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Merck Pulls Vioxx, Citing Heart Attack Risks; Iraqi Children Injured in Car Bomb Attack; Last Minute Debate Advice; Mount St. Helens Could Erupt Again
Aired September 30, 2004 - 13:00 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-ANCHOR: The pharmaceutical giant is voluntarily removing one of the world's most popular prescription drugs, certainly, one of Merck's most profitable, after studies showed it increases the dangers of heart attack and stroke.
It's a breath-taking move. All those prescriptions came to more than $2.5 billion last year alone. This year's sales were pegged at $2.8 billion to $3 billion.
But on the other side of the ledger, FDA research showing more than triple the risk of serious heart trouble, even death, in certain Vioxx patients. We'll look at the medical implications -- or complications, rather, in just a moment.
But first, the financial fallout from CNN's Fred Katayama. He's in New York -- Fred.
FRED KATAYAMA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we're at the Manhattan hotel where Merck made a bombshell announcement over a blockbuster drug.
The company said it is removing its arthritis drug Vioxx, off the shelves, off the market, effective immediately. And as a result, the 1.25 million people in the U.S. now taking Vioxx will have to stop taking the drug.
The company said it made this decision after its clinical test results showed that taking Vioxx -- taking Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Merck chief executive officer Raymond Gilmartin explained the decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND GILMARTIN, CEO, MERCK PHARMACEUTICALS: Importantly, in the first 18 months of the study, there was no difference in the risk for heart attack or stroke in patients either taking Vioxx or a placebo.
Beginning after 18 months, however, the risk of a cardiovascular event did increase among those on Vioxx. Accordingly, we are voluntarily withdrawing Vioxx, effective today.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KATAYAMA: This announcement comes just weeks after Merck had insisted that Vioxx was safe. You may recall that back in August, the FDA said that test results showed that patients taking a high dose of Vioxx showed a three times greater risk of heart attacks than those not taking painkillers.
Well, investors felt the pain of the announcement today. The stock plummeted to an eight-year low, and Merck is getting hurt, as well. The company anticipates facing more lawsuits over Vioxx, plus, this will hurt its bottom line. It could eat up as much as a fifth of the profits of the company this year. Currently, Vioxx makes up about 13 percent of the company's total revenues.
And as for patients now taking Vioxx, well, they options, switching to other arthritis drugs. Merck says that its results do not mean that -- do not necessarily apply to other drugs in its class. But at least one analyst said that this bombshell announcement by Merck could make arthritis patients nervous about taking other arthritis drugs.
Kyra and Drew, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Fred Katayama, thanks so much -- Drew.
DREW GRIFFIN, CO-ANCHOR: We're going to get to the health side of this right now. Merck itself began warning as far back in 2002 Vioxx may cause heart problems.
Earlier today, I spoke with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the Vioxx risks, the benefits, and red flags.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The real simple point is that they found a link between this medication and heart attacks and strokes. Having said that, there were some rumors about this for some time.
You'll remember, Drew, that this drug actually five years ago was approved. It was supposed to be the medication that didn't make your stomach upset, like Motrin or Naprisil (ph). Might give you a little stomach upset when you take it. This didn't have that. That was the big selling point.
Started to hear these rumors about links with heart attacks and stroke. Two years later now, 2004, it's pulled.
GRIFFIN: And what's interesting it came up in a clinical study where Merck was trying to market this into a colon cancer drug.
GUPTA: Yes, you know, so a lot of these anti-inflammatories are obviously used for aches and pains. If you have -- maybe your parent has a little arthritis, something like that.
This was actually -- they were testing it to see if it might reduce the risk of colon polyps, which can be precursors of cancer; totally different area. And they found as they were studying that is that patients started coming back, and saying, "I'm having problems with my heart" or having strokes.
And so let's take a closer look, and that's what led to this.
GRIFFIN: A lot of people use this drug, Vioxx. A lot of people have it in their medicine cabinets right now. What should they do?
GUPTA: You know, this isn't one of those medications that you have to worry too much about stopping. A lot of people, a lot of doctors will say, with certain drugs you have to wean off of it over a certain amount of time, or be concerned about stopping it.
With Vioxx, you can pretty much stop this drug. There are other alternatives available. So depending on why somebody's taking it, they may switch to just Tylenol, simple Tylenol. They may switch to simple Motrin. They may need to be on something like Celebrex or lots of other drugs out there.
Talk to your doctor about it, but it's probably going to be the best advice to go ahead and stop this medication, try something else.
GRIFFIN: Merck said they didn't really need to pull it, but they wanted to pull it. Was this a wise decision or a business decision, rather?
GUPTA: Yes, that's an interesting point. This is what's called a voluntary recall. So the company's going to the FDA and saying, "yes, we should pull this drug."
I think they probably needed to pull it. I think enough data would have come out, saying, listen, you can't be giving an anti- inflammatory medication, having people have heart attacks and strokes. That's too much of a link. You're going to have to pull this drug.
So I think it would have happened eventually. I think they preempted it.
GRIFFIN: OK. We should learn much more about this study that found a danger with Vioxx. They pulled it off the market. We thank you for coming by.
GUPTA: Thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Iraqi children who had lined up to get candy from U.S. soldiers took the full force of twin car bomb attacks in Baghdad today. Dozens are dead or hurt in just one example of what Iraqi leaders are calling a major onslaught by the terrorists.
