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Greek Natl. Baseball Team Part Of Doping Scandal; Olympics Open Fri.; Politics In Pacific Northwest; High Mental Jobs Equal Low Alzheimer's Risk?

Aired August 10, 2004 - 13:30   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.


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Scott Peterson's former mistress, Amber Frey, is on the witness stand this hour at his murder trial. Her taped phone conversations with him make up the heart of her testimony. Working with police, the taping began less than a week after Laci Peterson disappeared.
In a German courtroom today, the retrial began for a man accused of helping to plot the September 11th hijackings. The man is Mounir el Motassadeq -- the only person convicted so far in connection with the 9/11 attacks. It's alleged he was part of an al Qaeda cell in Hamburg.

Well, the most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq is in London getting treatment for heart problems. Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani arrived Friday. A strong supporters of nonviolence, his health could be crucial to the stability of Iraq.

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Cue the trumpet fanfare, roll out the red carpet, get the medals ready and the anthems cued. The summer Olympics officially open Friday in Athens. The question is: Will that doping issue hover like a dark cloud over the games once they begin?

CNN's Michael Holmes joining us now from Athens with more bad news, unfortunately, on just that front. Hello, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi to you, Miles. Yes, greetings from the Acropolis.

Yes, that doping issue -- I mean, what's an Olympics without doping scandals? It's not the first one; it won't be the last one, you can be sure of that.

But it's an interesting one, because it involves the Greek National Baseball Team. They didn't have one a few months ago, and then they decided to get one up and compete in the games. And so, they really cast around the U.S. to find people with Greek heritage who play a bit of ball, and they got the team together.

Now it's been discovered that two of the players have been banned from the games for substance abuse. So, they've been taking things they shouldn't have, according to the IOC, and they've been pulled out. Meanwhile, somebody who will be coming -- or plenty of people who will be coming, the tourists, athletes, coaches, they're all arriving; 4,000 poured in through the airport today. Today alone, some 74,000 tickets were sold to various events. The American team arrived, among others. They're now getting settled into their new digs in the Olympic village, under tight security. George Bush, Sr. arrived today, too, and took off on a cruise of the Aegean prior to the games.

Now, as all the tourists and dignitaries and athletes arrived, a lot of Greeks took off. That's not altogether unusual, because at this time of year, August, it's the traditional time for people who live in Athens, in particular, to take their summer holidays and head off to the islands. And why wouldn't you? It's pretty hot here in the city. There's a little bit of air pollution around, as well, and those islands are pretty tempting.

They're all taking off to the islands, have a bit of R&R while the games are on. Something also seen at other Olympics in the past. I remember in Atlanta, a lot of people headed for the hills.

What is interesting, though, is that we're finding a lot of Greeks are still going to the games. I was in a cab last night, and the driver was saying he's going to be working all night and spending all day at Olympic events. He was very excited.

I just don't want to get into his cab at night when he hasn't slept, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Good idea, Michael Holmes.

Now, tell us about how things are going on the preparations. Because an awful lot was said about how the Greeks were behind on building things. And I remember when it was here in Atlanta, you wanted to be careful about leaning against a post for fear the paint was still wet.

How are they doing there?

HOLMES: Oh, you're right. I remember that well, Miles. They still had bulldozers in the streets the day before the Olympics began in Atlanta.

It's a little better than that, I have to say. There was that mad rush. Only a few months ago, the IOC members were having heart palpitations about what hadn't been done. But Greeks have said all along -- they have a saying for it that escapes me at the moment -- but it's like don't worry about it. We'll get there. We'll get there.

And they have. Everything seems really pristine. Security is in place. The first NATO AWACs went up today -- early warning aircraft; it's up there above us right now. It'll be up 24/7 until the end of the Paralympics next month. Everything does seem well in place. And I've been here nearly a couple weeks now, and what is refreshing is to see tourists pouring into the city and giving it a bit of life, Miles. O'BRIEN: All right, let's hope it's a safe, enjoyable games. Michael Holmes, that is a -- stand-up. You should have a freeze frame up in your office. It looks good there with the Acropolis there and everything. Good one. All right, we'll be checking in with you all throughout the games. Appreciate you dropping by.

