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American Morning

Children Freed in Philippines; Cop Faces Tougher Charges for Beating Caught on Tape; Cancer in Your 40s and 50s

Aired March 28, 2007 - 08:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's Wednesday, March 28th.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts, in for Miles O'Brien.

Thanks for joining us this morning.

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?

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 (INAUDIBLE) on behalf of various senators (ph) who were allowed to come and go into the bus throughout the day.

And eventually, oh, what, about an hour ago, the standoff was basically finished as abruptly as it had started. He had asked the people around the country if they supported better education to light candles. Many people here did that.

An incredible scene, as we saw the children being transferred from one bus to another. They're now on their way to the hospital for a routine check-up, just to make sure that everything is all right. But they did seem to be in perfect health.

And Jun Ducat himself has been taken to the Manila police headquarters, no doubt, for some very lengthy questioning, indeed -- Soledad.

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.

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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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.

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.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILIP CLINE, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: Let me say that the past two weeks have been disheartening and embarrassing for me personally and professionally.

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.

CLINE: Anthony Abbate has been arrested, criminally charged, stripped of his police powers, and we are moving to fire him.

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. 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.

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".

CLINE: If you try and shield officers that are accused of misconduct, then you're going to have to suffer the consequences.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was Charles Thomas. He's with our Chicago affiliate, WLS -- John.

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.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

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.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Meantime, there are new calls this morning for members of Congress to hold formal hearings on the investigation into Tillman's death -- Soledad.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's very big news.

All right, Sanjay. Thank you on several fronts this morning.

GUPTA: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: We appreciate it -- John.

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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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?

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.

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?

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.

ROBERTS: Dana, obviously going to be a busy day there today. We'll keep checking back with you.

Thanks.

BASH: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Soledad.

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.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Eighteen minutes now after the hour.

Senator McCain grabbing headlines this morning, telling us in the past half hour that the surge in Iraq is working and that neighborhoods are becoming safer.

CNN's Michael Ware joins us now to do a little reality check on what the senator is saying. Michael, you've watched and you've monitored what the senator has been saying over the past few days. Generally, what is your take on it?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, overall, in the broad thrust, the senator is correct to say that the current strategy being employed, headed by the new American commander of the war, General David Petraeus, is, indeed, having an impact on the levels of violence in Baghdad, the capita of Iraq, particularly in terms of sectarian violence. Basically, the civil war. And in many ways, Senator McCain's Iraq policies have been amongst the strongest in a political sphere in D.C.

Nonetheless, the senator went deep overboard when he suggested fantastically that Americans could now dare to stroll the streets of certain parts of Baghdad and, indeed, that the top American commander, General Petraeus, drives about the capital in a Humvee that does not have weapons. So, he really put his credibility on the line there. And we see this morning with you, John, the senator backing away with that, putting his campaign vehicle into high gear reverse.

ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, he definitely said that, well, what I meant to say was that General Petraeus goes out there in the neighborhoods of Baghdad, and he also clarified his earlier comments on the Bill Bennett radio show to say that, I'm not saying people could walk around these neighborhoods without protection.

But he did certainly insist that things are getting better, and he blamed the media, in part, for not portraying that picture.

Let me play a little bit of what he said to me this morning and get you to response to it, Michael.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The fact is that the neighborhoods are safer, and every indicator of that, the number of bodies found, the number of deaths, the fact is we are making progress. It's still dangerous, it's still a long way to go, but the fact is that things have improved. And much of that you do not get to the American people, and that's just a fact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: What do you think about that, Michael, that we're not passing along to the American people the fact that there is some progress in terms of the number of deaths on the streets of Baghdad?

WARE: Well, in terms of the number of deaths from a particularly kind of violence in Baghdad, that's true. But even American commanders on the ground distance themselves from what Senator McCain has said about the broad-term implications of this.

Everybody knows that the insurgents and militias are lying low. Yes, the military is putting stress on them right now. But time and time again, they bounce back. They displace, they move their violence everywhere.

At the end of the day, nothing has really changed. The fundamental dynamics of the war aren't being addressed.

And we see today, with the release of a report for West Point by retired General Barry McCaffrey, where he spells out that Iraq is ripped by a low-grade civil war. Three million Iraqis are displaced, they don't trust their own prime minister. The government isn't functioning.

The police are feared. The army, the Iraqi army, is too small and underequipped.

U.S. support for the war has evaporated and will not return. Current deployment of U.S. forces is not sustainable.

He says, however, that the current strategy could work, that it's still possible to achieve a stable Iraq that doesn't have weapons of mass destruction and doesn't harbor terrorists. But there's nothing about democracy.