CNN's Brent Sadler has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A deadly car bomb attack in the southern part of the Iraqi capital, just several hours ago. These are the latest pictures. I warn you, some of them are quite shocking. They show many, many young casualties, children from the blast.
According to reports we have on the ground, a probable double suicide -- sorry, car bomb attack, against what might have been a passing U.S. convoy, or it seems more likely at the moment, a ribbon- cutting ceremony for the reopening of a water treatment plant.
This part of efforts by the Iraqi interim government and the U.S. military, to show that despite deadly attacks, such as we've seen today, reconstruction efforts are still continuing amid the backdrop of insurgent violence.
It may well have been that insurgents set off these explosions to cause maximum loss of life and injuries among those taking part in this ceremony.
Now many of those, as I say, young children in hospital, many of them have been invited by Iraqi officials, and U.S. soldiers, we're told, have been handing out candy to those young attendees of that ceremony. Hence, so many young casualties of that car bombing, just a few hours ago.
That double blast, again. There was another blast about a half a kilometer away against the Iraqi National Guardsmen and also, earlier, another car bomb attack against a base outside Abu Ghraib, a complex -- government complex there, a U.S. soldier was killed in that car bomb strike.
And yet another car bomb detonation went off in the western -- sorry, west of Mosul, at Talafa (ph), in the northern part of Iraq. This in the busy market downtown area of Talafa (ph). And again, more casualties there, mostly we understand, among Iraqi civilians.
In addition to that, on the counterinsurgency side, again, another -- what's called by U.S. military officials -- precision air strike against an insurgent safe house in the no-go city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Those terrible terrorist attacks likely to overshadow tonight's presidential debate on foreign policy. The stage set now and the stakes very high. Spin is on.
The first of the Bush/Kerry face-offs, less than eight hours away. Both contenders claim they can't wait. The subject is international policy, the venue, the University of Miami at Coral Gables in Florida.
PHILLIPS: George W. Bush is spending part of the debate day on a now familiar presidential ritual, consoling victims of hurricanes. And tonight, through its casualties of war, we're going to hear more about that.
And CNN's Dana Bash joins us now live from Miami with a preview -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you're right, the president did tour some hurricane damage today. It's -- and as you said, has become a ritual for him, especially in this crucial state, to make it clear that he is with the victims of the hurricanes and making sure they get federal funds.
But as you mentioned, tonight's debate is crucial for the president, not only because it's the first, but his aides concede because the focus is going to be primarily on Iraq, which is something that has defined his presidency.
Now the president's aides say that they have frankly been stunned at how well their Iraq political strategy about John Kerry has worked. Essentially, trying to make John Kerry look like somebody who has vacillated on policy on Iraq, and somebody who's not fit to lead.
If you just look at CNN's latest polls on whether -- whether or not either candidate has what it takes to handle responsibilities as commander in chief, the president has an 18-point lead on that.
But -- so this is something that the president will really try to cement tonight, that John Kerry isn't ready to be commander in chief.
But Bush aides also know that John Kerry is going to try to use this debate, with all of these millions of viewers, to try to pose questions to President Bush, because this is his war.
Questions about the decisions he made, whether or not he listened to his military advisers about troops needed, his own advisers, about how much this would all cost.
Now the president, we've been told, has been practicing his answers to these questions. Essentially will say, look, this is war, that things are hard, that he adjusted as -- as needed. But essentially he will try to say that John Kerry is somebody who doesn't necessarily have his own plan, and what he is proposing isn't much different than what Mr. Bush will do -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Dana, today we've seen some pretty heart-wrenching videotape, dozens of killed -- children killed in Iraq. We just saw that moments ago. Has either camp, the Bush camp or the Kerry camp, responded to that videotape? And do you think what happened today will be incorporated somehow tonight?
BASH: Well, so far, we have not heard any direct response or reaction to the videotape that you're talking about. But it would be very surprising, at least if the Kerry camp perhaps didn't try to incorporate the ongoing violence, maybe even what's going on today into this debate tonight.
And that is certainly really the crux, as I was mentioning, of what John Kerry is going to try to do, to say, "Look at what is going on, on the ground in Iraq. Mr. President, it's your war, why didn't you have the right plan in place to deal with this? And why is it going the way it's going?" And certainly that is what Mr. Bush is practicing for. And Kyra, his aides know that he's got to have the right answers ready for that, because he is so defined by this war. And it is something the candidates are talking about, much, much, much more than the economy and other domestic issues. And it's something that the voters, we see in polls, really care about.
PHILLIPS: Our Dana Bash, live from Miami.
And for his part, Kerry says it's not very hard getting pumped for what may be a make or break performance. The challenger says he simply thinks about the Bush administration's policies and approaches, and, quote, "if that doesn't make you angry and psych you up, I don't know what will."
We're going to hear a lot more from the Kerry camp later this hour on LIVE FROM.
And we can't say it enough: CNN's special primetime pre-debate coverage starts at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 Pacific. The big event starts at 9 Eastern and runs for about 90 minutes.
GRIFFIN: So how do candidates get ready for this make or break moment?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Stay cool, get plenty of rest, watch your makeup, and don't look like you're on your way to root canal, the way Nixon did back in '60.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Our Jeff Greenfield with some lessons learned from past presidential debates.
