dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, new york. >>> this being super tuesday night, back to politics. we have another call, and the beat goes on for rick santorum. oklahoma tonight in his column. so there you have it, the very latest. we'll take a break. we'll continue right after this. ♪ supercalifragilistic- expialidocious ♪ >>> one of those songs that makes you happy when you hear it. and roger sherman wrote a lot of songs like that during his lifetime. he wrote "supercalifragilistic- expialidocious," "it's a small, world," "chim chim chiree." many of them co-written with his brother richard. they both have a star together on the hollywood walk of fame for their work with disney. robert sherman won two academy awards in his time, one grammy. he died in london on monday at the age of 86. >>> the president today paid tribute to donald payne, the democrat from newark, new jersey, the first black congressional member elected from that state. he died of colon cancer having served until the very end. he was elected in 1988 to fill peter radino's old seat. he was a trailblazer that advoca

dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: 25-year-old paul myers has been smoking since he was 15. he has always liked the ritual. >> i grew up as a musician. so i was always around kids that wanted to play music and smoke cigarettes. >> reporter: he is one of the 88% of smokers who start in their teens and then are hooked as adults. a new report today from the surgeon general says teen smoking is an epidemic. 1 in 4 high school seniors regularly smoke cigarettes. while cigarette smoking has decreased over the decades, that decline has slowed. >> the rate of decline in smoking has gone down over the last few years because government investment in anti-smoking programs has actually gone down. >> reporter: the numbers out today are staggering. 600,000 middle school students smoke along with 3 million high school students. most shocking, more than 1,200 americans die every day due to cigarettes. but for every death at least two young adults become regular smokers. >> ironically, young kids are not that worried, teenagers are not that worried about long-term health consequences. >> rep

dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, new york. >>> wall street made news today.umbers they posted may reflect fears from across the atlantic. worries about greece and a sell-off in europe. the dow tumbled more than 200 points. its biggest one-day loss of the year. nasdaq and s&p were down as well. up next tonight, a dramatic rescue from beneath a wall of snow. i love that my daughter's part fish. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal

dr. nancy snyderman by phone tonight. nancy, i heard the medical examiner quoted as saying, she had a heart attack aggravated by cocaine while in the bathtub, plain and simple. >> this is a classic example of the new face of addiction and the cause of death from addiction and a reminder you don't have to have one massive drug in your system. she really has a cumulative issue. underlying heart disease, most probable from cigarette smoking and smoking marijuana and then the legal combination of alcohol, xanax, ben drl, all depressants, and all of those things together when you slip into a hot bathtub can be enough to slide under the water and then drown. so the coroner is causing the cause of death accidental drowning, but when you decrease the respiratory rate with all of those medications, it really is one problem precipitating the other. and the real concern here is obviously, as an addict, as someone who was treated before for an addiction, there are doctors, famiilfamily, friends, could have helped deny access to the m

dr. nancy snyderman.elcome. [ cheers and applause ] >> hi, everybody. >> we have a crowd and the pressure is on. we'll start with republican politics. super tuesday was tuesday night. mitt romney got the win in ohio. won the most states. rick santorum had a strong showing in the south. there have been increasing calls, in fact, from some who are aligned with the santorum campaign that it's time for newt gingrich to get out. nancy? >> until mississippi and alabama weigh in and he get as check of the south, i have worked with him in the past. do not under estimate how smart he is, how tenacious he is and how much he wants it. he doesn't care if he's not going to get it. he wants to be sure his voice is heard. >> if santorum received gingrich's votes in ohio alone it would have put him over the edge. >> you kbgo ahead. >> no, you. >> number one, none of the guys are going away. there is no reason to. newt gingrich or rick santorum. number two, mitt romney looks so weak yesterday saying "it's over, the other

dr. nancy snyderman joins us on the phone. thank you so much for being here. tell us about the procedure and what his recovery most likely will be like. >> the hardest part is getting a tissue match. he's been on the transplant wait list about 20 months. though we don't know who the donor is, it's important to make sure that tissue matches together. his diseased heart is removed and the heart is harvested from the donor and then sewn into place. and then like most heart patients, he's going to recover in the intensive care unit for a while and go through cardiac rehabilitation. then for the long haul vice president cheney will be on medications to minimize any issue of rejection. obviously the hope is that this will take. >> dr. nancy snyderman, thank you so much. we will bring you much more as we know it. former vice president dick cheney has received a heart transplant. the 71-year-old has suffered five heart attacks in his life. we wish him the best recovery. now back to "lock-up." >>> america's prisons, dangerous, often deadly. there are 2 million people d

