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Powell Resigns; Update on Battle for Falluja; In the Crossfire

Aired November 15, 2004 - 10:59   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: Let's take a look at what's -- let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
The White House says Colin Powell has handed in his resignation. Officials say Powell has told senior staff that he intends to stay on until his replacement is confirmed.

In addition to Powell, sources say the White House will also announce the resignations of -- there's the full slate -- Education Secretary Rod Paige, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. We'll have a live report from the White House with our Suzanne Malveaux in just a moment.

First, though, to Iraq, under cover of heavy airstrikes and artillery fire. U.S. troops combed the dangerous streets of Falluja for diehard insurgents. So far, 38 Americans have lost their lives in this battle, 275 have been wounded. We'll have the latest in a live report in just a few minutes.

Back here in the U.S., outgoing New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey's resignation takes effect at midnight tonight. McGreevey decided to step down after acknowledging he had an extramarital affair with a man. State Senate President Richard Codey will become the acting governor. He was sworn in during a private ceremony at his home on Sunday.

And a new survey suggests most carmakers do a poor job protecting passengers from whiplash industries. The new study found that more than half of the car seats tested didn't do a good job of preventing whiplash. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says General Motors cars were among the worst performers and Volvo and Saab were among the best.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And it is 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 8:00 a.m. in the West. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris.

KAGAN: And I'm Daryn Kagan. Tony's here for Rick Sanchez. Pleased to have the help, especially on a day like today.

HARRIS: This morning?

KAGAN: Got a lot of heavy lifting.

HARRIS: Good to be with you.

KAGAN: Yes. HARRIS: Shakeup in the cabinet. Four will take the door today. We know one is President Bush's top diplomat, who is taking his leave after four years on the world stage. Colin Powell's resignation is no big surprise, but it is a big deal that was long whispered around Washington.

CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is standing by this morning.

Good morning, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

Well, of course today is when it becomes official. But as you had mentioned before, for months Secretary Powell, as well as the president, were talking behind closed doors about the possibility of him leaving, of him not taking on a second term. This is something that Powell has said quietly to friends and colleagues for a while now, that it was just a couple of months ago that he started to talk to the president about it in earnest.

Now, we were told that it was about Friday is when he actually submitted his letter of resignation to the president. It was about 8:30 this morning when he met with senior staff to tell them about the news.

Now, we have learned, CNN has learned from sources that the likely replacement -- there has been a lot of speculation here -- but the likely replacement could be National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Her name has been really pushed out there for some time now.

She has wanted to also express some desire to go back to California, where she was at Stanford. But also there has been some talk that the president would like to shift and move her over to that spot.

Now, in addition to Secretary Powell, of course, the most significant resignation today, also we're going to be getting letters of resignation, copies of those from Secretary of Education Rod Paige. He was the first African-American to hold that post.

He was a former superintendent of the Houston school system. And he is most known for the No Child Left Behind legislation. That is something that he pushed forward with bipartisan support.

He has also, however, created somewhat of a stir, some controversy in his own term when he called the National Education Association a terrorist organization for pushing back on that law, on that legislation. He later apologized for that remark.

Also, as well today, we are going to see Secretary of Energy Spence Abraham. He is also resigning.

You may know, of course, what he was trying to do, very frustrating for the Bush administration, was to push forward energy legislation, some reforms. Just could not get that together in Congress.

He was a former senator from Michigan. And he was selected after he lost that 2000 senatorial bid.

And then, finally, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman. She was the first woman to head that department. She also had a similar post in California. She is going to be submitting her letter of resignation as well.

Now, we are told not to expect the president to make a comment or a presentation, but we do expect some sort of statement from the White House, specifically about Secretary Powell and his stepping down, as well as those copies of those resignations -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Suzanne, I have to ask you, it was a little curious, maybe not that the news is what it is, but maybe the timing from this standpoint. We had been hearing some -- some from comments from Secretary Powell over the weekend that he had talked to the new leadership in Israel -- I'm sorry, in the Palestinian territories, and perhaps was even planning to visit.

So is the timing of this a little surprising? And will he go forward with some of those meetings and those conversations?

