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CNN Live At Daybreak

Issue of Stem-Cell Research; Latest Developments in the Scott Peterson Murder Trial.

Aired October 12, 2004 - 06:00   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Now in the news -- the U.S. military says it launched two air strikes today on targets in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. Military officials say one target was a meeting center for terrorists loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The other was a so-called safe house for terrorists.

U.S. forces also in action in the nearby city of Ramadi this morning. They backed up Iraqi forces in raids on seven mosques. No word on arrests. Officials suspect the mosques harbor terrorists and weapons.

In southern Russia, people are filling churches and cemeteries in Beslan. That's where hundreds were killed in a terrorist siege at a school. Residents are marking the end of a 40-day mourning period.

In sports, batter up. One of the fiercest rivalries in baseball being renewed today. The New York Yankees take on the Boston Red Sox in game one of the American League Championship Series. We'll talk more about this rivalry later this hour -- Chad, can you guess how much tickets are going for?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: How much one ticket will go for? Scalper ticket?

COSTELLO: Yes. Well, I actually looked on the Internet.

MYERS: Two hundred bucks.

COSTELLO: Four thousand dollars.

MYERS: Oh, whatever.

COSTELLO: I'm not kidding. On the Internet. It's a ticket for $4,000.

MYERS: Well, you can ask anything, I guess. It's just about what somebody's going to pay for it.

COSTELLO: I don't know.

(WEATHER REPORT) COSTELLO: Three weeks from today, Americans elect the next president. And on the eve of the final presidential debate, a majority of Americans think John Kerry will do a better job tonight. A CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows 54 percent of Americans think Senator Kerry will do better in the debate. Thirty-six percent pick Bush to win. As for their choice for president, that same poll shows President Bush and Senator Kerry in a dead heat, Kerry favored by 49 percent of likely voters, Bush by 48 percent. The two are tied at 48 percent among registered voters.

Christopher Reeve believed that medical research would help -- would some day help people like him walk again. And it still might. A CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll taken before the announcement of Reeve's death shows support for his issue. Fifty-five percent of those polled say that scientists should be given a greater opportunity for research.

But will Reeve's death turn the stem-cell debate into a political football or a political land mine?

Here's CNN's Adaora Udoji.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christopher Reeve introduced embryonic stem-cell research into American living rooms.

CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR: These cells have the potential to cure diseases.

UDOJI: Michael J. Fox, suffering from Parkinson's Disease, is also a believer, as is Nancy Reagan, wife of former Republican president Ronald Reagan, who died after battling Alzheimer's. Many scientists say embryonic stem-cells might lead to cures for disease, from diabetes to cancer. But those stem-cells are controversial.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think we could save lives. Now, I think we can do ethically guided embryonic stem- cell research.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Embryonic stem- cell research requires the destruction of life to create a stem cell.

UDOJI: The president's core religious voters believe life begins at conception. Research supporters argue it begins later, that thousands of embryos are destroyed anyway so stem cells should be harvested for the greater good. In 2001, in what some call a compromise, President Bush began funding adult and, to a lesser extent, embryonic stem-cell research. But scientists are limited to existing stem cells. The policy doesn't prevent private companies from researching. They can without federal oversight presenting other issues.

DR. RITA FISCHBACH, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: You're going to have a lot of rogue investigators who can carry forward programs that might be considered unacceptable. UDOJI: Reeve knew it was complicated.

REEVE: I think the question of whether I will walk is going to depend on politics.

UDOJI: But he brought new understanding to the science that is clashing with raw politics.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Christopher Reeve was active in supporting a California ballot initiative on stem-cell research. But commercials he taped to inform voters will be shelved as a result of his death.

Rock and rollers who support John Kerry wrapped up their Vote For Change tour in D.C.

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: Of course, that's the group REM. Thousands of people packed an arena to hear some of the world's top rockers. Bruce Springsteen also there, of course -- Pearl Jam. A host of entertainers have been performing separately or in pairs in 11 battleground states over the past two weeks. Money raised from the tour goes to a Democratic group that's trying to unseat President Bush.

