Children Freed in Philippines; Cop Faces Tougher Charges for Beating Caught on Tape; Cancer in Your 40s and 50s
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's Wednesday, March 28th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts, in for Miles O'Brien. Thanks for joining us this morning.</s>O'BRIEN: Let's begin with that standoff. It just ended in the Philippines, just really minutes ago. Thirty-two children who were taken hostage on a bus freed. Gunmen armed with rifles and grenades were disarmed. There was an amazing shot of them handing the grenades out of the bus. And lots of people who came to the scene behind the man who was actually the hostage-taker. You can see them holding white candles supporting him. CNN's Anjali Rao has been live in Manila for us all morning, and really on the story all day. She joins us once again. Anjali, what's happening now?</s>ANJALI RAO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, it's amazing. You know, as soon as the bus was cleared and the children and the main hostage- taker, Jun Ducat, was taken away, suddenly the thousands of people that had crowded this area dispersed along with them. Now it's pretty much empty, I have to say. But let me just give you a quick rundown of what happened through the day. Shortly after 9:00 in the morning, local time, a busload of children, about 32 children, were on a school field trip to the City Hall of Manila, which is the building just behind me that you can see there. Part of the way into their field trip, the man who funds their daycare center, Jun Ducat, stood up and was armed with some guns and also a couple of grenades. And he took the children and their teachers -- we believe there were four teachers on board -- took them hostage. Now, after that, Jun Ducat made his demands to the government, saying that he wanted better education for the children at his daycare center. In fact, he wanted the government to give them free education all the way through college, and also free housing for them and their families. About 145 children he was</s>O'BRIEN: Yes. Certainly his story does not end now, but the children seem to be safe and sound. Anjali Rao covering the story for us this morning. Very dramatic pictures. Thanks, Anjali, for the update -- John.</s>ROBERTS: This just in to CNN, new developments in the hostage standoff between Britain and Iran. You'll remember that those 15 British sailors were captured by Iran on Friday. Iran claiming that they were in Iranian territorial waters. The Brits this morning came out and said, no, they were in Iraqi territorial waters, at least 1.7 miles inside. Now, according to British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, Britain is going to, at least temporarily, freeze all bilateral ties with Iran. Margaret Beckett saying this morning, "We will be imposing a freeze on all other official bilateral business with Iran." And for the Iranians' part, the Iranian news agency came out today and said, well, maybe we can solve this crisis. So, it appears as if pressure is ratcheting up on Iran to release these Brits that it has taken hostage. And it appears as though -- we're trying to read the tea leaves here -- Iran may be about to blink. We also have some new developments in the pet food recall this morning. A class action suit has been filed against Menu Foods. Lori Osborne's (ph) cat Gizmo died of kidney failure right before Menu Foods announced their recall. Osborne (ph) and four others in Connecticut joining a class action suit. She is convinced that Gizmo was killed by the food that he was eating. Here's the vet who treated the cat.</s>DR. CARA SWEET, VETERINARIAN: Giving the timing with the food recall, and that she was feeding the food that was on the recall list, you know, it's a lot of circumstantial evidence that's building a, you know, pretty certain case. Just, we're missing that final confirmation.</s>ROBERTS: So far, 471 cases of kidney failure linked to Menu Foods have been reported. The company has confirmed 16 deaths, but as we reported yesterday, a nationwide organization of veterinarians now puts that number at over 100. AMERICAN MORNING has repeatedly asked the president and CEO of Menu Foods to come on the program to discuss the situation, but he has declined our requests so far. We're going to continue to ask, though. You can bet on that -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: In Chicago, prosecutors have upgraded the charges against an off-duty police officer accused of being up a female bartender. The brutal incident was caught on tape. And we've been showing it to you. Officer Anthony Abbate, a 12-year veteran of the Chicago police force, now faces a felony aggravated battery charge. And for the first time since both incidents surfaced, the superintendent of the Chicago police spoke out on that particular beating, and then another one that was a month earlier also involving Chicago police. Listen to Charles Thomas with our affiliate WLS. He's got our report.</s>PHILIP CLINE, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: Let me say that the past two weeks have been disheartening and embarrassing for me personally and professionally.</s>CHARLES THOMAS, REPORTER, WLS (voice over): Backed by his top brass, the self-described disgusted superintendent tried to regain command. Cline called the videotape beat-down of a lady bartender by off-duty officer Anthony Abbate shameful and wrong, and the superintendent reaffirmed his effort to fire the 38-year-old Abbate.</s>CLINE: Anthony Abbate has been arrested, criminally charged, stripped of his police powers, and we are moving to fire him.</s>THOMAS: But Cline also said there does not appear to have been another cop involved who reportedly threatened the victim and tried to bribe the beaten bartender. The superintendent also confirmed tonight he had seen another videotape made December 15th by security cameras at the Jefferson Tap & Grille on the near north side. Cline says the tape, which has not yet been made public, shows six now suspended off- duty officers beating four businessmen. And worse, he says, it shows one of the six, a sergeant, waving off a responding patrol car while the beatings continued.