dr. nancy snyderman who has the latest for us. >> reporter: like so many americans, dana started taking an aspirin a day ten years ago to help prevent heart disease. after being diagnosed and treated for colon cancer, his doctor told him to stay on it. >> my doctors in houston told me that aspirin therapy was now something that they thought about as the healthiest recur ens of cancer so i've been taking it ever since. so i continue to do it for both reasons, the cancer and the heart. >> a medical journal said aspirin may have a new role in cancer and treatment. consider the statistics, people who take cancer have a 15% lower risk of dieing from cancer. a 38% less chance of developing kolo-rectal cancer and aspirin may reduce the risk of cancers of the esophagus, stomach and lung. and it may provide benefits even after diagnosis. aspirin users have a 36% less chance of having cancer spread. >> there's reason for hope that aspirin may have this additional benefit in terms of preventing cancer. but at the same time we also know that it's not a panacea. >> reporter: doctors caution that aspiri

dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: like so many americans, dana garmani started taking an aspirin a day ten years ago to prevent heart disease. after being diagnosed and treated for colon cancer, his doctor told him to stay on it. >> my doctors in houston told me that aspirin therapy was something they thought would help prevent the recurrence of cancer. so i've continued to take it for both reasons, the cancer and the heart. >> reporter: the medical journal says aspirin may have a new role in cancer prevention and treatment. consider the statistics. people who take aspirin had a 15% lower risk of dying from cancer. a 38% less chance of developing colorectal cancer. and aspirin may reduce the risk for cancers of the esophagus, stomach, breasts and lungs. taking aspirin regularly may also provide benefits even after diagnosis. aspirin users may have a 36% less chance having cancer spread. >> there's reason for hope that aspirin may have this an additional benefit in preventing cancer. but at the same time, we know it's not a panacea. >> reporter: doctors caution that aspirin still carries ri

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dr. nancy snyderman. >> we think of 70 as being the cutoff.ut if the tissue matches right and he waited a pretty long period of time, then, you know, there are just times that it gets matched up. he had run out of options. >> in terms of his overall health, it is good? >> this is where the ethical issue comes up. because there are younger people also on transplant lists. when you have heart failure over this prolonged period of time, lungs and kidneys take a hit. that will be the question as he moves forward. he'll be on immuno suppressive drugs for the rest of his life. >> thanks. >> you bet. >>> the president visited the border region between north and south korea. >> reporter: making his first trip to the demilitarized zone, which separates the two koreas, president obama peered intently at the isolated north. >> it's like you're looking across 50 years into a country that has missed 40 years or 50 years of progress. >> reporter: but now north korea plans to test launch another long range rocket, threatening to derail a deal with the u.s. f

dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: like so many americans, dana started taking an aspirin a day ten years ago to prevent heart disease. after being diagnosed and treated for colon cancer, his doctor told him to stay on it. >> aspirin therapy was something they thought of as a healthy recurrence of cancer. >> reporter: the medical journal says aspirin may have a new role in cancer prevention and treatment. people who take aspirin had a 15% lower risk of dying from cancer. a 38% less chance of developing colorectal cancer. and aspirin may reduce the risk of cancers of the esophagus, stomach, breast and lung. it may provide benefits after diagnosis. aspirin mayri may have a 36% chance having cancer spread. >> aspirin may have an additional benefit in terms preventing cancer. we also know that it's not a panacea. >> reporter: doctors caution that aspirin still carries risks. it can cause stomach upset and bleeding. these new findings suggest the risks of cancer prevention outweighs those risks. >> my patients will often ask me is there something i can do to make my treatment better? the answe

dr. nancy snyderman on this coroner's report just out in l.a. >>> a violent end to a story we told you about. a tengs standoff between french police and the alleged gunman in three fatal shootings. after being corners for 32 hours, french officials say the suspect came out with guns blazing as police stormed the apartment. he jumped from a window, landing on the ground, still firing until he was shot dead by police. three plofrszs were hurt in the exchange. the 23-year-old al qaeda militant died as they claim he wanted to, with a gun in his hands. >>> now to the pollaauolitics o women's health. the largest women's breast cancer charity remains in kroenchs after a controversial decision to cut off funding to planned parenthood. donations to the susan g. komen charity are down. >> the organization known for its iconic pink ribbon is taking a hit where it hurts. as raszs for the cure around the country. in southwest florida, donations down almost 30%. lafayette, louisiana, down 27%. ft. worth, texas, race registration down 40%. >> we do recognize that people are upset with komen right now. even

