[Don Lemon, Co-host:] Hello. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
[Brianna Keilar, Co-host:] And I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Kyra Phillips, who will join us in just a moment from Iraq. But first, he's endured freezing temperatures for two nights, a Boy Scout missing in the North Carolina mountains. CNN is live from the search and you are in the
[Cnn Newsroom. Lemon:] And we begin with the war in Iraq. The insurgency has grown, public support has shrunk, and Iraqis and Americans have died by the thousands. After four years of fighting in Iraq, there is no end in sight. And our Kyra Phillips was on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf when the invasion started. Now she's on the ground in Baghdad as the war enters its fifth year Kyra.
[Kyra Phillips, Cnn Anchor:] That's right, Don. We're here live in Baghdad. And it was four years ago today I was on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. It was called shock and awe. I'll never forget how Baghdad was illuminated within 90 minutes after those jets left the deck of that carrier. Now four years later I'm here on the ground in Baghdad. I'm seeing where those bombs dropped. And I'm going to tell you how U.S. troops and the Iraqis are doing here on the ground now as we enter the fifth year of this war in Iraq. That's coming up in just a few minutes.
[Lemon:] All right, Kyra. We look forward to that. Thank you so much.
[Keilar:] Acting in good faith or acting recklessly? Three New York City police officers head to court in the November killing of Sean Bell just hours before his wedding. CNN's Jason Carroll joins us from the borough of Queens where the victim lived. Jason, what's the latest?
[Jason Carroll, Cnn Correspondent:] And hello to you, Brianna. The three officers turned themselves in this morning. They will be arraigned later this afternoon. The grand jury deliberated deliberated for three days. They indicted three of the five officers on the following charges. Detective Michael Oliver he's the one who fired 31 shots, pausing once to reload was indicted on manslaughter on the first and second degree, as well as felony assault and reckless endangerment charges. And Detective Giscard Isnora faces the same charges. If they are sentenced, they face up to 25 years maximum sentence. Also detective Mark Cooper, he was indicted on two counts ever reckless endangerment. If he is sentenced he faces up to one year. Queens district attorney Richard Brown, just a short while ago, said that investigators had interviewed more than 100 witnesses. They presented more than 500 exhibits. He says this begins the is the first part of a very long legal process.
[Richard Brown, Queens District Attorney:] As I pointed out, the defendants are innocent until proven guilty, and this is only the beginning of this case. This case has got to be tried in an open courtroom. And all of the facts and all of the law will be available to all of you as you as you watch this trial proceed.
[Carroll:] The Reverend Al Sharpton has been acting as Sean Bell's family spokesperson. And a short while ago, he held a press conference. He basically said that he was hoping all five of the officers that were involved in the shooting would have been indicted, and he also says that at this point this is not a time for celebration.
[Rev. Al Sharpton, Civil Rights Activist:] These were officers of the law operating under the cover of the law and had the ability beyond what a normal citizen would have. And they in our judgment, and clearly as certified by this grand jury, used that privilege to engage in criminal activity.
[Carroll:] Sharpton also said that any suggestion that there should be some sort of a change of venue would be insulting not only to him but to Bell's family, as well as the other two gentlemen that were injured in the shooting, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benfield. Also, Brianna, just a short while ago Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, he released a statement saying that the three officers that were indicted have been suspended without pay. Again, those officers will be arraigned later this afternoon at 2 p.m. Brianna.
[Keilar:] Well, Jason, it sounds like defense attorneys are pretty confident that these officers won't be found guilty. Right?
[Carroll:] I don't know if confident would be the right word. I think they are hopeful at this point. Obviously, they are disappointed with the indictments that were handed up today. I think that they are waiting for that trial. And they think that during the trial they'll be able to present evidence that will show that these that this shooting, at least in their eyes, was justified Brianna.
[Keilar:] All right. Jason Carroll live for us from Queens, New York. Thanks, Jason.
[Lemon:] And the Boy Scout motto, be prepared. Police and volunteers looking for a missing 12-year-old scout, though he was prepared for the cold nights on a North Carolina mountain. Hopes are high that teams will finally spot Michael Auberry, two days after he disappeared from his camp site. Joining us live with the latest is CNN's Bob Franken. Bob, I can only imagine what the family is going through.
