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Live From...

Deadly Attack in Mosul; Aleve Alert

Aired December 21, 2004 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, lunch at a U.S. base in Mosul, Iraq, turns into a bloodbath after a fiery explosion. Americans are among the dead. We'll have complete coverage straight ahead.
Policing the skies. The FAA plans to hire thousands of air traffic controllers to fill thinning ranks. Nearly half of all controllers are slated to retire during that time. The air traffic controllers union says shortages need to be filled now, not down the road.

Funeral services begin this hour for Bobbi Jo Stinnett, the pregnant Missouri woman strangled last week. A woman who police say contacted Stinnett on the Internet is accused of killing her and cutting her eight-month-old fetus out of her body. That baby survives and is with her father. The FBI says suspect Lisa Montgomery has confessed.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: First, the deadly attack on American troops in Mosul. Latest numbers are this, 24 dead, more than 60 wounded, among them, an unknown number of civilian workers and some Iraqis. It happened as the troops were sitting down to lunch.

CNN's Karl Penhaul standing by live in Baghdad.

Karl, what can you tell us?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Miles.

It was midday Iraqi time. It was chow time for the hungry soldiers. They would have gone into that chow hall. They have laid down their rifles. They would have taken off the flak jackets. And, to a large extent, they would have dropped their guard so that they could tuck into a meal. And it was precisely at that time that this huge explosion took place.

General Carter Ham, the commanding general in that region of Iraq around Mosul, has described it as a single large explosion. This is what he had to say about it.

We have seen, also, from some photographs from embedded reporters at the scene just the kind of scenes that ensued after that blast. We hear even from one of the press reporters on the ground there that some of the soldiers turned up dining tables to use as stretchers to carry away wounded buddies. So far, though, neither the Pentagon, nor U.S. military sources on the ground have said what caused the explosion. Initial reports did suggest that that this was probably a mortar attack or a rocket attack. Certainly, if all this was caused by one single large explosion, as General Ham says, then that would certainly have been a lucky strike by insurgent artillery. But then we've been looking on the Web site at some of these Islamic Web sites that are prolific on the World Wide Web. And there on the Ansar Al-Sunna Web site, there is a claim of responsibility for this attack.

And far from describing it as a rocket or a mortar attack, it describes this as a martyrdom attack. That's the words that they use to describe some kind of suicide bombing. General Ham hasn't come out to discount that, though he does say that the causes of this explosion are under way right now.

Ansar Al-Sunna, however, is a pretty well known group here in Iraq, one of the multiple factions here fighting against coalition troops. In the past, it has claimed responsibilities for massive suicide car bombings, for the beheading of hostages and also attacks in and around Baghdad, although the main focus of its operation has been up in northern Iraq -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Karl, I spoke with a reporter who is very close or embedded with troops nearby. He said the explosion was much, much louder, much more powerful than any simple mortar attack, which would imply two things, either what you just said, some sort of suicide attack internally, or something involving perhaps heavy artillery.

The insurgency up to this moment hasn't used heavy artillery much. So, is it likely we're headed down the road toward this being some sort of suicide attack?

PENHAUL: Difficult to say at this moment, although we have heard in the last few moments from Pentagon sources, that they are saying, no, this wasn't a single explosion, that it was multiple rockets that slammed into this tent. So, certainly, there does seem a little ways to go to fully clarify the circumstances of this, whether it was a single large explosion, as General Ham has described, or whether it was a single lucky strike by insurgent artillery, or whether, in fact, they did manage to penetrate the tight security at these U.S. bases and get a suicide bomber into that chow hall -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Karl Penhaul.

Just to button this up for folks, the Pentagon now confirming 24 dead, 64 wounded, the Pentagon saying there were four missiles fired at that mess tent. Only one struck. We're still trying to sort all this out for you. Obviously, we'll keep you posted -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, as you know, we've been seeing those photos. You saw the photos right there in the report on behalf of Karl Penhaul.

It was reporter Jeremy Redmon with "The Richmond Times" who was on the scene. And it's his photographer that actually took those pictures that you have been seeing. Jeremy gave an interview not too long ago. This is what he had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY REDMON, "THE RICHMOND TIMES": The tent, really, it's really just a cavernous tent.

