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Senate Debates Bush Nominees; Traveling with Pets

Aired June 06, 2005 - 11:30   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are right at the half hour. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's what's happening "Now in the News."
There are no states' rights when comes to medical marijuana. A 6-3 decision. The Supreme Court ruled it is up to the federal government to decide if people can grow and use marijuana for medical purposes. Several allow the private use of marijuana to treat medical conditions.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld received assurances that Muslim violence in Southern Thailand is a local problem and not related to international terrorism. Rumsfeld has been meeting Thai leaders in Bangkok. He heads to Norway tomorrow.

Pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its Shia Muslim allies took all 23 seats in South Lebanon's parliamentary elections. That vote is considered a blow to supporters of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for Hezbollah's disarmament. The U.S. considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

And about 30 minutes from now, a superior court judge is expected to announce a decision in the Washington state governor's race. Republican candidate Dino Rossi is challenging the election of Democratic governor Christine Gregoire. The race was decided by just 129 votes.

Keeping you informed, CNN is the most trusted name in news.

The Senate is back from a week-long break and back to the debate over two of President Bush's nominees, his controversial pick for U.N. ambassador and a long-delayed candidate for the federal appeals court.

Congressional correspondent Ed Henry has an update on where things stand. Ed, good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Republicans expect swift confirmation this week for Janice Rogers Brown, one of President Bush's judicial nominees that received political amnesty, if you will, by the filibuster deal last month. But there are lingering questions about whether or not that peace agreement will stay stuck together, whether or not it's going to fall apart. And nothing is a sure thing in the current Senate, given the rough political environment.

In fact, while they avoided that nuclear showdown last month, right now they are involved in hand-to-hand combat on a whole series of nominations that the president has sent up to the Senate, including John Bolton, as you mention.

And the man in the middle of all this is the majority leader, Bill Frist, who's been taking a lot of political heat. If you remember, on that filibuster deal, Frist -- there were a lot of questions about whether or not his authority was called into question because the moderates who forged that deal had left him out of the loop. And then, of course, Frist lost a vote on John Bolton's nomination to be the U.S. ambassador the United Nations.

That stalled Bolton nomination will probably come to a head again this week, as Frist tries to push it through one more time. Last week, President Bush said he would not give in to Democratic demands for more documents on Bolton. Here are the dueling arguments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Intelligence Committee reviewed the NSA intercept process and confirmed that, you know, Bolton did what was right. And so it's just a stalling tactic. And I would hope that when they get back that they stop stalling and give the man a vote. Just give him a simple up or down vote.

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD, (D) CONNECTICUT: I have no desire to have this go on any longer, but the Senate as an institution, where there is a legitimate request for information, ought not retreat from that in my view. So I'm still hopeful this week we can work out some compromise, vote on John Bolton. My read is, based on the cloture vote we had before we left, is that John Bolton would probably have the votes for confirmation if we can get beyond this request for additional information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: As you heard from Chris Dodd there, Democrats expect that when all is said and done, John Bolton probably will be confirmed, potentially as early as this week. But it looks like Democrats still want to force the issue on those documents, even though they're unlikely to get them.

The bottom line, though, is this is all just a precursor to the ultimate showdown, the expectation there could be a Supreme Court nomination coming to the Senate as early as this month. Any fireworks we see on Bolton or Janice Rogers Brown will pale in comparison to what we're expected to see if there is a Supreme Court nomination -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Which keeps people like you coming to work every day in anticipation of that.

HENRY: That's right.

KAGAN: Ed, a lot of drama going on around all this. And it's not as simple as Democrat versus Republican. A lot of what took place two weeks ago had to do with some presidential ambitions of people who work there on Capitol Hill. HENRY: Oh, absolutely. We saw that the filibuster deal I mentioned in which a certain number of centrists and pragmatic Republicans said that they would not vote for the so-called nuclear option, in exchange for some moderate and pragmatic Democrats saying that they would stop the filibuster of the judicial nominees.

The person who cut that deal, John McCain, expected to run for president in 2008. Bill Frist, the man who was cut out of the deal, expected to run for president in 2008. The early betting is that this deal helped John McCain, hurt Bill Frist.

