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American Morning

Penalty Phase of Scott Peterson Murder Trial Continues Today; 'Paging Dr. Gupta'

Aired December 02, 2004 - 08:30 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.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: 'Tis the season. The decorations are out for the holiday. Not a moment too soon.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Sixth Avenue, up and down it looks great. I noticed everything is really tightly lock down. It is New York after all.

S. O'BRIEN: We do have crime and people will steal your giant bulbs.

M. O'BRIEN: Those nutcrackers are tightly lashed in.

S. O'BRIEN: Half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer is filling in. Thank you very much.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a pleasure to be here.

Coming up, thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq are being told they won't come home when they thought. Sounds a little familiar, doesn't it? It's part of the security plan surrounding the upcoming election. Does this foretell a trend in Iraq? We'll talk about that with our political jabsters, Joe Watkins and Karen Finney. Can we call them jabsters?

S. O'BRIEN: You may.

M. O'BRIEN: Jabsters, all right.

S. O'BRIEN: Also Scott Peterson's defense team fighting to save his life as they present a different version of to the jury, going back to his childhood, even telling the story about a drowning rabbit. We'll take a look at how all of this testimony is received by people who count the most, the jurors.

M. O'BRIEN: First, headline Heidi is here.

Hello, Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We might have a little theme music to go along with that.

M. O'BRIEN: Swoosh -- headline Heidi, right?

COLLINS: All right. We do want to get to the headlines, though.

Now in the news this morning, shocking revelations, in fact, about Yankees' slugger Jason Giambi. Word this morning Giambi admitted to steroid use during testimony in the BALCO investigation. "The San Francisco Chronicle" says Giambi testified he had used steroids in 2003. That's when he hit 41 home runs for the Yankees. Giambi apparently said he gotten the steroids from Barry Bonds' personal trainer. Shocking.

Overseas now. A decision could come as early as today to end the political standoff in Ukraine. The supreme court is expected it rule on whether to invalidate the results from last month's election. The opposition is urging crowds to remain in the streets until the vote is repeated. Both candidates agreed yesterday to abide by the court's ruling.

Back here in the United States, NBC sports chairman Dick Ebersol reportedly told investigators the plane he was traveling climbed 20 feet before going down. His younger son and two crew members were killed when the small plane crashed last Sunday. Ebersol said the jet struggled to get just 20 feet into the air when it broke apart. Authorities are wrapping up their field investigation, expected to head back to Washington today.

And hundreds of people in parts of the Northeast still without power this morning after high winds created havoc. Winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour knocking down power lines and trees and blowing the heck out of people, as we can see. Also some pretty intense downpours there, too. Can't even use an umbrella in weather like that.

S. O'BRIEN: Yesterday was tough here.

M. O'BRIEN: I learned that the hard way myself.

COLLINS: Pop inside out?

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. Big time.

S. O'BRIEN: And big downpours yesterday here.

Heidi, thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: Don't tell the hotel.

COLLINS: Yes, you look a native walking around like that.

S. O'BRIEN: It'll be on your bill, don't worry.

M. O'BRIEN: It probably will.

All right, more troops to Iraq, more concern about next month's planned elections there. Joining us to talk about the move and some other political news in Chicago, Republican strategist Joe Watkins, and in Washington, Democratic strategist Karen Finney.

Good to have you both with us. Jabsters. I've called you jabsters. You can put that on your resume now. Karen Finney, let's start with you. More troops to Iraq, more holdovers, people who won't be home for the holidays. Obviously, Democrats don't necessarily take glee with this. Is there a certain degree of I told you so, though?

KAREN FINNEY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, of course we don't take glee with it, but I think it is a sign again of the failed policies of the Bush administration under President Bush in Iraq. I mean, we went in without a plan to win the peace. We went in under- prepared and under-resourced. From the beginning, our military leaders have been saying that they needed more troops, and now we're seeing that's bearing out.

We also know that...

JOE WATKINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: But we are winning the peace. That's the good news.

FINNEY: You can't -- there's been a very disturbing trend, though, in the last week. We're going to be up to troop levels to more than we had when we invaded Iraq.

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you both, real quickly -- do you agree that more troops are needed now, both of you, in order to get this done?

WATKINS: Absolutely, I mean, remember, Miles...

FINNEY: Sure they are, because it's a very fragile situation.

WATKINS: ... this was ordered by our most senior commander on the ground in Iraq, General George Casey. He's the one that ordered it. This wasn't something done by political people in Washington, D.C. This was ordered by our lead guy on the ground in Iraq, because he wanted to seize the momentum, take advantage of the momentum that we had in beating back the insurgents. So this is a good move.

M. O'BRIEN: Joe do you think there's momentum, Joe, right now?

WATKINS: Absolutely. No doubt about it. We have tremendous momentum.

M. O'BRIEN: Karen, Momentum?

FINNEY: Of course I disagree with that. It's momentum in the wrong direction. I mean, look, we've seen an increase in the level of violence. Violence in November, was...