Imagine if it was required that Michael Moore's "9/11" be shown on primetime TV weeks before the presidential election. You might be pleased if you're a Democrat. But Democrats are not happy with conservative Sinclair Broadcasting. It owns 62 TV stations nationwide and it's requiring all 62 to air an anti-Kerry documentary two weeks before the election, without commercial interruption.

The Democratic National Committee is now trying to block that documentary.

As for filmmaker Michael Moore, he's reportedly trying to get "Fahrenheit 911" on television the night before the election. But he's going for Pay-Per-View, not traditional broadcast outlets like Sinclair.

As you well know, we are one day away from the final presidential debate. Our primetime coverage begins tomorrow night at 7:00 with Wolf Blitzer, Paula Zahn, Anderson Cooper and our entire CNN election team. That would be 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.

On to legal matters now, let the defense begin. Scott Peterson will be back in a California court today. It will be his turn. And the defense may have a few tricks, like jailhouse letters Peterson sent to his family. In one, he writes of his wife and unborn child: "I am finding it so difficult to grieve for them in here. I saw the sun rise from the yard and I cried for my family. I cried for all of us and our loss." There is more, too. But before we read them to you, let's head live to Miami and our legal analyst, Kendall Coffey -- good morning, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: You know, Mark Geragos, Peterson's attorney, is crafty.

Could these letters help?

COFFEY: Well, it's certainly a sensible strategy. I mean Scott Peterson's almost assuredly not going to take the stand to proclaim his innocence, say he's devastated by the loss of Laci and Conner. So, the defense hopes to use these letters to carry that message to the jurors.

But Scott Peterson, Carol, has been caught in so many lies during this trial. I don't think it's clear if these letters are going to be seen as honest anguish or crocodile tears.

COSTELLO: Well, having said that, allow me to read an excerpt of another. He says: "They just brought us dinner. It's a green liquid with, I think, some carrot chunks. I think I'll have to resort to the commissary bag. I've been rationing it like I'm a survivor. Please vote me off the island." That's another bit from a jailhouse letter Peterson sent to his family.

Will prosecutors be able to get into testimony the less flattering mail?

COFFEY: Well, they're certainly going to be combing through the letters to see what else they can come up with. But I think what's going to be more critical in the defense, the letters will continue to humanize Scott, the defense hopes, but we're going to see some evidence on time of death. And that's going to be one of the big issues, Carol, because the prosecution theory is she was murdered the night of December 23. The defense is going to focus on forensic evidence and maybe even eyewitnesses to tell the jury that she was still alive, Laci was still alive on December 24. And that might just get Scott the vote he needs to get off of prison island.

COSTELLO: Yes, you know, you talk about that physical evidence, Kendall, but won't it come down to a liability issue? I mean the jury just doesn't like Scott Peterson.

COFFEY: Well, they clearly don't like him. They clearly would be ready to convict him of all kinds of things, from serial skirt chasing to lying. But it's still fundamentally about as horrible a crime as it gets. And so, I think this case is going to go down to the closing argument. It's going to be that close as to whether the jury is going to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he murdered his wife and unborn son.

COSTELLO: We'll be following it.

Kendall Coffey live from Miami this morning.

Thank you.

In other news across America now, outgoing New Jersey Governor James McGreevey has already picked his next job. The Newark "Star Ledger" is reporting the governor will join a prestigious New Jersey law firm. Part of his duties will be to advise clients on governmental issues. McGreevey announced his resignation after admitting to an extramarital affair with a man. His resignation is effective November 15.

A Washington State teen is facing a $10 million bill from the government. Eighteen-year-old Ryan Unger was cited for starting a wildfire in August that spread across 16,000 acres. The U.S. Forest Service now wants him to reimburse them for firefighting costs.

In Arkansas, investigators are trying to determine if a fatal bus crash was the result of driver fatigue. Saturday's tour bus crash killed 14 people, including the driver. Investigators say the driver had been at the wheel all night long. Two survivors remain in critical condition this morning.

