by dove visible care. visibly more beautiful skin from a body wash. ble care creme body wash with nutrium moisture. after 1 week we took their close-ups. when they saw how much more beautiful their skin looked they had only one question... ♪ new dove visible care creme body wash. air optix contacts let up to five times more oxygen through the lens for enhanced breathability. air optix. the lens you can survive a long day in. go to airoptix.com for a free one-month trial offer. all you expect from the number-one recommended detergent by dermatologists. all free clear is free of dyes and perfumes. and has powerful stainlifters to help get your whole wash clean. it's all good. ♪ four decadent flavors. 60 calories. it's me o'clock -- time for jell-o. >>> when we come back, we've got the current major players in y spiderm spiderman. >> there has been so much discussion about this show. the opening has been pushed back a num