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The Situation Room

Karl Rove Goes Back To Grand Jury In CIA Leak Case; President Bush Names Tony Snow Of FOX News New Press Secretary; Iraq Troop Cuts; Condoleezza Rice Interview; 9/11 Memorial Construction Held Up By Controversy

Aired April 26, 2006 - 17:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: To our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time.
Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you today's top stories.

Happening now, it's 5:00 p.m. here in Washington, where the White House puts on a new face. The news anchor Tony Snow hired to host the daily briefing. But presidential adviser Karl Rove goes back to the grand jury in the CIA leak case. Will that mar the White House makeover?

It's 1:00 a.m. in Iraq. Secretaries Rumsfeld and Rice go back to Baghdad and see a new leader. Will a new government be the ticket home for thousands of American troops?

And in Tehran, gas costs just 40 cents a gallon. Let me repeat that, 40 cents a gallon. But if Iran is swimming in oil, why does it now face rationing? We're going to take you inside Iran for a rare look.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

News anchor and conservative commentator Tony Snow is on his way into the White House as press secretary, but is there a chance that the president's long-time adviser, Karl Rove, could be on his way out? He's just finished another appearance before a federal grand jury in the CIA leak case.

Our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, is standing by.

Let's go to our chief national correspondent, John King, with the Karl Rove story -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, high stakes in any case when you go before a federal grand jury investigating your conduct. This, for Karl Rove, his fifth time before the federal grand jury. Now, sources sympathetic to Rove say that he did this because he hopes to clear up a few lingering questions, how they put it, in this now two-and-a-half-year-old investigation by the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald.

Mr. Rove entered the federal courthouse in the lunch hour, 12:30- ish this afternoon. It was a little after 1:00 when he went before the grand jury.

He was there for some three hours. Karl Rove coming out with his attorney, Robert Luskin. They refused any comment. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and his team coming out, refusing any comment.

We do, though, have a statement from Rove attorney Robert Luskin. He says this: "Karl Rove appeared today before the grand jury investigating the disclosure of a CIA agent's identity. He testified voluntarily and unconditionally at the request of special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to explore a matter raised since Mr. Rove's last appearance in October 2005."

"In connection with his appearance, the special counsel has advised Mr. Rove that he is not a target of the investigation. Mr. Fitzgerald has affirmed that he has made no decision concerning charges. At the request of the special counsel, Mr. Rove will not discuss the substance of his testimony."

Now, what does that new information, Wolf? We are told it is at least in part the testimony to prosecutors, the information given to prosecutors by a "TIME" magazine reporter who says she unwittingly tipped off Karl Rove's attorney that when he first went to the grand jury and said he only recalled talking to one reporter, columnist Bob Novak, about the CIA leak investigation, that he in fact had spoken to a second reporter, Matt Cooper of "TIME" magazine.

And what the Rove camp is telling us quietly, privately, is that Rove is hoping the prosecutor has connected all those dots and will now believe that Karl Rove, leaving that out of his initial testimony, the fact that he had spoken to Matt Cooper, was inadvertent, just an oversight, and that it was Karl Rove who brought it to the prosecutor's attention once he knew that.

Again, sources in the Rove camp saying they hope that this fifth testimony clears it all up. But, as Mr. Luskin says in his statement, Mr. Fitzgerald has made no decision about charges, Wolf. And most attorneys in town familiar with such politically-charged cases say it's a risk Karl Rove has to take, going back in there for a fifth time. But there are no guarantees.

BLITZER: John, thank you.

Karl Rove, as John says, was in the hot seat. Is he in hot water?

Let's bring in our senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin.

What do you make of this fifth appearance before a grand jury by Karl Rove?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Wolf, you know, this is an example of how in Washington, the more important you are, the fewer rights you have, in a funny way, because any ordinary person who is under investigation in a white collar case would very simply take the fifth, would never even darken the door of the grand jury, never expose himself to the risk of testifying once, much less five times. But Karl Rove is deputy chief of staff. He can't take the fifth and stay in his job. So, he's got to go back and back each time Fitzgerald wants him there, and each time he's taking a greater risk.

BLITZER: And the risk is, he goes into that grand jury, he does not have an attorney present. His attorney is not present. The prosecutor is there, or the members of the grand jury can ask him questions, and, presumably, he could slip up and say something differently than what he testified earlier, or what he told the FBI.

TOOBIN: Right. The more times you testify, the more chances you have to contradict yourself, especially if you are talking about the same subject matter as, presumably, he is.

