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Supreme Court Opening New Term This Morning; SpaceShipOne Flies Safely Into Space, Wins $10 Ansari X Prize

Aired October 04, 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: Recapping the story we've been watching much of the morning, SpaceShipOne, the Mojave Desert. It appears at this point, although it hasn't been completely confirmed, making history, not once, but twice in the last few days, making it into outer space, winning the $10 million X Prize.
Our Miles O'Brien is in the Mojave Desert, watching this all unfold, explaining the sights, explaining how one day in the not too distant future, it might mean that you, too, if you have a big, fat checkbook, could take a ride up into space.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: The Supreme Court is back in session, the first Monday in October. Could some big changes to the highest court in the land be on the way? what would the impact be, depending on who is the next president of the U.S.? We're going to talk to a man who knows about that, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening now in the news. It is Monday, the 4th of October.

Democrat John Kerry, with the help from actor Michael J. Fox, is promoting stem cell research today. Kerry says President Bush's policies on stem cells are too limiting. Scientists say that stem cells offer a potential to cure a wide range of diseases.

With new polls showing the presidential race tightening, President Bush goes to Iowa today. He'll be signing a tax relief bill. The measure keeps three middle-class tax cuts from expiring at the end of the year.

Scientists keeping their eyes on Mount St. Helens saying the volcano could erupt at any time. They've detected the tell-tale rhythmic quakes which precede an eruption. Unlike Friday's blast of ash and steam, the next blast is expected to produce lava.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush may decide whether he'll appeal a ruling in the Terri Schiavo case. The state supreme court says that the state overstepped when it passed a law ordering Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted. If the governor does not appeal, Schiavo's life support could end soon.

And the star of the original slasher movie has died. Janet Leigh put a cold chill in the showers in Alfred Hitchcock's classic "Psycho." A spokeswoman says Leigh died at her home Sunday afternoon with daughter Jamie Lee Curtis at her bedside.

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

Checking the calendar, it is the first Monday in October. The Supreme Court opening its new term this morning. The pressing issue today, sentencing guidelines. The court itself threw federal sentencing guidelines into question with a ruling at the end of its last term. Justices will hear expedited arguments in the case this afternoon. The question, whether it violates the right to trial by jury if judges, instead of jurors, make factual decisions that add to a defendant's sentence.

The calendar may be as noteworthy as the docket this election year term. There hasn't been a change in the court in a decade. That is the longest stretch since the early 1820s. Two justices are now over 80. Only one is ineligible for Medicare. That is Clarence Thomas, who at age 56 is the subject of a new biography by Ken Foskett. It is called "Judging Thomas," and he is here with us today.

Good to have you here with us.

KEN FOSKETT, AUTHOR, "JUDGING THOMAS": Thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: Looking at the court, you and I had a chance to chat a little bit, both surprised that the issue of who would be the next president isn't coming up in terms of talking about the Supreme Court, because how many vacancies, realistically, could be coming up over the next four years?

FOSKETT: I've heard Orrin Hatch say there could be as many as four, which would be almost half the court. but certainly, you would think that there would be one or two. A lot of speculation about the chief justice because of his age. He turned 80 on Friday. Justice O'Connor is 74. Justice Stevens is 84. All of these folks are very vigorous, but you would think at some point they would begin to think about retirement.

KAGAN: And would the thinking be that would wait at least five weeks until the election is over.

FOSKETT: Generally, retirements happen at the end of a term. There -- it would be unlikely, I think, to see one right after the election, but later in the term, May, June, would be the time that we might get an announcement.

KAGAN: And let's say there is up to four vacancies over the next four years, how drastically could that change and shape policy?

FOSKETT: Well, enormously, enormously. Four justices, half the court, that has the potential to impact a number of decisions that, you know, would be -- have been very close.

KAGAN: And of course, a big difference whether Senator Kerry is the next president, or President Bush is re-elected in thinking of the shape of that court.

FOSKETT: Absolutely.

KAGAN: And some successors that might be named?

