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American Morning

Bomb Blast in Northern Jerusalem; Alan Keyes Discusses Senate Candidacy

Aired August 11, 2004 - 08:29   ET

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

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


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone, 8:30 here in New York. Bill Hemmer along with Heidi Collins. We're watching this story out of Israel. Northern part of Jerusalem at a checkpoint, an explosion has taken place. We don't have much more information on that. No word yet on casualties there, but we are told by the Associated Press that dozens of ambulances have been rushed to that scene, so we will get you more on that when we get it, here on AMERICAN MORNING. We're watching that quite closely.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Also, we're going to be talking with the new GOP Senate candidate out of Illinois. That would be Alan Keyes.

Already, though, his Democratic opponent is scolding him for some controversial racial rhetoric.

We're going to hear what Keyes himself has to say.

HEMMER: Also, heart disease among women said to be the number one killer in the U.S. One big reason -- women don't show the same warning signs that men do, and we'll talk to Sanjay in a moment to see what you need to look out for in that area.

COLLINS: Also, more 9/11 hearings today on Capitol Hill based on testimony so far. The threat from al Qaeda may be greater than previously thought. We'll go live to Washington for more on that.

HEMMER: All right, in the meantime though let's talk about the Senate race in Illinois. He's never been a resident of Illinois until lately, but he's playing one now in a campaign for the state's open U.S. Senate seat.

Republican Alan Keyes entered the race just about a week ago. His opponent, Barack Obama, said to be a future star within the Democratic Party. Alan Keyes my guest now in Chicago and good morning to you, nice to have you along with us today.

ALAN KEYES (R), ILLINOIS SENATE CANDIDATE: Good morning. Good to be here. Actually, I entered the race on Sunday.

HEMMER: On Sunday. So less than a week then, all right? It's official, though.

KEYES: Way less.

HEMMER: Why should someone in the state of Illinois vote for a man from the state of Maryland?

KEYES: Actually, I am from the state of Illinois now, but they should vote for me if they believe in the things I believe in and want to support those things for Illinois and for this country.

The reason that we should, in fact, vote for anybody who is a candidate for office. And there are a lot of people in Illinois who do believe, as I do, about things like the importance of respecting the basic declaration of principles that protect the life of the innocent.

Limiting government, having a tax system that isn't essentially another form of oppression that takes control of money out of people's hands, having (AUDIO GAP) parents to make the critical judgments for their own children.

If they believe these kinds of things and want to respect the traditional family, for instance, and not embrace an understanding that destroys its moral foundations, then they are already part of the same community that I belong to, and those -- there are a lot of those folks in Illinois.

They are already part of the community of Alan Keyes, and they will be supporting the things that, in common, we deeply believe are important to this state and this country.

HEMMER: Well, let me take you back to the year 2000. Hillary Clinton, a new resident in the state of New York -- in fact, at that time you said this about Hillary Clinton's running for the senate here in New York: "I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness to go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there. So I certainly wouldn't imitate it."

It appears you have in 2004. Care to go back on those words?

KEYES: Well, I don't. Absolutely not. Hillary Clinton did what she did for the sake of her agenda of personal ambition, carefully planned and worked out over months in which she was using and abusing the state of New York -- because she looked at several other states -- as a platform for her personal ambition.

I, on the other hand, have responded to the call of the people of Illinois who have asked me to come and help them with a crisis situation. It doesn't violate my principle understanding of federalism because federalism has two parts.

State sovereignty and national unity. When the principles of national union are threatened, then state sovereignty takes second place to defending those principles.

That was the basis of Lincoln's statesmanship, the greatest statesman, I think, in American history who came (AUDIO GAP) here in fulfillment of my principled understanding of federalism, called here by the sovereign choice of the leaders and grassroots of the Republican Party of Illinois. In every way, my step is consistent because I'm not serving an agenda of (AUDIO GAP) the very agenda of principle that Hillary Clinton violated.

HEMMER: We -- apologies to our viewers here -- we're getting a bit of an interrupt there in the satellite -- not sure if it's the weather system moving across the middle part of the country or not, but we're going to hang with this.

Back on the screen, you said this about your opponent. "I would still be picking cotton if the country's moral principles had not been shaped by the Declaration of Independence. Obama has broken those and rejected those principles -- he has taken the slaveholder's position."