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What about the Dingell-Norwood bill?
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kimberly Osias in Mount St. Helens, Washington, where she's rumbling, again. I'll have the latest on that story when LIVE FROM rolls on.
GRIFFIN: And last chance to save face. Time running out to get your favorite picture on a stamp.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Forget celebrity poker. The highest stakes game on TV tonight will be played out in Florida in the first presidential candidate. Both candidates have been tutored, advised, drilled beyond the limits of human endurance. But just in case they need any last minute pointers, CNN's Jeff Greenfield takes a cigar in hand to become a back room debate coach.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The candidates will answer or comment upon answers to questions put by a panel of correspondents. In this, the first discussion on the series of four...
GREENFIELD: OK, now, look, this is basic. Stay cool, get plenty of rest, watch your makeup, and don't look like you're on your way to root canal, the way Nixon did in '60. You've got to look like you're happy to be at this debate.
Which is why we made sure there won't be any cutaways at these debates. Maybe you would rather be watching "Law & Order," but your audience is going to figure if I can take the time to watch, you shouldn't look like you've got a late date. Stay focused.
On the other hand, don't be too focused on strategy. Remember what happened in 2000 when Al Gore tried to physically dominate the shorter Bush. That one look and it was all over. Thank God the rules won't let you do that.
GERALD FORD, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union.
GREENFIELD: Now, I'm showing you this, because this may be the only example I can find where substance actually made a difference. After the press jumped all over poor Gerry Ford for prematurely liberating Eastern Europe from Soviet domination, that changed the way people saw the debate.
So please, if God forbid, you're going to bring up a fact, make sure you get it right.
GORE: I suppose a strong national patients' bill of rights.
GREENFIELD: On the other hand, even if you're right you can know too much. Here's Gore in 2000, trying to say that Bush wasn't really for the right prescription drug plan.
GORE: ... support the Dingell-Norwood bill. I referred to the Dingell/Norwood bill.
What about the Dingell-Norwood bill?
GREENFIELD: Beautiful. I bet most viewers thought Dingell- Norwood was a department store.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, with regard to my feeling about why I thought that his record, that he spoke as possible...
GREENFIELD: On second thought, look what happened to Reagan in '84 when his adviser stuffed him with a bunch of facts and figures. That was the worst debate performance of any presidential candidate ever.
Yes, yes, I know. He made that joke in the next debate about not exploiting Mondale's youth, and he carried 49 states. But you're no Reagan; don't take the chance.
ROSS PEROT, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look at all three of us.
GREENFIELD: But here's something that's pure debate gold. I call it political judo. You take a weakness and you flip it, the way Ross Perot did when he was challenged on not having any experience.
PEROT: Well, they've got a point. I don't have any experience in running up a $4 trillion debt.
GREENFIELD: So, there you are. Stay cool; stay focused; don't be too intense; don't forget to smile; make sure your facts are right; and -- oh, yes, be yourself.
Jeff Greenfield, CNN New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: So when Bush and Kerry step to their respective podiums tonight, how important is what they say compared to what they don't say? Media analyst Robbie Vorhaus joins us now from our New York bureau to talk about the impact of image in the waning days of presidential campaigning.
Robbie, good to see you.
ROBBIE VORHAUS, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: HI, Kyra. Let's hope that Mount St. Helens doesn't erupt in the middle of this debate.
PHILLIPS: Yes, there'll be -- I think there'll be some seismic activity within the political debate, too.
But you know, Jeff Greenfield came forward and he said, look, you know, what works is you've got to stay cool, stay focused, stick to the facts, be yourself.
I think of how Ross Perot and how well he did, because this was a guy that just sort of, you know, he said what he had to say. He didn't worry about the repercussions, necessarily.
VORHAUS: He didn't. That's right.
PHILLIPS: All right. So now you've got John Kerry. You've got George W. Bush. Definitely both men are from privilege; they are privileged. How do these two come across in a way that the common man and women -- woman identify with these two candidate? And can one do it better than another?
VORHAUS: Well, I think we're seeing that they can't. I mean, John Kerry does, in fact, come from privilege. He's married to a very wealthy woman. But he has a tendency of rambling. And so people want, in this day of sound bites, for him to get to it.
George Bush, on the other hand, has a very folksy attitude. He comes from a White House family. I mean, this is his -- for him, the second time around, the first time as president.
So both of these gentleman have different constituents who are interested in them. But the big story is that these guys work for us. This is a job interview. And we're going to be looking at these guys, not for exactly what they say, but whether or not we believe that they can take us 10 years, 20 years, 30 years down the road, with what they do when they're elected again, or -- or elected.
PHILLIPS: You better be careful there.
VORHAUS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: When we look at all the rules that have been laid out, you know, one of the rules, no cutaways. So you're not going to be able to see the expressions as much, and how they react to each other.
I mean, nonverbal communication, how much of an impact does this have...
VORHAUS: A lot, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK.
VORHAUS: A lot -- I'm sorry being I cut you off.
PHILLIPS: No, please.
VORHAUS: But you know, nonverbal communication, it's -- it's not so much what people say. If I'm sitting here like this, with my arms crossed, saying, "I'm open to what you have to say," my body language tells you that I'm really not.
