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Iran and U.S. Talk Iraq; Observances Take Place at Vietnam Veterans Memorial; New England Patriots Player Missing; Life in New Delhi

Aired May 28, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, an historic meeting in Iraq. U.S. and Iranian diplomats get together for the first time since the Iranian hostage crisis.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm T.J. Holmes, in today for Don Lemon, on assignment in India.

Well, for some today is a welcomed day off. Others marking this Memorial Day with tributes and tears for the men and women who have given their lives in service to this country.

We'll take you to some of the observances.

PHILLIPS: The Coast Guard has joined an all-out search for a star football player. The New England Patriots' defensive end hasn't been seen since an accident on New Orleans' Lake Pontchartrain.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Their meeting lasted just a few hours, their focus was narrow, and the results uncertain. But the fact that U.S. and Iranian diplomats sat down together at all is historic. They met in Baghdad to talk about brining stability to war-torn Iraq. Are there more meetings in store?

Let's get straight to State Department Correspondent Zain Verjee -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, hi.

Well, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, really described these historic talks with the Iranians as businesslike. They lasted four hours. The Iraqis were also present in the room.

Now, the focus of the talks was really Iraq, how to end the bloodshed in Iraq. No other topic was discussed. And Kyra, no one was really expecting any miracles to happen at the talks, but they are the first direct and officials talks between the U.S. and Iran in almost 30 years.

Now, here's how Crocker put the U.S. position forward to Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN CROCKER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: And I laid out before the Iranians a number of our direct, specific concerns about their behavior in Iraq, their support for militias that are fighting both the Iraqi security forces and coalition forces, the fact that a lot of the explosives and ammunition that are used by these groups are coming in from Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: In a conference call with journalists just under an hour ago, Crocker says that the U.S. knows what the Iranians are up to, and they want to see results, an end to militia support.

Now, though there was no real breakthrough in this meeting, Crocker also said that he's encouraged, not disappointed. He also says, Kyra, he wouldn't really make a big deal of this one single meeting, either positive or negative, and what matters is what happens on the ground -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What more did Iran say? And did anything come up, Zain, about the fact that Iran is supporting the extreme movement there in Iraq?

VERJEE: Well, a lot of ground was covered. The ambassador said that the U.S. really presented their side.

He also said that the Iraqi side indicated, too, that they wanted to give an invitation actually for another meeting sometime in the near future. And he says that once we receive that information, we're going to give it close consideration, but really nothing was fixed with respect to a follow-up meeting. So that seems to be in the works and at least being discussed -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Zain Verjee, appreciate it.

HOLMES: They died serving the nation, and today the nation remembers the sacrifice of those who have fallen in its wars. All across the country, the red, white and blue of American flags punctuate the gray of cemetery tombstones. One scene of tributes today, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. Another, Arlington National Cemetery.

Earlier, President Bush made his sixth Memorial Day visit there as a wartime commander in chief.

And The Wall, of course, always a place to remember, reflect, and to grieve, but never more so than on Memorial Day.

And CNN's Brianna Keilar is at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Hello, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, T.J. And especially on this Memorial Day. This is the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, commonly known, of course, as The Wall. And people have come from all over to pay their respects here.

I spoke with a Vietnam vet who came from Texas with his wife and his daughter, and he told me that he was here in 1982 when this wall was first commemorated, and he wanted to be here 25 years later. And again, he went up to The Wall and he searched for the names of those people who he served with who died in Vietnam.

Part of the service that just wrapped up here a short time ago was paying tribute to three names, three names of Vietnam veterans who died -- or, pardon me, whose names were just added to this wall earlier this month. I know that's hard to believe, but they were just added in very early May.

One of them, Richard Pruitt (ph) was an Army sergeant. He died in 2005 from -- because of complications due to wounds that he received in combat, as did Army specialist Wesley Stiverson (ph), and then Navy fireman apprentice Joseph Crywicki (ph). He died in 1966 from combat wounds. He was left off of The Wall until now -- T.J.

