WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR:   I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.  Coming up at the top of the hour, instability on the ground in Iraq and the top U.S. commander seeks the option of sending more troops. I'll talk about the consequences with former Defense Secretary William Cohen. President Bush is resolute. If he could have stop the 9/11 attacks, he would have. As his national security adviser prepares to testify before the 9/11 Commission, I'll speak live to a key member of that commission, Bob Kerrey. Two mothers who kill their own children, two horrifying cases with eerie similarities. Why is one mother acquitted and the other in prison? Those stories, much more only minutes away on "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." Now back to CROSSFIRE. 
BEGALA:   Thank you, Wolf. Time now for "Rapid Fire," where we ask questions even faster than the Bush administration can make up excuses for the mess they've gotten us in, in Iraq.    Our guests, former Republican Congressman Bob Walker of Pennsylvania and former Democratic Congressman Tom Andrews of Maine. 
NOVAK:   Mr. Andrews, Dennis Kucinich, in his campaign for president, said, let's just move those troops out of there right now. Agree or disagree? 
ANDREWS:   I think what he really said was, we should end the U.S. military occupation of Iraq. I agree with that. We should move the U.N. in. I agree with that. We should have international credibility in taking and rebuilding that country. I agree with that. We should not be we rebuilding Iraq from the Pentagon. 
BEGALA:   Bob, is this June 30 date to hand over sovereignty driven more by the reality of strategic planning on the ground or by the American election at home? 
WALKER:   I think it's more on the reality of what's going on in Iraq. The more that we can hand over to the Iraqi people and the further we can bring us down a road toward freedom, the better off we will be and the better of that Iraqi people will be. 
NOVAK:   Do you think the people of Iraq would have been better off if Saddam Hussein was still there? 
ANDREWS:   No. But I think they're going to be worse off if the chaos that threatens that country and the tremendous terrorism that is affecting all of us is allowed to continue. And the roots of those problems and the roots of Iraq falling apart as it may -- very well may -- lie in this occupation and this very, very unfortunate illegal invasion of Iraq.  
BEGALA:   Bob, when Dick Cheney said we would be welcomed as liberators, his words, was he intentionally misleading us or he was just hopelessly naive? 
WALKER:   No, I think that many people in Iraq are welcoming us as liberators right now. There are many people who have gone back to their normal lives. Business is thriving. The economy is doing better. There are lots of people there who are finding... 
BEGALA:   Do you get CNN? 
WALKER:   Well, the fact is, that there are lots of good things happening there. CNN covers a lot of the negative. The negative needs to be seen, but we ought to also look at the fact that there's lots of good things happening in Iraq. 
NOVAK:   No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.    Mr. Andrews, do you believe that the Marines should take over Fallujah by force and take those people out? Or should we kind of back off from Fallujah right now? 
ANDREWS:   Well, I think we shouldn't back off certainly, Robert, but we shouldn't be doing just the opposite of what we -- we shouldn't be doing the opposite of what we should be doing. We should be smart in Iraq. For example, you don't shut down a newspaper. You don't deny -- establish censorship. 
NOVAK:   That was the last word. Tom Andrews, thank you very much. Bob Walker, thank you. Just ahead on CROSSFIRE, our very own Tucker Carlson took part in a special edition of "Jeopardy" over the weekend. How did he do? He didn't sound too confident beforehand. 
CARLSON:   I think the odds are, I'll be crushed, spanked, destroyed, beaten. And I'm prepared for that.
