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National Security, Politics Intersecting at Presidential Race Today; President Bush, Senator Kerry Taking Aim at Each Other Over Iraq

Aired August 10, 2004 - 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: I'm Daryn Kagan in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening now in the news. It's Tuesday, the 10th of August.
President Bush will hold a rally many just a few minutes -- you see a live picture there -- from Pensacola, Florida. He's on a three- city tour of the panhandle, a heavily Republican stretch of political real estate.

Also now in the news, videotapes obtained by the Associated Press seem to show Al Qaeda surveillance of Las Vegas casinos. But an AP report local law enforcement says that local law enforcement and casino security didn't care to watch the footage. Another document says the mayor was concerned about the impact on tourism if the tape became public. He denies that, by the way.

Still, also another memo says that casinos didn't want to see the tapes, because it might increase their legal liability in case there really was an attack.

New pictures of the Grand Ayatollah Sistani, now a patient in a London hospital. Sistani is considered the most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq. He left Najaf to receive medical treatment in Britain. Sistani is a moderating force on radical cleric Muqtada Al Sadr. His trip came shortly before U.S. Marines began battling fighters loyal to Al Sadr in Najaf.

Mark Hacking could spend life in prison if convicted of killing his wife, Lori. Prosecutors say the 28-year-old confessed to his brothers that he shot his wife in the head while she lay sleeping. Hacking reported his wife missing shortly after buying a new mattress.

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

National security and politics are intersecting at the presidential race today.

Candy Crowley joins us. She's in Washington with our campaign update.

Candy, good morning.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

This is a campaign where you can't avoid that intersection. We are still waiting for the Kerry campaign to weigh in on President Bush's big announcement today, his nomination of Republican Congressman Porter Goss to replace George Tenet as CIA director.

Other Democrats already are raising questions about whether the House Intelligence Committee chairman is too entrenched in the status quo to carry out needed reforms. The president says Goss' intelligence experience makes him the right person for the job.

After his announcement, the president headed south to Florida for a three-city campaign bus trip across the panhandle. He'll be joined by Senator John McCain, starting with a rally a few minutes from now in Pensacola. The area is friendly territory for Bush, who won some panhandle counties by double digits back in 2000.

Democrat John Kerry is out West, campaigning in Las Vegas against the backdrop of those reports that al Qaeda operatives once cased some casinos there. Kerry is meeting with first-responders and other health officials. He's also expected to criticize Bush's support for sending nuclear waste to Nevada's Yucca Mountain, an extremely unpopular decision in a state where Bush and Kerry are running neck and neck.

The sparks are already flying in the Illinois Senate race. Democrat Barack Obama is blasting Alan Keyes after the Republican ripped into Obama over his voting record on the abortion issue.

Here's some of what Keyes has to say yesterday on "INSIDE POLITICS."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN KEYES (R), ILLINOIS SENATE CANDIDATE: Barack Obama is somebody for instance who on abortion takes a stand that turns its back on the principles on the basis of which slavery was abolished, the principles on the basis of which Martin Luther King argued against segregation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Obama wasted no time firing back.

(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)

CROWLEY: Obama says, in the Illinois legislature, he voted against a late-term abortion ban because it contained no exception to protect the life of the mother.

Political detriment or political asset? We'll take a look at how the woman who could be first lady has changed over the course of the last few weeks and how she's viewed by the public. Plus, during a wartime election, we'll examine just how important the veterans' vote may be. So please be sure to join me when I go INSIDE POLITICS at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. But right now, we want to go back to Daryn in Atlanta.

KAGAN: All right, Candy, thank you for that report. Appreciate it.

The race for the White House is heating up. President Bush and Senator John Kerry are taking aim at each other over Iraq. At issue, the senator's yes vote on the war and whether he stands by that vote today.

Our senior White House correspondent John King has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the edge of the Grand Canyon, the Democratic nominee finally answered the president's challenge. Knowing what he knows now, would he still have backed giving the Bush administration the authority to wage war in Iraq?

