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Secret Tapes Played into Evidence in Peterson Case; Bush Announce Troop Redeployment Plan

Aired August 16, 2004 - 14:30   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.


BETTY NGUYEN, CO-ANCHOR: And welcome back. From the CNN Center here in Atlanta, this is LIVE FROM. I'm Betty Nguyen.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-ANCHOR: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what's all new this half hour.

Amber Frey confronts Scott Peterson. More of her taped conversations revealed in court today.

NGUYEN: And mixing love and politics. Online dating takes the election to the next level.

But first, here's what's happening now in the news.

PHILLIPS: President Bush announcing plans to realign U.S. troop commitments all around the globe. In a speech in Cincinnati Mr. Bush said as many as 70,000 soldiers will be affected by that move, primarily aimed at supporting the war on terror.

Just ahead, we're going to talk about that plan with CNN military analyst, Major General Don Shepperd.

Dangerous duty in Iraq. Fighting breaks out in Najaf again between United States forces and the militia commanded by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. An Iraqi delegation is headed to the city from Baghdad to try and negotiate a ceasefire.

The sheriff of Charlotte County, Florida, says tensions are rising in areas hit hard by Hurricane Charley. Hundreds of thousands of people still don't have electricity. In other words no air conditioning either. The death toll stands at 17. Live coverage from CNN's Ed Lavandera in about 30 minutes.

Michael Jackson arrives in court in his bid to fight charges of child molestation. He appeared today as a witness at the pretrial hearing. The Santa Barbara district attorney, who has pursued the singer for years, is there on the stand. A live report from CNN's Thelma Gutierrez in just about an hour.

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

NGUYEN: We're talking about tapes as testimony in the Scott Peterson murder trial. The jury is hearing more secretly recorded audiotapes between Peterson and his mistress, Amber Frey. The tapes reveal a string of lies by Peterson.

And CNN's Rusty Dornin is live from Redwood City, California, with the latest.

Good afternoon, Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, the tenor and tone of these conversations between Amber Frey and Scott Peterson has definitely changed from last week when we were hearing a lot of cooing love talk.

Frey is really grilling Peterson about his possible involvement in his wife's disappearance.

Meantime, Amber Frey takes the stand just for a few minutes in between each of these phone calls to answer prosecutors' questions, saying yes, indeed, this is the conversation, the date we had it. And she sits back down in one of the front rows of court.

In the talks this morning Peterson says that his -- he had told his wife about their affair right after their first date. He talks about how -- what he did with his wife, Laci Peterson, on the 23rd and into the morning of the 24th when he disappeared, similar to the story that he told police.

He also tells Amber Frey that after this he's going to become part of an effort to find people who have disappeared. He also tells her, "Look, if you want to go to police, you go ahead. I am not going to stop you."

At times it seems like Frey really is cross-examining Peterson on just about every aspect of his alibi and why he told the lies he did. Some of the legal experts here say that he keeps answering some questions and not answering others, for some very good reasons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CARDOZA, LEGAL ANALYST: He knows he's being taped. It's just too self-serving. And wasn't he lawyered up by this time? Wasn't it as of January 6 he had his public defender, Kirk McAllister? Any good defense attorney would warn about these type of tapes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: We don't know for sure whether Scott Peterson absolutely knew he was being taped. He does stay on the phone for a long time, answering a lot of questions. As I said, not answering also a lot of questions that -- or at least by passing questions that Amber Frey has for him.

Two more days of these tapes we'll be hearing, and then Frey will retake the stand and we think will wrap up her part of the prosecution testimony.

And then it will be Mark Geragos who will be cross-examining Frey. At this point it will be a mystery whether he's going to be keeping her up there for days or whether he's going to softball it and it ask her a few questions and let her go -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Wait to see on that one. Rusty Dornin in California, thank you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Turning now to military moves. The U.S. armed forces moving toward a new future with the largest troop realignment since the end of the Cold War. President Bush unveiled that agenda today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today I announce a new plan for deploying America's armed forces.

Over the coming decade we'll deploy a more agile and more flexible force, which means that more of our troops will be stationed and deployed from here at home. We will move some of our troops and capabilities to new locations. So they can search quickly to deal with unexpected threats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN military analyst, retired Major General Don Shepperd, says that plan makes sense. He joins us now, live from Tucson, Arizona, this afternoon.

General, you actually met with Rumsfeld about three years ago. He was talking about the same exact thing.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Yes, he was, Kyra. He was musing to himself -- and I keep asking myself why is it that 50 years after the war we still have 37,000 troops stationed in Korea, while -- when the Koreans are perfectly capable of defending themselves?

