Transcripts For WPVI Nightline 20161229 : vimarsana.com

To fame and fortune. But first the nightline 5. A lifetime of your dogs 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. Its 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 Fisher. Tonight well hear from celebrities in mourning as we celebrate a historic life, a oneofakind screen presence. She was the definition of hollywood glamor in the golden age of cinema, Debbie Reynolds whose career spanned generations. Classics like singing in the rain. Died today at the age of 84. Its a tragic hollywood ending for the gifted actress with the milewide smile, passing just one day after her beloved daughter Carrie Fisher died of a heart attack. Debbies son todd fischer tells abc news his mother was under stress of the death of her only daughter, missing her terribly, suddenly falling ill at her los angeles home. At around 1 00 p. M. Reynolds was rushed to the hospital in serious condition. Doctors determined she had suffered a massive stroke but were unable to save her. There is a clinical entity known as broken heart syndrome which refers to an entity where the heart muscle becomes temporarily stunned, does not contract or beat properly. So while we dont know whether that was the case with Debbie Reynolds, she lost her daughter. And anyone whos lost a child would say that losing a child is the most painful and the most stressful event possible in life. Reporter reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fisher were incredible lip close. They lived next door to each other in beverly hills. Separated by one daunting hill. Reporter featured in the upcoming hbo documentary bright lights. Mommy, mommy, im home you cannot keep that phone, its ridiculous. Reporter they had difficult times together as well. Something they discussed on oprah in 2011. I always feel as a mother does, that i protect her. Who will do that when im gone . I want happiness for my daughter. I want carrie to be happy. And i cant have that. So that makes me sad. Reporter todd fischer looking for a Silver Lining telling abc she said she missed her daughter, wanted to see her again. I dont think she really meant it quite like that, but within 30 minutes, she went to go see her again. Reporter reynolds illustrious career spanned six decades. Oscar, emmy, tonynominated actress. A Tour De Force and triple threat. Reynolds could sing. How bright theyll shine reporter she could dance. And she could act. We decided to have a big wedding and in two days my best friend alice hates me reporter she caught the studios attention after winning miss burbank as a california teenager in 1948. Good morning its great to stay out late. Reporter quickly catapulted to stardom starring in singing in the rain in 1952 when she was 19. Singing in the rain just singing in the rain reporter the same age her daughter carrie would be when she stepped into her own iconic role, holding her own with some of the biggest stars of the day. Even though shed never danced professionally before, reynolds wowed audiences and was dubbed americas sweetheart. I bet thats just about the lonesomest sound in the world, a cowbell. Reporter she took to playing the good girl, charming as tammy in the bachelor. Tammys in love reporter in how the west was won. How pretty do i look to you . Reporter it was her role in the unsinkable molly brown that would be perhaps the defining moment of her career. I might give out but i wont give in reporter her portrayal of the titanics most famous survivor earned her an Academy Award nomination. Im unsinkable. Reporter she recorded a number of hits. This one from tammy and the bachelor went gold. I wish i knew if he knew what i am dreaming of reporter her personal life far from the pictureperfect romances she acted out on the big screen. She was married three times, including one to pop Singer Eddie Fisher who starred alongside her in bundle of joy. Would it interest you to know im not the mother. Reporter they were an alist couple in hollywoods golden age and eventually the parents of two children, todd and carrie, before fisher infamously walked out on her for her best friend, elizabeth taylor. Something reynolds joked about with the women of the view in 2011. Elizabeth loved life, and i know because she took part of mine. Reporter not even that could derail the life long friendship shared by these icons. As told to us on nightline in 2011 after taylors death. No one could quite equal the beauty and sexuality. Women like the her and men adored her, including my husband at the time. She was a very smart, funny, glib, sharp lady. She could cuss like a sailor and she loved a good, raunchy joke. She was a great companion to everyone. Reporter she went through Financial Difficulties after her second marriage and had to restart her career on broadway, a move that forced her to pull daughter carrie out of high school. She didnt drop out, she was taken out of school by me, her mother, to go to new york city to be with me, to work and to stay with me. Otherwise i would have had to leave her home without supervision. Carrie recently spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about those tough times. Her contract was up at mgm, she started doing nightclub work. I just watched and it seemed to me very painful. As a kid, as a teenager, everythings incredibly intense. It seemed like rejection to me. Reporter reynolds powered on, working well into her golden years. No panty line because no panties. Reporter she developed a passion for collecting hollywood memorabilia. Starting in 1970 at mgm studio auction, she collected over 3,500 costumes and thousands of movie props, photos and posters. In 2011 she auctioned off part of her collection, including Marilyn Monroes ivory dress from the sevenyear itch. Do you feel the breeze from the subway . Isnt it delicious . Reporter the dress was purchased for a whopping 5. 