After all, this is not the world's most sprawling investigation. It's about a relatively limited set of facts.

So, every time he goes in there, he runs the risk of contradicting himself in appearance two, or appearance four, or appearance one, and that's a problem. But as a high-ranking government official, he simply doesn't have the option of refusing to go in. He's got to take that chance. And so far, it's important to emphasize, he's not been indicted and he may not be indicted for anything.

BLITZER: Robert Luskin, Karl Rove's attorney, issued a statement saying that the special counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, has advised Mr. Rove that he is not a target of the investigation. You're smiling.

TOOBIN: Well, there are three categories of descriptions of witnesses. There's a witness. And a witness is simply someone who knows something that is of interest to prosecutors. They are not -- they are not a suspect of any kind.

Then, there's a target. If you get what's called a "target letter," you are virtually certain to be indicted.

The category that Rove is in is, he's a subject of the investigation. That means his -- his behavior is under investigation. That means, you may get indicted, you may not. But defense attorneys always say, he's not a target, as if that means they're totally in the clear.

That's not what it means. It means he's under investigation and it could go either way.

BLITZER: The bottom line in all of this, if he were cleared, he would not necessarily be called to testify once again before the grand jury. If Patrick Fitzgerald were simply going to say, you know, "I continued the investigation after the indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and now I resolved it, and Karl Rove is free and clear," to do that, he would not need to call him again before a grand jury, would he?

TOOBIN: Absolutely not. And, in fact, that's the way most investigations end. They simply just fade away. Prosecutors don't announce the findings of their investigations when they don't return an indictment. Indeed, under the rules of grand jury secrecy, they can't disclose what's said in the grand jury, unless it comes out in a public court proceeding.

There is no public court proceeding if there are no charges. So, the ending here, the best ending from Karl Rove's perspective is, Fitzgerald announced he's completed his investigation, end of story, and none of us really know what happened in the grand jury.

BLITZER: Jeff Toobin, thanks for that analysis.

Karl Rove's latest grand jury appearance overshadows the effort to put a new face on a troubled White House. President Bush today named Tony Snow, a FOX News anchor and commentator, as his new press secretary.

Let's get the specific details from our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I had a chance to talk to Tony Snow today. Of course, he is wasting no time in trying to reach out journalist to repair and even improve the relations between the White House and, of course, the press corps here.

There are things we know about Tony Snow already, the fact that he was a former speechwriter to President Bush's father, a FOX News commentator, and so forth. But he offered some personal insights in kind of an informal gaggle.

He talked about the fact that, of course, he met with President Bush, it was last Thursday, when they talked about the job. But it really wasn't until yesterday after getting his final results from a CAT scan that he was cancer free that he told the White House that he would accept this job.

We were also told as well the extra curriculars. He plays the flute, guitar in a band. And, of course, Tony Snow has also been very critical of this president from time to time in his commentary. At times, of course, characterizing the president even as "guilty," "impotent," or "an embarrassment."

Well, Tony Snow saying today, look, he's not here to drink the Kool-Aid, he is here to give the best counsel to the president, and that means sometimes disagreeing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For those of you who have read his columns and listened to his radio show, he sometimes has disagreed with me. I asked him about those comments. And he said, "You should have heard what I said about the other guy."

I like his perspective. I like the perspective he brings to this job. And I think you're going to like it, too. (END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, INCOMING WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: One of the reasons I took the job is not only because I believe in the president, because, believe it or not, I want to work with you. These are times that are going to be very challenging. We have got a lot of big issues ahead and we've got a lot of important things that all of us are going to be covering together, and I am very excited and I can't wait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Snow was brought in, of course, as part of an overall makeover for the White House, if you will, an image maker. And, of course, this comes at a difficult time for this presidency.

As we know, very low poll numbers. Gas prices high. He, of course, is going to be charged with selling the Iraq war, as well as putting out good economic numbers.

Also, Wolf, very important is that he is really meant to signal to the conservative base, those Republicans who have been having some doubts about this administration, that it can get their message across in a very clear, strong and steady way, and that this is the core group of people they want to turn out for those midterm elections to keep the majority in the House and the Senate -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks.

Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.

Let's check back with Jack in New York for "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, everybody agrees there should be a memorial to the passengers of Flight 93. Those were some of the first Americans to die in the war on terror. But there's a problem.

