Hello, I'm Maureen O'Boyle, and this is Extra.
86 years ago, the world's most infamous cruise set sail.
We all know how Titanic's maiden voyage ended.
Now Extra reveals the warning signs that came before the disaster.
Boiler Room blazes, a cursed captain, and an ill-fated sister ship.
It sucked another ship into its side.
It was so huge, it just created its own suction.
Bill Schuman on Titanic's Omens.
It's the story the nation is talking about, the hospital worker who confessed to playing God,
killing up to 50 helpless patients.
But was Efren Saldivar telling the truth?
And you're saying it's all just made up.
Now see the interview that changed everything.
Maureen O'Boyle, one-on-one with Saldivar.
Angel of mercy, angel of death, or just a liar?
When you're telling this story, you get this smirk on your face.
And I'm just sitting here with my jaw hanging open.
Claudine Wolf was a top sales rep for Mary Kay Cosmetics,
but then she got cancer while she was pregnant.
Would Mary Kay stand behind her?
I knew they were gonna support me. I knew I was with the right company.
This is a company that donates millions of dollars to breast cancer research every year.
But Claudine got the shock of her life.
They took away her title, they took away her sales unit.
Plus, the Victoria's Secret Beach Battle.
Can the queens of lingerie take down the number one swimwear company?
The swimsuit wars are heating up for the summer.
[♪upbeat music playing
Thanks for joining us.
We begin with what some call Titanic's Omens,
an eerie series of events that may have warned of the legendary ship sinking.
Tuesday marks the 86th anniversary of that fateful night in the North Atlantic.
And while the blockbuster movie tells of romance on the Titanic,
Phil Schuman reports on the dark signs leading up to that doomed voyage.
[♪upbeat music playing
The rusting hull of the Titanic resting silently on the ocean floor.
An eerie memorial to the 1,500 people who lost their lives on that frigid April night, 1912.
At the time, newspaper headlines wondered how could this great ship, heralded as unsinkable, go down?
Some say it was doomed from the start, plagued by omens that foretold disaster.
A fortune-teller in Cairo read the poem of one of the ladies who later sailed on the Titanic
and told her that she was very dangerous to travel with,
that many around her would lose their lives, and that she'd lose everything but her life.
And in the end, you know, she and two sisters and her mother survived,
and her father and brother went down with the ship.
Don Lynch is the author of Titanic, an illustrated history.
He was the resident historian during production of James Cameron's blockbuster movie.
Lynch says mysterious stories of premonitions began with the crash of Titanic's sister ship, Olympic.
It sucked another ship into its side. It was so huge that it just created its own suction,
which pulled a British cruiser right into the side of it.
Olympic's captain, Edward Smith, the same man who'd helmed the Titanic seven months later.
Then there's the story of millionaire Alfred Vanderbilt and his wife.
They canceled passage on Titanic the day before the voyage, after his mother, it was said, had an ominous feeling.
But perhaps the airiest omen of all can be found in the pages of this slim novel called Futility,
written by a man named Morgan Robertson 14 years before the Titanic disaster.
It tells the story of a ship, then the largest in the world at the time, called the Titan,
which while sailing across the Atlantic, hits an iceberg and sinks.
There are key elements. The biggest ship in the world, it's supposed to be unsinkable,
there aren't enough lifeboats, and it hits an iceberg, which is something that ships rarely did and sank.
And then there's the story of the cursed mummy in Titanic's cargo bay.
There really was a mummy that supposedly was cursed, but it was never on the Titanic
and is still in the British Museum today, but it never left England.
The success of the movie has rekindled fascination with the Titanic, giving new life to these old tales.
Everybody wants to take a fascinating story and make it that much more interesting,
and it's really funny to watch them do that. It's like it's interesting enough on its own.
You don't have to embellish it.
It certainly is. As the Titanic anniversary approaches, Extra will bring you new insights on the tragedy.
We'll show you why a Scottish family is challenging the makers of the Titanic movie,
and see why this man says hundreds of lives could have been saved when the ship started sinking.
Next week on Extra, the fatal flaws he discovered in the unsinkable Titanic.
Now, the story of a woman who avoided medical tragedy only to find herself fighting for her job.
Claudine Wolfe works for cosmetics giant Mary Kay, a company famous for supporting women's issues.
But now, as Claudine deals with cancer and a newborn baby, she says her employer is unfairly punishing her.
Suzanne Rico reports.
Mary Kay, the cosmetics queen, seen here in this promotional video, is perched atop a one billion dollar empire.
She makes money every time hardworking women hustle her cosmetics door to door.
