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Oct. 3, 2023 - Dr. Oz Podcast
42:43
Mac and Cheese Makeovers | Dr. Oz | S11 | Ep 62 | Full Episode
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Time Text
The dish crew is making over your mac and cheese.
We've got all your mac and cheese needs covered.
From traditional...
This is a really simple recipe.
To this ain't your mama's mac and cheese.
This dish is inspired by buffalo wings.
With one main ingredient.
Cheese.
A little bit more cheese.
Blue cheese crumble.
I added a bit of cream cheese into this sauce.
We're getting really cheesy coming up next on Oz.
Are you ready for season 11?
Yeah!
We're back with the Dish on Oz.
My daughter Daphne and Jameika are here, and we have a big makeover show, but not the kind you think.
Daphne, what are we reinventing today?
Uh-huh, that's right.
There's no hair, makeup, or fashion glam squad today.
Instead, we are making over mac and cheese.
Right there.
From a grown-up buffalo mac and cheese to spice up your dinner to a nut show average mac and cheese that hits the spot for anyone who's gone vegan.
And then we're showing you some stuffed macaroni and cheese pepper poppers.
We have got all your mac and cheese needs covered.
All right, throw us off.
Just the details on the buffalo mac and cheese, the adult version.
Yes, so this dish is inspired by, obviously, buffalo wings.
So we're adding in the flavors of buffalo, but first up, we need the chicken, because we gotta add some chicken in here.
So, Jameka, will you grab a rotisserie chicken from the fridge, if we have it?
I hope we have it.
Please have it.
There's a chicken in here.
Okay, good, thank goodness.
There she is.
So this is just a leftover rotisserie chicken.
Grab it at the grocery market.
It's a great way to add easy protein into this dish and not have to cook something additional.
And if you guys will just take it off the bone and shred it up and give me some nice long shreds of that.
I'll take thigh and breast.
Whatever you got going on there, I'll take it.
And I'm going to keep working here on this delicious stovetop mac and cheese.
So this is a really simple recipe.
And you guys know when you make a stovetop mac and cheese, it's that ooey gooey Really deliciously creamy cheese sauce.
And that's all because of the bechamel base that we have going on here.
So what I have in this pot is a roux that's fat and flour, equal parts that you cook down a little bit.
And then you stir in some warm milk.
And I went ahead and took a page out of your book.
All right.
And added a bit of cream cheese into this sauce.
I love cream cheese.
That was one of your tricks that I love.
And that's just gonna give it that velvety creaminess and help it to thicken up.
And then I have some sharp cheddar here.
I'm gonna add that in as well.
Clap, clap for cheddar.
Clap for cheddar for sure.
And then a nice, I mean, I'm going probably at least a teaspoon, maybe a teaspoon and a half of salt, kosher salt.
So if you're using sea salt, it's a little bit less than that.
Letting the cheddar melt down here.
Just a touch of pepper.
You can use white pepper if you don't want to see the pepper flex and you like that flavor.
But I actually think that pepperiness goes a nice way here.
And then I'm adding in, these are, imagine the vegetables that come on the side with your buffalo wings.
I've got celery, I've got carrot, and I've got some onion.
And that is going into our cheese sauce here.
Beautiful.
Okay.
How's that chicken over there, guys?
It's great, but that bechamel sauce really looks good.
Oh, yeah.
All right, throw that chicken right in here.
Thank you so much.
And that's gonna melt in with our cheddar.
Oh, yeah.
Got it.
And by the way, this is a great way to rehydrate that chicken as well, if it was getting dry in the fridge a little bit.
You know?
Love it.
I kinda wanna add a splash of this white wine.
It's not in the recipe, but I'm just gonna go wild on you guys.
All right?
Just a splash, because I like that little, you know, I'll either add a spoonful of Dijon mustard, or a little bit of fresh horseradish, or a little splash of that wine, which will just help this, give it a little bit of acidity.
And of course, we got hot sauce on the side.
Now, stir in our pre-cooked macaroni.
You wanna leave it just a little bit undone, because it's gonna continue to cook.
And if you leave it a little undone, it will soak up that cheese sauce as it cooks.
Okay, wait, beautiful.
So I served up, you know, you guys have some toppings over there.
I served you in some bowls of this delicious.
Oh, you guys served this up a little bit.
Wait, I'm sorry, just one second.
Can I borrow your camera for one second?
Okay, please observe.
They've gotta see that.
Whoa!