Originally, the federal government agreed to split the cost with the state of Pennsylvania. That's where the plane went down -- $12.5 million each for construction, maintenance, et cetera. Now, though, things have gotten out of hand.

The committee in charge of designing the memorial wants to buy 2,000 acres -- that's three times the size of Arlington National Cemetery -- and build structures on the ground that could bring the total cost between $75 million and $100 million.

Congressman Charles Taylor, who's the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the Interior Department, is saying no. Taylor says, while he has deep gratitude for the heroes aboard Flight 93, he's concerned about the project's size and cost.

So, here's the question: Should there be a limit on the amount of money spent for a memorial to Flight 93?

Send your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jack, thanks for that.

Up ahead, drivers across the country are finding creative ways to save, amid some soaring gas prices. Our Internet reporters are investigating the situation online. We're going to show you what they're finding.

Also, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes a surprise trip to Iraq. We'll ask her about the situation there and the growing nuclear tension in Iran. She spoke with our Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad.

Plus, does "The Da Vinci Code" ruling contain a code of its own? Details of a supposedly secret message that may be inside the judgement in that high-profile case.

Stick around. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: They arrived on different planes with the same task. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made unannounced visits to Iraq today to show support for the new prime minister-designate, Nuri al-Maliki.

Rumsfeld says Iraq is making impressive progress, and says a national unity government would represent an enormous success for the region. Rice says the new Iraqi leader understands the importance of forming a coalition government. She also uses the word "impressive" to describe al-Maliki's commitment to national unity.

By the way, he formally changed his first name from Jawad to Nuri. Nuri is his birth name. He had changed it to Jawad during the Saddam Hussein regime. To underscore Saddam Hussein is gone, he's now back to Nuri al-Maliki.

The secretary of defense did not provide a blueprint for U.S. troop reductions in Iraq, but plans apparently are under way. Plans are under way.

Military planners have been speaking privately to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre. He's joining us with the inside story -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Pentagon officials tell CNN that the U.S. military is planning for possible reductions in U.S. troop levels in Iraq by about 30,000, or even more, by the end of this year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): According to officials familiar with the plans drawn up by the top U.S. general in Iraq, George Casey, the current 15 brigades of roughly 130,000 troops could be cut to 10 brigades, or about 100,000 troops. The cuts would be accomplished by simply not replacing some U.S. troops who are scheduled to rotate home over the next eight months.

But General Casey is not ready to recommend that plan until Iraq's fledgling military improves and the new prime minister gets his government up and running.

GEN. GEORGE CASEY, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCES, IRA: We are seeing the situation a little clearer, I'd say. And the clearer I see it, the better I can make my recommendations.

MCINTYRE: Sources say there's an even more optimistic option that would further reduce U.S. troops by another 25,000, leaving a force of 75,000 Americans in Iraq by the start of 2007. But that's based on a rosy and unlikely best-case scenario. The Pentagon insists any draw-down will be up to military commanders and not influenced by political factors such as the upcoming midterm elections in Congress.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The question of our force levels here will depend on conditions on the ground and discussions with the Iraqi government, which will evolve over time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: Wolf, there's a good reason that Pentagon officials won't discuss the plans for possible troop withdrawals publicly. That's because, if things don't improve in Iraq, there's a good chance those plans will have to be put on hold.

BLITZER: Jamie, thank you for that.

The Army chief of staff complains that Americans spend as much on "plastic Santa Clauses" and other holiday items as they do on the nation's military. General Peter Schumacher (ph) says the defense budget requested by the Bush administration this year is about $440 billion, he tells reporters that's almost the same as what Americans spent on "all this stuff for Christmas last year." The general says he got the figures on Christmas spending from a newspaper clipping.

Coming up, much more on Condoleezza Rice in Iraq. She talks to CNN during her surprise visit to one of the most dangerous spots on earth.

Plus, 40 cents a gallon for gas. That's whey what they're paying in Iran. But low prices bring their own set of problems. CNN's Aneesh Raman, one of the few Western reporters inside Iran right now, his report, that's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We'll check back with Zain on some other news making headlines right now -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, new tough talk from Tehran, this time from the country's top religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He's quoted in state media as saying, "Iran would respond twofold to any attack by the United States." The two countries are at increasing odds over Iran's nuclear program. The United Nations has given Iran until Friday to stop enriching uranium.

Twenty-one gay rights activists were detained and cited in a protest at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Group members calling themselves The Soul Force Equality Riders have been demonstrating at conservative Christian and military schools they say discriminate against gays and lesbians. The protesters now face federal misdemeanor charges.