And further, why are we still in Europe with hundreds of thousands of troops, many divisions, when -- when the Europeans can defend themselves and the Soviet Union, against which we were postured, is gone.

So he was asking himself these questions long ago, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So of course, I'm going to ask you why now? And I think it's probably pretty obvious, but I want to hear it from you. The U.S. military, totally overextended right now.

SHEPPERD: The U.S. military is clearly -- is clearly stressed. Whether you overextend it or not depends on the service, on the unit and what have you. But they're clearly stressed. The guard and reserve are stressed, as well.

Now, when do you this type of thing now, particularly in a presidential election year, it is going to be cast as, look, this is all because of Iraq.

It isn't all because of Iraq. It's because it really makes sense to re-examine our posture. It should have been done years ago. It needs to be done now. And it's going to be carried out over 10 years or so. So it's not all because of Iraq. But it will, indeed, if you bring troops back to the U.S. from Korea or from Europe, it will make a pool more readily available, but there's pluses and minuses to that also, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. I want to talk about those pluses and minuses. I just want to talk about international relations versus international threat. Let's talk with the relations part.

He already came out and talked about pulling troops out of Korea and Germany. So, beginning with Korea, good P.R. move or not?

SHEPPERD: Well, I don't know about the P.R., but clearly from the polls, the majority of the Korean public wants us gone.

Also, we're going to leave considerable numbers of forces there. Removal of 12,500 from Korea and the movement of the troops further south seems to me to be able -- to be pointed toward lessening tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Clearly, the thing that we need to have in Korea is not a nuclear war, not a war at all, but disengagement from Korea and disarming of the nuclear capability of the north. This could make it easier to do that, not more difficult.

PHILLIPS: So you don't think it would increase a threat with North Korea?

SHEPPERD: I don't think it would increase a threat with North Korea.

If you have a war with North Korea, the Koreans are able to take care of themselves. They're able to defend themselves. They're much stronger than the North Koreans, particularly when North Korea doesn't have any ability to sustain themselves with oil, money, ammunition and that type of thing. So they can take care of themselves.

Also the war in a great sense is going to be -- is going to be an air power war, at least early on. And so having troops there to make them a nuclear target, if indeed the North Koreans have or would ever use nuclear weapons, doesn't seem to me to make a lot of sense.

PHILLIPS: All right. Taking the troops out of Germany, what's the advantage there?

SHEPPERD: Well, the advantage of Germany is taking them out of Germany and deploying them to other locations, where we will need them, particularly in the new -- the former Warsaw Pact countries, where they would be welcome.

Operating in the continent of Europe right now, particularly Western Europe, is particularly difficult because of environmental considerations, difficult to fly, difficult to train. And again, the public in many cases wants us gone.

So deploying to new locations in the former Warsaw Pact strengthens our connection with them. It also, in the case of the Mideast, the move toward the Mideast, puts troops where they're more likely to be used. And the removal of air forces from Germany to Turkey, again, puts them closer to where they might be needed.

Again, it does have pluses and minuses on the political side, though.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, General Don Shepperd. Thanks, General.

SHEPPERD: Pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Well, the man who led U.S. troops in the war in Iraq is taking -- talking candidly, rather, about the campaign. Former Centcom commander General Tommy Franks sat down with CNN's Paula Zahn. He reveled his part in a significant moment in the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, FORMER CENTCOM COMMANDER: It was not too long after the 9th of April when the statue came down, so maybe a couple weeks, that in a conversation with Secretary Rumsfeld I said, there's no more Army or Navy Air Force here, major combat. This is a done deal, and I'd really appreciate it if you would have the president, you know, announce that.

So and as a result of that, you know, unintended consequences. I mean I'm the guy who did that.

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": We were all led to believe that it was the White House press office or someone within that infrastructure that encouraged the president to do that.

FRANKS: I don't know -- I don't know about the "mission accomplished" and the aircraft carrier and all that. I don't know about that. And I wouldn't try to defend it at all. But the idea of major combat finished, that came from me.

ZAHN: So do you think the American public was left with a false impression by the president's appearance on that aircraft carrier?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, General Franks is going to answer that question. He talks about his new book, "American Soldier," on CNN's "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Tune in at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 Pacific.

NGUYEN: Just can't seem to give up cigarettes? Why it is harder for some people to kick the habit?

And what Dream Team? What is going on with America's Olympic men's basketball team? We're live in Athens with that.

Plus later, when it comes to dating, are you an elephant or a donkey? Making a political love connection.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: Sex and smoking. Your gender may play a part in how easy it is for you to kick the habit. A new study on nicotine therapy finds that it may work better for men than it does for women.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us with more on this data.