HOLMES: And so the question there for a lot of folks, why? He died in I think '66, you just said, but why is his name, why are the others names just being added now?

KEILAR: Yes, this surprises a lot of people, but every few years, and sometimes every year, these names are added. It's actually quite normal. And there are a number of reasons.

In some cases, it's because there were so many casualties in Vietnam -- more than 58,000 names up here on this wall -- and because of that, some of those people have just fallen through the cracks. And then it really takes a very active effort on the part of the family to get that name up there on The Wall.

I was speaking with Ann Pruitt (ph), the wife of the one of the men who was just added. Her husband, who died in 2005, related to war wounds. And she said there's a lot of red tape. She said that she had to come up with medical records from the time her husband was wounded in Vietnam until the time he died in 2005.

And you can imagine what an endeavor that is -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Our Brianna Keilar for us at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Wall.

Thank you so much, Brianna.

And it's part of the American calendar now, but Memorial Day had many separate begins. First known as Decoration Day, it started during the Civil War when women began decorating the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers. It was first widely opened on May 30th of 1868. A hundred years later, President Johnson signed a law shifting dates of certain holidays to give Americans more three-day weekends. It called for Memorial Day to be observed on the last Monday in May of each year. That law took effect in 1971.

PHILLIPS: Well, the search is on this Memorial Day for New England Patriots' defensive end Marquise Hill. He disappeared yesterday following a jet ski accident on Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain.

Our Gulf Coast Correspondent Susan Roesgen joins us now with the latest.

Susan, what do we know?

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: Well, not a whole lot right now, except that the search has been going on a very long time, Kyra, with not much success. Marquise Hill is 24 years old, he's a New Orleans native. And last night he was jet skiing on Lake Pontchartrain. That's a popular lake here for boating and fishing.

At about 9:30, the Coast Guard says a boater heard a woman call for help. She was screaming for help in the water, clinging to a piling. And apparently, she pointed to Marquise Hill, but the boater couldn't get to him. The Coast Guard also says that neither the woman nor Hill was wearing a life vest.

A Coast Guard helicopter has been out over the lake all night and all day today, along with boats from the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Department. And the New England Patriots have released a statement.

This statement from chairman Robert Kraft says, "We are all shocked. We can only hope and pray that the search and rescue is successful. Our thoughts and prayers are with Marquise and his family. We know that Marquise is a strong young man and will remain optimistic while continuing to pray for his rescue."

Hill is a former player for Louisiana State University. He was drafted by the New England Patriots back in 2004, and he was a rookie member of the Patriots' Super Bowl championship team.

Again, the search has been going on for about 16 hours now, Kyra, and the Coast Guard says that that search will continue indefinitely.

PHILLIPS: Now, we still don't know exactly what happened, if he had run into something on that jet ski. Or, I mean, were there any other boats in the water? Any more details about what happened?

ROESGEN: Very little, Kyra, except that the water was choppy. It's been bad weather here this weekend. The water was rough. And the Coast Guard has recovered the jet ski.

They don't believe that there was some kind of accident. They don't believe that there was some kind of impact. They believe that simply the jet ski sank for some reason. They don't know what happened yet out there.

They have spoken to the woman, and we don't know who she is yet, either, Kyra. We understand that Marquise Hill was out with family and friends enjoying the Sunday evening, but certainly if we had more information from her we might know if something had gone wrong before this happened. But once again, neither she nor Marquise Hill was wearing a life vest, and I think that's the key element here.

PHILLIPS: Yes. We'll follow up, Susan. Thanks so much.

HOLMES: Exotic and fascinating. India a growing power on the world stage, and our Don Lemon takes us on a trip to this land of many contrasts.

That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: And the face that launched a thousand quips and a wardrobe that was just as snappy as his one-liners. How about those glasses?