NGUYEN: On to the campaign trail back here in the U.S., President Bush is spending much of the afternoon in the Florida panhandle, which is heavily Republican and full of military veterans. Joining him on a bus tour through the area, Arizona Senator and a former Vietnam P.O.W., John McCain.

Meanwhile, the Democrat eyeing the White House continues his westward swing, heading for Las Vegas at this hour. It will be John Kerry's third visit there this year alone. Nevada is viewed as a battleground state in this tight race.

Well, to get the complete political picture, this afternoon on "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS," today a look at the campaign trail transformation of Teresa Heinz Kerry. That is at 3:30 Eastern, 12:30 Pacific only here on CNN.

Now, viewing the presidential race through the eyes of a visitor. CNN London correspondent Richard Quest has hopped the pond, shall we say, and is wading into the waters of American politics. Today, his American quest gauges the political timber of the Pacific northwest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the rugged Pacific northwest, chainsaw sculpting is considered a local art. But here, like the rest of America, they're now paying close attention to politics.

DON ETUE, CHAINSAW ARTIST: I'm completely undecided until the final minute. Bush is doing a good job on a lot of aspects, but on a lot of aspects I don't agree with. And Kerry's got a lot of good ideas. But some of his aspects I don't believe in. So, it's going to be a hard one.

QUEST: Washington State, with its vast natural resources, has that frontier mentality, which is often thought of as leaning liberal. But there are also strong conservative traits here, which means although Washington State voted for Al Gore four years ago, this time the polls show the state is up for grabs.

At the summer fair, Jim Brommett is proudly showing off his 1999 Corvette, decorated in patriotic paraphernalia.

JIM BROMMETT, BUSH SUPPORTER: The most important thing to me is to have a strong military right now. And continue -- because the threats are there. We're going to get hit again no matter who's president, but I would rather have my commander be George Bush. I'd feel a lot more safer.

QUEST: Another beautiful car, and a totally different opinion. John Larson took me for a spin in his vintage Ford Galaxy.

Do you think there's a shift to Kerry in this part of the world?

JOHN LARSON, KERRY SUPPORTER: Yes, I believe so. A lot of the people that I figured were staunch Republicans are now saying that Bush has kind of misled them. He's been less than truthful with the country.

QUEST: Thirty miles from Snoqualmie is metropolitan Seattle and the Pike Place Market, where a fresh catch takes on a whole new meaning. Here, Mark Russell is a registered Republican, who, this time, is not voting for President Bush.

MARK RUSSELL, MGR., MARKET GRILL: There's never been somebody in a four-year term that has turned the whole world off like he has.

QUEST: These are strong words in a part of America that Democrats and Republicans believe is winable. Both candidates will find catching the undecided Pacific northwest vote a slippery task.

Richard Quest, CNN, Seattle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Holy mackerel! The candidates could only -- excuse me. The candidates could only hope for a landslide like this. There it is. It's the video we can't stop watching. The story behind it is coming up.

NGUYEN: Also, the upside of stress. Really is there one? Find out how the toughest jobs may help prevent Alzheimer's. That's next.

O'BRIEN: And the new cob on the block left his stripes somewhere. Well, most of them. Does the tail count? I guess it does. Anyway, a rare white tiger debuts when LIVE FROM goes "Around the World."

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: News "Around the World" now. Why did the tree cross the road? Well, to get to the end of the landslide. No, it's not a joke. Check out this video. Some Japanese geological inspectors took this incredible video while testing the region for instability following recent rains. A major highway was blocked, but thankfully no one was hurt.

Three young children are telling their incredible story of survival off the coast of Australia. After their family's boat sank, they swam and drifted five and a half miles through shark-infested waters before finally reaching a deserted island.

The boy says he and his sister survived on shellfish, but ran out of food, and then decided to swim nearly two more miles to another island where they were rescued. His parents and younger brother, they were never found.