A botched bank robbery and standoff in southern California ended peacefully less than an hour ago. It all started when the alleged thief forced an employee to let him inside before the bank opened. When he ordered the woman to go outside and check for police, she did and locked him inside. Shots were fired during the standoff, and fortunately no one was hurt.

And there may be more than meets the eye in the judgment that exonerated "Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown in a recent copyright infringement lawsuit. Some say the judge inserted his own code into the 71-page judgment.

The judge won't confirm its existence, saying that he can't discuss the judgment. But he cryptically adds, "I don't see why a judgment shouldn't be a matter of fun" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Zain, thanks.

And who better to help us decipher the code than our crack Internet reporter, Abbi Tatton.

Abbi, what are you picking up?

ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, here's that April 7th judgement from the British high court. We put it online for you.

And as you start reading through, you're going to see something a little bit unusual, seemingly random letters italics. First, an "S," and then you go on -- the "M" is easier to see there. And then in the next paragraph, an "I," and then a "T".

As you read on, you'll see that these spell out Smithy's Code. The judge who wrote this judgment is Justice Peter Smith.

Is there any more of this code in there? Well, you'll have to check it out for yourself. It's 71 pages. And we have posted it at CNN.com/situationreport -- Wolf.

BLITZER: It sounds like the judge may have a sense of humor.

Coming up, as Americans pay record-high prices for gas, the price of gas in Iran is dirt cheap. But that could all change. Our Aneesh Raman, who is one of the only Western journalists in Iran right now, will tell you why. And millions of Americans are mad as ever about gas prices, and they're not going to take it anymore. They are using some new creative ways to try to fight the high prices. We're going to tell you what they're doing and how you can benefit.

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Zain's following a developing story out in Colorado.

What are you picking up, Zain?

VERJEE: Wolf, we want to show you some pictures that are coming from east Denver, where a school bus has plowed into a house at an intersection. These are some aerial pictures that we have been receiving.

You can see emergency vehicles stationary there on the scene. It's unclear how many people, if any, have been injured in this incident.

We have reports of 30 kids on board the bus. Many people just standing around in this area.

It's also not clear who was in the house, how many people may have been in the house, or if they were injured at all. The area has been cordoned off, and police, the local authorities are -- appear to be at least in control of the situation -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Let's hope that everybody's OK. Zain, thank you for that.

While Americans find pain and suffering at the gas pump these days, Iranians barely bat an eye when they fill up. But not necessarily for long.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is one of the few Western reporters inside Iran right now -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, with gas prices reaching unwelcome heights back in the U.S., here in Iran there's a different problem at the pump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN (voice-over): If cheap gas is your vision of paradise these days, this is paradise, a gas station off of one of Tehran's main roads.

(on camera): In Iran right now, a gallon of gas is just about 40 cents, in part because of government subsidies, but also because Iran has the world's second largest oil reserves.

(voice-over): And with such low prices, virtually everyone here can afford to drive and drive a lot. In fact, all that driving causes so much congestion and pollution, the government is now moving to ration gas so people drive less.

"There is too much traffic," says Rasul (ph). "With rationing, only those who really need it will use their cars, and others will use public transportation."

There's another reason Iran may ration. Iran has oil, but little capacity to refine it. So, the country actually imports 40 percent of its gas, which gives others leverage over them. But rationing is no quick fix, and could further the country's economic divide.

"The poor are vulnerable. This will only be good for the rich," says Gisu (ph). "They will have the money to pay for as much gas as they want."

In the next few months, the Iranian government plans to start handing out ration cards, and those who want to buy above the allotted amount will have to pay five times more, $2 a gallon. So much for the paradise of cheap gas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN: And as to whether Iran should use its oil as a weapon if tensions rise between this country and the West over its nuclear program, a number of Iranians we spoke to at that gas station say yes -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Aneesh in Tehran.

And we are going to continue to get Aneesh's reports from inside Iran in the days to come.

President Bush isn't the first American president to grapple with high gas prices. Former President Jimmy Carter also faced a national gas crunch.

CNN's Mary Snow is joining us now for a closer look at both men's responses -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, they come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, even disagree on Iraq, but if you look at the presidency of Jimmy Carter and President Bush, there is some common ground when it comes to oil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): It was a promise that President Carter made in 1979.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977, never.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: At the time, President Carter said, the United States got half of its oil from foreign countries. Now:

BUSH: Today, we get about 60 percent of our oil from foreign countries.

