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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Bishop Sex Scandal Intensifies; GOP's New Pledge to America; The Disease Detectives
Aired September 23, 2010 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And thanks for watching.
Tonight: the man of God who preaches against homosexuality now accused by three young male followers of coercing them into doing precisely what he preached against -- their shocking allegations -- and they are just that, allegations -- what the pastor has to say in his defense, and our guest, openly gay minister and pastor, Ted Haggard, once himself the center at scandal.
Also tonight: the GOP's new Pledge to America, cutting taxes, cutting spending, repealing health care reform. Do the numbers add up? Do the simple facts support the promises? We're "Keeping Them Honest."
And later: Imagine a loved one is ill, and no one can treat them, let alone figure out what is wrong. Where would you turn? We're going to bring you have the final installment of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's look at the disease detectives and how -- and show you how two of their toughest cases, including a little girl named Kylie, have turned out.
We begin, though, tonight "Keeping Them Honest" with the sexual abuse allegations against one of most influential ministers in the country. The minister is Bishop Eddie Long of the new Birth Missionary Baptist Church outside Atlanta.
Three young men now are suing Bishop Long, accusing him of enticing them with money, cars, clothes, and expensive jewelry in exchange for sexual favors. These are just allegations at this point, but what makes them so startling is that Bishop Long is leader not just of an African-American megachurch with 25,000 members, but a major opponent of same-sex marriage and homosexuality.
Here's some of what he's preached in the past about gays and lesbians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BISHOP EDDIE LONG, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: And the problem today and the reason why society is like it is, is because men are being feminized and women are becoming masculine.
And everybody knows it's dangerous to enter an exit. You cannot say, I was born this way. I don't care what scientists say. You can be converted. You were not born that way. Let me pray with you. Let me tell you, don't you be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed. I don't know what I am. Take your clothes down. I will show you who you are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, that's video from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
These are photographs provided by the lawyer involved in this lawsuit of Maurice Robinson and Anthony Flagg, two of the men who have filed suit against the bishop. A third man, Jamal Parris, not shown here, has also filed suit. These men were reportedly referred to by Bishop Long as spiritual sons, a special status, his accusers say, given to young men in his church whom the say he preyed on.
According to the Flagg and Robinson lawsuits, Bishop Long's accusers were 17 and 18 at the time the alleged encounters took place. Anthony Flagg, the lawsuit alleges, had to share a bed with the bishop when they traveled together. When Bishop Long allegedly took Maurice Robinson to New Zealand for his birthday, this is what his lawyer says happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
B.J. BERNSTEIN, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING PLAINTIFFS: And on that 18th birthday, Bishop Long engaged in the act of oral sodomy with this young man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And Bishop Long's third accuser, Jamal Parris, says the bishop would -- quote -- "discuss holy Scripture to justify and support the sexual activity."
Now, Bishop Long denies all of the allegations. These photos of Bishop Long in tight gym clothes which appear to have been taken by the bishop himself were reportedly sent to another one of his so- called spiritual sons and released by a -- B.J. Bernstein, the attorney involved in the lawsuit, who you just saw moments ago.
Bishop Long's lawyer says the photos do not corroborate the charges. And in a radio interview, the attorney said that Bishop Long is a health advocate and a weightlifter who wears muscle shirts.
Again, we stress, these are allegations, three lawsuits by three men.
Earlier, I spoke about the allegations, though, with two ministers with deep experience in the intersection of religious, sexuality and, in the case of one of the ministers, national scandal.
Pastor Ted Haggard left his own his megachurch after involving drugs and a male prostitute. This summer, he returned to ministering, launching a new, much smaller church with his wife, Gayle, who is the author of "Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made in My Darkest Hour. I also spoke with Pastor Troy Sanders, an openly gay minister at Victory Church outside Atlanta, who in 2008 was part of a delegation from the group Soulforce, which met with Bishop Long.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, Pastor Ted, obviously, Bishop Long should be presumed innocent until proven guilty, but does it seem explainable to you that -- that he would send out pictures of himself in skintight outfits to young men in his congregation?
REVEREND TED HAGGARD, SAINT JAMES CHURCH: Well, we know the pictures are there. We are not sure where they came from.
But there -- there was a movement several years ago where people were concerned about the direction of the church. And there was kind of a masculine movement. Pastors are more masculine sometimes in certain churches. That doesn't mean he's guilty.
COOPER: Pastor Troy, how closely do you follow what -- what -- what Bishop Long's church is doing? Because I read, the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2007, Pastor Troy, called Eddie Long -- quote -- "one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement."
Is that an accurate description?
PASTOR TROY SANDERS, NATIONAL MINISTER, THE FELLOWSHIP: I think that there are a number of church leaders that come down rather hard on the LGBT community. Now, I was part of the Soulforce -- Soulforce American Family Outing that actually took lesbian and gay family members into New Birth.