Spoken in August of 2004, just a few days ago. Barack Obama answered you this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS SENATE CANDIDATE: I do suggest that he look, even to members of his own party, to see whether it's appropriate to use that kind of language.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Appropriate use of language. Is it?

KEYES: Of course. Obama thinks that I look to people in the party or anybody else for my understanding of the great issue of American history? I look to my heritage. My ancestors were slaves. I spent a good deal of my time thinking about the issue of slavery and have written about it and have in fact made my understanding of the principles that were involved in its abolition one of the key focuses of my career in public life.

So I think I understand a great deal about it. First thing I understand, by the way, is that slavery is not a racial issue; it's an issue of human justice. Justice for all people based on the notion that every human being has a worth that comes not from human choice or constitutions, but from the hand of almighty God.

That was the principle that was used to overthrow the slaveholders. And Obama violates that principle when he withdraws respect from the life of unborn human beings in the womb.

So of course, the same deep issue of principle that was involved in slavery is dividing the country today over this heinous practice of abortion.

HEMMER: How do you rate your chances of victory?

KEYES: Well, I think there are a lot of folks in Illinois, as I say, who live in and serve the same ideals, the values and principles that have shaped the American conscious over the course of centuries responsible for abolition, responsible for the civil rights movement, responsible for the great advances in women's right and the protection of the innocence of children.

All of these folks who believe in these principles and have not rejected them, as I believe Obama has --they are going to stand with me in this election.

So I think my chances are very good.

HEMMER: Alan Keyes in Illinois, Chicago. Thanks -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Want to take you directly now to Kabul, Afghanistan where defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is speaking with President Hamid Karzai. Let's listen in for just a moment.

HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: ... on an increasing basis.

I would like to thank today, once again, Secretary Rumsfeld for what the United States has done for Afghanistan, for what he has personally done for Afghanistan -- the building of the national army of Afghanistan, the help with the political process of Afghanistan.

We are glad today to announce that Afghanistan has of today -- the mike is not working? But I will speak louder.

That Afghanistan as of today has 9.4 million people registered, and the election will take place on time as scheduled both for the president and the parliament.

We have the international community helping us. We have the coalition helping us. We have the United States helping us with the elections.

The country, as you all can observe, has difficulties still. We have security problems. We still have terrorism attacking us.

But the progress that we are making is because the Afghan people have the great will and enthusiasm to make this country a place that we all can live in properly, in goodwill and opportunity. And that is being achieved with the help of the international community, in particular with the help of the United States.

And I welcome Secretary Rumsfeld again and thank him for that.

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Mr. President, thank you so much.

I have been here a number of times, and I notice that this is a new setting for your press conferences. And it is lovely.

KARZAI: Thank you very much.

RUMSFELD: The trees are spectacular.

I also must say that each time I come, I notice the amazing progress that's being made: the energy one sees on the streets, the new stores and kiosk, the cars, the activity of the people. It is so clear that the Afghan people are winning the struggle to rebuild this nation. And that is encouraging and it suggests a very bright future for the country and for the people of Afghanistan.

You mentioned the Afghan national army and the security forces, and there again there's good progress being made. The goal, of course, is for the Afghan security forces to be able to provide for the security of Afghanistan. And each month and each quarter solid progress is being made.

Your leadership team has shown great courage in your efforts to unite the country's disparate groups behind the rule of law and to understand and meet the will of the Afghan people.

This upcoming election is an important one. When we talked some few months ago, the hope was 3 million, 4 million, 5 million, maybe 6 million registered voters, as you've said.

KARZAI: Yes.

RUMSFELD: I'm told -- I visited the joint election commission today, and they claim something in excess of 9 million registered voters, of which a very sizable portion are women; something in excess of 40 percent, they advised me.

KARZAI: Forty one point six, I believe.

RUMSFELD: When one thinks about it and recognizes that there has been a campaign of intimidation, attempts to dissuade people from registering, the surge in registration that's taken place is -- throughout the country, I might say -- has to be a very vivid demonstration of the Afghan people's determination to make democracy work. And to not mention this truly impressive accomplishment would be unfortunate, because it is impressive and it, I think, says a great deal about the prospects...