MALVEAUX: Well, in the meetings that he's had with his senior staff he's really expressed a great deal of interest and enthusiasm to a certain extent of at least preparing for his goal to bring that about. That is a meeting, a trip that is still going to take place.

But, of course, just looking ahead, wrapping it up, he is going to be serving in his position until January, at least through January. And that is when a lot of the transition is going to be taking place. But they really wanted to move that forward.

That is something he holds dear to his heart. It is something that he expressed to a senior staff that he wanted to pursue. It is likely also as well that there are other interests that National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has that she may be taking the ball a step further.

HARRIS: So in the time between now and when he leaves, I mean, I suspect he will be trying to jump-start those six-party talks with North Korea. And we mentioned the Palestinian situation. There's some good news out of Iran as well today.

MALVEAUX: Well, yes, there is. And the key thing here for the Bush administration is really to put a very strong player as a replacement here, because, as you know, he really was a focal point of many much of the foreign policy, a moderate voice when it comes to this administration.

The president wants to put someone that he is very confident, very comfortable with. This is a president who needs to feel comfortable with those that he is surrounded.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice being one of those people. Another possible name in the hat here is the U.N. -- rather, for the U.N., that would be John Danforth, a former senator. He's a U.S. representative to the United Nations. One of the other people. But National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice really at the top of the list.

HARRIS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux from the White House for us this morning. Suzanne, thank you -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And let's head right over to where Colin Powell has his office, the State Department. Our Andrea Koppel standing by for more on that -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, certainly when Secretary Powell first set foot in this building almost four years ago, I remember reporting that the way that he was greeted, it was almost as if there were the -- you know, a rock star that had just set foot in the door. He was somebody whose aura really preceded him, and his reputation preceded him.

Remember, before Secretary Powell became the secretary of state, had he spent the majority of his career as a military man, rising up through the ranks to become a four-star general, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Very familiar with the inner workings of Washington, the inside the beltway crowd.

He had been the -- not just the deputy national security adviser, but the national security adviser. And Secretary Powell was known as somebody who made quite a bit of money, millions of dollars in the private sector after he had retired from the military and before he came over to state. Used to command between $50,000, $60,000 a speech.

He's an incredibly charismatic person. And so when he arrived here, he was really embraced by career diplomats and civil service alike.

He was somebody who was able over the last four years to make the trains run on time. Much has -- that has been the case throughout the Bush administration. When a meeting was supposed to start at 11:00, it started at 11:00. But Secretary Powell will be remembered as someone who really tried to fight the good fight on a number of foreign policy issues.

When he first -- again, when he first started in January of 2001, shortly thereafter, there was a lot of question as to what would happen with North Korea. And Secretary Powell at a press conference said something like, we're going to pick up where the Clinton administration left off. And boy, within 24 hours he was back out in front of the cameras saying, I got a little too forward on my skis.

That was really the first indication that President Bush was going to be taking a much tougher line on certain foreign policy issues than perhaps Secretary Powell would have liked. And we've seen that repeated over the last four years.

I think most prominently, on Iraq, Secretary Powell will probably point to his ability to convince the president to go back to the United Nations, to get that Security Council resolution and the run-up to the war as one of -- one of the achievements that he was able to make. But others, Daryn, are sure to point to the fact that the president went ahead with the war, with the coalition of the willing, and went outside the framework of the United Nations as further indication that Secretary Powell's voice had been minimized within the president's cabinet -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Andrea Koppel, our State Department correspondent. Andrea, thank you.

HARRIS: Now to Falluja, where U.S. soldiers and Marines are mopping up today after a week of heavy fighting. The toll has been costly, 38 Americans dead, while the bodies of 1,000 to 2,000 insurgents lay scattered about the ruined city.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is keeping an eye on the situation from the U.S. base outside of Falluja.

Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Tony.

Well, the operation, the mop-up operation continues. What it involves is Marines and soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division going house to house, looking for insurgents.

What happens is the insurgents can be holed up in some of those houses. They choose the time when they want to fire on the troops in on the ground. The troops return fire either to capture or to kill those insurgents.