dr. nancy snyderman is here with us. >> hey, matt. >> good morning. time the fda has taken the step to link statins -- >> it's all about transparency. >> how severe are the problems we are talking about? >> it depends if you get them. it's more common in women. i get those and the fda changed the label this is week to look at three things. memory loss which can be fuzziness, not being able to do problems, remember where your keys are. changes in blood sugar and for some people, aches and pains in the muscles. doctors say don't necessarily get off the medicine if you have them. but be aware of the fact that if you do experience them, at least let your doctor know. these are real. >> let me get to things i need to say. >> sure. >> the research and manufacturers of america issued a statement that reads in part statins have impacted the health of millions of americans. the cdc has tributed the declines in cardiovascular death rates in part to better treatments. >> absolutely right. these are proven medications that have reduced the risk of stroke and hear

dr. nancy snyderman.d morning all of you. >> good morning. >> nice to see you. >> i love the way you say power players. that's all i'm saying. >> i'm glad. >> anything will make him feel good. >> let's start in israel. i want to start with donny. israel banned underweight models from modelling. they are asking for the models to supply a report that they are not being malnourished. >> bmi index or something. >> yeah, certain bmi. as an ad guy does that make you bristle? >> number one, the government gets involved and puts warnings on cigarette labels because we know it's physically harmful to kids. we have to stop blaming the media. i'm raising daughters. at the end of the day, i have the ability to teach her, as far as her own self-image versus what's in a magazine. we are pointing a finger at the media. we have more control. >> wait, the media is incredibly powerful. >> not more than parents. >> let me say, one of the real issues is that we do so much photo shopping that even the models themselves don't

dr. nancy snyderman, thank you very much for your insight. >> youe1 bet you. >>> now to the trayvon martinttice for the slain teen. nbc's ron allen is live in stanford, florida. ron, good morning.e1r thank you both for joining us. joe, let me start with you. you spoke to george zimmerman as recently as yesterday. how is he weathering the storm around him and how aware is he, if at all, of the things we just showed? >> i think george is just now becoming aware of how big this is. it was the first time i spoke to him yesterday since before the shooting, and through his family members, i learned that right after the shooting, he couldn't stop crying. he's at the point now where he's just now realizing not just how big this is for him but how big this is for the country, which is one reason why i'm sitting here now. >> craig, mr. zimmerman claims self-defense with police originally. you're standing by that defense of him. what's the evidence of self-defense here? >> well, what i can reveal right now -- i mean, i don't want to litigate this case in the media. >> sure. >> i want to litigate it in

dr. nancy snyderman of nbc. >> this has raised ethical questions, moral questions about whether the viceresident in fact should have received his heart ahead of other people and, raised the question how old is too old to receive such a precious trans plant? >> bill: mr. cheney waited 20 months before receiving the heart. that is longer than the average wait. he has had five heart attacks. check three. army staff sergeant robert bales charged with 17 counts of murder accused of gunning down civilians in afghanistan is being held at fort leavenworth, kansas. his wife says he is innocent. >> he is being charged with first degree murder. in other words,premeditated, that he planned this. >> it's very unbelievable. all i can think of is what happened? what led up to it. i don't have have -- i don't feel like i have all the information. >> when i asked what kind of dad he he was you said he was so involved with his children. he loves children. >> he loves children. is he like a big kid himself. >> he is accused of killing nine children. >> right. >> innocent children. >> i have no idea what ha

dr. nancy snyderman is speaking to me by phone. this is a far from routine operation for anybody, let alone a man of dick cheney's age. how long does it take to perform this sort of surgery and how long is it? >> the difficulty, frankly is finding the appropriate match and that's why he was on the list for 20 months. which is little longer than the average. and then as you well know, getting the right tissue type. because you want to minimize any chance of or minimize the chance of rejecting this organ because it really is a foreign body from one person to another. the technical aspects of taking a heart out of one person and sewing it into another interestingly, is, is rather routine at this point and only takes a few hours. but then the critical time of the intensive care unit, making sure that the fluids are balanced, no risk of infection and long-term, cardiac rehabilitation. and putting vice president on anti-rejection medications. and that's a life-long bout of medicines to minimize the chance that he will reject this heart.