WATKINS: They've done a great job in Falluja, a great job in Falluja.

FINNEY: Our troops are doing an outstanding job, but our troops and their families deserve a real plan to win the peace that includes a real plan for how we'll turnover the security to the Iraqis... WATKINS: The plan is to make sure that there are elections in January. That's where we're headed.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about these elections just briefly. Joe, do you really think it will be a fair and honest election that the people of Iraq will embrace?

WATKINS: Absolutely, Miles. I think so, and I think that's where we're headed. All of this is meant so that we can have fair elections at the end of January, and the we're headed that way, and Allawi wants it; Allawi doesn't want postponement. I agree with him.

M. O'BRIEN: Karen, fair elections there, Is that possible at this point?

FINNEY: Well, we're all hoping there will be fair elections. It's in all of our best interests to ensure that there are fair elections. But we know how difficult, even under the best of circumstances it can be to have fair elections. Look at what's happening in Ukraine, and how many years has it been since the fall of communism, and they're having troubles. We've got troubles in our own...

WATKINS: It's the beauty of freedom.

M. O'BRIEN: Joe, let's talk about Canada. The president went to Canada, and it wasn't exactly conciliatory talk. Should he have been a little nicer to the Canadians?

WATKINS: Well, it was a successful trip, I think.

M. O'BRIEN: Really?

WATKINS: The president thanked the Canadians for being so hospitable after September 11th. They were very hospitable. They let a lot of folks into their homes and provided comfort to a lot of people. But at the same time...

M. O'BRIEN: So three years later he thanked them, big deal.

WATKINS: There are lots of things that the U.S. and Canada have to talk about, like border security, of course, and, of course, easing some of the trade restrictions that currently exist, as it has to do with mad cow disease and lumber.

But this president is the president of the United States. He wants to be friends with his neighbors, and we want to be friends with Canada. We have had a long, wonderful history with them. The point that the Canadians are not going to form or fashion our foreign policy.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, fair enough, Karen, but should the president have changed his tone a little with the Canadians?

FINNEY: Well, I think it's important that we have strong relationships with the countries that are our borders. I mean, Bush came in in 2000, saying that was going to be a priority. In fact, over the last four years, relationships to the north and south have only gotten worse. So ti was an important trip, and I think it was important to try to begin to make amends, particularly because...

WATKINS: First time an American president has been to Canada in nine years.

FINNEY: All right, but let me ask you this, Joe, what do you think this tells, or foresages, if you will, about the president's trip to Europe? What do you think that's going to be like?

WATKINS: Oh, well, I think it's going to be a very, very strong trip. Obviously, he's going to be talking to allies as well, as well as to some folks who haven't supported us in the war in Iraq, but this president, I think has a very, very strong mandate. Won by 3.5 million votes in the country, and that really tells where Americans want to head in terms of foreign policy.

M. O'BRIEN: Karen, that 'm' word, that mandate word. What do Democrats think about that one?

FINNEY: Well, I don't know that I would agree that it's exactly a mandate, but we'll leave that for just a moment.

I think that this trip to Canada, though, does show that Bush understands that if he's going to be effective in this next term, he's going to have to begin to repair some of these relationships.

Look, we're fighting a global war on terror. And frankly, we are safer here at home when we have strong relationships around the world. And those relations are greatly damaged. The president had a unique opportunity...

M. O'BRIEN: Final thought?

FINNEY: The president had a unique opportunity in post-9/11 when the world was united with us, and now they protest him when he comes to town. So we have a lot of work to do.

WATKINS: The final though is it doesn't matter if other folks protest him; what matters is that America is safe because of George Bush.

M. O'BRIEN: The jabsters, Karen Finney, Joe Watkins, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it -- Soledad.

WATKINS: Thanks, Miles.

FINNEY: Great to be with you.

S. O'BRIEN: Will Scott Peterson live out his life in jail, or will he be executed? The penalty phase of his murder trial continues today with the defense team trying to spare him the death penalty.

More now from CNN's Rusty Dornin. She's live in Redwood City in California this morning. Good morning.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Soledad, even before the trial began, there was a huge billboard by the side of the highway. It had a picture of Scott Peterson, and in giant letters, it said, "Man or Monster?" Well the jury's already cast their verdict as far as that goes, and now the defense is trying to sway them, trying to humanize Scott Peterson, and who better to put a face on Scott Peterson than his own father?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN (voice-over): Lee Peterson, the defendant's father, was the first to take the stand Wednesday. He spent nearly three hours telling his own personal history, and then described a boy who was gentle loving, and even saved a rabbit from drowning in a pool, a boy, he says, who turned into a responsible, caring young man. The defendant could be seen wiping his eye as his father testified.

CHUCK SMITH, LEGAL ANALYST: Scott was the perfect baby. He was the perfect grade-schooler he was the perfect high school student, the perfect college student an the perfect adult. I don't think the jury's going to accept that picture that Lee Peterson has portrayed.