And take a look at this. Stripes or solids? You make the call. This rare white tiger, born in Spain recently, has blue eyes, but no stripes. Well, until you look at his tail. There's a little bit of stripes there. Stripeless or not, experts believe Artico is one of only 20 such tigers in existence. All are in captivity.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Here's a question for you, if stress at work makes you feel like you're losing your mind, you could be wrong. That's right, wrong.

Our Elizabeth Cohen has the story of why you may just want to stay in that hectic job.

And is your SUV on the rollover list? The latest on the safety of America's favorite driving machines, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Most days here at CNN Center between six and 12 times, people say to me, Miles, how many cups of coffee have you had, anyway? And I usually take that as I guess a compliment, meaning I'm a high- energy guy. But now I've got the perfect retort, I'm trying to guard against Alzheimer's, right, Elizabeth Cohen? That's the ticket.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there you go. A high-stress job, meaning do you have to think on your feet, Miles?

O'BRIEN: Well, I'm sitting. But yes.

COHEN: Yes, you do.

And do you have to use words a lot and use your brain?

O'BRIEN: I mangle words frequently, yes.

COHEN: There you go. Well, then you have a reduced risk of getting Alzheimer's Disease according to this new study.

O'BRIEN: Excellent, so glad to hear that.

"Newsheimers" is another matter, but we'll talk about that some other day.

COHEN: OK, that's another story.

But for this story, what's important is that a new study looked at folks in their jobs in their 20, 30s and 40s, and found the ones that had the highest mental challenge -- like our friend Miles -- were the ones who had the lowest risk of getting Alzheimer's Disease in their 60s and later.

So, again, the lowest risk of getting Alzheimer's Disease involved those folks who had jobs with a high mental demand, a variety of activities in their job, creative work that was not routine, those who had the ability to control and direct and plan in their work, and those who had jobs that involved verbal skills, used a lot of numbers, and had to deal a lot with spatial relationships.

Now it's interesting, not many jobs have looked at jobs in Alzheimer's, but many studies have looked at the brain and found this same kind of "use it or lose it" mentality. In other words, you should use your brain, keep those synapses snapping there. Folks who do crossword puzzles a lot have a lower risk of getting Alzheimer's Disease. Folks who read a lot of books have a lower risk. So this is all part of that.

O'BRIEN: All right, that's good stuff we can use. Anything else you could offer people if they want to guard against this?

COHEN: That's right, you can get a good job that involves using your brain a lot. You can do a lot of crossword puzzles.

O'BRIEN: Right, crossword puzzles, we got all those.

COHEN: And in addition, there's some real basic health things you could do to reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer's Disease. For example, control your cholesterol, control your blood pressure. Both of those things have shown up in studies to reduce the risk of getting Alzheimer's. Avoid high-fat diets, and eat some of this stuff. Fish, berries, vitamin E, vitamin C and the ginkgo supplements we've all heard so much about.

That last ones, the fish, and berries and the vitamins, it's not -- it's a little bit controversial. It's not completely clear that that works, but hey, nothing wrong with fish and berries.

O'BRIEN: Well, it's not going to hurt you, right?

COHEN: Might as well, not going to hurt you.

O'BRIEN: Right, but there is the thing that we don't talk about as much because we can't control, genetics. How much does that have to do with it?

COHEN: There's a significant genetic link with Alzheimer's Disease. If it runs in your family, you have a higher risk of getting it than your friend where if it doesn't run in his family, and it doesn't really matter what you do in that situation. But doing the crossword puzzles, keeping your blood pressure down, all good things, but not a guarantee. If you're genetically predisposed, those things are not a guarantee.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that trite expression, what you don't use, you lose does come to mind here.

COHEN: It's true, the brain needs to be exercised.

O'BRIEN: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for stopping. Appreciate it. Back with more CNN LIVE FROM in just a moment. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Fay Wray is about to receive a high honor from the New York skyscraper that made her famous. The Empire State Building's lights will go dim for 15 minutes tonight, starting at around 9:30, as a tribute to the actress, who died on Sunday. As you probably know, the two are forever bound by the 1933 classic "King Kong."

And coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, the fed makes the call. Will interest rates go up after all?