COOPER: Right. You actually -- you met with Bishop Long back in 2008.
(CROSSTALK)
SANDERS: Yes.
COOPER: What was your impression?
COOPER: Well, the first impression that I had was very hospitable to us, but it was very clear that there was a difference in theology. Like, there was a very clear difference between what we believed and the oppressive theology that the church is known for.
COOPER: Pastor Ted, do you -- do you -- has there been a -- do you think this pastor was particularly homophobic?
HAGGARD: Well, the times I met him, I didn't get that indication.
But I do think it's important that churches be able to embrace the type of theology that they believe in and be able to communicate it with clarity. When a church embraces a certain theological slant, then people join with that. That's why we have freedom of religion.
COOPER: Pastor Troy? SANDERS: Anderson, I -- with all due respect, I agree wholeheartedly that we have the right to believe what we believe, but it is absolutely hypocritical if you're going to stand in any pulpit across this country and preach against homosexuality, when you have homosexual tendencies.
The gospel of Jesus Christ hinges on truth. And any message -- I'm a preacher -- any message -- I'm also a same-gender-loving man. And it makes it a requirement. I cannot preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and not walk in truth around my sexuality, cannot do it.
COOPER: Pastor Ted -- Pastor Ted, what about that?
HAGGARD: Well -- well, I...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I mean, you weren't one -- you weren't one of the leading figures among evangelicals who preach anti-gay rhetoric, but you made a number of comments over the years about homosexuality being a sin. You were -- you campaigned in support of the Defense of Marriage Act, saying that it would be devastating for the children of our nation and for the future of Western civilization.
Did you feel like a hypocrite?
HAGGARD: Well, I think every Bible teacher struggles with some issues in the Scripture. We're responsible to teach the Bible.
So, we teach, pray continually, but every one of us are growing in our prayer lives. We haven't achieved that. We all teach sexual fidelity in marriage. And the Bible teaches that. We encourage people in that, but there are some times when adultery or different things come into the pulpit and come into the church.
It's just like any ideal. We have police officers that get speeding tickets. We have we have -- we have people in Congress that write our tax legislation that don't pay their taxes. But we believe...
COOPER: But, Pastor, there -- but, Pastor, Ted, there is a difference between, you know, somebody saying you should obey the law and you get a speeding ticket and somebody preaching something which is completely antithetical to a deeply-held, something that is...
(CROSSTALK)
HAGGARD: Well, I understand the point you're making.
(CROSSTALK)
HAGGARD: I understand the point you're making, and I'm sympathetic to it.
I just -- I just think it's important to understand the human condition. And this is why Christ died for all of us. It's because we have people all over the country that have said, I'm going to be married to you until death do us part, good times, bad times, et cetera, they end up divorced.
People have ideals that they violate themselves because of things that go on in the human condition. And, so, I think all of us need to be aware of that before we start name-calling too quickly.
SANDERS: OK, I'm not -- certainly -- certainly, Anderson, I'm not name-calling, but I think that there has to be a place in our religious discourse to critique Scripture, because the same Bible -- now, the premise that I cannot stand for is that homosexuality is sin or wrong, because the same Scriptures that we used to lift up that said that women could not preach, said that we could not eat pork, or that two twains of fabric could not be in, and that slavery was actually instigated and upheld by that same ancient oppressive text.
So, at some point, we have to reevaluate what we believe. And we cannot couch it in, we are all sinners and we all have our shortcomings. No, there are some things that we have to give off, we have to let go of around oppressive theology.
And homosexuality and homosexual oppression, homophobia in the church is one of those things.
HAGGARD: So, you're promoting one biblical interpretation. So, respect the other churches enough to promote a different one. And that's why we have a variety of churches.
SANDERS: But we all do it. That's what theology -- that's what we do as theologians, period. That's what we do as preachers.
HAGGARD: Well, and you're...
SANDERS: As preachers of the gospel, we stand up and we present a gospel that is either inclusive or exclusive. We make that choice.
HAGGARD: Well, that -- but that's what you're saying, and that will work for your church and your congregation.
But there may be a congregation down the street that wants to apply some different verses. So, let me work through that battle.
SANDERS: Well, if you're going to apply differences, let's walk in truth, though. We have to walk in truth. The issue is...
(CROSSTALK)
HAGGARD: Everybody says...
(CROSSTALK)
HAGGARD: Everybody says they walk in truth.
SANDERS: We cannot preach a gospel that we do not live.
HAGGARD: Everybody says they walk in truth. SANDERS: If we know we are same-gender-loving, then we should not get up in pulpits and say -- and preach against it.
COOPER: Let -- let me ask you, Pastor Ted...
(CROSSTALK)
HAGGARD: Yes, well, every -- everybody -- everybody thinks they -- it -- it's -- you're claiming -- you're calling other people names. You're claiming to have the perfect understanding.