SEN. JOHN KERRY, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I would have voted for the authority. I believe it is the right authority for a president to have. But I would have used that authority, as I have said throughout this campaign, effectively. I would have done this very differently from the way President Bush has.

KING: Then Senator Kerry tried to turn the tables, posing a leadership question of his own for the president.

KERRY: Why did he rush to war without a plan to win the peace?

KING: This was to have been a day of sightseeing after a 3,000- mile campaign journey from his convention in Boston to the rim of the Grand Canyon here in Arizona. But after avoiding questions for days, Senator Kerry answered one posed by Mr. Bush, first last week and then again on Monday in Virginia.

The president says he believes the war in Iraq was right, even though no weapons of mass destruction have been found.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And by the way, I think the candidates for president must say yes or no, whether or not they would have made the same decision.

KING: By forcing Senator Kerry to defend his vote for the war, the White House hopes to dampen enthusiasm among anti-war Democratic voters.

But Senator Kerry says the issue is how he would have used that power, and he promised to restore alliances strained by Mr. Bush and to have a goal of reducing troop levels in Iraq within six months of taking office.

KERRY: It is an appropriate goal to have, and I'm going to try to achieve it.

KING (on camera): Senator Kerry did not answer directly when pressed as to whether he had received any personal assurances of more international troop help in Iraq. But he said Democratic Senate colleagues who have traveled abroad recently have told him they believe a change in administrations would bring more international help.

John King, CNN, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: This program reminder, President Bush and first lady Laura Bush will be guests on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" this Thursday for the entire hour this Thursday. Tune in for the exclusive joint interview Thursday, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.

You've heard the saying, use it or lose it, but new research shows that actually might be especially true when it comes to your brain. Why a dead end job may be more dangerous than you think. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's take a look at some health headlines this morning. Some surgeons don't have the experience they need to treat breast cancer. Most breast cancer patients in the U.S. are operated on by surgeons who do relatively few procedures each year. That's according to a new study. Earlier studies suggests a surgeon should do at least 15 to 30 of the operations annually.

Heart disease doesn't just affect the person suffering from it. Researchers say the spouses of heart attack victims may be more likely than the patients themselves to suffer depression or anxiety afterward. And that could end up hampering the recovery of the patients.

People who spend their lives in a dead-end job may be facing more than a dead end. A new study says people who have jobs that take little brain work seem to be more likely eventually to get Alzheimer's disease. It's still not clear if the jobs themselves are the cause.

The possible link between your job and your risk of Alzheimer's is the focus of our "Daily Dose" of health news. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with more on that study. Good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Daryn, what you do for a living really matters.

KAGAN: Well, this is a challenging job. So, on that front, I think I'm OK.

COHEN: You're doing well. You're in good shape. You have to think on your feet. You have to think through things. Things are changing all the time.

KAGAN: Right, brain power. The wheels are spinning.

COHEN: Absolutely, brain power. That is so important.

And this is a study that was done -- they looked at folks, what they did for a living from their 20s to their 50s. And they tried to rank some of the jobs as to how mentally challenging were they? Were they jobs that kept you thinking on your feet? Where they jobs where your brain really had to work? Or were they rote jobs where you were doing the same thing over and over again?

And what they found is that those people with the lowest risk of Alzheimer's disease had certain things in common. Those people with the lowest risk had high mental demand in their job, did a variety of activities in their job, were creative and not routine, and had an ability to control and direct and plan what they were doing. And they were verbal. They used words a lot. They used numbers a lot. They dealt with spatial relationships a lot.

And it's interesting, they're not exactly sure why this would be true, why if you use your brain it makes it less likely to get Alzheimer's disease. But one theory is that with the increased mental demand comes increased use of these brain cells. And you kind of create a reserve of brain cells that can help you fight off Alzheimer's disease later in life.

KAGAN: The old use it or lose it.

COHEN: It's an organ. You've got to exercise it.

KAGAN: On the other hand, though, it's not like you can just go out and get a hard job and be guaranteed you're not going to get Alzheimer's. Some people are just going to get it.