O'BRIEN: We'll keep you posted, and find out probably about 15 minutes from now. LIVE FROM's hour of power begins, after some messages. Stay with us.

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 August 10, 2004 - 13:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Scott Peterson's former mistress, Amber Frey, is on the witness stand this hour at his murder trial. Her taped phone conversations with him make up the heart of her testimony. Working with police, the taping began less than a week after Laci Peterson disappeared.
In a German courtroom today, the retrial began for a man accused of helping to plot the September 11th hijackings. The man is Mounir el Motassadeq -- the only person convicted so far in connection with the 9/11 attacks. It's alleged he was part of an al Qaeda cell in Hamburg.

Well, the most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq is in London getting treatment for heart problems. Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani arrived Friday. A strong supporters of nonviolence, his health could be crucial to the stability of Iraq.

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Cue the trumpet fanfare, roll out the red carpet, get the medals ready and the anthems cued. The summer Olympics officially open Friday in Athens. The question is: Will that doping issue hover like a dark cloud over the games once they begin?

CNN's Michael Holmes joining us now from Athens with more bad news, unfortunately, on just that front. Hello, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi to you, Miles. Yes, greetings from the Acropolis.

Yes, that doping issue -- I mean, what's an Olympics without doping scandals? It's not the first one; it won't be the last one, you can be sure of that.

But it's an interesting one, because it involves the Greek National Baseball Team. They didn't have one a few months ago, and then they decided to get one up and compete in the games. And so, they really cast around the U.S. to find people with Greek heritage who play a bit of ball, and they got the team together.

Now it's been discovered that two of the players have been banned from the games for substance abuse. So, they've been taking things they shouldn't have, according to the IOC, and they've been pulled out. Meanwhile, somebody who will be coming -- or plenty of people who will be coming, the tourists, athletes, coaches, they're all arriving; 4,000 poured in through the airport today. Today alone, some 74,000 tickets were sold to various events. The American team arrived, among others. They're now getting settled into their new digs in the Olympic village, under tight security. George Bush, Sr. arrived today, too, and took off on a cruise of the Aegean prior to the games.

Now, as all the tourists and dignitaries and athletes arrived, a lot of Greeks took off. That's not altogether unusual, because at this time of year, August, it's the traditional time for people who live in Athens, in particular, to take their summer holidays and head off to the islands. And why wouldn't you? It's pretty hot here in the city. There's a little bit of air pollution around, as well, and those islands are pretty tempting.

They're all taking off to the islands, have a bit of R&R while the games are on. Something also seen at other Olympics in the past. I remember in Atlanta, a lot of people headed for the hills.

What is interesting, though, is that we're finding a lot of Greeks are still going to the games. I was in a cab last night, and the driver was saying he's going to be working all night and spending all day at Olympic events. He was very excited.

I just don't want to get into his cab at night when he hasn't slept, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Good idea, Michael Holmes.

Now, tell us about how things are going on the preparations. Because an awful lot was said about how the Greeks were behind on building things. And I remember when it was here in Atlanta, you wanted to be careful about leaning against a post for fear the paint was still wet.

How are they doing there?

HOLMES: Oh, you're right. I remember that well, Miles. They still had bulldozers in the streets the day before the Olympics began in Atlanta.

It's a little better than that, I have to say. There was that mad rush. Only a few months ago, the IOC members were having heart palpitations about what hadn't been done. But Greeks have said all along -- they have a saying for it that escapes me at the moment -- but it's like don't worry about it. We'll get there. We'll get there.

And they have. Everything seems really pristine. Security is in place. The first NATO AWACs went up today -- early warning aircraft; it's up there above us right now. It'll be up 24/7 until the end of the Paralympics next month. Everything does seem well in place. And I've been here nearly a couple weeks now, and what is refreshing is to see tourists pouring into the city and giving it a bit of life, Miles. O'BRIEN: All right, let's hope it's a safe, enjoyable games. Michael Holmes, that is a -- stand-up. You should have a freeze frame up in your office. It looks good there with the Acropolis there and everything. Good one. All right, we'll be checking in with you all throughout the games. Appreciate you dropping by.