SANDERS: No, I'm not. I'm not.
HAGGARD: And I'm just saying you need to be more inclusive yourself.
SANDERS: I -- Pastor Ted, I am certainly not claiming to have any perfect understanding.
But what I am claiming to say is, when we get up, we make a choice as to whether we preach inclusion or exclusion, whether we're divisive with our theology, and whether we walk in truth.
COOPER: If it turns out this is true, what -- Pastor Ted, what do you think it says about this bishop?
HAGGARD: I think every person that loves the Scriptures and loves God wants to be a better man than they are. And everyone is growing from glory to glory to glory. Everyone is in a process under the word of God and with one another and with the Holy Spirit, and that we need to let that process continue.
COOPER: Pastor Troy, let me ask you essentially the same question.
SANDERS: If this is true, then there are internal contradictions that are playing out in the public eye.
COOPER: Pastor Ted Haggard...
HAGGARD: I think...
COOPER: Sorry. Go ahead.
HAGGARD: I think there are internal contradictions in everyone about a variety of things.
SANDERS: I agree with you wholeheartedly, but this gospel of liberation we preach calls us all on the carpet. I'm not excluded. Ted Haggard, you wasn't excluded. And Bishop Eddie Long is not excluded either.
COOPER: Pastor Ted Haggard...
HAGGARD: But here's what I'm saying. Those -- those who independently chose to call me on the carpet were not helpful. It was those who loved me, helped me, comforted me. And this type of broad-based, generalized analysis of people outside your group is not what's helpful to him or to the process.
SANDERS: And what I'm saying is, it didn't take a scandal for me to come out and walk in truth. I called myself on the carpet and others.
HAGGARD: That's your choice.
SANDERS: So, there are other options, besides waiting until we get into scandal, to be called on the carpet around walking in truth.
(CROSSTALK)
HAGGARD: But that's every human being's choice. This is America. You can't use your religion to tyrannize others.
COOPER: Guys, an interesting discussion.
Pastor Ted Haggard, Troy Sanders, appreciate your perspectives. Thank you.
SANDERS: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, let us know what you think. Join the live chat right now at AC360.com.
Up next: "Keeping Them Honest" on the Republicans' Pledge to America. We will talk about it with Paul Begala, Erick Erickson, and J.D. Hayworth.
And later: 360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta on the men and women racing to save little Kylie, disease detectives, with a pressure patient.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me, it's easier to live day by day and enjoy what I have in front of me, as opposed to what it could -- you know, what it might be down the road, because, if we don't get there, then it's just going to be that much harder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, you hear a lot about Republican chances of winning the House in November. Today, party leaders put out the blueprint they pledge to follow if they do. They're calling it a Pledge to America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Government is out of control in Washington, and we need to rein it in, and begin a new drive for a smaller, less costly, and more accountable government in our nation's capital.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, at the White House, as you might expect, they're calling it nothing new.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You know, I think -- I think John Boehner said and I think most of the American people will see that this is very much in line with what the Republican Party has proposed for the past many years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, this is it, about 21 pages of content. There are calls to make President Bush's across-the-board tax cuts permanent, to repeal health care reform, end the TARP bank bailout, eliminate federal support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, get tougher on Iran, and spend more on missile defense.
It's largely proposals, however, for cutting government spending and closing the budget deficit that have drawn the most fire from Democrats and some conservatives, saying the specifics aren't there and the numbers don't add up.
Let's talk about it now with Democratic strategist Paul Begala, Erick Erickson, editor in chief of RedState.com, and J.D. Hayworth, former congressman and Republican -- former Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Arizona.
Erick, I read what you wrote about this. I think you said it was the worst thing to come out of Washington since George McClellan. You called it dreck. What's...
ERICK ERICKSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Pretty much.
COOPER: What's the problem with it?
ERICKSON: You know, it's -- it's ridiculous.
For starters, the very first page, it decries the self-appointed elite, the ruling class imposing mandates on American citizens and businesses. Flip over a few pages, and it imposes mandates on American businesses related to health care.
Remember, back in 2008, all the conservatives upset about Republican spending and Democratic spending. Well, guess what? The compromise in this plan is, we're going to go back to that spending, the same spending that, two years ago, a lot of conservatives excitedly embracing this plan tonight were complaining about. It's very disappointing. I kind of prefer to be the party of no than the party of pretty much anything goes as long as we don't give you specifics.
COOPER: Mr. Hayworth, what about that?
J.D. HAYWORTH (R), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Well, I don't believe that Erick's criticisms are without merit. Obviously, more can be done.
Let's not forget, at the start of this country, the Constitutional Convention, Patrick Henry, a great patriot, was very suspicious of the Constitutional Convention, saying, I smell a rat.
