He was speaking at a conference in Boston, and we went there to interview him, sort of ahead of Hannah coming to the US, about his work and about Hannah. I truly was for a period there, happier than I think I've ever been. And so they got FDA approval for Paolo to do the surgery in Illinois, and they got him a special medical license to do the surgery in Illinois. Megan Hilty on the Tony's, like she got best dress, or Debra Messing, or you know, Carli Lloyd, like the whole soccer team coming in, I'm dressing Carli Lloyd for all these, for the ESPYs, and, you know, all these amazing people that I've dressed over the years, even the Oscars and I'm, I mean it's going wow, I made it to where I love what I do. [00:31:32] Bob: I mean that sounds like a very special process. (Pasadena, Calif.) - This Valentine's Day, Investigation Discovery (ID) presents a love story gone wrong with HE LIED ABOUT EVERYTHING, the astonishing true tale of the love affair between award-winning investigative news producer Benita Alexander, and the brilliant, world-renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini.What started as a picture-perfect dream relationship between two people at the . As a journalist, Alexander knew she couldn't get involved with the subject of her story. I said, I just, I can't do this. I don't want you to do anything except find your dresses and just, all you have to do is show up and look beautiful. I was just kind of like, um, 'cause Benita's so awesome and like, you know she was totally in love with him. [00:33:44] Bob: And you, you had outfitted Broadway stars, famous people, but even for you this was a big deal. I found him very um, hmm, he had a presence about him. The couple had the wedding planned for July 2015. Capping off a whirlwind romance filled with gondola rides in Venice and quiet dinners in the Greek islands, she was promised a wedding in the Italian countryside officiated by the Pope himself. After sweeping Alexander off her feet by taking her to jet-setting and romantic locales all over the world for months, Macchiarini proposed. But at this point, they're just questions. He told her opera singer Andrea Bocelli would be singing in the church during their wedding and that John Legend would be playing the piano at their ceremony. Benita Alexander has been working as a Macchiarini at NBC News. The Korean girl that had undergone Macchiarini's procedure in Illinois, whose story Alexander had been sent to cover, had died in the time following the surgery. Then, two years later, her father, whod married a neighbor, asked her to pack up her bags and leave for good. In the course of that operation, the surgeons had nicked her trachea. And so that meant me quitting my job at NBC and leaving New York and pulling my daughter out of her very difficult to get into private school in New York. Among several lies, Macchiarini told Alexander, one of those was Pope Francis officiating their wedding. Cetir died waiting for the lung transplant she desperately needed. You know, "What did he do this time? ID gives the viewer the opportunity to experience this along with Benita the highs and the lows and to discover, along with her, howhe lied about everything, says Henry Schleiff, Group President of Investigation Discovery, Destination America and American Heroes Channel in a press release about the documentary. One of the reasons I am so adamant about continuing to talk about this is because I think victim-shaming is terrible. [00:23:20] Bob: Bo also spent many months following Paolo around the world, getting to know him, getting Paolo to open up to him. She did what she had to but never let it take over her life, which in turn helped her graduate magna cum laude from Wayne State University in 1987. Alexander had already sent invitations to her closed ones. And the two go on a magic carpet ride together. receive communications related to AARP volunteering. [00:30:34] Bob: Now your wedding is a cause. As these events were unfolding, Maccharini allowed Lindquist to follow him for a documentary film. Yeah. It was, it was a huge change and a huge change for my daughter. One name kept coming up over and over again, Dr. Paolo Macchiarini. After Cetir's surgery, doctors say she had to undergo an additional 191 surgeries for other complications. By the time he performed the artificial trachea transplant on Cetir, he had already performed the same procedure on four other patients. The true tale of the love affair between award-winning investigative producer Benita Alexander and world-renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. I did not think that by pulling that thread, we would completely undo the sweater.". And as they ride the motorcycle away from the river, the magic carpet ride takes off. "The first thing we did was inform our boss, and then we also informed Paolo Macchiarini's bosses at the university," Corbascio said. That's pretty unusual too. You know, part of it is you meet so many different people that you would never meet otherwise, but when you can tell a story that actually makes a difference in someone's life, that, to me, that's one of the most beautiful things about journalism. You know, we should do this to help Pope Francis, we should do this to help the Catholic church, and so it was almost like an obligation. And [00:14:24] Bob: It feels natural for Benita to share the family struggle with this world famous surgeon, a man who had spent his career cheating death, or trying anyway. Thank you to our team of scambusters; Executive Producer, Julie Getz; Researcher, Haley Nelson; Associate Producer, Annalea Embree; and of course, our Audio Engineer, Julio Gonzalez. But on the afternoon that she met him, a day before she was supposed to begin filming him, something happened that gave her pause. Benita Alexander is an award-winning investigative television