SNOW: In the 1970s, Americans were forced to wait on long lines for gas and pay records prices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: Our excessive dependence on foreign oil is a clear and present danger to our nation's security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: Today, there may be different circumstances behind rising gas prices, but, still, a common theme emerges.

BUSH: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.

SNOW: So, why hasn't America and its leaders solved the problem? The oil industry points a finger at the government for stalling attempts to open new areas for oil and gas production and stresses, little has been done to promote conversation.

CHRISTINE TEZAK, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, STANFORD WASHINGTON RESEARCH GROUP: Back in the early 1990s, oil was $10 a barrel. Who's worried about conservation at $10 a barrel? No one.

SNOW: The concept of conservation took a back seat to other issues. This was Vice President Dick Cheney back in 2001.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD B. CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis, all by itself, for sound, comprehensive energy policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: A far cry from President Carter's earlier conservation kick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: If we learn to live thriftily and remember the importance of helping our neighbors, then we can find ways to adjust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Back then, the message was hard to hear, but with gas prices on the rise again, Americans have incentive to conserve, looked at things like hybrid cars and mass transit. Now, a recent CNN/Gallup poll shows that 69 percent of the people questioned said that rising gas prices have caused hardship for their families -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Plenty of blame to pass along to everything for this dependence on foreign energy sources.

Mary, excellent report. Thank you very much.

Let's check in with Ali Velshi now. He's got the "Bottom Line" -- Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: It has got to be a bad week for gas prices to be as high -- high as they are, because, as Mary said, there's plenty of blame to go around. And just as gas prices hit that threshold nationally, big oil campaigns are reporting their earnings this week.

Now, one thing to keep in mind is that it's -- the -- the higher fuel costs are affecting the -- the -- the oil companies, but the money that they're making from oil is so much higher than that, that it more than makes up for it.

Today, we saw ConocoPhillips reporting its third-quarter -- its first-quarter profit, $3.3 billion. Amerada Hess, a measly -- what did they come up with -- $700 million. And the biggest of all, ExxonMobil, rolls out its number tomorrow. Analysts say that Exxon's profits -- you sitting down for this -- will top $9 billion. That's just for the last three months alone. And they are expected to have brought in $100 billion in revenue.

Now, speaking of Exxon, one Texas county is urging motorist to boycott the company's stations. Officials in Bee County, Texas, which you can see here -- it's about 95 miles southeast of San Antonio -- say that they're targeting Exxon because it's the biggest oil company and because of the massive pay package that it gave its former CEO, Lee Raymond. We talked about that last week.

The company maintains that it does not control the market price for gas. The boycott could last a long time. County officials are demanding that prices drop to $1.30 a gallon. I don't know about that.

Crude oil prices are a little lower today, Wolf, down almost a dollar, to $71.93 a barrel. And that helped drive the Dow up 71 points, to 11354. It gave the NASDAQ a three-point gain, but that's coming out at 2333 -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ali, thank you for that.

Let's stay on the same subject. Consumers are refusing to take soaring gas prices sitting down. Hundreds of thousands are sending text messages and posting the cheapest gas prices online.

Let's bring back our Internet reporter, Abbi Tatton. She is tracking this story -- Abbi. TATTON: Wolf, at 4:17 a.m. this morning, Duncan Giles (ph) was driving around his neighborhood in Indiana, trying to collect the cheapest gas prices around him, then going home. He found prices of $2.74. Then he goes home and then posts them to GasBuddy.com.

He's one of 850,000 volunteers who submit gas prices to this site. Some of them have been doing it every single day for almost five years. There are many of these sites out there. Another one is GasPriceWatch.com. Their motto is, "Power to the people at the pump," just trying to find the cheapest prices around.

A new one that we found that was launched just this week, FuelGo.com. This is three friends in Michigan who developed their own computer program, sending text messages to your cell phone, telling you about the cheapest gas prices in your zip code. It's a brand-new feature. Not every zip code is updated every day. But we are going to keep watching it. It's just another example of people taking matters into their own hands -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you, Abbi.

Still to come in THE SITUATION ROOM, Condoleezza Rice scores big with the American public. We're going to tell you about our latest poll numbers, and we will also hear from the secretary during her surprise visit to Iraq today. She sat down in Baghdad with our Ryan Chilcote.

And they have become 9/11 heroes to their fellow Americans, so why is there no memorial yet to the passengers and crew of Flight 93 where the plane went down in Pennsylvania? We will tell you what's going on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As we told you, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been off on a surprise visit to Iraq today. The American public may miss her.