So, when you take a look at what is transpiring here, I think, more appropriately, it's -- it's what Mark Twain said: History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes.
Sixteen years ago, House Republicans signed a Contract With America, but I think one thing that should be embraced by all conservative candidates, the folks that joined the teaparty.US., have a Contract From America, the premise being that people want to be hired.
And how many times do job applicants tell those who will employ them exactly what they will be doing? No, the people need to be in charge. So my quick and easy and free advice to every conservative candidate is to sign the Contract From America.
COOPER: Paul, a lot of the language in this pledge, though, does sound like language from Tea Party protests.
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, some of it.
I -- some of the specifics were odd to me. First, it's fighting they had it in a hardware store, because the grassroots got screwed. They set up -- the Republicans did -- they did a very smart thing -- they set up this called -- what is it called, America Speaking Out, where they asked people to weigh in on a whole variety of issues.
Well, guess what? The number-two issue on job creation coming into this from the American people, the grassroots, mostly conservatives, was, stop subsidizing corporations that ship jobs overseas. Stop tax breaks for campaigns that ship jobs overseas. That didn't make it into this.
Why? Because the Republicans support that. In fact, when it came up for a vote, it was 174-1 within the Republicans in the House in favor of protecting tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas.
So, this looks much more like an elite Washington lobbyist deal. In fact, the principal author of it is a lobbyist -- a former lobbyist, that is -- whose firm represented Exxon, and Pfizer, and AIG, one of the great grassroots organizations of America.
COOPER: Erick, does Paul from a point? ERICKSON: Yes.
You know, this is exactly why the Republicans didn't need to do this. Put this in perspective. And, by the way, I agree with Congressman Hayworth. The Contract From America, which was actually written by the grassroots, has much more substance to it than this dreck.
Look at the Contract With America. It came out in 1994. After 40 years of Democratic rule, in one page, 867 words, the Republicans explained how they were going to be different from 40 years of Democrats. We have now had a four-year gap between Republican control of Congress and Democrats, and now they have got to produce a document longer than the American Constitution.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: Mr. Hayworth, I want to play a clip of an interview Dana Bash did earlier today with House Republican Leader John Boehner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You talk about the rebellion out there. Part of what those rebellious voters want to know is, they want you to be specific, because, as you probably know -- as you know, they maybe aren't enamored of the Democrats, but they don't trust you as...
(CROSSTALK)
BOEHNER: That's why we have outlined clearly in our pledge what we would and would not do. And I think, when it comes to spending, we have been very specific about commonsense steps that we can do to get government...
BASH: Give me one example.
BOEHNER: Get -- how about the unspent stimulus money? Let's stop it. Let's stop it and bring it back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Erick, do you -- Congressman Hayworth, do they believe that? Have they been really specific?
HAYWORTH: Well, what they have attempted to do here -- and, understand, any time a proposal is offered in the hothouse of American politics 40 days before a midterm election, it will be open to predictable criticism.
But I think, here, the -- in Washington terms, Paul and his friends talk about the party of no, N-O. I think House Republicans are trying to say we're the party of know, K-N-O-W. We know the American people want a change. We're listening to what they're saying. No document will be perfect. I think it's an important start, but, again, if there is unanimity amongst the conservatives on this panel -- and how about it -- we have got Paul outnumbered 2-1 tonight -- I do believe...
BEGALA: I like those odds, J.D.
HAYWORTH: ... that candidates would do well to sign the Contract From America. That would be icing on this particular Pledge to America.
ERICKSON: Anderson, you know, just for perspective, I have done 24 local radio interviews across the country today, 24 in 20 states. Not one -- well, one of the 24 radio hosts, all local conservative talk radio hosts, liked this thing, which says to me the Republicans have a problem.
But, for perspective, the '94 Contract With America really wasn't what got the Republicans to win. It was the Democrats in '94 that did that. Same thing is going to happen this year. Hopefully, this will be the last night I ever have to consider this document again.
But, for perspective, by 2000, the 98 programs the Contract With America said would be eliminated had grown by 13 percent.
COOPER: Paul, are there specifics in this thing?
BEGALA: Not enough. I mean, I think Dana did a good job of trying to pin Mr. Boehner down.
Some of these grassroots Tea Party activists, though, are giving us specifics. And this is one of my sort of bugaboos -- or, rather, drums that I have been banging. Let's not demonize the Tea Party. Let's not patronize them. Let's look at their issues.
And they're much more specific than Mr. Boehner. Tea Party activists across the country are calling for privatizing Social Security, privatizing Medicare, privatizing veterans benefits, and ending unemployment compensation.
Now, I think that's a bad set of ideas. They think it's good ideas, but they're specific ideas. This is what this election ought to be about.
HAYWORTH: Now you see, when you're taking a look at politics through Paul Begala-covered glasses -- colored glasses, you get fear, instead of hope.