Now a bit of inspiration. It's an incredible survival story out of Washington State. A 17-year-old girl spends eight days badly injured at the bottom of a 200-foot ravine. She had no food and no water, but she had plenty of hope.

We get more on this story now from Meg Coyle of CNN affiliate KING in Redmond, Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. RICHARD ELLENBOGEN, NEUROSURGEON: She's funny. She makes jokes and she's in pretty miraculous shape considering what she's been through.

MEG COYLE, KING CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seventeen-year-old Laura Hatch may have lost eight days after crashing her car down a steep embankment, but one thing she didn't lose was her sense of humor and, more importantly, her sense of survival.

ELLENBOGEN: She's a very lucky girl. So far, she's doing great.

COYLE: Laura was last seen leaving a party on October 2. Dozens of volunteers searched for her, but turned up nothing, until yesterday, when family friend Shea Nohr says a recurring dream led her to Laura, off Union Hill Road in Redmond.

SHEA NOHR, RESCUER: I was praying and I said god, if you've ever given me a vision, please give me strength and make this a real one, as we were driving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think twins have a special connection and I just knew that she wouldn't leave me.

COYLE: So, how did Laura Hatch survive eight days without water? She suffered a blood clot in the accident, something that could have easily killed her. But doctors say in this case, her dehydration may have actually saved her.

ELLENBOGEN: The way that we normally treat that is to dehydrate the brain and/or open up the skull and take the blood clot out. And she dehydrated herself to a point even better than we might have been able to do it with medicines. And that's what probably saved her life.

They want to say it's divine intervention. They want to invoke god's name. I think that's beautiful and that's fine and I'll leave it at that. But I certainly don't have a good scientific explanation for it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Amazing.

That was Meg Coyle of CNN affiliate KING, KING TV. Police were slow in starting their search for Laura Hatch after initial interviews led them to believe she'd just run away from home.

Here's what we've got coming up for you later this hour.

They're having a ball in Beantown. We'll take a look at those die hard Boston fans as the Red Sox rekindle an old rivalry. That's coming up at 51 minutes past.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning, the 12th of October.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

Now 6:16 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Today marks four years since al Qaeda terrorists attacked the USS Cole, killing 17 American sailors at a port in Yemen. A court there recently sentenced a Saudi and a Yemeni militant to death for that attack.

U.S. companies say this year's flu season is going to cost them. "USA Today" says a number of companies are bracing for a big increase in sick days due to the nationwide flu vaccine shortage.

In money news, college students are missing out on millions of dollars. A study by the American Council on Education finds that hundreds of thousands of eligible college students are not getting their financial aid. Why? Because they don't apply for it.

In culture, "Now You, Too, Can Think Like A Billionaire." That's billionaire with a B. That's the title of Donald Trump's new book. It's hitting the shelves today. Mixed in with his usual tips on turning millions into billions, Trump takes you on a behind-the-scenes tour of his TV show, "The Apprentice."

In sports, the Houston Astros won their first ever post-season series. The Astros, they simply blew away the Atlanta Braves at home 12-3 in the deciding game of the National League Division series -- Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: I'm sure Barack Obama and Alan Keyes were not happy with those two little poses that they had there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: At least they both looked befuddled.

MYERS: They did. It looked like one was sleeping, like my computer.

Good morning.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: Have a good day.

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you now.

Coming up, they both come from privileged backgrounds, they both went to Yale, but what are the differences between President Bush and Senator Kerry? I'll talk to the maker of a documentary offering a front line view of the candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER UPDEGRAVE, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": One type of IRA is the traditional deductible IRA and the other is known as a Roth IRA.

With the traditional deductible IRA, you put money into the IRA account and you get a tax deduction for your contribution. So, you get an immediate tax break. The money that you contribute, meanwhile, any gains that it generates compound free of taxes until you pull your money out, preferably at retirement.