What has been happening today, a slight change. An Iraqi brigade commander says in the northwest of Falluja, where the fighting has subsided, most -- he said that some Iraqi families were coming out of their houses onto the streets in small numbers, very wary of the coalition troops.

The Iraqi brigade members said the Iraqi families were looking for help, looking for food. And indeed, Marines have set up two aid posts at mosques where they've been providing security for a few Iraqi families, providing food and water and humanitarian assistance. One Marine commander said, however, if any Iraqi insurgents want to continue to fight it out with Marines, they can do that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. JOHN SATTLER, U.S. ARMY: We will not stop until we have gone back and cleared each and every building within the town to make sure that any diehard insurgents or intimidators or terrorists that are -- that want to dig in and fight to the death, that they have been accommodated and we have cleared all of the ammunition and the weapons, the explosives, bomb-making materials for both individual explosives and rigging cars for explosives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now, the Iraqi brigade commander also said that not only were people beginning to emerge from the houses, but that he had heard of some civilian deaths. He said those deaths could be characterized as people caught in the crossfire, people in houses very close to insurgents where, perhaps, the insurgents' houses, where they were hiding have been destroyed.

The people in the neighboring houses, civilians caught up in that. And he said he had heard -- the Iraqi brigade commander said he had heard of an incident where an Iraqi civilian going to a mosque to get humanitarian aid was shot by an insurgent -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Nic, this is a city of 250,000 to 300,000 people. Have you been given any indication as to when most of the people or any of those people will be allowed to come back to their homes?

ROBERTSON: Right now, there's no indication. It could be a matter of days, we're told. The city has been "liberated," according to troop commanders here.

What in reality that means on the ground at this time, that the city is controlled by the troops. But there is still a high level of danger, those insurgents who are still taking on the troops in the ground, getting involved in some quite fierce firefights. And the view of -- the multinational force view of the Iraqi troops here is that until it is safe for families to come back to their homes in Falluja, until those insurgents have been dealt with, that it's not the right environment for people to be flooding back into the city -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, that makes sense. Nic Robertson with the U.S. soldiers outside of a base in Falluja. Nic, we appreciate it. Thank you.

KAGAN: Want to talk about some of the wounded soldiers from the Falluja operation. A few of those Americans that were wounded there talked with reporters at their hospital in Germany this morning. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has more on that -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you again, Daryn.

Well, a picture now emerging about what is facing the soldiers wounded during the battle for Falluja over the last week. 275 American troops wounded.

There's -- there's some interesting video that we have of them first being treated on the battlefield. This is the aid stations right near the medical facilities in Camp Falluja, as these soldiers are loaded on to vehicles really within moments of being injured so they can get the medical treatment that they need on scene.

And as soon as -- the way it goes is, as soon as they are stabilized in the Falluja area, and as soon as they can be moved, they are then put on these medavac flights out of Baghdad, large cargo planes that are carrying most of the 275 wounded to the U.S. Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. Those cargo flights of the wounded now arriving in Germany over the last few days.

In the last week alone, Landstuhl now treating more than 400 additional wounded troops, patients from the fight in Iraq. Some of those soldiers and Marines are now talking in Landstuhl about what happened to them and what they saw during the battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE CPL. RYAN CHAPMAN, U.S. MARINES: I was searching building tops for snipers, other enemy, when we started receiving enemy fire. And the enemy that was shooting at me was a sniper.

The sniper round struck just above my right eyebrow. It's nothing too serious, I guess. It cracked my skull. But I think it looks worse than it really is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: And as these wounded soldiers are telling their stories, we should also be reminded, Pentagon officials tell us, that there are other troops returning home. Thirty-eight soldiers now killed in action. Their remains will begin arriving at Dover Air Force base in Delaware over the next several days -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And then, Barbara, what can you tell us about the story of the soldier who is being charged with premeditated murder in Iraq?

STARR: This is a case that has been going on for some time, Daryn. This is -- has also involved at least two other soldiers. It is being called a so-called mercy killing here in the Pentagon.

This apparently involves a case when an Iraqi man claimed to be an insurgent by the U.S. was shot at a checkpoint in Sadr City during some operations there in Baghdad many, many weeks ago. The man, by all accounts, was almost mortally wounded but didn't die on site.