These guys need to be able to have us see, feel, and hear what they are loyal to what we care about: that they are loyal to the environment, that they are loyal to democracy, that they are loyal to our children, that they are loyal to the things that are important to us, that they are here to protect nature, and not just the nature of the planet, but the nature of the country, the nature of our families, the nature of the security of this country.
PHILLIPS: When we look back at Jeff's piece, it's funny. You remember those moments.
VORHAUS: We do.
PHILLIPS: You remember the one-liners. You remember, you know, George W. Bush Sr., looking at his watch.
VORHAUS: That, too. PHILLIPS: You remember those things. But how -- you remember those. But for undecided voters, how much of an impact do these debates really have on undecided voters, or swing voters?
Are they really sitting there listening, "OK, what is he saying? What is he saying?" And then making their decision afterwards, "That's it. I'm voting for that person"?
VORHAUS: Kyra, they used to. And I think that's -- that's what we do in the media, is to be able to help people to see those important moments.
I mean, Alfred Hitchcock said that movies are nothing more but real life with the boring -- except with the boring parts cut out.
So when we see someone slip up, when we see someone spit across the room, where they make some remark that -- that we can focus on, that's different, that's unique, we'll do that.
But that's style, and right now, the American people want substance. They want to know what is going to happen tomorrow. They want to know that they are protected, that the world as a group comes around to seeing our point of view or at least that we see their point of view so we can have an honest communication and debate.
No, style is important. And we'll certainly -- Mom told me this morning, she said to me, you know, my mind is almost made up. The issues are what's important. But I'm still going to be looking at the color of their ties. So I think it's a little of both.
PHILLIPS: That's what your mother told you today?
VORHAUS: No, no, no.
PHILLIPS: I thought you said Mom told me.
VORHAUS: No, Candice told me to make sure I sit up straight and say nice things.
PHILLIPS: Your wife is a smart person. Media analyst, Robbie Vorhaus, thank you so much.
VORHAUS: It's a pleasure, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of the excitement is the -- is the unknown. What are we going to see when we turn around the corner?
PHILLIPS: On the edge of eruption. Rumblings from a volcano. We're live from Mount St. Helens.
Later, dealing with devastating storms. Efforts to help Florida residents pushed to the limits by four hurricanes.
Tomorrow on LIVE FROM, in depth reaction to the first presidential debate. Who will get the upper hand in the race for the White House?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: It's rockin' and rollin', but is Mount St. Helens getting ready to blow? Scientists say the earthquakes that began last week are getting stronger and have even issued a volcanic advisory but say they have no idea if and when an eruption could actually occur.
CNN's Kimberly Osias is on shaky ground in Washington with the very latest on this -- Kimberly.
OSIAS: Hello, Drew.
Well, I'll tell you, Miles may have had the Mojave yesterday, but I've got Mount St. Helens. And everybody is watching and waiting.
I'm told by scientists this morning that there is an increased energy level here, and you can almost feel the excitement as more tourists are coming to the area.
We're told that they're now more earthquakes that are deeper, measuring about 3 to 3.3 on the Richter scale. And we are at a level 2 alert. That is right under the red level. We are at an orange level. The red yellow would mean a volcano is about to happen, is imminent.
I want to show you the area of concern that we are talking about now. This is the crater and the dome area. It is about a 925-foot area that has grown over since that 1980 enormous earthquake when Mount St. Helens blew and killed 57 people.
Now, nothing would be of that magnitude that would happen here, but that dome area behind me is giving scientists a bit of a concern. It raised up northwards about an inch and a half.
Now why? They still are puzzling out exactly why. It could be a number of things. It could be CO2 or SO2 being emitted. But so far, the test results that have come back have indicated nothing of that kind. That has been very negative.
Now, if those gases would have shown something of statistical significance, that would have indicated some kind of volcanic activity.
But the sort of contrasting picture to that is that we've just seen an enormous volume of quakes lately, about 1,000 to 2,000, in fact, since last Thursday, since Mount St. Helens started waking up.
But I'll tell you, tourists are taking this opportunity of geologic unrest to take advantage and watch the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TOM PAPRITZ, TOURIST: Actually, the mountain itself is a beautiful mountain, even in the condition it's in. But I've been coming up here for 24 years. I take a picture of all the wildlife. I mean, people come up here and see it, in its beauty, then they're going to miss out, you know, not just on the explosion itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OSIAS: Now, it could go today, tomorrow, a week, a month. Nobody really knows. Or it could not go at all.
But it has certainly been a boon for tourism. People in the area have definitely seen a bump in business. A couple of trails have been closed. And anything 4,800 feet and above have been shut down, as well.
But there are a number of other trails are quite beautiful. Now the fog has cleared and everybody is just waiting -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Kimberly, we wait, as well. So the dome is actually rising, still, or are these earthquakes relieving any of the pressure underneath?
OSIAS: Well, we don't know the cause. I mean, it could be that rain water has collected and it has been steam and just gotten very, very hot. The dome is rising. I don't know now if it has risen any more. They haven't given me a new measurement yet.
They are also deciding whether or not they're going to go in, scientists, today with choppers to actually get other readings, as well. So as soon as we have that information, of course, we will get it to you.
GRIFFIN: Kimberly, thank you.
As they say, we're going to go through another shaker. On to Merck. It is dragging down the stock market after news of Vioxx.