DORNIN: The lead attorney took a back seat for most of the first day of defense arguments in the penalty phase. Co-counsel Pat Harris told jurors why Peterson's is a life worth saving. Harris described Peterson as a kind and generous person, a man who thought of others before he thought of himself. Harris reminded jurors, this was an individual decision they would have to live with for the rest of their lives.

SMITH: He is looking for at least one juror to hang up this death verdict, that they are worried that the consensus might be for death, based upon what has happened so far.

DORNIN: The prosecution presented four witnesses in just over two hours. The defense will take at least a week to hear from a long list of witnesses, ranging from family to friends, former employers, coaches, teachers and roommates.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN: There could be 20 to 30 witnesses. The last one to testify is supposed to be Scott Peterson's mother, Jackie. Now, legal analysts are saying they're stretching this out partly to put plenty of distance between Laci Peterson's mother Sharon Rocha's heart- wrenching testimony and the jury's deliberations -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Why is Mark Geragos not taking the lead in this? We saw so much of him, too much, some people said and now he's kind of disappearing in the background?

DORNIN: Well, legal analysts say that's the problem, maybe the jury did see too much of him, and obviously, they didn't believe him, they rejected his arguments that Scott Peterson was innocent. So perhaps it was a strategic move to go ahead and put Pat Harris up front, but he did end up asking some questions yesterday afternoon of Scott Peterson's half sister, and we might see him pop in and out over the next few days.

DORNIN: All right, Rusty Dornin, for us in Redwood City in California.

Thanks, Rusty.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: They're running the music. Let's take a break.

Still to come this morning, a so-called Viagra for women is supposed to be on the market next year. Now, word of some severe side effects could hold it up. Dr. Gupta explains, ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: Also ahead, this will kind of be an interesting one. NASCAR (INAUDIBLE) run a victory laps in the streets of Manhattan. I wonder what New York's finest think about that? Andy's got the scoop. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: We are "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning about the female sex patch. It could be the first-ever drug to treat female sexual dysfunction. The FDA, though, has concerns. Sanjay joins us from the CNN Center with more on this.

Hey, Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Yes, the notion that a patch might be able to do for women what Viagra has done for men is raising a lot of hopes for women, and for men as well, as it turns out. The patch is called Intrinsa. An FDA advisory committee meeting today to discuss whether it works, is it safe, is it effective? But it's already sparking quite a bit of debate as well, Soledad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SHALENDER, BHASIN, CHARLES DREW UNIVERSITY: So there is a huge amount of interest, and practitioners are using these unapproved compounds for treatment of patients, but clearly there is a lot more hype than there is science in the field.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: Intrinsa makers say actually there is quite a bit of science. The question that they're going to try and answer, though, does it produce a meaningful benefit? And they're going to obviously raise questions about its long-term safety.

The premise is this, Soledad. A lot of doctors have believed for a long time that low sexual desire is actually caused by low testosterone levels in women. So if you can actually boost those testosterone levels, in this case with a patch, you might be able to increase both sexual energy and sexual appetite. At least that's what the makers of Intrinsa have shown in the studies they did. A couple of caveats, though, important ones.

First of all, the study was only done in post-menopausal woman who had their ovaries removed. One of the questions that needs to be answered, is this going to be able apply to the rest of the female population, and also what are some of the risks of using this? Those are the questions they're going to try to answer today -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Is there any research done on the risk of increasing testosterone, or maybe even increasing it too much in women?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, testosterone, obviously, a well-known male hormone, and there are risks of using it. Some of them more minor, some of them more serious. Take a look -- weight gain, acne, unwieldy hair growth, for example, high cholesterol, liver damage. Those sorts of things could potentially be a side effect of using testosterone.

Also in this study, they combined it with estrogen. And you and I have talked a lot about that estrogen therapy as well, and some of the dangers of that. Could combining it with testosterone increase those risks, such as breast cancer for example? Again, all of these questions need to be answered. A lot of excitement now about what everyone's calling the first female Viagra, but really not quite there yet. We'll find out what the FDA advisory committee has to say -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A little bit of a ways to go. Sanjay, thanks -- Miles.

GUPTA: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Still ahead on the program, Jack, will tell us about a woman who gets called fat pig every night, and makes a living doing it. "The Cafferty File" is coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O' BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

CAFFERTY: What do Nascar and Nasdaq have in common? Well, Andy Serwer's here to tell us about that, and also a little way that you can make a wager on some of your favorite white collar leaders north of border and a look at the markets. It's time to "Mind Your Business." Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE: Thank you, Jack, good morning to you. Let's talk about what happened on Wall Street yesterday. A very nice trading day for investors. The dow up 162 points, Nasdaq up 2 percent. Falling oil prices having everything to do with that.

