dr. richard besser performing cpr on air, chest compressions to the song "staying alive." stop until the ambulance arrived. roy had a bypass, he's home now and on the mend, and rich besser is back to do it again. remind us, where do you push? >> reporter: so easy. halfway between your naval and your nose. the center of the chest. your hands locked together there. you want to do it 100 beats per minute. remember, you can't do it too hard, and if you remember "staying alive." >> one, two, three, four. >> reporter: that's right. >> and you said to me, too fast is better than too slow and too hard is better than not hard enough. >> reporter: that's right. people err on the side of too slow and not hard enough. you want to go the other way. >> hard enough is okay. all right, thank you, rich besser. this was a great e-mail, wasn't it? >>> and coming up, the woman who changed the world by what she saw. [ man ] new and improved freestyle lite® blood glucose test strip. sure, i'll try it, but -- [ beep ] wow. [ man ] yeah, that's the patented freestyle zipwik™ design. [ man #1 ] it

dr. richard besser, abc news, san mark, haiti. >>> and we return now to this country. and as you're about to see, there were surreal scenes in northeast texas where a tornado tore through the town of rice. right in the middle of last night's disaster, the county's emergency management coordinator, a volunteer, headed straight into the danger. and now eric meyers described what he saw and did. >> we are in a tornado. we are in a tornado. we are in a tornado. i decided to actually go out on the road myself and do the spotting here in our county simply because our radar wasn't operational. i've never dreamed of being this close. it was louder than a freight train no doubt. it sounded like a jet engine. raw power is the most amazing thing with a storm or tornado like that. if you can only imagine the wind's at 135 miles per hour, being within 100 yards of that. the debris, the sound, everything right there in your face. it's just unbelievable. it's hard to go out and preach safety to the public. when i need to take a step back myself and realize, you know, i put myself in

dr. richard besser is with us. first of all, something simple. the sunglasses they were given. when can they take them off? >> they had these sunglasses. they'll probably be able to take them off in the next couple of days. when you're living in an environment that's totally dark, your eyes lose the ability to handle light. it can damage the back of your eye and lead to permanent eye damage. it's mainly precautionary, but they'll be following them in the hospital in darkened rooms and slowly bringing them in light. >> we heard about one case of pneumonia. you think of all that humidity as a breeding ground for fungus and rashes. >> it is. fungal infections, whether you're talking ring worm or jock itch, to try to reduce that, miners all over the world have these problems. they gave them special clothing. they have socks with copper oxide. that can reduce the effects of fungal infections. they gave them clothes to wick away the moisture. they'll still have some of these infections but hopefully less. >> john was just telling us, every other day they got a morsel of food. this is

dr. richard besser is there tonight. >> reporter: cholera is here in haiti. this is an infection that can kill an adult in hours. the fear tonight is that this infection could spread throughout the capital city of port-au-prince. there have been five cases reported so far, but all of those were acquired outside of the capital city. at risk, more than 1.5 million hay thanes that live in temporary tent camps throughout the city. the city is a cholera time bomb. if the water becomes contaminated, thousands could die. the scenes are desperate. overcrowded hospitals. family members bringing in their loved ones, any way they can. relatives taking back their dead. at least 253 people have died and more than 3,000 are known to be infected. officials have traced the outbreak to contaminated water from this river. 60 miles north of the capital. but the disease is spreading. >> there's a lot of places that still don't have clean water and it's -- it would be devastating if it started to hit the camps. >> reporter: cholera is a bacterial infection that spreads through co

dr. richard besser is with us. something simple, the sunglasses. when can they take them off? >> reporter: that's right. they all had these. they can probably take them off within the next couple of days. when you live in total darkness, your eyes lose their ability to handle light. and if you come up to the light suddenly, it can damage the back of your eye to lead to permanent eye damage. so, mainly precautionary but they'll be following them in the hospital in darkened rooms and slowly bring them to another light. >> we heard about one case of pneumonia, but you think of all that humidity as a breeding ground for fungus and rashes. what else can they expect? >> reporter: it is. fun gal infections, if you are talking athlete's foot, ringworm, are a big problem in that kind of environment. so, to try to reduce that, because miners all over the world have those problems, they gave them special clothing. they gave them socks that have copper oxide in them, the gold in there. that can help reduce the effects. they gave them clothes to wick away the moisture. hopefully it will be

