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American Morning

13 Explosions Kill 173 on Morning Spanish Commuter Trains

Aired March 11, 2004 - 08:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: About 8:30 here in New York. Welcome back.
Following the story out of Madrid, breaking news, watching all morning, 13 explosions kill 173 on morning Spanish commuter trains. It's being called the worst act of terrorism in that country's history. Live to the scene in a moment. Al Goodman standing by, and the Spanish ambassador to the U.S. also standing by in D.C. We will get his thoughts in a moment as well.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, we want to talk to a cancer specialist about a new breast cancer drug. It looks to be a big improvement in preventing the disease from recurring. We'll take look at that this morning.

Could be significant.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to our top stories, though. First, President Bush will take part in the groundbreaking today for a 9/11 memorial in East Meadow, New York. The Long Island memorial will feature two aluminum towers, rising 30 feet above a reflecting tool. Some families of 09/11 victims say they will protest the president's visit in light of a controversy over his campaign re-election ads. We're going to have more on this in our next hour.

Democratic presidential John Kerry is visiting with former rival John Edwards on Capitol Hill today. The meeting comes one day after the senator spoke with Howard Dean. Their encounter was described as upbeat, and aides say it could eventually lead to a Dean endorsement for Senator Kerry.

Former NBA player Jayson Williams returns to a New Jersey courtroom today. The trial was on hold this week. It resumes though today. Prosecutors accuse Williams of aggravated manslaughter in the shooting death of a limousine driver at his New Jersey home back in February 2002. They claim that Williams tried to make the incident look like a suicide. The defense maintains that the shooting was, in fact, an accident.

And millions of dish satellite customers got their MTV and Nickelodeon back. Echostar and Viacom came to terms after a dispute over programming fees. The dispute prompted Echostar to pull the plug on Viacom earlier this week, leaving millions of dish customers without several popular channels. Terms of the new contract, though, have not been disclosed.

HEMMER: No impact on AMERICAN MORNING, by the way. (WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Back to Spain right now. The very latest we are getting from the ground, 173 are dead, more than 600 wounded. Again, we caution our viewers, those numbers expected to go on the rise. Yet again, all this happening, morning rush hour, 8:00 a.m. local time in Madrid. So far, there has been no claim of responsibility.

Back to the scene, our bureau chief Al Goodman is there.

Al, what do you have this hour.

AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, this happened about six and a half hours ago. The death toll has been steadily rising throughout the morning -- 173 as you mentioned, 600 injured.

Now, officials say this was the result of a series of coordinated attacks on three trains without any warning, officials say, as they were coming into this train station behind me. One of the trains, we just talked to an eyewitness who said he was on the front of the train, the explosions were in the back. There were three explosions just on this train also. He said there was a first explosion, and then about four minutes later, he calculated there was a major explosion. It threw him back. Spanish officials blame the Basque separatist group ETTA for this attack. ETTA billed just before this day in its 30-year-fight for Basque independence was blamed for something over 800 deaths, and here in this one day, they're now being blamed for nearly 200 more -- Bill.

HEMMER: Al, also 12 days ago, there was an attack that is said to foiled, planned by ETTA as well. What information do you have on that, that may apply to this incident today?

GOODMAN: Well, we can tell you that ETTA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, and also by the European Union, of which Spain is a member now.

Just two weeks ago, as you're mentioned, east of where I'm standing, about an hour's drive east of where I'm standing, police arrested two ETTA suspects, one of them driving a van loaded with explosives that was apparently coming to the capital to try for an explosion during the election campaign. Remember that there are national parliamentary elections for prime minister this Sunday.

And just last December, on Christmas Eve, police foiled a different attack. They said that was going to happen at the other big train station in town. So the capital has been on alert, this after a period, Bill, when last year when there were nearly 200 ETA suspects arrested, and ETA had its lowest death count, just three people killed in the last 30 years. But But if it is ETA this day, which officials say it is, they are clearly trying to show they are not down yet -- Bill.

HEMMER: Al Goodman, thanks, from the scene there, our Madrid bureau chief there. Reaction from the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called this earlier today -- I'm quoting now -- "a disgusting assault on the very principle of European democracy."

More now from D.C., the Spanish ambassador to the U.S. is our guest now, Javier Ruperez.