It's very interesting.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is interesting. And more and more, Betty, doctors are realizing that different drugs work differently in men than in women. And what they found is that nicotine may be one of them.

Nicotine replacement therapy, of course, people have heard of it. It's those patches. Sometimes it's in the form of a gum, sometimes in the form of a spray.

It takes the place of the nicotine that comes from cigarettes in your bloodstream, but it's not carcinogenic. So this is what doctors often recommend to help people stop smoking.

But what they found is doctors looked at 21 different studies that compared nicotine replacement therapy to placebo, to a sugar pill. What they found is that six months into it, men and women were faring equally as well.

But 12 months into it, men were doing twice as well on the nicotine replacement as they were on the placebo. In other words, the nicotine replacement really was working better, but for women they were doing about the same. It didn't matter whether they were doing the nicotine replacement or whether they were doing the sugar pill.

But now look what happens when the doctors added therapy to the mix. In other words, nicotine replacement plus some form of counseling or support group. The women did twice as well when they actually had the therapy, but for the men, the therapy really didn't do much.

So what this teaches doctors and what this teaches women who are trying to quit the habit is that you need to have some support. For women that seems especially important.

NGUYEN: A mental and emotional thing. How do they explain the difference between the genders?

COHEN: It's not entirely clear why there is a difference between the genders. And one of the reasons appears to have to do with weight. Many women rely on cigarettes to keep their weight down. They say, "Gee, if I stop I'm really going to be in trouble. I'm going to balloon back up again."

But another reason appears to be much more physical, that women just seem to experience stronger cravings for nicotine than men do. Not clear on why. But again, as I was saying before, there's more and more evidence that women's bodies just react differently to different substances.

NGUYEN: OK. So bottom line, what should you do, whether you're male or female, and you want to quit?

COHEN: Right. If you want to quit you can't just rely on the nicotine replacement therapies. You need to do some stuff inside your own head, as well. For women, that's particularly important, but for men, as well.

So let's take a look at some tips for getting rid of that cigarette habit.

First of all, identify you're motivation. Perhaps you're quitting for your kids. Keep that in your mind at all times.

Set a date. Say, "I'm stopping smoking September 1." Tell everyone you know so they can support you.

And get rid of any smoking paraphernalia you have around the house. If you have your favorite ashtray, get rid of it.

Be prepared to slip up. Many people end up smoking even when they try to quit. They get that cigarette urge, and they end up smoking a little bit. That's OK. You're going to slip up. You just have to...

NGUYEN: You're human, right?

COHEN: You're human. It's going to happen. Get right back on that horse.

NGUYEN: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Single Republican seeks fellow Republican for a love connection. Mixing love and politics. We're going to tell you about it.

NGUYEN: U.S. Olympic star Michael Phelps tries to add to his gold medal collection today. We'll take you to Athens when LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Now the Olympic games in Athens Greece. The U.S. men's basketball team doesn't live up to its Dream Team moniker. And an American swimmer misses his chance to make American history.

CNN's Larry Smith, live from Athens with a pretty incredible backdrop, with more.

Hi, Larry.

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: You know, it doesn't get any better than this, does it, here at the Parthenon, on top of the Acropolis?

It is now nightfall here Monday night. Day three of the Olympics. And already the story of Michael Phelps has taken a change, that well, we will not see that Olympic immortality created by the 19- year-old from Baltimore. Although water run isn't dead (ph). He still has several meets to go.

Tonight, in the 200-meter freestyle, the event they were calling the race of the Olympics, and certainly it was, with the four fastest swimmers in world history finally going at it, man to man.

And in the end, though, it was Ian Thorpe of Australia winning the 200-meter freestyle in this one, as he takes his second gold at these games, fifth gold of his career. The 21-year-old Aussie is already that country's most decorated male Olympian ever.

Michael Phelps, meanwhile, settles for a bronze. So for him now, a gold and two bronze medals in his first three events. He won the 400-meter individual medley on Saturday, bronze medal on Sunday night, four-by-110-meter freestyle relay for the U.S. team up next for him.

Tuesday night he goes for gold again in the 200-meter butterfly. Now, he had the second fastest time in tonight's semifinal, which was run just after the 200-meter freestyle.

A couple of other gold medals, though, for the U.S. Natalie Coughlin, the California, young 21-year-old student from Cal Berkeley, she takes gold in the 100-meter backstroke. AS she still has three more relay races to run, as well, for the Americans in the pool.

And Aaron Piersol, he is the men's champion in the 100-meter backstroke. Piersol joining Coughlin and Phelps, the only three golds for the USA so far. All three are in swimming.