And correct me if I'm wrong. Wasn't that the central strategy of the Bush administration plan for this country, to be a shining beacon for the rest of the Middle East?

ROBERTS: And Michael, McCaffrey backs you up as well, saying you can't go out in the neighborhood in Baghdad without an armed escort, as well.

Michael Ware, as always, from Baghdad, thanks. Good to see you, buddy -- Soledad.

WARE: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Reports of trouble in Paris this morning. Riot police and gangs of kids are turning one of the city's most important transportation hubs right into a nightmare.

Take a look at these pictures. We'll update you on what's happening there straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID WALKER, COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE U.S.: I am very, very busy.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You've probably never heard his name, but as the nation's comptroller general, David Walker tracks how the federal government spends our money, and he's got an emergency message for America.

WALKER: What's going on now is immoral. We're under water to the tune of $50 trillion, and that number is going up $3 trillion to $4 trillion a year on auto pilot. So, we need to start getting serious soon in order to make sure that our future is better than our past.

TODD: Walker says it's not just a warning for Washington, but for all Americans he says mimic Uncle Sam's bad money habits.

WALKER: They're spending more money than they make. They're charging it to their credit card. And they're going to have to pay it off with compound interest in the future.

TODD: That's why Walker is taking his message cross country in what he calls a fiscal wake-up tour.

WALKER: I decided that the people needed to hear the facts. They needed to know the truth, so that their elected officials would be able to start making some tough choices without losing their jobs.

TODD: Walker says those tough choices include reinstating controls on federal spending, reforming Medicare and Social Security, and overhauling what he calls an unsustainable health care system that threatens to bankrupt America.

WALKER: It's going to take us probably 20 years to do all the things that need to be done to put us on a prudent and sustainable long-term path. But we need to get started now, because the clock is ticking and time is working against us.

TODD: Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

O'BRIEN: The battle in Iraq and the growing battle in Congress to bring the troops home. Senate Democrats scored a big victory over the White House, and the president's expected to talk about Iraq in just about 90 minutes or so.

CNN's Elaine Quijano live at the White House for us with a preview.

Good morning to you, Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

Well, President Bush has vowed to veto any legislation that includes any kind of timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal in Iraq, and he is not backing away from that position.

Now, on the heels of that Senate vote yesterday, that did include of course the war-spending measure, including a timetable, President Bush will push back. He is scheduled to make a speech here in Washington before teh National Cattleman's Beef Association.

But officials say he will also talk about Iraq. He will say, quote, "Some Democrats believe that by delaying funding for our troops they can force me to accept restrictions on our commanders that I believe would make withdrawal and defeat more likely. That's not going to happen."

Now the president argues that a time frame would only hurt U.S. efforts in Iraq and, essentially, undercut any kind of progress that has been made there by the military. But the president today will make clear that in his view, if Congress, led by the Democrats, fails to come up with any kind of legislation that he feels he can sign, that the American people, he says -- he will say, will ultimately hold lawmakers responsible -- Soledad.

O'BIREN: Elaine Quijano at the White House for us. Thank you, Elaine -- John.

ROBERTS: Senator John McCain called the vote in the Senate yesterday one of the most shameful days that he has seen in his Senate career. McCain says he's convinced that progress is happening on the ground in Iraq. We talked with him earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fact is that the neighborhood are safer, and every indicator of that, the number of bodies found, the number of deaths, the fact is we are making progress. It's still dangerous, it's still a long way to go, but the fact is that things have improved and much of that you do not get to the American people, and that's just a fact. I believe that this new strategy is succeeding, and I think it deserves a chance to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Senator McCain earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.

In the Philippines a 10-hour standoff involving dozens of preschoolers and their teachers is now over. It happened in Manila. A group of men took a busload of children and teachers hostages, as many as 32 kids onboard. The men armed with grenades and machine guns. The leader of the group actually owned the daycare that the children were from. His name is Jun Ducat (ph). He says that he he took the hostages only to demand better care for impoverished children in the Philippines. The government caved into his demands, he freed the hostages, and he is now in police custody.

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've had a family history of breast cancer. It is the first time a major medical group has come out in favor of yearly MRIs to try to catch tumors at their earliest and treatable stages. And we've been focusing on the fight against cancer and how people in their 40s and their 50s are coping. Well over a million people will be diagnosed with cancer this years. A quarter of all cancer patients have a child under the age of 18. What about all those kids?

It is a focus for Dr. Paula Rauch. She's written a book how to raise kids when the parent's sick. It's based on a program that she runs at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

It's nice to see you, Dr. Rauch, as always. Thanks for talking with us.