COHEN: That's right. Some people are just going to get it. There's a huge link between genetics and Alzheimer's disease. And if genetics runs in your family and your genes says that you're going to get it, having a tough job is not going to ensure that you're not going to get Alzheimer's disease.

What we're talking about, Daryn, is lowering the risk. It's no insurance policy.

KAGAN: So, besides the brain crunching job, what else can you do to help lower your risk?

COHEN: There are lots of other things you can do. Diet. There may be this very big link between diet and Alzheimer's disease. So, for example, controlling your cholesterol is important. Controlling your blood pressure is important. Avoiding high fat diets is important. Also, some studies have shown that eating things like fish and berries, vitamin E, vitamin C ,and ginkgo also help. Now, it's a little bit unclear whether those things really truly help. Maybe people who eat lots of fish and berries are healthier anyhow, so that's why they have a lower risk of Alzheimer's. But hey, fish and berries, they can't hurt.

KAGAN: There you go. Elizabeth Cohen. Thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

KAGAN: Appreciate that. For your daily dose of health news online, log on to our Web site to find the latest medical news, special reports, and a health library. The address is cnn.com/health.

We are awaiting the start of President Bush's rally. We're heading to the panhandle, Pensacola, Florida. We will bring you part of that live. Look at that huge American flag.

Also, it is dark, it is violent, and it is flying off the shelves. Millions of video gamers are arming themselves with "Doom 3." We'll show you what the big attraction is coming up.

ANNOUNCER: The stories CNN is following today, August 10th.

Was there a terror threat against Las Vegas casinos? At 1:00, the latest reaction, including an outraged mayor.

And tropical storms gear up in the Gulf. Count on CNN for the latest developments.

Then, consumers face higher interest rates. At 2:00, what does that mean for a new home buyer.

Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: All right. There are flame tossing imps, flying skulls, demons of a new dimension for ultimate PC gamers everywhere. There is a new level of doom. I guess it's a good thing. It's called "Doom 3," the latest version of a popular and violent video game. It hit stores last week, and it already is flying off the shelves.

Our J.J. Ramberg has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amazing things will happen here soon.

J.J. RAMBERG, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was one of the most anticipated releases in video game history. When "Doom 3" hit stores last week, it had the attention of not only fans, but also of video game analysts who were expecting a much needed boost to the PC game industry. GREG VEDERMAN, PC GAMER: This is really the shot in the arm that we've all been waiting for. This game, along with a couple others that'll be coming out later this year, are expected to sort of swing the industry back towards the PC once the PC is now the superior platform for graphics and sound.

RAMBERG: In the past four years, sales of video games for PCs have shrunk by 33 percent, while games for consoles, like Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube, have increased by 41 percent.

But "Doom" is different. Sales of "Doom 1" and "2" totaled $100 million. And the industry buzz waiting for "Doom 3" has executives from id Software, the creators of the game, confident that version 3 will also be a big moneymaker.

TODD HOLLENSHEAD, ID SOFTWARE: Initial game sales for the first week are going to be well north of 200,000 units. We don't have the totals in yet, but that's going to be the fastest selling game that id has ever made and the fastest selling PC game that Activision has ever distributed.

RAMBERG: Four years, 21 developers, and more than $10 million in the making, "Doom 3" includes technological breakthroughs that have awed even the most experienced game players.

ANTHONY BORQUEZ, USC VITERBI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING: The lighting is unbelievable -- the lighting in the game. It casts shadows. It sets a mood that really can startle the player.

There's also the use of sound. I think the sound is quite amazing in the game. You hear voices from all around at different times in the game, which also adds to the immersiveness of "Doom 3."

RAMBERG (on camera): Gamers characterize the 20 hours or so it takes to play the game as a true thrill ride. And while some decry the violence in the game and others say the storyline is weak, there's no question that id's Software technology creates a new standard to live up to in the video game industry.

J.J. Ramberg, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: There is some gloomy news for real estate developer Donald Trump. He isn't exactly being fired, though Trump is being stripped of his majority stake in the Trump Casino business.

