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Negotiations Underway in Flash Point Town of Fallujah

Aired April 29, 2004 - 10:00   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. From CNN headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan. We start by looking at the headlines.
The U.S. military in Iraq is knocking down earlier reports of a peace deal in Fallujah. A senior military official tells CNN that negotiations are underway to conduct some possible maneuvers in the area with friendly Iraqi forces. At this point though, there's no agreement to end the standoff with insurgents in the city.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney, a live picture from the White House, at this hour are behind closed-doors right now, telling the 9/11 Commission what they were thinking and doing prior to the terrorist attacks of September 2001. The meeting is in the Oval Office. Neither man is under oath, and no official recording or transcript of the session will be made.

Los Angeles police say they are aggressively investigating an unsubstantiated threat. According to the LAPD advisory, federal officials warn of a possible attack at a shopping mall in West Los Angeles near the federal building. Authorities stress that information is uncorroborated and they don't know how credible the source is.

Enrollment begins Monday for the new Medicare prescription cards. A head of that, Medicare today begins posting comparison drug prices on its web site. The White House is launching an advertising campaign to promote the new drug cards, which can be used starting in June.

Live this hour, a monument nearly 60 years in the making. The public is getting its first look at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. It's unofficial unveiling follows a long fought battle for funding and for a site. Our Sean Callebs will join us from the site in the next hour.

But first, we begin in Iraq. It has been a deadly day of attacks and ongoing negotiations in Iraq. Let's start with the casualties. At least 10 more U.S. soldiers have been killed in a string of attacks across Iraq. In the northern city of Mosul, at least eight police officers and one civilian died in attacks on security forces. Meanwhile, negotiations are underway in the flash point town of Fallujah. Coalition officials say that despite earlier reports, no deal has been struck with the insurgents there.

Let's get the latest in all these developments. For that, we turn to CNN's Ben Wedeman who is in Baghdad -- Ben. BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello Daryn. Well, it's been a fairly bloody day here in Iraq for the coalition. Eight U.S. soldiers killed by a car bomb south of Baghdad in the town of Mahmudyia, four others wounded. Another soldier killed in Baquba, which is to the northwest -- rather to the northeast of Baghdad. And another one killed in an ambush on a convoy in the Charlah (ph) neighborhood. In that case, some -- a crowd gathered in the area and they jumped on some of the damaged vehicles and they chanted, "Long live Sadr." Now, that is a reference to Muqtada Sadr, the head of that -- he's that rather troublesome Shiite cleric, who's militia, the so-called Mehdi army, has taken over Najaf.

Now, regarding the situation in Fallujah, we are told by a senior military spokesman here in Baghdad that there is no peace agreement at this point. And there's no agreement yet between the insurgents and the coalition. What is under discussion is an increased Iraqi security role in the area of Fallujah and the al Anbar Province, where Fallujah is located. But that increased Iraqi security role would be under the overall command of the Marines. Now, we are told that there may be an announcement within the next few minutes from Fallujah with details of whatever the situation is there. An update on the negotiations; but here in Baghdad, senior military spokesman being quite unequivocal in saying that there has been no peace agreement yet -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And Ben, what about the role of these Sunni sheikhs that were supposed to travel to Fallujah to help in these talks?

WEDEMAN: Not much word about them, Daryn, today. It would appear that the rather diminishing confidence of the coalition in these sheikhs has been -- has come to fruition. We had heard for quite sometime from coalition officers that although they appreciate the efforts that these tribal leaders and sheikhs are making, to try to work as intermediaries with the insurgents, they really didn't have a lot of confidence that they had the ability to work out an agreement. Now they're turning to former officers in the Iraqi army, former generals hoping that they might be able to use their clout and influence to work out an agreement. But hasn't come out yet -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ben Wedeman in Baghdad.

Today's bloodshed in Iraq further cements a tragic milestone for U.S. forces there. Not only has been -- this been the deadliest single month since the start of the war, more U.S. troops have died in April than during the entire six weeks of declared combat last year. That and the fear of vast civilian casualties increases the pressure for a diplomatic solution in Fallujah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I would the fight in Fallujah will no longer be a flight -- fight in Fallujah by the time we get close to transfer of sovereignty. The Marines are -- are cordoned -- have cordoned off the town. We are hoping that the tribal sheikhs, who have come to help with the situation, will be able to talk to the people inside the town and say, let's end this. Let's bring this to a conclusion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: We know Americans are split over many issues of the Iraq War, but what about the Iraqis themselves? An exclusive CNN/"USA Today" Gallup poll enlisted Iraqi interviewers to ask questions face- to-face of more than 3400 adults in Iraq.