I mean, if that isn't a promise, a promise in a pot, I don't know what is.
This, by the way, also keeps really nicely if you want to have it as a leftover meal.
And now what you want to do to top it and make it truly beautiful and buffalo is give me a little bit of that garlic bread crumb for that crunch.
Thank you so much.
And then Jamika has blue cheese crumbled.
And you can add a little bit of that on top.
Similar to like the blue cheese dressing you would do, you just top it off with more cheese in there.
Exactly.
And if you like it hot, some like it hot like here, then you can just add a little hot sauce.
I got it, this is perfect.
So as good as this is, and it is special, you just saw what happened.
Daphne had that little experience with the cheese dripping luxuriously from the macaroni and cheese, but there's a vegan twist on your mac and cheese.
It's very popular these days.
This is a video for Nut Show Average Mac and Cheese.
You guys see where I'm going there?
Nut Show.
It's made with my favorite ingredient of all, nuts!
It is so clever!
Take a look.
Thank you.
It used to be nuts what you were just looking at.
It used to be nuts.
Talking about a makeover, that's the one I'm proud of.
When we come back, mac and cheese, as Daphne enjoys her version, you've got mac and cheese stuffed poppers that are the appetizer you have been waiting for.
Stay with us.
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Next Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
If there's one thing that brings us all together, it's food.
So we're calling everyone to the table to dish on everything, from the latest food hacks and trends to everyday recipes you can make for dinner tonight.
It's simple, it's celebratory, and most of all, it's about having a great time in the kitchen.
What is going on?
I'm trying to help.
Let's dish!
We're back with a dish on ice, and we're making over mac and cheese.
Jamaica's about to show us how to make your kids' favorite meal into a grown-up appetizer.
Dish the details.
All right, because you know everybody loves just bite-sized appetizers.
Their finger looking good, and I've turned one of our favorite foods, mac and cheese, of course, into jalapeno stuffed pepper poppers, right?
So it's a little spicy, it's creamy, it's cheesy, it's everything we love.
And Doc, you are already suited up with your purple gloves on.
Cause you are doing surgery on these jalapeno peppers, right?
He loves any excuse to put those gloves on.
I love it.
It's sort of cool.
I didn't know this, actually.
I was doing some research on what makes these things hot.
Because people worry jalapeno peppers are hot, and they sort of are.
But it's not the seeds.
Everyone worries these seeds are the problem, these little babies in here.
These seeds are not the big issue.
These seeds are a little bitter, actually, but they're not hot.
The problem is these veins.
See these little white lines in here?
Can you all see that?
Those are where all that capsaicin is.
Now, capsaicin is good for you, but it makes a lot of heat.
So I thought I'd break it down for you, because everyone's petrified.
I don't like it too hot.
Daphne does.
You're a hot person, too.
Oh, come on, now.
Silly question.
Here's the Scoville chart.
The whole thing, right?
Jalapenos, notice, are not the hottest pepper.
The hottest pepper, my friends, is the ghost pepper, aptly named, because you'll feel like a ghost after you had one.
I had by mistake.
Medium spicy.
This is the habaneros.
The milds are the jalapenos we're using today, so not too bad.
Kids might not like it, but you will.
And then, of course, you've got the bell peppers.
There's no heat at all for those.
No.
I'm not a big fan of bell peppers.
I sort of like the jalapenos.
No, we're going to give a little bit of heat.
And I tell you what, you keep working on that.
I have a swap in the oven here.
But bell peppers are good for boats.
If you wanted to stuff them with chili, or you wanted to put mac and cheese into your bell pepper, you could definitely do that.
I always preferred zucchini for that purpose.
Pull the part out.
It's called kabak dolma in Turkey.
Yes, I remember.
Here comes the heat.
And I'm talking about the peppers, y'all.
That's what it is.
No, so we basically have them and then we bake them for like 15 minutes just to get them soft.
And then Daphne, if you will start on our filling, our mac and cheese there.
So I'm just gonna add a little bit of warm milk in here because this is leftover mac and cheese, which obviously the noodles drinks up some of that cheese sauce.
And then I just add a little bit extra cheese.
Oh gosh, go for it.
Just a little bit more, there we go.
Okay.
Oh, that looks so yum.
Okay, and these just go right into your peppers?
Yes, so we're gonna start stuffing these here.
Grab the spoons.
Thank you.
And we'll layer these in.
I thought you kept the purple gloves on for this.
Yes.
He doesn't want to take them off.
Just in case.