Frist people insist that's not the case, that when all is said and done, this is going to help Bill Frist in the long run, because he's fighting the good fight for conservatives, in their eyes, in pushing for President Bush's judges. But other potential 2008 hopefuls, like Republican senator George Allen, have already been taking shots at Frist, saying he did not push hard enough in order to get straight up or down votes on not just some, but all of the president's nominees. This is just the opening shot in a long battle -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And you'll be there watching all of it. Ed Henry on Capitol Hill. Ed, thank you.

HENRY: Thank you.

KAGAN: To our CNN "Security Watch," the lessons from 9/11. Members of the September 11th Commission want to make sure the government is following up on their recommendations. The panel opened hearings today on whether enough is being done to prevent another terrorist attack. They're focusing on reforms with the CIA and the FBI.

And a court hearing has been delayed for a Boca Raton doctor accused of supporting the al Qaeda terror network. 50-year-old Rafiq Sabir is now to appear in a Florida courtroom on Wednesday. He's accused of pledging his allegiance to Osama bin Laden's organization and agreeing to treat wounded insurgents in Saudi Arabia.

CNN "Security Watch" keeps you up to date on safety. Stay tuned, day and night, for reliable news about your security.

News from overseas in our "World Wrap."

Just a short time ago, the International Olympic Committee released an evaluation of the cities competing for 2012 Summer Olympics. Paris and London both received very high ratings. Madrid and New York both got high marks. Moscow is in the fifth city in contention. The IOC will decide on July 6th.

To China now. Official state media there says three people have died of typhoid. That's after a week of heavy rains and floods in the southern part of the country. Flooding has already claimed the lives of 200 other people. Forecasters say the rain will continue over the next ten days. And in Moscow, high fashion from the image-conscious inmates. These clothes were designed by Russian prisoners, backed by a top Russian fashion plate. And the prisoners are competing for an award that will not include an early release from prison. Prison officials say they hope the competition will positively influence young Russian criminals.

A fresh look at an ancient remedy for chronic pain. Find out how millions of Americans are finding relief through acupuncture. That's ahead in our "Daily Dose" segment.

And if your summer vacation plans include a hotel stay, that doesn't necessarily mean Fido has to stay home. We'll show you the best ways to travel with your pet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: In medical news now, a Swiss drugmaker reports progress in fighting anemia among patients with kidney disease. Roe (ph) say that its anemia drug showed promise in a year-long study involving 61 patients. The trial showed the drug could be used every four weeks to control hemoglobin levels in dialysis patients.

When it comes to treating pain, an ancient practice is gaining acceptance in modern medicine.

Senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta examines the growing use of acupuncture in our "Daily Dose" of health news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 25 years, pain has been smoldering throughout 51-year-old Darrell Ortiz's body. Several major work injuries turned into a nagging sort of pain at first, but then basic things like walking, going to the grocery store, eventually even going to work, became impossible.

DARRELL ORTIZ, IN SUFFERER: Excruciating. I feels like I've gone through all of my injuries all over again, like they just happened. There's some times where I almost want to give up completely, you know. The pain just takes over.

GUPTA: Pain also appears in the sharp hues and images born of Ortiz's palette. Each day, with each glide of his brush on canvas, he could paint away the dull painful throb. But eventually pain would invade even that.

ORTIZ: Just lifting my arm like this, you know, to paint, sometimes I couldn't do it. I'd paint for a half hour and have to go to bed, you know.

GUPTA: That was the last straw. He tried everything, potent pain drugs like Oxycotin and Percoset, exercise. Nothing worked over the long term.

ORTIZ: I was to the point where I was desperate. I was willing to try anything.

GUPTA: He swallowed his fear of needles and tried acupuncture.

(on camera): Studies seem to be stacking up in favor of acupuncture, according to the World Health Organization. They say inserting little needles like these can be effective for treating arthritis, headache, menopausal symptoms, low back pain, dental pain even. The theory is this: You have energy or chi flowing through natural channels in your bodies. Any interruption of those channels can cause tension, and subsequently cause disease. It's acupuncture that can help restore that throw flow.