As you mentioned, Team USA, the USA men's basketball, they did practice today, trying to find some answers after Sunday night's embarrassing, shocking, whatever you want to call it, 92-73 drumming at the hands of Puerto Rico, which by the way before that game, only the old Soviet Union, the only team ever to beat the United States in play in the men's basketball play.

But once again, they play Greece tomorrow night. They are trying to avoid their first ever 0-2 start in Olympic play. Keep in mind, though, they are still in medal competition. These preliminary games go on for awhile. They need only to be in the top four of their group of six to advance to the quarter finals and stay alive.

So certainly not reason to fret just yet.

This is not the kind of performance we're used to seeing from this basketball team, especially since the NBA players began taking part in 1992.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: I know information is just sort of funneling out, but do you know anything about the Greek sprinters facing that criminal probe, Larry?

SMITH: The Greek sprinters, that's an odyssey that just continues on, doesn't it?

Kostas Kenteris and Katerine Thanou today asked for and were granted an additional 48-hour extension so they will meet with International Olympic Committee officials on Wednesday. That investigative panel of the IOC.

Now the Greek Olympic Committee, as you may recall, on Saturday already has withdrawn these two from the games. However, the IOC, their ultimate fate does rest with them. If they choose not to reinstate them, they can still then appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It just keeps on going. They have the ultimate say in this.

By the way, Thanou's competition, her event, the 100 meters begins on Friday. As for Kenteris, he won the 200 meters in Sydney four years ago. That event does not begin until Tuesday. And so it goes.

PHILLIPS: All right. Larry Smith, live from Athens, thanks so much, Larry -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Back here in the U.S., lower gas prices might not last, but at least you'll get a better deal down at the car dealer. Rhonda Schaffler joins us now from the New York Stock Exchange with that story.

So is it time to buy a car, Rhonda?

(STOCK REPORT)

PHILLIPS: See hell firsthand? That's what one Punta Gorda resident says about all the destruction in his hometown. We're going to get the latest on the hurricane cleanup, next.

NGUYEN: President Bush has a major announcement for U.S. troops. Thousands of military families will feel the impact.

PHILLIPS: What is heck is going on here? New competition for all of you daredevils and Spider-Man wannabes. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Now to the dating game. Making a love connection may not be easy if you're a committed Democrat or Republican. What's politics got to do with it, you ask?

Alina Cho has the answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jen Tramantozzi is 26, single and a member of New York's Young Republicans Club. Yes, traditionally liberal New York, where Tramantozzi says Republican suitors are in short supply.

JEN TRAMANTOZZI, SINGLE REPUBLICAN: When I tell people I'm a Republican they are kind of like, "Ooh." Their face just falls, and they're so disappointed. They're, like, "Oh, no, everything was going great until you had to mention that."

CHO: Dan Cohen is also a single New Yorker. He's a Democrat looking for a lovely liberal.

DAN COHEN, SINGLE DEMOCRAT: It's one signal. It's not the only one, but for me it's been a good one of determining whether I would get along with that person.

CHO: Cohen and Tramantozzi disagree on politics but agree on dating strategy. Both want to date members of their own political party.

TRAMANTOZZI: I feel like, you know, if I dated someone who was a liberal, he would be getting annoyed with me all the time. Or I'd be, like, "Well, I don't understand why he doesn't get it. He's not seeing it my way."

CHO (on camera): Little doubt that this year's election is going to be a close one. Bush, Kerry, red states, blue states. It's political lingo most of us have heard. And now it's popping up on Internet dating sites. So if you're looking for love, get ready to show your colors.

(voice-over) More than a half dozen web sites are out there to help both single Republicans and Democrats find their political soul mates. Sites like ConservativeMatch.com and ActForLove.org, a liberal site started by John Hlinko, who's now engaged to a fellow Democrat he met on the Web.

JOHN HLINKO, FOUNDER, ACTFORLOVE.ORG: We're getting people in a lot of red states because they're the ones that are having trouble finding other progressives, finding other Democrats.

CHO: Some do make it work, despite disagreeing politically: Arnold, Maria; Carville, Madeline.

Dan Cohen says no way.

(on camera) You're a blue state guy.

COHEN: I'm a blue state guy, and I don't think I could date anybody but a blue state gal.

CHO (voice-over): Red states need not apply.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures now out of Santa Maria, California. A tour bus, a pop star and dozens of fans. Another pretrial hearing in the Michael Jackson child molestation case. The singer and his family are there. We're going to take you live outside of the courthouse.

Right now, live pictures from inside the courthouse as we await Michael Jackson and his family to leave the courtroom. We'll continue to roll on this live coverage.

Now, from the Cold War to the war on terror, the U.S. military adapts to changing times. President Bush formally announces today that tens of thousands of U.S. troops will be coming home from bases abroad. He says they'll be repositioned to better fight the modern enemy.