COLLINS: You've been listening to Secretary -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld there coming to us live from Kabul, Afghanistan, standing next to President Hamid Karzai talking about the progress Afghanistan has made.

And as you know, just two months from now presidential elections there in their first democratic elections ever -- Bill.

HEMMER: Want to get you to Iraq quickly now. We're watching the very latest out of Najaf. We are told now U.S. commanders on the ground now, first the Marines later backed by the Army over the past seven days getting ready for a major assault on fighters loyal to the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

They have moved to the cemetery earlier in the week; we are told these fighters now are backed up to the mosque, the holy site in the city of Najaf, fighting now in its seventh day, so as we get more developments in what's happening with the U.S. military, we'll get it to you out of Najaf.

In the meantime, though, want to get back to Carol Costello and the rest of the news at the CNN Center.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Bill, we're going to talk about Iran -- a military test in Iran.

Iran's defense ministry is announcing it has tested a new version of a medium-range missile -- that's according to state news agency. The defense ministry said the missile was tested to assess and evaluate changes made to that weapon.

Senator John McCain joins President Bush again for a second day on the campaign trail. Yesterday the senator and the president toured the Florida panhandle. The two stump today in New Mexico and McCain's home state of Arizona.

In the meantime, Democratic rival John Kerry is in Nevada. They'll continue his western road trip in Los Angeles later today.

A new poll shows that Medicare reforms could sway the November vote. A survey finds nearly half of Medicare recipients dislike the new prescription drug law and almost a third of those surveyed say the issue will effect their presidential pick. That is according to a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Help for the aging Hubble Space telescope may be on the way. NASA has announced it is moving forward with plans to send a robot to repair the telescope. The frontrunner for the mission is a two-armed device named Dexter. NASA has ruled out a manned mission due to safety concerns. Estimated price tag for the project? $1.6 billion.

Back to New York and Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Carol, thanks so much for that. Want to take you back now to Jerusalem. We've been telling you about an explosion there. We have learned a little bit more information and in the meantime we'll show you the first pictures available to us now coming in from Israeli TV.

We have learned through the Israeli military that five people have been wounded. This happened at a checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

At this point we know of five people wounded, one seriously. So as you can imagine many emergency services on the scene there trying to work the situation and help people out.

Once again, five people wounded at a checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, a department store plot involving wedding gifts. It may now be settled, Heidi. We'll explain in a moment.

Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" for Andy in a moment here.

COLLINS: All right, and heart disease. Did you know it's the number one killer of women? Well now, new word it may explain why. Dr. Sanjay Gupta looking at that coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and claims the lives of more women than men. According to a new study, many women who suffer heart attacks don't have a trace of chest pain.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CNN Center now with more on this. Wow, that's strange. I didn't know that, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really interesting, Heidi. It's always worth talking about heart disease and women.

People typically associate it with men, but women are the biggest culprits of it overall, and those women who do not have any chest pain, any patient who does not have chest pain is actually more likely to die from heart disease than those who do have chest pain probably because their symptoms are diagnosed much later.

Look, Heidi, this was a huge study: 20,000 people, 14 different countries, trying to come to some conclusions about the real characteristic symptoms of heart disease, some interesting findings they have. First of all, one in 12 people -- again, 20,000 people -- one in 12 people don't experience chest pain overall.

An important number. Most without chest pain who are these people? They are older women; they have diabetes, heart failure, or hypertension. So really important stuff there. Also, it's important to note that there are differences between men and women when it comes to heart disease.

Women's symptoms are going to tend to be more vague. Take a look at the list: shortness of breath. I mean that happens to a lot of people, but it can be a warning sign if you're at risk of heart disease.

Excessive sweating. Fainting, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, nagging pains in shoulder or jaw. The real message here, Heidi, for women out there -- we talk about a lot of different diseases on this show -- we talk about breast cancer, we talk about all the different infectious diseases.

Heart disease remains the biggest killer of women in the United States, 500,000 or so women a year will die of heart disease. That number is larger than men.

COLLINS: All right, so physically then, why do women not feel these chest pains that men usually do? What's so different?

