one family's unplanned journey raising two girls with microcephaly. once-obscure disorder thrust into the spotlight for its connection to the zika virus. challenges of caring for severely disabled sisters. tonight how this family defied the odds with their miracle children. >>> and cat tales. the internet is full of cat videos but these are pet cinema. special effects, soundtracks, costumes, story lines. the furry film series rocketing to fame and fortune. but first the "nightline 5." >> a lifetime of your dog's nutritional needs all in one. purina one. healthy energy all in one. strong muscles all in one. highly digestible and a taste he loves, all in one. purina one smart blend is expertly blends with 100% nutrition, zero fillers. always meat number one. life long smart nutrition. it's all in one, purina one. >> number one in just 60 seconds. >>> good evening. thank you for joining us. breaking news tonight. beloved and legendary actress debbie reynolds has died at age 84, just one day after the death of her daughter, "star wars" actress carrie fish

and eight babies with microcephaly, who later died.they found traces of the virus more than seven months after the mothers became infected. it's truly terrible timing: a whip cream shortage just before the holidays... the food manufacturer who makes reddi-wip says they have a limited supply of nitrous oxide this year after an explosion at a plant over the summer... nitrous oxide is the propellant used to create the the product is still in stock, but supplies might be limited, so buy early. up next on live at daybreak on today's tmj4...how you can get your hands on a basketball signed by bucks legends-- and why your generous gift will help some local kids-- in the fight of a lifetime.also up next...holiday travel people you'll be sharing the road with next week-- and the ?best day to leave-- to avoid a traffic nightmare. it's time to celebrate the seasons. all of 'em. and the only place to go for outdoor gifts is cabela's christmas sale. give the one gift good on every item cabela's gift cards. for everything on their list. shop in-store and online oh no. oh no. oh no. i hate this belt. m

the worst is brazil with 2000 cases of microcephaly, colombia .as six cases -- has 60 cases it is unclear how many mothers will have rain damaged babies. 1%, 10%, 30%, different studies suggest different things. there are several ongoing studies following mothers who have had blood tested in pregnancy all the way through infancy to know the risk. we will have an answer in the next six months. reporter: the good was first discovered in the zika forest of uganda in the 1940's. it was carried by mosquitoes in africa and asia. the first outbreak happened in 2007 on a island in micronesia. hit northeasta brazil and cases exploded. why october they saw a sharp rise in babies being born brain-damaged. in 2016 the who declared the outbreak and international public health see. rio was gearing up for the olympics. concerned scientists demanded that the games were removed or postponed. they went ahead and were deemed a success. thenovember the who lifted designation, giving a warning. init is here to stay and is countries where outbreaks will occur. they will continue in latin america, asia, africa,

the worst affected country is brazil, with more than 2000 cases of microcephaly. brain—damaged babies. mothers will go on to have brain-damaged babies. we need to know the risks that mothers face in pregnancy. is it 1%, is it 10%, know the risks that mothers face in pregnancy. is it 1%, is it10%, is it 30%. different studies are suggesting different things, but there are several different studies ongoing, following up mothers who we have had blood tested in pregnancy, all the way through infancy, to know precisely what that risk is. and i think we will have an answer in the next six months. the zika virus was first discovered at the end of the 19aos, first discovered at the end of the 19a0s, ina first discovered at the end of the 19a0s, in a forest in uganda. the virus was then found in humans and carried by mosquitoes in parts of africa and asia. the first major outbreak happened in 2007 on the pacific island in micronesia. but it was seen as pacific island in micronesia. but it was seen as a pacific island in micronesia. but it was seen as a fairly mild virus. t

have vision problems they could be blind, they frequently have brain malformations, they have microcephaly, cmv is the most commonly transmitted virus from a pregnant woman to her fetus... affecting up to 40 thousand babies each year. the virus.... transmitted through bodily fluids like saliva, blood, mucus, and even tears. im angry i didnt know beforehand about this so i could protect myself and tay glieden believes she caught the virus at 8 weeks gestation, from her daughter who was 2 at the time. according to the organization of teratology information specialists, a woman who the virus to her fetus around 30 to 50 percent of the time. i think everybody should be tested for it before they get pregnant so they know if theyve already had their virus or not, thats the huge thing, i apparently had never had the virus before so when i got it it got passed to him because i didnt have antibodies to fight it for those whove already had the virus...the chance their baby catches around 1 to 2 percent. once baby is infected it is very little you can do out of supportive care and treating symptoms a

there's the lifetime cost of caring for these kids that have microcephaly because of zika for $10 million for a lifetime. that's what we are looking at, so we are being foolish.at that's what we are looking at again and the other parallel i find striking is this just showt again how remarkable the viruses are. it may give us a reason to feel happy that i'm here just to freak you out. the zika virus has ten jeans and ebola has seven. we have immune systems they find a way around it and what's happening is there's all these viruses moving further and further finding a nice new us, abundant post. i am not fatalistic about this. just a couple weeks ago a great man died that fled the eradication of smallpox. we got rid of smallpox which is way worse than ebola or zika. they killed hundreds of billions maybe millions of people and wiped out from the planet. so if we have the dedication we can actually fight the things that we can't just ignore that and pretend that it will take care of itself. >> we are doing a good cop and bad cop thing. he is the bad cop. he's going to talk the good side of t