dr. nancy snyderman says this technique could make kids sick. >> certainly no health benefits for this. a couple down sides. there is nothing dirtier than the human mouth so forget the ik factor of pushing up food. there is nothing very good about the viruses and bacteria that live in an adult mouth and a child's immune system may not be ready for those. >> but it is so appetizing to watch. dr. snyderman also said the technique could make it tougher for toddlers to learn to feed themselves. >>> well, the public wore of words between model/actress christy brinkley and her ex-husband peter cook took another turn today. cook and brinkley settled a bitter divorce four years ago but a judge ordered them to be civil. he said he would fine them for saying nasty things about one another. brinkley says he has violated that order several times and broke down in tears yesterday on the "today" show. cook appeared on "today" this morning and said brinkley's behavior was in his words a cunning and shameless attempt to garner public sympathy. >> i'm not bullying her, i am not harassing her. christy br

dr. nancy snyderman, thanks for your insight. >>> now to it rayvon martin investigation. ron allen is live in sanford, florida. ron, good morning. >> good morning to you, lester. still a lot of energy, passion and outrage here and we expect the daily protests to continue here and across the country today. we also expect to hear a lot from the pulpits of black churches about the demand for justice for trayvom man martin his family today. reverend al sharpton is on his way to be with the family tomorrow. we also understand the martin family intends to file a civil lawsuit probably targeting the homeowner's association that ran the crime watch program that george zimmerman was on patrol for on the night in question. now, we also understand that there's a lot of concern here about vigil ante justice. there's a small group calling themselves the new black panthers who put out a $10,000 bounty or reward for anyone who can find george zimmerman. it's a small group but police are very concerned. you'll recall that a couple days ago a man was arrested here for e-mailing death thre

dr. nancy snyderman of nbc. >> this has raised ethical questions, moral questions about whether the vice in fact should have received his heart ahead of other people and, raised the question how old is too old to receive such a precious trans plant? >> bill: mr. cheney waited 20 months before receiving the heart. that is longer than the average wait. he has had five heart attacks. check three. army staff sergeant robert bales charged with 17 counts of murder accused of gunning down civilians in afghanistan is being held at fort leavenworth, kansas. his wife says he is innocent. >> he is being charged with first degree murder. in other words,premeditated, that he planned this. >> it's very unbelievable. all i can think of is what happened? what led up to it. i don't have have -- i don't feel like i have all the information. >> when i asked what kind of dad he he was you said he was so involved with his children. he loves children. >> he loves children. is he like a big kid himself. >> he is accused of killing nine children. >> right. >> innocent children. >> i have no idea what happened b

dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, new york. >> over the past decade the number of pediatric dentists has risen by more than 50%. so the number of young kids needing dental work going to the dentist. it is now 11:42. still ahead, everyone is waiting for the unveiling of the new ipad today. earlier reviews are in on the new features and upgrades. plus, the medications now on the market to help fight alcoholism. stay with us. >>> you have a chance to own piece of americana. capital city diner in northeast d.c. is for sale right now on ebay. the popular restaurant closed in late january. the owner moved the diner from a small town in new york after buying it himself on ebay. we just checked and so far there's only one bid for $20,000. if you are interested, you have two days left to put in your own bid. >>> speculation over apple's new e invention will end today. the tech company is expected to release details of its latest ipad. experts anticipate the new version to have an updated display screen, much like the screen on apple's iphone 4. the new ipad is also expected to have faster internet serv

dr. nancy snyderman wayed in on this unusual feeding style. >> certainly there are no health benefits fromhis and a couple of down sides, there's nothing dirtier than the human mouth. there's nothing good about the viruses and bacteria that live in the adult mouth and a child's immune system may not be ready for those in his or her mouth. so it's not a great idea and you hit on the social parenting aspect. toddlerho toddlerhood. learning the skills of how to sit in a high chair and eat foods with your hands and eat on your own, those just are really born adaptive skills. >> snyderman said the method could put a child at risk of contracting a virus. silverstone posted a note with the video that said the veggies from the miso soup are her son's favorite. >>> we're going to take a look at some stories we'll be following this afternoon. coming up at 4:00, a congressman gets thrown out of the house today, while supporting trayvon martin. plus, how many hours of sleep should you get to limit your chances of a heart attack? a new study is out on that today. >>> then tonight at 5:00, "the hunger g