GUPTA: Well, there is some difference. Heart disease is similar in some ways between men and women but it's different in terms of the way the disease actually attacks the heart.

Take a look at this animation here. Typically when you talk about heart disease, you talk about a large sort of blockage of one of the main blood vessels in the heart there. You can see what that big red sort of coming down the middle is one of the major blood vessels that often gets blocked in a man with heart disease.

In women, typically the blood vessels that are effected, much smaller blood vessels, harder to detect by an arteriogram and then therefore the symptoms may be different as well. They're diagnosed later, Heidi, and therefore they're treated later and that's why the numbers are problematic.

COLLINS: All right, well, speaking of treatment, do women respond as well as men to some of the heart treatments like lowering your cholesterol with drugs?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean if you talk about the drugs, like cholesterol lowering drugs, ace inhibitors, medications like that, yes they respond very well. But procedural type stuff bypass surgery, sometimes not as well. Again, the key is early diagnosis, Heidi.

COLLINS: As always. All right, Sanjay Gupta thanks so much for that.

GUPTA: Thank you.

COLLINS: Still to come now is the beautiful world of wedding registries just another dirty business? We're "Minding Your Business" coming up next here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back everyone. Trouble settled in the world of department store wedding registries. And more controversy involving Wal-Mart.

Christine is working for Andy, "Minding Your Business" -- good morning. Where do you want to start?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, high drama with registering for gifts and it has nothing to do with the bride and the groom and the mother of the bride. It has everything to do with the big department stores and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

New York is looking out for your wedding registry -- the New York attorney general has accused federated May Department Stores of keeping Lennox and Waterford crystal brands out of Bed, Bath & Beyond stores -- that's a lower priced chain, and it competes with the department stores owned by May.

Now Lennox china and Waterford crystal are staples on wedding registries and it is alleged that the big department stores were concerned that you'd be able to get it cheaper Bed, Bath & Beyond wanted to use those two brands as sort of anchors for a new tableware department and now the whole thing is being settled for just about $3 million so...

HEMMER: Just about.

ROMANS: Just about $3 million so settling that -- not admitting any guilt, of course.

HEMMER: Quickly on Wal-Mart, what?

ROMANS: Wal-Mart -- L.A. says to Wal-Mart keep out. The Council, the City Council there, proposing a law to further study the impact of Wal-Mart on Los Angeles. In fact, it wants to know if it will depress wages, if it will hurt standards of living, if it will hurt neighborhood businesses. Wal-Mart has faced after years of mega growth -- really facing some trouble in California these days.

HEMMER: All right, Christine -- thanks. How about studying the impact of Toure?

ROMANS: I know. The Toure experience.

COLLINS: We should have a graphic. Your turn.

TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Just a couple of ideas from the Toure Experience. Good ways to spend your time. "Maria Full of Grace" is this beautiful, elegant movie that's out. It's heartbreaking tale of a 17-year-old Columbian drug mule who comes to America with pellets of heroin in her stomach.

A really sort of heartbreaking tale. Also, moving ahead, in 1977, Richard Pryor -- NBC asked Richard Pryor to do 10 shows, but he's so edgy he could only get through four. They're all here -- they're all brilliant. In one sketch he plays the president of the United States and he's very cool until somebody asks a question about his mother. And then of course he freaks out. You know you can't talk about your mother.

And from my own personal library, this is Salman Rushdie's "The Ground Beneath Her Feet." A fantastic book, a very modern tale about the greatest pop singer of our day, a combination of Madonna and Elvis. It's brilliant, it's madcap, it's hilarious. Bono from U2 helped him with it. It's nearly 600 pages and you will want more. It's that much fun.

HEMMER: It's like the Oprah Book Club, isn't it?

TOURE: It is but the Toure Book Club.

COLLINS: The Toure Book Club, yes.

HEMMER: Very nice.

TOURE: That's the second time this week you called me Oprah. There will not be a third.

HEMMER: You called me Michael Moore once so we're even.

(LAUGHTER)

See you later.

COLLINS: All right, Toure thanks.

Lots of stories breaking this morning. In Iraq, Najaf, the very latest from there and in Israel a car bombing last hour. We'll get you up to date on all of those stories.