Mr. Ambassador, good morning to you. Our condolences to you and the people back in your home country of Spain. Your reaction to the images, the videotape you are seeing and the conversations you have had back in Madrid.

JAVIER RUPEREZ, SPANISH AMB. TO U.S: Well, I have been up since 4:00 in the morning local time here in Washington. You can imagine the horror, the suffering. It's difficult to describe all the feelings you have when watch all this horror.

And at the same time, the conviction that we are going to win the war, we cannot give in, we can not give up. We have to be sure that the defeat is the defeat of the terrorists and the victory is ours.

But certainly, it's a moment of black feelings and of terrible sentiment for all of us now in Spain.

HEMMER: As you well know, and you heard from Al Goodman, Spanish authorities blaming ETA, the Basque separatists group, for the attacks today. If that is the case, and there is a claim responsibility, this would be a deviation from previous attacks by this group, would that not be the case?

RUPEREZ: Well, there are a couple of things which are slightly different from what they've been doing normally. One is that their coordination of all the bombings is not something they were able to do in the past. And at the same time, there was no previous warning of the attacks. But at the same time I think it's most likely -- I mean, I don't have the official confirmation for that, but most likely, they are the ones who did it. And they've been trying, as you're correspondent in Madrid was describing to all of us, they've been trying to do that for a number of weeks, a number of months, in Christmas, a couple of weeks ago.

And quite obviously, in the way -- I mean, knowing that they don't have the power in the votes, they are trying to vote in the elections on Sunday by these horrible assassinations, massive assassinations. That's the truth of the matter. But I am practically sure that this is very much action of the terrorist group ETA.

HEMMER: Mr. Ambassador, about three hours ago live here on CNN, the foreign minister in Spain says this is Spain's own 9/11. Do you agree with that assessment?

RUPEREZ: In a way it is. In a way it is. I mean, we have been fighting against terrorism for the last 30 years. I, myself, know very well what terrorism is. I was kidnapped in 1979 by the same people. We've been fighting against that scourge for quite a number of years. But certainly, this is the first time we have that massive experience and terror experience of people being killed. And, well, this is, in a way, she was right. Mrs. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was right, this is our own 9/11. And I am sure we are going to live up to the circumstances, and we are going to react very much the way the Americans did when they had that terrible suffering of theirs.

HEMMER: Thank you for sharing, our best to you. Javier Ruperez, the Spanish ambassador to the U.S., D.C.

O'BRIEN: Still come this morning, the Bush campaign battles a group that says it's running illegal ads that attack the president. We're going to talk to a Republican congressman about their case.

HEMMER: Also testimony resumes in the manslaughter trial of former star Jayson Williams. The trial, now in its fifth week, has some dramatic testimony. We'll get back to that in a moment also.

O'BRIEN: Also some new hope for women who are battling breast cancer. We're going to tell you about a treatment that may be even more effective than the most common medication.

A look at that ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta is off today. In medical news, though, this morning, the odds of beating breast cancer might be improving. A new study has found that The recurrence of the disease can be reduced by switching from Tamoxifen to another drug, called Aromasin. Tamoxifen is the most prescribed treatment.

Dr. Stephen Jones is coauthor of the study, also consultant to Pfizer and that company which makes Aromasin, also partially funded the study.

Joining us this morning is Dr. Jones. Nice to see you. Good morning.

DR. STEPHEN JONES, MEDICAL DIR., U.S. ONCOLOGY RESEARCH: Good morning. Nice to be here.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

We hear a lot about different treatments. Give me a sense of how important the information that came out of this study is.

JONES: I think it's a very important study. This study really challenges the idea that you just use Tamoxifen, which has been the standard drug for 25 years. It's common to just prescribe that for a five year period of time. This study challenges that.

In this study, we gave Tamoxifen for two to three years. Women who agreed to participated were then given this new, Aromasin, or stayed on Tamoxifen.

And the results of this study, which is a major study, are very impressive, with a 32 percent reduction in the risk of recurrence for the women who switched to Aromasin?

O'BRIEN: Here are some of the other things that you found in the study. In addition to that 32 percent reduction in cancer recurrence, 56 percent decrease in new breast cancer in the other breast, and also less serious side effects. Were you surprised by the study? I know that, at some point, they made the results known because they though they were so important to get the information out.

