President Bush is in New York City to attend the third game of the baseball World Series. It is a symbolic trip for Mr. Bush, who will be joining fans at a sporting event in a city still recovering from the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The president will throw out the ceremonial first pitch when the New York Yankees host the Arizona Diamondbacks in game three of the World Series.
He travels to Yankee Stadium amid fresh warnings of possible terrorist attacks. Spokesman Ari Fleischer says the White House security detail is confident Mr. Bush will be safe. And he acknowledged the very presence of the president in the stadium is designed to send a strong message to the American people that life must go on.
"The World Series is a time of great excitement for many Americans," said Mr. Fleischer. "The president is going to participate in that just like many Americans watch and enjoy the World Series. It helps to keep the fabric of our country strong."
But the White House spokesman has admitted that life in the United States has changed since the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. With 18,000 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies now on heightened alert, all Americans are being asked to be vigilant.
"They do understand it is possible to go to work everyday, take their children to school everyday, to enjoy after work and after school activities while knowing that law enforcement is on a heightened state of alert," he said.
Mr. Fleischer calls it "the new normalcy."
Security at the baseball game in New York will be extremely tight. And at the White House, Vice President Dick Cheney is conspicuously absent. Immediately after the Justice Department issued a new global terrorist alert Monday night, the vice president was moved once again to a secure location as a precaution.
The Bush administration says this latest alert was based on credible information. But officials say they cannot pinpoint a specific potential terrorist target. Homeland security chief Tom Ridge will say only that there appears to be a link to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida organization - the administration's prime suspects in the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.