DR. WEI HUANG, EMORY UNIV.: The theory of traditional Chinese medicine focuses on the whole body, and there's a harmony inside the body. The flow of the chi should be very fluid in order to maintain health.

GUPTA: Historically Western doctors may have been reluctant to use this 2,000-year-old practice, but the landscape is changing slowly.

DR. PETER JOHNSTONE, EMORY UNIV.: There are some things that we still don't do well, and there are things that we still don't understand well. And in an attempt to hopefully relieve suffering, we need to, I think, be open to the fact that there may be other avenues besides those that we were taught in medical school.

GUPTA: Mainstream options alone weren't helping Darrell Ortiz. He says using acupuncture as a complement to other therapies has made his life livable. A series of treatments keeps him pain free for months at a time.

ORTIZ: Since I've been doing the acupuncture, I've been having to take less drugs.

GUPTA: Fewer drugs, but more importantly, the ability to paint away his pain and to live a normal life.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: To get your daily dose of health news online, just log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address, CNN.com/health.

A check of weather and business news coming up, plus the travel industry, is it culminating America's love for its pets? Still ahead, the best summer vacation ideas for Fido and your family.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: There's a new show following us today at the top of the hour. This is going to be called "YOUR WORLD TODAY." Very exciting. It's an hour of international news. It's hosted by Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee, and they're here to give you a quick preview.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Jim Clancy.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Verjee.

Coming up at the top of the hour, we're really looking forward to having you join us for CNN International's broadcast.

CLANCY: Our top stories on "YOUR WORLD TODAY," what could an international probe of war crimes mean for two-million refugees in Sudan's Darfur region.

VERJEE: U.N. sanctions on North Korea. We'll hear from our correspondents in Bangkok, Washington and New York.

CLANCY: Plus, we're going to keep watch on that missing American teenager in Aruba, the case that is shaking the Caribbean resort island.

VERJEE: See you at noon.

KAGAN: When you plan your next family vacation, you might want to take along your pet. I've done it. AAA says more places are making room for Rover, or your kitty or for whoever else is hanging out with you. AAA is out with a list of pet-friendly hotels and campgrounds on the latest edition of "Traveling With Your Pet: The AAA Pet Book."

With us from Washington, AAA spokesman Justin McNaull.

Justin, have you done this? Have you taken your dog or cat on vacation?

JUSTIN MCNAULL, AAA: Absolutely. I have a pair of big Labrador retrievers, and we take them out to West Virginia a couple of times a year. We've kept them in a hotel before. We've rented a cottage before. We've kept them in, so they've logged a whole lot of car time.

KAGAN: So you know of what you speak. The demand is rising. More and more people want to take their animals with them on vacation.

MCNAULL: Well, there are a couple of surveys. One shows about 19 percent of dog owners plan to take their dogs with them on vacation this year. Another puts it at greater than 10 percent of Americans travel with pets, which gets to you to almost 30 million people loading the dog, or the cat or somebody else into the car with them.

KAGAN: Let's start with transportation here. Some people go in the car. A lot of people kind of iffy about putting the dog or cat on the plane if you have to put it in the cargo hold.

MCNAULL: Right, they're certainly FAA regulations that are there that all the airlines have to abide by, but policies vary greatly from airline to airline. You have some, Southwest, for example, which doesn't fly pets, plain and simple. But you have others actually, Midwest Express has started a frequent-flyer program for pets. You take three flights, the fourth one is free. So there are some real great variations there.

KAGAN: We're looking at a hotel video here. Were you surprised? Was AAA surprised by just how many hotels are now allowing pets?

MCNAULL: Well, more than 40 percent of the hotels that we have in our tour books actually are hotel pet friendly now. So we put them together in the pet book that we have. It's more than almost 13,000 hotels. At the same time, we have more than 400 campgrounds in there, because so many people, especially when you look at the RV'ers, just do love to load the animals in there and take off for days, or even weeks at a time.

KAGAN: But there is some etiquette when you're taking your pet, especially into a hotel room

MCNAULL: Well, remember you're a guest there, that the hotels don't have to do this. So you need to make sure that if the animal is going to be left behind during the daytime when the cleaning crews are coming in, that's the animal's crated. If the animal wants to sleep up on the bed, be sure that you have a sheet that's over top of there to protect the comforter and the other things.