The gaming unit of his company is being restructured under a bankruptcy protection plan. Among other things, Trump would help put in $400 million to paydown over $1 billion in company debt, and his share in the company would be cut in half. Not the best day for the business for him.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

KAGAN: Let's bring you up to date on some stories that are developing as the day goes on. First to Redwood City, California, the prosecution's star witness, Amber Frey, in the Scott Peterson murder trial, has arrived at the courthouse in Redwood City. She came in in the garage in a dark SUV. She made no comment, not a surprise there. Also not a surprise, her attorney, Gloria Allred, did speak to reporters outside the courthouse. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA ALLRED, AMBER FREY'S ATTORNEY: Today we are going to hear about the quality and the depth of that relationship and how that relationship developed and evolved over time. We are going to hear about how Scott Peterson wormed himself into Mrs. Frey's life and into her heart.

She's very brave, she's very courageous to be here today. The reason she's here today is because in the prosecution's opinion, the relationship with Mr. Peterson supports a motive for murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Gloria Allred predicts that her client could be on the stand for as long as two to three weeks.

Now we go live to the panhandle of Florida. President Bush on the campaign trail today. With him, John McCain, his rival back in 2000. They'll be making three stops in the panhandle. Right now, he's going through the thank-yous and some of the homework of making a campaign stop. Later in the hour, or in the next hour, you'll hear live from Pensacola and President Bush.

In the past week, New Yorkers yet again felt the jitters of a city an alert, but while residents are cautious, some tourists are curious, discovering what's keeping the city that never sleeps, what's keeping it wide awake.

Jeanne Moos reports on a strange kind of automatic attraction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It used to be tourists would shoot everything from the statue of liberty to the statue of George Washington, but these days, standing like statues are cops with assault weapons. And when someone asks...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you take our picture?

MOOS: ... they might be posing in front of New York's latest attraction.

(on camera) Now, you just posed with those guys. What were you thinking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had a big gun!

MOOS (voice-over): Tourists from Australia, from Wisconsin, from Scotland are taking aim at those big guns. (on camera) Is it the gun or the dog that you find...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's the gun that's really quite shocking, you know? We don't see anything like that back home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unbelievable to see them standing on the corner with machine guns.

MOOS (voice-over): Well, actually, they're M-4 semiautomatics, and tourists seem automatically drawn to them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In London, police don't have guns. It's quite a sight for us to see Americans with guns.

MOOS (on camera): It looks almost like a toy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it's not. Trust me.

MOOS (voice-over): The bigger the gun, the more tourists want to pose.

(on camera) Does it happen all the time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Constantly.

MOOS: Do you mind when they pose with you? Or are you OK with it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not at all. I'm fine with it.

MOOS (voice-over): Eleven-year-old Christopher Stallman posed while his parents snapped away. Why did Christopher want the photo?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they're great people for protecting our country.

MOOS: Imagine showing off snapshots from your New York trip.

(on camera) I assume you have pictures of nice little touristy things, and then you're going to suddenly have guys with guns.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're here because our daughter is performing at the Godfrey (ph) Ballet, and so we're going to have ballet pictures and fully fledged machine gun police officers.

MOOS (voice-over): Some, like this Chinese student, are full of admiration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I could, I would be -- be one with them.

MOOS (on camera): One of these policemen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a tourist picture in the war. Yes. I don't like it very much. MOOS (voice-over): Of course, some folks...

(on camera) He's taking a picture of us.

(voice-over) ... will shoot anything.

You can divide those taking photos into two groups.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really scary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's awe-inspiring. It's kind of nice to see that.

MOOS (on camera): Is it scary or make you feel more secure?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, definitely more secure. They're on my side.

MOOS (voice-over): It's different being on the town when the town is on edge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): It's a wonderful time.

MOOS: It's still wonderful if vacation photos ain't what they used to be, when what you're shooting can shoot back.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It is a wonderful town.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: That is going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan. I'll see you right back here in the chair tomorrow morning. Right now, Wolf Blitzer takes over from Washington D.C.