FOSKETT: I mean, I think that if President Bush is re-elected, absolutely we're going to see conservative nominees to the Court. President Bush has been consistent about that in his first four years, and really following a trend that was set with President Reagan in 1980 and then followed by the president's father thereafter.

The Republican party believes very strongly in the potential for the Supreme Court to continue legacies. So, I think, no question, we'd see more conservative nominees from President Bush. And if John Kerry is elected, the opposite. I think we'd see much more liberal justices.

KAGAN: Question about your book that you spent so much time working on, on Clarence Thomas. He did cooperate. He did give you an interview or two. What was your biggest surprise in, not only researching the man, but the man you got in meet in person?

FOSKETT: I think the biggest maybe was the contrast between Clarence Thomas the public figure -- who is very severe, dour, doesn't ask a lot of questions on the Supreme Court bench -- and the man in private -- who is very, very gregarious, loves to tell jokes, very generous, and very, very different from the kind of man that we see on the Supreme Court.

KAGAN: And we'll find out -- people will find out more in your book.

FOSKETT: That's right.

KAGAN: Very good. Ken, thank you for your time. Ken Foskett, "AJC" here in town, "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," and author, as well. Thank you.

FOSKETT: Thank you.

KAGAN: Well, we have a treatment coming ahead, a treatment that is as popular as it is controversial. Why are so many women going back to hormone replacement therapy despite the dangers? Your "Daily Dose" of health news is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: The cell phone industry is working hard to open up one of the last phone-free zones. You might have heard of it: when you board a plane and the attendant tells you to turn it off along with those other electronic devices.

Tests have been underway all summer to determine if signals from cell phones really do interfere with aircraft navigation systems. With necessary approvals, new technology could allow cell phone calls to be used by planes by 2006. That still does -- gives you time to enjoy the silence.

We are back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: SpaceShipOne did it: The private flyer rocketed to an altitude of 62 miles today, literally the edge of space, winning, it would appear, a $10 million prize.

Let's go back to our own Miles, Miles O'Brien in the Mojave Desert in southern California. Good morning.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, when you talk about miles, Daryn, they put quite a few of them on the scoreboard here -- 368,000 and then some. We're listening to a talk by Brian Binnie, the pilot, in the VIP area right now.

Unfortunately, I can't show it to you right now. We don't have a camera in there, but he's talking about how -- well, he said, "I thank God that I live in a country where this is possible." We say amen to Brian Binnie on that point, because this is precisely what this is all about, the little guy in this little shop, this little hangar, with a relatively small amount of money actually attaining something very great, which could -- might very well, if a lot of the talk here comes true, spur something very different in the world of space travel. Space, maybe, for the rest of us. That remains to be seen, but this is a very interesting and intriguing start.

Let's take you back to what happened earlier today. As you see, Brian Binnie up there, fueled and on the tail end -- or leaving the tail behind of that rocket motor, developed by a company called SpaceDev. You'll hear from the CEO of that company in just a few moments.

Fueled by tire rubber and nitrous oxide -- yes, that's laughing gas, but nobody's laughing now. This is a for real rocket that has now taken this craft to space three times. This time, the farthest it has flown, 368,000 feet, beating the record set here in the high desert in the early '60s by the X-15 space plane. And of course, more importantly for this team, enough to give them the $10 million Ansari X Prize.

They had to do it twice in as many weeks in this craft. They did it twice in about five days. The landing went off without a hitch. Brian Binnie, back in December of 2003, was the first to take this craft supersonic, which was considered the most risky of the flights they have flown to date, according to Burt Rutan.

When he landed, he landed a little bit hard and collapsed one of the -- the landing gear, the main landing gear. This time, he put all of those concerns to rest, literally painted that SpaceShipOne on the runway here at the Mojave Space Port, and now is receiving the accolades of thousands of people that have gathered here to witness a little piece of space history.

That $10 million check won't be delivered today. That'll happen in November in St. Louis. The X Prize is based in St. Louis in honor of the Spirit of St. Louis, which was the inspiration for this prize by Peter Diamandis, who brought it all together.