dr. richard besser. >>> all of the men will spend time at a hospital that's about ten minutes away. two wards are prepared for them, kept dark. >>> let's get a check on the morning's weather from around the country. showers and thunderstorms around detroit, indianapolis, cincinnati, louisville and memphis. lighter showers, extending from birmingham, into the carolinas. gusty winds and rain in south florida, from miami to west palm beach and ft. myers. more record highs in california. >> 72 in albuquerque. cooler in the middle of the country, with mostly 60s, from fargo to omaha and detroit. 60s also in the northeast. 80s from new orleans to atlanta. >>> and when we come back this wednesday morning, the military's don't ask, don't tell policy, could be in its final days. >>> and a group of sailors found drifting 100 miles offshore. >>> and more live coverage from chile, as they lower the cage to get another man out of that mine finally. >> you're watching a special edition of "america this morning." ♪ >>> welcome back. we are watching these extraordinary, live images. you can see the

dr. richard besser on a new approach that can make a difference in the brain. and maria shriver searching for the cure. >>> empowering anthem -- you'll meet a "sesame street" dad who sent a message to his daughter about her hair and wakes up hundreds of thousands of grown-up girls too. >>> good evening. welcome to a new week. just 15 days to go before the midterm elections, and the high stakes seem to create some high blood pressure on the campaign trail. senator john mccain launched a personal rocket at the democratic candidate for senate in california, so personal even the woman he endorsed seems surprised. we asked john karl to bring us up to date on the last 24 hours in campaign 2010, now with just two weeks to go. john. >> reporter: diane, as this campaign approaches the final stretch, it is getting bitter, angry and personal. in nevada today, sarah palin helped tea party express kick off a 19-state bus tour to election day. >> i can see november from my house. >> reporter: she started with a novel new attack on the president's stimulus program. >> porkulu

dr. richard besser. ♪ >> he laughs nonstop. he is a really happy kid. yes, you are, you are so strong!ing with a single-minded determination, 2-year-old jonah reaches for the top of the jungle gym. his mother is facing an uphill battle. >> my husband and i take turns crying in the bathroom so jonah won't see us. >> reporter: a race against time to save jonah's life. >> it is a parent's worst nightmare. >> reporter: five months ago jonah was diagnosed with a disease so rare the chance of having it is one in a million. while he looks perfectly healthy now, jonah is missing an enzyme necessary for survival. without it, material will build up in his brain. jonah will slowly die before he is 20. >> their airway closes up, they have a hard time swallowing and eating. eventually their muscles start to go. they stumble, fall, then they're in a wheelchair. >> reporter: many people might hear this information and become paralyzed. but you, you have hit the ground running. >> i had to. i had to. there really isn't any treatment for us. and just knowing that i have a chance -- i have this big of a

dr. richard besser, port-au-prince, haiti. >>> the death of a swimmer is sparking outrage from competitors26-year-old fran crippen died over the weekend during a 10-k open water race in duba if. organizers say he died from overexertion because the water may have been too hot. it took two hours to find crippen's body after he disappeared. three swimmers hospitalized. >>> investigators in illinois are working to identify human remains that could possibly be those of a missing 18-year-old student. antoinette keller disappeared 11 days ago when she left northern illinois university for a walk in a nature preserve. thele school is doing everything it can to keep students safe as the investigation continues. police officers on campus. we have also gone, if you will, to a 24-hour lockdown within our residence halls. only residents will be able to enter the halls and using their card access. >> it is devastating. we don't want anything to ham pen to anybody. >> items found with remains are said to be consistent with keller's property. two years ago, a gunman's rampage killed six people on that ver