Here is one of the questions. Are you and your family better off than you were before the U.S. and British invasion? Just over half said they were better off. One in four said worse off. And the same number, one in four, said no change. We'll take a closer look at the polling results at the bottom of the hour with our Bill Schneider.

Also this hour, President Bush and Vice President Cheney are behind closed doors facing questions from members of the 9/11 Commission. Among the questions they will face, what were they told about al Qaeda upon taking office? Dick Cheney formed Homeland Security Task Force on May 2001, why and what became of that. And what actions did they take after August 6, 2001 regarding the president's daily briefing on the Osama bin Laden threat to security?

Earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," we discussed the nature of the meeting with Mr. C. Boyden Gray. He served as White House counsel to the first President Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C. BOYDEN GRAY, FMR. WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: I think it's a location that will demand the most frankly of the commission members to rise to the level that that this situation demands. There is something about the Oval Office. Anybody who has ever stepped inside it, even I who would go there quite frequently, of course, I never lost the awe of that room. And I think this is going to be an important thing for the commission members to understand the pressures on the president. I think it will be very useful for them to be there in this historic occasion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: So just how rare is this morning's Oval Office meeting with the 9/11 Commission? Well, consider this. President Bush becomes only the fifth U.S. president to appear before a congressional committee or an independent investigator commission.

Our senior White House correspondent John King takes a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): The questions in the Oval Office were direct. Why a joint appearance with the vice president before the 9/11 Commission? and why no transcript for the victims' families and the history books? But the president steered clear of specifics. GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Will be an ample -- will be a good opportunity for these people to help write a report that, hopefully, will help future presidents deal with terrorist threats to the country.

KING: The joint appearance Thursday is extraordinary. It is exceptionally rare for a sitting president to take questions, even in private from a commission created by Congress. And the White House insistence that Mr. Bush and Vice President Cheney be questioned together is generating more than a fair share of criticism.

NORM ORNSTEIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: This is a damage control kind of operation that they're both there, so that they're pretty clear that the stories won't diverge much from each other.

KING: The president's top lawyer, who will also be in the room, says this is a fact-finding session, not a courtroom drama.

ALBERTO R. GONZALES, WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: I mean this is not a criminal investigation? This is not someone that, you know, before a grand jury.

KING: Both Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney spent several hours in recent days preparing. Key issues for the session include: how serious the president and vice president viewed the al Qaeda threat their first eight months in office; what specific actions they took after summertime 2001 intelligence warnings, domestic attacks, possibly even hijackings were possible; and how the government reacted on September 11?

Mr. Bush was in Florida that morning and Mr. Cheney directed much of the immediate response from a bunker beneath the White House.

The agreement with the 10-member commission allows note taking but no recording. So no word forward account of what the president and vice president say.

(on camera): The president and vice president will not be under oath. And while no set timetable, senior White House officials expect the session, which will be held in the Oval Office will run two, maybe two and a half hours.

John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: We're going to do a lot more on this story this morning. At the bottom of the hour, we'll go live to the White House. That's where the administration is holding an informal briefing right now. They call it "the gaggle." Our White House correspondent Dana Bash will bring us details on that.

The presiding judge in the Kobe Bryant case says the NBA star will enter his plea in about two weeks. That is 10 months since he was formally charged with the sexual assault of a coke -- of a hotel worker. Under state law, the trial will then have to begin within six months. Both sides say late August is the earliest they'll be ready to present their cases.

Just minutes from now, a former nurse is expected to walk into a New Jersey courtroom and admit to killing patients entrusted in his care.

Our Adaora Udoji has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Charles Cullen, an unassuming man and former nurse will plead guilty, say sources, to murdering 14 patients and attempting to kill two others. During police interviews, investigators say Cullen told them the number could be 40 victims. Cullen's expected plea, say sources close to the case, would be part of an agreement with New Jersey and Pennsylvania authorities. In exchange, he would not get the death penalty, but a life sentence without the possibility of parole. For that, say sources, he will agree to cooperate and identifying more victims investigators believe he's killed over the past 19 years. Cullen's lawyer declined an interview.