Jim Benson, CEO of SpaceDev, you've got to be happy that rocket motor fired as performed and got them there. What's the feeling in general among the team right now?

JIM BENSON, CEO, SPACEDEV: Total excitement. Four year's worth of hard work, ever since December of 1999. Today was the technology payoff. It's the start of a new era. Everybody's excited. We're relieved. This was history in the making. We couldn't be more excited.

O'BRIEN: All right. Jim Benson, CEO of SpaceDev, securing the excitement of this team as they move on to bigger and better things, they hope.

Richard Branson is here. He is head of Virgin Airlines. He's starting up an outfit called Virgin Galactic. Someday soon, maybe by 2007, you'll be able to buy a ticket -- not a cheap one, but a ticket -- to do just what you saw what Brian Binnie did today -- Daryn?

KAGAN: Excellent. Miles, thank you for the pictures and the story and the 10 million bucks today. Appreciate it.

We are back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: A lot of women stop taking hormone therapy due to health concerns, but they have started taking the treatments again. Now doctors are trying to clear up the confusion over the risk versus the benefits.

Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here with our "Daily Dose" of health news.

Boy, this is an important story, and it does have the heads of a lot of women spinning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. So many women, two years after that big study came out, are saying, what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to take hormones to get me through menopause? Am I not supposed to take hormones? It gets very confusing.

Well, the study came out two years ago that said hormone replacement therapy increases your risk of getting heart disease, and cancer and blood clots, and so 65 percent of women who had been taking hormones went off of them.

Well, two years later, now it seems that the pendulum is possibly turning the other way. I've been speaking with gynecologists who say people are coming back to me saying, I want my hormones.

Well, now a big study in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist, they look at the all the evidence, and this is what they have found. Again, one in our women back on hormones. In other words, one out of every four women who left hormones two years ago, one of them is back taking hormones.

But the study found that hormones really are the most effective at treating hot flashes and they found something interesting, that antidepressants can also be effective, the antidepressants that are called SSRIs can also be effective.

But what they did also reemphasize in this report is don't take hormones because you think they might prevent heart disease or cancer. That's what people used to think. That's doctors used to think. They said take them if your hot flashes are terrible and you can't handle it anymore, but don't think it's going to actually prevent you from getting other diseases. In fact, it's going to increase your risk of getting those diseases.

KAGAN: Right, which makes it a very important decision as to whether you're going to take it. So if you're at the beginning of menopause or going through it, how do you ultimately make that decision?

COHEN: Here's what you do, you talk to your doctor about the risks versus the benefits. There are some women I've talked to who said, you know what, my hot flashes are so terrible that I need to take hormones because it's going to make me feel better. And yes, it's going to increase my chance of getting heart disease or cancer, but the increase is not gigantic, and I'm willing to take that risk, because the hot flashes are interrupting my ability to have a normal live, so that's the first thing that you look at, is are the benefits worth the risks, and discuss that with your doctor.

Then when you go on hormones, use the lowest dose possible for the shortest possible time. You don't want to be on these things really for the rest of your life in most cases. And then check with your doctor every three to six months -- this is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -- so every three to six months, your doctor can re-assess. Don't just go on them and stay on them. Go back to you doctor every few months.

KAGAN: Well, and then quickly, the answer for a lot of women when they heard this news about hormone replacement therapy, they went on some herbal remedies.

COHEN: Right, lots of black kohosh (ph) and lots of other herbal remedies that have been touted that help, this big study from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, that herbs don't work, alternative treatments don't work. However, Daryn, I'll tell you, there are a lot of doctors out there who disagree, who would say that maybe they do help a bit. Soy in particular has been found to possibly help.

KAGAN: You have to make sure that they don't have estrogen in them, though, that that's what...

(CROSSTALK) COHEN: Right, you want to think about that. But the jury is still out, according to a lot of doctors I've talked to.

KAGAN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for that.

COHEN: Thanks.

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

That is going to do it for me, completing my first day back in the saddle. I'm back from a long vacation. It's good to be back. I'll be back right back here tomorrow morning.