Remembering Charles Nelson Reilly straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And it's about 2:12 here on the East Coast. And here are three of the stories we're working on here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

President Bush laying a wreath and looking ahead this Memorial Day. At Arlington National Cemetery, the president said winning the war on terror is part of the country's destiny. He also called fallen troops in Iraq and Afghanistan a new generation of heroes.

On the move as we speak. Those two wayward humpback whales in California are farther down the Sacramento River and closer to the Pacific Ocean. The mother and calf hadn't budged for days despite repeated attempts by scientists to get them moving.

And Duke University lacrosse fans got something to cheer about. Right now the team is playing in a national championship game. Their 2006 season, of course, canceled after three players faced what turned out to be false rape allegations.

We'll bring you the results of the game when we get them.

PHILLIPS: Well, most of you can relate to this, I'm sure. When you call about airline reservations, the service rep may have an Indian accent. Well, it's the same whether you call your credit card company or computer company for tech support.

But who are the people building one of the world's fastest- growing economies? And are some getting left behind?

Our own Don Lemon has just arrived in India's capital, New Delhi, and he gives his first impressions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is probably one of the most crowded places you'll see on earth. This is New Delhi, and just getting through traffic here is amazing. People walk through this traffic just like I'm walking through.

This is a typical park. It's about 6:00 on a Sunday evening here, and it's called India Gate. There's a war memorial here to all the fallen Indian soldiers. It's much like central park. People are hanging out.

Over here, you've got people on the swan boats with their families. It's all about family. So they come to this park on a Sunday afternoon and they hang out with their families and then they go back to where they live. This is typical India, typical New Delhi, very crowded.

Just across town, this is about a 30-minute drive. You can see it's quite a different environment, quite a different atmosphere here. This is the heart of old Delhi. Everyone talks about this new burgeoning information and technology economy.

This is the old economy. These are shopkeepers and families. People come here to be able to afford to take care of their families, to send their children to school, to even take vacations. The shopkeepers tell me they make enough money in order to survive and to have a nice lifestyle.

How long you have owned this store?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-five years.

LEMON: Thirty-five years? How do you do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fine.

LEMON: You do fine?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LEMON: How many kids in your family?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are two. One brother, one sister.

LEMON: Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm also a parent (ph). I have two children -- one girl, one boy.

LEMON: And you all can live on the money from the store?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LEMON: Yes? So you do OK.

The economy here in India grows at a robust nine percent a year. But there is still dire poverty with many people, especially children, living on the street. And that outsourcing, tech support-driven economy that we hear so much about, it's only two percent and growing. The bulk of the economy here is still agrarian.

Don Lemon, CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Delta and Dawn, lost whales on the move. A progress report coming up, and it's a good one. But what's worrying the rescue crews now? Got something else on their minds.

The latest ahead in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Fearless flyers, they thrill millions of people with those high-risk maneuvers. Oh yes. We're going to ride with those stunt pilots straight ahead in the CNN -- we're going to pull a few Gs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Stunt pilots turning and twisting above many spectators. And lately we've seen just how dangerous those stunts can be, but that hasn't stopped these high flyers.

Our Miles O'Brien decided to ride around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: And we can roll again. One, quarter roll, opposite roll. One.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A lot of people think I'm loopy. Maybe so, but from where I'm sitting now, that's a compliment.

(on camera): A piece of cake, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A piece of cake.

O'BRIEN (voice over): I'm flying in formation over New York with air show pilot John Klatt, a man who cheats death for a living. Or so it may seem.

JOHN KLATT, AEROBATIC PILOT: We build trust, we work, we practice. What looks like is reckless and unpracticed is practiced every day.

O'BRIEN: In the past month, Klatt and the rest of the air show community got a couple of tragic reminders of how narrow their margin for error really is. A Blue Angels pilot dead after a crash in South Carolina. And a Canadian Snowbirds performer killed a few weeks later practicing in Montana.