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 August 16, 2004 - 14:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-ANCHOR: And welcome back. From the CNN Center here in Atlanta, this is LIVE FROM. I'm Betty Nguyen.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-ANCHOR: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what's all new this half hour.

Amber Frey confronts Scott Peterson. More of her taped conversations revealed in court today.

NGUYEN: And mixing love and politics. Online dating takes the election to the next level.

But first, here's what's happening now in the news.

PHILLIPS: President Bush announcing plans to realign U.S. troop commitments all around the globe. In a speech in Cincinnati Mr. Bush said as many as 70,000 soldiers will be affected by that move, primarily aimed at supporting the war on terror.

Just ahead, we're going to talk about that plan with CNN military analyst, Major General Don Shepperd.

Dangerous duty in Iraq. Fighting breaks out in Najaf again between United States forces and the militia commanded by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. An Iraqi delegation is headed to the city from Baghdad to try and negotiate a ceasefire.

The sheriff of Charlotte County, Florida, says tensions are rising in areas hit hard by Hurricane Charley. Hundreds of thousands of people still don't have electricity. In other words no air conditioning either. The death toll stands at 17. Live coverage from CNN's Ed Lavandera in about 30 minutes.

Michael Jackson arrives in court in his bid to fight charges of child molestation. He appeared today as a witness at the pretrial hearing. The Santa Barbara district attorney, who has pursued the singer for years, is there on the stand. A live report from CNN's Thelma Gutierrez in just about an hour.

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

NGUYEN: We're talking about tapes as testimony in the Scott Peterson murder trial. The jury is hearing more secretly recorded audiotapes between Peterson and his mistress, Amber Frey. The tapes reveal a string of lies by Peterson.

And CNN's Rusty Dornin is live from Redwood City, California, with the latest.

Good afternoon, Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, the tenor and tone of these conversations between Amber Frey and Scott Peterson has definitely changed from last week when we were hearing a lot of cooing love talk.

Frey is really grilling Peterson about his possible involvement in his wife's disappearance.

Meantime, Amber Frey takes the stand just for a few minutes in between each of these phone calls to answer prosecutors' questions, saying yes, indeed, this is the conversation, the date we had it. And she sits back down in one of the front rows of court.

In the talks this morning Peterson says that his -- he had told his wife about their affair right after their first date. He talks about how -- what he did with his wife, Laci Peterson, on the 23rd and into the morning of the 24th when he disappeared, similar to the story that he told police.

He also tells Amber Frey that after this he's going to become part of an effort to find people who have disappeared. He also tells her, "Look, if you want to go to police, you go ahead. I am not going to stop you."

At times it seems like Frey really is cross-examining Peterson on just about every aspect of his alibi and why he told the lies he did. Some of the legal experts here say that he keeps answering some questions and not answering others, for some very good reasons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CARDOZA, LEGAL ANALYST: He knows he's being taped. It's just too self-serving. And wasn't he lawyered up by this time? Wasn't it as of January 6 he had his public defender, Kirk McAllister? Any good defense attorney would warn about these type of tapes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: We don't know for sure whether Scott Peterson absolutely knew he was being taped. He does stay on the phone for a long time, answering a lot of questions. As I said, not answering also a lot of questions that -- or at least by passing questions that Amber Frey has for him.

Two more days of these tapes we'll be hearing, and then Frey will retake the stand and we think will wrap up her part of the prosecution testimony.

And then it will be Mark Geragos who will be cross-examining Frey. At this point it will be a mystery whether he's going to be keeping her up there for days or whether he's going to softball it and it ask her a few questions and let her go -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Wait to see on that one. Rusty Dornin in California, thank you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Turning now to military moves. The U.S. armed forces moving toward a new future with the largest troop realignment since the end of the Cold War. President Bush unveiled that agenda today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today I announce a new plan for deploying America's armed forces.

Over the coming decade we'll deploy a more agile and more flexible force, which means that more of our troops will be stationed and deployed from here at home. We will move some of our troops and capabilities to new locations. So they can search quickly to deal with unexpected threats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN military analyst, retired Major General Don Shepperd, says that plan makes sense. He joins us now, live from Tucson, Arizona, this afternoon.

General, you actually met with Rumsfeld about three years ago. He was talking about the same exact thing.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Yes, he was, Kyra. He was musing to himself -- and I keep asking myself why is it that 50 years after the war we still have 37,000 troops stationed in Korea, while -- when the Koreans are perfectly capable of defending themselves?

And further, why are we still in Europe with hundreds of thousands of troops, many divisions, when -- when the Europeans can defend themselves and the Soviet Union, against which we were postured, is gone.