He doesn't want to take them off.
I like it.
And the cool thing about this is I feel like you can use leftover mac and cheese, like you mentioned, Daph, or you can make it from the box.
Like, it's so easy to do that you should never, ever have a party without having appetizer, because this is so easy, all right?
Mm-hmm.
So you'll load them up.
Keep them all in.
Keep them all over.
Any extra goes in your mouth.
That's how it works.
I just got one here.
There we go.
An escapee.
Catch it.
And then we're gonna load them up with a little bit more cheese.
And then, Daphne, grab the bacon.
I'll follow you with the bacon.
Oh, it's candied bacon.
Oh, my.
Because this is gonna add a little bit of crunch, smokiness, sweetness, saltiness.
You get a full bite with this.
This is like a whole meal we got going here.
Oh, okay.
And that goes back into the oven?
Yes.
You bake it so that the cheese just melts and it gets all ooey, gooey, gooey, delicious that we love.
I mean, come on now.
Et voila.
And check this out over here, you guys.
I took my gloves off for this when it comes to eating.
Yeah, as soon as they come out of the oven, you just garnish with a little bit of chive.
Hit me up.
There you go, there you go.
And enjoy.
Tell me what you think, what you think, what you think.
I mean, come on, come on.
That's yummy.
And you know that little bit of vegetable in there makes you feel a little bit less crazy.
Just a red amount of spice.
And the peppers are still a little al dente, so it gives a little bite to it, so you have some crunch.
You got the cheese in there.
It's perfect.
Cheers.
I like that.
Very well done.
What I like so much about this presentation is it elevates the mac and cheese.
It makes it that really nice finger food appetizer that you're talking about.
And I feel like makeovers are about helping you put your best face forward.
Yes.
And they can be very dramatic, or they can be kind of, you know, every day.
Have you ever done a makeover?
Oh, yes.
I definitely need a makeover probably like every two, three months.
You gotta keep this thing shining.
You gotta keep it going.
What's your secret?
What's your favorite makeover?
There was this one time I had a makeover done, and they put these things under my eyes.
It was crazy, y'all.
They're called shadow shields.
Look at this.
So it catches all the eye shadow, because we were doing really fun eye shadow looks.
So that was my before and after.
Before is a little scary.
And now after, it's voila.
That's beautiful though.
Look at a flower.
I know, right?
I like that green shadow.
I like that yours was makeup because I love doing makeup.
Mommy taught me how to do it.
I used to sit next to my mom watching her do her makeup and it just made me feel like I was just learning from her and learning how to accentuate your features and build up things that you love.
I put these makeup tutorials up on my Instagram all the time, not because I'm a makeup artist but because I think a little bit goes a long way to making you feel like I was very pregnant when I did this particular one.
I was not feeling myself.
I was feeling really tired and just beat down and worn out.
And putting on a little makeup helped me.
Why do people like your tutorials so much?
I get comments on my social media about your tutorials.
That's really nice.
You know, I think it's, I mean, I talk to camera while I'm doing it, and it's really like getting ready with your girlfriends, but I also feel like I'm not a makeup artist, so I'm presenting techniques and skills and ways of applying product that's really for, like, everyday moms who just want to put a little bit of extra makeup on and make it feel good.
And it's fun.
I love it.
I really, really love doing it.
They're good videos.
I love watching them.
I like the gradual makeover, one that comes on over, let's say, a few weeks, like this.
For November, I make it a Mo-vember.
That's a real mustache.
I remember when you had that.
Yes.
You had it when you were really young too.
I feel like when I was in grade school, you had a great mustache too.
When I was playing football in college, I had one to make me look fearsome to the opponents, because I looked sort of youngish.
But now I look old with a mustache, so you don't see them anymore, anyway.
I love Movember though, I'm glad that you did that.
It's really cool.
Okay, well, I just got a piece of delicious jalapeno.
Oh, there we go.
This is a macaroni and cheese makeover show, so let's take a look at the before and the after.
All right, we've got our first look, and now our glamour shop.
We love it.
Which we got in on a little bit.
Alright, so we have made over your kids' mac and cheese into adult appetizers.
Coming up, a snack food your whole family can enjoy.
Stick with us.
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My mother was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
The symptoms even I missed.
I'm gonna lose her as the woman that knows me.
Plus, it's our candidate checkup, Bernie Sanders.
Tough questions, candid answers.
You have a president who believes that he can get re-elected by dividing the American people.