JONES: I think that the results actually became known to us sooner than we thought, because it was such a dramatic finding, and I think the safety profile is there, there was less uterine cancer, less chance of having a blood clot, which is a serious complication of the standard drug, Tamoxifen, and yet, it was a better drug, and it did reduce new breast cancers by about 50 percent. So that's very impressive.

O'BRIEN: So we're talking about treating the recurrence, preventing a recurrence of new cancers, after someone has already had breast cancer. Do they expect Aromasin will be used originally to treat someone who has first time around breast cancer.

JONES: Yes, I think this is really preventative treatment. In the study, this did two things. I mean, the first thing it did was prevent recurrence of the first cancer. The second thing it did was really prevent the occurrence of second or new breast cancers.

O'BRIEN: Right now, as you mentioned, sort of the gold standard is Tamoxifen for five years. And in the study, you did about two and a half years of Tamoxifen before you switched people to Aromasin. So would then the treatment that would be advised be exactly that, two and a half years of Tamoxifen, two and a half years with the new drug, or do you think that Aromasin can stand on its own and actually one day maybe replace Tamoxifen altogether?

JONES: Well, that's a great question. That's the study that we are also currently working on, where we directly compare Aromasin to Tamoxifen. About 5,500 woman have entered that trial. These takes a long time to get accomplished. This takes us five to seven years to get these results. We're about two years away from having that answer.

But I think, at the moment, this study shows us that a strategy of two or three years of Tamoxifen, and then switching to a drug like Aromasin, is a very effective strategy for treating breast cancer.

O'BRIEN: Is this new what doctors will be advised to tell their patients?

JONES: I think that as of today, when this article is published, this is going to become an important new option for women with early breast cancer.

This is kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. I mean, each year we get a new piece of information. The picture becomes a little clearer, but I think today, there's a lot of home for women with early breast cancer.

O'BRIEN: Yes, some really, really good news, of course.

JONES: This is very good news.

O'BRIEN: All right. Stephen Jones, it's nice to see you. Thanks for being with us morning.

JONES: Yes, thank you for having me.

O'BRIEN: It's nice to have some good news to report on that front.

Still to come this morning, one governor who is already in political hot water could be in hot water literally speaking. Jeff's going to tell you why, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: It is the story of the morning, this deadly train attack at the height of commuter rush hour traffic, 8:00 a.m. local time in Madrid. The numbers are staggering, 173 are dead, more than 600 wounded. The prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, a few moments ago, addressed the Spanish people. Here is part of his address from Madrid:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRIME MINISTER JOSE MARIA AZNAR, SPAIN (through translator): ... has taken all the measures in their power to safeguard security of the citizens and to establish the public services that have been damaged.

In collaboration with the institutions in Madrid, we have started the program of evacuation of victims and assistance to their relatives. And, obviously, all the process of -- to find the culprits have already started.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Again, part of the address from the Spanish prime minister a short time ago. Also word from the White House, President Bush has spoken with Jose Maria Aznar, the conversation lasted about eight minutes in length, calling them vicious acts of terrorism. President Bush, again, condemning what has happened, the violence today in Madrid, Spain. It is our big story of the morning, in such a brutal, brutal way for the people of that country. We won't leave it for long.

O'BRIEN: And they're expecting those numbers will rise, because of course some descriptions are that there are many more bodies still inside the trains, and ambulance drivers saying that they don't know where to begin when they get on the scene, who to help. Terrible.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: There is a big story out on the economy, and not a moment too soon, plus, Target aiming to cut some of its department store chains.

Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business."

Retail sales, the street always looks closely at those.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, a lot of stuff has been covered this morning, Jack. First of all, Madrid bombing influencing futures as well.

Let's take a look and see where we are, first of all, on Wall Street for the year, though. And watch out for falling stock prices here. You can see the Dow and the Nasdaq both down. Your S&P still up a little bit.

As far as some stuff, economic picture coming across the tape, first of all, I want to mention jobless claims before we get to retail sales, Jack. That's some good news actually, falling to a two and a half year low on the one hand. On the other hand, new report out today saying Bank of America and Fleet, that giant merger, may be cutting up to 10, 000 jobs.