There were hundreds of soldiers in there having lunch at the time. And then there was a bright blue sky, very few clouds. People were cheery. They were having lunch, enjoying themselves when it happened. And, as soon as the explosion and the fireball occurred, scores of soldiers ran out of the tent and crammed into these concrete blast barriers.

And then I ran out. And it was during all this going on. And I started seeing the wounded come out one at a time. Soldiers were very quick thinking and turned their dining room tables upside down and placed the wounded on top of them.

I counted one and then two, then four, then six, then eight wounded coming out. There were folks that were in shock. There was blood all over the floor, food, trays. It tore a pretty large hole in the roof of the tent. Outside, they had set up -- several medics had showed up and set up an area where they are working on the soldiers in the parking lot. It was really just sort of a sea of wounded and dead.

There were people crying. There were folks that were numb that collapsed in grief. It really was unreal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, earlier today, I spoke U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hastings, who was at Camp Marez when the chaos erupted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COL. PAUL HASTINGS, U.S. ARMY: As you know, it was a pretty difficult day, a terrible day here in Mosul in Camp Marez. And we lost 24 soldiers -- or actually, 24 people were killed. That included soldiers and contractors and Iraqi security force personnel.

And, you know, I think it's certainly a difficult time, but we're responding well. And we've taken all the -- all the wounded. And they're being taken care of. And we're doing the best I can.

PHILLIPS: Sir, I was reading in one of the newsletters that you put together, and this was a few months ago, you said that -- this was referring to another attack just days ago when a car bomb detonated outside the Mosul airfield. Our quick response was noticed at secretary of Army level in the Pentagon.

Has this become standard operating procedure, this thought process of expecting the unexpectable, and knowing how to respond? And what is the mind-set and how do you respond?

HASTINGS: I think in that newsletter, in the response, what we were talking about was trying to get the most accurate and credible information back to the American people through public affairs channels and through our technology and satellite network systems.

And our response there was the same as we did today, where we got General Ham out and was able to explain to the people in America what exactly happened and how we're responding to that.

PHILLIPS: Sir, a number of soldiers told one of our photographers there that they felt vulnerable. Do you feel vulnerable where you are? And how are soldiers dealing with the mixed feelings that they have about being there right now?

HASTINGS: I think when soldiers are talking about vulnerabilities, it's -- they're probably talking about the dining facilities, where it's not in a hard span. There's -- in the dining facility here that was hit, it was a -- a large tent area.

And so there is a level of vulnerability when you go in there and you don't feel like there's a hard -- hard roof over your head. And when there's mortar attacks and explosions that happen, there is a level of vulnerability.

And interestingly enough, a new dining facility is under construction now at Camp Marez. And it just hasn't been completed yet. And so the vulnerability there is the unexpected relating to indirect fire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: On his first visit to Baghdad, British Prime Minister Tony Blair laments what he calls a wicked, destructive attempt to thwart democracy. Mr. Blair arrived unannounced, as is the custom with top-level VIPs. Security and all. And he met with Iraq's prime minister before both men met with reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I've just visited members of the electoral commission and met some of their staff. And I said to them that I thought that they were the heroes of the new Iraq that's being created, because here are people who are risking their lives every day in order to make sure that the people of Iraq get a chance to decide their own destiny democratically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Mr. Blair also met today with British troops based in the southern city of Basra. Some 8,500 troops are deployed in Iraq, mostly in the south; 74 Brits have been killed.

The latest violence raises concerns it could disrupt next month's scheduled elections in Iraq. Earlier, I spoke with CNN analyst Ken Pollack from the Saban Center at Brookings Institution for more insight on how to fight those who are fighting democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: The problem we have in Iraq is a very simple one -- Iraq is too big, the population is too large, given the number of troops we have in-country. We've got a fundamental mismatch between resources. We've got a mission that requires a much greater troop commitment than we've got. We don't have the troops to make the country safe. That's hurting the chances for good elections, but also hurts us in every aspect because it is killing Iraqis, in a very literal sense. The Iraqis see this and they're deeply dismayed by the fact that they simply don't feel safe in their homes and their streets.