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 - 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: I'm Daryn Kagan in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening now in the news. It's Tuesday, the 10th of August.
President Bush will hold a rally many just a few minutes -- you see a live picture there -- from Pensacola, Florida. He's on a three- city tour of the panhandle, a heavily Republican stretch of political real estate.

Also now in the news, videotapes obtained by the Associated Press seem to show Al Qaeda surveillance of Las Vegas casinos. But an AP report local law enforcement says that local law enforcement and casino security didn't care to watch the footage. Another document says the mayor was concerned about the impact on tourism if the tape became public. He denies that, by the way.

Still, also another memo says that casinos didn't want to see the tapes, because it might increase their legal liability in case there really was an attack.

New pictures of the Grand Ayatollah Sistani, now a patient in a London hospital. Sistani is considered the most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq. He left Najaf to receive medical treatment in Britain. Sistani is a moderating force on radical cleric Muqtada Al Sadr. His trip came shortly before U.S. Marines began battling fighters loyal to Al Sadr in Najaf.

Mark Hacking could spend life in prison if convicted of killing his wife, Lori. Prosecutors say the 28-year-old confessed to his brothers that he shot his wife in the head while she lay sleeping. Hacking reported his wife missing shortly after buying a new mattress.

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

National security and politics are intersecting at the presidential race today.

Candy Crowley joins us. She's in Washington with our campaign update.

Candy, good morning.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

This is a campaign where you can't avoid that intersection. We are still waiting for the Kerry campaign to weigh in on President Bush's big announcement today, his nomination of Republican Congressman Porter Goss to replace George Tenet as CIA director.

Other Democrats already are raising questions about whether the House Intelligence Committee chairman is too entrenched in the status quo to carry out needed reforms. The president says Goss' intelligence experience makes him the right person for the job.

After his announcement, the president headed south to Florida for a three-city campaign bus trip across the panhandle. He'll be joined by Senator John McCain, starting with a rally a few minutes from now in Pensacola. The area is friendly territory for Bush, who won some panhandle counties by double digits back in 2000.

Democrat John Kerry is out West, campaigning in Las Vegas against the backdrop of those reports that al Qaeda operatives once cased some casinos there. Kerry is meeting with first-responders and other health officials. He's also expected to criticize Bush's support for sending nuclear waste to Nevada's Yucca Mountain, an extremely unpopular decision in a state where Bush and Kerry are running neck and neck.

The sparks are already flying in the Illinois Senate race. Democrat Barack Obama is blasting Alan Keyes after the Republican ripped into Obama over his voting record on the abortion issue.

Here's some of what Keyes has to say yesterday on "INSIDE POLITICS."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN KEYES (R), ILLINOIS SENATE CANDIDATE: Barack Obama is somebody for instance who on abortion takes a stand that turns its back on the principles on the basis of which slavery was abolished, the principles on the basis of which Martin Luther King argued against segregation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Obama wasted no time firing back.

(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)

CROWLEY: Obama says, in the Illinois legislature, he voted against a late-term abortion ban because it contained no exception to protect the life of the mother.

Political detriment or political asset? We'll take a look at how the woman who could be first lady has changed over the course of the last few weeks and how she's viewed by the public. Plus, during a wartime election, we'll examine just how important the veterans' vote may be. So please be sure to join me when I go INSIDE POLITICS at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. But right now, we want to go back to Daryn in Atlanta.

KAGAN: All right, Candy, thank you for that report. Appreciate it.

The race for the White House is heating up. President Bush and Senator John Kerry are taking aim at each other over Iraq. At issue, the senator's yes vote on the war and whether he stands by that vote today.

Our senior White House correspondent John King has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the edge of the Grand Canyon, the Democratic nominee finally answered the president's challenge. Knowing what he knows now, would he still have backed giving the Bush administration the authority to wage war in Iraq?