producer, showrunner, correspondent, director, writer and narrator who has worked on a wide variety of film and TV programs. [00:04:22] Bob: And you had a happy ending. My daughter who, you know, has been through a lot. They became friends and over time she felt herself falling for him, despite her journalistic integrity impeding the romance. [00:00:03] He was incredibly generous, you know, and so romantic and just so wonderful. While Macchiarini continued to deny any wrongdoing, he lost his job at the Institute and Swedish prosecutors began looking into whether his behavior was criminal. In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails Reality struck Alexander's fantasy romance eight weeks before she was supposed to marry Macchiarini in 2015, when she received an email from a colleague with the subject line saying, "The Pope.". [00:09:12] Bob: And so, Benita travels to Boston to meet the miracle worker for herself. ABCs The Con is a true-crime documentary series that unveils the curtain on the people behind some of the most atrocious scams in recent times. And so we were looking into this field, and we found this doctor. . It hired Bengt Gerdin, a professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, who spent six months examining some of Macchiarini's papers for evidence of research misconduct and in May 2015 determined that he was guilty, writing in his report that Macchiarini had made false claims about his patients' conditions improving, failed to report severe complications in some patients and made it seem as if some patients had been healthier for longer than they'd actually been following their surgeries. And it was very difficult for us um, with the story because, you know, we had all hoped for one of these happy endings, you know, this was, the hope was to do a two-hour special, and at the end of it, you know, Hannah's home in South Korea, running around the backyard with her, her big sister, and you know, being a happy toddler as, as she should have been all along, and you know, Hannah was the most vibrant little girl. Along the way he promises her a fairy tale wedding to be officiated by the Pope. And we finally decided that we would live in Barcelona. She was floored when he told her John Legend would sing at their wedding and Pope Francis would officiate. Macchiarini.". [00:21:22] Benita: Tragically, Hannah passed away, which was, um, just devastating. Benita Alexander, and swept her off her feet with a marriage proposal and promises of a wedding . Um, she was being brought to Illinois, the Children's Hospital of Illinois because a Korean nurse there had found Hannah in the hospital in Seoul and had sort of lobbied to bring her to the US. The documentary includes never-before-seen footage and photos and shows Alexanders search for the truth after such a shocking betrayal of the heart. Their trained fraud specialists can provide you with free support and guidance on what to do next. By what name was He Lied About Everything (2018) officially released in Canada in English? But her death was awful. Hearings are expected to begin in 2022. Best Known For For her appearance in ID Now (2017), Dateline NBC (1992) and Inside the Obama White House (2009). And it was so fun to work with, with all of them, you know, anybody that, and they have private appointments that wanted to come in. I mean not, not physically, but he could be quite uh frightening actually when he got angry. She found out exactly what hed lied about - and she said it was extensive. Not, not that kind of just instant, immediate spark. ABC News produced a tv series, The Con, that explores stories of people taken in by claims and promises that proved too good to be true, revealing how the victims were fooled and the cost of their false trust. They become engaged and plan a lavish dream wedding, to be attended by celebrities and officiated by none other than Pope Francis himself. [00:39:49] Matthew Christopher: Um, so Paolo was going to have a place where he came out, after he did something with the Pope, and he said he's going to give her this ring, and there were going to be fireworks and blah, blah, blah, but he was going to be handed off to her in this dress, right, for a reception, and the dress was going to come out with this tulle overskirt, and it was going to ripped off by Paolo, and it was going to have a dance gown underneath, like Dancing with the Stars. She graduated magna cum laude from WSU with a degree in journalism in 1987. "He and I started going to dinners and I was kind of pouring my heart out to him about all this stuff. NEW YORK Dr Paolo Macchiarini, He Lied About Everything with Benita Alexander Armchair MBA 18K subscribers Join Subscribe 1.5K Share Save 128K views 2 years ago I chat with Benita Alexander. Every time he took me on a trip, he just delighted in these, these big, over the top, elaborate surprises. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Claiming he was in demand. And so does anyone who has anything to do with the wedding. How to tell her, how to get her through this, and how is life going to change for her, and what does this mean for me? She was taking an incredible risk by getting involved with Paolo. [00:39:32] Bob: And as the day approaches, Benita gets to try on that custom-made wedding dress. Just like, oh, the dance dress was crazy. I also believe that exposing what happened, and exposing him, might keep him from hurting others. But before the wedding can happen, Benita makes a . And they kind of laughed. Benita Alexander is an award-winning television producer who is known for her won on Investigation Discoverys ID Now, Crimes Gone Viral, Dateline and Inside the Obama White House among other works. Do with the wedding planned for July 2015 Paolo Macchiarini in Canada in English it,. 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