And plain and simple, if your animal is not well behaved, if it's very young, very old, if it's sick, it probably shouldn't travel with you. So make sure it's a dog that will stay nice and quietly, and the people next door to you won't know that you have a dog in the room.

KAGAN: Yes, and expect that you're going to have to pay. Fido doesn't ride for free.

MCNAULL: Generally not. Certainly if you're going to the Four Seasons or somewhere, they might be able to work it in for the big suite package that you have. But when you look at a lot of the midscale and other hotels, this is one more way that they can build some sort of brand affinity within people and loyalty, but also get a little more money.

KAGAN: Very good. Justin McNaull from AAA, thank you. I hope your dogs have a good time when they take you on vacation.

MCNAULL: We're not in charge.

KAGAN: Yes, no, that's clear. Thank you, Justin.

And we'll show you live pictures from South Florida. Not a vacation, a working day for President Bush. He is speaking at the Organization of American States to the foreign ministers that are meeting in Fort Lauderdale. More on that ahead. Right now, a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: Spotlight on entertainment now. Tony loved "Monty Python's Spamalot." The send-up received the award for Best Broadway Musical. Mike Nichols won the Best Director trophy and "Spamalot"'s Sara Ramirez picked up the Best Featured Actress in a Musical Award.

And Academy Award-winning actor Russell Crowe is due to appear in a Manhattan criminal court later today. He's charged with second degree assault for throwing a telephone at a hotel worker. The worker was hit in the face. Crowe currently stars in the movie "Cinderella Man."

On another note, this in from California, where a landlord gave his tenants the OK to grow medical marijuana. Apparently he didn't know that pot stinks when it matures and the odor from some 100 plants was too much to bear. He sued his tenants and won more than $1,600 in damages for lack of neighborly consideration.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: And that's going to do it for me. I'm Daryn Kagan. "YOUR WORLD TODAY." It's a new program you're going to see here on CNN, with Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee. It's coming up at the top of the hour after a quick break. I'll see you tomorrow morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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


Aired June 6, 2005 - 11:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are right at the half hour. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's what's happening "Now in the News."
There are no states' rights when comes to medical marijuana. A 6-3 decision. The Supreme Court ruled it is up to the federal government to decide if people can grow and use marijuana for medical purposes. Several allow the private use of marijuana to treat medical conditions.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld received assurances that Muslim violence in Southern Thailand is a local problem and not related to international terrorism. Rumsfeld has been meeting Thai leaders in Bangkok. He heads to Norway tomorrow.

Pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its Shia Muslim allies took all 23 seats in South Lebanon's parliamentary elections. That vote is considered a blow to supporters of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for Hezbollah's disarmament. The U.S. considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

And about 30 minutes from now, a superior court judge is expected to announce a decision in the Washington state governor's race. Republican candidate Dino Rossi is challenging the election of Democratic governor Christine Gregoire. The race was decided by just 129 votes.

Keeping you informed, CNN is the most trusted name in news.

The Senate is back from a week-long break and back to the debate over two of President Bush's nominees, his controversial pick for U.N. ambassador and a long-delayed candidate for the federal appeals court.

Congressional correspondent Ed Henry has an update on where things stand. Ed, good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Republicans expect swift confirmation this week for Janice Rogers Brown, one of President Bush's judicial nominees that received political amnesty, if you will, by the filibuster deal last month. But there are lingering questions about whether or not that peace agreement will stay stuck together, whether or not it's going to fall apart. And nothing is a sure thing in the current Senate, given the rough political environment.

In fact, while they avoided that nuclear showdown last month, right now they are involved in hand-to-hand combat on a whole series of nominations that the president has sent up to the Senate, including John Bolton, as you mention.

And the man in the middle of all this is the majority leader, Bill Frist, who's been taking a lot of political heat. If you remember, on that filibuster deal, Frist -- there were a lot of questions about whether or not his authority was called into question because the moderates who forged that deal had left him out of the loop. And then, of course, Frist lost a vote on John Bolton's nomination to be the U.S. ambassador the United Nations.