SEAN TUCKER, AEROBATIC PILOT: This is not basket weaving 101. We can't afford to have a bad day. This is serious business. O'BRIEN: Sean Tucker has been performing at air shows for 30 years. The closest call he had came in practice last year when his controls broke.

TUCKER: I was able to get it up to a safe altitude, get it away from -- and put anybody in danger. And I had to leave my baby, which is an airplane I love very, very much.

O'BRIEN: Sean lived to smile and tell the tale, thanks to the parachute every aerobatic pilot...

(on camera): There we go.

(voice over): ... and passenger must wear -- snuggly, as I discovered.

But what about the safety of the millions of spectators? We've all seen the horrifying images. Five years ago in Ukraine, a Russian fighter cartwheeled into a crowd, killing more than 80. And in Germany in 1988, a midair collision by the Italian air force demonstration team killed more than 70 spectators.

JOHN CUDAHY, INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF AIR SHOWS: The regulations and the safety program that we have here in the United States is by far the most aggressive in the whole world.

O'BRIEN: John Cudahy heads the International Council of Air Shows. He says in the U.S., the planes and the crowd are kept much farther apart.

CUDAHY: We also make sure that when the pilots are flying aerobatic maneuvers, they're not directed at the crowd.

O'BRIEN (on camera): As a matter of fact, air shows in North America have an amazing safety record. The last time a spectator was killed as a result of an air show crash in the U.S. or Canada was 1952.

(voice over): Still, every year on average, two or three air show pilots lose their lives, giving it their all in the air, risky business indeed.

(on camera): Your wife would tell you, couldn't you have chosen being a banker or something?

UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: No, she knows it's in my blood.

O'BRIEN (voice over): The show must go on. Enjoy the thrill knowing they are the ones taking the risk.

(on camera): It's a beautiful day.

(voice over): Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Well, you might think that college students would have virtual Ph.D.s when it comes to things like cell phones and sneakers, but a new survey shows they are flunking out when it comes to knowing the brands behind the stuff they buy.

Susan Lisovicz is just on the money with the business report for me today. She joins us now from New York.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hi everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes in today for Don Lemon. His showbiz resume goes on for pages, but ask most fans about this guy and the first thing that comes to mind about Charles Nelson Reilly. What will they say Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Match Game. Did you know that?

We're remembering the life of Reilly with a fellow actor and Match Game survivor, Jo Anne Worley. T.J. is going to tell you all about him. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: With flags, flowers and solemn ceremonies, a grateful nation pauses to honor its war dead. One scene of tribuetes, this Memorial Day, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. Always a place to remember, reflect and grieve.

Earlier, President Bush made his sixth Memorial Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery as a wartime commander-in-chief. He laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns and paid tribute to all generations of military men and women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: The greatest memorial to our fallen troops cannot be found in the words we say or the places we gather. The more lasting tribute is all around us. A country where citizens have the right to worship as they want, to march for what they believe and to say what they think. These freedoms came at great costs, and they will survive only as long as there are those willing to step forward to defend them against determined enemies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And before the solemn visit, President Bush met privately with the families of several fallen U.S. troops at the White House.

Well, coming home from the war means the start of new struggles for many Iraq veterans. The physical and emotional wounds continue long after they leave the battlefield. One military family is coping with a lot of gratitude and love. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Army Sergeant Joshua Cope returned from Iraq six months ago. Two purple hearts and a medal of valor tell his harrowing tale of war.

JOSHUA COPE, ARMY SERGEANT: Watching my friends die was probably the worst thing. We were like a family over there. I was with those guys for like, two years.

GUTIERREZ: Staff Sergeant Joe Arivez (ph), PFC Jang Kim (ph) and PFC Daniel Allman (ph). Brothers in arms no more. Sergeant Cope was the only one from the group to come home alive. He was sent to Iraq not once, but twice. The first time he was shot in the leg during an ambush. Two years later, during his second tour, his humvee hit an EID.