And, in the U.S. a hurricane could hit Florida before the weekend along with another storm right behind her. The wicked weather forecast ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired August 11, 2004 - 08:29   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone, 8:30 here in New York. Bill Hemmer along with Heidi Collins. We're watching this story out of Israel. Northern part of Jerusalem at a checkpoint, an explosion has taken place. We don't have much more information on that. No word yet on casualties there, but we are told by the Associated Press that dozens of ambulances have been rushed to that scene, so we will get you more on that when we get it, here on AMERICAN MORNING. We're watching that quite closely.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Also, we're going to be talking with the new GOP Senate candidate out of Illinois. That would be Alan Keyes.

Already, though, his Democratic opponent is scolding him for some controversial racial rhetoric.

We're going to hear what Keyes himself has to say.

HEMMER: Also, heart disease among women said to be the number one killer in the U.S. One big reason -- women don't show the same warning signs that men do, and we'll talk to Sanjay in a moment to see what you need to look out for in that area.

COLLINS: Also, more 9/11 hearings today on Capitol Hill based on testimony so far. The threat from al Qaeda may be greater than previously thought. We'll go live to Washington for more on that.

HEMMER: All right, in the meantime though let's talk about the Senate race in Illinois. He's never been a resident of Illinois until lately, but he's playing one now in a campaign for the state's open U.S. Senate seat.

Republican Alan Keyes entered the race just about a week ago. His opponent, Barack Obama, said to be a future star within the Democratic Party. Alan Keyes my guest now in Chicago and good morning to you, nice to have you along with us today.

ALAN KEYES (R), ILLINOIS SENATE CANDIDATE: Good morning. Good to be here. Actually, I entered the race on Sunday.

HEMMER: On Sunday. So less than a week then, all right? It's official, though.

KEYES: Way less.

HEMMER: Why should someone in the state of Illinois vote for a man from the state of Maryland?

KEYES: Actually, I am from the state of Illinois now, but they should vote for me if they believe in the things I believe in and want to support those things for Illinois and for this country.

The reason that we should, in fact, vote for anybody who is a candidate for office. And there are a lot of people in Illinois who do believe, as I do, about things like the importance of respecting the basic declaration of principles that protect the life of the innocent.

Limiting government, having a tax system that isn't essentially another form of oppression that takes control of money out of people's hands, having (AUDIO GAP) parents to make the critical judgments for their own children.

If they believe these kinds of things and want to respect the traditional family, for instance, and not embrace an understanding that destroys its moral foundations, then they are already part of the same community that I belong to, and those -- there are a lot of those folks in Illinois.

They are already part of the community of Alan Keyes, and they will be supporting the things that, in common, we deeply believe are important to this state and this country.

HEMMER: Well, let me take you back to the year 2000. Hillary Clinton, a new resident in the state of New York -- in fact, at that time you said this about Hillary Clinton's running for the senate here in New York: "I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness to go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there. So I certainly wouldn't imitate it."

It appears you have in 2004. Care to go back on those words?

KEYES: Well, I don't. Absolutely not. Hillary Clinton did what she did for the sake of her agenda of personal ambition, carefully planned and worked out over months in which she was using and abusing the state of New York -- because she looked at several other states -- as a platform for her personal ambition.

I, on the other hand, have responded to the call of the people of Illinois who have asked me to come and help them with a crisis situation. It doesn't violate my principle understanding of federalism because federalism has two parts.

State sovereignty and national unity. When the principles of national union are threatened, then state sovereignty takes second place to defending those principles.

That was the basis of Lincoln's statesmanship, the greatest statesman, I think, in American history who came (AUDIO GAP) here in fulfillment of my principled understanding of federalism, called here by the sovereign choice of the leaders and grassroots of the Republican Party of Illinois. In every way, my step is consistent because I'm not serving an agenda of (AUDIO GAP) the very agenda of principle that Hillary Clinton violated.

HEMMER: We -- apologies to our viewers here -- we're getting a bit of an interrupt there in the satellite -- not sure if it's the weather system moving across the middle part of the country or not, but we're going to hang with this.

Back on the screen, you said this about your opponent. "I would still be picking cotton if the country's moral principles had not been shaped by the Declaration of Independence. Obama has broken those and rejected those principles -- he has taken the slaveholder's position."