Let's go to Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange for a look at reaction to this big and shocking news -- Rhonda.
(STOCK REPORT)
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Aired September 30, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-ANCHOR: The pharmaceutical giant is voluntarily removing one of the world's most popular prescription drugs, certainly, one of Merck's most profitable, after studies showed it increases the dangers of heart attack and stroke.
It's a breath-taking move. All those prescriptions came to more than $2.5 billion last year alone. This year's sales were pegged at $2.8 billion to $3 billion.
But on the other side of the ledger, FDA research showing more than triple the risk of serious heart trouble, even death, in certain Vioxx patients. We'll look at the medical implications -- or complications, rather, in just a moment.
But first, the financial fallout from CNN's Fred Katayama. He's in New York -- Fred.
FRED KATAYAMA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we're at the Manhattan hotel where Merck made a bombshell announcement over a blockbuster drug.
The company said it is removing its arthritis drug Vioxx, off the shelves, off the market, effective immediately. And as a result, the 1.25 million people in the U.S. now taking Vioxx will have to stop taking the drug.
The company said it made this decision after its clinical test results showed that taking Vioxx -- taking Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Merck chief executive officer Raymond Gilmartin explained the decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND GILMARTIN, CEO, MERCK PHARMACEUTICALS: Importantly, in the first 18 months of the study, there was no difference in the risk for heart attack or stroke in patients either taking Vioxx or a placebo.
Beginning after 18 months, however, the risk of a cardiovascular event did increase among those on Vioxx. Accordingly, we are voluntarily withdrawing Vioxx, effective today.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KATAYAMA: This announcement comes just weeks after Merck had insisted that Vioxx was safe. You may recall that back in August, the FDA said that test results showed that patients taking a high dose of Vioxx showed a three times greater risk of heart attacks than those not taking painkillers.
Well, investors felt the pain of the announcement today. The stock plummeted to an eight-year low, and Merck is getting hurt, as well. The company anticipates facing more lawsuits over Vioxx, plus, this will hurt its bottom line. It could eat up as much as a fifth of the profits of the company this year. Currently, Vioxx makes up about 13 percent of the company's total revenues.
And as for patients now taking Vioxx, well, they options, switching to other arthritis drugs. Merck says that its results do not mean that -- do not necessarily apply to other drugs in its class. But at least one analyst said that this bombshell announcement by Merck could make arthritis patients nervous about taking other arthritis drugs.
Kyra and Drew, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Fred Katayama, thanks so much -- Drew.
DREW GRIFFIN, CO-ANCHOR: We're going to get to the health side of this right now. Merck itself began warning as far back in 2002 Vioxx may cause heart problems.
Earlier today, I spoke with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the Vioxx risks, the benefits, and red flags.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The real simple point is that they found a link between this medication and heart attacks and strokes. Having said that, there were some rumors about this for some time.
You'll remember, Drew, that this drug actually five years ago was approved. It was supposed to be the medication that didn't make your stomach upset, like Motrin or Naprisil (ph). Might give you a little stomach upset when you take it. This didn't have that. That was the big selling point.
Started to hear these rumors about links with heart attacks and stroke. Two years later now, 2004, it's pulled.
GRIFFIN: And what's interesting it came up in a clinical study where Merck was trying to market this into a colon cancer drug.
GUPTA: Yes, you know, so a lot of these anti-inflammatories are obviously used for aches and pains. If you have -- maybe your parent has a little arthritis, something like that.
This was actually -- they were testing it to see if it might reduce the risk of colon polyps, which can be precursors of cancer; totally different area. And they found as they were studying that is that patients started coming back, and saying, "I'm having problems with my heart" or having strokes.
And so let's take a closer look, and that's what led to this.
GRIFFIN: A lot of people use this drug, Vioxx. A lot of people have it in their medicine cabinets right now. What should they do?
GUPTA: You know, this isn't one of those medications that you have to worry too much about stopping. A lot of people, a lot of doctors will say, with certain drugs you have to wean off of it over a certain amount of time, or be concerned about stopping it.
With Vioxx, you can pretty much stop this drug. There are other alternatives available. So depending on why somebody's taking it, they may switch to just Tylenol, simple Tylenol. They may switch to simple Motrin. They may need to be on something like Celebrex or lots of other drugs out there.
Talk to your doctor about it, but it's probably going to be the best advice to go ahead and stop this medication, try something else.
GRIFFIN: Merck said they didn't really need to pull it, but they wanted to pull it. Was this a wise decision or a business decision, rather?
GUPTA: Yes, that's an interesting point. This is what's called a voluntary recall. So the company's going to the FDA and saying, "yes, we should pull this drug."
I think they probably needed to pull it. I think enough data would have come out, saying, listen, you can't be giving an anti- inflammatory medication, having people have heart attacks and strokes. That's too much of a link. You're going to have to pull this drug.
So I think it would have happened eventually. I think they preempted it.
GRIFFIN: OK. We should learn much more about this study that found a danger with Vioxx. They pulled it off the market. We thank you for coming by.
GUPTA: Thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Iraqi children who had lined up to get candy from U.S. soldiers took the full force of twin car bomb attacks in Baghdad today. Dozens are dead or hurt in just one example of what Iraqi leaders are calling a major onslaught by the terrorists.