Our new CNN poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation shows, Rice is the most popular of the top Bush administration officials. She's rated favorably by more than 57 percent of respondents. President Bush is next at 40 percent, although 57 percent viewed him unfavorably. Thirty-five percent view Vice President Cheney favorably, while Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld finds favor with just 33 percent.

These are favorability numbers, as far as people may or not -- may or may not like them. These are not job approval numbers, which are considerably lower. They may like people, even if they think they are not doing a good job.

In Iraq today, Secretary Rice spoke with CNN's Ryan Chilcote about her visit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, we first wanted to bring a message that President Bush asked us to bring, which is that we are ready to support this government and support it fully.

But supporting it fully means that we have to make certain that the United States government is really ready to do that, and so we are here to look at those issues that are at that nexus of political and military. There are many now. The security issues here even have both a political element and a military element.

We are here to look at Defense Department operations, and I'm looking at embassy operations to make sure that we're really properly organized to help this government hit the ground running, because, clearly, they are ready to show the Iraqi people that it's going to be a different day.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming up on the IAEA announcement, how concerned are you about Iranian influence on events here in Iraq, given a lot of issues including the relationship between the government of Iran and this current government, the current prime minister?

RICE: Well, Iran is a neighbor, and we would hope that they would have good and transparent neighborly relations. The Iraqis are patriots, and the Iraqis are going to do what is right for Iraq.

And I would just note that the prime minister gave a very interesting statement in which he said that he really thanks the neighbors for the role that they played during Saddam Hussein's regime in sheltering people, but that now it's time for Iraq to control its own affairs. And I fully expect that that's going to be the case.

CHILCOTE: Do you have concerns about the Iranian...

(CROSSTALK)

CHILCOTE: ... influence..

(CROSSTALK)

RICE: Well, of course. If Iran is engaged in non-transparent activities, there should be a concern.

But I see nothing that suggests that this Iraqi government is going to be anything but concerned about and carrying out the interests of the Iraqi people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The secretary of state speaking with our Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad earlier today.

Zain Verjee is joining us once again from the CNN Center with a closer look at some other stories making news -- Zain.

VERJEE: Wolf, the jury deciding the fate of Zacarias Moussaoui ends a third day of deliberations without reaching a verdict. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors want the judge to change one of her key rulings in the case. That ruling granted some 9/11 families who are suing airlines to have access to the same aviation security evidence turned over to Moussaoui's lawyers.

Almost five years after the World Trade Center was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, there's finally a deal to rebuild on ground zero. Today, the owner of the site and the site's developer reached a deal concerning who will get what at that location. In one part of the deal, developer Larry Silverstein will keep control of three buildings on the site, but will give up control of a plot of land across the street.

And 20 years after an explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, a day of remembrance -- today, in Ukraine, mourners laid red carnations as a symbol of their grief. Chernobyl released about 400 times more radiation than the U.S. atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima during World War II. Thirty-one people were killed, and thousands of others developed lasting health problems -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Zain, I remember that day well. Thank you for that.

In just a few hours, London's scientists will release a new study that paints a grim picture of what might happen if the United States were hit with a bird flu pandemic. Researchers predict the virus could strike as many as one in three people, if crucial steps aren't taken.

Our Internet reporter, Jacki Schechner, is standing by with a preview -- Jacki.

JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, the computer simulation running behind me is part of this study.

It shows how, if bird flu hit the United States in a human strain, it would spread from the densely populated urban areas out into rural areas. Eventually, you will see this map turn to green. That's as more and more people become immune, and the pandemic passes. They say this will take about four months.

What they are studying is how to reduce the effect of the number of people who get sick, to try to bring it from one-third of the population to about a fifth of the population. And they say this is a multipronged approach. It eventually will be giving antivirals to people who are sick, antivirals to people who are not yet sick, and doing something like closing down schools, again, bringing the risk from 33 percent down to 20 percent.

Now, the scientists also took a look at travel restrictions, and the lead scientist told me day today that they are actually not going to be as effective as you might think. You would have to shut down land, sea, air, really seal up the U.S. before the disease even gets here.

And, even then, you would only buy yourself a few weeks, not enough time to eventually create a new vaccine. So, they are taking a look, obviously, at how to reduce the risk, saying that, if it does get here, it's going to spread. How do we decrease the amount of damage it's going to do? All of these results will be posted at Nature.com. You can go there to take a look in just a few hours -- Wolf.