Spoken in August of 2004, just a few days ago. Barack Obama answered you this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS SENATE CANDIDATE: I do suggest that he look, even to members of his own party, to see whether it's appropriate to use that kind of language.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Appropriate use of language. Is it?

KEYES: Of course. Obama thinks that I look to people in the party or anybody else for my understanding of the great issue of American history? I look to my heritage. My ancestors were slaves. I spent a good deal of my time thinking about the issue of slavery and have written about it and have in fact made my understanding of the principles that were involved in its abolition one of the key focuses of my career in public life.

So I think I understand a great deal about it. First thing I understand, by the way, is that slavery is not a racial issue; it's an issue of human justice. Justice for all people based on the notion that every human being has a worth that comes not from human choice or constitutions, but from the hand of almighty God.

That was the principle that was used to overthrow the slaveholders. And Obama violates that principle when he withdraws respect from the life of unborn human beings in the womb.

So of course, the same deep issue of principle that was involved in slavery is dividing the country today over this heinous practice of abortion.

HEMMER: How do you rate your chances of victory?

KEYES: Well, I think there are a lot of folks in Illinois, as I say, who live in and serve the same ideals, the values and principles that have shaped the American conscious over the course of centuries responsible for abolition, responsible for the civil rights movement, responsible for the great advances in women's right and the protection of the innocence of children.

All of these folks who believe in these principles and have not rejected them, as I believe Obama has --they are going to stand with me in this election.

So I think my chances are very good.

HEMMER: Alan Keyes in Illinois, Chicago. Thanks -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Want to take you directly now to Kabul, Afghanistan where defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is speaking with President Hamid Karzai. Let's listen in for just a moment.

HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: ... on an increasing basis.

I would like to thank today, once again, Secretary Rumsfeld for what the United States has done for Afghanistan, for what he has personally done for Afghanistan -- the building of the national army of Afghanistan, the help with the political process of Afghanistan.

We are glad today to announce that Afghanistan has of today -- the mike is not working? But I will speak louder.

That Afghanistan as of today has 9.4 million people registered, and the election will take place on time as scheduled both for the president and the parliament.

We have the international community helping us. We have the coalition helping us. We have the United States helping us with the elections.

The country, as you all can observe, has difficulties still. We have security problems. We still have terrorism attacking us.

But the progress that we are making is because the Afghan people have the great will and enthusiasm to make this country a place that we all can live in properly, in goodwill and opportunity. And that is being achieved with the help of the international community, in particular with the help of the United States.

And I welcome Secretary Rumsfeld again and thank him for that.

DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Mr. President, thank you so much.

I have been here a number of times, and I notice that this is a new setting for your press conferences. And it is lovely.

KARZAI: Thank you very much.

RUMSFELD: The trees are spectacular.

I also must say that each time I come, I notice the amazing progress that's being made: the energy one sees on the streets, the new stores and kiosk, the cars, the activity of the people. It is so clear that the Afghan people are winning the struggle to rebuild this nation. And that is encouraging and it suggests a very bright future for the country and for the people of Afghanistan.

You mentioned the Afghan national army and the security forces, and there again there's good progress being made. The goal, of course, is for the Afghan security forces to be able to provide for the security of Afghanistan. And each month and each quarter solid progress is being made.

Your leadership team has shown great courage in your efforts to unite the country's disparate groups behind the rule of law and to understand and meet the will of the Afghan people.

This upcoming election is an important one. When we talked some few months ago, the hope was 3 million, 4 million, 5 million, maybe 6 million registered voters, as you've said.

KARZAI: Yes.

RUMSFELD: I'm told -- I visited the joint election commission today, and they claim something in excess of 9 million registered voters, of which a very sizable portion are women; something in excess of 40 percent, they advised me.

KARZAI: Forty one point six, I believe.

RUMSFELD: When one thinks about it and recognizes that there has been a campaign of intimidation, attempts to dissuade people from registering, the surge in registration that's taken place is -- throughout the country, I might say -- has to be a very vivid demonstration of the Afghan people's determination to make democracy work. And to not mention this truly impressive accomplishment would be unfortunate, because it is impressive and it, I think, says a great deal about the prospects...