So he was asking himself these questions long ago, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So of course, I'm going to ask you why now? And I think it's probably pretty obvious, but I want to hear it from you. The U.S. military, totally overextended right now.

SHEPPERD: The U.S. military is clearly -- is clearly stressed. Whether you overextend it or not depends on the service, on the unit and what have you. But they're clearly stressed. The guard and reserve are stressed, as well.

Now, when do you this type of thing now, particularly in a presidential election year, it is going to be cast as, look, this is all because of Iraq.

It isn't all because of Iraq. It's because it really makes sense to re-examine our posture. It should have been done years ago. It needs to be done now. And it's going to be carried out over 10 years or so. So it's not all because of Iraq. But it will, indeed, if you bring troops back to the U.S. from Korea or from Europe, it will make a pool more readily available, but there's pluses and minuses to that also, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. I want to talk about those pluses and minuses. I just want to talk about international relations versus international threat. Let's talk with the relations part.

He already came out and talked about pulling troops out of Korea and Germany. So, beginning with Korea, good P.R. move or not?

SHEPPERD: Well, I don't know about the P.R., but clearly from the polls, the majority of the Korean public wants us gone.

Also, we're going to leave considerable numbers of forces there. Removal of 12,500 from Korea and the movement of the troops further south seems to me to be able -- to be pointed toward lessening tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Clearly, the thing that we need to have in Korea is not a nuclear war, not a war at all, but disengagement from Korea and disarming of the nuclear capability of the north. This could make it easier to do that, not more difficult.

PHILLIPS: So you don't think it would increase a threat with North Korea?

SHEPPERD: I don't think it would increase a threat with North Korea.

If you have a war with North Korea, the Koreans are able to take care of themselves. They're able to defend themselves. They're much stronger than the North Koreans, particularly when North Korea doesn't have any ability to sustain themselves with oil, money, ammunition and that type of thing. So they can take care of themselves.

Also the war in a great sense is going to be -- is going to be an air power war, at least early on. And so having troops there to make them a nuclear target, if indeed the North Koreans have or would ever use nuclear weapons, doesn't seem to me to make a lot of sense.

PHILLIPS: All right. Taking the troops out of Germany, what's the advantage there?

SHEPPERD: Well, the advantage of Germany is taking them out of Germany and deploying them to other locations, where we will need them, particularly in the new -- the former Warsaw Pact countries, where they would be welcome.

Operating in the continent of Europe right now, particularly Western Europe, is particularly difficult because of environmental considerations, difficult to fly, difficult to train. And again, the public in many cases wants us gone.

So deploying to new locations in the former Warsaw Pact strengthens our connection with them. It also, in the case of the Mideast, the move toward the Mideast, puts troops where they're more likely to be used. And the removal of air forces from Germany to Turkey, again, puts them closer to where they might be needed.

Again, it does have pluses and minuses on the political side, though.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, General Don Shepperd. Thanks, General.

SHEPPERD: Pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Well, the man who led U.S. troops in the war in Iraq is taking -- talking candidly, rather, about the campaign. Former Centcom commander General Tommy Franks sat down with CNN's Paula Zahn. He reveled his part in a significant moment in the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, FORMER CENTCOM COMMANDER: It was not too long after the 9th of April when the statue came down, so maybe a couple weeks, that in a conversation with Secretary Rumsfeld I said, there's no more Army or Navy Air Force here, major combat. This is a done deal, and I'd really appreciate it if you would have the president, you know, announce that.

So and as a result of that, you know, unintended consequences. I mean I'm the guy who did that.

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": We were all led to believe that it was the White House press office or someone within that infrastructure that encouraged the president to do that.

FRANKS: I don't know -- I don't know about the "mission accomplished" and the aircraft carrier and all that. I don't know about that. And I wouldn't try to defend it at all. But the idea of major combat finished, that came from me.

ZAHN: So do you think the American public was left with a false impression by the president's appearance on that aircraft carrier?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, General Franks is going to answer that question. He talks about his new book, "American Soldier," on CNN's "PAULA ZAHN NOW." Tune in at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 Pacific.

NGUYEN: Just can't seem to give up cigarettes? Why it is harder for some people to kick the habit?

And what Dream Team? What is going on with America's Olympic men's basketball team? We're live in Athens with that.

Plus later, when it comes to dating, are you an elephant or a donkey? Making a political love connection.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: Sex and smoking. Your gender may play a part in how easy it is for you to kick the habit. A new study on nicotine therapy finds that it may work better for men than it does for women.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us with more on this data.

It's very interesting.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is interesting. And more and more, Betty, doctors are realizing that different drugs work differently in men than in women. And what they found is that nicotine may be one of them.