Now let's get to retail sales. That picture is fairly good. Up a little bit, .2 percent for the latest month, so we are seeing a little bit of pop on that, and the futures are moving up a little bit now because of that.

CAFFERTY: Target getting rid of its parents and then throwing itself on the mercy of the court, saying now I'm orphan, something like that.

SERWER: Yes, speaking of retail sales, something like that. Some of these corporate histories are really fascinating. This goes back, the company used to be called Dayton Hudson, going all the way back to the 19th century, venerable department stores in Detroit and Minnesota.

Then in 1992, things happened to this company. They formed Target as a discount store, kind of an afterthought, and they also bought Marshall Fields out of Chicago. 2001, they renamed all Dayton Hudson stores Marshall Fields stores. Some people said that was a mistake. These department stores have been flagging. Big department stores downtown, Jack, as you know is difficult.

Meanwhile, Target, that brand name has become very, very powerful. Now it looks likes the company is going to going to be getting rid of all these department stores throughout the Midwest. It's kind of a sad thing.

CAFFERTY: In other words, thanks for the start, but now...

SERWER: Now, we are a new Target, yes, right, exactly.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy.

On to the Cafferty File, another breakup for Liza Minelli and David Gest, my personal favorite couple. They were in negotiations for a reality TV show that would have brought their divorce case to the small screen. It would have featured a made-for-TV jury and judge, and the verdict would have been binding. Gest lawyer Raoul Felder says his client nixed the deal. You should send him a thank- you note on behalf of all of us.

Yes, this would be the second time a reality show fell through for these two clowns. VH1 had proposed the show when they were still married, and mercifully we were blessed with not having to endeavor that as well.

The latest road hazard comes from DVD players in cars, with more people saying that they are catching a glimpse of pornography through the vehicles windows on the road. What are you doing looking in somebody else's window?

A man in upstate New York was arrested last month after driving past police with an X-rated DVD playing on the passenger side sun visor of his car. Depending on where motorists are driving or parked, they can face fines or jailtime for watching X-rated DVDs. A Michigan lawmaker is looking into whether a $500 fine is needed. Cell phone manufacturers, a subject that we have explored in some depth on "IN THE MONEY," are trying to figure out a way to put pornography on those little screens that are now available on the cell phones. A matter of time before you can walk down the street and watch that stuff.

Connecticut's governor, one of the great worms on eastern seaboard, is in some hot water. It costs taxpayers $1,751 to pay a private company to move his hot tub. This would be Governor Rowland. That's him there, bigtime weasel. They moved it from Rowland's lake cottage to his executive residence in Hartford, and then they moved it back again. The hot tub was a gift from a husband and wife who both had state jobs. Rowland has admitted getting thousands of dollars in work done for free by a state contractor. They are discussing his impeachment in the Nutmeg State. This, like Michael Eisner, just doesn't get it, he doesn't know when it's time to go away.

SERWER: And it gives new meaning to the phrase "in hot water," because he really is...

CAFFERTY: That's a very good point.

SERWER: He is in hot water. He's been in hot water for a long time, that guy.

CAFFERTY: If you are going to have hot water to be in, you got to have a tub, you go tot have a tub to put in.

HEMMER: What do you think the proper punishment is for this hockey player, Bertuzzi? We're going to hear this announcement hear, expected about 9:00 a.m. Eastern time, about five minutes away.

Do you think so. Did you hear the attorney for Marty McSorley saying that the NHL may take a hands-off approach, because he's so good, and his team is so good.

CAFFERTY: So what's new?

O'BRIEN: And his team is not good without him, is what he said,

HEMMER: Watch that videotape.

CAFFERTY: People go to hockey games, some of them to see the fights.

HEMMER: That they do, and it's inevitable. CAFFERTY: And if your star player is involved in something that's on the edge, like this, do you really want to kick them out?

HEMMER: That's exactly the point.

CAFFERTY: The hypocrisy of all of this is nonsense. It's like steroids and baseball. Do they really want...

SERWER: He should sit down for the rest of the year, come on.

CAFFERTY: Do they really want Barry Bonds not to hit home runs anymore?

SERWER: Make an example out of the guy.