GENE SHIPMAN, SUSPECTED VICTIM'S SON: Rather than see him get the death penalty, my gut feeling, I'd rather see him sit in jail the rest of his life.

UDOJI: Gene Shipman, who says Cullen treated his 81 year old mother before her unexpected death last year, believes she will object that list.

SHIPMAN: The death penalty is too good for him. I'd rather see him suffer. He still a young man, he still has a long time to live.

UDOJI: Like the Shipmans, dozens of families across two states want answers. Authorities believe this plea agreement will help get them.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Breathing bad air? How much of the U.S. population is affected? That answer is straight ahead.

And later, are you downloading your music? The legal downloading of music reaches a milestone, but will it ever end the bootleg side of digital downloading?

Also, controversy in real time; we'll tell you which idol want to be the fans decided had to leave this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, here is not a huge surprise. Los Angeles is still the nation's smoggiest city. Even without the smog, L.A.'s air is the dirtiest in the country, but L.A. is not alone. The four worst metro areas, according to the American Lung Association annual report on air pollution, they're all in Southern California. The report says that about 25 percent of Americans now live in places where the air is unhealthy. The city with the cleanest air: Santa Fe, New Mexico. Not too many surprises about where the air is dirty.

Orelon I didn't realize till I having grown up in L.A. and leaving that everyone didn't have smog days at school.

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: Some people had snow days. L.A., we have smog days, you can't play outside.

ORLEON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We didn't have those but I did live in Houston for a while. I noticed Houston was No. 5 on the lift. And that does get rough in the summertime, especially with the ozone. Oh, my God!

KAGAN: That feeling when you breathe in, you can feel the insides of your lungs. It's not good.

SIDNEY: Yes. Just kind of wear an oxygen mask around all the time. Other than, it's a nice town.

KAGAN: You've seen potholes when you've been out driving, but there are potholes and then there are sink holes! This one just appeared out of nowhere! We'll tell you more as CNN LIVE TODAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's take a look at some stories across America. Let's begin in Salt Lake City, Utah. A sentencing hearing is about to get underway for Melissa Anne Rowland. You might remember, she was initially charged with murder in delaying a Cesarean section that doctors said could have saved a stillborn twin. In a deal with prosecutors, she will plead guilty to the lesser charge of child endangerment and face no more than five years in prison.

In Maryland, a drive took an unexpected turn, when the road collapsed and swallowed the car at the bottom of that hole! The mother and her grown daughter inside the car are fine. The road is not. The underlying erosion caused by a storm drain spread across both lanes in Owings Mills.

Also in Maryland, a Montgomery County lake will be drained as early as today, after a fisherman caught this dreaded creature in its waters. It a Northern Snakehead, that is a non-native fish. It breeds very quickly and it can wipe out the lake's population of smaller fish. About two years ago, more than a thousand snakeheads were found in a private pond in Maryland.

The war on drugs typically focuses on illegal trafficking. There is another less obvious drug problem in America.

Our David Mattingly has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Used to be the morning grind of getting up and getting her teen age boys off to school...

BARBARA O'TOOLE, FMR. PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSER: You want cereal, bagels or eggs.

MATTINGLY: ... was more than Barbara O'Toole could handle.

O'TOOLE: Oh, you know, it would just be a whole lot easier to just take something and just take the edge off.

MATTINGLY: She was taking a combination of up to 16 prescription painkillers and tranquilizers a day. Funeral for migraines, Xanax for anxiety.

JOE O'TOOLE, SON: She was always laying in bed and not doing anything.

MATTINGLY: With her husband on the road working, Barbara's kids saw the worst of it. There were volatile mood swings and loud episodes of anger.

(on camera): Everyone could see there was a problem except Barbara. It wasn't until she became concerned about a friend's drug problem that she actually began to suspect herself, leading to go a very public moment of truth.

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": And so is this the first time you realize that you're an addict?

MATTINGLY: In this tearful confession on the "Oprah Winfrey Show," everybody finally knew this mom from a quiet Chicago suburb had become a drug addict. And now, just four months out of rehab the mornings are still crazy.

B. O'TOOLE: Everything is just like, Grrr!

MATTINGLY: But instead of drugs, there are long horse rides and long walks with the family dog.

B. O'TOOLE: Get away from everything, it's pretty therapeutic.

MATTINGLY: Therapeutic, but not a cure for an addiction that began in her home; the very place where she continues to confront the same anxieties and the temptations to medicate her problems away.