O'BRIEN: How many troops? How soon are they needed? And does the Pentagon have the manpower?

POLLACK: Well, in all honesty, the troops are needed immediately, and we could easily double the size of the force over there, or we'd need to double the size of the force over there. Any additional forces would be helpful. But we've got to think about this mismatch between resources and mission. We've either got to scale back the mission, be much more modest about what we're trying to accomplish, or we're going to have to find troops.

And as you point out, right now, the United States does not have a whole lot of troops more than we can send, especially not on a sustainable basis, not that can stay there for long periods of time. That's really the dilemma that we're in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was Ken Pollack.

A warning about an over-the-counter drug that could be in your medicine cabinet. Add Aleve to the growing list of possibly harmful painkillers. Ahead, details on the warning, plus a look at how drugs are approved by the FDA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: New concerns today about the safety of another popular medication, this one over the counter. The drug is naproxen, sold as the pain reliever Aleve.

Earlier, I spoke with our Elizabeth Cohen about the warning and the concern that it's causing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: First it was Vioxx. Then it was Celebrex. And now there are questions about the pain reliever naproxen. As Kyra mentioned, that's sold over counter as Aleve. It's also sold as a prescription drug called Naprosyn. It also goes by other names. The active ingredient is naproxen.

What this study by the National Institutes of Health found was that people who were taking Aleve were 50 percent more likely to have a heart attack or stroke during the course of the study.

Now, there's two important things to remember about the study. First of all, the people in the study were taking two pills a day for up to three years. And also, the patients were 70 and older.

So it's important to remember not everyone takes Aleve that way. Many times people just take it, they have a headache or they twisted their ankle. And so they just take it for short periods of time.

And obviously, if you're over 70, then you're going to be at a higher risk for heart attacks and strokes anyways.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Recent warnings about the safety of several highly prescribed drugs raise questions about the way drugs are approved in the U.S. Critical trials are a key step in the process.

And, as we hear from CNN's Aaron Brown, all studies are not equal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): For a drug company to win FDA approval for a new drug, it must first outline the studies it plans to conduct to test how safe and effective the drug will be.

DR. ALAN GOLDHAMMER, ASSOC V.P., REGULATORY AFFAIRS, PHRMA: They have to register those clinical trials with FDA and FDA must give their assent before the clinical trials are started.

BROWN: This is a crucial step, according to Dr. Jerry Avorn, a professor at Harvard Medical School and author of "Powerful Medicines."

DR. JERRY AVORN, AUTHOR, "POWERFUL MEDICINES": The way we learn about drug side effects has everything to do with the way the companies set up the studies before they bring the results to the FDA. And of course it's the companies that do the studies of these drugs, not the FDA or other groups.

BROWN: Dr. Avorn says how drug studies are designed may actually prevent problems from being detected. To begin with, he says, the study must last long enough.

AVORN: If you've got a side effect that isn't seen until after six months of using a drug, at all of the pre-approval studies only lasted for two or three months, you could easily miss that.

BROWN: Another crucial factor -- who participates in the study. Are the people enrolled in a clinical trial similar to those who will actually take the medication once it's approved and marketed? A study must also be large enough to uncover dangers. Say for every 5,000 people that take a drug, only one will develop the side effect.

AVORN: You're going to miss that if you're study only included 3,000 people and the side effect occurs only once in every 5,000.

BROWN: Once in every 5,000 may not seem like a lot. But when a drug is used by tens of millions of people, as Celebrex or Vioxx or Bextra have been, it's a much different picture, with potentially thousands of people at risk of being harmed.

Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Terror fear factor. With Christian -- Christmas, rather, approaching, do Americans think terrorists are more likely to attack? Well, Judy Woodruff has a new poll, some new numbers just ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."

And, after a break, is it eating -- or healthy eating or just brilliant marketing or both? Find out who is trying to sell you on a way to shed those extra holiday pounds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Festive music, isn't it?

You have heard of metrosexuals, right, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Not you. That's for sure.

O'BRIEN: Not me, no way.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: I'm a real man.

But what about those technosexuals?

PHILLIPS: That's you.

O'BRIEN: Well, if the geek fits.