[Bob Franken, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, the family, in fact, talked with us. They didn't want to be interviewed on camera, but we had a long conversation. And they say, in the words of his father, that they're having their ups and downs, which is understandable. They cling to the hope that he will be found. Michael Auberry is somebody who had been trained as a Boy Scout and how to survive in cold weather. He disappeared, as we know, on Saturday. He's had two nights in the cold. The temperatures at night have been in the 20s. Police have mounted and officials have mounted a massive search. Everything from dogs to sophisticated heat-seeking airplanes that can spot images on the ground. They, of course, have also an extensive ground search and, according to the person who's been leading the operation, they're about to make it even more extensive.
[Brent Pennington, National Park Service:] Right now we're still very optimistic. I mean, he had the cold weather clothing to survive the last two nights. He's been a Boy Scout for a couple of years now, and he's had some survival training. He would know enough and there were areas, rhododendron thickets, rock ledges, places where he could get out of the wind, out of the weather.
[Franken:] So, they're hoping that he will be able to do that. One point about the young Boy Scout. He suffered from attention deficit disorder. One of the things they're worried about is he does not have his medication, Ritalin, with him. Still, everyone insists on being optimistic and continuing to push this search that they say could go on with a successful ending, they hope, for several days Don.
[Lemon:] Yes. A successful ending would be good. Now, Bob, at the beginning of your report, you mentioned the family. You said they've had their ups and downs. But the family, as well as the friends, they're pretty confident in the skills of this Boy Scout, right?
[Franken:] Well, they are hopeful. They are hopeful, as I said. They can only hope for the best, and they are going to do that. They have a great network of people who are helping them, and they are just determined to be as optimistic as they can be. Obviously, they're very shaken by this.
[Lemon:] Yes. Optimism, hopeful, all good words to describe that. Bob Franken, thank you. We'll check back.
[Keilar:] Four years of war and more fighting ahead. Four years ago U.S. forces shook Baghdad with colossal explosions. Today the Iraqi capital is still shaking, but insurgents are doing the blasting. Four years ago CNN's Kyra Phillips was on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, and today she's on the ground in Baghdad. Hi, Kyra.
[Phillips:] Hi, Brianna. And when I heard the president's speech from four years ago today, for the first time in four years, it gave me chills because I remembered that moment. I remember when he said that the U.S. was at war with Iraq. I remember the attempted decapitation strike on Saddam. That didn't work. So the next thing you knew, shock and awe was in motion, and jets were launching off the USS Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. was at war with Iraq. I remember the U.S. military, all members of it, very patriotic. Now I'm here on the ground. It's anything but. It's purely chaotic. Just take a look at this piece. You'll get a little bit of perspective. And I warn you, there are some graphic images.
[Unidentified Male:] Mission objectives, we heard that. Hit the target. Kill mates.
[Phillips:] Well, welcome to shock and awe from the USS Abraham Lincoln. [voice-over] It was four years ago this week I watched fighter pilots suit up and fill the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. I knew at this moment that within 90 minutes, Baghdad would light up with blinding fire power. The mission would be called "shock and awe." Operation Iraqi Freedom was now under way. Iraq was about to change forever, attempting to forge freedom but creating years of chaos. The smoke has cleared, and this is Baghdad today. It looks peaceful from here, but on the streets it's anything but. [on camera] Just to give you an idea of how dangerous it still is here in Baghdad four years after the war started, right now we're in a Shiite neighborhood. And you can see we have an Iraqi police escort in front of us with armed police officers. And also behind us we've got two trucks behind us. And you can see there's members of the military and also the police that are constantly talking to us. We have check points every 600 yards. And the curfew's in place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can see how difficult it is just to travel less than a mile. [voice-over] Even Iraqis move quickly through the streets, with very little expression. There are no gatherings at cafes or catching a movie. They may have political freedom but not freedom from terror. "Of course I'm scared," this street vendor tells me, "because I feel I'm not secure. I'm standing here, but I expect danger to happen to me at any moment." Danger this wedding shop owner fears every day. "I'm afraid of everything," she says. "From car bombs, from people, from anything. I feel scared even inside my store or inside my home."