David Mattingly, CNN, St. Charles, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: CNN is going to have much more about this important issue tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." You can tune in at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 p.m. Pacific. Fallujah, a hot bed of resistance to U.S. forces. Can a deal be reached to get Iraqi forces help patrolling the city? A live report from the Pentagon is coming up.

And will they or won't they. Investors wait for the founders of Google to make their decision? That story is straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Google, that is that little search engine that could and does; and it could go public. If it does, it could mean some huge dollars. Allan Chernoff of CNN Financial News is watching that for us. We are going to Google Allan Chernoff.

Good morning.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. In fact, I just did a Google search for the terms "Google" and "IPO," initial public offering, and came up with more than 400,000 hits. That's an indication of how much buzz there is for an idea of a stock offering from the company.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Investors are set to go gaga for Google. Anticipation is building for a possible initial offering of stock in the Internet search company.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I certainly would invest in. I think the Internet and I think search engines have no place to go but up.

CHERNOFF: The media already has glorified Google. Articles speculate the company's valuation could easily reach $25 billion. It would be the biggest IPO since the bursting of the dot com bubble. Billions of dollars in paper profits were wiped out as investors realized many Internet companies were a little more than hype; ideas with no chance of justifying their once soaring stock prices.

But Google is different from most dot coms. Those who surf the web use it and love it. Analysts say its huge user base translates into big profit potential. Google shares likely would soar and those who would benefit the most are investors in venture capital firms, who provide seed money in return for a stake. Reportedly including Tiger Woods, Shaquille O'Neal and Henry Kissinger. Brokerage firms will get as many shares from underwriters C.S. First Boston and Morgan Stanley, and dole them out to their best customer.

DAVID MENLOW, IPO FINANCIAL NETWORK: The little guy is going to probably to get shut out of a lot of opportunities to get Google stock. There is discussion and it's merely discussion that possibly auctions will take place to try and have a broader base of diversification for distribution of the shares.

CHERNOFF: As part of the effort to reform Wall Street, the NASDAQ has approved rules that forbid allocating IPO shares in return for special payments or promises of future business. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: While regulators are trying to prevent abuse, the playing field remains uneven for those who hope to get a piece of the action. The rules of capitalism remain unchanged. Those who have the money and are willing to invest in new ventures get the opportunity for big profits or big losses -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And so in this case, it looks like the rich will get richer. But are regulators doing even more to give a chance for the little guy to get in on action like this?

CHERNOFF: Well, they're really just trying to make sure that there are no unfair activities when it comes to initial public offerings. But the simple fact is you're not going to be able to change the way that the system operates. And that is the best customers of the brokerage firms are the ones who will get the biggest allocations of these initial public offerings. There is really not much that the regulators can do to change the basic game.

KAGAN: Where do they think the stock is going to open at?

CHERNOFF: It's really impossible to say. It's really a matter of how the deal is structured. But there have been estimates that the valuation for the company could be about 25 billion, maybe 2 billion of stock would be offered. But these are really numbers that are just being speculated out there because, so far, we haven't actually heard anything concrete from the company. It's possible that today or tomorrow, we could get a filing from the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

KAGAN: Not too shabby for a business started in a Stanford dorm room. They done OK, those two guys. Allan Chernoff, thank you so much.

The president and vice president answer to the 9/11 Commission today, but not without careful planning. A live report from the White House after the break.

And a look at how Iraqis feel about the battle for democracy in their nation.

This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Here are the top stories at this hour.

A senior U.S. military official tells CNN that negotiations are continuing in Fallujah, but no deal with insurgents there has been struck. U.S. and Iraqi forces have been discussing ways to pull back Iraqi forces and increase the Iraqi security presence in Fallujah.

The cost of war on Capitol Hill, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, who you see live there, have started their testimony before a subcommittee. Their budget request for the coming year will include security assistance programs worldwide, such as military action in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism.

The number of people killed on U.S. roadways has increased to its highest total since 1990. The overall climb to more than 43,000 people is being blamed in part on more fatal accidents involving motorcycles and sport utility vehicles.

And the end of the road for America's oldest carmaker. Oldsmobile today rolls off its final car, the Alero and will go straight from the Lansing, Michigan plant to a museum named after the company's founder. The 106-year-old carmaker is a division of General Motors, and has seen its sales steadily drop in recent years.