Now, the Roth IRA basically works in exactly the opposite way. You put in money that you already pay tax on, so you don't get any immediate tax deduction. The money that you put in generates gains. Those gains are not taxed at all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: A fascinating "Frontline" tonight. It's called "The Choice 2004." It features incredible archival pictures of candidates Bush and Kerry.

Let's head live to New York now and PBS political correspondent Nicholas Lemann.

Good morning.

NICHOLAS LEMANN, "NEW YORKER" POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

COSTELLO: You say this film is about two men, two world views and two Americas that have developed in tandem.

How so?

LEMANN: Well, it's interesting, you know, if you came from Mars to Earth and you looked at this election, you would say you're running two people who are exactly the same. Bush and Kerry grew up in the tiny little world, different ends of this tiny little world, but they both went to boarding school, which very few Americans do. They both came from prominent families in the Northeast. They both went to Yale at almost exactly the same time. They were both in Skull and Bones.

It's amazing how different they are, really, considering how similar their backgrounds are.

COSTELLO: And you mentioned the similarities. We want to show two clips from "Frontline," from your show tonight.

Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Though his grandfather was a former senator and his father a congressman, George steered clear of the high stakes student politics of the '60s. Instead, George became president of Delta Kappa Epsilon, DKE, the hardest partying, rowdiest frat house on campus.

ROLAND BETTS, YALE CLASSMATE: I think being elected to the head of the fraternity was important to him. George is a person who, when he decides to apply himself, he excels. I don't think he applied himself academically at Yale.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At Yale, John Kerry became head of the Political Union and was active in the debating club. He was a good student. At the same time, he was a mystery to his closest friends. All they knew was that he was driven.

HARVEY BUNDY: It's hard to explain John other than someone who really had a vision for himself and didn't want to slow down at all in life.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: So, Nicholas, what made these men so different?

LEMANN: Well, you know, they're just built differently, is one thing. But let's go back to what you were just talking about, which is their time at Yale. Yale was, you know, at the heart of the American establishment in the 1960s, whatever that is. Yale itself, though, and the establishment, were changing -- becoming more liberal, becoming more intellectual, becoming more anti the Vietnam War.

And essentially what happened was Bush and Kerry came from the same place, came to an institution that was changing and went different ways. Bush essentially said I see where Yale is going and I don't like it and I'm resisting. And Kerry fit right in and moved in the direction the institution was moving, becoming more liberal.

So, you know, it really goes back to being at Yale, the same place, the same time, during Vietnam. And Bush, by the way, felt the U.S. wasn't fighting hard enough in Vietnam. Kerry came to feel the U.S. should get out of Vietnam. And we hear echoes of that right now on the campaign trail with regard to Iraq.

COSTELLO: Oh, we certainly do.

So, what will we take away from your report tonight? What should we take away about each man?

LEMANN: Well, they're, you know, despite the almost eerie similarity in background, they're really different people, who are just, you know, built differently and would do quite different things as president and stand at the head of parties that, at this moment in American history, very strongly disagree about where the country should go.

To summarize it, you know, Kerry believes, above all things, in diplomacy. His father was a diplomat. And you see it in the debates. He always talks about working with other nations.

Bush believes in strength and force and that others will fall into place if we show enough strength and force. And you see that in how he's governed and in the war in Iraq and in what he says in the debates.

Domestically, there are also very clear differences. They couldn't be more different, especially considering that they came from so much the same place.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

Fascinating.

Nicholas Lemann, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

LEMANN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: And "Frontline: The Choice 2004," airs tonight on PBS. Check your local listings. The special will air again on Thursday. It'll also be shown the night before the election.

We've got more political hot buttons to push this morning. The left and the right speak up in "Tuesday's Talkers," straight ahead.

But first, some late night laughs you might have missed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": And you probably saw this in the newspaper. People now, there's a rumor going around that President Bush, in the first debate, had some kind of listening device and somebody was feeding him answers to the questions for the debate.

And they actually had a photograph of him and there was a bulge in his jacket. And I was thinking well, you know, that's an improvement over the last guy, who had a bulge in his pants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired October 12, 2004 - 06:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.