PHILLIPS: Wear it.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: ... certainly is a technosexual, so you might want to listen up on this one. A man who lives by his Treo Phone is certainly in that category. So, anyway...

O'BRIEN: Your wife is just like my husband, so don't single out mine.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: What to purchase said geeks?

CNN's Maggie Lake fills us in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shopping for men used to easy, a nice tie, a good bottle of Scotch, an electric razor and you were sorted.

(on camera): Now, before you can cross those male names off your gift list, you need to know, is he a rugged outdoorsman, a metrosexual or does he fit into the newest category, a technosexual?

RICKY MONTALVO, TECHNOSEXUAL.ORG: Technosexual basically means that you are into the latest and greatest of technology that's out there. But you also have bookworm smarts. You dress really well and you kind of have this aesthetic appeal to all things.

LAKE (voice-over): Being a gadget geek is one thing, but a technosexual?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Technosexual?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, never.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if I could consider myself a technosexual though. That would be a tough word for me to use.

LAKE: OK, it may not be widely known yet, but trend watcher Ricky Montalvo, who came up with the term, says technosexuals have actually been around for a long time.

MONTALVO: I guess James Brown would probably have been the original technosexual, if we were to have the label for him back then. But absolutely, it's about all the little things that make your day to day life easier.

LAKE: Whether or not you want your men to be technosexuals, tech items are topping the list of the most sought after gifts. Seventy- six percent of U.S. shoppers will purchase at least one consumer electronics product as a gift this season. And retailers are responding. It is just part of a greater effort to reach out to men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think men will continue to have a greater interest in shopping, I think, because men have a greater interest in buying their own clothes. Men have a greater interest in taking a role in the way they spend their own income.

LAKE: For many, that interest will turn toward gadgets, and geek is now becoming chic.

Maggie Lake, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: We need to get some technosexuals to turn up the volume on Maggie Lake's narration.

PHILLIPS: I need a little technosexual sexual hearing aid there to get it going.

O'BRIEN: Hello. What did you say?

PHILLIPS: All right.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

O'BRIEN: All right, that wraps up this edition of LIVE FROM.

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 December 21, 2004 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, lunch at a U.S. base in Mosul, Iraq, turns into a bloodbath after a fiery explosion. Americans are among the dead. We'll have complete coverage straight ahead.
Policing the skies. The FAA plans to hire thousands of air traffic controllers to fill thinning ranks. Nearly half of all controllers are slated to retire during that time. The air traffic controllers union says shortages need to be filled now, not down the road.

Funeral services begin this hour for Bobbi Jo Stinnett, the pregnant Missouri woman strangled last week. A woman who police say contacted Stinnett on the Internet is accused of killing her and cutting her eight-month-old fetus out of her body. That baby survives and is with her father. The FBI says suspect Lisa Montgomery has confessed.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: First, the deadly attack on American troops in Mosul. Latest numbers are this, 24 dead, more than 60 wounded, among them, an unknown number of civilian workers and some Iraqis. It happened as the troops were sitting down to lunch.

CNN's Karl Penhaul standing by live in Baghdad.

Karl, what can you tell us?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Miles.

It was midday Iraqi time. It was chow time for the hungry soldiers. They would have gone into that chow hall. They have laid down their rifles. They would have taken off the flak jackets. And, to a large extent, they would have dropped their guard so that they could tuck into a meal. And it was precisely at that time that this huge explosion took place.

General Carter Ham, the commanding general in that region of Iraq around Mosul, has described it as a single large explosion. This is what he had to say about it.

We have seen, also, from some photographs from embedded reporters at the scene just the kind of scenes that ensued after that blast. We hear even from one of the press reporters on the ground there that some of the soldiers turned up dining tables to use as stretchers to carry away wounded buddies. So far, though, neither the Pentagon, nor U.S. military sources on the ground have said what caused the explosion. Initial reports did suggest that that this was probably a mortar attack or a rocket attack. Certainly, if all this was caused by one single large explosion, as General Ham says, then that would certainly have been a lucky strike by insurgent artillery. But then we've been looking on the Web site at some of these Islamic Web sites that are prolific on the World Wide Web. And there on the Ansar Al-Sunna Web site, there is a claim of responsibility for this attack.