Stocks soaring, including Starbucks, we were talking about that earlier this morning. Why is Starbucks going up? Because of the pumpkin latte, which I brought the anchors here. The pumpkin lattes. Would you like to sample it very quickly?

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: Yes, this is actual -- Jack, please partake in a pumpkin spiced latte.

CAFFERTY: Nah, I don't want it.

M. O'BRIEN: So, Andy, three of these would be about $23?

SERWER: Yes. About 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, $28! Let's talk about what's -- what do you think?

M. O'BRIEN: This is actually pretty good. Not bad.

SERWER: Yes? Real pieces of pumpkin in your teeth. You're going to short that stock. Let's talk about what's going on -- what do you think, Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: It's all right.

M. O'BRIEN: It's all right.

SERWER: Mid-town Manhattan today, if you're in New York, you probably want to avoid it like the plague. Nascar has invaded Manhattan. Donald Trump is going to be saying start your engines.

Ten Nascar drivers, including Kurt Busch, Dale Jr. etc. will be going around Manhattan. They actually got their cars, starting at 42nd street, going down Broadway, cross 42nd street, up Madison, to celebrate the end of the season, the Nextel Cup, used to be the Winston Cup.

M. O'BRIEN: People will be hailing them.

SERWER: Yes, I mean, it's crazy. And they're going to be opening up the Nasdaq. And so that -- you asked a question, what do Nasdaq and Nascar have in common? People only care about the crashes. Supposed to be funny.

CAFFERTY: It was funny.

S. O'BRIEN: How?

SERWER: Well, it's sort of true. Let's talk about CEOs very quickly. A betting site in Canada where you can bet on how quickly the CEO's going to be fired. This is good. It's called betfair.com. And basically, it's pretty simple, you think a CEO is going to get ousted, you put a little wager down, you know, Lou's out by, say, March 1st, you win the money. Not here in the United States yet, but of course, there's probably some people we could bet on here.

CAFFERTY: Maybe that guy who started -- remember that guy who's the team owner down in Texas? What the hell's his name?

SERWER: Mark Cuban. CAFFERTY: Yes. He would start something like that.

SERWER: Yes, he would. It's interesting, it's kind of like that. But you could do it with Eisner and...

M. O'BRIEN: And this is real wagering now?

SERWER: Yes, it's real and it's legal, yes, it is, in Canada.

CAFFERTY: As long as you...

SERWER: betfair.com

CAFFERTY: As long as you're protected against your boss finding out that you're betting on him getting his throat cut anytime soon.

M. O'BRIEN: That would be really bad.

CAFFERTY: Yes, that would be bad. Time for "The File."

Everybody wants to lose weight. Well, here's the new idea on that. A Maryland garden club has written a cookbook that features nearly nude photos of eight of its members. They are between the ages of 55 and 70. And if that doesn't kill your appetite, cover lady Kathy Breckhus says the "Garden Girls Go Gourmet" cookbook is a tribute to the mature woman.

They've sold 550 copies of these things at 15 bucks each. The club says the proceeds will be used for city beautification projects, like maybe putting some clothes on. Several of the photos -- I'm just kidding, I think it's a great idea. Several of the photos were shot by the women's husbands and friends. Some described it as their most enjoyable fundraiser ever.

SERWER: Were there any hoes in there, in the garden?

CAFFERTY: Only rakes, no hoes. How would you feel if -- trying to get me in some more trouble.

SERWER: That was a trap!

CAFFERTY: How could you feel if you were called a fat pig and a sow every night? That's what happens to this lady right here. She's 5'8", she weighs 200 pounds. She is Ashlie Atkinson she stars in new off-broadway show here in New York titled "Fat Pig," in which a handsome guy falls for her plus-sized character. The "New York Post" dubbed her the bravest actress in New York.

She says, "I wear a size 11 shoe, I can palm a men's basketball, I'm not meant to be 140 pounds and I feel very sexy."

S. O'BRIEN: You go, girl!

CAFFERTY: Tomorrow's Friday. We're getting into the height of the holiday shopping season, so we decided to show you this handy map of the difference between men and women when it comes to a simple mission. Go to the mall, go to the Gap and buy a pair of pants.

The male depiction of this is on the right. It took him 6 minutes, cost $33. The female depiction of this is on the left. This was the route followed by the Cafferty women, if you sent them on this assignment. They would be back eight hours later and spend $875. Anyway, we found this on fridayfun.com and hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't, buy the naked old ladies in the cookbook.

M. O'BRIEN: Remember those "Family Circus" cartoons, you know, with the kid going all around?

CAFFERTY: Same idea.

M. O'BRIEN: Just like it.

S. O'BRIEN: Real cute.

CAFFERTY: Headline Heidi, huh? You'll be back again soon.

M. O'BRIEN: Coined a phrase.

SERWER: Mayhem Miles, how about that?

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Friday will be your last day.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Pretty much, yes.

SERWER: Floating through the East River, blub, blub.