CNN's Brent Sadler has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A deadly car bomb attack in the southern part of the Iraqi capital, just several hours ago. These are the latest pictures. I warn you, some of them are quite shocking. They show many, many young casualties, children from the blast.
According to reports we have on the ground, a probable double suicide -- sorry, car bomb attack, against what might have been a passing U.S. convoy, or it seems more likely at the moment, a ribbon- cutting ceremony for the reopening of a water treatment plant.
This part of efforts by the Iraqi interim government and the U.S. military, to show that despite deadly attacks, such as we've seen today, reconstruction efforts are still continuing amid the backdrop of insurgent violence.
It may well have been that insurgents set off these explosions to cause maximum loss of life and injuries among those taking part in this ceremony.
Now many of those, as I say, young children in hospital, many of them have been invited by Iraqi officials, and U.S. soldiers, we're told, have been handing out candy to those young attendees of that ceremony. Hence, so many young casualties of that car bombing, just a few hours ago.
That double blast, again. There was another blast about a half a kilometer away against the Iraqi National Guardsmen and also, earlier, another car bomb attack against a base outside Abu Ghraib, a complex -- government complex there, a U.S. soldier was killed in that car bomb strike.
And yet another car bomb detonation went off in the western -- sorry, west of Mosul, at Talafa (ph), in the northern part of Iraq. This in the busy market downtown area of Talafa (ph). And again, more casualties there, mostly we understand, among Iraqi civilians.
In addition to that, on the counterinsurgency side, again, another -- what's called by U.S. military officials -- precision air strike against an insurgent safe house in the no-go city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Those terrible terrorist attacks likely to overshadow tonight's presidential debate on foreign policy. The stage set now and the stakes very high. Spin is on.
The first of the Bush/Kerry face-offs, less than eight hours away. Both contenders claim they can't wait. The subject is international policy, the venue, the University of Miami at Coral Gables in Florida.
PHILLIPS: George W. Bush is spending part of the debate day on a now familiar presidential ritual, consoling victims of hurricanes. And tonight, through its casualties of war, we're going to hear more about that.
And CNN's Dana Bash joins us now live from Miami with a preview -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you're right, the president did tour some hurricane damage today. It's -- and as you said, has become a ritual for him, especially in this crucial state, to make it clear that he is with the victims of the hurricanes and making sure they get federal funds.
But as you mentioned, tonight's debate is crucial for the president, not only because it's the first, but his aides concede because the focus is going to be primarily on Iraq, which is something that has defined his presidency.
Now the president's aides say that they have frankly been stunned at how well their Iraq political strategy about John Kerry has worked. Essentially, trying to make John Kerry look like somebody who has vacillated on policy on Iraq, and somebody who's not fit to lead.
If you just look at CNN's latest polls on whether -- whether or not either candidate has what it takes to handle responsibilities as commander in chief, the president has an 18-point lead on that.
But -- so this is something that the president will really try to cement tonight, that John Kerry isn't ready to be commander in chief.
But Bush aides also know that John Kerry is going to try to use this debate, with all of these millions of viewers, to try to pose questions to President Bush, because this is his war.
Questions about the decisions he made, whether or not he listened to his military advisers about troops needed, his own advisers, about how much this would all cost.
Now the president, we've been told, has been practicing his answers to these questions. Essentially will say, look, this is war, that things are hard, that he adjusted as -- as needed. But essentially he will try to say that John Kerry is somebody who doesn't necessarily have his own plan, and what he is proposing isn't much different than what Mr. Bush will do -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Dana, today we've seen some pretty heart-wrenching videotape, dozens of killed -- children killed in Iraq. We just saw that moments ago. Has either camp, the Bush camp or the Kerry camp, responded to that videotape? And do you think what happened today will be incorporated somehow tonight?
BASH: Well, so far, we have not heard any direct response or reaction to the videotape that you're talking about. But it would be very surprising, at least if the Kerry camp perhaps didn't try to incorporate the ongoing violence, maybe even what's going on today into this debate tonight.
And that is certainly really the crux, as I was mentioning, of what John Kerry is going to try to do, to say, "Look at what is going on, on the ground in Iraq. Mr. President, it's your war, why didn't you have the right plan in place to deal with this? And why is it going the way it's going?" And certainly that is what Mr. Bush is practicing for. And Kyra, his aides know that he's got to have the right answers ready for that, because he is so defined by this war. And it is something the candidates are talking about, much, much, much more than the economy and other domestic issues. And it's something that the voters, we see in polls, really care about.
PHILLIPS: Our Dana Bash, live from Miami.
And for his part, Kerry says it's not very hard getting pumped for what may be a make or break performance. The challenger says he simply thinks about the Bush administration's policies and approaches, and, quote, "if that doesn't make you angry and psych you up, I don't know what will."
We're going to hear a lot more from the Kerry camp later this hour on LIVE FROM.
And we can't say it enough: CNN's special primetime pre-debate coverage starts at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 Pacific. The big event starts at 9 Eastern and runs for about 90 minutes.
GRIFFIN: So how do candidates get ready for this make or break moment?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Stay cool, get plenty of rest, watch your makeup, and don't look like you're on your way to root canal, the way Nixon did back in '60.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Our Jeff Greenfield with some lessons learned from past presidential debates.
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What about the Dingell-Norwood bill?