SEN. JOHN KERRY, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I would have voted for the authority. I believe it is the right authority for a president to have. But I would have used that authority, as I have said throughout this campaign, effectively. I would have done this very differently from the way President Bush has.

KING: Then Senator Kerry tried to turn the tables, posing a leadership question of his own for the president.

KERRY: Why did he rush to war without a plan to win the peace?

KING: This was to have been a day of sightseeing after a 3,000- mile campaign journey from his convention in Boston to the rim of the Grand Canyon here in Arizona. But after avoiding questions for days, Senator Kerry answered one posed by Mr. Bush, first last week and then again on Monday in Virginia.

The president says he believes the war in Iraq was right, even though no weapons of mass destruction have been found.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And by the way, I think the candidates for president must say yes or no, whether or not they would have made the same decision.

KING: By forcing Senator Kerry to defend his vote for the war, the White House hopes to dampen enthusiasm among anti-war Democratic voters.

But Senator Kerry says the issue is how he would have used that power, and he promised to restore alliances strained by Mr. Bush and to have a goal of reducing troop levels in Iraq within six months of taking office.

KERRY: It is an appropriate goal to have, and I'm going to try to achieve it.

KING (on camera): Senator Kerry did not answer directly when pressed as to whether he had received any personal assurances of more international troop help in Iraq. But he said Democratic Senate colleagues who have traveled abroad recently have told him they believe a change in administrations would bring more international help.

John King, CNN, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: This program reminder, President Bush and first lady Laura Bush will be guests on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" this Thursday for the entire hour this Thursday. Tune in for the exclusive joint interview Thursday, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.

You've heard the saying, use it or lose it, but new research shows that actually might be especially true when it comes to your brain. Why a dead end job may be more dangerous than you think. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's take a look at some health headlines this morning. Some surgeons don't have the experience they need to treat breast cancer. Most breast cancer patients in the U.S. are operated on by surgeons who do relatively few procedures each year. That's according to a new study. Earlier studies suggests a surgeon should do at least 15 to 30 of the operations annually.

Heart disease doesn't just affect the person suffering from it. Researchers say the spouses of heart attack victims may be more likely than the patients themselves to suffer depression or anxiety afterward. And that could end up hampering the recovery of the patients.

People who spend their lives in a dead-end job may be facing more than a dead end. A new study says people who have jobs that take little brain work seem to be more likely eventually to get Alzheimer's disease. It's still not clear if the jobs themselves are the cause.

The possible link between your job and your risk of Alzheimer's is the focus of our "Daily Dose" of health news. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with more on that study. Good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Daryn, what you do for a living really matters.

KAGAN: Well, this is a challenging job. So, on that front, I think I'm OK.

COHEN: You're doing well. You're in good shape. You have to think on your feet. You have to think through things. Things are changing all the time.

KAGAN: Right, brain power. The wheels are spinning.

COHEN: Absolutely, brain power. That is so important.

And this is a study that was done -- they looked at folks, what they did for a living from their 20s to their 50s. And they tried to rank some of the jobs as to how mentally challenging were they? Were they jobs that kept you thinking on your feet? Where they jobs where your brain really had to work? Or were they rote jobs where you were doing the same thing over and over again?

And what they found is that those people with the lowest risk of Alzheimer's disease had certain things in common. Those people with the lowest risk had high mental demand in their job, did a variety of activities in their job, were creative and not routine, and had an ability to control and direct and plan what they were doing. And they were verbal. They used words a lot. They used numbers a lot. They dealt with spatial relationships a lot.

And it's interesting, they're not exactly sure why this would be true, why if you use your brain it makes it less likely to get Alzheimer's disease. But one theory is that with the increased mental demand comes increased use of these brain cells. And you kind of create a reserve of brain cells that can help you fight off Alzheimer's disease later in life.

KAGAN: The old use it or lose it.

COHEN: It's an organ. You've got to exercise it.

KAGAN: On the other hand, though, it's not like you can just go out and get a hard job and be guaranteed you're not going to get Alzheimer's. Some people are just going to get it.