Now in the news -- the U.S. military says it launched two air strikes today on targets in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. Military officials say one target was a meeting center for terrorists loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The other was a so-called safe house for terrorists.

U.S. forces also in action in the nearby city of Ramadi this morning. They backed up Iraqi forces in raids on seven mosques. No word on arrests. Officials suspect the mosques harbor terrorists and weapons.

In southern Russia, people are filling churches and cemeteries in Beslan. That's where hundreds were killed in a terrorist siege at a school. Residents are marking the end of a 40-day mourning period.

In sports, batter up. One of the fiercest rivalries in baseball being renewed today. The New York Yankees take on the Boston Red Sox in game one of the American League Championship Series. We'll talk more about this rivalry later this hour -- Chad, can you guess how much tickets are going for?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: How much one ticket will go for? Scalper ticket?

COSTELLO: Yes. Well, I actually looked on the Internet.

MYERS: Two hundred bucks.

COSTELLO: Four thousand dollars.

MYERS: Oh, whatever.

COSTELLO: I'm not kidding. On the Internet. It's a ticket for $4,000.

MYERS: Well, you can ask anything, I guess. It's just about what somebody's going to pay for it.

COSTELLO: I don't know.

(WEATHER REPORT) COSTELLO: Three weeks from today, Americans elect the next president. And on the eve of the final presidential debate, a majority of Americans think John Kerry will do a better job tonight. A CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows 54 percent of Americans think Senator Kerry will do better in the debate. Thirty-six percent pick Bush to win. As for their choice for president, that same poll shows President Bush and Senator Kerry in a dead heat, Kerry favored by 49 percent of likely voters, Bush by 48 percent. The two are tied at 48 percent among registered voters.

Christopher Reeve believed that medical research would help -- would some day help people like him walk again. And it still might. A CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll taken before the announcement of Reeve's death shows support for his issue. Fifty-five percent of those polled say that scientists should be given a greater opportunity for research.

But will Reeve's death turn the stem-cell debate into a political football or a political land mine?

Here's CNN's Adaora Udoji.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christopher Reeve introduced embryonic stem-cell research into American living rooms.

CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR: These cells have the potential to cure diseases.

UDOJI: Michael J. Fox, suffering from Parkinson's Disease, is also a believer, as is Nancy Reagan, wife of former Republican president Ronald Reagan, who died after battling Alzheimer's. Many scientists say embryonic stem-cells might lead to cures for disease, from diabetes to cancer. But those stem-cells are controversial.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think we could save lives. Now, I think we can do ethically guided embryonic stem- cell research.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Embryonic stem- cell research requires the destruction of life to create a stem cell.

UDOJI: The president's core religious voters believe life begins at conception. Research supporters argue it begins later, that thousands of embryos are destroyed anyway so stem cells should be harvested for the greater good. In 2001, in what some call a compromise, President Bush began funding adult and, to a lesser extent, embryonic stem-cell research. But scientists are limited to existing stem cells. The policy doesn't prevent private companies from researching. They can without federal oversight presenting other issues.

DR. RITA FISCHBACH, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: You're going to have a lot of rogue investigators who can carry forward programs that might be considered unacceptable. UDOJI: Reeve knew it was complicated.

REEVE: I think the question of whether I will walk is going to depend on politics.

UDOJI: But he brought new understanding to the science that is clashing with raw politics.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Christopher Reeve was active in supporting a California ballot initiative on stem-cell research. But commercials he taped to inform voters will be shelved as a result of his death.

Rock and rollers who support John Kerry wrapped up their Vote For Change tour in D.C.

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: Of course, that's the group REM. Thousands of people packed an arena to hear some of the world's top rockers. Bruce Springsteen also there, of course -- Pearl Jam. A host of entertainers have been performing separately or in pairs in 11 battleground states over the past two weeks. Money raised from the tour goes to a Democratic group that's trying to unseat President Bush.