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kimberly Osias in Mount St. Helens, Washington, where she's rumbling, again. I'll have the latest on that story when LIVE FROM rolls on.
GRIFFIN: And last chance to save face. Time running out to get your favorite picture on a stamp.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Forget celebrity poker. The highest stakes game on TV tonight will be played out in Florida in the first presidential candidate. Both candidates have been tutored, advised, drilled beyond the limits of human endurance. But just in case they need any last minute pointers, CNN's Jeff Greenfield takes a cigar in hand to become a back room debate coach.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The candidates will answer or comment upon answers to questions put by a panel of correspondents. In this, the first discussion on the series of four...
GREENFIELD: OK, now, look, this is basic. Stay cool, get plenty of rest, watch your makeup, and don't look like you're on your way to root canal, the way Nixon did in '60. You've got to look like you're happy to be at this debate.
Which is why we made sure there won't be any cutaways at these debates. Maybe you would rather be watching "Law & Order," but your audience is going to figure if I can take the time to watch, you shouldn't look like you've got a late date. Stay focused.
On the other hand, don't be too focused on strategy. Remember what happened in 2000 when Al Gore tried to physically dominate the shorter Bush. That one look and it was all over. Thank God the rules won't let you do that.
GERALD FORD, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union.
GREENFIELD: Now, I'm showing you this, because this may be the only example I can find where substance actually made a difference. After the press jumped all over poor Gerry Ford for prematurely liberating Eastern Europe from Soviet domination, that changed the way people saw the debate.
So please, if God forbid, you're going to bring up a fact, make sure you get it right.
GORE: I suppose a strong national patients' bill of rights.
GREENFIELD: On the other hand, even if you're right you can know too much. Here's Gore in 2000, trying to say that Bush wasn't really for the right prescription drug plan.
GORE: ... support the Dingell-Norwood bill. I referred to the Dingell/Norwood bill.
What about the Dingell-Norwood bill?
GREENFIELD: Beautiful. I bet most viewers thought Dingell- Norwood was a department store.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, with regard to my feeling about why I thought that his record, that he spoke as possible...
GREENFIELD: On second thought, look what happened to Reagan in '84 when his adviser stuffed him with a bunch of facts and figures. That was the worst debate performance of any presidential candidate ever.
Yes, yes, I know. He made that joke in the next debate about not exploiting Mondale's youth, and he carried 49 states. But you're no Reagan; don't take the chance.
ROSS PEROT, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look at all three of us.
GREENFIELD: But here's something that's pure debate gold. I call it political judo. You take a weakness and you flip it, the way Ross Perot did when he was challenged on not having any experience.
PEROT: Well, they've got a point. I don't have any experience in running up a $4 trillion debt.
GREENFIELD: So, there you are. Stay cool; stay focused; don't be too intense; don't forget to smile; make sure your facts are right; and -- oh, yes, be yourself.
Jeff Greenfield, CNN New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: So when Bush and Kerry step to their respective podiums tonight, how important is what they say compared to what they don't say? Media analyst Robbie Vorhaus joins us now from our New York bureau to talk about the impact of image in the waning days of presidential campaigning.
Robbie, good to see you.
ROBBIE VORHAUS, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: HI, Kyra. Let's hope that Mount St. Helens doesn't erupt in the middle of this debate.
PHILLIPS: Yes, there'll be -- I think there'll be some seismic activity within the political debate, too.
But you know, Jeff Greenfield came forward and he said, look, you know, what works is you've got to stay cool, stay focused, stick to the facts, be yourself.
I think of how Ross Perot and how well he did, because this was a guy that just sort of, you know, he said what he had to say. He didn't worry about the repercussions, necessarily.
VORHAUS: He didn't. That's right.
PHILLIPS: All right. So now you've got John Kerry. You've got George W. Bush. Definitely both men are from privilege; they are privileged. How do these two come across in a way that the common man and women -- woman identify with these two candidate? And can one do it better than another?
VORHAUS: Well, I think we're seeing that they can't. I mean, John Kerry does, in fact, come from privilege. He's married to a very wealthy woman. But he has a tendency of rambling. And so people want, in this day of sound bites, for him to get to it.
George Bush, on the other hand, has a very folksy attitude. He comes from a White House family. I mean, this is his -- for him, the second time around, the first time as president.
So both of these gentleman have different constituents who are interested in them. But the big story is that these guys work for us. This is a job interview. And we're going to be looking at these guys, not for exactly what they say, but whether or not we believe that they can take us 10 years, 20 years, 30 years down the road, with what they do when they're elected again, or -- or elected.
PHILLIPS: You better be careful there.
VORHAUS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: When we look at all the rules that have been laid out, you know, one of the rules, no cutaways. So you're not going to be able to see the expressions as much, and how they react to each other.
I mean, nonverbal communication, how much of an impact does this have...
VORHAUS: A lot, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK.
VORHAUS: A lot -- I'm sorry being I cut you off.
PHILLIPS: No, please.
VORHAUS: But you know, nonverbal communication, it's -- it's not so much what people say. If I'm sitting here like this, with my arms crossed, saying, "I'm open to what you have to say," my body language tells you that I'm really not.