</s>CLINE: The state's attorney's office assured me that they will return criminal charges as soon as their investigation is done. I expect that they happen in the next couple weeks.</s>THOMAS: Finally, Cline said he'll demote a 25th district captain who allegedly ordered police at Grand and Central to shield Anthony Abbate from the media during Abbate's court appearance today. Cline accused the captain of misusing police resources in a "terrible lack of judgment".</s>CLINE: If you try and shield officers that are accused of misconduct, then you're going to have to suffer the consequences.</s>O'BRIEN: That was Charles Thomas. He's with our Chicago affiliate, WLS -- John.</s>ROBERTS: This morning, we're hearing from the outraged mother of Pat Tillman. He's the NFL star turned Army Ranger. He was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004. This week, a new Pentagon report came out. It said that no crimes were committed, but it also said nine officers should be held responsible for taking nearly a month to report that Tillman was killed by his comrades, not in an enemy ambush. The Tillman family called the report unacceptable, and yesterday, Pat's mother told a radio show that the military was always out to dupe the public.</s>MARY TILLMAN, PAT TILLMAN'S MOTHER: The Army gave a Navy cell friend of Pat's a narrative to read that indicated that Pat was killed by enemy fire. That is not a misstep, that is not an error. That was an attempt to have this glamorous narrative read on national television -- to basically dupe the public. I mean, it's very important to keep in mind that this was not simply to dupe our family, and to assuage our family, this was an attempt to dupe the public.</s>ROBERTS: Meantime, there are new calls this morning for members of Congress to hold formal hearings on the investigation into Tillman's death -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: Brand-new recommendations to prevent breast cancer to tell you about this morning. The American Cancer Society is urging annual MRI scans in addition to mammograms for women who have a family history of breast cancer. If you have had breast cancer in one breast, you should get an MRI of the other breast, too, is what they're advising. That news really kicks off our in-depth look at cancer in America this morning. It's a disease that we have seen strike well-known Americans who are still in their 40s and their 50s, with families and children and full lives to lead. And cancer is going to kill more than half a million people this year. Roughly 1.5 million people will learn they've been diagnosed with cancer this year. The most prevalent form of cancer for men is prostate cancer. For women it's breast cancer. And as we know, cancer certainly can cross all lines, including party lines. Fifty-one-year-old White House spokesman Tony Snow is now debating his options this morning after he learned his colon cancer has now spread to his liver. That's a week, less than a week, after Elizabeth Edwards, who is 57, heard that her breast cancer had also returned. And both the Edwardses and the Snows have young children. Let's page Dr. Sanjay Gupta this morning to get a little more information on Tony Snow's condition. He's on assignment in Salinas, California. But we woke you up early anyway, Sanjay, for some info. Listen, Tony Snow, recurring colon cancer that has now spread to his liver. What is the prognosis of that?</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, he had an operation not that long ago, and that was followed up by chemotherapy, which is pretty standard sort of therapy. At the time of his initial diagnosis he was called Stage III colon cancer. It was mainly in his colon and a few of the lymph nodes, as well. But there was probably even at that time some undetectable tumor cells sort of throughout his body. With Stage III colon cancer, they say typically it's 60 percent survival at five years. If you have to assign a number to it, that's a number you assign to it. Now, at this point, he has what is known as metastatic colon cancer. Specifically, what that means is that his left one particular organ system, the intestinal system, and is now in the liver. Metastatic colon cancer, obviously the numbers are going to drop down. Some people will still say he is still a Stage III that had has spread, some people will say he's now in a new classification. It's a little bit vague, but with metastatic colon cancer, median survival two years. Soledad, it's worth pointing out, you know, that 10 years ago, a decade ago, the survival for metastatic colon cancer was 10 months. So, it's improved. Some people will say not nearly enough, but it's improved. Back then, we had one medication essentially to treat the sort of metastatic colon cancer. Now there are six different options, and one of those options may be something for him. There's also, obviously, possibly surgery, possibly radiation, depending on the specifics of his case -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: You know, when they talk about colon cancer, it's often said, if you catch it early, it's one of the survivable ones. So how often does it return?</s>GUPTA: Well, you know, let's take his case specifically. So, a Stage III colon cancer. We do have good numbers on this. Between about a quarter and a third of people will have a recurrence, which means the majority of people won't have any kind of recurrence. But in the people who do, most of those recur pretty quickly. We know that from looking at lots of different patients, but, you're right. Because of, I think, better preventative strategies and better treatments, as well, we are better at treating colon cancer than ever before. I mean, colonoscopy, which they recommend for men and women starting at age 50, has made a huge dent in this -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: You know, he has got three relatively young children. I think his oldest is 14. And he's talked a lot about how he and his wife sat down to kind of tell them when he was first diagnosed, tell them what was happening. Elizabeth Edwards, the same thing, three kids. Here's are a little bit -- the younger ones are a little bit younger, 6 and 8. Do they train doctors on how to bring the family in? Because I've got to imagine that really, you know, cancer is not just affecting one person, it's affecting the family as a whole, too.