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 April 29, 2004 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. From CNN headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan. We start by looking at the headlines.
The U.S. military in Iraq is knocking down earlier reports of a peace deal in Fallujah. A senior military official tells CNN that negotiations are underway to conduct some possible maneuvers in the area with friendly Iraqi forces. At this point though, there's no agreement to end the standoff with insurgents in the city.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney, a live picture from the White House, at this hour are behind closed-doors right now, telling the 9/11 Commission what they were thinking and doing prior to the terrorist attacks of September 2001. The meeting is in the Oval Office. Neither man is under oath, and no official recording or transcript of the session will be made.

Los Angeles police say they are aggressively investigating an unsubstantiated threat. According to the LAPD advisory, federal officials warn of a possible attack at a shopping mall in West Los Angeles near the federal building. Authorities stress that information is uncorroborated and they don't know how credible the source is.

Enrollment begins Monday for the new Medicare prescription cards. A head of that, Medicare today begins posting comparison drug prices on its web site. The White House is launching an advertising campaign to promote the new drug cards, which can be used starting in June.

Live this hour, a monument nearly 60 years in the making. The public is getting its first look at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. It's unofficial unveiling follows a long fought battle for funding and for a site. Our Sean Callebs will join us from the site in the next hour.

But first, we begin in Iraq. It has been a deadly day of attacks and ongoing negotiations in Iraq. Let's start with the casualties. At least 10 more U.S. soldiers have been killed in a string of attacks across Iraq. In the northern city of Mosul, at least eight police officers and one civilian died in attacks on security forces. Meanwhile, negotiations are underway in the flash point town of Fallujah. Coalition officials say that despite earlier reports, no deal has been struck with the insurgents there.

Let's get the latest in all these developments. For that, we turn to CNN's Ben Wedeman who is in Baghdad -- Ben. BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello Daryn. Well, it's been a fairly bloody day here in Iraq for the coalition. Eight U.S. soldiers killed by a car bomb south of Baghdad in the town of Mahmudyia, four others wounded. Another soldier killed in Baquba, which is to the northwest -- rather to the northeast of Baghdad. And another one killed in an ambush on a convoy in the Charlah (ph) neighborhood. In that case, some -- a crowd gathered in the area and they jumped on some of the damaged vehicles and they chanted, "Long live Sadr." Now, that is a reference to Muqtada Sadr, the head of that -- he's that rather troublesome Shiite cleric, who's militia, the so-called Mehdi army, has taken over Najaf.

Now, regarding the situation in Fallujah, we are told by a senior military spokesman here in Baghdad that there is no peace agreement at this point. And there's no agreement yet between the insurgents and the coalition. What is under discussion is an increased Iraqi security role in the area of Fallujah and the al Anbar Province, where Fallujah is located. But that increased Iraqi security role would be under the overall command of the Marines. Now, we are told that there may be an announcement within the next few minutes from Fallujah with details of whatever the situation is there. An update on the negotiations; but here in Baghdad, senior military spokesman being quite unequivocal in saying that there has been no peace agreement yet -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And Ben, what about the role of these Sunni sheikhs that were supposed to travel to Fallujah to help in these talks?

WEDEMAN: Not much word about them, Daryn, today. It would appear that the rather diminishing confidence of the coalition in these sheikhs has been -- has come to fruition. We had heard for quite sometime from coalition officers that although they appreciate the efforts that these tribal leaders and sheikhs are making, to try to work as intermediaries with the insurgents, they really didn't have a lot of confidence that they had the ability to work out an agreement. Now they're turning to former officers in the Iraqi army, former generals hoping that they might be able to use their clout and influence to work out an agreement. But hasn't come out yet -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ben Wedeman in Baghdad.

Today's bloodshed in Iraq further cements a tragic milestone for U.S. forces there. Not only has been -- this been the deadliest single month since the start of the war, more U.S. troops have died in April than during the entire six weeks of declared combat last year. That and the fear of vast civilian casualties increases the pressure for a diplomatic solution in Fallujah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I would the fight in Fallujah will no longer be a flight -- fight in Fallujah by the time we get close to transfer of sovereignty. The Marines are -- are cordoned -- have cordoned off the town. We are hoping that the tribal sheikhs, who have come to help with the situation, will be able to talk to the people inside the town and say, let's end this. Let's bring this to a conclusion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: We know Americans are split over many issues of the Iraq War, but what about the Iraqis themselves? An exclusive CNN/"USA Today" Gallup poll enlisted Iraqi interviewers to ask questions face- to-face of more than 3400 adults in Iraq.