COHEN: That's right. Some people are just going to get it. There's a huge link between genetics and Alzheimer's disease. And if genetics runs in your family and your genes says that you're going to get it, having a tough job is not going to ensure that you're not going to get Alzheimer's disease.

What we're talking about, Daryn, is lowering the risk. It's no insurance policy.

KAGAN: So, besides the brain crunching job, what else can you do to help lower your risk?

COHEN: There are lots of other things you can do. Diet. There may be this very big link between diet and Alzheimer's disease. So, for example, controlling your cholesterol is important. Controlling your blood pressure is important. Avoiding high fat diets is important. Also, some studies have shown that eating things like fish and berries, vitamin E, vitamin C ,and ginkgo also help. Now, it's a little bit unclear whether those things really truly help. Maybe people who eat lots of fish and berries are healthier anyhow, so that's why they have a lower risk of Alzheimer's. But hey, fish and berries, they can't hurt.

KAGAN: There you go. Elizabeth Cohen. Thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

KAGAN: Appreciate that. For your daily dose of health news online, log on to our Web site to find the latest medical news, special reports, and a health library. The address is cnn.com/health.

We are awaiting the start of President Bush's rally. We're heading to the panhandle, Pensacola, Florida. We will bring you part of that live. Look at that huge American flag.

Also, it is dark, it is violent, and it is flying off the shelves. Millions of video gamers are arming themselves with "Doom 3." We'll show you what the big attraction is coming up.

ANNOUNCER: The stories CNN is following today, August 10th.

Was there a terror threat against Las Vegas casinos? At 1:00, the latest reaction, including an outraged mayor.

And tropical storms gear up in the Gulf. Count on CNN for the latest developments.

Then, consumers face higher interest rates. At 2:00, what does that mean for a new home buyer.

Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: All right. There are flame tossing imps, flying skulls, demons of a new dimension for ultimate PC gamers everywhere. There is a new level of doom. I guess it's a good thing. It's called "Doom 3," the latest version of a popular and violent video game. It hit stores last week, and it already is flying off the shelves.

Our J.J. Ramberg has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amazing things will happen here soon.

J.J. RAMBERG, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was one of the most anticipated releases in video game history. When "Doom 3" hit stores last week, it had the attention of not only fans, but also of video game analysts who were expecting a much needed boost to the PC game industry. GREG VEDERMAN, PC GAMER: This is really the shot in the arm that we've all been waiting for. This game, along with a couple others that'll be coming out later this year, are expected to sort of swing the industry back towards the PC once the PC is now the superior platform for graphics and sound.

RAMBERG: In the past four years, sales of video games for PCs have shrunk by 33 percent, while games for consoles, like Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube, have increased by 41 percent.

But "Doom" is different. Sales of "Doom 1" and "2" totaled $100 million. And the industry buzz waiting for "Doom 3" has executives from id Software, the creators of the game, confident that version 3 will also be a big moneymaker.

TODD HOLLENSHEAD, ID SOFTWARE: Initial game sales for the first week are going to be well north of 200,000 units. We don't have the totals in yet, but that's going to be the fastest selling game that id has ever made and the fastest selling PC game that Activision has ever distributed.

RAMBERG: Four years, 21 developers, and more than $10 million in the making, "Doom 3" includes technological breakthroughs that have awed even the most experienced game players.

ANTHONY BORQUEZ, USC VITERBI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING: The lighting is unbelievable -- the lighting in the game. It casts shadows. It sets a mood that really can startle the player.

There's also the use of sound. I think the sound is quite amazing in the game. You hear voices from all around at different times in the game, which also adds to the immersiveness of "Doom 3."

RAMBERG (on camera): Gamers characterize the 20 hours or so it takes to play the game as a true thrill ride. And while some decry the violence in the game and others say the storyline is weak, there's no question that id's Software technology creates a new standard to live up to in the video game industry.

J.J. Ramberg, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: There is some gloomy news for real estate developer Donald Trump. He isn't exactly being fired, though Trump is being stripped of his majority stake in the Trump Casino business.