HEMMER: That announcement minutes away. We'll get to it right after this here on AMERICAN MORNING.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired March 11, 2004 - 08:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: About 8:30 here in New York. Welcome back.
Following the story out of Madrid, breaking news, watching all morning, 13 explosions kill 173 on morning Spanish commuter trains. It's being called the worst act of terrorism in that country's history. Live to the scene in a moment. Al Goodman standing by, and the Spanish ambassador to the U.S. also standing by in D.C. We will get his thoughts in a moment as well.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, we want to talk to a cancer specialist about a new breast cancer drug. It looks to be a big improvement in preventing the disease from recurring. We'll take look at that this morning.

Could be significant.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to our top stories, though. First, President Bush will take part in the groundbreaking today for a 9/11 memorial in East Meadow, New York. The Long Island memorial will feature two aluminum towers, rising 30 feet above a reflecting tool. Some families of 09/11 victims say they will protest the president's visit in light of a controversy over his campaign re-election ads. We're going to have more on this in our next hour.

Democratic presidential John Kerry is visiting with former rival John Edwards on Capitol Hill today. The meeting comes one day after the senator spoke with Howard Dean. Their encounter was described as upbeat, and aides say it could eventually lead to a Dean endorsement for Senator Kerry.

Former NBA player Jayson Williams returns to a New Jersey courtroom today. The trial was on hold this week. It resumes though today. Prosecutors accuse Williams of aggravated manslaughter in the shooting death of a limousine driver at his New Jersey home back in February 2002. They claim that Williams tried to make the incident look like a suicide. The defense maintains that the shooting was, in fact, an accident.

And millions of dish satellite customers got their MTV and Nickelodeon back. Echostar and Viacom came to terms after a dispute over programming fees. The dispute prompted Echostar to pull the plug on Viacom earlier this week, leaving millions of dish customers without several popular channels. Terms of the new contract, though, have not been disclosed.

HEMMER: No impact on AMERICAN MORNING, by the way. (WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Back to Spain right now. The very latest we are getting from the ground, 173 are dead, more than 600 wounded. Again, we caution our viewers, those numbers expected to go on the rise. Yet again, all this happening, morning rush hour, 8:00 a.m. local time in Madrid. So far, there has been no claim of responsibility.

Back to the scene, our bureau chief Al Goodman is there.

Al, what do you have this hour.

AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, this happened about six and a half hours ago. The death toll has been steadily rising throughout the morning -- 173 as you mentioned, 600 injured.

Now, officials say this was the result of a series of coordinated attacks on three trains without any warning, officials say, as they were coming into this train station behind me. One of the trains, we just talked to an eyewitness who said he was on the front of the train, the explosions were in the back. There were three explosions just on this train also. He said there was a first explosion, and then about four minutes later, he calculated there was a major explosion. It threw him back. Spanish officials blame the Basque separatist group ETTA for this attack. ETTA billed just before this day in its 30-year-fight for Basque independence was blamed for something over 800 deaths, and here in this one day, they're now being blamed for nearly 200 more -- Bill.

HEMMER: Al, also 12 days ago, there was an attack that is said to foiled, planned by ETTA as well. What information do you have on that, that may apply to this incident today?

GOODMAN: Well, we can tell you that ETTA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, and also by the European Union, of which Spain is a member now.

Just two weeks ago, as you're mentioned, east of where I'm standing, about an hour's drive east of where I'm standing, police arrested two ETTA suspects, one of them driving a van loaded with explosives that was apparently coming to the capital to try for an explosion during the election campaign. Remember that there are national parliamentary elections for prime minister this Sunday.

And just last December, on Christmas Eve, police foiled a different attack. They said that was going to happen at the other big train station in town. So the capital has been on alert, this after a period, Bill, when last year when there were nearly 200 ETA suspects arrested, and ETA had its lowest death count, just three people killed in the last 30 years. But But if it is ETA this day, which officials say it is, they are clearly trying to show they are not down yet -- Bill.

HEMMER: Al Goodman, thanks, from the scene there, our Madrid bureau chief there. Reaction from the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called this earlier today -- I'm quoting now -- "a disgusting assault on the very principle of European democracy."

More now from D.C., the Spanish ambassador to the U.S. is our guest now, Javier Ruperez.