Here is one of the questions. Are you and your family better off than you were before the U.S. and British invasion? Just over half said they were better off. One in four said worse off. And the same number, one in four, said no change. We'll take a closer look at the polling results at the bottom of the hour with our Bill Schneider.

Also this hour, President Bush and Vice President Cheney are behind closed doors facing questions from members of the 9/11 Commission. Among the questions they will face, what were they told about al Qaeda upon taking office? Dick Cheney formed Homeland Security Task Force on May 2001, why and what became of that. And what actions did they take after August 6, 2001 regarding the president's daily briefing on the Osama bin Laden threat to security?

Earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," we discussed the nature of the meeting with Mr. C. Boyden Gray. He served as White House counsel to the first President Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C. BOYDEN GRAY, FMR. WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: I think it's a location that will demand the most frankly of the commission members to rise to the level that that this situation demands. There is something about the Oval Office. Anybody who has ever stepped inside it, even I who would go there quite frequently, of course, I never lost the awe of that room. And I think this is going to be an important thing for the commission members to understand the pressures on the president. I think it will be very useful for them to be there in this historic occasion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: So just how rare is this morning's Oval Office meeting with the 9/11 Commission? Well, consider this. President Bush becomes only the fifth U.S. president to appear before a congressional committee or an independent investigator commission.

Our senior White House correspondent John King takes a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): The questions in the Oval Office were direct. Why a joint appearance with the vice president before the 9/11 Commission? and why no transcript for the victims' families and the history books? But the president steered clear of specifics. GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Will be an ample -- will be a good opportunity for these people to help write a report that, hopefully, will help future presidents deal with terrorist threats to the country.

KING: The joint appearance Thursday is extraordinary. It is exceptionally rare for a sitting president to take questions, even in private from a commission created by Congress. And the White House insistence that Mr. Bush and Vice President Cheney be questioned together is generating more than a fair share of criticism.

NORM ORNSTEIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: This is a damage control kind of operation that they're both there, so that they're pretty clear that the stories won't diverge much from each other.

KING: The president's top lawyer, who will also be in the room, says this is a fact-finding session, not a courtroom drama.

ALBERTO R. GONZALES, WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: I mean this is not a criminal investigation? This is not someone that, you know, before a grand jury.

KING: Both Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney spent several hours in recent days preparing. Key issues for the session include: how serious the president and vice president viewed the al Qaeda threat their first eight months in office; what specific actions they took after summertime 2001 intelligence warnings, domestic attacks, possibly even hijackings were possible; and how the government reacted on September 11?

Mr. Bush was in Florida that morning and Mr. Cheney directed much of the immediate response from a bunker beneath the White House.

The agreement with the 10-member commission allows note taking but no recording. So no word forward account of what the president and vice president say.

(on camera): The president and vice president will not be under oath. And while no set timetable, senior White House officials expect the session, which will be held in the Oval Office will run two, maybe two and a half hours.

John King, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: We're going to do a lot more on this story this morning. At the bottom of the hour, we'll go live to the White House. That's where the administration is holding an informal briefing right now. They call it "the gaggle." Our White House correspondent Dana Bash will bring us details on that.

The presiding judge in the Kobe Bryant case says the NBA star will enter his plea in about two weeks. That is 10 months since he was formally charged with the sexual assault of a coke -- of a hotel worker. Under state law, the trial will then have to begin within six months. Both sides say late August is the earliest they'll be ready to present their cases.

Just minutes from now, a former nurse is expected to walk into a New Jersey courtroom and admit to killing patients entrusted in his care.

Our Adaora Udoji has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Charles Cullen, an unassuming man and former nurse will plead guilty, say sources, to murdering 14 patients and attempting to kill two others. During police interviews, investigators say Cullen told them the number could be 40 victims. Cullen's expected plea, say sources close to the case, would be part of an agreement with New Jersey and Pennsylvania authorities. In exchange, he would not get the death penalty, but a life sentence without the possibility of parole. For that, say sources, he will agree to cooperate and identifying more victims investigators believe he's killed over the past 19 years. Cullen's lawyer declined an interview.

GENE SHIPMAN, SUSPECTED VICTIM'S SON: Rather than see him get the death penalty, my gut feeling, I'd rather see him sit in jail the rest of his life.