He was dreadfully wounded. And apparently, the U.S. military soldiers on the scene took it upon themselves -- there's no way to say this other than bluntly -- to basically put this Iraqi man, very difficult to say, out of his misery.

He was about to die. He was apparently in a great deal of pain. Nonetheless, mercy killings, if you will, not allowed, of course, under the U.S. military justice system. So they are being called to account for their actions.

KAGAN: Barbara Starr with all that news from the Pentagon. Barbara, thank you.

HARRIS: OK. Coming up, a market check with Rhonda Schaffler.

KAGAN: Plus, caught in the crossfire. Karl Penhaul with the story of civilians stuck in the middle of the battle for Falluja. HARRIS: And a little later, a new take on the life of a comic genius. Geoffrey Rush is playing Peter Sellers in a new movie. We'll talk with him a little later in the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's go back to Iraq now, where most of Falluja's residents got out of town before the American assault got under way a week ago. But many of those who stayed found themselves predictably caught in the crossfire. Here's CNN's Karl Penhaul from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the lens of a TV camera, the fight for Falluja looks like a war movie: "Apocalypse Now," "Platoon," or "Full Metal Jacket." You hear the sound of the shooting, but you're spared the sound of the sobbing, of innocence trapped in the crossfire. The sobbing of women like Sahar Mohammed Abdullah. She says her mother was killed, her cousin and uncle wounded, and that she took bullets to her arm and leg.

SAHAR MOHAMMED ABDULLAH, WOUNDED CIVILIAN (through translator): We left the house around 2:30 p.m. with a car to go to my uncle's house near Abdel Aziz Mosque (ph). We thought it would be safer there, but when we reached the area, U.S. snipers started shooting. I was wounded, my mother stopped breathing. My mother died.

PENHAUL: Twenty-three-year-old Sahar says her family sheltered in their home at first, but tried to flee when fighting engulfed their neighborhood.

Prior to the assault, coalition forces dropped leaflets ordering Falluja civilians not to drive in an effort to defend against suicide car bombs. U.S. troops have occupied some of Falluja's mosques, but the U.S. military was not immediately able to confirm Sahar's account that U.S. troops opened fire from Abdel Aziz Mosque (ph). It is clear, though, the Americans were first on the scene to give the family first aid.

ABDULLAH (through translator): They lay us down on the ground. My uncle and my cousin were bleeding. Then the Americans carried us inside and put us in the mosque.

I told them, "I want my mother." But they refused. I told them, "Even if she died, just bring her body inside." But they did not tell me if she was dead or alive.

PENHAUL: U.S. troops shuffled them by Humvees and ambulances to this Baghdad hospital. The Iraqi Health Ministry has given so consolidated figures on the civilian toll from Falluja. Doctors here at Baghdad's Medical City say they've so far treated at least 25 wounded civilians.

Staff at a U.S. military hospital say they've treated more than 30 others. This Iraqi Red Crescent aid convoy has so far been unable to enter the city because it's still too dangerous. As soon as Sahar is fit enough, she says she'll head back to Falluja. She must search for her elderly grandparents to see if they survived and comb the battlefield for a mother's body that was left behind.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, here's a news flash. It's raining in Seattle, Washington.

HARRIS: Doesn't it the always rain? Virtually.

KAGAN: Actually, technically, I hear it rains more -- there's more rain in Atlanta, Georgia. But not as many sunny days.

HARRIS: I believe you. I believe you.

KAGAN: Anyhow, there's a picture of the Space Needle in Seattle. Our Jacqui Jeras here to clear that all up for us.

Hey, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It rains more often, but it's lighter precipitation. We get it less frequently.

KAGAN: More rainy days.

JERAS: Yes, exactly.

KAGAN: Got it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Thank you for that.

Things are heating up, though, in Washington, D.C..

HARRIS: Absolutely.

KAGAN: Not one, four different resignation resignations from the Bush administration.

HARRIS: And we will continue to follow that. We will give you an update. We haven't done that in a while.