Imagine if it was required that Michael Moore's "9/11" be shown on primetime TV weeks before the presidential election. You might be pleased if you're a Democrat. But Democrats are not happy with conservative Sinclair Broadcasting. It owns 62 TV stations nationwide and it's requiring all 62 to air an anti-Kerry documentary two weeks before the election, without commercial interruption.

The Democratic National Committee is now trying to block that documentary.

As for filmmaker Michael Moore, he's reportedly trying to get "Fahrenheit 911" on television the night before the election. But he's going for Pay-Per-View, not traditional broadcast outlets like Sinclair.

As you well know, we are one day away from the final presidential debate. Our primetime coverage begins tomorrow night at 7:00 with Wolf Blitzer, Paula Zahn, Anderson Cooper and our entire CNN election team. That would be 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.

On to legal matters now, let the defense begin. Scott Peterson will be back in a California court today. It will be his turn. And the defense may have a few tricks, like jailhouse letters Peterson sent to his family. In one, he writes of his wife and unborn child: "I am finding it so difficult to grieve for them in here. I saw the sun rise from the yard and I cried for my family. I cried for all of us and our loss." There is more, too. But before we read them to you, let's head live to Miami and our legal analyst, Kendall Coffey -- good morning, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: You know, Mark Geragos, Peterson's attorney, is crafty.

Could these letters help?

COFFEY: Well, it's certainly a sensible strategy. I mean Scott Peterson's almost assuredly not going to take the stand to proclaim his innocence, say he's devastated by the loss of Laci and Conner. So, the defense hopes to use these letters to carry that message to the jurors.

But Scott Peterson, Carol, has been caught in so many lies during this trial. I don't think it's clear if these letters are going to be seen as honest anguish or crocodile tears.

COSTELLO: Well, having said that, allow me to read an excerpt of another. He says: "They just brought us dinner. It's a green liquid with, I think, some carrot chunks. I think I'll have to resort to the commissary bag. I've been rationing it like I'm a survivor. Please vote me off the island." That's another bit from a jailhouse letter Peterson sent to his family.

Will prosecutors be able to get into testimony the less flattering mail?

COFFEY: Well, they're certainly going to be combing through the letters to see what else they can come up with. But I think what's going to be more critical in the defense, the letters will continue to humanize Scott, the defense hopes, but we're going to see some evidence on time of death. And that's going to be one of the big issues, Carol, because the prosecution theory is she was murdered the night of December 23. The defense is going to focus on forensic evidence and maybe even eyewitnesses to tell the jury that she was still alive, Laci was still alive on December 24. And that might just get Scott the vote he needs to get off of prison island.

COSTELLO: Yes, you know, you talk about that physical evidence, Kendall, but won't it come down to a liability issue? I mean the jury just doesn't like Scott Peterson.

COFFEY: Well, they clearly don't like him. They clearly would be ready to convict him of all kinds of things, from serial skirt chasing to lying. But it's still fundamentally about as horrible a crime as it gets. And so, I think this case is going to go down to the closing argument. It's going to be that close as to whether the jury is going to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he murdered his wife and unborn son.

COSTELLO: We'll be following it.

Kendall Coffey live from Miami this morning.

Thank you.

In other news across America now, outgoing New Jersey Governor James McGreevey has already picked his next job. The Newark "Star Ledger" is reporting the governor will join a prestigious New Jersey law firm. Part of his duties will be to advise clients on governmental issues. McGreevey announced his resignation after admitting to an extramarital affair with a man. His resignation is effective November 15.

A Washington State teen is facing a $10 million bill from the government. Eighteen-year-old Ryan Unger was cited for starting a wildfire in August that spread across 16,000 acres. The U.S. Forest Service now wants him to reimburse them for firefighting costs.

In Arkansas, investigators are trying to determine if a fatal bus crash was the result of driver fatigue. Saturday's tour bus crash killed 14 people, including the driver. Investigators say the driver had been at the wheel all night long. Two survivors remain in critical condition this morning.