Mr. Ambassador, good morning to you. Our condolences to you and the people back in your home country of Spain. Your reaction to the images, the videotape you are seeing and the conversations you have had back in Madrid.

JAVIER RUPEREZ, SPANISH AMB. TO U.S: Well, I have been up since 4:00 in the morning local time here in Washington. You can imagine the horror, the suffering. It's difficult to describe all the feelings you have when watch all this horror.

And at the same time, the conviction that we are going to win the war, we cannot give in, we can not give up. We have to be sure that the defeat is the defeat of the terrorists and the victory is ours.

But certainly, it's a moment of black feelings and of terrible sentiment for all of us now in Spain.

HEMMER: As you well know, and you heard from Al Goodman, Spanish authorities blaming ETA, the Basque separatists group, for the attacks today. If that is the case, and there is a claim responsibility, this would be a deviation from previous attacks by this group, would that not be the case?

RUPEREZ: Well, there are a couple of things which are slightly different from what they've been doing normally. One is that their coordination of all the bombings is not something they were able to do in the past. And at the same time, there was no previous warning of the attacks. But at the same time I think it's most likely -- I mean, I don't have the official confirmation for that, but most likely, they are the ones who did it. And they've been trying, as you're correspondent in Madrid was describing to all of us, they've been trying to do that for a number of weeks, a number of months, in Christmas, a couple of weeks ago.

And quite obviously, in the way -- I mean, knowing that they don't have the power in the votes, they are trying to vote in the elections on Sunday by these horrible assassinations, massive assassinations. That's the truth of the matter. But I am practically sure that this is very much action of the terrorist group ETA.

HEMMER: Mr. Ambassador, about three hours ago live here on CNN, the foreign minister in Spain says this is Spain's own 9/11. Do you agree with that assessment?

RUPEREZ: In a way it is. In a way it is. I mean, we have been fighting against terrorism for the last 30 years. I, myself, know very well what terrorism is. I was kidnapped in 1979 by the same people. We've been fighting against that scourge for quite a number of years. But certainly, this is the first time we have that massive experience and terror experience of people being killed. And, well, this is, in a way, she was right. Mrs. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was right, this is our own 9/11. And I am sure we are going to live up to the circumstances, and we are going to react very much the way the Americans did when they had that terrible suffering of theirs.

HEMMER: Thank you for sharing, our best to you. Javier Ruperez, the Spanish ambassador to the U.S., D.C.

O'BRIEN: Still come this morning, the Bush campaign battles a group that says it's running illegal ads that attack the president. We're going to talk to a Republican congressman about their case.

HEMMER: Also testimony resumes in the manslaughter trial of former star Jayson Williams. The trial, now in its fifth week, has some dramatic testimony. We'll get back to that in a moment also.

O'BRIEN: Also some new hope for women who are battling breast cancer. We're going to tell you about a treatment that may be even more effective than the most common medication.

A look at that ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta is off today. In medical news, though, this morning, the odds of beating breast cancer might be improving. A new study has found that The recurrence of the disease can be reduced by switching from Tamoxifen to another drug, called Aromasin. Tamoxifen is the most prescribed treatment.

Dr. Stephen Jones is coauthor of the study, also consultant to Pfizer and that company which makes Aromasin, also partially funded the study.

Joining us this morning is Dr. Jones. Nice to see you. Good morning.

DR. STEPHEN JONES, MEDICAL DIR., U.S. ONCOLOGY RESEARCH: Good morning. Nice to be here.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

We hear a lot about different treatments. Give me a sense of how important the information that came out of this study is.

JONES: I think it's a very important study. This study really challenges the idea that you just use Tamoxifen, which has been the standard drug for 25 years. It's common to just prescribe that for a five year period of time. This study challenges that.

In this study, we gave Tamoxifen for two to three years. Women who agreed to participated were then given this new, Aromasin, or stayed on Tamoxifen.

And the results of this study, which is a major study, are very impressive, with a 32 percent reduction in the risk of recurrence for the women who switched to Aromasin?

O'BRIEN: Here are some of the other things that you found in the study. In addition to that 32 percent reduction in cancer recurrence, 56 percent decrease in new breast cancer in the other breast, and also less serious side effects. Were you surprised by the study? I know that, at some point, they made the results known because they though they were so important to get the information out.