This is what Paul is running with. And is this is why you're going to see a change in November, because the American people said...
BEGALA: Well, J.D., Joe Miller ran...
HAYWORTH: ... people...
(CROSSTALK) HAYWORTH: ... clearly that the extreme overreach is the Obama administration spending exponentially higher than any Republican ever dreamed...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Congressman Hayworth, are you saying there aren't Tea Party candidates who want that? You're saying Paul is just flat-out wrong?
HAYWORTH: I'm saying that what we're seeing from House Republicans is an effort to achieve a consensus. It is always a work in progress.
And just one final comment. As I heard the interview with John Boehner, I thought back when Jack Kennedy announced the goal of sending men to the moon and bringing them safely back home, I don't believe reporters sat down and demanded that night that Jack Kennedy tell us specifically how that was going to be done.
There are always broad concepts, and the challenge is to make it work.
COOPER: OK. I got to go.
HAYWORTH: And that will be the challenge for Election Day...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Paul, I just want you to be able to respond, and then we have got to go.
BEGALA: Right.
Senate candidate Joe Miller in Alaska, the Republican nominee, has called Social Security and Medicare and unemployment compensation unconstitutional. Sharron Angle, the Senate candidate from Nevada, has said Social Security even violates the Bible, much less the Constitution.
Rand Paul in Kentucky, Ken Buck in Colorado, Christine O'Donnell in Delaware, you can go all across the country, and Republicans are campaigning to end Social Security, Medicare, and veterans benefits. And those are important ideas.
ERICKSON: God bless them all.
(LAUGHTER)
BEGALA: And we should have a debate.
HAYWORTH: That's not true.
COOPER: We have got to leave it there.
Paul Begala, Erick Erickson, J.D. Hayworth, appreciate all of you on.
HAYWORTH: That's not true.
COOPER: Thanks very much.
Still ahead: You have seen the surveillance video of a woman withdrawing money from a bank, trying to save her family, her kids, her husband being held hostage at home. A short time later she, her two daughters were killed.
Tonight, there's new video of one of the suspects from a surveillance camera at a gas station where he allegedly bought the gasoline used to ultimately set the family's house on fire and kill the two little girls. We're also learning new details about what happened that day.
Also tonight: Sanjay Gupta's disease detectives special report, the final part: Will 6-year-old Kylie get a diagnosis that will save her life? No one knows what's wrong with her. She's getting sicker. Her parents are desperate for answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm scared that they might not find something in time. And the -- the reality is, yes, they might not find anything, but, if they're still looking and they haven't given up, that's kind of like someone is on your side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: You know, when we all get sick, I think it's fair to say we all expect a doctor to be able to figure out what -- what's wrong with us. But what if you had a life-threatening illness, and no doctor could figure out what was wrong?
Well, that's where a team of disease detectives come in. And all week, we have been following the remarkable and, frankly, heartbreaking stories of two very sick patients. One is a little girl. The other is a mom.
Their symptoms are entirely different, but they share something: Whatever is making them so sick is a medical mystery. They have stumped every doctor they have seen. Their cases are so challenging, they have been accepted into a specialized program at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.
It's called the Undiagnosed Diseases Program. And the team of disease detectives who work there are Kylie and Sally's last hope.
360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta joins me now -- Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Anderson, we have spent almost a year on the story. And, as a reporter and a doctor, it's been fascinating. But, as a father, I have got to tell you, it's been difficult at times to watch. Kylie, as you mentioned, is 6 years old. She's very sick, and she's been getting worse as we have been following her.
I -- I have three daughters, as you know. It's tough to imagine them going through what Kylie has.
Sally, the other patient we've been following, she's literally had her life turned upside down by what's happened. So it's been a very intense story to cover.
The last couple of nights we've shown you how they got to this remarkable place and the grueling series of tests Kylie and Sally have gone through at the Undiagnosed Diseases Program. Important clues were found. The question is, did they solve the puzzle? That's what you're going to see tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): No one -- no doctors, no specialists, no researchers -- could explain what was happening to Sally Massagee. At 53, her muscles his grown grotesquely large and hard, like rocks underneath her skin.
SALLY MASSAGEE, PATIENT: It became increasingly difficult just to walk. At some point I knew if it continued it would kill me.
GUPTA: Steroids were ruled out. So no explanation. No diagnosis. That's why she was accepted into the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, the UDP here at the NIH.
DR. WILLIAM GAHL, UDP: Trying to put this together is a difficult thing.
GUPTA: Dr. William Gahl runs the program.
(on camera) For a lot of patients, as we're, you know investigating this, really got the sense that this ends up being a place of last hope or last resort for them. That's a lot of pressure.
GAHL: It is. We try to be realistic about it and get our patients to be realistic about the issues, too. You've been to the best places in the country. Now you're coming here.