Wolf Blitzer will be with you at the top of the hour. Have a great day.

(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 October 4, 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: Recapping the story we've been watching much of the morning, SpaceShipOne, the Mojave Desert. It appears at this point, although it hasn't been completely confirmed, making history, not once, but twice in the last few days, making it into outer space, winning the $10 million X Prize.
Our Miles O'Brien is in the Mojave Desert, watching this all unfold, explaining the sights, explaining how one day in the not too distant future, it might mean that you, too, if you have a big, fat checkbook, could take a ride up into space.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: The Supreme Court is back in session, the first Monday in October. Could some big changes to the highest court in the land be on the way? what would the impact be, depending on who is the next president of the U.S.? We're going to talk to a man who knows about that, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening now in the news. It is Monday, the 4th of October.

Democrat John Kerry, with the help from actor Michael J. Fox, is promoting stem cell research today. Kerry says President Bush's policies on stem cells are too limiting. Scientists say that stem cells offer a potential to cure a wide range of diseases.

With new polls showing the presidential race tightening, President Bush goes to Iowa today. He'll be signing a tax relief bill. The measure keeps three middle-class tax cuts from expiring at the end of the year.

Scientists keeping their eyes on Mount St. Helens saying the volcano could erupt at any time. They've detected the tell-tale rhythmic quakes which precede an eruption. Unlike Friday's blast of ash and steam, the next blast is expected to produce lava.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush may decide whether he'll appeal a ruling in the Terri Schiavo case. The state supreme court says that the state overstepped when it passed a law ordering Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted. If the governor does not appeal, Schiavo's life support could end soon.

And the star of the original slasher movie has died. Janet Leigh put a cold chill in the showers in Alfred Hitchcock's classic "Psycho." A spokeswoman says Leigh died at her home Sunday afternoon with daughter Jamie Lee Curtis at her bedside.

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

Checking the calendar, it is the first Monday in October. The Supreme Court opening its new term this morning. The pressing issue today, sentencing guidelines. The court itself threw federal sentencing guidelines into question with a ruling at the end of its last term. Justices will hear expedited arguments in the case this afternoon. The question, whether it violates the right to trial by jury if judges, instead of jurors, make factual decisions that add to a defendant's sentence.

The calendar may be as noteworthy as the docket this election year term. There hasn't been a change in the court in a decade. That is the longest stretch since the early 1820s. Two justices are now over 80. Only one is ineligible for Medicare. That is Clarence Thomas, who at age 56 is the subject of a new biography by Ken Foskett. It is called "Judging Thomas," and he is here with us today.

Good to have you here with us.

KEN FOSKETT, AUTHOR, "JUDGING THOMAS": Thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: Looking at the court, you and I had a chance to chat a little bit, both surprised that the issue of who would be the next president isn't coming up in terms of talking about the Supreme Court, because how many vacancies, realistically, could be coming up over the next four years?

FOSKETT: I've heard Orrin Hatch say there could be as many as four, which would be almost half the court. but certainly, you would think that there would be one or two. A lot of speculation about the chief justice because of his age. He turned 80 on Friday. Justice O'Connor is 74. Justice Stevens is 84. All of these folks are very vigorous, but you would think at some point they would begin to think about retirement.

KAGAN: And would the thinking be that would wait at least five weeks until the election is over.

FOSKETT: Generally, retirements happen at the end of a term. There -- it would be unlikely, I think, to see one right after the election, but later in the term, May, June, would be the time that we might get an announcement.

KAGAN: And let's say there is up to four vacancies over the next four years, how drastically could that change and shape policy?

FOSKETT: Well, enormously, enormously. Four justices, half the court, that has the potential to impact a number of decisions that, you know, would be -- have been very close.

KAGAN: And of course, a big difference whether Senator Kerry is the next president, or President Bush is re-elected in thinking of the shape of that court.

FOSKETT: Absolutely.

KAGAN: And some successors that might be named?

FOSKETT: I mean, I think that if President Bush is re-elected, absolutely we're going to see conservative nominees to the Court. President Bush has been consistent about that in his first four years, and really following a trend that was set with President Reagan in 1980 and then followed by the president's father thereafter.