JONES: I think that the results actually became known to us sooner than we thought, because it was such a dramatic finding, and I think the safety profile is there, there was less uterine cancer, less chance of having a blood clot, which is a serious complication of the standard drug, Tamoxifen, and yet, it was a better drug, and it did reduce new breast cancers by about 50 percent. So that's very impressive.

O'BRIEN: So we're talking about treating the recurrence, preventing a recurrence of new cancers, after someone has already had breast cancer. Do they expect Aromasin will be used originally to treat someone who has first time around breast cancer.

JONES: Yes, I think this is really preventative treatment. In the study, this did two things. I mean, the first thing it did was prevent recurrence of the first cancer. The second thing it did was really prevent the occurrence of second or new breast cancers.

O'BRIEN: Right now, as you mentioned, sort of the gold standard is Tamoxifen for five years. And in the study, you did about two and a half years of Tamoxifen before you switched people to Aromasin. So would then the treatment that would be advised be exactly that, two and a half years of Tamoxifen, two and a half years with the new drug, or do you think that Aromasin can stand on its own and actually one day maybe replace Tamoxifen altogether?

JONES: Well, that's a great question. That's the study that we are also currently working on, where we directly compare Aromasin to Tamoxifen. About 5,500 woman have entered that trial. These takes a long time to get accomplished. This takes us five to seven years to get these results. We're about two years away from having that answer.

But I think, at the moment, this study shows us that a strategy of two or three years of Tamoxifen, and then switching to a drug like Aromasin, is a very effective strategy for treating breast cancer.

O'BRIEN: Is this new what doctors will be advised to tell their patients?

JONES: I think that as of today, when this article is published, this is going to become an important new option for women with early breast cancer.

This is kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. I mean, each year we get a new piece of information. The picture becomes a little clearer, but I think today, there's a lot of home for women with early breast cancer.

O'BRIEN: Yes, some really, really good news, of course.

JONES: This is very good news.

O'BRIEN: All right. Stephen Jones, it's nice to see you. Thanks for being with us morning.

JONES: Yes, thank you for having me.

O'BRIEN: It's nice to have some good news to report on that front.

Still to come this morning, one governor who is already in political hot water could be in hot water literally speaking. Jeff's going to tell you why, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: It is the story of the morning, this deadly train attack at the height of commuter rush hour traffic, 8:00 a.m. local time in Madrid. The numbers are staggering, 173 are dead, more than 600 wounded. The prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, a few moments ago, addressed the Spanish people. Here is part of his address from Madrid:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRIME MINISTER JOSE MARIA AZNAR, SPAIN (through translator): ... has taken all the measures in their power to safeguard security of the citizens and to establish the public services that have been damaged.

In collaboration with the institutions in Madrid, we have started the program of evacuation of victims and assistance to their relatives. And, obviously, all the process of -- to find the culprits have already started.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Again, part of the address from the Spanish prime minister a short time ago. Also word from the White House, President Bush has spoken with Jose Maria Aznar, the conversation lasted about eight minutes in length, calling them vicious acts of terrorism. President Bush, again, condemning what has happened, the violence today in Madrid, Spain. It is our big story of the morning, in such a brutal, brutal way for the people of that country. We won't leave it for long.

O'BRIEN: And they're expecting those numbers will rise, because of course some descriptions are that there are many more bodies still inside the trains, and ambulance drivers saying that they don't know where to begin when they get on the scene, who to help. Terrible.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: There is a big story out on the economy, and not a moment too soon, plus, Target aiming to cut some of its department store chains.

Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business."

Retail sales, the street always looks closely at those.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, a lot of stuff has been covered this morning, Jack. First of all, Madrid bombing influencing futures as well.

Let's take a look and see where we are, first of all, on Wall Street for the year, though. And watch out for falling stock prices here. You can see the Dow and the Nasdaq both down. Your S&P still up a little bit.

As far as some stuff, economic picture coming across the tape, first of all, I want to mention jobless claims before we get to retail sales, Jack. That's some good news actually, falling to a two and a half year low on the one hand. On the other hand, new report out today saying Bank of America and Fleet, that giant merger, may be cutting up to 10, 000 jobs.

