Overweight Teen to Beauty Queen
COSTELLO: Whatever you say about Washington, it's a gorgeous city. Good morning, Washington. It's kind of chilly outside now. But later today it's going to be gorgeous, 67 degrees. The leaves are starting to change. Nothing prettier than Rough Creek Park in the fall.</s>CHO: Well, this is your home. So I know, well, you've been in New York for quite a while, but this is your official home, Washington. So I'm going to take your word for it. Welcome back everybody to AMERICAN MORNING. Immigration reform could become a big issue on Capitol Hill come December. Democratic sources tell CNN there are discussions taking place right now that could involve reintroducing the Dream Act. The Dream Act would allow children of illegal immigrants who go to college or serve in the military to become U.S. citizens. Sources say Democrats want to keep Hispanic voters in the fold by contrasting their position with Republicans who favor tougher security along the U.S./Mexico border.</s>COSTELLO: There just may be a solution to the political stalemate on Capitol Hill. If you missed it, Erin Burnett had a special guest on "Out Front" last night. Elmo you see Elmo and he wasn't pulling any punches. Listen to Elmo's plan for getting Republicans and Democrats on the same page --</s>ELMO, SESAME STREET: Play dates.</s>ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Play dates.</s>ELMO: Yes, everybody has play dates.</s>BURNETT: Like put a Democrat and a Republican play date.</s>ELMO: Play dates.</s>BURNETT: Harry Reid and John Boehner play dates.</s>ELMO: Yes play dates and everybody brings their own food.</s>BURNETT: Ok, yes. John Boehner is kind of your color --</s>ELMO: And they had to share and they have to sing songs.</s>COSTELLO: What game would they be playing? Battleship, maybe. I don't know. Just the thought of that makes me laugh. Elmo and his alter-ego puppeteer Kevin Clash (ph) are hitting the media circuit to promote their new documentary "Being Elmo: a Puppet's Journey."</s>CHO: A documentary -- right. It's a remarkable story of weight loss. A young woman transforming herself from overweight teen to beauty queen.</s>COSTELLO: And now, she's inspiring others to lead healthy lives. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more in this morning's "Human Factor".</s>BREE BOYCE, MISS SOUTH CAROLINA, 2011: I actually used to sit where you're sitting. I'm the same person that I was in high school, although my exterior may have looked a little different.</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Bree Boyce, becoming a beauty queen was beyond her wildest dreams.</s>BREE BOYCE: I was just so unhappy with the way I looked, but, yet, I still continued to eat unhealthy and lack of physical activity.</s>GUPTA: And at 17 years old, Boyce weighed 234 pounds.</s>BOYCE: I would come home from school, sit on the couch for hours and watch TV and snack all day long.</s>GUPTA: It was nagging pain in her knees that led her to go see her doctor and what he said led her to change her life.</s>BOYCE: He said, you know, this weight has to come off. At that moment I knew that he's right. And it's up to me and only me to change it.</s>GUPTA: She didn't try a quick fix to losing weight.</s>BOYCE: I completely threw out all the junk food. I joined the gym. I educated myself. I went to a nutritionist. I did all the right steps.</s>GUPTA: Three years later, Boyce had transformed her body from pudgy duckling to beauty queen. In July she was crowned Miss South Carolina, even winning an early round of the bathing suit competition.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you really excited?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a big fan.</s>GUPTA: Every beauty queen has a platform. Hers, as you might guess, is eating healthy and fighting obesity and it's a mission she happily promotes whether it's doing Zumba with kids at health fairs or speaking at her hometown city council meeting.</s>BOYCE: I'm going to bring the crown back to Florence.</s>GUPTA: Or talking to students at her former high school.</s>BOYCE: I challenge you all to make a change today and to make a change to be a happy, a healthy and confident individual and whatever it is in life that you want to set out to accomplish.</s>GUPTA: And she practices what she preaches. Still making her health her top priority.</s>BOYCE: Yes, I block out, you know what am I going to eat and how I'm going to eat that day.</s>GUPTA: Boyce still wants to achieve more. She has her sights on winning the Miss America title 2012 in January and she's not afraid of this next challenge.</s>BOYCE: And anything in life that you want to do it takes hard work and determination and most of all perseverance.</s>GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.</s>COSTELLO: Good for her.</s>CHO: Yes good for her, we wish her a lot of luck.</s>COSTELLO: Wow. Coming up next our "Talk Back" question of the morning. "Should the President bypass Congress to help the economy?" We'll read through your responses next. Its five minutes until the top of the hour.