The top story of the day, the resignation of the secretary of state. There he is on your screen, Colin Powell. We will update the story when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired November 15, 2004 - 10:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's -- let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
The White House says Colin Powell has handed in his resignation. Officials say Powell has told senior staff that he intends to stay on until his replacement is confirmed.

In addition to Powell, sources say the White House will also announce the resignations of -- there's the full slate -- Education Secretary Rod Paige, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. We'll have a live report from the White House with our Suzanne Malveaux in just a moment.

First, though, to Iraq, under cover of heavy airstrikes and artillery fire. U.S. troops combed the dangerous streets of Falluja for diehard insurgents. So far, 38 Americans have lost their lives in this battle, 275 have been wounded. We'll have the latest in a live report in just a few minutes.

Back here in the U.S., outgoing New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey's resignation takes effect at midnight tonight. McGreevey decided to step down after acknowledging he had an extramarital affair with a man. State Senate President Richard Codey will become the acting governor. He was sworn in during a private ceremony at his home on Sunday.

And a new survey suggests most carmakers do a poor job protecting passengers from whiplash industries. The new study found that more than half of the car seats tested didn't do a good job of preventing whiplash. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says General Motors cars were among the worst performers and Volvo and Saab were among the best.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And it is 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 8:00 a.m. in the West. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris.

KAGAN: And I'm Daryn Kagan. Tony's here for Rick Sanchez. Pleased to have the help, especially on a day like today.

HARRIS: This morning?

KAGAN: Got a lot of heavy lifting.

HARRIS: Good to be with you.

KAGAN: Yes. HARRIS: Shakeup in the cabinet. Four will take the door today. We know one is President Bush's top diplomat, who is taking his leave after four years on the world stage. Colin Powell's resignation is no big surprise, but it is a big deal that was long whispered around Washington.

CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is standing by this morning.

Good morning, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

Well, of course today is when it becomes official. But as you had mentioned before, for months Secretary Powell, as well as the president, were talking behind closed doors about the possibility of him leaving, of him not taking on a second term. This is something that Powell has said quietly to friends and colleagues for a while now, that it was just a couple of months ago that he started to talk to the president about it in earnest.

Now, we were told that it was about Friday is when he actually submitted his letter of resignation to the president. It was about 8:30 this morning when he met with senior staff to tell them about the news.

Now, we have learned, CNN has learned from sources that the likely replacement -- there has been a lot of speculation here -- but the likely replacement could be National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Her name has been really pushed out there for some time now.

She has wanted to also express some desire to go back to California, where she was at Stanford. But also there has been some talk that the president would like to shift and move her over to that spot.

Now, in addition to Secretary Powell, of course, the most significant resignation today, also we're going to be getting letters of resignation, copies of those from Secretary of Education Rod Paige. He was the first African-American to hold that post.

He was a former superintendent of the Houston school system. And he is most known for the No Child Left Behind legislation. That is something that he pushed forward with bipartisan support.

He has also, however, created somewhat of a stir, some controversy in his own term when he called the National Education Association a terrorist organization for pushing back on that law, on that legislation. He later apologized for that remark.

Also, as well today, we are going to see Secretary of Energy Spence Abraham. He is also resigning.

You may know, of course, what he was trying to do, very frustrating for the Bush administration, was to push forward energy legislation, some reforms. Just could not get that together in Congress.

He was a former senator from Michigan. And he was selected after he lost that 2000 senatorial bid.

And then, finally, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman. She was the first woman to head that department. She also had a similar post in California. She is going to be submitting her letter of resignation as well.

Now, we are told not to expect the president to make a comment or a presentation, but we do expect some sort of statement from the White House, specifically about Secretary Powell and his stepping down, as well as those copies of those resignations -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Suzanne, I have to ask you, it was a little curious, maybe not that the news is what it is, but maybe the timing from this standpoint. We had been hearing some -- some from comments from Secretary Powell over the weekend that he had talked to the new leadership in Israel -- I'm sorry, in the Palestinian territories, and perhaps was even planning to visit.

So is the timing of this a little surprising? And will he go forward with some of those meetings and those conversations?