UDOJI: Gene Shipman, who says Cullen treated his 81 year old mother before her unexpected death last year, believes she will object that list.

SHIPMAN: The death penalty is too good for him. I'd rather see him suffer. He still a young man, he still has a long time to live.

UDOJI: Like the Shipmans, dozens of families across two states want answers. Authorities believe this plea agreement will help get them.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Breathing bad air? How much of the U.S. population is affected? That answer is straight ahead.

And later, are you downloading your music? The legal downloading of music reaches a milestone, but will it ever end the bootleg side of digital downloading?

Also, controversy in real time; we'll tell you which idol want to be the fans decided had to leave this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, here is not a huge surprise. Los Angeles is still the nation's smoggiest city. Even without the smog, L.A.'s air is the dirtiest in the country, but L.A. is not alone. The four worst metro areas, according to the American Lung Association annual report on air pollution, they're all in Southern California. The report says that about 25 percent of Americans now live in places where the air is unhealthy. The city with the cleanest air: Santa Fe, New Mexico. Not too many surprises about where the air is dirty.

Orelon I didn't realize till I having grown up in L.A. and leaving that everyone didn't have smog days at school.

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: Some people had snow days. L.A., we have smog days, you can't play outside.

ORLEON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We didn't have those but I did live in Houston for a while. I noticed Houston was No. 5 on the lift. And that does get rough in the summertime, especially with the ozone. Oh, my God!

KAGAN: That feeling when you breathe in, you can feel the insides of your lungs. It's not good.

SIDNEY: Yes. Just kind of wear an oxygen mask around all the time. Other than, it's a nice town.

KAGAN: You've seen potholes when you've been out driving, but there are potholes and then there are sink holes! This one just appeared out of nowhere! We'll tell you more as CNN LIVE TODAY continues.

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KAGAN: Let's take a look at some stories across America. Let's begin in Salt Lake City, Utah. A sentencing hearing is about to get underway for Melissa Anne Rowland. You might remember, she was initially charged with murder in delaying a Cesarean section that doctors said could have saved a stillborn twin. In a deal with prosecutors, she will plead guilty to the lesser charge of child endangerment and face no more than five years in prison.

In Maryland, a drive took an unexpected turn, when the road collapsed and swallowed the car at the bottom of that hole! The mother and her grown daughter inside the car are fine. The road is not. The underlying erosion caused by a storm drain spread across both lanes in Owings Mills.

Also in Maryland, a Montgomery County lake will be drained as early as today, after a fisherman caught this dreaded creature in its waters. It a Northern Snakehead, that is a non-native fish. It breeds very quickly and it can wipe out the lake's population of smaller fish. About two years ago, more than a thousand snakeheads were found in a private pond in Maryland.

The war on drugs typically focuses on illegal trafficking. There is another less obvious drug problem in America.

Our David Mattingly has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Used to be the morning grind of getting up and getting her teen age boys off to school...

BARBARA O'TOOLE, FMR. PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSER: You want cereal, bagels or eggs.

MATTINGLY: ... was more than Barbara O'Toole could handle.

O'TOOLE: Oh, you know, it would just be a whole lot easier to just take something and just take the edge off.

MATTINGLY: She was taking a combination of up to 16 prescription painkillers and tranquilizers a day. Funeral for migraines, Xanax for anxiety.

JOE O'TOOLE, SON: She was always laying in bed and not doing anything.

MATTINGLY: With her husband on the road working, Barbara's kids saw the worst of it. There were volatile mood swings and loud episodes of anger.

(on camera): Everyone could see there was a problem except Barbara. It wasn't until she became concerned about a friend's drug problem that she actually began to suspect herself, leading to go a very public moment of truth.

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": And so is this the first time you realize that you're an addict?

MATTINGLY: In this tearful confession on the "Oprah Winfrey Show," everybody finally knew this mom from a quiet Chicago suburb had become a drug addict. And now, just four months out of rehab the mornings are still crazy.

B. O'TOOLE: Everything is just like, Grrr!

MATTINGLY: But instead of drugs, there are long horse rides and long walks with the family dog.

B. O'TOOLE: Get away from everything, it's pretty therapeutic.

MATTINGLY: Therapeutic, but not a cure for an addiction that began in her home; the very place where she continues to confront the same anxieties and the temptations to medicate her problems away.