[Jim Clancy, Cnn Anchor:] We haven't been able to confirm it yet.
[Phillips:] I remember the stories we reported as the war began. Our Baghdad correspondents, based at the landmark Palestine Hotel, searched for weapons of mass destruction. We wrote about democracy, justice, and a better life for the people of Iraq. [on camera] This was actually our CNN NEWSROOM. There were computers, edit equipment, satellites. They filled up this room. As a matter of fact, this entire hotel was wall-to-wall journalists. Now there's only a few reporters left, and they all stay here at their own risk. [voice-over] Muhammad Fouzi still works here. He never loses hope, but life just isn't the same. "After the fall of Saddam Hussein," he explains, "the Iraqi people were happy and had smiles on their faces. They were comfortable in terms of the future. The hope and smiles have disappeared. God willing, things will get back to normal, and our children will have a better future." No one knows for sure how many Iraqis have died since this war began. Figures range widely from 50,000 to 600,000. More than 3,200 U.S. troops have lost their lives. Now the sounds of morning prayers, combined with gun fire, is just a reality. Faith and firefights, good battling evil, Iraqis and military troops enduring yet another war anniversary, with very little celebration.
[Keilar:] And we see those pictures there, Kyra, in your package, funerals, Iraqis wailing, at mourns. Four years ago, you were on the Abraham Lincoln looking into the future. Is this at all what you would have expected?
[Phillips:] As a matter of fact, when I walked through the streets and even went to some of those exact locations where those bombs dropped, Brianna, I was expecting to see a lot of rebuilding, a lot of those neighborhoods possibly to have been improved. But still, there is a lot of rubble. There is a lot of areas that have not been rebuilt. And it wasn't just the destruction from those bombs but just what happened afterwards. I mean, members of the military have been telling me for years, "We never expected what the insurgency was going to do. We never expected the sectarian violence. We didn't think it was going to be like this." And a lot of them told me off the record, "We didn't plan for this." This was not how it was supposed to happen, they tell me.
[Keilar:] And you've been through a number of security checkpoints. Do you get a sense at all that the new security plan is working when you're there on the ground?
[Phillips:] Oh, it's interesting. Yes, when you look at the numbers, it is working in some areas, and it works at times. But take a look at some of this video that I took with my handy- cam, just working through one of the checkpoints. We were heading out to a story, and I was amazed that practically every 600 yards we came across one of these checkpoints. There are blast walls everywhere. You've got to weave yourself through. You've got the blast walls, not only in front but also on the left with all the barbed wire. You've got the armed guards. And a lot of times, Brianna, you don't know if these checkpoints have good guys or bad guys manning them. Every time you roll up, you get nervous. And all I know and all that I am told is that you can't stay in one location for a very long time. If things don't seem right, you have to try and move your way right through it and hope for the best. So, it's really hard to work a story. It's really hard to get out on the streets and talk with Iraqis. We do it, and we take that risk at times. But we have to be very, very careful and choose our stories wisely.
[Keilar:] All right, Kyra, thanks for that. Stay safe out there. Our very own Kyra Phillips live from Baghdad. We're going to check back in with you in a bit.
[Lemon:] Brianna Keilar, one of the biggest casualties of the Iraq war is public support. It's dropped 40 percentage points since the end of 2003. That's one number from a new CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll. Now let's break it down for you. Only 32 percent now favor the war in Iraq. That's down from 72 percent at the end of 2003. Almost half now strongly oppose the war. You can see that number at the bottom left. Only 19 percent strongly opposed the war in March of 2003. And there's a major partisan divide. Democrats' opposition is now almost unanimous: 91 percent. But even now, only 24 percent of Republicans oppose the war.
[Keilar:] An exclusive look at a suicide attack in Afghanistan coming up in the NEWSROOM. How Afghan insurgents are adopting tactics used against Americans in Iraq.
[Lemon:] Shaken but surviving. An 88-year-old woman lives to tell the story of gunmen attacking her home. That is coming up in the
[Cnn Newsroom. Keilar:] And a soldier gets vaccinated for smallpox and then his young son is rushed to the hospital. Could one have led to the other? That story ahead in the NEWSROOM.