dr. richard besser. >> reporter: the head of johnson & johnson was barely sworn in when the barrage began. >> we need some answers from johnson & johnson. >> if you don't do the right thing, now actually be put out of business. >> there's some funny business happening here and no one is happy about it. >> reporter: ceo william weldon was hammered over the eight product recalls in less than a year. medicine bottles pulled from shelves because of odors. some containing bits of metal, too much drug. others because they didn't work properly. one recall for 136 million children's medicine bottles, the largest children's medicine recall in history. >> i know that we let the public down. and as a result, children do not have access to our important medicines. i am committed to working cooperatively with the committee and the fda to get the mcneil products back on the shelves. >> your testimony and presentation has all the earmarks of coaching from these spin doctors who help corporate executives put a good face on misconduct. >> reporter: but beyond quality stumbles, lawmakers were incensed over

dr. richard besser, we appreciate your insight. thanks so much. >> good to see you, bill. >> actually, six months of psychological care, i misspoke there. make sure that's the case. we should explain the lack of lights here. they just had a blackout because as they flew jimmy sanchez out in a medevac helicopter, the pilots are using night vision goggles and any bright lights on the ground can really blind them. that's the situation as it unfolds now. so, let's talk about the families. as we talked about so many different stories, jeffrey has been here, got to know them. some marriages have broken up as a result of this disaster here. some marriages have been strengthened, anniversaries celebrated on either end of that long escape shaft. babies were born. one man became a father for the first time. while he was underground. another is expecting a child at any moment. our own john quinnions' joins us, he had some time to spend some type with the families and get to know what their lives are like the past ten weeks. >> you know, bill,

dr. richard besser is in haiti where he says the threat is very grave. >> reporter: i've investigated cholera outbreaks around the world. i don't think they've seen anything yet. the cholera gets into the water system here in port-au-prince, they're going to have a real nightmare scenario to deal with. >> officials are most worried about the disease spreading to campuses where more than 1 million earthquake survivors live in terrible conditions. >>> 10,000 residents of belize hunker down in churches and schools as hurricane richard batters their country. the homes are no match for the 90-mile-an-hour winds as richard bears down. the storm is expected to lose strength as it pushes into guatemala and mexico. >>>s an ominous warning with indonesia's volcano. 2006, two people died when gas and rock fragments raced down the mountain. >>> families in oregon are enjoying the first snow dump of the season. heavy snow blanketed ft. hood yesterday. drivers got stuck in all that snow and had to dig out their cars. >> pretty, though, at the beginning of the season, isn't it? >> yeah. >>> now, for a look

dr. richard besser will join us with all the details. >> more people than i think folks realize. >>> somel news is coming up next. >> for everyone else, a movie premiere, 12,000 miles away from hollywood. ♪ say it like you mean it. outspoken by fergie. exclusively for avon. call your avon representative now. no pills, no pain. how can you get pain relief without taking pills around the clock? try thermacare heatwraps, for all day relief without pills. i was surprised, thermacare worked all day. you feel the heat. and it relaxes and unlocks the muscle. you've got to try it. [ man ] thermacare, more effective for back pain than the maximum dose of acetaminophen, the medicine in tylenol. go to thermacare.com today for a $3 off coupon. thermacare. no pills. no pain. just relief. >>> they pick a make a point around the weather. we try to get arounded leftovers. >>> and a busy signal in your car inform you are toos abouty, don't be texts and don't be calling anyone because there's a new law in effect today. >>> happy friday. thanks for joining us. >> glad that's over. >> i know. what a mess. th

dr. richard besser will have the new guidelines on treating it. they are just out this morning, the guidelines. >>> we're going to begin with the massive storm drenching the east coast right now. severe downpours, flash floods snarling the morning commutes here. david muir is right outside in here. david muir is right outside in times square. >> reporter: robin and george, good morning to you. you can still the rain's still coming down. it's been coming down 1 to 2 inches for the last couple of hours. it's going to be treacherous, from philadelphia, all the way to newark, to new york, to boston this morning. take a look at the pictures out of newark, new jersey this morning, you can see the commute really at a stand still there, cars with water up to their tires. no one is hurt, but cars in trouble, as you can see, as they bring in tow trucks to push cars out. way in newark this morning. for those ever you who know new york city, take a look at this picture of the g.w. bridge this morning. that is the commute, making their way to work on a friday

