while we're joined now by jeffrey l cummings, a professor of brain science at the university of nevada, las vegas and also i'm a researcher and leader of clinical trials. professor cummings, welcome to d w. i want to start by asking you how big of a breakthrough is this new drug? but thank you, having for having me on the program and let me just say this is big, big, big. we have been waiting since 2003, both in the u. s. and in europe for a new drug, for all timers disease, this is a breakthrough. it's also a breakthrough because as you mentioned in the opening, this is a disease that actually targets the underlying disease process itself. right, well how is it that it took nearly 20 years for us to get to this point? i think there are 3 reasons, really one we haven't really understood the biology very well so we needed to understand it better. we needed that and and we needed the biomarkers to show us that the drugs were working near such an important died to do in clinical trials. as always, those 3 things i think that's added up to make adequate amount of success. all right, we sli

jeffrey cummings. we will be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ why choose proven quality sleep from sleep number?'t always easy. c'mon boy... c'mon. but quality sleep is scientifically proven to help improve your overall health and wellness. and it couldn't be easier! the new sleep number 360 smart bed helps you fall asleep faster by gently warming your feet. and it helps keep you asleep by sensing your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. the sleep number 360 smart bed is on sale now during our lowest prices of the season. maria: welcome back. time for the morning buzz. heading to greener pastures. literally, a cow that escaped from a slaughter house gets a second chance thanks to a grammy-winner song writer, more than 40 cows got lose in los angeles, most rounded up but lone cow still on the run on thursday, dianne wyan says the story broke her heart and paid for the animal to be sent to an animal sanctuary. dagen: i do too. i supported animal sanctuaries. i don't eat meat, probably one of the most prolific successful song writers in modern history and s

joining me as professor of brain science at the university of nevada, las vegas, doctor jeffrey cummingsst time in two decades. >> i think for us this is really a breakthrough. it is not only the first drug that has been approved in 20 years but it is the first drug ever that addresses the underlying path already, the changes that are going on in the brain so it is a new paradigm, a new way of treating brain diseases in general. maria: tell me how it treats it. i know that it removes the plaque on the brain that causes dementia and alzheimer's, can you walk us through as simply as you can how this drug works? >> very happy to do that. we know that alzheimer's disease results from gradual accumulation of a protein in the brain, a toxic protein and it accumulates because as we age, some group of us are not able to clear that protein from the brain. the treatment then is to get rid of the protein and that is exactly what this drug does. it is complicated. it is administered intravenously once a month so the patient will have to go into a clinic or an infusion center to have the infusion and

leah graduated summa cum laude from michigan law school and after law school clerked for judge jeffrey sutton and the fifth circuit and justice anthony kennedy of the u.s. supreme court. she maintains an active pro bono practice and serves on the academic advisers for the american constitution society. finally we have nancy zirkin she is a strategic consultant and was the executive vice president for the leadership conference of civil and human rights from 2002 to 2017. nancy was a part of the effort including task force on education, affirmative action and judicial nominations since the 1990s. during the mid-70s she worked at several public interest groups including common cause and women's equity action league and was the director of public policy and government relationless at the american association of university of women. she was aauw's chief lobbyist and managed coordination of the equal rights amendment women's voting rights project and civil rights act of 1995. let's give our panelists a round of applause from our computer screens. the primary questions are what is next for co