The Republican party believes very strongly in the potential for the Supreme Court to continue legacies. So, I think, no question, we'd see more conservative nominees from President Bush. And if John Kerry is elected, the opposite. I think we'd see much more liberal justices.

KAGAN: Question about your book that you spent so much time working on, on Clarence Thomas. He did cooperate. He did give you an interview or two. What was your biggest surprise in, not only researching the man, but the man you got in meet in person?

FOSKETT: I think the biggest maybe was the contrast between Clarence Thomas the public figure -- who is very severe, dour, doesn't ask a lot of questions on the Supreme Court bench -- and the man in private -- who is very, very gregarious, loves to tell jokes, very generous, and very, very different from the kind of man that we see on the Supreme Court.

KAGAN: And we'll find out -- people will find out more in your book.

FOSKETT: That's right.

KAGAN: Very good. Ken, thank you for your time. Ken Foskett, "AJC" here in town, "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," and author, as well. Thank you.

FOSKETT: Thank you.

KAGAN: Well, we have a treatment coming ahead, a treatment that is as popular as it is controversial. Why are so many women going back to hormone replacement therapy despite the dangers? Your "Daily Dose" of health news is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: The cell phone industry is working hard to open up one of the last phone-free zones. You might have heard of it: when you board a plane and the attendant tells you to turn it off along with those other electronic devices.

Tests have been underway all summer to determine if signals from cell phones really do interfere with aircraft navigation systems. With necessary approvals, new technology could allow cell phone calls to be used by planes by 2006. That still does -- gives you time to enjoy the silence.

We are back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: SpaceShipOne did it: The private flyer rocketed to an altitude of 62 miles today, literally the edge of space, winning, it would appear, a $10 million prize.

Let's go back to our own Miles, Miles O'Brien in the Mojave Desert in southern California. Good morning.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, when you talk about miles, Daryn, they put quite a few of them on the scoreboard here -- 368,000 and then some. We're listening to a talk by Brian Binnie, the pilot, in the VIP area right now.

Unfortunately, I can't show it to you right now. We don't have a camera in there, but he's talking about how -- well, he said, "I thank God that I live in a country where this is possible." We say amen to Brian Binnie on that point, because this is precisely what this is all about, the little guy in this little shop, this little hangar, with a relatively small amount of money actually attaining something very great, which could -- might very well, if a lot of the talk here comes true, spur something very different in the world of space travel. Space, maybe, for the rest of us. That remains to be seen, but this is a very interesting and intriguing start.

Let's take you back to what happened earlier today. As you see, Brian Binnie up there, fueled and on the tail end -- or leaving the tail behind of that rocket motor, developed by a company called SpaceDev. You'll hear from the CEO of that company in just a few moments.

Fueled by tire rubber and nitrous oxide -- yes, that's laughing gas, but nobody's laughing now. This is a for real rocket that has now taken this craft to space three times. This time, the farthest it has flown, 368,000 feet, beating the record set here in the high desert in the early '60s by the X-15 space plane. And of course, more importantly for this team, enough to give them the $10 million Ansari X Prize.

They had to do it twice in as many weeks in this craft. They did it twice in about five days. The landing went off without a hitch. Brian Binnie, back in December of 2003, was the first to take this craft supersonic, which was considered the most risky of the flights they have flown to date, according to Burt Rutan.

When he landed, he landed a little bit hard and collapsed one of the -- the landing gear, the main landing gear. This time, he put all of those concerns to rest, literally painted that SpaceShipOne on the runway here at the Mojave Space Port, and now is receiving the accolades of thousands of people that have gathered here to witness a little piece of space history.

That $10 million check won't be delivered today. That'll happen in November in St. Louis. The X Prize is based in St. Louis in honor of the Spirit of St. Louis, which was the inspiration for this prize by Peter Diamandis, who brought it all together.

Jim Benson, CEO of SpaceDev, you've got to be happy that rocket motor fired as performed and got them there. What's the feeling in general among the team right now?