52 million, at the time the highest amount ever paid for a film costume. Tonight fans far and wide mourning the loss of this legend, including Debra Messing who played her tv daughter on will grace. Debbie went to be with carrie. Its such a devastating onetwo punch. She was my mom for years and i loved her dearly. A legend. Actor William Shatner tweeting, Debbie Reynolds was one of the last of hollywood royalty. It breaks my heart that shes done. Id hoped my grieving was done for 2016. Reynolds own last message to her fans was a post on facebook. Heartwrenching thank you to fans sending wellwishers for carrie. I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers that are now guiding her to her next stop. Love, carries mother. Now mother and daughter are together at that next stop. But the music and impact they made on the world will live on. You made me want you and all the time you knew it i guess you always knew it tune into gma in the morning for more on Debbie Reynolds. Next, a family with two daughters who suffer from microcephaly. How they defy the odds with their miracle children. To think about. A lot what about the people i care about . Including this little girl. And what if this happened again . I was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me . So i asked my doctor. And he recommended eliquis. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. Yes, eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. Eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Both made me turn around my thinking. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. Plus had less major bleeding. Both made eliquis the right treatment for me. Ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you. 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Literally she was born and there was a lot of commotion which i remember thinking, whats going on . Why are there so many people in here . Reporter moments after giving berth, gwens doctor told her something just wasnt right. And i said in true gwen fashion, well fix it. That was my exact words, well fix it. He said, im not sure you can. Reporter it took months just to get a diagnosis, microcephaly, a neurological condition in which babies heads and brains arent fully developed. What was your reaction . Gals just so much fear. It was really hard. We went and saw specialists. They basically told us, shes going to be in and out of the hospital with pneumonias and shes going to be sick and youre going to lose her before shes a year. Reporter when you first meet clair her appearance can be unsettling. Now 15, she also suffers from cerebral palsy, scoliosis, dwarfism, partial blindness. Good grief. They keep throwing words at you and youre like, what does that mean . Reporter like most cases of microcephaly, clairs is genetic and was not caused by the mosquitoborne virus zika. But the global uptick in microcephaly cases because of the zika outbreak has helped raise awareness of the disease. Complicationses range from mild to severe. Learning disabilities to seizures to impaired motor functions to failure to thrive. In the u. S. Alone there have been reports of over 1,000 pregnant women infected bit mosquitoborne virus. Enough to prompt Public Health alerts and a search for a vaccine. But the hartleys say the recent media spotlight on the disorder is both good and bad. The medias just created monsters out of this. I mean, nobody would wish this on their kid. Youre frustrated because it is painted as the bogeyman . Yeah. Oh my god, lets please try to spray the entire country so nobody gets bit by mosquitos so nobody would have to have a kid like that. Yet im greatful for the exposure and people say, does your child have microcephaly . You just used the word microcephaly for 14 years its like, she has what . Do it, clair, you know what to do. Yay reporter this summer gwen captured what she says are clairs first steps ever. Those are the moments youll look back and go, wow. You know . This is this is a life worth living. You okay . Reporter throughout the years, as clair grew up alongside her big brother cal, doctors told gwen and scott the odds were on their side if they were to have a third child. It was sort of a leap of faith. I mean, it wasnt one that we didnt plan out and think through. You went in with eyes open . Yes. Reporter 26 weeks into her pregnancy their worst fears were confirmed. I think we laughed about it. That was our first reaction. Like just shocked. I know that sounds cruel but it was like that. Can this honestly happen again . I think a lot of people would think about termination. That was an option for us, actually. Reporter yet it was their son, still quite young at the time, who helped his parents make the tough els choice of their lives. I remember cal saying, mom, i just want to know her. My gosh. It takes my 7yearold to be able to come to me and say with the wisdom. The best piece of advice i could have gotten at that very moment. The other argue is, well, youre saving a child a lot of suffering. Right. Weve been told that to this day. I feel like everybodys kind of entitled to their opinion about that. And i would never judge another person for doing it. Do i ever question the decision . The answer is absolutely 100 no. I was given the baby i was supposed to have. You did so good, im so proud of you. Reporter like clair, doctors gave lola a bleaking proknows. Now 10 years old, she, like her sister, has managed to defy the odds. I bet you theres been five to six times with lola where i thought we could lose her. And every time its like she just continues to fight. I dont know whether i could have made it through. Theyre way stronger than i am. What do you mean by that when you say that . They want to be here. They really want to be here. How do you see their will to survive . You just feel it. The energy with her. When you hold them. Youre not getting the words, youre not getting as many actions, its all a feeling. Its this connectedness. Like a soul level. Reporter that understanding is shared too by cal, now 17 and senior class president. Hes hoping to earn a College Basketball scholarship. Did you ever feel like, they get all the attention . I mean, sometimes. They have a lot of needs they need help with. I was never really worried about that. You knew your parents had your back . Yes. Always. Can you Say Something . Reporter as we spent time with the hartleys we were struck most by how they deal with their stress. With a sharp sense of humor. I hear your goal is to be bleeped. I want to be bleeped at least one [ bleep ] time. Did it work . Come on, guys. I think you just did it. Reporter that laughter is the best medicine philosophy reflected in the videos and posts