DR. PAULA RAUCH, PED. CONSULTATION, MASS. GEN. HOSPITAL: My pleasure.

O'BRIEN: First and foremost, you know, you hear these stories about the cancer coming back, not only for Elizabeth Edwards, for Tony Snow, as well. Both of them have relatively young children. What's your advice when parents come to you and say, not only am I battling something that's going to be so hard for me personally, I've got an entire family I'm in charge of?

RAUCH: Well, I think first parents have to check in with themselves, make sure they have the information they need. They may want to talk with a professional, or a close family member or a member of their medical team, and think about what it is that they would like to convey to their children and what words they might like to use. But what's very important is that there be open dialogue that parents tell their children what their diagnosis is. They use the real word cancer, that they tell them if they've been in cancer treatment before, that they're disappointed to learn that their cancer has returned, to let the children know that there is a plan in place of what the next steps will be, which includes both the...

O'BRIEN: I'm sorry to interrupt you. I'm just curious as you list that -- is there is a rule of thumb that's different for a 4- year-old as opposed to a 14-year-old. Do you keep it from a 4-year- old? Do you tell the details to the 14-year-old?

RAUCH: Well, I think for a 4-year-old you definitely want to use the word "cancer." For children of any age you're going to invite them to ask their questions, and the questions that a 4-year-old will ask will be different than the questions that a 14-year-old will ask.

But in fact, using the name of the cancer is helpful as soon as children are able to communicate with us, and then we let them tell us what they're worried about, what they're curious about, and we use really the same strategies for talking with children and inviting that dialogue that you would use regardless of what the topic is.

O'BRIEN: What do those kids tell you? I know you talk to a lot of them in your program. So what's their No. 1 fear?

RAUCH: Well, I think often the first question that children asks is whether their parent is going to die, and it's the most feared question that parents have. It's important to let children know that there aren't any guarantees, that there is uncertainty that goes along with a diagnosis, and then to share with them in as optimistic and honest a way as possible what's ahead.

O'BRIEN: So you never say, no, mommy and daddy is not going to die, but I would imagine saying, yes, my form of cancer is very, very dire is also a bad answer. What's the right answer to that? RAUCH: Well, the kind of thing that a parent say is, it's true that people can die of colon cancer. It's true that people can die of breast cancer. Right now my physicians and my medical team are working on either curing my cancer completely and making it be all the way gone, depending on the age of the child, or my medical team is working on keeping the cancer as small as possible, or in as few places as possible in my body, so that I can go on living as long as possible and enjoying you as much as possible. And that I expect you and your brothers and sisters to also do all the things that you would usually do.

O'BRIEN: Like clean your room and eat your dinner is what you're saying. Straightforward advice, Dr. Paula Rauch.

RAUCH: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: As always, you know, I'm going to point people to your book, which is a terrific book, and also your program at the Mass General, also a great program for people who want really specific ways to talk to their kids about cancer or any other disease. It's really good.

Thank you, Dr. Rauch, appreciate it, as always.

Ahead in just a few minutes, what's the best way to detect cancer in the body? I underwent a whole body scan and an MRI. It turns out it may not be the very best way to find all cancers. We'll show you why.

AMERICAN MORNING is back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: A troubling trend in America's big cities: Murders are way up according to a report from the Police Executive Research Forum. A few examples here, Miami saw the largest increase, 42 percent rise in murders last year there. A similar trend in Houston, but the number was 12 percent. Here in New York City, the homicide rate increased by 10 percent, and then just across the river, Newark, New Jersey, ranks fifth on the list of homicide rates, with 106 killings last year. Just this morning, as a matter of fact, two people were shot to death and police have little to go on.

Our Kiran Chetry went Newark. A lot of people there are fed up, and they're taking unusual action.

Good morning, Kiran. What are they doing?

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's good to see you.

You know, there is a debate about exactly what to do. Everyone acknowledges there is a problem, and they have no doubt it is, the violence in Newark. Mayor Cory Booker won election last spring with a promise to clean up crime in the city. In fact, as you said, John, there was another double murder they're looking into this morning. But the city's teacher's union says that the violence disrupts kids' learning, and that they're taking a rather unique approach to try to help. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (voice-over): The help wanted sign is startling, but to the point -- the teacher's union in Newark, New Jersey, wants the killings to stop.

JOSEPH DEL GRASSO, PRES., NEWARK TEACHERS UNION: We thought it would cause a stir, but not, you know, the response we got. But we're really glad. We're happy because we really believe that if we raise the consciousness and we get enough information and people themselves that live here in this city, that work in this city, that we really could make a difference.