S. O'BRIEN: In just a moment, today's top stories, including a big change of plans for thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq. We're going to take you live to the Pentagon and find out the very latest on that on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired December 2, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: 'Tis the season. The decorations are out for the holiday. Not a moment too soon.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Sixth Avenue, up and down it looks great. I noticed everything is really tightly lock down. It is New York after all.

S. O'BRIEN: We do have crime and people will steal your giant bulbs.

M. O'BRIEN: Those nutcrackers are tightly lashed in.

S. O'BRIEN: Half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer is filling in. Thank you very much.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a pleasure to be here.

Coming up, thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq are being told they won't come home when they thought. Sounds a little familiar, doesn't it? It's part of the security plan surrounding the upcoming election. Does this foretell a trend in Iraq? We'll talk about that with our political jabsters, Joe Watkins and Karen Finney. Can we call them jabsters?

S. O'BRIEN: You may.

M. O'BRIEN: Jabsters, all right.

S. O'BRIEN: Also Scott Peterson's defense team fighting to save his life as they present a different version of to the jury, going back to his childhood, even telling the story about a drowning rabbit. We'll take a look at how all of this testimony is received by people who count the most, the jurors.

M. O'BRIEN: First, headline Heidi is here.

Hello, Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We might have a little theme music to go along with that.

M. O'BRIEN: Swoosh -- headline Heidi, right?

COLLINS: All right. We do want to get to the headlines, though.

Now in the news this morning, shocking revelations, in fact, about Yankees' slugger Jason Giambi. Word this morning Giambi admitted to steroid use during testimony in the BALCO investigation. "The San Francisco Chronicle" says Giambi testified he had used steroids in 2003. That's when he hit 41 home runs for the Yankees. Giambi apparently said he gotten the steroids from Barry Bonds' personal trainer. Shocking.

Overseas now. A decision could come as early as today to end the political standoff in Ukraine. The supreme court is expected it rule on whether to invalidate the results from last month's election. The opposition is urging crowds to remain in the streets until the vote is repeated. Both candidates agreed yesterday to abide by the court's ruling.

Back here in the United States, NBC sports chairman Dick Ebersol reportedly told investigators the plane he was traveling climbed 20 feet before going down. His younger son and two crew members were killed when the small plane crashed last Sunday. Ebersol said the jet struggled to get just 20 feet into the air when it broke apart. Authorities are wrapping up their field investigation, expected to head back to Washington today.

And hundreds of people in parts of the Northeast still without power this morning after high winds created havoc. Winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour knocking down power lines and trees and blowing the heck out of people, as we can see. Also some pretty intense downpours there, too. Can't even use an umbrella in weather like that.

S. O'BRIEN: Yesterday was tough here.

M. O'BRIEN: I learned that the hard way myself.

COLLINS: Pop inside out?

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. Big time.

S. O'BRIEN: And big downpours yesterday here.

Heidi, thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: Don't tell the hotel.

COLLINS: Yes, you look a native walking around like that.

S. O'BRIEN: It'll be on your bill, don't worry.

M. O'BRIEN: It probably will.

All right, more troops to Iraq, more concern about next month's planned elections there. Joining us to talk about the move and some other political news in Chicago, Republican strategist Joe Watkins, and in Washington, Democratic strategist Karen Finney.

Good to have you both with us. Jabsters. I've called you jabsters. You can put that on your resume now. Karen Finney, let's start with you. More troops to Iraq, more holdovers, people who won't be home for the holidays. Obviously, Democrats don't necessarily take glee with this. Is there a certain degree of I told you so, though?

KAREN FINNEY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, of course we don't take glee with it, but I think it is a sign again of the failed policies of the Bush administration under President Bush in Iraq. I mean, we went in without a plan to win the peace. We went in under- prepared and under-resourced. From the beginning, our military leaders have been saying that they needed more troops, and now we're seeing that's bearing out.

We also know that...

JOE WATKINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: But we are winning the peace. That's the good news.

FINNEY: You can't -- there's been a very disturbing trend, though, in the last week. We're going to be up to troop levels to more than we had when we invaded Iraq.

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you both, real quickly -- do you agree that more troops are needed now, both of you, in order to get this done?

WATKINS: Absolutely, I mean, remember, Miles...

FINNEY: Sure they are, because it's a very fragile situation.

WATKINS: ... this was ordered by our most senior commander on the ground in Iraq, General George Casey. He's the one that ordered it. This wasn't something done by political people in Washington, D.C. This was ordered by our lead guy on the ground in Iraq, because he wanted to seize the momentum, take advantage of the momentum that we had in beating back the insurgents. So this is a good move.

M. O'BRIEN: Joe do you think there's momentum, Joe, right now?

WATKINS: Absolutely. No doubt about it. We have tremendous momentum.

M. O'BRIEN: Karen, Momentum?

FINNEY: Of course I disagree with that. It's momentum in the wrong direction. I mean, look, we've seen an increase in the level of violence. Violence in November, was...