It wasn't just being a salesperson. It was a part of my life. It became everything to me.
Mary Kay may have been everything to Claudine Wolfe, but Claudine says she was nothing more than a dollar sign to them.
Once a top sales director, supervising 50 women, and selling $8,000 worth of cosmetics each month,
Claudine won awards, even a company car.
But a year ago, her life changed dramatically.
Two weeks after getting pregnant with son Jesse, now five months old,
Claudine found out she had an aggressive form of breast cancer.
It was a very rocky road. There were many ups and downs.
But Claudine desperately wanted the baby, and against doctor's advice, decided to fight for both their lives.
She suffered through chemotherapy and a mastectomy, wore a hat when her hair fell out,
and worried constantly about whether the powerful cancer drugs would kill her unborn child.
I was very sick. I was throwing up. I was weak. I couldn't walk sometimes.
Throughout her nine-month battle, Claudine held on to one hope, that the company she loved would stand by her.
Did you ever think, either first when you learned you were pregnant, or when you learned you had cancer,
that Mary Kay would be anything but supportive?
I knew they were going to support me. I knew I was with the right company.
This is a company that donates millions of dollars to breast cancer research every year.
But Mary Kay seemed to put cash before compassion. Too sick to motivate her team, Claudine's cosmetic sales declined.
As soon as the numbers started to drop, things changed.
So they took away her title, they took away her sales unit, they took away everything,
and said, basically you're back out on the floor as a commission-only person just starting.
Attorney Angela Alioto is helping Claudine fight back by suing the cosmetics giant.
Alioto says that while Claudine was never officially fired by taking away her sales team, Mary Kay took away her livelihood.
Then, on top of all that, they took away her company car, an absolute necessity for any salesperson.
Standing at the window, bald and eight months pregnant, they tow her car away.
It was almost like they gave me something because they believed in me, and then I screwed up by getting sick, and they took it away.
But Mary Kay insists they haven't taken anything away. In a statement to Extra, the cosmetic company responds,
quote, we would like to make it clear that Mary Kay has not terminated Ms. Wolfe's director agreement.
She has been and remains a director.
At this point, neither side is ready to kiss and make up. Claudine is ready to see Mary Kay in court.
But whatever the outcome, Claudine says she feels blessed.
Her cancer is in remission, and Jesse, her miracle child, is a healthy, happy baby boy.
He's a reason for living, without a doubt.
He is definitely a reason to carry on. Mary Kay has less than 30 days to respond to Claudine's lawsuit.
As far as her health goes, she is extremely lucky.
Her doctor tells Extra there are less than 30 known cases of women surviving pregnancy and breast cancer at the same time.
He was supposed to be saving lives, but hospital worker Efren Saldivar told police he killed up to 50 patients.
I cry every night. I'm so sorry for what has happened.
He's been dubbed the angel of death. Now, see Marino Boyle's gripping interview and the bizarre twist Saldivar revealed.
What do you say to the family?
Call it speed, crystal, or crank. By any name, this drug is destroying a heartland town,
turning parents into dealers and leaving kids on their own.
But now, police are fighting back to save a dying town, and Extra is on the front line.
We've got video surveillance on the place, but they didn't mention booby traps.
So just keep your eyes open for anything that resembles a trip for her.
She conquered the figure skating world. Now Tara Lipinski is eyeing a new goal.
I never get to see my dad every night. You know, that's hard.
From gold medalist to daddy's little girl, Extra reveals the heartwarming bond behind Tara's big decision.
[♪techno music playing
The Power Kids theme music playing
It's Rosie.
Hey, Rosie.
Thanks, Rosie, for the shoes.
The Power Kids can finally say thank you to Rosie O'Donnell.
Now they can enjoy the gifts she gave them back in February.
New shoes.
Clayton, what size shoe do you wear?
I wear a size five.
Size five?
And gift certificates for designer clothes that the kids fill out as best they can.
Wow, look at that. Christy Hauer.
Chuck and Penny Hauer adopted all of these kids from institutions or abusive homes.
Many have severe disabilities.
The family depends heavily on government benefits to put food on the table.
So they were concerned when the Social Security Administration threatened to cut their aid because of an act of generosity.
I'm Penny Hauer from San Diego, California, and this is the Rosie O'Donnell Show.
It all started when Penny's kids got her tickets to the Rosie O'Donnell Show.
Rosie was so touched by her story, she spent a few minutes talking to Penny.
People like you, Penny, they're one in a million and they deserve to be held up and applauded.