BLITZER: What a nightmare. Let's hope it never happens.

Thanks, Jacki.

Up ahead, controversy surrounding a memorial to the 9/11 victims on United Flight 93 -- why families are singling -- singling out one U.S. congressman and his concerns over money.

And, coming up in our 7:00 p.m. Eastern hour, a FOX News anchor hired as the new White House press secretary. We will talk about it in our "Strategy Session" with Bill Bennett and Donna Brazile.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Lou Dobbs getting ready for his show. That begins right at the top of the hour. And he's going to give us a little preview -- Lou.

LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you.

Coming up at 6:00 Eastern, we will be reporting on Pentagon plans to bring home tens of thousands of our troops from Iraq this year. We will have that special report from the Pentagon.

Also tonight, the Senate has voted for $2 billion of amendment funding to secure this nation's borders and ports, instead of focusing on illegal immigration and immigration reform. Among my guests tonight is the senator who sponsored the extra spending focusing the Senate on border security, Senator Judd Gregg.

Are companies that hire illegal aliens racketeers? We will hear from attorneys on both sides of that closely watched argument and case the Supreme Court will decide.

And a number of people have suggested I come up with a few answers on a number of issues. Tonight, we begin the process.

We hope you will be with us. Please join us -- Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Lou, did you notice that the mayor of New York gave you a little grief here in THE SITUATION ROOM yesterday, Michael Bloomberg? I raised some of the comments you made about him, and then he suggested that maybe your rhetoric sometimes gets out ahead of your logic, or something to that effect.

DOBBS: Yes.

Well, what he said was, my rhetoric gets ahead of my thinking occasionally, the mayor said. But what you didn't point out, Wolf, is that you took tape, a videotape of my response to your question, and your question was premised on what the mayor had said concerning illegal immigration, which was to just let it be.

Within that context, what the mayor said -- you know, Mayor Bloomberg is a nice guy. He's running a city. It's a tough job. He's got nothing to do with immigration law. And, you know, the American people, 250 million to 280 million of us, you know, we're not quite ready to say we can't do anything about securing our borders, and we're not quite ready to say that just anyone can walk across a border or enter our ports and just ignore our immigration laws.

And you know what? Today, Wolf, the Senate agreed with us. That's a start. It's just a start, but a start.

BLITZER: We will see your show at the top of the hour, Lou. As always, thank you. And...

DOBBS: Look forward to it.

BLITZER: ... what's the holdup? That is what some families of victims of United Flight 93 are asking. And that's the flight that went down in Pennsylvania during the 9/11 attacks.

A new movie is out, memorializing the event, coming out right now, but many people want a physical memorial at the scene.

Let's bring in our Brian Todd. He's joining us to explain the uproar.

What's going on, Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the bottom line is, it's being held up for many of the same reasons that got other 9/11 memorials embroiled in controversy, bickering over land, resources and money.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Who could forget that smoking wreckage, the only real image we have of United Flight 93's final moments on September 11?

Now controversy surrounds that very field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, controversy over the allocation of land and money.

HAMILTON PETERSON, SON OF FLIGHT 93 VICTIMS: That community has changed from a quiet area into now an extreme hot spot, in terms of tourists.

TODD: Families of the Flight 93's victims on the west steps of the Capitol, already emotional from their screening of a new movie about their loved ones' heroic struggle against the hijackers. Now they say they're not angry, but concerned, that funding from Congress for a Flight 93 memorial has been held up for possibly a third straight fiscal year by one congressman, Republican Charles Taylor of North Carolina.

We spoke to David Beamer, whose son Todd was quoted as saying, "Let's roll" to overtake the hijackers.

DAVID BEAMER, FATHER OF FLIGHT 93 VICTIM: It's been enough time for the process to run its course and for our elected officials to get on board.

TODD: But Congressman Taylor has his own concerns, like how much taxpayers will have to shell out. More than half the nearly $60 million projected for the Flight 93 memorial is supposed to come from private fund-raising, the rest from the federal government and the state of Pennsylvania.

But Taylor cites other projects, like the Oklahoma City bombing memorial, where private money didn't materialize, as promised. In a statement, Taylor said: "What we do not want to do is embarrass the country or the families of those aboard Flight 93 with a memorial that is only partially funded."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Taylor says he does not want Congress to promise an unrealistic amount of taxpayer money for the memorial, and says he will make sure the passengers and crew on that plane will get what he calls a realistic and lasting tribute.

