Cheney: I Feared Terrorists Would Use Defibrillator to Kill Me

Dick Cheney has a defibrillator implanted near his heart to control his irregular heartbeat ... but the electrical device's wireless function isn't enabled. Why not? Cheney feared terrorists might find a way to send a shock to his heart, killing him, he reveals to 60 Minutes in an interview airing tomorrow, according to the AP. So his cardiologist disabled the wireless function. And, bizarrely, years later, the same scenario popped up in an episode of Homeland that Cheney watched.

"I was aware of the danger, if you will, that existed, but I found it credible," Cheney says of the TV plotline. "Because I know from the experience we had and the necessity for adjusting my own device that it was an accurate portrayal of what was possible." Cheney's interview is to promote his new book, in which he also reveals just how close he thought he was to death in 2010. (More Dick Cheney stories.)