dr. nancy snyderman is here to talk about it. >> this took people by surprise. it happened to kids at all income levels and the decay can be so severe they are requiring general anesthesia just for general treatment procedures. just 5 years old, owen wilford is used to the dentist. he's had two cavities in two weeks. something his mother is trying to avoid with 2-year-old hudson. >> hudson doesn't have cavities yet. so we're working on it. >> reporter: tooth decay in 2 to 5-year-olds is on the rise. according to a recent new york times article, dentists are regularly seeing preschoolers with as many as 6 to 10 cavities. and dentists say the reason for the increase isn't hard to find. >> every time a child has a snack with a sugary item, their mouth becomes acidic. it's the number and frequency of exposures in that environment that can cause tooth decay. >> okay, everybody. time to brush your teeth. >> reporter: is brushing twice a day has long been the prescription for healthy teeth, but it's a habit too many kids aren't developing. >> my son turned 4. he hates

dr. nancy snyderman back to break down the hottest headlines of the day. good morning.ugh's comments about sandra fluke, the georgetown university law student who spoke out saying she favored insurance plans covering contraception. he called her a slut and other things. advertisers started bailing from his program. he has apologized. >> sort of. >> has he done enough to set this -- and get it behind him? >> no. here's the problem with rush. the advertisers that are still on are basically voting yes, we are okay with it. they have no choice -- i'm an ad guy. they have no choice but to go away. it is one thing to say something inappropriate and you're bullying up. when you're bullying down and sullying, he's attacking our daughters, al said to me. he's calling our daughters sluts. the things like feminazis. advertisers speak loud. >> this is one of the most depressing weeks we have seen. i felt like 50 years ago we were more civil talking about contraception and women's rights than we have been this week. i thought it sullied a lot of the conversation. i want to remind pe

dr. nancy snyderman is here with us. good morning to you. >> hey, matt. >> good morning. to link statins -- >> it's all about transparency. >> how severe are the problems we are talking about? >> it depends if you get them. i'm one of those people, because it's more common in women. i'm one of those people who gets those. the fda this week changed their labels to really look at three things. memory loss which can be fuzziness, not being able to do problems, remember where your keys are. changes in blood sugar and for some people, phenomenal aches and pains in their muscles. those three things now go on the label. doctors say don't necessarily get off the medicine if you have these. but be aware of the fact that if you do experience them, at least let your doctor know. these are real. >> let me get to things i need to say. >> sure. >> the pharmaceutical research and manufacturers of america issued a statement that reads, in part, statins have had a significant impact on the cardiovascular health of millions of americans. the centers for disease control and prevention has a

dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical editor.ood morning. >> good morning. >> okay so the coroner tells us the official explanation, accidental drowning. >> right. >> when you combine that with all the drugs we know were in slipped under the water and her respiratory rate was so depressed that she wasn't able to overcome it. i think if you peel away the layers of the artichoke you have underlying heart disease, probably from years of cigarette smoking and maybe family history and on top of that cocaine. so that puts the heart in distress. then there's this sort of laundry list of stuff, everything from over-the-counters like benadryl, prescription xanax, maybe sleeping pills, alcohol, marijuana, those are all depressants. and those really sort of allow you to get sort of sleepy. and so everything started fighting with each other, but they allow you to not be able to rescue yourself when you fall under the water. >> you mention that cocktail of drugs. the medical examiner said they didn't directly contribute to her dress, xanax, m

dr. nancy snyderman with us. let's do this. we have a crowd so the pressure is on. had a strong showing in the south and there have been some calls that it's time for newt gingrich to get out of the race. we won georgia but didn't come in even second in any other state. >> until mississippi and alabama weigh in and he gets a check of the south -- i've worked with him in the past, do not underestimate how smart he is, how tenacious he is. he doesn't care if he's not going to get it. he wants to make sure that his voice is heard. >> if santorum received gingrich's votes in ohio alone, it would have put him over the edge. santorum would have had 51 more points to beat romney. >> none of these guys are going away. there's no reason for them to go away. newt gingrich or rick santorum, number two, i think mitt romney looked so weak yesterday saying, it's over, the other candidates should bow out. what a lame thing to say. >> he doesn't want the fight. >> number three -- i keep saying this -- we're not going to let it end. the media doesn't want them to go away. >> savanna