COLLINS: You've been listening to Secretary -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld there coming to us live from Kabul, Afghanistan, standing next to President Hamid Karzai talking about the progress Afghanistan has made.

And as you know, just two months from now presidential elections there in their first democratic elections ever -- Bill.

HEMMER: Want to get you to Iraq quickly now. We're watching the very latest out of Najaf. We are told now U.S. commanders on the ground now, first the Marines later backed by the Army over the past seven days getting ready for a major assault on fighters loyal to the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

They have moved to the cemetery earlier in the week; we are told these fighters now are backed up to the mosque, the holy site in the city of Najaf, fighting now in its seventh day, so as we get more developments in what's happening with the U.S. military, we'll get it to you out of Najaf.

In the meantime, though, want to get back to Carol Costello and the rest of the news at the CNN Center.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Bill, we're going to talk about Iran -- a military test in Iran.

Iran's defense ministry is announcing it has tested a new version of a medium-range missile -- that's according to state news agency. The defense ministry said the missile was tested to assess and evaluate changes made to that weapon.

Senator John McCain joins President Bush again for a second day on the campaign trail. Yesterday the senator and the president toured the Florida panhandle. The two stump today in New Mexico and McCain's home state of Arizona.

In the meantime, Democratic rival John Kerry is in Nevada. They'll continue his western road trip in Los Angeles later today.

A new poll shows that Medicare reforms could sway the November vote. A survey finds nearly half of Medicare recipients dislike the new prescription drug law and almost a third of those surveyed say the issue will effect their presidential pick. That is according to a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Help for the aging Hubble Space telescope may be on the way. NASA has announced it is moving forward with plans to send a robot to repair the telescope. The frontrunner for the mission is a two-armed device named Dexter. NASA has ruled out a manned mission due to safety concerns. Estimated price tag for the project? $1.6 billion.

Back to New York and Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Carol, thanks so much for that. Want to take you back now to Jerusalem. We've been telling you about an explosion there. We have learned a little bit more information and in the meantime we'll show you the first pictures available to us now coming in from Israeli TV.

We have learned through the Israeli military that five people have been wounded. This happened at a checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

At this point we know of five people wounded, one seriously. So as you can imagine many emergency services on the scene there trying to work the situation and help people out.

Once again, five people wounded at a checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, a department store plot involving wedding gifts. It may now be settled, Heidi. We'll explain in a moment.

Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" for Andy in a moment here.

COLLINS: All right, and heart disease. Did you know it's the number one killer of women? Well now, new word it may explain why. Dr. Sanjay Gupta looking at that coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

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COLLINS: Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and claims the lives of more women than men. According to a new study, many women who suffer heart attacks don't have a trace of chest pain.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CNN Center now with more on this. Wow, that's strange. I didn't know that, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really interesting, Heidi. It's always worth talking about heart disease and women.

People typically associate it with men, but women are the biggest culprits of it overall, and those women who do not have any chest pain, any patient who does not have chest pain is actually more likely to die from heart disease than those who do have chest pain probably because their symptoms are diagnosed much later.

Look, Heidi, this was a huge study: 20,000 people, 14 different countries, trying to come to some conclusions about the real characteristic symptoms of heart disease, some interesting findings they have. First of all, one in 12 people -- again, 20,000 people -- one in 12 people don't experience chest pain overall.

An important number. Most without chest pain who are these people? They are older women; they have diabetes, heart failure, or hypertension. So really important stuff there. Also, it's important to note that there are differences between men and women when it comes to heart disease.

Women's symptoms are going to tend to be more vague. Take a look at the list: shortness of breath. I mean that happens to a lot of people, but it can be a warning sign if you're at risk of heart disease.

Excessive sweating. Fainting, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, nagging pains in shoulder or jaw. The real message here, Heidi, for women out there -- we talk about a lot of different diseases on this show -- we talk about breast cancer, we talk about all the different infectious diseases.

Heart disease remains the biggest killer of women in the United States, 500,000 or so women a year will die of heart disease. That number is larger than men.

COLLINS: All right, so physically then, why do women not feel these chest pains that men usually do? What's so different?

GUPTA: Well, there is some difference. Heart disease is similar in some ways between men and women but it's different in terms of the way the disease actually attacks the heart.