That's coming up Friday on Dr. Oz.
We're back with the Dish on Oz.
Today we're talking about a healthy snack that kids will love and parents will not feel guilty about giving them.
Daphne, what is it?
It is our snack of the day Bamba peanut butter puffs.
You guys heard of these?
Okay, check it out.
Oh my goodness.
So, Bamba is the number one snack in Israel.
It actually outsells Coca-Cola there.
And now, snackers in the U.S. are catching on to this delicious trend.
Bamba is made with just four natural ingredients, and peanuts make up nearly half of that.
What I love most about Bamba, though, is this delicious texture, okay?
These puffs are light and crunchy.
They're full of that great peanut butter flavor.
Imagine a peanut butter version of a cheese puff.
All right, Dad, let's try them.
Toast you.
Toast you, Jamaica.
Ah, gracias.
Right?
Yeah, it's light.
And savory.
It's not a sweet peanut butter.
It's a savory, really, like, almost that cheesy, wonderful texture.
The air-puffed peanut butter.
It's perfect.
Mostly peanuts, too.
Wait, I need another one.
Daphne mentioned how popular these are abroad, but scientists noticed this, too.
This is really, really cool.
Scientists wondered if this had anything to do with the low rate of peanut allergies in Israel compared to the U.S., which has eight times as many kids with peanut allergies.
And what is going on?
They found that when you introduce peanut snacks like Bamba to infants with other allergies or eczema, they had reduced the risk of developing a peanut allergy.
Wow.
And it actually changed the National Institutes of Health's recommendations.
They now say introduce foods containing ground peanuts like Bamba and ground it up or soften it to infants at risk of developing peanut allergies if they're young, between the ages of four and six months of age.
I mean, it blows my mind.
That's really young, and I mean, I'm a new mom to our fourth child now, and even since having my first, that whole conversation has changed.
It's a huge topic of conversation right now for parents, this idea of introducing peanuts younger and younger to help the body not develop that allergy, which I think is really cool.
Of course, I definitely recommend talking to your child's pediatrician for more information, but for yourself, Go for it.
I'd grab some.
Go baby Jermita.
Go baby Jermita, give her some.
All right, thanks to our sponsorship partner Bamba, the entire studio audience is going home with a bag of their peanut butter puffs.
And for everybody watching at home, be one of 2,000 people to receive a redeemable coupon for a bag of Bamba peanut butter puffs.
To enter for a chance to win, go to dros.com slash the dish.
Shamika, as always, thank you for being here.
Thank you.
Beautiful and special.
Love, baby.
You too.
All right.
We'll be right back.
Thank you.
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That's coming up on Monday.
Today, a fatal accident on board a cruise ship turns one family's vacation into a real-life nightmare.
Chloe Weigand, a beautiful 18-month-old girl, falls to her death out of the 11th-story cruise ship window while held by her own grandfather.
And now her parents are sitting down for an exclusive interview on why this grandfather has been charged with negligent homicide.
Take a look.
It was aboard a cruise ship that 18-month-old Chloe Regan tragically fell to her death.
She was being held by her grandfather, Sal Anello, looking out what he thought was an 11th floor window.
But there was no window.
It was open.
The family released this picture of Chloe pressed up against the glass at her brother's hockey game, offering a clue to what happened next.
She loved to bang on the glass at a hockey game, which is the tradition at a hockey game.
This is the family's attorney, Michael Winkleman.
There's a weird wall of windows.
It looks like it's entirely windows.
And Chloe comes over there and wants to look out the windows.
And he lifts her up to a railing at the midsection of these windows.
And he doesn't know that this one window is open.
And he thinks she's standing up there and she's gonna bang on the glass and he lets go over for a second and she's gone.
Puerto Rican authorities arrested the grandfather for negligent homicide.
Chloe's family says her death was a tragic accident and blames the cruise operator.
Chloe's parents Alan and Kimberly are speaking out for the first time since charges against Chloe's grandfather have been filed.
Thank you both for being here.
Our hearts ache for your loss.
Kimberly, tell us about Chloe.
What kind of little girl was she?
She was an amazing little girl.
She was the happiest little girl I've ever seen.
She loved her brother so much.
She loved to swim.
She loved to eat.
She loved to help me garden.
Just a beautiful, smart, happy little angel.
Alan, what do you love the most about Chloe?
She was just a bundle of joy.
I mean, I've never seen a baby so happy.
She just loved everything.
Never really a crabby moment from that kid.