MALVEAUX: Well, in the meetings that he's had with his senior staff he's really expressed a great deal of interest and enthusiasm to a certain extent of at least preparing for his goal to bring that about. That is a meeting, a trip that is still going to take place.

But, of course, just looking ahead, wrapping it up, he is going to be serving in his position until January, at least through January. And that is when a lot of the transition is going to be taking place. But they really wanted to move that forward.

That is something he holds dear to his heart. It is something that he expressed to a senior staff that he wanted to pursue. It is likely also as well that there are other interests that National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has that she may be taking the ball a step further.

HARRIS: So in the time between now and when he leaves, I mean, I suspect he will be trying to jump-start those six-party talks with North Korea. And we mentioned the Palestinian situation. There's some good news out of Iran as well today.

MALVEAUX: Well, yes, there is. And the key thing here for the Bush administration is really to put a very strong player as a replacement here, because, as you know, he really was a focal point of many much of the foreign policy, a moderate voice when it comes to this administration.

The president wants to put someone that he is very confident, very comfortable with. This is a president who needs to feel comfortable with those that he is surrounded.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice being one of those people. Another possible name in the hat here is the U.N. -- rather, for the U.N., that would be John Danforth, a former senator. He's a U.S. representative to the United Nations. One of the other people. But National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice really at the top of the list.

HARRIS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux from the White House for us this morning. Suzanne, thank you -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And let's head right over to where Colin Powell has his office, the State Department. Our Andrea Koppel standing by for more on that -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, certainly when Secretary Powell first set foot in this building almost four years ago, I remember reporting that the way that he was greeted, it was almost as if there were the -- you know, a rock star that had just set foot in the door. He was somebody whose aura really preceded him, and his reputation preceded him.

Remember, before Secretary Powell became the secretary of state, had he spent the majority of his career as a military man, rising up through the ranks to become a four-star general, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Very familiar with the inner workings of Washington, the inside the beltway crowd.

He had been the -- not just the deputy national security adviser, but the national security adviser. And Secretary Powell was known as somebody who made quite a bit of money, millions of dollars in the private sector after he had retired from the military and before he came over to state. Used to command between $50,000, $60,000 a speech.

He's an incredibly charismatic person. And so when he arrived here, he was really embraced by career diplomats and civil service alike.

He was somebody who was able over the last four years to make the trains run on time. Much has -- that has been the case throughout the Bush administration. When a meeting was supposed to start at 11:00, it started at 11:00. But Secretary Powell will be remembered as someone who really tried to fight the good fight on a number of foreign policy issues.

When he first -- again, when he first started in January of 2001, shortly thereafter, there was a lot of question as to what would happen with North Korea. And Secretary Powell at a press conference said something like, we're going to pick up where the Clinton administration left off. And boy, within 24 hours he was back out in front of the cameras saying, I got a little too forward on my skis.

That was really the first indication that President Bush was going to be taking a much tougher line on certain foreign policy issues than perhaps Secretary Powell would have liked. And we've seen that repeated over the last four years.

I think most prominently, on Iraq, Secretary Powell will probably point to his ability to convince the president to go back to the United Nations, to get that Security Council resolution and the run-up to the war as one of -- one of the achievements that he was able to make. But others, Daryn, are sure to point to the fact that the president went ahead with the war, with the coalition of the willing, and went outside the framework of the United Nations as further indication that Secretary Powell's voice had been minimized within the president's cabinet -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Andrea Koppel, our State Department correspondent. Andrea, thank you.

HARRIS: Now to Falluja, where U.S. soldiers and Marines are mopping up today after a week of heavy fighting. The toll has been costly, 38 Americans dead, while the bodies of 1,000 to 2,000 insurgents lay scattered about the ruined city.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is keeping an eye on the situation from the U.S. base outside of Falluja.

Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Tony.

Well, the operation, the mop-up operation continues. What it involves is Marines and soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division going house to house, looking for insurgents.

What happens is the insurgents can be holed up in some of those houses. They choose the time when they want to fire on the troops in on the ground. The troops return fire either to capture or to kill those insurgents.

What has been happening today, a slight change. An Iraqi brigade commander says in the northwest of Falluja, where the fighting has subsided, most -- he said that some Iraqi families were coming out of their houses onto the streets in small numbers, very wary of the coalition troops.