That stalled Bolton nomination will probably come to a head again this week, as Frist tries to push it through one more time. Last week, President Bush said he would not give in to Democratic demands for more documents on Bolton. Here are the dueling arguments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Intelligence Committee reviewed the NSA intercept process and confirmed that, you know, Bolton did what was right. And so it's just a stalling tactic. And I would hope that when they get back that they stop stalling and give the man a vote. Just give him a simple up or down vote.

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD, (D) CONNECTICUT: I have no desire to have this go on any longer, but the Senate as an institution, where there is a legitimate request for information, ought not retreat from that in my view. So I'm still hopeful this week we can work out some compromise, vote on John Bolton. My read is, based on the cloture vote we had before we left, is that John Bolton would probably have the votes for confirmation if we can get beyond this request for additional information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: As you heard from Chris Dodd there, Democrats expect that when all is said and done, John Bolton probably will be confirmed, potentially as early as this week. But it looks like Democrats still want to force the issue on those documents, even though they're unlikely to get them.

The bottom line, though, is this is all just a precursor to the ultimate showdown, the expectation there could be a Supreme Court nomination coming to the Senate as early as this month. Any fireworks we see on Bolton or Janice Rogers Brown will pale in comparison to what we're expected to see if there is a Supreme Court nomination -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Which keeps people like you coming to work every day in anticipation of that.

HENRY: That's right.

KAGAN: Ed, a lot of drama going on around all this. And it's not as simple as Democrat versus Republican. A lot of what took place two weeks ago had to do with some presidential ambitions of people who work there on Capitol Hill. HENRY: Oh, absolutely. We saw that the filibuster deal I mentioned in which a certain number of centrists and pragmatic Republicans said that they would not vote for the so-called nuclear option, in exchange for some moderate and pragmatic Democrats saying that they would stop the filibuster of the judicial nominees.

The person who cut that deal, John McCain, expected to run for president in 2008. Bill Frist, the man who was cut out of the deal, expected to run for president in 2008. The early betting is that this deal helped John McCain, hurt Bill Frist.

Frist people insist that's not the case, that when all is said and done, this is going to help Bill Frist in the long run, because he's fighting the good fight for conservatives, in their eyes, in pushing for President Bush's judges. But other potential 2008 hopefuls, like Republican senator George Allen, have already been taking shots at Frist, saying he did not push hard enough in order to get straight up or down votes on not just some, but all of the president's nominees. This is just the opening shot in a long battle -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And you'll be there watching all of it. Ed Henry on Capitol Hill. Ed, thank you.

HENRY: Thank you.

KAGAN: To our CNN "Security Watch," the lessons from 9/11. Members of the September 11th Commission want to make sure the government is following up on their recommendations. The panel opened hearings today on whether enough is being done to prevent another terrorist attack. They're focusing on reforms with the CIA and the FBI.

And a court hearing has been delayed for a Boca Raton doctor accused of supporting the al Qaeda terror network. 50-year-old Rafiq Sabir is now to appear in a Florida courtroom on Wednesday. He's accused of pledging his allegiance to Osama bin Laden's organization and agreeing to treat wounded insurgents in Saudi Arabia.

CNN "Security Watch" keeps you up to date on safety. Stay tuned, day and night, for reliable news about your security.

News from overseas in our "World Wrap."

Just a short time ago, the International Olympic Committee released an evaluation of the cities competing for 2012 Summer Olympics. Paris and London both received very high ratings. Madrid and New York both got high marks. Moscow is in the fifth city in contention. The IOC will decide on July 6th.

To China now. Official state media there says three people have died of typhoid. That's after a week of heavy rains and floods in the southern part of the country. Flooding has already claimed the lives of 200 other people. Forecasters say the rain will continue over the next ten days. And in Moscow, high fashion from the image-conscious inmates. These clothes were designed by Russian prisoners, backed by a top Russian fashion plate. And the prisoners are competing for an award that will not include an early release from prison. Prison officials say they hope the competition will positively influence young Russian criminals.

A fresh look at an ancient remedy for chronic pain. Find out how millions of Americans are finding relief through acupuncture. That's ahead in our "Daily Dose" segment.