an outbreak began last year in brazil, and saw the heartbreaking pictures of babies born with microcephalyrus invaded the united states. anyone exposed needs to practice safe sex for a full six months. >>> 2016 presidential campaign was truly unprecedented. from a health perspective, neither hillary clinton or donald trump released as much medical information as past candidates for commander-in-chief. but the single document that invited the most scrutiny was a bizarre letter written by dr. bornstein, mr. trump's physician. it was riddled with typos, trumpian language and medical terminology no doctor i know would ever use. >>> one of the cornerstone's of donald trump's successful presidential campaign was his promise to repeal and replace obamacare. supporters were shocked when after he was elected. >> let me ask you about obamacare. are you going to make sure that people with preconditions are still -- >> yes. because it happens to be one of the strongest assets. >> you're going to keep that? >> also for their children living with their parents for extended is we're going to very much tr

>> we were told by the public health officials expect the microcephaly with the severelily small headhe tip of the iceberg and in fact, that has turned out to be true. there is a report from the cdc of 13 infants who were born. they seem to have normal-sized heads at birth and then over time, the heads stop growing normally. then also as they look more closely, they see problems with their vision, with their hearing and other problems. it is the tip of the iceberg. it's an evolving situation and we have to keep watching very closely to see what will this turn into. >> the world health organization said recently that zika is no longer classified as a public health emergency of international concern. what are we supposed to take from that? >> we are supposed to take this as a change in language and definition. but this is not a downgrading of the importance or seriousness of this problem. and the world health organization is basically saying they need to change their strategy at this point. make a technical plan how to deal with this on a long-term basis. in february when they made that

outbreak began last year in brazil and we saw these heart breaking pictures of babies born with microcephalisn't long until the virus invaded the united states. anyone exposed needs to practice safe sex for a full six months. >>> 2016 presidential campaign was truly unprecedented. from a health perspective neither hillary clinton nor donald trump released as much personal medical information as past candidates for commander in chief but the single document that invited the most scrutiny was this bizarre letter written by dr. harold bornstein. >> did you really write that letter? >> did i really write that letter had? yeah. >> it was riddled with typos. trumpian language and medical terminology no doctor i know would ever use. >> one of the corner stones of donald trump's successful presidential campaign was his promise to -- >> repeal and replace obamacare. >> so no surprise his supporters were shocked when after he was elected -- >> let me ask you about obamacare. are you going to make sure that people with preconditions are still covered? >> yes, because it happens to be one of the stronge

bear in mine it's been estimated that taking -- lifetime cost tore faking care of keyed with microcephaly, $10 million. so we're being incredibly penny wise and pound foolish, not even penny wise, just foolish. that what we're looking at again. and i think the other parallel that i fine really striking here is that this just shows yet again just how remarkable viruses are. ed may give us a reason to feel happy and warm and cuddly being the microbial world. aisle here to frequent you out. the zika has ten genes, ebola had seven genes and they're running rings around us. we have immune systems we have evolved for billions of years. they find a way around it. they're thriving, spreading all over the world. and what is happening is that there are all these viruses in the animal kingdom and spill ought as we are basically moving further and further into the zika system, and disturbing the homes of bats, monkeys, and other wildlife, and they are finding a very nice new abundant host and it's us, and i'm not totally fatalistic about this. just a couple weeks ago, a great man named d.a. hen doors

one family's unplanned journey raising two girls with microcephaly. tonight how this family defied the odds with their miracle children. >>> and cat tales. the internet is full of cat videos but these are pet cinema. special effects, soundtracks, costumes, story lines. the furry

scientists in brazil linked this mosquito-born virus to a rise in microcephaly. there were more than 90,000 zika infections reported in the first few months of 2016. the u.s. about 5,000 known infections. the numbers on birth defects are still rolling new york but so far in the u.s. 11% of the zika cases in pregnancy have resulted in birth defects while brazil's rate is closer to 40%. now, scientists are trying the find some solutions to all this, a vaccine of course would be great, but also in brazil they're using genetically modified mosquitoes, deploying these insects that are tweaked in such a way that they have a fatal gene that would spread in the wild, sort of a suicide gene. we'll see if that works. >> the but aty about this technique is it can reach the mosquitoes where no other technique can find it. they're using mosquitoes to fight themselves. >> brangham: on the subject of genetic modification, where are we with the technique known as crispr? >> it's a technique using proteins extratded from a type of bacteria. researchers are able to target specific

february when they made that declaration, that was at a time when we were seeing cases of zika and microcephaly and related. the olympics on the horizon and now a better understanding bottom line we still need more research funding aggressive approach towards this. the problem is that a lot of public health experts say that by changing this definition, may have a psychological impact so governments and donors may not put as much funding in and people may not take as many precautions they need to against this disease at a time when we are seeing expanding cases in be summer in the southern hemisphere. >> continue to it seriously. >>> moving on to the next topic. a remarkable new study on the use of hallucinogenic drugs in medicine. published this week in an article, it looked at the impact of the mind altering compound psilocybin on cancer patients and dealing with anxiety and depress. psilocybin is found what is commonly known as psychedelic mushrooms. jon took a >> reporter: after diana was treated for owe vvarian cancer next two years were filled with dread. >> all i felt is the cancer could