Now let's get to retail sales. That picture is fairly good. Up a little bit, .2 percent for the latest month, so we are seeing a little bit of pop on that, and the futures are moving up a little bit now because of that.

CAFFERTY: Target getting rid of its parents and then throwing itself on the mercy of the court, saying now I'm orphan, something like that.

SERWER: Yes, speaking of retail sales, something like that. Some of these corporate histories are really fascinating. This goes back, the company used to be called Dayton Hudson, going all the way back to the 19th century, venerable department stores in Detroit and Minnesota.

Then in 1992, things happened to this company. They formed Target as a discount store, kind of an afterthought, and they also bought Marshall Fields out of Chicago. 2001, they renamed all Dayton Hudson stores Marshall Fields stores. Some people said that was a mistake. These department stores have been flagging. Big department stores downtown, Jack, as you know is difficult.

Meanwhile, Target, that brand name has become very, very powerful. Now it looks likes the company is going to going to be getting rid of all these department stores throughout the Midwest. It's kind of a sad thing.

CAFFERTY: In other words, thanks for the start, but now...

SERWER: Now, we are a new Target, yes, right, exactly.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy.

On to the Cafferty File, another breakup for Liza Minelli and David Gest, my personal favorite couple. They were in negotiations for a reality TV show that would have brought their divorce case to the small screen. It would have featured a made-for-TV jury and judge, and the verdict would have been binding. Gest lawyer Raoul Felder says his client nixed the deal. You should send him a thank- you note on behalf of all of us.

Yes, this would be the second time a reality show fell through for these two clowns. VH1 had proposed the show when they were still married, and mercifully we were blessed with not having to endeavor that as well.

The latest road hazard comes from DVD players in cars, with more people saying that they are catching a glimpse of pornography through the vehicles windows on the road. What are you doing looking in somebody else's window?

A man in upstate New York was arrested last month after driving past police with an X-rated DVD playing on the passenger side sun visor of his car. Depending on where motorists are driving or parked, they can face fines or jailtime for watching X-rated DVDs. A Michigan lawmaker is looking into whether a $500 fine is needed. Cell phone manufacturers, a subject that we have explored in some depth on "IN THE MONEY," are trying to figure out a way to put pornography on those little screens that are now available on the cell phones. A matter of time before you can walk down the street and watch that stuff.

Connecticut's governor, one of the great worms on eastern seaboard, is in some hot water. It costs taxpayers $1,751 to pay a private company to move his hot tub. This would be Governor Rowland. That's him there, bigtime weasel. They moved it from Rowland's lake cottage to his executive residence in Hartford, and then they moved it back again. The hot tub was a gift from a husband and wife who both had state jobs. Rowland has admitted getting thousands of dollars in work done for free by a state contractor. They are discussing his impeachment in the Nutmeg State. This, like Michael Eisner, just doesn't get it, he doesn't know when it's time to go away.

SERWER: And it gives new meaning to the phrase "in hot water," because he really is...

CAFFERTY: That's a very good point.

SERWER: He is in hot water. He's been in hot water for a long time, that guy.

CAFFERTY: If you are going to have hot water to be in, you got to have a tub, you go tot have a tub to put in.

HEMMER: What do you think the proper punishment is for this hockey player, Bertuzzi? We're going to hear this announcement hear, expected about 9:00 a.m. Eastern time, about five minutes away.

Do you think so. Did you hear the attorney for Marty McSorley saying that the NHL may take a hands-off approach, because he's so good, and his team is so good.

CAFFERTY: So what's new?

O'BRIEN: And his team is not good without him, is what he said,

HEMMER: Watch that videotape.

CAFFERTY: People go to hockey games, some of them to see the fights.

HEMMER: That they do, and it's inevitable. CAFFERTY: And if your star player is involved in something that's on the edge, like this, do you really want to kick them out?

HEMMER: That's exactly the point.

CAFFERTY: The hypocrisy of all of this is nonsense. It's like steroids and baseball. Do they really want...

SERWER: He should sit down for the rest of the year, come on.

CAFFERTY: Do they really want Barry Bonds not to hit home runs anymore?

SERWER: Make an example out of the guy.

HEMMER: That announcement minutes away. We'll get to it right after this here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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