And if your summer vacation plans include a hotel stay, that doesn't necessarily mean Fido has to stay home. We'll show you the best ways to travel with your pet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: In medical news now, a Swiss drugmaker reports progress in fighting anemia among patients with kidney disease. Roe (ph) say that its anemia drug showed promise in a year-long study involving 61 patients. The trial showed the drug could be used every four weeks to control hemoglobin levels in dialysis patients.

When it comes to treating pain, an ancient practice is gaining acceptance in modern medicine.

Senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta examines the growing use of acupuncture in our "Daily Dose" of health news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 25 years, pain has been smoldering throughout 51-year-old Darrell Ortiz's body. Several major work injuries turned into a nagging sort of pain at first, but then basic things like walking, going to the grocery store, eventually even going to work, became impossible.

DARRELL ORTIZ, IN SUFFERER: Excruciating. I feels like I've gone through all of my injuries all over again, like they just happened. There's some times where I almost want to give up completely, you know. The pain just takes over.

GUPTA: Pain also appears in the sharp hues and images born of Ortiz's palette. Each day, with each glide of his brush on canvas, he could paint away the dull painful throb. But eventually pain would invade even that.

ORTIZ: Just lifting my arm like this, you know, to paint, sometimes I couldn't do it. I'd paint for a half hour and have to go to bed, you know.

GUPTA: That was the last straw. He tried everything, potent pain drugs like Oxycotin and Percoset, exercise. Nothing worked over the long term.

ORTIZ: I was to the point where I was desperate. I was willing to try anything.

GUPTA: He swallowed his fear of needles and tried acupuncture.

(on camera): Studies seem to be stacking up in favor of acupuncture, according to the World Health Organization. They say inserting little needles like these can be effective for treating arthritis, headache, menopausal symptoms, low back pain, dental pain even. The theory is this: You have energy or chi flowing through natural channels in your bodies. Any interruption of those channels can cause tension, and subsequently cause disease. It's acupuncture that can help restore that throw flow.

DR. WEI HUANG, EMORY UNIV.: The theory of traditional Chinese medicine focuses on the whole body, and there's a harmony inside the body. The flow of the chi should be very fluid in order to maintain health.

GUPTA: Historically Western doctors may have been reluctant to use this 2,000-year-old practice, but the landscape is changing slowly.

DR. PETER JOHNSTONE, EMORY UNIV.: There are some things that we still don't do well, and there are things that we still don't understand well. And in an attempt to hopefully relieve suffering, we need to, I think, be open to the fact that there may be other avenues besides those that we were taught in medical school.

GUPTA: Mainstream options alone weren't helping Darrell Ortiz. He says using acupuncture as a complement to other therapies has made his life livable. A series of treatments keeps him pain free for months at a time.

ORTIZ: Since I've been doing the acupuncture, I've been having to take less drugs.

GUPTA: Fewer drugs, but more importantly, the ability to paint away his pain and to live a normal life.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: To get your daily dose of health news online, just log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address, CNN.com/health.

A check of weather and business news coming up, plus the travel industry, is it culminating America's love for its pets? Still ahead, the best summer vacation ideas for Fido and your family.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: There's a new show following us today at the top of the hour. This is going to be called "YOUR WORLD TODAY." Very exciting. It's an hour of international news. It's hosted by Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee, and they're here to give you a quick preview.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Jim Clancy.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Verjee.

Coming up at the top of the hour, we're really looking forward to having you join us for CNN International's broadcast.

CLANCY: Our top stories on "YOUR WORLD TODAY," what could an international probe of war crimes mean for two-million refugees in Sudan's Darfur region.

VERJEE: U.N. sanctions on North Korea. We'll hear from our correspondents in Bangkok, Washington and New York.

CLANCY: Plus, we're going to keep watch on that missing American teenager in Aruba, the case that is shaking the Caribbean resort island.

VERJEE: See you at noon.

KAGAN: When you plan your next family vacation, you might want to take along your pet. I've done it. AAA says more places are making room for Rover, or your kitty or for whoever else is hanging out with you. AAA is out with a list of pet-friendly hotels and campgrounds on the latest edition of "Traveling With Your Pet: The AAA Pet Book."