And far from describing it as a rocket or a mortar attack, it describes this as a martyrdom attack. That's the words that they use to describe some kind of suicide bombing. General Ham hasn't come out to discount that, though he does say that the causes of this explosion are under way right now.

Ansar Al-Sunna, however, is a pretty well known group here in Iraq, one of the multiple factions here fighting against coalition troops. In the past, it has claimed responsibilities for massive suicide car bombings, for the beheading of hostages and also attacks in and around Baghdad, although the main focus of its operation has been up in northern Iraq -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Karl, I spoke with a reporter who is very close or embedded with troops nearby. He said the explosion was much, much louder, much more powerful than any simple mortar attack, which would imply two things, either what you just said, some sort of suicide attack internally, or something involving perhaps heavy artillery.

The insurgency up to this moment hasn't used heavy artillery much. So, is it likely we're headed down the road toward this being some sort of suicide attack?

PENHAUL: Difficult to say at this moment, although we have heard in the last few moments from Pentagon sources, that they are saying, no, this wasn't a single explosion, that it was multiple rockets that slammed into this tent. So, certainly, there does seem a little ways to go to fully clarify the circumstances of this, whether it was a single large explosion, as General Ham has described, or whether it was a single lucky strike by insurgent artillery, or whether, in fact, they did manage to penetrate the tight security at these U.S. bases and get a suicide bomber into that chow hall -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Karl Penhaul.

Just to button this up for folks, the Pentagon now confirming 24 dead, 64 wounded, the Pentagon saying there were four missiles fired at that mess tent. Only one struck. We're still trying to sort all this out for you. Obviously, we'll keep you posted -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, as you know, we've been seeing those photos. You saw the photos right there in the report on behalf of Karl Penhaul.

It was reporter Jeremy Redmon with "The Richmond Times" who was on the scene. And it's his photographer that actually took those pictures that you have been seeing. Jeremy gave an interview not too long ago. This is what he had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY REDMON, "THE RICHMOND TIMES": The tent, really, it's really just a cavernous tent.

There were hundreds of soldiers in there having lunch at the time. And then there was a bright blue sky, very few clouds. People were cheery. They were having lunch, enjoying themselves when it happened. And, as soon as the explosion and the fireball occurred, scores of soldiers ran out of the tent and crammed into these concrete blast barriers.

And then I ran out. And it was during all this going on. And I started seeing the wounded come out one at a time. Soldiers were very quick thinking and turned their dining room tables upside down and placed the wounded on top of them.

I counted one and then two, then four, then six, then eight wounded coming out. There were folks that were in shock. There was blood all over the floor, food, trays. It tore a pretty large hole in the roof of the tent. Outside, they had set up -- several medics had showed up and set up an area where they are working on the soldiers in the parking lot. It was really just sort of a sea of wounded and dead.

There were people crying. There were folks that were numb that collapsed in grief. It really was unreal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, earlier today, I spoke U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hastings, who was at Camp Marez when the chaos erupted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COL. PAUL HASTINGS, U.S. ARMY: As you know, it was a pretty difficult day, a terrible day here in Mosul in Camp Marez. And we lost 24 soldiers -- or actually, 24 people were killed. That included soldiers and contractors and Iraqi security force personnel.

And, you know, I think it's certainly a difficult time, but we're responding well. And we've taken all the -- all the wounded. And they're being taken care of. And we're doing the best I can.

PHILLIPS: Sir, I was reading in one of the newsletters that you put together, and this was a few months ago, you said that -- this was referring to another attack just days ago when a car bomb detonated outside the Mosul airfield. Our quick response was noticed at secretary of Army level in the Pentagon.

Has this become standard operating procedure, this thought process of expecting the unexpectable, and knowing how to respond? And what is the mind-set and how do you respond?

HASTINGS: I think in that newsletter, in the response, what we were talking about was trying to get the most accurate and credible information back to the American people through public affairs channels and through our technology and satellite network systems.

And our response there was the same as we did today, where we got General Ham out and was able to explain to the people in America what exactly happened and how we're responding to that.