JIM BENSON, CEO, SPACEDEV: Total excitement. Four year's worth of hard work, ever since December of 1999. Today was the technology payoff. It's the start of a new era. Everybody's excited. We're relieved. This was history in the making. We couldn't be more excited.

O'BRIEN: All right. Jim Benson, CEO of SpaceDev, securing the excitement of this team as they move on to bigger and better things, they hope.

Richard Branson is here. He is head of Virgin Airlines. He's starting up an outfit called Virgin Galactic. Someday soon, maybe by 2007, you'll be able to buy a ticket -- not a cheap one, but a ticket -- to do just what you saw what Brian Binnie did today -- Daryn?

KAGAN: Excellent. Miles, thank you for the pictures and the story and the 10 million bucks today. Appreciate it.

We are back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: A lot of women stop taking hormone therapy due to health concerns, but they have started taking the treatments again. Now doctors are trying to clear up the confusion over the risk versus the benefits.

Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here with our "Daily Dose" of health news.

Boy, this is an important story, and it does have the heads of a lot of women spinning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. So many women, two years after that big study came out, are saying, what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to take hormones to get me through menopause? Am I not supposed to take hormones? It gets very confusing.

Well, the study came out two years ago that said hormone replacement therapy increases your risk of getting heart disease, and cancer and blood clots, and so 65 percent of women who had been taking hormones went off of them.

Well, two years later, now it seems that the pendulum is possibly turning the other way. I've been speaking with gynecologists who say people are coming back to me saying, I want my hormones.

Well, now a big study in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist, they look at the all the evidence, and this is what they have found. Again, one in our women back on hormones. In other words, one out of every four women who left hormones two years ago, one of them is back taking hormones.

But the study found that hormones really are the most effective at treating hot flashes and they found something interesting, that antidepressants can also be effective, the antidepressants that are called SSRIs can also be effective.

But what they did also reemphasize in this report is don't take hormones because you think they might prevent heart disease or cancer. That's what people used to think. That's doctors used to think. They said take them if your hot flashes are terrible and you can't handle it anymore, but don't think it's going to actually prevent you from getting other diseases. In fact, it's going to increase your risk of getting those diseases.

KAGAN: Right, which makes it a very important decision as to whether you're going to take it. So if you're at the beginning of menopause or going through it, how do you ultimately make that decision?

COHEN: Here's what you do, you talk to your doctor about the risks versus the benefits. There are some women I've talked to who said, you know what, my hot flashes are so terrible that I need to take hormones because it's going to make me feel better. And yes, it's going to increase my chance of getting heart disease or cancer, but the increase is not gigantic, and I'm willing to take that risk, because the hot flashes are interrupting my ability to have a normal live, so that's the first thing that you look at, is are the benefits worth the risks, and discuss that with your doctor.

Then when you go on hormones, use the lowest dose possible for the shortest possible time. You don't want to be on these things really for the rest of your life in most cases. And then check with your doctor every three to six months -- this is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -- so every three to six months, your doctor can re-assess. Don't just go on them and stay on them. Go back to you doctor every few months.

KAGAN: Well, and then quickly, the answer for a lot of women when they heard this news about hormone replacement therapy, they went on some herbal remedies.

COHEN: Right, lots of black kohosh (ph) and lots of other herbal remedies that have been touted that help, this big study from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, that herbs don't work, alternative treatments don't work. However, Daryn, I'll tell you, there are a lot of doctors out there who disagree, who would say that maybe they do help a bit. Soy in particular has been found to possibly help.

KAGAN: You have to make sure that they don't have estrogen in them, though, that that's what...

(CROSSTALK) COHEN: Right, you want to think about that. But the jury is still out, according to a lot of doctors I've talked to.

KAGAN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for that.

COHEN: Thanks.

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

That is going to do it for me, completing my first day back in the saddle. I'm back from a long vacation. It's good to be back. I'll be back right back here tomorrow morning.

Wolf Blitzer will be with you at the top of the hour. Have a great day.

(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