Take a look at this animation here. Typically when you talk about heart disease, you talk about a large sort of blockage of one of the main blood vessels in the heart there. You can see what that big red sort of coming down the middle is one of the major blood vessels that often gets blocked in a man with heart disease.

In women, typically the blood vessels that are effected, much smaller blood vessels, harder to detect by an arteriogram and then therefore the symptoms may be different as well. They're diagnosed later, Heidi, and therefore they're treated later and that's why the numbers are problematic.

COLLINS: All right, well, speaking of treatment, do women respond as well as men to some of the heart treatments like lowering your cholesterol with drugs?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean if you talk about the drugs, like cholesterol lowering drugs, ace inhibitors, medications like that, yes they respond very well. But procedural type stuff bypass surgery, sometimes not as well. Again, the key is early diagnosis, Heidi.

COLLINS: As always. All right, Sanjay Gupta thanks so much for that.

GUPTA: Thank you.

COLLINS: Still to come now is the beautiful world of wedding registries just another dirty business? We're "Minding Your Business" coming up next here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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HEMMER: Welcome back everyone. Trouble settled in the world of department store wedding registries. And more controversy involving Wal-Mart.

Christine is working for Andy, "Minding Your Business" -- good morning. Where do you want to start?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, high drama with registering for gifts and it has nothing to do with the bride and the groom and the mother of the bride. It has everything to do with the big department stores and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

New York is looking out for your wedding registry -- the New York attorney general has accused federated May Department Stores of keeping Lennox and Waterford crystal brands out of Bed, Bath & Beyond stores -- that's a lower priced chain, and it competes with the department stores owned by May.

Now Lennox china and Waterford crystal are staples on wedding registries and it is alleged that the big department stores were concerned that you'd be able to get it cheaper Bed, Bath & Beyond wanted to use those two brands as sort of anchors for a new tableware department and now the whole thing is being settled for just about $3 million so...

HEMMER: Just about.

ROMANS: Just about $3 million so settling that -- not admitting any guilt, of course.

HEMMER: Quickly on Wal-Mart, what?

ROMANS: Wal-Mart -- L.A. says to Wal-Mart keep out. The Council, the City Council there, proposing a law to further study the impact of Wal-Mart on Los Angeles. In fact, it wants to know if it will depress wages, if it will hurt standards of living, if it will hurt neighborhood businesses. Wal-Mart has faced after years of mega growth -- really facing some trouble in California these days.

HEMMER: All right, Christine -- thanks. How about studying the impact of Toure?

ROMANS: I know. The Toure experience.

COLLINS: We should have a graphic. Your turn.

TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Just a couple of ideas from the Toure Experience. Good ways to spend your time. "Maria Full of Grace" is this beautiful, elegant movie that's out. It's heartbreaking tale of a 17-year-old Columbian drug mule who comes to America with pellets of heroin in her stomach.

A really sort of heartbreaking tale. Also, moving ahead, in 1977, Richard Pryor -- NBC asked Richard Pryor to do 10 shows, but he's so edgy he could only get through four. They're all here -- they're all brilliant. In one sketch he plays the president of the United States and he's very cool until somebody asks a question about his mother. And then of course he freaks out. You know you can't talk about your mother.

And from my own personal library, this is Salman Rushdie's "The Ground Beneath Her Feet." A fantastic book, a very modern tale about the greatest pop singer of our day, a combination of Madonna and Elvis. It's brilliant, it's madcap, it's hilarious. Bono from U2 helped him with it. It's nearly 600 pages and you will want more. It's that much fun.

HEMMER: It's like the Oprah Book Club, isn't it?

TOURE: It is but the Toure Book Club.

COLLINS: The Toure Book Club, yes.

HEMMER: Very nice.

TOURE: That's the second time this week you called me Oprah. There will not be a third.

HEMMER: You called me Michael Moore once so we're even.

(LAUGHTER)

See you later.

COLLINS: All right, Toure thanks.

Lots of stories breaking this morning. In Iraq, Najaf, the very latest from there and in Israel a car bombing last hour. We'll get you up to date on all of those stories.

And, in the U.S. a hurricane could hit Florida before the weekend along with another storm right behind her. The wicked weather forecast ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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