NGUYEN: On to the campaign trail back here in the U.S., President Bush is spending much of the afternoon in the Florida panhandle, which is heavily Republican and full of military veterans. Joining him on a bus tour through the area, Arizona Senator and a former Vietnam P.O.W., John McCain.

Meanwhile, the Democrat eyeing the White House continues his westward swing, heading for Las Vegas at this hour. It will be John Kerry's third visit there this year alone. Nevada is viewed as a battleground state in this tight race.

Well, to get the complete political picture, this afternoon on "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS," today a look at the campaign trail transformation of Teresa Heinz Kerry. That is at 3:30 Eastern, 12:30 Pacific only here on CNN.

Now, viewing the presidential race through the eyes of a visitor. CNN London correspondent Richard Quest has hopped the pond, shall we say, and is wading into the waters of American politics. Today, his American quest gauges the political timber of the Pacific northwest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the rugged Pacific northwest, chainsaw sculpting is considered a local art. But here, like the rest of America, they're now paying close attention to politics.

DON ETUE, CHAINSAW ARTIST: I'm completely undecided until the final minute. Bush is doing a good job on a lot of aspects, but on a lot of aspects I don't agree with. And Kerry's got a lot of good ideas. But some of his aspects I don't believe in. So, it's going to be a hard one.

QUEST: Washington State, with its vast natural resources, has that frontier mentality, which is often thought of as leaning liberal. But there are also strong conservative traits here, which means although Washington State voted for Al Gore four years ago, this time the polls show the state is up for grabs.

At the summer fair, Jim Brommett is proudly showing off his 1999 Corvette, decorated in patriotic paraphernalia.

JIM BROMMETT, BUSH SUPPORTER: The most important thing to me is to have a strong military right now. And continue -- because the threats are there. We're going to get hit again no matter who's president, but I would rather have my commander be George Bush. I'd feel a lot more safer.

QUEST: Another beautiful car, and a totally different opinion. John Larson took me for a spin in his vintage Ford Galaxy.

Do you think there's a shift to Kerry in this part of the world?

JOHN LARSON, KERRY SUPPORTER: Yes, I believe so. A lot of the people that I figured were staunch Republicans are now saying that Bush has kind of misled them. He's been less than truthful with the country.

QUEST: Thirty miles from Snoqualmie is metropolitan Seattle and the Pike Place Market, where a fresh catch takes on a whole new meaning. Here, Mark Russell is a registered Republican, who, this time, is not voting for President Bush.

MARK RUSSELL, MGR., MARKET GRILL: There's never been somebody in a four-year term that has turned the whole world off like he has.

QUEST: These are strong words in a part of America that Democrats and Republicans believe is winable. Both candidates will find catching the undecided Pacific northwest vote a slippery task.

Richard Quest, CNN, Seattle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Holy mackerel! The candidates could only -- excuse me. The candidates could only hope for a landslide like this. There it is. It's the video we can't stop watching. The story behind it is coming up.

NGUYEN: Also, the upside of stress. Really is there one? Find out how the toughest jobs may help prevent Alzheimer's. That's next.

O'BRIEN: And the new cob on the block left his stripes somewhere. Well, most of them. Does the tail count? I guess it does. Anyway, a rare white tiger debuts when LIVE FROM goes "Around the World."

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: News "Around the World" now. Why did the tree cross the road? Well, to get to the end of the landslide. No, it's not a joke. Check out this video. Some Japanese geological inspectors took this incredible video while testing the region for instability following recent rains. A major highway was blocked, but thankfully no one was hurt.

Three young children are telling their incredible story of survival off the coast of Australia. After their family's boat sank, they swam and drifted five and a half miles through shark-infested waters before finally reaching a deserted island.

The boy says he and his sister survived on shellfish, but ran out of food, and then decided to swim nearly two more miles to another island where they were rescued. His parents and younger brother, they were never found.

And take a look at this. Stripes or solids? You make the call. This rare white tiger, born in Spain recently, has blue eyes, but no stripes. Well, until you look at his tail. There's a little bit of stripes there. Stripeless or not, experts believe Artico is one of only 20 such tigers in existence. All are in captivity.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Here's a question for you, if stress at work makes you feel like you're losing your mind, you could be wrong. That's right, wrong.