WATKINS: They've done a great job in Falluja, a great job in Falluja.

FINNEY: Our troops are doing an outstanding job, but our troops and their families deserve a real plan to win the peace that includes a real plan for how we'll turnover the security to the Iraqis... WATKINS: The plan is to make sure that there are elections in January. That's where we're headed.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about these elections just briefly. Joe, do you really think it will be a fair and honest election that the people of Iraq will embrace?

WATKINS: Absolutely, Miles. I think so, and I think that's where we're headed. All of this is meant so that we can have fair elections at the end of January, and the we're headed that way, and Allawi wants it; Allawi doesn't want postponement. I agree with him.

M. O'BRIEN: Karen, fair elections there, Is that possible at this point?

FINNEY: Well, we're all hoping there will be fair elections. It's in all of our best interests to ensure that there are fair elections. But we know how difficult, even under the best of circumstances it can be to have fair elections. Look at what's happening in Ukraine, and how many years has it been since the fall of communism, and they're having troubles. We've got troubles in our own...

WATKINS: It's the beauty of freedom.

M. O'BRIEN: Joe, let's talk about Canada. The president went to Canada, and it wasn't exactly conciliatory talk. Should he have been a little nicer to the Canadians?

WATKINS: Well, it was a successful trip, I think.

M. O'BRIEN: Really?

WATKINS: The president thanked the Canadians for being so hospitable after September 11th. They were very hospitable. They let a lot of folks into their homes and provided comfort to a lot of people. But at the same time...

M. O'BRIEN: So three years later he thanked them, big deal.

WATKINS: There are lots of things that the U.S. and Canada have to talk about, like border security, of course, and, of course, easing some of the trade restrictions that currently exist, as it has to do with mad cow disease and lumber.

But this president is the president of the United States. He wants to be friends with his neighbors, and we want to be friends with Canada. We have had a long, wonderful history with them. The point that the Canadians are not going to form or fashion our foreign policy.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, fair enough, Karen, but should the president have changed his tone a little with the Canadians?

FINNEY: Well, I think it's important that we have strong relationships with the countries that are our borders. I mean, Bush came in in 2000, saying that was going to be a priority. In fact, over the last four years, relationships to the north and south have only gotten worse. So ti was an important trip, and I think it was important to try to begin to make amends, particularly because...

WATKINS: First time an American president has been to Canada in nine years.

FINNEY: All right, but let me ask you this, Joe, what do you think this tells, or foresages, if you will, about the president's trip to Europe? What do you think that's going to be like?

WATKINS: Oh, well, I think it's going to be a very, very strong trip. Obviously, he's going to be talking to allies as well, as well as to some folks who haven't supported us in the war in Iraq, but this president, I think has a very, very strong mandate. Won by 3.5 million votes in the country, and that really tells where Americans want to head in terms of foreign policy.

M. O'BRIEN: Karen, that 'm' word, that mandate word. What do Democrats think about that one?

FINNEY: Well, I don't know that I would agree that it's exactly a mandate, but we'll leave that for just a moment.

I think that this trip to Canada, though, does show that Bush understands that if he's going to be effective in this next term, he's going to have to begin to repair some of these relationships.

Look, we're fighting a global war on terror. And frankly, we are safer here at home when we have strong relationships around the world. And those relations are greatly damaged. The president had a unique opportunity...

M. O'BRIEN: Final thought?

FINNEY: The president had a unique opportunity in post-9/11 when the world was united with us, and now they protest him when he comes to town. So we have a lot of work to do.

WATKINS: The final though is it doesn't matter if other folks protest him; what matters is that America is safe because of George Bush.

M. O'BRIEN: The jabsters, Karen Finney, Joe Watkins, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it -- Soledad.

WATKINS: Thanks, Miles.

FINNEY: Great to be with you.

S. O'BRIEN: Will Scott Peterson live out his life in jail, or will he be executed? The penalty phase of his murder trial continues today with the defense team trying to spare him the death penalty.

More now from CNN's Rusty Dornin. She's live in Redwood City in California this morning. Good morning.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Soledad, even before the trial began, there was a huge billboard by the side of the highway. It had a picture of Scott Peterson, and in giant letters, it said, "Man or Monster?" Well the jury's already cast their verdict as far as that goes, and now the defense is trying to sway them, trying to humanize Scott Peterson, and who better to put a face on Scott Peterson than his own father?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN (voice-over): Lee Peterson, the defendant's father, was the first to take the stand Wednesday. He spent nearly three hours telling his own personal history, and then described a boy who was gentle loving, and even saved a rabbit from drowning in a pool, a boy, he says, who turned into a responsible, caring young man. The defendant could be seen wiping his eye as his father testified.

CHUCK SMITH, LEGAL ANALYST: Scott was the perfect baby. He was the perfect grade-schooler he was the perfect high school student, the perfect college student an the perfect adult. I don't think the jury's going to accept that picture that Lee Peterson has portrayed.