Now a bit of inspiration. It's an incredible survival story out of Washington State. A 17-year-old girl spends eight days badly injured at the bottom of a 200-foot ravine. She had no food and no water, but she had plenty of hope.

We get more on this story now from Meg Coyle of CNN affiliate KING in Redmond, Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. RICHARD ELLENBOGEN, NEUROSURGEON: She's funny. She makes jokes and she's in pretty miraculous shape considering what she's been through.

MEG COYLE, KING CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seventeen-year-old Laura Hatch may have lost eight days after crashing her car down a steep embankment, but one thing she didn't lose was her sense of humor and, more importantly, her sense of survival.

ELLENBOGEN: She's a very lucky girl. So far, she's doing great.

COYLE: Laura was last seen leaving a party on October 2. Dozens of volunteers searched for her, but turned up nothing, until yesterday, when family friend Shea Nohr says a recurring dream led her to Laura, off Union Hill Road in Redmond.

SHEA NOHR, RESCUER: I was praying and I said god, if you've ever given me a vision, please give me strength and make this a real one, as we were driving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think twins have a special connection and I just knew that she wouldn't leave me.

COYLE: So, how did Laura Hatch survive eight days without water? She suffered a blood clot in the accident, something that could have easily killed her. But doctors say in this case, her dehydration may have actually saved her.

ELLENBOGEN: The way that we normally treat that is to dehydrate the brain and/or open up the skull and take the blood clot out. And she dehydrated herself to a point even better than we might have been able to do it with medicines. And that's what probably saved her life.

They want to say it's divine intervention. They want to invoke god's name. I think that's beautiful and that's fine and I'll leave it at that. But I certainly don't have a good scientific explanation for it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Amazing.

That was Meg Coyle of CNN affiliate KING, KING TV. Police were slow in starting their search for Laura Hatch after initial interviews led them to believe she'd just run away from home.

Here's what we've got coming up for you later this hour.

They're having a ball in Beantown. We'll take a look at those die hard Boston fans as the Red Sox rekindle an old rivalry. That's coming up at 51 minutes past.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning, the 12th of October.

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COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

Now 6:16 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Today marks four years since al Qaeda terrorists attacked the USS Cole, killing 17 American sailors at a port in Yemen. A court there recently sentenced a Saudi and a Yemeni militant to death for that attack.

U.S. companies say this year's flu season is going to cost them. "USA Today" says a number of companies are bracing for a big increase in sick days due to the nationwide flu vaccine shortage.

In money news, college students are missing out on millions of dollars. A study by the American Council on Education finds that hundreds of thousands of eligible college students are not getting their financial aid. Why? Because they don't apply for it.

In culture, "Now You, Too, Can Think Like A Billionaire." That's billionaire with a B. That's the title of Donald Trump's new book. It's hitting the shelves today. Mixed in with his usual tips on turning millions into billions, Trump takes you on a behind-the-scenes tour of his TV show, "The Apprentice."

In sports, the Houston Astros won their first ever post-season series. The Astros, they simply blew away the Atlanta Braves at home 12-3 in the deciding game of the National League Division series -- Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: I'm sure Barack Obama and Alan Keyes were not happy with those two little poses that they had there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: At least they both looked befuddled.

MYERS: They did. It looked like one was sleeping, like my computer.

Good morning.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: Have a good day.

COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you now.

Coming up, they both come from privileged backgrounds, they both went to Yale, but what are the differences between President Bush and Senator Kerry? I'll talk to the maker of a documentary offering a front line view of the candidates.

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WALTER UPDEGRAVE, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": One type of IRA is the traditional deductible IRA and the other is known as a Roth IRA.

With the traditional deductible IRA, you put money into the IRA account and you get a tax deduction for your contribution. So, you get an immediate tax break. The money that you contribute, meanwhile, any gains that it generates compound free of taxes until you pull your money out, preferably at retirement.