Just, yeah, I couldn't ask for a better behaved kid.
She was so smart and just lovable.
So Chloe's grandfather, Sam, was recently charged with negligent homicide because he was holding Chloe when she fell.
Kimberly, what do you think of those charges?
It's been very difficult for our family.
We stand by our family.
The hardest part about the charge really has been having to explain that to our 11-year-old son.
He doesn't understand.
He's confused.
He's scared.
And frankly, we're all confused and scared.
It's very difficult.
It's very challenging.
And it brings back a lot of the trauma that happened that day.
So it's frankly been awful.
I gotta say, as a grandfather, I cannot imagine what Sam is going through.
I'm sure he's inconsolable.
How is your family coping?
I think we all cope with this a little bit differently.
Like I said, I think we're all scared.
We're all traumatized.
Every day is a challenge still.
And since this has Come back in the news.
It's, like I said, it's sort of reliving all of it over again.
I personally live with daily flashbacks of what happened.
Our son has a lot of anxiety.
It's really hard for him to concentrate.
A lot of the things that used to bring him joy just don't anymore.
And so we're just trying to get through that together as a family and to stay strong and to Get through this for our daughter.
So you're you're coming forward because you want people to learn from your story.
What's your big message?
Our big message is before you get on a cruise ship you need to do your research and your homework.
I think there are risks that we didn't know about that people don't know about and you really need to do your research.
The cruise lines will incentivize you to come on these trips And you don't hear a lot about the accidents, the losses, the people that have been hurt and harmed.
And since this has happened to our family, people across the country have reached out to me to tell me about their loved ones that have been hurt.
And we just really think that people need to be educated and to have that knowledge.
And we want to prevent this from ever happening to another family because it's horrendous.
Well, bless you both.
I'm sorry for your pain and condolences to the whole family.
Kimberly and Allen's attorney, Michael Winkleman, joins us now.
We know that the Puerto Rican authorities have pressed charges against Chloe's grandfather about this case.
Give us some insights into what you know.
Well, it's really hard to speak to the Puerto Rican authorities' insights.
I haven't spoken with them.
I think I, like most of the public, was really shocked that charges were filed against the grandfather.
I don't know the evidence they have.
I still haven't seen the surveillance footage of the fall.
I understand it's an obscure view.
What I have seen, though, was actually the shipboard doctor who was working with the family after this tragedy.
I've seen his statement where he says that Sam, the grandfather, was inconsolable and repeatedly saying over and over, I thought the window was closed.
I thought the window was closed, which is entirely consistent with everything he's always said.
So to me, it seems pretty clear that this was just an accident, a terrible accident.
No one intended for this to happen.
I think that's very clear.
But for there to have been charges that were filed, I think it went a little bit too far.
So explain to everybody the difference between an accident and criminal negligence.
Is that the charge?
That is.
It's negligent homicide, and it's really one of degree.
You know, general negligence is, did someone use reasonable care?
We hear that term a lot.
But here, it really has to be something of a higher level of gross negligence, where you're talking about having an utter disregard for the safety of another person.
And I've seen no evidence that shows that.
Again, I haven't seen the surveillance, but frankly, I think what really is almost indisputable was that this was an accident.
So it really begs the question as to why charges were filed.
So you are going to be filing a lawsuit on behalf of the family against the ship line?
Correct.
Do you think they're responsible?
I do.
I do.
And I think the reason for that is, Dr. Oz, there for decades, literally since the 90s, there have been rules and regulations in place that are designed for one reason, and that reason is to prevent kids from falling out of windows.
And so you have these specific set of guidelines that are window fall prevention guidelines.
There are things like having a screen or having some type of guard or having windows that wouldn't open more than four inches so that a child couldn't pass through them.
Our preliminary investigation shows that none of those were followed.
And frankly, if you're not going to follow those regulations, how about some type of warning?
How about four little words?
Caution these words open in this wall, these windows open, excuse me, in this wall of windows.
And I think if you had that, we wouldn't be sitting here talking today about this tragedy.
But we are, and I know I really applaud the family because their ultimate goal is they don't want to see something like this happen to any other child ever again.
We reached out to the ship line for a statement, and because this is a criminal matter, they have no further comment.
I gotta say, I'm still perplexed about this whole case, and questions remain about why the grandfather is being charged.
We're going to keep monitoring the story in the coming weeks and months for more developments, answers, and insights.
Up next, a vacation story that could save your life.