With us from Washington, AAA spokesman Justin McNaull.

Justin, have you done this? Have you taken your dog or cat on vacation?

JUSTIN MCNAULL, AAA: Absolutely. I have a pair of big Labrador retrievers, and we take them out to West Virginia a couple of times a year. We've kept them in a hotel before. We've rented a cottage before. We've kept them in, so they've logged a whole lot of car time.

KAGAN: So you know of what you speak. The demand is rising. More and more people want to take their animals with them on vacation.

MCNAULL: Well, there are a couple of surveys. One shows about 19 percent of dog owners plan to take their dogs with them on vacation this year. Another puts it at greater than 10 percent of Americans travel with pets, which gets to you to almost 30 million people loading the dog, or the cat or somebody else into the car with them.

KAGAN: Let's start with transportation here. Some people go in the car. A lot of people kind of iffy about putting the dog or cat on the plane if you have to put it in the cargo hold.

MCNAULL: Right, they're certainly FAA regulations that are there that all the airlines have to abide by, but policies vary greatly from airline to airline. You have some, Southwest, for example, which doesn't fly pets, plain and simple. But you have others actually, Midwest Express has started a frequent-flyer program for pets. You take three flights, the fourth one is free. So there are some real great variations there.

KAGAN: We're looking at a hotel video here. Were you surprised? Was AAA surprised by just how many hotels are now allowing pets?

MCNAULL: Well, more than 40 percent of the hotels that we have in our tour books actually are hotel pet friendly now. So we put them together in the pet book that we have. It's more than almost 13,000 hotels. At the same time, we have more than 400 campgrounds in there, because so many people, especially when you look at the RV'ers, just do love to load the animals in there and take off for days, or even weeks at a time.

KAGAN: But there is some etiquette when you're taking your pet, especially into a hotel room

MCNAULL: Well, remember you're a guest there, that the hotels don't have to do this. So you need to make sure that if the animal is going to be left behind during the daytime when the cleaning crews are coming in, that's the animal's crated. If the animal wants to sleep up on the bed, be sure that you have a sheet that's over top of there to protect the comforter and the other things.

And plain and simple, if your animal is not well behaved, if it's very young, very old, if it's sick, it probably shouldn't travel with you. So make sure it's a dog that will stay nice and quietly, and the people next door to you won't know that you have a dog in the room.

KAGAN: Yes, and expect that you're going to have to pay. Fido doesn't ride for free.

MCNAULL: Generally not. Certainly if you're going to the Four Seasons or somewhere, they might be able to work it in for the big suite package that you have. But when you look at a lot of the midscale and other hotels, this is one more way that they can build some sort of brand affinity within people and loyalty, but also get a little more money.

KAGAN: Very good. Justin McNaull from AAA, thank you. I hope your dogs have a good time when they take you on vacation.

MCNAULL: We're not in charge.

KAGAN: Yes, no, that's clear. Thank you, Justin.

And we'll show you live pictures from South Florida. Not a vacation, a working day for President Bush. He is speaking at the Organization of American States to the foreign ministers that are meeting in Fort Lauderdale. More on that ahead. Right now, a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: Spotlight on entertainment now. Tony loved "Monty Python's Spamalot." The send-up received the award for Best Broadway Musical. Mike Nichols won the Best Director trophy and "Spamalot"'s Sara Ramirez picked up the Best Featured Actress in a Musical Award.

And Academy Award-winning actor Russell Crowe is due to appear in a Manhattan criminal court later today. He's charged with second degree assault for throwing a telephone at a hotel worker. The worker was hit in the face. Crowe currently stars in the movie "Cinderella Man."

On another note, this in from California, where a landlord gave his tenants the OK to grow medical marijuana. Apparently he didn't know that pot stinks when it matures and the odor from some 100 plants was too much to bear. He sued his tenants and won more than $1,600 in damages for lack of neighborly consideration.

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KAGAN: And that's going to do it for me. I'm Daryn Kagan. "YOUR WORLD TODAY." It's a new program you're going to see here on CNN, with Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee. It's coming up at the top of the hour after a quick break. I'll see you tomorrow morning.

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