Our Elizabeth Cohen has the story of why you may just want to stay in that hectic job.

And is your SUV on the rollover list? The latest on the safety of America's favorite driving machines, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Most days here at CNN Center between six and 12 times, people say to me, Miles, how many cups of coffee have you had, anyway? And I usually take that as I guess a compliment, meaning I'm a high- energy guy. But now I've got the perfect retort, I'm trying to guard against Alzheimer's, right, Elizabeth Cohen? That's the ticket.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there you go. A high-stress job, meaning do you have to think on your feet, Miles?

O'BRIEN: Well, I'm sitting. But yes.

COHEN: Yes, you do.

And do you have to use words a lot and use your brain?

O'BRIEN: I mangle words frequently, yes.

COHEN: There you go. Well, then you have a reduced risk of getting Alzheimer's Disease according to this new study.

O'BRIEN: Excellent, so glad to hear that.

"Newsheimers" is another matter, but we'll talk about that some other day.

COHEN: OK, that's another story.

But for this story, what's important is that a new study looked at folks in their jobs in their 20, 30s and 40s, and found the ones that had the highest mental challenge -- like our friend Miles -- were the ones who had the lowest risk of getting Alzheimer's Disease in their 60s and later.

So, again, the lowest risk of getting Alzheimer's Disease involved those folks who had jobs with a high mental demand, a variety of activities in their job, creative work that was not routine, those who had the ability to control and direct and plan in their work, and those who had jobs that involved verbal skills, used a lot of numbers, and had to deal a lot with spatial relationships.

Now it's interesting, not many jobs have looked at jobs in Alzheimer's, but many studies have looked at the brain and found this same kind of "use it or lose it" mentality. In other words, you should use your brain, keep those synapses snapping there. Folks who do crossword puzzles a lot have a lower risk of getting Alzheimer's Disease. Folks who read a lot of books have a lower risk. So this is all part of that.

O'BRIEN: All right, that's good stuff we can use. Anything else you could offer people if they want to guard against this?

COHEN: That's right, you can get a good job that involves using your brain a lot. You can do a lot of crossword puzzles.

O'BRIEN: Right, crossword puzzles, we got all those.

COHEN: And in addition, there's some real basic health things you could do to reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer's Disease. For example, control your cholesterol, control your blood pressure. Both of those things have shown up in studies to reduce the risk of getting Alzheimer's. Avoid high-fat diets, and eat some of this stuff. Fish, berries, vitamin E, vitamin C and the ginkgo supplements we've all heard so much about.

That last ones, the fish, and berries and the vitamins, it's not -- it's a little bit controversial. It's not completely clear that that works, but hey, nothing wrong with fish and berries.

O'BRIEN: Well, it's not going to hurt you, right?

COHEN: Might as well, not going to hurt you.

O'BRIEN: Right, but there is the thing that we don't talk about as much because we can't control, genetics. How much does that have to do with it?

COHEN: There's a significant genetic link with Alzheimer's Disease. If it runs in your family, you have a higher risk of getting it than your friend where if it doesn't run in his family, and it doesn't really matter what you do in that situation. But doing the crossword puzzles, keeping your blood pressure down, all good things, but not a guarantee. If you're genetically predisposed, those things are not a guarantee.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that trite expression, what you don't use, you lose does come to mind here.

COHEN: It's true, the brain needs to be exercised.

O'BRIEN: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for stopping. Appreciate it. Back with more CNN LIVE FROM in just a moment. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Fay Wray is about to receive a high honor from the New York skyscraper that made her famous. The Empire State Building's lights will go dim for 15 minutes tonight, starting at around 9:30, as a tribute to the actress, who died on Sunday. As you probably know, the two are forever bound by the 1933 classic "King Kong."

And coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, the fed makes the call. Will interest rates go up after all?

O'BRIEN: We'll keep you posted, and find out probably about 15 minutes from now. LIVE FROM's hour of power begins, after some messages. Stay with us.

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