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The Kardashians served their restraining order and then Gwyneth Paltrow had hers.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Tuesday.
How safe are you really when vacationing?
Larry and Christy were a retired couple who worked hard, lived frugally, and saved their money for what they considered to be a trip of a lifetime.
But their vacation turned into a nightmare when their cruise ship cabin became engulfed in flames, bringing them both to their untimely death.
Today their daughter Jill is speaking out with a warning for everyone.
Thank you for being here.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Thank you.
What happened the evening of the fire?
Well, my parents had had dinner and went to bed early.
And we know from talking with other passengers that they talked about how excited they were to go and photograph the wildlife the next morning that they'd gone to see.
But they never got to photograph anything.
The first night they went to bed at about 2 a.m., a power strip that was supplied by the ship underneath my dad's bed started a fire.
And no fire alarm sounded because the captain had disabled the entire alarm system because he didn't want to be woken by false alarms.
And their cabin filled with smoke and their lungs filled with carbon monoxide.
They tried to get out but I guess their brains and their bodies were poisoned so they couldn't get out and they couldn't put out the fire.
And meanwhile on the other side of the door the crew was there Doing nothing.
And we have this surveillance video footage that shows that for 20 minutes from the time the smoke started to creep out of my parents' cabin into the hallway until the crew went in, my parents were in there dying.
And they went in and they took my dad out after 20 minutes, but he'd already died.
And then they waited another six minutes before they went in for my mom.
She still had a pulse, but she soon after died.
I'm so sorry.
Thank you.
I've seen this footage.
Again, you've been watching it as an audience, but clearly the smoke is coming out of the room.
You see the personnel there.
No one's making any big moves to get in.
I'm not sure what they were thinking.
And the crew did wait 22 minutes, according to this footage, while the smoke was filling the hallway before they went in there.
So what did you know about this boat that they were on?
My parents, you know, they treated every trip like the trip of a lifetime.
And so they did a ton of research.
And they looked at a lot of different companies and they looked at a bunch of different itineraries.
And they chose the company that they did because of what they read on their brochures and on their website.
And they even watched a webinar on it.
And in all those materials, the company said that they had designed and built and they owned and operated the boat.
It's an American company.
And they also said that they met international safety standards and exceeded the local safety standards.
But when my parents were killed, the reality was revealed that all those things were false.
And all those claims about boat ownership and operations and about their safety were removed from all their materials.
Are they a U.S. company?
They're a U.S. company.
So there was...
My parents had no way of knowing.
They had no reason to suspect or to doubt the claims the company had made, but they were all false.
And those falsehoods led to their deaths.
How did the ship respond to the tragedy?
We didn't...
We got a call from the embassy, not the cruise line, that there had been a fire and our parents hadn't survived.
Oh, my goodness.
And, you know, in that moment...
My whole foundation's ripped out, right?
Like, it's...
I was so close with them, and it's just devastating.
I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't function.
But...
As we learned more and more, the more disturbing it was in the way the cruise line handled it.
Because they didn't safeguard my parents' bodies.
We were horrified to see photographs and news coverage of my dad's lifeless, burned body on the dock in broad daylight.
And their wedding rings were stolen off of their bodies.
And They didn't safeguard the surviving passengers.
The cruise line's focus was on rushing back to business as usual.
The CEO was on that boat in record-breaking time.
And understandably, the surviving passengers were super scared and concerned about getting back on the ship because no alarm woke them or my parents.
But I'm never going to be able to understand how the company told those passengers the boat was safe and they re-boarded them in less than three days.
And they didn't have any way of knowing at that time what caused the fire or why no alarm went off or why the crew didn't do anything.
And they didn't put in the fire alarms that the surviving passengers had requested be put in every cabin.
And they did that week after week after week.
Move it forward for us.
Were they responsible, the cruise line?
Did they acknowledge their guilt?
There's no acknowledgement of guilt.
In fact, they tried to stonewall our attempts to get answers and find out exactly what happened at every step.
So, you've, I gather, not been able to get any damages.
Is this really true?
This is really true.
There's a U.S. federal law called the Death on the High Seas Act, which shields the cruise companies from consequences when their negligence kills people.
So, if you have a child or you're a retiree and you're killed in international waters, the cruise company walks away scot-free and your family cannot receive any sort of compensation other than funeral expenses.
So, I mean, my parents always modeled for us, like, Stand up for what's right.
And this law is so wrong.
And the right thing for me and for my sister and my daughter is to stand up to try to prevent this from happening to other people.