dr. richard besser.ere they are effective and where they're not. >> okay, rich, thanks very much. >>> when we come back, the countdown to halloween continues. only two days left. [ quinn ] my name is quinn, and this is my eggo. on fridays i have hockey before school, so i take two eggo homestyle waffles and put peanut butter inside. [ whispering ] i add a couple chocolate chips when dad's starting the car. [ male announcer ] there's only one way to eat an eggo...your way. [ quinn ] l'eggo my eggo. [ louise ] my name is louise and this is my eggo. on tuesday i go in even earlier than usual. thank goodness for eggo, a nutri-grain waffle with a quick smoodge of cream cheese... at least that part's easy. [ male announcer ] there's only one way to eat an eggo...your way. [ louise ] l'eggo my eggo. the moisturizer in other body washes sits on top of skin. only dove has nutriummoisture, which can nourish deep down. dove body wash with nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your skin. don't freak, it'

dr. richard besser, a head on "good morning america." >>> researchers are saying even a baby-sized dose ofspirin may dramatically lower the risk of colon cancer and death. researchers found similar effects with higher doses. but the latest study found there was no advantage to taking bigger doses of aspirin. >>> a high-end small near sacramento is shut down indefinitely, after a man barricaded himself inside and set himself afly. it sent black smoke into the air. the mall was immediately evacuated after a brief standoff. but police managed to arrest the man. the fire burned for hours.is mo smoldering. part of the roof collapsed. no injuries have been reported so far. >>> california police found a mummified body in the passenger seat of this illegally-parked car. the woman who owns the car told them she let a homeless woman sleep in it. when the woman died, she was too afraid to call police. so, she drove around with the body in the car for nearly a year. so far, she hasn't been charged with any crime. >>> fatal traffic accidents involving teen drivers are on the decline. government figures

dr. richard besser explores why many people have diabetes but don't even know it. >>> the whistle blower website wiki leaks has released classified u.s. military documents about the three u.c. berkeley graduates arrested by iran. it asserts they were on the iraq side of the border when seized by iranian guards last year. iran is still holding shane bauer and josh fataae. they initially believed the americans were kidnapped and taken to the iran border. military officials sent a drone aircraft to look for the hikers and alerted two f-16 jet fighters. >> president obama continued his trip on the west coast with a campaign stop on the campus of the university of southern, california. the president is campaigning for democratic candidates including senator barbara boxer. boxer faces a tough challenge from carly fiorina who today added a million dollars from her personal fortune to try to unseat the incumbent. president obama wants to make sure that democrats maintain the majority in the senate. >> we need all of you fired up. we need all of you ready to go because in just 11 days, in just 11

dr. richard besser.ing at this website, a few basic things people need to answer. >> one of the hardest things to do is to find health insurance. new website, healthcare.gov, helps people navigate the insurance world. you come to the website. you see find insurance options. you click on that. we put in some of the information. say you're a family living in iowa. a family of four. they ask you a few questions. what best fits your situation? here, we click that our family's losing health insurance through work. very important issue for many people. my age, between 26-64. i'm the primary bread-winner. and you click all things that apply to your family. someone in the family has a health problem. someone else may be progress. you can select that and help pick the plan you need. and how many people are complaining about the difficulty of affording health care? >> and when you continue on, there's so many different options available, both public and private. >> that's right. it's pretty impressive. if you look

dr. richard besser is a former acting director of centers for disease control. >> there's absolutely no differences between the does key gee experiment and what took place in guatemala. two populations were mistreated before the then ne fit of medical knowledge. >> reporter: today, the president called the president of guatemala to express regret. and in a statement, secretaries clinton and sebelius wrote, we are outraged that such reprehensible research could have occurred under the guise of public health. guatemala's ambassador to the u.s. says he was shocked. >> these are really repugnant experiments that should not have taken place. >> reporter: the men and women of the the guatemalan appearment did go on to receive penicillin, but it's not clear if they received enough or what became of them. and the guatemalan government will say it will try to locate anyone who is still alive that was subjected to the experiment, or their family members, but admits that is going to be difficult. u.s. officials would only say today, diane, that they would like into the possibility of compensation. >> it is so