We only have a 10 to 15 percent success rate, so I don't want you to get your hopes up really too, too high. But on the other hand, we don't want to take all hope away.
GUPTA (voice-over): For one week, Dr. Gahl's team of world-class medical experts probe and collect exhaustive scans, blood work and a tissue sample from Sally's bicep.
GAHL: We do, like, the sort of detective work but remember, a lot of detective work takes place after the patients have gone.
GUPTA: After five days, the patients go home. And despite the odds against success, they are less desperate.
MASSAGEE: I took that disclaimer and I heard it, and I still had a strong dose of hope.
GUPTA: What would be months of an exhaustive search for clues to solve Sally's mystery was just beginning.
GAHL: Bottom line, it's not acromegaly. It's just confined to the muscle. What in the world could this be?
GUPTA: It's also what everyone is asking about 6-year-old Kylie McPeak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you doing today?
GUPTA: Shortly before her fourth birthday, the mystery began. Something was attacking her body.
KYLIE MCPEAK, PATIENT: I have to eat. I have to do shots.
GUPTA: How serious is Kylie?
GAHL: Well, she's, I would say, real serious. I think that she has a disorder that will threaten her life, is essentially the issue here. We're sort of racing against time.
GUPTA: Kylie has already been at the UDP for a week.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And swallow.
GUPTA: Dr. Gahl and his team have been sifting through all the data they've amassed on her.
(on camera) Do you have a diagnosis for Kylie?
GAHL: We don't have a diagnosis, no. But we have a few good leads.
GUPTA: For a time they suspected a rare brain disorder called epilepsy partialis continua. It affects the brain's motor skills (ph). But as tests came back, clues showed the electrical charges in Kylie's brain were not coming from just one area but, in fact, from all over. So they were back to square one.
GAHL: You try to differentiate whether this is something that was genetic or something environmental. In other words, that happened to her. Really that's the dichotomy here.
GUPTA: In time, an analysis of Kylie's DNA revealed the genetic clue. They found a mutation in a particular gene that makes a protein called laforin.
(on camera) Is it possible that what we're talking about here with regard to Kylie is truly something that's never been described before?
GAHL: It's very possible.
GUPTA: Brand-new.
GAHL: A brand-new mutation, and maybe identifying a gene that is -- is not known previously to cause a human disease.
GUPTA: Back home in Reno, Nevada, Gina and Steven are trying to focus on enjoying the time they have as a family. Although Kylie is deteriorating, she's happy.
STEVEN MCPEAK, KYLIE'S FATHER: Maybe some day we'll get that phone call, "Hey, we think we might know what it is."
GUPTA: In Bethesda, Maryland, the doctors at the undiagnosed diseases program are digging deeper into that genetic clue. They're doing a DNA analysis of Kylie's parents and sisters. They know it is now a race.
GAHL: Every new case that comes to us brings with it a human story. I think the important thing is for us as professionals to look at the successes that we have and to try to not dwell on the failures we have, because we fail so often.
GUPTA: But not always. Luckily for Sally Massagee, the experts at the UDP solved her mystery.
MASSAGEE: I expected miracles from them and they gave them to me.
GUPTA: The tissue sample hit the jackpot. In the red staining of the biopsy, scientists found the presence of amyloid.
GAHL: That was a huge hit for us.
GUPTA: history solved. Diagnosis? Am amyloidosis. Sally's was a mystery because the proteins manifested in her skeletal muscles. You get mysteries you don't solve and you get mysteries you solve. This is one that you get to put a check in the solved column?
GAHL: Yes, yes, it is.
GUPTA: That's got to be a pretty good feeling.
MASSAGEE: It was the best. Basically it's -- it sort of justifies our existence.
GUPTA: But for Sally, a diagnosis meant only that now she had a chance for survival. There is no cure for this disease.
In June of last year at the Mayo Clinic, she underwent chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant in the fight of her life.
MASSAGEE: There were times in the process when I thought it was real possible I would die.
GUPTA: Today, Sally Massagee is far from 100 percent. GAHL: Every day she's a little bit stronger, and every day she walks a little bit further. You just sort of have to smile because these are things that were inconceivable a year ago.
GUPTA: Doctors don't know if Sally's body will ever return to what it was like before the disease struck. But for Sally, that's not what's important.
MASSAGEE: I was cooking last week one night in the kitchen and everybody was around you and Louie Armstrong came on singing, "What a Wonderful World," and I just started to cry, because those routine, ordinary moments of life are so wonderful, and are so precious. And I have them, and I'm so grateful. They found it just in time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It's amazing, Sanjay, how they solved Sally's case by basically getting lucky with the decision to take a second biopsy.
SANJAY: Yes, you know, it's interesting because I think when you hear a biopsy has come back clean or negative, it gives people a lot of comfort. And oftentimes it's should. But this is one of the imperfections of science.