Thank you very, very much.
I appreciate coming on the show.
Thank you.
This was a terrible tragedy and we don't want this to happen to anyone else.
It's important to know about the cruise line you are dealing with.
Spend time doing some research before you sail.
Choose a reputable cruise line that is focused on safety and has the right safety measures in place.
Up next, what you need to know before your next cruise.
It's very painful to admit this, and I blame myself.
Today, my truth.
My mother was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
The symptoms even I missed.
I'm gonna lose her as the woman that knows me.
Plus, it's our candidate checkup, Bernie Sanders.
Tough questions, candid answers.
You have a president who believes that he can get reelected by dividing the American people.
That's coming up Friday on Dr. Oz.
Today we're going behind the headlines of vacations that became nightmares.
A disturbing report.
Hidden cameras were recently found inside passenger cabins.
Is that what I think it is?
I was really flabbergasted that there's a camera in the room and it's plugged up and it's working.
So how can this happen?
And how can you stay safe on your next cruise?
We're Ashley McMahon and Inside Edition's Deborah Norville joining us now.
Deborah, you've reported on this hidden camera story.
Where in the room did they find this?
It was so creepy.
The camera was lodged in next to the television and the wires jumbled in with the regular television wires and the lens of the camera was pointed directly at the bed in the stateroom.
And so the couple found it And it was warm to the touch.
Now, the boat people said it wasn't hooked up to anything.
They're highly skeptical about that.
It was warm.
It was probably on.
Yeah, it was warm.
It was probably on.
The idea that, you know, there's somebody got videos of these people out there is pretty darn horrific.
Yeah.
This side edition is covering a lot of these cases.
I wish I had a nickel for every time we've done one of these boat stories with slipping a mickey, whether it's falling off the boat.
The thing is this.
These are boats that, for the most part, these giant cruise ships are flying under flags of convenience.
And basically, there's three countries, Liberia, Panama, and Bermuda.
to which these boats are flagged.
And what that means is they get to pay lower wages, so they save money on the wages.
There are tax benefits to doing this without a lot of legal recourse.
Ashley, you say this flag of convenience issue allows criminal activities to slip through the cracks.
So, there's a recent sexual assault case that really highlights this legal ambiguity that's going on with Flag of Convenience.
A Mediterranean cruise line had an alleged sexual assault take place on international waters.
Now, a Spanish judge was forced to release the detained suspect when the cruise ship docked in Valencia because he determined that because the ship flies a Panamanian flag, They're subject to the laws of Panama and Spain didn't have any jurisdiction.
So this is a problem because many countries may not have the resources to properly investigate and prosecute crimes that occur many miles from their shores.
So we're left with an assaulter who walked away scot-free and a victim without justice.
These flags of convenience are something we've been asked about frequently.
So we reached out to the Cruise Lines International Association for a statement.
Here's what they said in part.
Cruise Lines choose where to register their ships based on a variety of business reasons.
However, it is in their business interest to register under a reputable flag.
Flags with poor performance histories are typically subject to more frequent examinations by port state control authorities around the world.
It's a horrible shame that a few bad apples commit crimes on ships and make us all afraid.
Last year, a whopping 13 million Americans took a cruise.
It has become a favorite way to vacation.
Alright, so lots of things that I love about cruises, everybody.
They're like floating cities, right?
You get everything you need to have a great time.
It's a fun vacation under one roof.
But there are some things you need to know before you plan your next trip.
Let's go up here and walk folks through this.
The first is, cruise lines do reserve the right to change your itinerary.
So, Debra, what is this about?
Okay, so you need to look at something called the terms and conditions, and there's a teeny weeny little box.
Scroll down, find it, read the words, because one of the things you're going to see is they have the right to change the itinerary for pretty much any reason, and you have agreed that you are not going to ask for a refund, you're not going to sue, and you open with the footage of the people who are upset that the boat didn't stop at half the places they thought they were going.
I gather the weather is the big reason for that.
It usually is, yeah.
Second big issue.
Cruise lines don't have police authorities on board.
Ashley, what should someone do if they're a victim of a crime on a ship?
So, most cruise lines have security personnel that will be on board.
However, it's important to remember that these are not law enforcement officials.
They're actually employees of the cruise line.
So, they're only able to do basic investigations, keeping passengers safe, Sealing evidence, for example, sealing off a room where a sexual assault may have occurred.
But they cannot conduct an official investigation.