PHILLIPS: Sir, a number of soldiers told one of our photographers there that they felt vulnerable. Do you feel vulnerable where you are? And how are soldiers dealing with the mixed feelings that they have about being there right now?

HASTINGS: I think when soldiers are talking about vulnerabilities, it's -- they're probably talking about the dining facilities, where it's not in a hard span. There's -- in the dining facility here that was hit, it was a -- a large tent area.

And so there is a level of vulnerability when you go in there and you don't feel like there's a hard -- hard roof over your head. And when there's mortar attacks and explosions that happen, there is a level of vulnerability.

And interestingly enough, a new dining facility is under construction now at Camp Marez. And it just hasn't been completed yet. And so the vulnerability there is the unexpected relating to indirect fire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: On his first visit to Baghdad, British Prime Minister Tony Blair laments what he calls a wicked, destructive attempt to thwart democracy. Mr. Blair arrived unannounced, as is the custom with top-level VIPs. Security and all. And he met with Iraq's prime minister before both men met with reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I've just visited members of the electoral commission and met some of their staff. And I said to them that I thought that they were the heroes of the new Iraq that's being created, because here are people who are risking their lives every day in order to make sure that the people of Iraq get a chance to decide their own destiny democratically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Mr. Blair also met today with British troops based in the southern city of Basra. Some 8,500 troops are deployed in Iraq, mostly in the south; 74 Brits have been killed.

The latest violence raises concerns it could disrupt next month's scheduled elections in Iraq. Earlier, I spoke with CNN analyst Ken Pollack from the Saban Center at Brookings Institution for more insight on how to fight those who are fighting democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KENNETH POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: The problem we have in Iraq is a very simple one -- Iraq is too big, the population is too large, given the number of troops we have in-country. We've got a fundamental mismatch between resources. We've got a mission that requires a much greater troop commitment than we've got. We don't have the troops to make the country safe. That's hurting the chances for good elections, but also hurts us in every aspect because it is killing Iraqis, in a very literal sense. The Iraqis see this and they're deeply dismayed by the fact that they simply don't feel safe in their homes and their streets.

O'BRIEN: How many troops? How soon are they needed? And does the Pentagon have the manpower?

POLLACK: Well, in all honesty, the troops are needed immediately, and we could easily double the size of the force over there, or we'd need to double the size of the force over there. Any additional forces would be helpful. But we've got to think about this mismatch between resources and mission. We've either got to scale back the mission, be much more modest about what we're trying to accomplish, or we're going to have to find troops.

And as you point out, right now, the United States does not have a whole lot of troops more than we can send, especially not on a sustainable basis, not that can stay there for long periods of time. That's really the dilemma that we're in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was Ken Pollack.

A warning about an over-the-counter drug that could be in your medicine cabinet. Add Aleve to the growing list of possibly harmful painkillers. Ahead, details on the warning, plus a look at how drugs are approved by the FDA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: New concerns today about the safety of another popular medication, this one over the counter. The drug is naproxen, sold as the pain reliever Aleve.

Earlier, I spoke with our Elizabeth Cohen about the warning and the concern that it's causing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: First it was Vioxx. Then it was Celebrex. And now there are questions about the pain reliever naproxen. As Kyra mentioned, that's sold over counter as Aleve. It's also sold as a prescription drug called Naprosyn. It also goes by other names. The active ingredient is naproxen.

What this study by the National Institutes of Health found was that people who were taking Aleve were 50 percent more likely to have a heart attack or stroke during the course of the study.

Now, there's two important things to remember about the study. First of all, the people in the study were taking two pills a day for up to three years. And also, the patients were 70 and older.

So it's important to remember not everyone takes Aleve that way. Many times people just take it, they have a headache or they twisted their ankle. And so they just take it for short periods of time.

And obviously, if you're over 70, then you're going to be at a higher risk for heart attacks and strokes anyways.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Recent warnings about the safety of several highly prescribed drugs raise questions about the way drugs are approved in the U.S. Critical trials are a key step in the process.

And, as we hear from CNN's Aaron Brown, all studies are not equal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): For a drug company to win FDA approval for a new drug, it must first outline the studies it plans to conduct to test how safe and effective the drug will be.