Now, the Roth IRA basically works in exactly the opposite way. You put in money that you already pay tax on, so you don't get any immediate tax deduction. The money that you put in generates gains. Those gains are not taxed at all.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: A fascinating "Frontline" tonight. It's called "The Choice 2004." It features incredible archival pictures of candidates Bush and Kerry.

Let's head live to New York now and PBS political correspondent Nicholas Lemann.

Good morning.

NICHOLAS LEMANN, "NEW YORKER" POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

COSTELLO: You say this film is about two men, two world views and two Americas that have developed in tandem.

How so?

LEMANN: Well, it's interesting, you know, if you came from Mars to Earth and you looked at this election, you would say you're running two people who are exactly the same. Bush and Kerry grew up in the tiny little world, different ends of this tiny little world, but they both went to boarding school, which very few Americans do. They both came from prominent families in the Northeast. They both went to Yale at almost exactly the same time. They were both in Skull and Bones.

It's amazing how different they are, really, considering how similar their backgrounds are.

COSTELLO: And you mentioned the similarities. We want to show two clips from "Frontline," from your show tonight.

Let's watch.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Though his grandfather was a former senator and his father a congressman, George steered clear of the high stakes student politics of the '60s. Instead, George became president of Delta Kappa Epsilon, DKE, the hardest partying, rowdiest frat house on campus.

ROLAND BETTS, YALE CLASSMATE: I think being elected to the head of the fraternity was important to him. George is a person who, when he decides to apply himself, he excels. I don't think he applied himself academically at Yale.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At Yale, John Kerry became head of the Political Union and was active in the debating club. He was a good student. At the same time, he was a mystery to his closest friends. All they knew was that he was driven.

HARVEY BUNDY: It's hard to explain John other than someone who really had a vision for himself and didn't want to slow down at all in life.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: So, Nicholas, what made these men so different?

LEMANN: Well, you know, they're just built differently, is one thing. But let's go back to what you were just talking about, which is their time at Yale. Yale was, you know, at the heart of the American establishment in the 1960s, whatever that is. Yale itself, though, and the establishment, were changing -- becoming more liberal, becoming more intellectual, becoming more anti the Vietnam War.

And essentially what happened was Bush and Kerry came from the same place, came to an institution that was changing and went different ways. Bush essentially said I see where Yale is going and I don't like it and I'm resisting. And Kerry fit right in and moved in the direction the institution was moving, becoming more liberal.

So, you know, it really goes back to being at Yale, the same place, the same time, during Vietnam. And Bush, by the way, felt the U.S. wasn't fighting hard enough in Vietnam. Kerry came to feel the U.S. should get out of Vietnam. And we hear echoes of that right now on the campaign trail with regard to Iraq.

COSTELLO: Oh, we certainly do.

So, what will we take away from your report tonight? What should we take away about each man?

LEMANN: Well, they're, you know, despite the almost eerie similarity in background, they're really different people, who are just, you know, built differently and would do quite different things as president and stand at the head of parties that, at this moment in American history, very strongly disagree about where the country should go.

To summarize it, you know, Kerry believes, above all things, in diplomacy. His father was a diplomat. And you see it in the debates. He always talks about working with other nations.

Bush believes in strength and force and that others will fall into place if we show enough strength and force. And you see that in how he's governed and in the war in Iraq and in what he says in the debates.

Domestically, there are also very clear differences. They couldn't be more different, especially considering that they came from so much the same place.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

Fascinating.

Nicholas Lemann, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.

LEMANN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: And "Frontline: The Choice 2004," airs tonight on PBS. Check your local listings. The special will air again on Thursday. It'll also be shown the night before the election.

We've got more political hot buttons to push this morning. The left and the right speak up in "Tuesday's Talkers," straight ahead.

But first, some late night laughs you might have missed.

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DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": And you probably saw this in the newspaper. People now, there's a rumor going around that President Bush, in the first debate, had some kind of listening device and somebody was feeding him answers to the questions for the debate.

And they actually had a photograph of him and there was a bulge in his jacket. And I was thinking well, you know, that's an improvement over the last guy, who had a bulge in his pants.

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