gwen shares online with nearly 40,000 followers, calling her family the hartley hooligans. You actually referred to it in writing as a walking freak show . Yes. Totally. I mean, i think thats how people view us. Its not something you see every day. Some people say, youre making jokes. Im letting her personality show through. Giving her a chance to not just be somebody you put in a box as a vegetable, somebody who doesnt get it. Reporter gwen insists they do get it, even though neither girl can speak. Both are fed like newborns. Clair gets all her food through a feeding tube. On some days, tracy simms is their devoted caregiver. Shes probably the best mom i know. Shes awesome. Shes a great best friend. If they didnt have her for a mom, you know, they probably wouldnt be here with us. Im not going to sugarcoat the fact that i feel like there were times when it was hard on our marriage. I think there was times its been hard on our health. Because i do worry and i am stressed. Reporter teachers and therapists come by to work with the girls nearly every day. Good girl, clair. Reporter throughout all the hardship, gwen says her blog has been her lifeline. Gwen loves sharing the girls accomplishments, even the moments most of us would take for granted. Like the most normal thing shes ever done. Good girl. Reporter shes girls may be tiny but theyve had enormous impact on this family. Scott, who owns his own glassblowing studio, says hes learned not to worry too much about the future. I was a completely different person before i had clair. Very selfcentered. Just materialistic. And now . Completely different. The Little Things in life mean way more to me. The girls are little teachers. We try to just make each day the best we can make it. Reporter for nightline im juju chang outside wichita, kansas. Up next, you know the expression herding cats . Meet the guy whos creating a social empire doing just that. Incredible bladder protection in a pad this thin, i didnt. Think it would work, but it does. Its called always discreet for bladder leaks, the super. Absorbent core turns liquid to gel. I know im wearing it but no one else will. Always discreet for bladder leaks. If you could see your cough, youd see just how far it can spread. Robitussin dm max is now better tasting, with the same fast powerful cough relief. Robitussin dm max. Because its never just a cough. More doing chores for dad per roll more earning something you love per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50 longer than the leading ordinary brand. So you get more life per roll. Bounty, the quicker picker upper the holidays dont officialy begin, until its time to make flaky, delicious, piping hot things. Golden brown and sticky things. Fresh out of the oven, why cant they cool things . New things, old things. And blink and theyre gone, those went fast things. Make the oven one of the things theyre most excited to open. Its baking season. Warm up the holidays with pillsbury. [ it[ goat bleat ] by peggy lee playing ] [ crow caws, music continues ] this is gonna be awesome when it comes to buying a house. Trulia knows the house is only half of it. And with 34 map overlays like playgrounds, demographics, schools, and more. You can find the right house and the right neighborhood for you. Trulia. The house is only half of it. Finally tonight, there are a lot of cat lovers on the internet. This next dude takes it to a whole new level. Heres my nightline coanchor dan harris with another look at aarons animals. Reporter the internet may be overrun with cat videos. But these are a cut above. Videos of aaron benitezs cat doing everything from jet skiing to jamming out have made his Youtube Channel a viral hit. But aaron is quick to admit that he is of course not the main attraction. So this is prince michael here. He is the movie star behind aarons animals. I got prince michael, noticed he was a super chill cat. I started making videos. Reporter prince michael and his adorable cast of costar critters are racking up millions of views but airplane says its not easy. The challenge of working with prince michael is hes a cat. Sometimes he wants to film, sometimes he wants to swat at a bag. When you add in the other persnickety personalities theres a lot of egos involved. The most difficult to make was the cat house party video, an absolute madhouse. Reporter aaron relies on special effects. Add a lot of creativity to get the job done. There was a shot in one of our videos where he swallowed. We were able to use that to make it seem as though he was sad. Reporter now that the sponsorships are rolling in, michael has more reason to smile. The brands that i love working with the most are movie brands. One of our earlier viral videos was the fast and the furriest. Our audience loves it because its organic to what weve already been making anyways. Thank you for watching abc news, and as always, were online at abcnews. Com and our Nightline Facebook page. Thanks for the company, amer hey, everybody, its a brand new season of millionaire, and were coming to you from our new home, ballys las vegas. And right now, backstage, weve got a bunch of contestants who are feeling lucky. So lets play who wants to be a millionaire. [dramatic music] hey, everybody, welcome to the show. You guys ready to play millionaire today . [cheers and applause] our returning contestant is a tour guide who has done an incredible job navigating her way through this game. For las angeles, california, please welcome back, jennie fahn. [cheers and applause] [laughing] i thought we were gonna do i thought we were gonna do the lift. Oh, i wish i was there for you. We hadi thought we had this moment i missed i justyou were running back to your bank, so you could make more moneyi get it. Exactly. Welcome back to the show. Thank you. Its good to see you again. Good to see you. Youre playing a great game. Well deal with that in just a second, but youre a tour guide. In las angeles, my adopted city. Okay, well, its mine too. Thats where i live now. Tell me something i dont know about las angeles. Well, uh, chris, you might not know that the Hollywood Sign used to say hollywood land, and then in the 1940s, there was a big storm. The last four letters got lost, due to a mudslide, and it was so expensive to replace them, they just ki