The Iraqi brigade members said the Iraqi families were looking for help, looking for food. And indeed, Marines have set up two aid posts at mosques where they've been providing security for a few Iraqi families, providing food and water and humanitarian assistance. One Marine commander said, however, if any Iraqi insurgents want to continue to fight it out with Marines, they can do that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. JOHN SATTLER, U.S. ARMY: We will not stop until we have gone back and cleared each and every building within the town to make sure that any diehard insurgents or intimidators or terrorists that are -- that want to dig in and fight to the death, that they have been accommodated and we have cleared all of the ammunition and the weapons, the explosives, bomb-making materials for both individual explosives and rigging cars for explosives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now, the Iraqi brigade commander also said that not only were people beginning to emerge from the houses, but that he had heard of some civilian deaths. He said those deaths could be characterized as people caught in the crossfire, people in houses very close to insurgents where, perhaps, the insurgents' houses, where they were hiding have been destroyed.

The people in the neighboring houses, civilians caught up in that. And he said he had heard -- the Iraqi brigade commander said he had heard of an incident where an Iraqi civilian going to a mosque to get humanitarian aid was shot by an insurgent -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Nic, this is a city of 250,000 to 300,000 people. Have you been given any indication as to when most of the people or any of those people will be allowed to come back to their homes?

ROBERTSON: Right now, there's no indication. It could be a matter of days, we're told. The city has been "liberated," according to troop commanders here.

What in reality that means on the ground at this time, that the city is controlled by the troops. But there is still a high level of danger, those insurgents who are still taking on the troops in the ground, getting involved in some quite fierce firefights. And the view of -- the multinational force view of the Iraqi troops here is that until it is safe for families to come back to their homes in Falluja, until those insurgents have been dealt with, that it's not the right environment for people to be flooding back into the city -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, that makes sense. Nic Robertson with the U.S. soldiers outside of a base in Falluja. Nic, we appreciate it. Thank you.

KAGAN: Want to talk about some of the wounded soldiers from the Falluja operation. A few of those Americans that were wounded there talked with reporters at their hospital in Germany this morning. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has more on that -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you again, Daryn.

Well, a picture now emerging about what is facing the soldiers wounded during the battle for Falluja over the last week. 275 American troops wounded.

There's -- there's some interesting video that we have of them first being treated on the battlefield. This is the aid stations right near the medical facilities in Camp Falluja, as these soldiers are loaded on to vehicles really within moments of being injured so they can get the medical treatment that they need on scene.

And as soon as -- the way it goes is, as soon as they are stabilized in the Falluja area, and as soon as they can be moved, they are then put on these medavac flights out of Baghdad, large cargo planes that are carrying most of the 275 wounded to the U.S. Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. Those cargo flights of the wounded now arriving in Germany over the last few days.

In the last week alone, Landstuhl now treating more than 400 additional wounded troops, patients from the fight in Iraq. Some of those soldiers and Marines are now talking in Landstuhl about what happened to them and what they saw during the battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE CPL. RYAN CHAPMAN, U.S. MARINES: I was searching building tops for snipers, other enemy, when we started receiving enemy fire. And the enemy that was shooting at me was a sniper.

The sniper round struck just above my right eyebrow. It's nothing too serious, I guess. It cracked my skull. But I think it looks worse than it really is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: And as these wounded soldiers are telling their stories, we should also be reminded, Pentagon officials tell us, that there are other troops returning home. Thirty-eight soldiers now killed in action. Their remains will begin arriving at Dover Air Force base in Delaware over the next several days -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And then, Barbara, what can you tell us about the story of the soldier who is being charged with premeditated murder in Iraq?

STARR: This is a case that has been going on for some time, Daryn. This is -- has also involved at least two other soldiers. It is being called a so-called mercy killing here in the Pentagon.

This apparently involves a case when an Iraqi man claimed to be an insurgent by the U.S. was shot at a checkpoint in Sadr City during some operations there in Baghdad many, many weeks ago. The man, by all accounts, was almost mortally wounded but didn't die on site.