The gaming unit of his company is being restructured under a bankruptcy protection plan. Among other things, Trump would help put in $400 million to paydown over $1 billion in company debt, and his share in the company would be cut in half. Not the best day for the business for him.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

KAGAN: Let's bring you up to date on some stories that are developing as the day goes on. First to Redwood City, California, the prosecution's star witness, Amber Frey, in the Scott Peterson murder trial, has arrived at the courthouse in Redwood City. She came in in the garage in a dark SUV. She made no comment, not a surprise there. Also not a surprise, her attorney, Gloria Allred, did speak to reporters outside the courthouse. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA ALLRED, AMBER FREY'S ATTORNEY: Today we are going to hear about the quality and the depth of that relationship and how that relationship developed and evolved over time. We are going to hear about how Scott Peterson wormed himself into Mrs. Frey's life and into her heart.

She's very brave, she's very courageous to be here today. The reason she's here today is because in the prosecution's opinion, the relationship with Mr. Peterson supports a motive for murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Gloria Allred predicts that her client could be on the stand for as long as two to three weeks.

Now we go live to the panhandle of Florida. President Bush on the campaign trail today. With him, John McCain, his rival back in 2000. They'll be making three stops in the panhandle. Right now, he's going through the thank-yous and some of the homework of making a campaign stop. Later in the hour, or in the next hour, you'll hear live from Pensacola and President Bush.

In the past week, New Yorkers yet again felt the jitters of a city an alert, but while residents are cautious, some tourists are curious, discovering what's keeping the city that never sleeps, what's keeping it wide awake.

Jeanne Moos reports on a strange kind of automatic attraction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It used to be tourists would shoot everything from the statue of liberty to the statue of George Washington, but these days, standing like statues are cops with assault weapons. And when someone asks...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you take our picture?

MOOS: ... they might be posing in front of New York's latest attraction.

(on camera) Now, you just posed with those guys. What were you thinking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had a big gun!

MOOS (voice-over): Tourists from Australia, from Wisconsin, from Scotland are taking aim at those big guns. (on camera) Is it the gun or the dog that you find...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's the gun that's really quite shocking, you know? We don't see anything like that back home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unbelievable to see them standing on the corner with machine guns.

MOOS (voice-over): Well, actually, they're M-4 semiautomatics, and tourists seem automatically drawn to them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In London, police don't have guns. It's quite a sight for us to see Americans with guns.

MOOS (on camera): It looks almost like a toy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it's not. Trust me.

MOOS (voice-over): The bigger the gun, the more tourists want to pose.

(on camera) Does it happen all the time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Constantly.

MOOS: Do you mind when they pose with you? Or are you OK with it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not at all. I'm fine with it.

MOOS (voice-over): Eleven-year-old Christopher Stallman posed while his parents snapped away. Why did Christopher want the photo?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they're great people for protecting our country.

MOOS: Imagine showing off snapshots from your New York trip.

(on camera) I assume you have pictures of nice little touristy things, and then you're going to suddenly have guys with guns.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're here because our daughter is performing at the Godfrey (ph) Ballet, and so we're going to have ballet pictures and fully fledged machine gun police officers.

MOOS (voice-over): Some, like this Chinese student, are full of admiration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I could, I would be -- be one with them.

MOOS (on camera): One of these policemen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a tourist picture in the war. Yes. I don't like it very much. MOOS (voice-over): Of course, some folks...

(on camera) He's taking a picture of us.

(voice-over) ... will shoot anything.

You can divide those taking photos into two groups.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really scary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's awe-inspiring. It's kind of nice to see that.

MOOS (on camera): Is it scary or make you feel more secure?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, definitely more secure. They're on my side.

MOOS (voice-over): It's different being on the town when the town is on edge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): It's a wonderful time.

MOOS: It's still wonderful if vacation photos ain't what they used to be, when what you're shooting can shoot back.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It is a wonderful town.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: That is going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan. I'll see you right back here in the chair tomorrow morning. Right now, Wolf Blitzer takes over from Washington D.C.

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