CHETRY: Del Grasso says that previous more subtle efforts to get the violence under control were not working, so he went for shock value.

(on camera): This is the billboard that's causing all the fuss here in Newark. There are six up around town with plans for even more. But the number business behind the message are real. In a city of just 300,000, 106 people were murdered last year, and this year in 2007, 22 people were killed, and it's only March.

STEFAN PRYOR, DEP. MAYOR, NEWARK: In fact, the crime rate is dropping since our administration took office. Shootings are down.

CHETRY (voice-over): The mayor's office and some business leaders say that the signs are giving the city a bad rap.

PRYOR: They don't help. The reality is that they are misguided precisely at the moment where we're making positive progress, where there are all kinds of signs of uptrends. These billboards are presenting the opposite impression.

CHETRY (on camera): One of the other criticisms, why spend the money on billboards when maybe some of the money could go in after school programs. That's what the mayor office has suggested.

DEL GRASSO: Right. Well, the mayor has to understand something. That, yes, he is a Rhodes Scholar, and I was only a second grade teacher, but we can chew gum and walk. We've done both.

CHETRY (voice-over): Somebody who is putting his money where his mouth is, Arthur Stern, a real estate developer. He says it's a wrong message so he's buying the billboard.

ARTHUR STERN, PARTNER, COGSWELL REALTY: Their contract expired at the end of this month, and we've rented it and locked it up for the next year, and we'll put a more positive sign up.

CHETRY: Stern says the billboard is going to cost him $52,000 to rent for a year, money he considers well spent.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHETRY: So, they may not agree on the best way to go about it, but the upside to this controversy is that people are talking about the problem and ways to fix it. The mayor's office is also quick to point out that the police department is trying to tackle the violence by creating a warrants division, which apparently they didn't have before, and beefing up a narcotics task force.

ROBERTS: But, too, you know, as we pointed out, the billboard itself didn't seem to have any effect on the violence -- two more people killed this morning. Why all the violence in this particular...

CHETRY: That's right. Well, I asked the mayor's office and the teacher's union, and they both agree that really it has to do with drugs and gangs, and they've seen a lot of gang activity, a lot of it fueled by drugs, and most of the killings, they say, both the victim and the perpetrator are involved in gangs and drugs.

ROBERTS: Great story, Kiran. Thanks very much for bringing that to us -- Soledad.

CHETRY: Sure.

O'BRIEN: "CNN NEWSROOM" just a couple minutes away. Tony Harris is at the CNN Center with a look.

Good morning.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning to you.

We have got these stories on the NEWSROOM rundown for you: A day care operator frees a busload of children. You watched this story unfold this morning. The man says he held them hostage to put a spotlight on the Philippines poor children.

Donkey at the wheel -- what have Democrats accomplished since their Capitol Hill takeover? We will ask two Congressmen for a report card in just a few minutes.

Aussie altercation. This is not good. A coach and a swimmer scuffle when she fails to qualify for the semifinals. The coach, also the girl's father.

Join Heidi Collins and me in the NEWSROOM. We get started at the top of the hour right here on CNN -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Wow, that's shocking. That's shocking.

HARRIS: Yes, and there's more.

O'BRIEN: I hope he's booted. Well, we'll look forward to that. Thank, Tony.

HARRIS: OK, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, she's a singer, she's a songwriter, she is a star, and she's a survivor. Sheryl Crow takes her fight against breast cancer straight to Capitol Hill today. We'll tell you what she had to say to us coming up next.

Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Breaking news this morning out of Saudi Arabia. The Associated Press is quoting Iran's foreign minister as saying that the female British soldier that's been held by Iran since Friday will be released later on today. This would seem to indicate that this whole crisis is moving, perhaps, in a positive direction. You'll remember that on Friday 15 British sailors were captured. They were in small boats going out from their main boat near the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which is a disputed area of the Persian Gulf. They were trying to intercept what they believe were smugglers. They had been onboard a dow (ph), which is one of the local boats.

As they came off of that dow, they were picked up by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps, seized and taken to Iran. Britain came out earlier today, saying that it has satellite evidence that those sailors were actually inside Iraqi territorial waters, not Iranian territorial waters. Margaret Beckett, the British foreign secretary, upped the ante just a little while ago, saying that Britain was going to suspend all bilateral ties with Iran, and now this news that the female sailor who was taken hostage on Friday will be released later on today, quoting AP, who said that they spoke with the Iranian foreign minister.