But the Flight 93 family members and some congressmen from Pennsylvania told us it is past time to get this going and that no one would be debating all this at an attacked U.S. Capitol, which was likely targeted by those hijackers, if it weren't for the people on that plane -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian, does Congressman Taylor have any support among his colleagues?

TODD: I was asking about that all day, and talking to various people close to the process on Capitol Hill.

They said, as the chairman of the subcommittee that handles the funding for this and other memorials and for the national parks, essentially, a lot of it goes through him. And I kept asking about other people attaching their names to it. I couldn't get any response to that. If there are supporters, they're not coming out publicly.

BLITZER: Brian Todd, thanks very much.

Let's go up to New York. Jack Cafferty has been asking a question on this as well.

In fact, we are going to go up to New York after a quick commercial break -- your answers to our question of the hour: Should there be a limit on the amount of money spent for a memorial to Flight 93? Jack's question -- he's standing by with your e-mail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Here's a look at some of the "Hot Shots" coming in from our friends over at the Associated Press, pictures likely to be in your newspapers tomorrow.

In Russia, Greenpeace activists rally in Saint Petersburg to mark the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion in Ukraine.

In Rumania, soldiers pull sheep from boats after they were rescued from rising floodwaters. More than 5,000 people have been evacuated in the past 24 hours.

In Iraq, U.S. Marines on patrol west of Baghdad. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a surprise visit there today to visit the troops and welcome in the new prime minister-designate.

And, in Russia, sharks take a swim at the opening of the nation's first oceanarium -- some of today's "Hot Shots," pictures often worth 1,000 words.

Let's go up to New York and check in with Jack -- Jack.

CAFFERTY: Well, we will try to hold this edition of "The File" to under 1,000 words, Wolf.

The question is, should there be a limit on the amount of money spent for a memorial to Flight 93, the one that crashed in Pennsylvania? Original estimates were at about $25 million. But then they appointed a committee to design this thing. They want to buy 2,000 acres, which is three times the size of Arlington National Cemetery. They want to put up to $100 million worth structures on the thing.

So, one of the congressmen down there is saying, no, we are not going to just go crazy here. And that was the question we asked you.

Doug in Sierra Madre, California, writes: "A simple plaque and some open space for people to collect their thoughts and feelings would be the perfect and least costly memorial of all. Let's not make a Disneyland out of our memories."

Suzanne writes from Colorado: "This penchant for spending millions of other people's dollars for what is essentially a tombstone is inappropriate, no matter how courageous or honorable the subject."

Anna writes: "Come on. Let donations fund any memorials, and let's use this money to protect our borders, so we do not have any more 9/11s. Wake up. We are overdue."

Ruth writes from Florida: "There doesn't have to be a limit if it is built with private funds donated by the American people. Just spend the amount donated. Politicians want to build it with our tax money, hoping that will make them look so good that they will be reelected."

Ruth, you may have your finger on something there.

Dale writes: "The amount spent for a memorial for those who perished in that flight should be flexible enough that members of the families should have plenty of input as to what the memorial will finally look like."

Tony writes: "Yes, there would be a limit. What is the cost to replace the Capitol complex?"

You will recall that the theory was, Flight 93 was either headed to the White House or the Capitol Building.

And Suzie (ph) writes this from Atlanta: "Of course we need to have a physical spot to go for reflection and to honor the unbelievable bravery of those people, who literally saved Washington, D.C. But, somehow, I think those people would rather have us spend money on securing our borders. And, frankly, that would be a wonderful memorial to everyone who has given life and limb in this war on terror" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: They have an emergency supplemental piece of legislation, Jack, designed to deal with emergencies, not part of the regular budget. and, all of a sudden, we are finding highway construction and stuff that is clearly not an emergency, billions of dollars worth of stuff in this funding legislation.

CAFFERTY: My favorite is Trent Lott and -- and the other senator from Mississippi. They want to move a railroad track in Mississippi, which will benefit the casinos down there. And the cost is $700 million.

The other quick point about that is, why are we still using emergency funding to fund the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? These operations are almost four years old now.

BLITZER: Jack, we will talk about it in one hour, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, when we come back.

We're in THE SITUATION ROOM weekday afternoons, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Eastern, back at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

Until then, let's go up to New York. Lou Dobbs standing by -- hi, Lou.

DOBBS: How you doing, Wolf? Thank you very much.

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