DORNIN: The lead attorney took a back seat for most of the first day of defense arguments in the penalty phase. Co-counsel Pat Harris told jurors why Peterson's is a life worth saving. Harris described Peterson as a kind and generous person, a man who thought of others before he thought of himself. Harris reminded jurors, this was an individual decision they would have to live with for the rest of their lives.

SMITH: He is looking for at least one juror to hang up this death verdict, that they are worried that the consensus might be for death, based upon what has happened so far.

DORNIN: The prosecution presented four witnesses in just over two hours. The defense will take at least a week to hear from a long list of witnesses, ranging from family to friends, former employers, coaches, teachers and roommates.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN: There could be 20 to 30 witnesses. The last one to testify is supposed to be Scott Peterson's mother, Jackie. Now, legal analysts are saying they're stretching this out partly to put plenty of distance between Laci Peterson's mother Sharon Rocha's heart- wrenching testimony and the jury's deliberations -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Why is Mark Geragos not taking the lead in this? We saw so much of him, too much, some people said and now he's kind of disappearing in the background?

DORNIN: Well, legal analysts say that's the problem, maybe the jury did see too much of him, and obviously, they didn't believe him, they rejected his arguments that Scott Peterson was innocent. So perhaps it was a strategic move to go ahead and put Pat Harris up front, but he did end up asking some questions yesterday afternoon of Scott Peterson's half sister, and we might see him pop in and out over the next few days.

DORNIN: All right, Rusty Dornin, for us in Redwood City in California.

Thanks, Rusty.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: They're running the music. Let's take a break.

Still to come this morning, a so-called Viagra for women is supposed to be on the market next year. Now, word of some severe side effects could hold it up. Dr. Gupta explains, ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: Also ahead, this will kind of be an interesting one. NASCAR (INAUDIBLE) run a victory laps in the streets of Manhattan. I wonder what New York's finest think about that? Andy's got the scoop. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: We are "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning about the female sex patch. It could be the first-ever drug to treat female sexual dysfunction. The FDA, though, has concerns. Sanjay joins us from the CNN Center with more on this.

Hey, Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Yes, the notion that a patch might be able to do for women what Viagra has done for men is raising a lot of hopes for women, and for men as well, as it turns out. The patch is called Intrinsa. An FDA advisory committee meeting today to discuss whether it works, is it safe, is it effective? But it's already sparking quite a bit of debate as well, Soledad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SHALENDER, BHASIN, CHARLES DREW UNIVERSITY: So there is a huge amount of interest, and practitioners are using these unapproved compounds for treatment of patients, but clearly there is a lot more hype than there is science in the field.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: Intrinsa makers say actually there is quite a bit of science. The question that they're going to try and answer, though, does it produce a meaningful benefit? And they're going to obviously raise questions about its long-term safety.

The premise is this, Soledad. A lot of doctors have believed for a long time that low sexual desire is actually caused by low testosterone levels in women. So if you can actually boost those testosterone levels, in this case with a patch, you might be able to increase both sexual energy and sexual appetite. At least that's what the makers of Intrinsa have shown in the studies they did. A couple of caveats, though, important ones.

First of all, the study was only done in post-menopausal woman who had their ovaries removed. One of the questions that needs to be answered, is this going to be able apply to the rest of the female population, and also what are some of the risks of using this? Those are the questions they're going to try to answer today -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Is there any research done on the risk of increasing testosterone, or maybe even increasing it too much in women?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, testosterone, obviously, a well-known male hormone, and there are risks of using it. Some of them more minor, some of them more serious. Take a look -- weight gain, acne, unwieldy hair growth, for example, high cholesterol, liver damage. Those sorts of things could potentially be a side effect of using testosterone.

Also in this study, they combined it with estrogen. And you and I have talked a lot about that estrogen therapy as well, and some of the dangers of that. Could combining it with testosterone increase those risks, such as breast cancer for example? Again, all of these questions need to be answered. A lot of excitement now about what everyone's calling the first female Viagra, but really not quite there yet. We'll find out what the FDA advisory committee has to say -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A little bit of a ways to go. Sanjay, thanks -- Miles.

GUPTA: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Still ahead on the program, Jack, will tell us about a woman who gets called fat pig every night, and makes a living doing it. "The Cafferty File" is coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O' BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

CAFFERTY: What do Nascar and Nasdaq have in common? Well, Andy Serwer's here to tell us about that, and also a little way that you can make a wager on some of your favorite white collar leaders north of border and a look at the markets. It's time to "Mind Your Business." Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE: Thank you, Jack, good morning to you. Let's talk about what happened on Wall Street yesterday. A very nice trading day for investors. The dow up 162 points, Nasdaq up 2 percent. Falling oil prices having everything to do with that.

Stocks soaring, including Starbucks, we were talking about that earlier this morning. Why is Starbucks going up? Because of the pumpkin latte, which I brought the anchors here. The pumpkin lattes. Would you like to sample it very quickly?