These guys need to be able to have us see, feel, and hear what they are loyal to what we care about: that they are loyal to the environment, that they are loyal to democracy, that they are loyal to our children, that they are loyal to the things that are important to us, that they are here to protect nature, and not just the nature of the planet, but the nature of the country, the nature of our families, the nature of the security of this country.
PHILLIPS: When we look back at Jeff's piece, it's funny. You remember those moments.
VORHAUS: We do.
PHILLIPS: You remember the one-liners. You remember, you know, George W. Bush Sr., looking at his watch.
VORHAUS: That, too. PHILLIPS: You remember those things. But how -- you remember those. But for undecided voters, how much of an impact do these debates really have on undecided voters, or swing voters?
Are they really sitting there listening, "OK, what is he saying? What is he saying?" And then making their decision afterwards, "That's it. I'm voting for that person"?
VORHAUS: Kyra, they used to. And I think that's -- that's what we do in the media, is to be able to help people to see those important moments.
I mean, Alfred Hitchcock said that movies are nothing more but real life with the boring -- except with the boring parts cut out.
So when we see someone slip up, when we see someone spit across the room, where they make some remark that -- that we can focus on, that's different, that's unique, we'll do that.
But that's style, and right now, the American people want substance. They want to know what is going to happen tomorrow. They want to know that they are protected, that the world as a group comes around to seeing our point of view or at least that we see their point of view so we can have an honest communication and debate.
No, style is important. And we'll certainly -- Mom told me this morning, she said to me, you know, my mind is almost made up. The issues are what's important. But I'm still going to be looking at the color of their ties. So I think it's a little of both.
PHILLIPS: That's what your mother told you today?
VORHAUS: No, no, no.
PHILLIPS: I thought you said Mom told me.
VORHAUS: No, Candice told me to make sure I sit up straight and say nice things.
PHILLIPS: Your wife is a smart person. Media analyst, Robbie Vorhaus, thank you so much.
VORHAUS: It's a pleasure, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of the excitement is the -- is the unknown. What are we going to see when we turn around the corner?
PHILLIPS: On the edge of eruption. Rumblings from a volcano. We're live from Mount St. Helens.
Later, dealing with devastating storms. Efforts to help Florida residents pushed to the limits by four hurricanes.
Tomorrow on LIVE FROM, in depth reaction to the first presidential debate. Who will get the upper hand in the race for the White House?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: It's rockin' and rollin', but is Mount St. Helens getting ready to blow? Scientists say the earthquakes that began last week are getting stronger and have even issued a volcanic advisory but say they have no idea if and when an eruption could actually occur.
CNN's Kimberly Osias is on shaky ground in Washington with the very latest on this -- Kimberly.
OSIAS: Hello, Drew.
Well, I'll tell you, Miles may have had the Mojave yesterday, but I've got Mount St. Helens. And everybody is watching and waiting.
I'm told by scientists this morning that there is an increased energy level here, and you can almost feel the excitement as more tourists are coming to the area.
We're told that they're now more earthquakes that are deeper, measuring about 3 to 3.3 on the Richter scale. And we are at a level 2 alert. That is right under the red level. We are at an orange level. The red yellow would mean a volcano is about to happen, is imminent.
I want to show you the area of concern that we are talking about now. This is the crater and the dome area. It is about a 925-foot area that has grown over since that 1980 enormous earthquake when Mount St. Helens blew and killed 57 people.
Now, nothing would be of that magnitude that would happen here, but that dome area behind me is giving scientists a bit of a concern. It raised up northwards about an inch and a half.
Now why? They still are puzzling out exactly why. It could be a number of things. It could be CO2 or SO2 being emitted. But so far, the test results that have come back have indicated nothing of that kind. That has been very negative.
Now, if those gases would have shown something of statistical significance, that would have indicated some kind of volcanic activity.
But the sort of contrasting picture to that is that we've just seen an enormous volume of quakes lately, about 1,000 to 2,000, in fact, since last Thursday, since Mount St. Helens started waking up.
But I'll tell you, tourists are taking this opportunity of geologic unrest to take advantage and watch the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TOM PAPRITZ, TOURIST: Actually, the mountain itself is a beautiful mountain, even in the condition it's in. But I've been coming up here for 24 years. I take a picture of all the wildlife. I mean, people come up here and see it, in its beauty, then they're going to miss out, you know, not just on the explosion itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OSIAS: Now, it could go today, tomorrow, a week, a month. Nobody really knows. Or it could not go at all.
But it has certainly been a boon for tourism. People in the area have definitely seen a bump in business. A couple of trails have been closed. And anything 4,800 feet and above have been shut down, as well.
But there are a number of other trails are quite beautiful. Now the fog has cleared and everybody is just waiting -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Kimberly, we wait, as well. So the dome is actually rising, still, or are these earthquakes relieving any of the pressure underneath?
OSIAS: Well, we don't know the cause. I mean, it could be that rain water has collected and it has been steam and just gotten very, very hot. The dome is rising. I don't know now if it has risen any more. They haven't given me a new measurement yet.
They are also deciding whether or not they're going to go in, scientists, today with choppers to actually get other readings, as well. So as soon as we have that information, of course, we will get it to you.
GRIFFIN: Kimberly, thank you.
As they say, we're going to go through another shaker. On to Merck. It is dragging down the stock market after news of Vioxx.
Let's go to Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange for a look at reaction to this big and shocking news -- Rhonda.
(STOCK REPORT)
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