We're going to keep watching this story all day, bringing you the very latest on it. But it looks like some movement here, perhaps, a big break just about to come in it -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, John. Thank you.

We're focusing this morning on cancer in America, especially fighting cancer when you're in your 40s and 50s. Sheryl Crow learned she had breast cancer when she was in her mid 40s. She fought it. She's now she's cancer free. Today she heads to Capitol Hill to carry on the fight. We talked to her earlier on AMERICAN MORNING about just how it seems that more and more women are being diagnosed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERYL CROW, BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR: I think our means of detection are much more advanced than it used to be. So is that one reason the statistic is higher? We don't really know. We don't know that more women are getting it, or that the fatality rate is higher. All we know is that we don't have a cure for it, we don't know what causes it, we don't know what kind of play the environment has in it, and yet we're not doing any research on it to find out about that aspect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Cheryl is heading to Capitol Hill as the American Cancer Society makes some new recommendations about preventing breast cancer. They're urging annual MRI scans, in addition to mammograms, for women who have a family history of breast cancer.

And, Cheryl, just 45 when she was diagnosed, says she was a healthy person, had a healthy lifestyle, no red flags. And When I turned 40, I thought, you know, maybe it is a good idea to go for a whole head-to-toe body scan, an MRI, to see if doctors would find anything of concern for me.

It was good news. We did it yesterday, but it turns out it doesn't tell the whole story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN (on camera): Hi, Dr. Lee -- Soledad. How are you? Nice to meet you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Nice to meet you.

O'BRIEN: OK, so where do we start?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So first, I'm going to show you the machine, before we have to get dressed. So this is where you're going to have the whole body MRI. We need to have you change into the gown and remove anything that's magnetic, and then we'll bring you in and get you set up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the money spent on R&D, and still the hospital gowns are really unattractive.

O'BRIEN: You look great!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You lied, but that's OK.

So you're going to feel like you're kind of gradually getting wrapped up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing?

O'BRIEN: I'm doing great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here you can see on these images the whole body scout, so you're already getting a feel for what we can see on the MRI machine. We get a feeling for the kind of images that we can see in Soledad's brain, her cerebellum. If there were a tumor, it would tend to be bright on these images.

OK, I think we're done.

O'BRIEN: Wow. That's pretty cool, huh?

When you look at this, is there anything that sticks out to you as, hey, I'd like to check this out?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From these images. for example, we can see your pelvis, we can see your ovaries. They look fine. Your kidneys look good, and your liver looks good. We don't see anything.

The problem with a whole-body MR screening exam is it can't be all things to everybody. If you just ask us to focus on the brain and make sure you don't have any brain tumors or aneurysms, or any other vascular diseases, we can do a good job. If you ask us to do that and image the whole body and make sure you don't have breast cancer, and lung cancer and liver cancer, it's really not possible right now.

O'BRIEN: Is there going to be a day, though, when someone really could come in and say, listen, I want to do a head to toe and see if I have cancer, any kind of tumor or growth that I should be concerned about? And you could scan them high resolution, and really say, yes, I see this. Early stage, we can catch it, we can fix it, we can give you surgery. I can save your life with a full-body scan? How far away is that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope so, I really hope so. It's just a matter of time and a matter of research money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: So, clean bill of health, more or less. But you know, as she points out it, it really doesn't tell the full story. You have to continue going to your internist. And my internist, for example, I've got to tell you, he's said to me, listen, when I said, when I turn 40, should I get this done? He said, no, there's nothing that scan can tell you than I can tell you by running the standard battery of tests on you.

ROBERTS: Glad you're listening to your doctor.

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, I actually called him before I went and did it. But, you know, the cost of that, about $2,000.

ROBERTS: Yes, I was going to say, which brings up a couple things, the cost.

O'BRIEN: Not covered by your insurance.

ROBERTS: You were wrapped up like a baby there. How claustrophobic was it?

O'BRIEN: I'm not a particularly claustrophobic person, but yes, it kind of clamps you just like this, so I just closed my eyes, and the problem is, it really sounds a little bit like drilling over your head, so it's not that relaxing.

ROBERTS: Oh yes, it's very noisy.

O'BRIEN: But it didn't last very long. I mean, it goes from 30 minutes to 90 minutes, and that wasn't the worst part of it. Wearing the hospital gown, that was the worst part of it.

ROBERTS: At least you got a pretty good idea that nothing's wrong in you; you know that your doctor's right, for now.

O'BRIEN: For now.

AMERICAN MORNING's going to take a short break. But we want to show you how you can get involved in the fight against cancer. Take a look at this.

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