Nicotine replacement therapy, of course, people have heard of it. It's those patches. Sometimes it's in the form of a gum, sometimes in the form of a spray.

It takes the place of the nicotine that comes from cigarettes in your bloodstream, but it's not carcinogenic. So this is what doctors often recommend to help people stop smoking.

But what they found is doctors looked at 21 different studies that compared nicotine replacement therapy to placebo, to a sugar pill. What they found is that six months into it, men and women were faring equally as well.

But 12 months into it, men were doing twice as well on the nicotine replacement as they were on the placebo. In other words, the nicotine replacement really was working better, but for women they were doing about the same. It didn't matter whether they were doing the nicotine replacement or whether they were doing the sugar pill.

But now look what happens when the doctors added therapy to the mix. In other words, nicotine replacement plus some form of counseling or support group. The women did twice as well when they actually had the therapy, but for the men, the therapy really didn't do much.

So what this teaches doctors and what this teaches women who are trying to quit the habit is that you need to have some support. For women that seems especially important.

NGUYEN: A mental and emotional thing. How do they explain the difference between the genders?

COHEN: It's not entirely clear why there is a difference between the genders. And one of the reasons appears to have to do with weight. Many women rely on cigarettes to keep their weight down. They say, "Gee, if I stop I'm really going to be in trouble. I'm going to balloon back up again."

But another reason appears to be much more physical, that women just seem to experience stronger cravings for nicotine than men do. Not clear on why. But again, as I was saying before, there's more and more evidence that women's bodies just react differently to different substances.

NGUYEN: OK. So bottom line, what should you do, whether you're male or female, and you want to quit?

COHEN: Right. If you want to quit you can't just rely on the nicotine replacement therapies. You need to do some stuff inside your own head, as well. For women, that's particularly important, but for men, as well.

So let's take a look at some tips for getting rid of that cigarette habit.

First of all, identify you're motivation. Perhaps you're quitting for your kids. Keep that in your mind at all times.

Set a date. Say, "I'm stopping smoking September 1." Tell everyone you know so they can support you.

And get rid of any smoking paraphernalia you have around the house. If you have your favorite ashtray, get rid of it.

Be prepared to slip up. Many people end up smoking even when they try to quit. They get that cigarette urge, and they end up smoking a little bit. That's OK. You're going to slip up. You just have to...

NGUYEN: You're human, right?

COHEN: You're human. It's going to happen. Get right back on that horse.

NGUYEN: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Single Republican seeks fellow Republican for a love connection. Mixing love and politics. We're going to tell you about it.

NGUYEN: U.S. Olympic star Michael Phelps tries to add to his gold medal collection today. We'll take you to Athens when LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Now the Olympic games in Athens Greece. The U.S. men's basketball team doesn't live up to its Dream Team moniker. And an American swimmer misses his chance to make American history.

CNN's Larry Smith, live from Athens with a pretty incredible backdrop, with more.

Hi, Larry.

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: You know, it doesn't get any better than this, does it, here at the Parthenon, on top of the Acropolis?

It is now nightfall here Monday night. Day three of the Olympics. And already the story of Michael Phelps has taken a change, that well, we will not see that Olympic immortality created by the 19- year-old from Baltimore. Although water run isn't dead (ph). He still has several meets to go.

Tonight, in the 200-meter freestyle, the event they were calling the race of the Olympics, and certainly it was, with the four fastest swimmers in world history finally going at it, man to man.

And in the end, though, it was Ian Thorpe of Australia winning the 200-meter freestyle in this one, as he takes his second gold at these games, fifth gold of his career. The 21-year-old Aussie is already that country's most decorated male Olympian ever.

Michael Phelps, meanwhile, settles for a bronze. So for him now, a gold and two bronze medals in his first three events. He won the 400-meter individual medley on Saturday, bronze medal on Sunday night, four-by-110-meter freestyle relay for the U.S. team up next for him.

Tuesday night he goes for gold again in the 200-meter butterfly. Now, he had the second fastest time in tonight's semifinal, which was run just after the 200-meter freestyle.

A couple of other gold medals, though, for the U.S. Natalie Coughlin, the California, young 21-year-old student from Cal Berkeley, she takes gold in the 100-meter backstroke. AS she still has three more relay races to run, as well, for the Americans in the pool.

And Aaron Piersol, he is the men's champion in the 100-meter backstroke. Piersol joining Coughlin and Phelps, the only three golds for the USA so far. All three are in swimming.

As you mentioned, Team USA, the USA men's basketball, they did practice today, trying to find some answers after Sunday night's embarrassing, shocking, whatever you want to call it, 92-73 drumming at the hands of Puerto Rico, which by the way before that game, only the old Soviet Union, the only team ever to beat the United States in play in the men's basketball play.