Penny even got a hug from Tom Cruise, and she was shocked when Rosie unveiled this special surprise.
$4,000 worth of gift certificates, jackets, t-shirts, stuffed animals from Warner Brothers.
Lawrence and Noble will go cage books for your entire family.
But the excitement was spoiled because someone from the Social Security Administration was watching that show.
The Howers were shocked to learn those gifts counted as income and could disqualify the kids' benefits for a month.
Does it upset you?
It does. It does.
My children deserve to have exactly the same thing that other children deserve to have.
When extra challenged the Social Security Administration, we were told the Howers had broken the rules, and they would have to suffer the consequences.
The law is going to presume that they don't need as much in the form of food, clothing, and shelter assistance in that particular month.
Yeah, but is it fair? Is it fair in this situation right here?
That's actually not for me to determine, frankly.
But someone had a change of heart, and last Friday, William Rader, the Howers' attorney, walked up their front pathway with a very special letter in his hand from the Social Security Administration.
And I handed Penny the letter, and her mouth dropped open.
It stated simply, we have determined that the gifts were all made to Penny or Charles Hower,
and therefore do not affect the amount of the children's supplemental security income payments.
It was a big shock, but it was a wonderful, wonderful surprise.
So what happened? Why did the government change its stance so quickly?
After the extra segment aired, the case was actually transferred to a higher level of authority.
The Social Security Administration told extra, we are pleased that we were able to work with the Howers to resolve the issue of the gifts received while on the Rosie O'Donnell show.
Our goal all along has been to ensure that the supplemental security income laws are administered fairly and compassionately.
The Howers are grateful that their kids can now enjoy the gifts from Rosie, but they can't understand why it was ever a problem in the first place.
What you got there, kiddo?
Nikes.
Nikes?
It certainly is nice when you can make a difference.
The Howers told us their immediate plans include adopting two more kids.
Now to the drug plague that's destroying entire towns, not just inner cities.
Methamphetamine is turning quiet heartland communities into drug laboratories.
Extra's David Jackson went to America's hardest hit town to see how police and an unlikely ally are teaming up to turn the tide.
Methamphetamine, also known as Speed, Crystal, Crank, even Redneck Cocaine.
It's a cheap homemade high that can be extracted from over-the-counter diet and allergy products like Dexatrim and Sudafed.
So easy to make, it's got the heart of America racing.
Not to mention drug agents and police officers all across the country, a unified force on the front line in the war on drugs.
We've got video surveillance on the place, but they didn't mention booby traps.
So just keep your eyes open for anything that resembles tripwire.
Nowhere is the battle more urgent than Independence, Missouri, quintessential middle America, home of U.S. President Harry Truman, and the methamphetamine capital of the United States.
This is a tactical briefing on a methamphetamine lab bust and its routine procedure for the Independence Police Department.
Just how bad is the meth problem here in Jackson County, Missouri?
Well, imagine this.
Last year, the Drug Enforcement Task Force raided a lab like the one you see behind me at a rate of one a day, six days a week, all year long.
More than 300 labs were taken out in this county alone.
It's a round-the-clock operation that the police say can never let up.
On this day, the Independence Drug Task Force scores.
They bust a meth lab in the basement of this home.
Three adults are taken into custody, including one woman nine months pregnant who police say admitted to using meth just two weeks ago.
Caught in the middle is a young boy whose identity extra has chosen to conceal.
Mike Shanahan is officer in charge of the Jackson County Drug Task Force, which includes Independence.
The former FBI agent admits that he's got a big problem on his hands.
Meth doesn't require any smuggling, no foreign connection.
In fact, all it takes is a basic knowledge of chemistry to cook up a batch.
Production is very cheap. I don't think, I know I'm not letting any secret out.
The fact is this is available, the methodology of the process is available through the Internet.
The recipe on the Internet, ingredients found in over-the-counter drugs, a potentially lethal combination that has retailers fighting back.
Walmart, America's store, is taking action against America's drug, limiting customers to six packages of popular cold, diet, and allergy products.
Checkout scanners monitor the number of products purchased.
The issue is not based on profits or sales.
It strictly is an effort on our part to send a very clear message that Walmart will not be a part of illegal manufacturing efforts.
Our hats are off to Walmart.
Still, there are those who insist that the police and corporate America can't do it alone.
Stacy Blanner-Otteno, this young mother of three from Independence, has been clean for 21 months but remembers well the desperation of drug addiction.
Stacy, what got you started on this in the very beginning?
When I would do a shot of dope, I felt I could do anything.
I could take care of my kids properly, I could pacify my parents properly, I could...