dr. richard besser is a former acting director of the >> there's absolutely no difference between the tuskegee experiment and what took place in guatemala. you had two populations that were mistreated for the benefit of medical knowledge. >> reporter: today, the president called the president of guatemala to express regret. and in a statement, secretaries clinton and sebelius wrote, "we are outraged that such reprehensible research could have occurred under the guise of p >> these are really repugnant experiments that should not have taken place. >> reporter: the men and women of the guatemalan experiment did go on to receive penicillin, but it's not clear if they received enough or what became of them. and the guatemalan government says it will try to locate anyone who is still alive who was subjected to the experiment or their family members. but admits that will be difficult. and then there's the issue of compensation, if anyone can be u.s. to bilif1 o& ion >> it is just so inconceivable . >>> and we move on now, because they called it black friday on the rutgers campus in new jersey today.

dr. richard besser, we appreciate your insight.nks so much. >> good to see you, bill. >> actually, six months of psychological care, i misspoke there. make sure that's the case. we should explain the lack of lights here. they just had a blackout because as they flew jimmy sanchez out in a medevac helicopter, the pilots are using night vision goggles and any bright lights on the ground can really blind them. that's the situation as it unfolds now. so, let's talk about the families. as we talked about so many different stories, jeffrey has been here, got to know them. some marriages have broken up as a result of this disaster here. some marriages have been strengthened, anniversaries celebrated on either end of that long escape shaft. babies were born. one man became a father for the first time. while he was underground. another is expecting a child at any moment. our own john quinnions' joins us, he had some time to spend some type with the families and get to know what their lives are like the past ten weeks. >> you know, bill, it

dr. richard besser. >> reporter: researchers have been noticing a curious thing.ients with type 2 diabetes seem to be at much greater risk of developing alzheimer's disease. >> what our work has done is begun to examine the role that insulin might have in the brain. >> reporter: insulin is essential for healthy body functions. >> it helps brain cells communicate with one another. it helps regulate levels of chemicals in the brain. >> reporter: in alzheimer's disease, and early memory loss, levels of insulin in the brain are too low, leading dr. craft to try something new. >> you can supplement insulin in the brain, administering it intranasally. >> reporter: participants use a special device to inhale insulin. within 30 minutes, it travels to the brain where receptors absorb the insulin, improving the speed by which brain cells communicate. >> nearly 3/4 of our participants showed improvement in memory over the four-month period. a 50% improvement. >> i want you to name all the fruits you can think of. >> reporter: susan is one of the participants. she has a famil

dr. richard besser. with something he really wants everyone to see. could this be a breakthrough? "world news," see you tonight. >> as you know, maria shriver is in the studio. we look forward to that report. that's the news at 8:05. >>> time for the weather with sam champion. hey, sam. >> hey, juju, good monday morning. you guys are from squim, washington, right? >> 20 miles south of victoria. >> i'm sorry to reach across you. show the sign. i want to say hello to charlie. i know charlie gibson is watching the show. i started filling in for spencer in '88. charlie got here in '87. these are good years. one of the things we want to talk about is the typhoon in the philippines because it's been a tough morning. 140-mile-an-hour winds as it slammed on the northern philippines. if you look at the count, this is going to be a high count. for the atlantic season. a lot of storms. and a low count for the pacific. climatologists will look at it and sort it out but it probably has something to do with the slow-developing la nina, as to why we have that off-balance on the season for the st

dr. richard besser is here. when i hear about these stories, the wrong leg operated on.ossibly happen? it does. >> these kind of mistakes are called never events because they should never happen to anyone. but they do happen. according to the joint commission, the number of wrongside surgeries has been rising from about 15 in 1998, to about 115 in 2008. but the total of 921 reported cases since 1995. five years ago, 43-year-old doug mccoy went in for a minor surgery, to have a benign tumor removed from his left ear. but doctors removed one from his right ear instead. >> it's not rocket science. >> reporter: despite efforts to stop these errors, a new study shows that doctors are performing surgeries on the wrong body parts. wrong site surgeries have increased nor than seven-times. from 1998 to 2008. this rise may be due in part, to increased reporting. and there have been other unfortunate cases. in 2003, a 17-year-old died after she was given an incompatible heart and lungs during a transplant. >> she was on a support system that took care of her complete heart and lung