He was dreadfully wounded. And apparently, the U.S. military soldiers on the scene took it upon themselves -- there's no way to say this other than bluntly -- to basically put this Iraqi man, very difficult to say, out of his misery.

He was about to die. He was apparently in a great deal of pain. Nonetheless, mercy killings, if you will, not allowed, of course, under the U.S. military justice system. So they are being called to account for their actions.

KAGAN: Barbara Starr with all that news from the Pentagon. Barbara, thank you.

HARRIS: OK. Coming up, a market check with Rhonda Schaffler.

KAGAN: Plus, caught in the crossfire. Karl Penhaul with the story of civilians stuck in the middle of the battle for Falluja. HARRIS: And a little later, a new take on the life of a comic genius. Geoffrey Rush is playing Peter Sellers in a new movie. We'll talk with him a little later in the hour.

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KAGAN: Let's go back to Iraq now, where most of Falluja's residents got out of town before the American assault got under way a week ago. But many of those who stayed found themselves predictably caught in the crossfire. Here's CNN's Karl Penhaul from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the lens of a TV camera, the fight for Falluja looks like a war movie: "Apocalypse Now," "Platoon," or "Full Metal Jacket." You hear the sound of the shooting, but you're spared the sound of the sobbing, of innocence trapped in the crossfire. The sobbing of women like Sahar Mohammed Abdullah. She says her mother was killed, her cousin and uncle wounded, and that she took bullets to her arm and leg.

SAHAR MOHAMMED ABDULLAH, WOUNDED CIVILIAN (through translator): We left the house around 2:30 p.m. with a car to go to my uncle's house near Abdel Aziz Mosque (ph). We thought it would be safer there, but when we reached the area, U.S. snipers started shooting. I was wounded, my mother stopped breathing. My mother died.

PENHAUL: Twenty-three-year-old Sahar says her family sheltered in their home at first, but tried to flee when fighting engulfed their neighborhood.

Prior to the assault, coalition forces dropped leaflets ordering Falluja civilians not to drive in an effort to defend against suicide car bombs. U.S. troops have occupied some of Falluja's mosques, but the U.S. military was not immediately able to confirm Sahar's account that U.S. troops opened fire from Abdel Aziz Mosque (ph). It is clear, though, the Americans were first on the scene to give the family first aid.

ABDULLAH (through translator): They lay us down on the ground. My uncle and my cousin were bleeding. Then the Americans carried us inside and put us in the mosque.

I told them, "I want my mother." But they refused. I told them, "Even if she died, just bring her body inside." But they did not tell me if she was dead or alive.

PENHAUL: U.S. troops shuffled them by Humvees and ambulances to this Baghdad hospital. The Iraqi Health Ministry has given so consolidated figures on the civilian toll from Falluja. Doctors here at Baghdad's Medical City say they've so far treated at least 25 wounded civilians.

Staff at a U.S. military hospital say they've treated more than 30 others. This Iraqi Red Crescent aid convoy has so far been unable to enter the city because it's still too dangerous. As soon as Sahar is fit enough, she says she'll head back to Falluja. She must search for her elderly grandparents to see if they survived and comb the battlefield for a mother's body that was left behind.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, here's a news flash. It's raining in Seattle, Washington.

HARRIS: Doesn't it the always rain? Virtually.

KAGAN: Actually, technically, I hear it rains more -- there's more rain in Atlanta, Georgia. But not as many sunny days.

HARRIS: I believe you. I believe you.

KAGAN: Anyhow, there's a picture of the Space Needle in Seattle. Our Jacqui Jeras here to clear that all up for us.

Hey, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It rains more often, but it's lighter precipitation. We get it less frequently.

KAGAN: More rainy days.

JERAS: Yes, exactly.

KAGAN: Got it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Thank you for that.

Things are heating up, though, in Washington, D.C..

HARRIS: Absolutely.

KAGAN: Not one, four different resignation resignations from the Bush administration.

HARRIS: And we will continue to follow that. We will give you an update. We haven't done that in a while.

The top story of the day, the resignation of the secretary of state. There he is on your screen, Colin Powell. We will update the story when we come right back.

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