DR. ALAN GOLDHAMMER, ASSOC V.P., REGULATORY AFFAIRS, PHRMA: They have to register those clinical trials with FDA and FDA must give their assent before the clinical trials are started.

BROWN: This is a crucial step, according to Dr. Jerry Avorn, a professor at Harvard Medical School and author of "Powerful Medicines."

DR. JERRY AVORN, AUTHOR, "POWERFUL MEDICINES": The way we learn about drug side effects has everything to do with the way the companies set up the studies before they bring the results to the FDA. And of course it's the companies that do the studies of these drugs, not the FDA or other groups.

BROWN: Dr. Avorn says how drug studies are designed may actually prevent problems from being detected. To begin with, he says, the study must last long enough.

AVORN: If you've got a side effect that isn't seen until after six months of using a drug, at all of the pre-approval studies only lasted for two or three months, you could easily miss that.

BROWN: Another crucial factor -- who participates in the study. Are the people enrolled in a clinical trial similar to those who will actually take the medication once it's approved and marketed? A study must also be large enough to uncover dangers. Say for every 5,000 people that take a drug, only one will develop the side effect.

AVORN: You're going to miss that if you're study only included 3,000 people and the side effect occurs only once in every 5,000.

BROWN: Once in every 5,000 may not seem like a lot. But when a drug is used by tens of millions of people, as Celebrex or Vioxx or Bextra have been, it's a much different picture, with potentially thousands of people at risk of being harmed.

Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Terror fear factor. With Christian -- Christmas, rather, approaching, do Americans think terrorists are more likely to attack? Well, Judy Woodruff has a new poll, some new numbers just ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."

And, after a break, is it eating -- or healthy eating or just brilliant marketing or both? Find out who is trying to sell you on a way to shed those extra holiday pounds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Festive music, isn't it?

You have heard of metrosexuals, right, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Not you. That's for sure.

O'BRIEN: Not me, no way.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: I'm a real man.

But what about those technosexuals?

PHILLIPS: That's you.

O'BRIEN: Well, if the geek fits.

PHILLIPS: Wear it.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: ... certainly is a technosexual, so you might want to listen up on this one. A man who lives by his Treo Phone is certainly in that category. So, anyway...

O'BRIEN: Your wife is just like my husband, so don't single out mine.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: What to purchase said geeks?

CNN's Maggie Lake fills us in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shopping for men used to easy, a nice tie, a good bottle of Scotch, an electric razor and you were sorted.

(on camera): Now, before you can cross those male names off your gift list, you need to know, is he a rugged outdoorsman, a metrosexual or does he fit into the newest category, a technosexual?

RICKY MONTALVO, TECHNOSEXUAL.ORG: Technosexual basically means that you are into the latest and greatest of technology that's out there. But you also have bookworm smarts. You dress really well and you kind of have this aesthetic appeal to all things.

LAKE (voice-over): Being a gadget geek is one thing, but a technosexual?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Technosexual?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, never.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if I could consider myself a technosexual though. That would be a tough word for me to use.

LAKE: OK, it may not be widely known yet, but trend watcher Ricky Montalvo, who came up with the term, says technosexuals have actually been around for a long time.

MONTALVO: I guess James Brown would probably have been the original technosexual, if we were to have the label for him back then. But absolutely, it's about all the little things that make your day to day life easier.

LAKE: Whether or not you want your men to be technosexuals, tech items are topping the list of the most sought after gifts. Seventy- six percent of U.S. shoppers will purchase at least one consumer electronics product as a gift this season. And retailers are responding. It is just part of a greater effort to reach out to men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think men will continue to have a greater interest in shopping, I think, because men have a greater interest in buying their own clothes. Men have a greater interest in taking a role in the way they spend their own income.

LAKE: For many, that interest will turn toward gadgets, and geek is now becoming chic.

Maggie Lake, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: We need to get some technosexuals to turn up the volume on Maggie Lake's narration.

PHILLIPS: I need a little technosexual sexual hearing aid there to get it going.

O'BRIEN: Hello. What did you say?

PHILLIPS: All right.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

O'BRIEN: All right, that wraps up this edition of LIVE FROM.

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