dr. richard besser is there. >> reporter: in a country still reeling from too many tragedies, cholera is50 people have died and 3,000 are known to be infected. officials have traced the outbreak to this river, 60 miles north of the capital. >> there's a lot of places that still don't have clean water. and it would be devastating if it started to hit. >> reporter: water and sanitation systems still broken from the january earthquake, and conditions are ripe for it to spread. 1.5 million haitians still live in camps like this. it's a virtual cholera time bomb, the water here gets contaminated thousands could die. how many people in port-au-prince are at risk? >> i'd say everybody is. all it takes is a sick person coming down from the outbreak area. >> reporter: the government and unicef are distributing millions of chlorine tablets so that people can treat their own drinking water. for now, there's no guarantee that the water is safe. dr. richard besser, abc news, port-au-prince, haiti. >>> and now to that bizarre story we first told you about this morning. a former teenager once known as

dr. richard besser is here with what you should know.prising. strokes have something young people don't think about. they don't think it can happen to them. it can be difficult to recognize the warning signs. you're about to meet two very young women whose lives were changed forever by something they never saw coming. >> i thought my brain was turning into liquid. i didn't understand what was happening to me. >> reporter: it was the most terrifying moment in liza gates' life. just 24 hours before, the 28-year-old seemed to have it all. well-educated. attractive. a writer. and the daughter of the famous harvard professor, henry louis gates. last summer when his arrest hit the air waves, she defended him eloquently. >> my father is a professor after intellectualism. >> reporter: but she seemed to slip away last april, at a friend's bachelorette party. >> i had some drinks. and went to bed. when i woke up, i had a pounding headache. i went to get my phone. and i realized that i didn't know the letters or the corresponding numbers on my phon

dr. richard besser is here to break it down for us and tell us what it means for our health. give us the details. >> i read an early copy of the report. it is staggering. the cdc estimates that by 2050, one in three americans will have diabetes and all of the complications that go with that. currently, it's one in ten. this is an astronomical increase. >> are there reasons for the dramatic change? >> there's a number of reasons. baby-boomers are aging. and age is the number one risk factor. people are living longer with better care. but there's a change in our population. latinos are at high risk. as our population becomes more diverse, the population with diabetes goes up. but the biggest one is obesity. obesity is the biggest risk factor that's changeable. and we haven't been able to tackle the obesity epidemic in this country. >> this is a projection. there are things that can be done to prevent this, right? >> you can't change getting old. you can't change your family risk factors. but you can tackle the issue of obesity. it's lifestyle. it's proper diet. it's regular exe

dr. richard besser, abc news, st.ting back after the gulf oil disaster. ceo bob dudley accused the media of a "great rush to judgment before all the facts were known about the spill." he also said some politicians and other oil companies only stoked the public's fears. dudley insists bp can recover financially after all the millions of dollars in costs stemming from the historic spill. >>> the head of the washington state potato commission is taking his job really seriously. in fact, that is a job too. he says he is eating nothing but spuds for the next two months. so far he made it to day 24. >> all right. chris voight had to get creative. mashed potatoes, pickled potatoes, potato lasagne, layers of mashed potatoes in between crisp potatoes and potato ice cream, a big fat flop. so far, he has actually dropped a little weight, 12 pounds to be exact. we wonder what thanksgiving is going to be like without nothing but all the taters. >> he says he is doing this to raise awareness about the nutritional value of potato. i

dr. richard besser, joins us now. if you were one of the doctors on the scene, what is the first thing you would do in evaluating the miners and their conditions? >> you want to check vital signs. listen to the lungs, count the breathing. you want to hear, have they developed asthma? maybe a blood clot. you want to listen to the heart and the heart rate. some of the men have problems with high blood pressure. has it been under control? are they safe. >> and there's a concern about hypotension. >> if anything can cause problems, it's low blood pressure. when you're confined the the cage, blood can pool. it's not reaching your brain. there are a number of things they did. underneath the outer garments, they're wearing a compression suit. that pulls the blood into their chest and allowing the heart to pump blood to their brain much easier. >> it's not just physical but psychological ailments we're worried about. the 19-year-old had particular problems with anxiety, claustrophobia, that sort of thing. they're not going to