If a biopsy comes back positive, then it tells you that have you a disease. If it comes back negative as it did in Sally's case the first time around, it doesn't necessarily mean that you don't. They could have missed the exact area where the disease was in her muscle. She's going to do well. She just had a follow up at the mayo clinic.
COOPER: She'll be OK?
COOPER: Yes. It sounds like -- and she had to go through chemotherapy as you saw, so this was an intense treatment after all those tests, but really, she says things couldn't be better. If you look at her, she's not the same as she was before all this. She still has some obviously degree of muscle growth there, her walking is a bit limited but she is going to survive this and she's getting a good bill of health from the mayo clinic. In this case, puzzle solved, and treatment was given.
COOPER: And Kylie's case, it's just heart breaking. How long will the doctors search for a diagnosis? How long do they continue to look?
GUPTA: Well, it's a good question, and we're dealing with things here that have never been done before. So it's hard to say, you know, based on other patients this is how long they should go. What you're looking at right now is something that has never been seen before.
So I think it's safe to say that they have a long ways to go still in terms of how they're going to continue to explore what might be causing these problems with Kylie.
Some of that's going to be looking at DNA evidence in everyone in the family, seeing if they find some anomalies. They found this mutation, Anderson, and part of the reason, as you saw, I was so excited about that, they just described something, a mutation that could describe an entirely new disease.
I mean, a few years from now we could be talking about Kylie's Disease as a result of what's happening. It could be called Kylie Disease as a result of what we're talking about right now. That's how medicine transpires. That's how science advances, and hopefully, that's how Kylie gets treated.
COOPER: Yes. Such a strong little girl. She's been through so much already. Certainly wish her and her family the best. Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thanks, Anderson.
COOPER: Let's hope. Up next, the top ten CNN Heroes of the Year. Find out how you can vote now. And see how one of last year's Heroes is right now making a real difference in Haiti.
Plus you've seen the heart-breaking images, a mom's desperate bid to save her family, trying to withdraw $15,000 from her bank. She was later killed, along with her two daughters. Well, tonight, new surveillance video never made public until today showing one of the suspects when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: The top ten CNN Heroes of 2010 have just been announced today. It's the fourth year that we've searched for those daring to change the world for the better, and we count on you to pick the top hero. Now, I'm going to show you how to do that in just a moment.
But first, a look at the impact a CNN Hero can have. One of last year's heroes is a former bartender from North Carolina who started saving money at wine tasting to give people on two other continents something that we take for granted, which is clean water. Now he's taking his wine to Water program to Haiti. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOC HENDLEY, WINE TO WATER: This is a wine to water in a filter pure factory here in Jackmel (ph), in Haiti.
It's very simple. You put the filter on the top of the bucket here. You take water from the street, from a local puddle of rain, wherever you want that may be contaminated. Put the water in the top. Gravity will naturally feed the water through this filter. You flip on the tap on the bottom and clean water comes out.
So CNN Heroes program totally just blew the roof off what we were able to do beforehand. It's that kind of exposure, that kind of story-telling that CNN was able to do for us that just took us to another level.
And Haiti wasn't a place that we were in before. We've also been able not to respond to just Haiti; we're able to add on all these different territories because of the program.
The whole concept is to empower the local people to have them be the ones running their own factory like this, have them be the ones to get the credit for it.
The water that her and her family are drinking, all of it needs to go through here.
It's hard enough for healthy children here in Haiti to survive drinking unclean water, much less kids trying to recover from an earthquake. The water crisis is so huge. And it's so big, and there's so many people in this world without water. There's so many people in Haiti that we have left to reach that sometimes it can be overwhelming a little bit.
And it's easy to get discouraged thinking, gosh, we're not doing enough. But then when you go and you give one filter, to one mother, who has one child that's been sick for two weeks that possibly won't make it unless they start drinking some water that's not making them sick, then it helps you have hope.
We just asked her, have her children been getting sick any more since she's been using it? And she said no. And me being a father of two, it just makes it that much more powerful. And this is, again, this is a simple, simple fix. So it's -- it's a good day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: A look at Doc Hendley. Today the top ten CNN Heroes of 2010 were announced. I want to walk you over to the wall here, introduce you to them and show you how you can vote right now. This is the main page of CNNHeroes.com.
Down here you'll see the names of ten, the ten top -- top ten CNN Heroes, selected by our blue-ribbon panel. These ten are each going to receive $25,000 and a shot at CNN Hero of the Year.
But we need you to vote for the one that you think should be the hero of the year. So let me show you how you can do that. You get the information on each one by clicking on their fan page.
I'm just going to pick Magnus McFarland-Burrow right here. This is what would come up if you pick any of the ten. I'm just picking him randomly. He's championing children.