But once again, they play Greece tomorrow night. They are trying to avoid their first ever 0-2 start in Olympic play. Keep in mind, though, they are still in medal competition. These preliminary games go on for awhile. They need only to be in the top four of their group of six to advance to the quarter finals and stay alive.

So certainly not reason to fret just yet.

This is not the kind of performance we're used to seeing from this basketball team, especially since the NBA players began taking part in 1992.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: I know information is just sort of funneling out, but do you know anything about the Greek sprinters facing that criminal probe, Larry?

SMITH: The Greek sprinters, that's an odyssey that just continues on, doesn't it?

Kostas Kenteris and Katerine Thanou today asked for and were granted an additional 48-hour extension so they will meet with International Olympic Committee officials on Wednesday. That investigative panel of the IOC.

Now the Greek Olympic Committee, as you may recall, on Saturday already has withdrawn these two from the games. However, the IOC, their ultimate fate does rest with them. If they choose not to reinstate them, they can still then appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It just keeps on going. They have the ultimate say in this.

By the way, Thanou's competition, her event, the 100 meters begins on Friday. As for Kenteris, he won the 200 meters in Sydney four years ago. That event does not begin until Tuesday. And so it goes.

PHILLIPS: All right. Larry Smith, live from Athens, thanks so much, Larry -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Back here in the U.S., lower gas prices might not last, but at least you'll get a better deal down at the car dealer. Rhonda Schaffler joins us now from the New York Stock Exchange with that story.

So is it time to buy a car, Rhonda?

(STOCK REPORT)

PHILLIPS: See hell firsthand? That's what one Punta Gorda resident says about all the destruction in his hometown. We're going to get the latest on the hurricane cleanup, next.

NGUYEN: President Bush has a major announcement for U.S. troops. Thousands of military families will feel the impact.

PHILLIPS: What is heck is going on here? New competition for all of you daredevils and Spider-Man wannabes. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Now to the dating game. Making a love connection may not be easy if you're a committed Democrat or Republican. What's politics got to do with it, you ask?

Alina Cho has the answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jen Tramantozzi is 26, single and a member of New York's Young Republicans Club. Yes, traditionally liberal New York, where Tramantozzi says Republican suitors are in short supply.

JEN TRAMANTOZZI, SINGLE REPUBLICAN: When I tell people I'm a Republican they are kind of like, "Ooh." Their face just falls, and they're so disappointed. They're, like, "Oh, no, everything was going great until you had to mention that."

CHO: Dan Cohen is also a single New Yorker. He's a Democrat looking for a lovely liberal.

DAN COHEN, SINGLE DEMOCRAT: It's one signal. It's not the only one, but for me it's been a good one of determining whether I would get along with that person.

CHO: Cohen and Tramantozzi disagree on politics but agree on dating strategy. Both want to date members of their own political party.

TRAMANTOZZI: I feel like, you know, if I dated someone who was a liberal, he would be getting annoyed with me all the time. Or I'd be, like, "Well, I don't understand why he doesn't get it. He's not seeing it my way."

CHO (on camera): Little doubt that this year's election is going to be a close one. Bush, Kerry, red states, blue states. It's political lingo most of us have heard. And now it's popping up on Internet dating sites. So if you're looking for love, get ready to show your colors.

(voice-over) More than a half dozen web sites are out there to help both single Republicans and Democrats find their political soul mates. Sites like ConservativeMatch.com and ActForLove.org, a liberal site started by John Hlinko, who's now engaged to a fellow Democrat he met on the Web.

JOHN HLINKO, FOUNDER, ACTFORLOVE.ORG: We're getting people in a lot of red states because they're the ones that are having trouble finding other progressives, finding other Democrats.

CHO: Some do make it work, despite disagreeing politically: Arnold, Maria; Carville, Madeline.

Dan Cohen says no way.

(on camera) You're a blue state guy.

COHEN: I'm a blue state guy, and I don't think I could date anybody but a blue state gal.

CHO (voice-over): Red states need not apply.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures now out of Santa Maria, California. A tour bus, a pop star and dozens of fans. Another pretrial hearing in the Michael Jackson child molestation case. The singer and his family are there. We're going to take you live outside of the courthouse.

Right now, live pictures from inside the courthouse as we await Michael Jackson and his family to leave the courtroom. We'll continue to roll on this live coverage.

Now, from the Cold War to the war on terror, the U.S. military adapts to changing times. President Bush formally announces today that tens of thousands of U.S. troops will be coming home from bases abroad. He says they'll be repositioned to better fight the modern enemy.

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