Former Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse's CNN special, "Ben Sasse Is Going Home: Lessons on Life and Death," aired Sunday night and is now available to stream, offering the fullest look yet at how the 54-year-old is spending his remaining time after a stage-four pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
In the hour-long special, reported by Jake Tapper for "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper," Sasse told Tapper his biggest regret is the time he spent away from his wife and three children while building his career in politics and academia. Tapper, who has interviewed Sasse for more than a decade, traveled to Nebraska to film the family together, including a stop at the College World Series in Omaha with Sasse's son, Breck.
In other moments released from the interview, Sasse described the day doctors told him his cancer had spread, recalling his torso being "chock full of tumors," and shared the moment he told his children he was dying. He also spoke about what he believes the country needs most right now to hold together.
The special comes after Sasse revealed earlier this month that his cancer markers had dropped 99% and his tumors had shrunk more than 80% over five months on an experimental targeted therapy - numbers his doctors have called unusually encouraging for stage-four pancreatic cancer.
Throughout his public update since his December diagnosis, Sasse has repeatedly returned to his Christian faith, calling the diagnosis "a touch of grace" that deepened rather than shook his trust in God. CNN's own description of the special frames it as a portrait of "life, faith, and love in the face of mortality" - a rare instance of a mainstream network naming faith directly as part of someone's public reckoning with death.
The special is available now to CNN streaming and pay-TV subscribers via CNN.com and the CNN app.
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