RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Zosuquidar trihydrochloride, a modulator of multidrug resistance (MDR), may help daunorubicin and cytarabine kill more cancer cells by making cancer cells more sensitive to the drugs. It is not yet known whether daunorubicin and cytarabine are more effective with or without zosuquidar trihydrochloride in treating acute myeloid leukemia or anemia.