</s>GUPTA: Yes. You know, it's a good question. It's one of the most subjective things. I think part of my medical training -- and we talk about this as doctors. I mean, there are doctors who are just good at this sort of thing in terms of bringing the family in, and doctors who aren't as good at it. I mean, there are some sort of pearls there. One is that you do talk about it. I mean, people say, well, should we not tell children everything? And the answer that we give back is that, no, you need to tell the family everything. Being truthful is really important, because that will come back later on if someone is not truthful. Also, you know, kids are also going to be worried about their own futures. What is going to happen to me with all of this, with dad or mom being in the hospital? Who is going to care for me? So, making sure that as part of that first discussion with children, you're also outlining a plan -- look, here's what's going to happen, here's who's going to take you to school, here's who's going to do X, Y and Z. Those sort of rules, or pearls, if you will, are something that we were taught.</s>O'BRIEN: Sanjay, we don't have a ton of time, but I wanted to ask you a quick question about this breast cancer MRI story, where they're now urging women who have had -- who may be high risk, or even have had cancer in one breast to get an MRI for their breasts. What is the difference? I mean, is an MRI significantly better than a mammogram? And if it is, why not just get an MRI the first time around?</s>GUPTA: Yes. You know, screening tests are difficult to figure out. I mean, you talked about this earlier this morning with your own body. Mammograms remain the gold standard for all women. What they're saying is, let's enhance the screening a little bit for women who are particularly high risk. And you could take a look at some of the reasons you might fall into the high-risk category. If you have one of the genetic mutations, if someone in your family had a genetic mutation, if you had radiation to your chest wall, for example, when you were younger, those put you in a high-risk category. MRIs should also be received in addition to a mammogram. MRI is a better test, but what they're saying, it's not practical for everybody right now. Let's sort of enhance our screening guidelines. This is pretty big news in the world of breast cancer screening -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: Yes, it's very big news. All right, Sanjay. Thank you on several fronts this morning.</s>GUPTA: Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: We appreciate it -- John.</s>ROBERTS: A big story that will be developing throughout the day today. A deadline for withdrawing troops from Iraq coming up again in the Senate. And this is after yesterday's big legislative victory for the Democrats. They're trying to force President Bush to accept the deadline, but they are not alone. The Democrats have some Republicans in their corner.</s>SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: Today, Mr. President, we are headed in the opposite direction. And I will not support sustaining a flawed and failing policy in Iraq.</s>ROBERTS: The president has promised to veto the measure. Dana Bash live on Capitol Hill with more now. And Dana, how did the Democrats get this victory after a similar measure about 12 days ago failed?</s>DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they picked up votes, including from that Republican you just -- we just heard from, Senator Chuck Hagel. Just 12 days ago, he voted against the Democrats. Now he voted with them. He, adding to another Republican who was already with the Democrats, Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon. So that's really the Democrats' strategy here, they say, to have these votes over and over again. With each vote, they think that because of where public opinion is on this war, they're going to keep picking up senators on these votes -- John.</s>ROBERTS: So, the president says, as we mentioned, that he's going to veto this bill, which is going to send it back to Congress again. What do Democrats plan to do after he vetoes it?</s>BASH: You know, that is a really -- that's an open question. And the answer is, they really don't know. They're going to have meetings about what to do about that very issue, because when it comes down to it -- and you'll probably hear the president talk about this today -- this is all on a war funding bill. And Democrats, still, at the end of the day, are very reluctant to hold back funding for the war, specifically for U.S. troops who are in a combat zone. So, at the end of the day, what you're likely to see is Democrats to finally just approve the money that the president wants. But there's going to be -- there are going to be a lot of very heated discussions behind closed doors on just how and whether they can really do that within the Democratic Party -- John.</s>ROBERTS: Dana, obviously going to be a busy day there today. We'll keep checking back with you. Thanks.</s>BASH: Thank you.</s>ROBERTS: Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: It looks like a burglary gone very, very bad -- at least for the burglar. A surprising find for the cops inside of an Arizona grocery store. We'll tell you what happened. And wild wind whipped through southern California. The damage and the forecast is straight ahead. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here on CNN.