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: Yes, this is actual -- Jack, please partake in a pumpkin spiced latte.

CAFFERTY: Nah, I don't want it.

M. O'BRIEN: So, Andy, three of these would be about $23?

SERWER: Yes. About 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, $28! Let's talk about what's -- what do you think?

M. O'BRIEN: This is actually pretty good. Not bad.

SERWER: Yes? Real pieces of pumpkin in your teeth. You're going to short that stock. Let's talk about what's going on -- what do you think, Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: It's all right.

M. O'BRIEN: It's all right.

SERWER: Mid-town Manhattan today, if you're in New York, you probably want to avoid it like the plague. Nascar has invaded Manhattan. Donald Trump is going to be saying start your engines.

Ten Nascar drivers, including Kurt Busch, Dale Jr. etc. will be going around Manhattan. They actually got their cars, starting at 42nd street, going down Broadway, cross 42nd street, up Madison, to celebrate the end of the season, the Nextel Cup, used to be the Winston Cup.

M. O'BRIEN: People will be hailing them.

SERWER: Yes, I mean, it's crazy. And they're going to be opening up the Nasdaq. And so that -- you asked a question, what do Nasdaq and Nascar have in common? People only care about the crashes. Supposed to be funny.

CAFFERTY: It was funny.

S. O'BRIEN: How?

SERWER: Well, it's sort of true. Let's talk about CEOs very quickly. A betting site in Canada where you can bet on how quickly the CEO's going to be fired. This is good. It's called betfair.com. And basically, it's pretty simple, you think a CEO is going to get ousted, you put a little wager down, you know, Lou's out by, say, March 1st, you win the money. Not here in the United States yet, but of course, there's probably some people we could bet on here.

CAFFERTY: Maybe that guy who started -- remember that guy who's the team owner down in Texas? What the hell's his name?

SERWER: Mark Cuban. CAFFERTY: Yes. He would start something like that.

SERWER: Yes, he would. It's interesting, it's kind of like that. But you could do it with Eisner and...

M. O'BRIEN: And this is real wagering now?

SERWER: Yes, it's real and it's legal, yes, it is, in Canada.

CAFFERTY: As long as you...

SERWER: betfair.com

CAFFERTY: As long as you're protected against your boss finding out that you're betting on him getting his throat cut anytime soon.

M. O'BRIEN: That would be really bad.

CAFFERTY: Yes, that would be bad. Time for "The File."

Everybody wants to lose weight. Well, here's the new idea on that. A Maryland garden club has written a cookbook that features nearly nude photos of eight of its members. They are between the ages of 55 and 70. And if that doesn't kill your appetite, cover lady Kathy Breckhus says the "Garden Girls Go Gourmet" cookbook is a tribute to the mature woman.

They've sold 550 copies of these things at 15 bucks each. The club says the proceeds will be used for city beautification projects, like maybe putting some clothes on. Several of the photos -- I'm just kidding, I think it's a great idea. Several of the photos were shot by the women's husbands and friends. Some described it as their most enjoyable fundraiser ever.

SERWER: Were there any hoes in there, in the garden?

CAFFERTY: Only rakes, no hoes. How would you feel if -- trying to get me in some more trouble.

SERWER: That was a trap!

CAFFERTY: How could you feel if you were called a fat pig and a sow every night? That's what happens to this lady right here. She's 5'8", she weighs 200 pounds. She is Ashlie Atkinson she stars in new off-broadway show here in New York titled "Fat Pig," in which a handsome guy falls for her plus-sized character. The "New York Post" dubbed her the bravest actress in New York.

She says, "I wear a size 11 shoe, I can palm a men's basketball, I'm not meant to be 140 pounds and I feel very sexy."

S. O'BRIEN: You go, girl!

CAFFERTY: Tomorrow's Friday. We're getting into the height of the holiday shopping season, so we decided to show you this handy map of the difference between men and women when it comes to a simple mission. Go to the mall, go to the Gap and buy a pair of pants.

The male depiction of this is on the right. It took him 6 minutes, cost $33. The female depiction of this is on the left. This was the route followed by the Cafferty women, if you sent them on this assignment. They would be back eight hours later and spend $875. Anyway, we found this on fridayfun.com and hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't, buy the naked old ladies in the cookbook.

M. O'BRIEN: Remember those "Family Circus" cartoons, you know, with the kid going all around?

CAFFERTY: Same idea.

M. O'BRIEN: Just like it.

S. O'BRIEN: Real cute.

CAFFERTY: Headline Heidi, huh? You'll be back again soon.

M. O'BRIEN: Coined a phrase.

SERWER: Mayhem Miles, how about that?

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Friday will be your last day.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Pretty much, yes.

SERWER: Floating through the East River, blub, blub.

S. O'BRIEN: In just a moment, today's top stories, including a big change of plans for thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq. We're going to take you live to the Pentagon and find out the very latest on that on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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