And when a crime is involved, there's an obvious conflict of interest here.
I would recommend that any crimes be reported to local authorities at the port of call and also to contact the FBI. The FBI? Yes, the FBI. Oh my goodness.
Wow.
Next, you sign away some rights to privacy when you buy a ticket.
Yeah, and you'd be surprised at the sorts of things that they can look at.
First of all, think about it.
You're using the Wi-Fi on the boat.
The Wi-Fi on the boat is going through their internet server.
You have given them permission to monitor any of the communications that you have.
The people who are upset, they actually were taking their social media posts down.
They have the right to do that, and you have said you will comply if you do that.
Another thing is, you have given them the right to search your luggage.
Now, ostensibly, they're looking to make sure you're not bringing in booze so that you're cheaping out and not buying their booze.
Or other nefarious reasons.
Or other nefarious things.
But, maybe they're just snoopy.
That's highly unlikely, but you've given them the right to do that.
Ashley, Deborah, thank you very, very much.
Inside Edition airs weekdays and viewers can check their local listings for stations and times in the area.
Up next, genius travel hacks for anyone on a budget.
You will not want to miss this.
We zap it, nuke it, A meal in minutes.
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And just how safe are those microwave bags?
Some of the bags are made of plastic.
Then, 99 CBD questions.
What you need to know before you try or buy.
There may be no proof that it is safe.
Plus, Vanessa Williams joins the dish crew with five ingredient meals.
The croissant breakfast bake.
Next, Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
If you want to travel but you're on a tight budget, you're not alone.
Americans left a record number of their vacation days unused last year.
Guys, most of you are only taking about half of the allotted days.
And it's a shame because vacations are actually good for your health.
In fact, there was a study that showed that women who don't take vacations for years at a time are twice the risk of having a heart attack.
Why would you do that to yourself?
That's why today we are revealing the genius, money-saving hacks only travel insiders know.
Here to spell his secrets, his guts, is Eric the Travel Guy.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you, sir.
All right, there's two big tips.
First, don't poke the vacation online, which is the opposite of everything I'm hearing these days.
That's exactly right.
You know, do your research online, but then put down your phone, put down your tablets, and get yourself a qualified travel agent.
And here's why.
Because remember, of all the travel product that's available out there, you're talking seats, you know, cabins on a cruise ship, hotel, only 50% is available online.
Because remember, travel agencies, they will buy that product in bulk.
You know?
And then they're gonna pass the savings on to you.
So these rooms aren't available to you.
That's exactly right.
They exist, you just can't see them online.
A lot of times you can't see them at the price that they can be available to you.
That's the other trick in there too.
And again, the best part about a travel agent, a qualified agent, those services are free to you as well.
Alright, next up.
Yes, sir.
Make sure you establish airline loyalty.
And this has to do with the hometown you're in.
Not which airline has the best credit cards.
You know, that's one of the biggest tips I get all the time we talk about this.
There is no magic bullet solution to buying an airline ticket anymore.
So what I say is be familiar with the airlines that fly out of your hometown because if you learn which ones have the most departures, the most of arrivals, the most number of gates, then you can start to establish loyalty with that airline.
Try to fly on them as much as humanly possible because the airlines' loyalty matters to airlines.
And finally, you offer a tip that I never thought of before.
Actually call the tourism borough of the cities that you're traveling to.
You're gonna ask me a simple question.
Right.
When's your value season begin?
Remember that every place in the world, as it pertains to vacation, they've got a peak season, a value season, and a shoulder season.
Okay, so it doesn't matter, town, city, state, country, all of them.
And the key is, of course, peak season, that's when everybody is there.
So if you can avoid traveling in peak season, that's always a good thing.
Prices are higher during peak season.
Shoulder season, those high prices, they start to come down.
And of course, value season, or sometimes they're called off season or whatever.
But you may not know exactly which months, which weeks.
So here's a great tip.
You take a place that you're considering going, Go to a little Google search and type in the name of that place, plus the letters CVB. And that stands for Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Because remember, every country, every state, every city, every region, they all have official tourism bureaus, and they'll know.
And if you call them and ask them, when's your value season?
They'll tell you.
And once again, those services, those are free as well.
I love that the off-season, as I call it, isn't crowded, in addition to the prices.
That's exactly right.
You can catch Eric, the travel guy, on his show, Beyond Your Backyard, airing on PBS and Amazon Prime.
Remember, everybody, the power of change lies in the power of you.
Just one person with one voice speaking the truth.
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