David Mattingly, CNN, St. Charles, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: CNN is going to have much more about this important issue tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." You can tune in at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 p.m. Pacific. Fallujah, a hot bed of resistance to U.S. forces. Can a deal be reached to get Iraqi forces help patrolling the city? A live report from the Pentagon is coming up.

And will they or won't they. Investors wait for the founders of Google to make their decision? That story is straight ahead.

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KAGAN: Google, that is that little search engine that could and does; and it could go public. If it does, it could mean some huge dollars. Allan Chernoff of CNN Financial News is watching that for us. We are going to Google Allan Chernoff.

Good morning.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. In fact, I just did a Google search for the terms "Google" and "IPO," initial public offering, and came up with more than 400,000 hits. That's an indication of how much buzz there is for an idea of a stock offering from the company.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Investors are set to go gaga for Google. Anticipation is building for a possible initial offering of stock in the Internet search company.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I certainly would invest in. I think the Internet and I think search engines have no place to go but up.

CHERNOFF: The media already has glorified Google. Articles speculate the company's valuation could easily reach $25 billion. It would be the biggest IPO since the bursting of the dot com bubble. Billions of dollars in paper profits were wiped out as investors realized many Internet companies were a little more than hype; ideas with no chance of justifying their once soaring stock prices.

But Google is different from most dot coms. Those who surf the web use it and love it. Analysts say its huge user base translates into big profit potential. Google shares likely would soar and those who would benefit the most are investors in venture capital firms, who provide seed money in return for a stake. Reportedly including Tiger Woods, Shaquille O'Neal and Henry Kissinger. Brokerage firms will get as many shares from underwriters C.S. First Boston and Morgan Stanley, and dole them out to their best customer.

DAVID MENLOW, IPO FINANCIAL NETWORK: The little guy is going to probably to get shut out of a lot of opportunities to get Google stock. There is discussion and it's merely discussion that possibly auctions will take place to try and have a broader base of diversification for distribution of the shares.

CHERNOFF: As part of the effort to reform Wall Street, the NASDAQ has approved rules that forbid allocating IPO shares in return for special payments or promises of future business. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: While regulators are trying to prevent abuse, the playing field remains uneven for those who hope to get a piece of the action. The rules of capitalism remain unchanged. Those who have the money and are willing to invest in new ventures get the opportunity for big profits or big losses -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And so in this case, it looks like the rich will get richer. But are regulators doing even more to give a chance for the little guy to get in on action like this?

CHERNOFF: Well, they're really just trying to make sure that there are no unfair activities when it comes to initial public offerings. But the simple fact is you're not going to be able to change the way that the system operates. And that is the best customers of the brokerage firms are the ones who will get the biggest allocations of these initial public offerings. There is really not much that the regulators can do to change the basic game.

KAGAN: Where do they think the stock is going to open at?

CHERNOFF: It's really impossible to say. It's really a matter of how the deal is structured. But there have been estimates that the valuation for the company could be about 25 billion, maybe 2 billion of stock would be offered. But these are really numbers that are just being speculated out there because, so far, we haven't actually heard anything concrete from the company. It's possible that today or tomorrow, we could get a filing from the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

KAGAN: Not too shabby for a business started in a Stanford dorm room. They done OK, those two guys. Allan Chernoff, thank you so much.

The president and vice president answer to the 9/11 Commission today, but not without careful planning. A live report from the White House after the break.

And a look at how Iraqis feel about the battle for democracy in their nation.

This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Here are the top stories at this hour.

A senior U.S. military official tells CNN that negotiations are continuing in Fallujah, but no deal with insurgents there has been struck. U.S. and Iraqi forces have been discussing ways to pull back Iraqi forces and increase the Iraqi security presence in Fallujah.

The cost of war on Capitol Hill, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, who you see live there, have started their testimony before a subcommittee. Their budget request for the coming year will include security assistance programs worldwide, such as military action in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism.

The number of people killed on U.S. roadways has increased to its highest total since 1990. The overall climb to more than 43,000 people is being blamed in part on more fatal accidents involving motorcycles and sport utility vehicles.

And the end of the road for America's oldest carmaker. Oldsmobile today rolls off its final car, the Alero and will go straight from the Lansing, Michigan plant to a museum named after the company's founder. The 106-year-old carmaker is a division of General Motors, and has seen its sales steadily drop in recent years.

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