Down here, in the bottom left, there's the "Meet Magnus" section. Let's you watch a video about how his organization feeds more than 4,000 kids every day around the world.
Next to that, there's the story about the hero, where you can read an article about his work. And check out "Get Involved" to see how you can join him in the fight against childhood hunger. Again we're just using Magnus as an example. Any of the ten nominee would be worthy of being CNN Hero of the Year, and that's up to you.
Now, after you pick each fan page, pick the one whose impact inspires you the most and click on "Vote Now," which is right over here. Just click on that. A new page comes up. It shows you all of the top 10 CNN Heroes. Then you want to click on your top pick. I'm going to just choose, say, Linda Fondren here as an example. Say you want to vote for her. It will show up down here under your selection.
Then it shows you a security code. Then you type in the security code, and then you click on the red box, which is down here, to cast your vote.
Now, after you voted you can share your vote on Facebook. You can also find information on "CNN Heroes," an all-star tribute airing on Thanksgiving night at 8 p.m. Eastern where the 2010 Hero of the Year will be announced.
And keep in mind, you can vote as many times as you want for your favorite CNN hero through Thursday, November 18 at 6 a.m. Eastern.
Well, up next, right now one of the men accused in that brutal home invasion murder in Connecticut, police say he was caught on tape -- here it is -- buying the gasoline used to burn down a family's home with a mom and her two daughters trapped inside.
Also ahead Katy Perry and the video apparently too sexy for "Sesame Street."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Following a number of other stories tonight, Joe Johns joins us for the "360 News & Business Bulletin" -- Joe.
JOHNS: Anderson, in Connecticut, another graphic testimony and gruesome images in the trial of a man accused of a deadly home invasion.
One of the few images we can show you, the surveillance video of one of the suspects at a gas station where he allegedly bought $10 worth of gasoline used to burn down the victims' house. Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters were tortured and killed before the fire was set.
Jurors today heard an expert witness describe photos found in one of the suspect's cell phones, taken while the youngest daughter and her mother were sexually assaulted.
Word tonight from Virginia, Teresa Lewis has been executed. She died by lethal injection. The 41-year-old grandmother was convicted of plotting the 2002 killings of her husband and stepson.
Asked if she had any last words, Lewis said, quote, "I just want Kathy to know I love her and I'm sorry," referring to Kathy Clifton, the daughter of one victim and the sister of another.
Her lawyers argue that Lewis' borderline I.Q. allowed her to be manipulated by her co-defendant.
Today at the U.N., President Obama told the General Assembly now is the time for Israelis and Palestinians to work toward a future that includes a Palestinian homeland and a secure Israel. The president also says the door remains open for talks with Iran.
However, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was last hospitable during his remarks, suggested the U.S. Was somehow involved in the 9/11 attacks, prompting delegates from the U.S. And several allies to walk out.
A $42 billion bill aimed at helping small businesses cleared the House today with the support of just one Republican. The Senate passed its version a week ago with two Republicans backing it. President Obama is expected to sign the bill next week.
Some welcome news for Newark, New Jersey. Mark Zuckerberg, the 26-year-old founder and CEO of Facebook, is planning to donate $100 million to help the troubled city's schools.
According to "Forbes" magazine, Zuckerberg is the 35th richest person with a net worth of nearly $7 billion.
COOPER: Interesting. There you go.
Joe, time for tonight's "Shot." The video that's too hot for "Sesame Street." Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC: "HOT AND COLD")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: This is Katy Perry, chasing around Elmo, performing a G- rated version of her song "Hot and Cold." It's on YouTube. You won't find it on "Sesame Street." We were supposed to be seeing if -- the problem, apparently, is Perry's outfit. Parents say she was too scantly clad. It was too revealing. So the "Sesame Street" team decided it would only go on the Web, not on public television.
JOHNS: I don't know about that, you know. I can go either way on that. But you know, Anderson, it is a little hard to imagine what you're wearing on "Sesame Street" could be an issue for everybody to start talking about.
As a matter of fact, we have some videotape, if we can just sort of put it up there.
COOPER: There we go.
JOHNS: Yes, looks like you came in with the whole work uniform there, didn't you?
COOPER: Yes.
JOHNS: You had the shirt, the tie, the jacket.
COOPER: I got to actually be in Oscar's garbage can. I didn't realize there's more than one grouch now. There's many grouches. That's Walter McCranky and Dan Rather Not.
JOHNS: Yes. And they never answered your question. That was the funny thing.
COOPER: Yes. It's cool. I got to meet Oscar, and -- and that was pretty cool. So the whole thing.
JOHNS: The only time I've ever seen you do a stand up from a trash can.
COOPER: Well, you should see my original reel. There was a lot of that.
Joe, appreciate it. Thanks very much. Have a good night.
A lot more ahead at the top of the hour. More news. Stick around. We'll be right back.
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