COPE: We hit the land mine and I got blown, like 20 feet from the humvee. I remember looking up saying, oh, God, oh, God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You doing alright, Josh?

GUTIERREZ: At 24, Cope now has a new battle to fight.

COPE: I lost both my legs below the knee. My hand got pretty messed up. For me, probably just learning to walk again is probably the hardest thing for me, personally.

GUTIERREZ: Emotionally, Cope says the hardest thing was losing his best friend. He wears Arivez's name on his wrist.

COPE: Signifies the date that he lost his life in Iraq. I never take it off.

GUTIERREZ: Cope says this is his reason to go on, Delany and his wife, Erica (ph).

ERICA COPE, COPE'S WIFE: I just think we're one of the lucky ones. Because there's a lot of soldiers who aren't coming home and I still do have a husband and then my daughter still has a father.

GUTIERREZ: And this young family knows they have a long road ahead. Erica has not left her husband's side.

LINDA COPE, JOSHUA COPE'S MOTHER: Erica is my hero. She's 22 years old, and she has the maturity and wisdom that has encouraged me and made me go, gosh, she doesn't complain.

GUTIERREZ: Richard Rees, a former marine, helps Joshua out around the house. Both know war.

RICHARD REES, OPERATION HOMEFRONT: I said if you care to share with me what happened, I'm a good listener. Oh, man, we both started bawling. I haven't cried like that for a long, long time, probably overdue. See, I'm getting choked.

COPE: Delaney.

ERICA COPE: That's kind of been his strength, I think, a lot, is being there for his daughter. And he wants to run, you know, chase her around.

GUTIERREZ: And when she's old enough, this soldier wants to walk his daughter down the aisle.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, San Diego.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And there might be some light at the end of the river. Two lost whales stuck in freshwater for about two weeks, have started swimming toward the open ocean. The coast guard and veterinarians are following along to try to keep the humpbacks safe and healthy. CNN's Dan Simon joins us now, by phone, once again with the latest. Dan?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra. Well, maybe these whales know what they're doing after all. They are headed down river. Last check they were about 35 miles away from the Pacific Ocean. All these efforts, you know, the banging of the pipes, the flotilla of boats, the playing of whale sounds. In the end it didn't mean a whole lot, because these whales weren't cooperating, but then over the weekend, all of a sudden they just started going down river. And now crews are very encouraged and they talk about -- talked about what's on tap today.

PHILLIPS: And, Dan, still the goal is to get Dawn and Delta to get underneath that Golden Gate Bridge, right?

SIMON: That's right, the Golden Gate Bridge is the pearly gates, so to speak. Once they are -- they go through the bridge, they are in the Pacific Ocean. We do have some sound of what crews talked about in terms of putting -- administering antibiotics to these whales in the wild. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNADETTE FEES, C.A. DEPT. OF FISH AND GAME: They'll attempt to do a couple things. One will be to administer the doses of a second antibiotic to both mother and calf. The calf gets one dose, and the mother will receive three doses, which is similar to what happened on Saturday. And then they will also be working to take a biopsy of the calf.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: You may want to know how you give antibiotics to whales in the wild. Well, this is the first time it has ever been done. What they do is basically use a dart gun, and it's filled with a syringe, they just aim it at the whales and boom all of a sudden you've injected some antibiotics.

Now, in the mother whale, those syringes are still hanging off her body, so to speak. So, at some point, they say those syringes will just fall off, but if you get close enough to those whales, you can actually see the syringes, apparently coming off of that whale.

PHILLIPS: Were they able to tag either one or both with the satellite devices so they will be able to track them?

SIMON: Not yet. That's something they wanted to do, and, you know, from a public fascination point of view, it sure would be interesting to follow these whales, you know, a few months beyond. That is something that they may try if they're in position to. It's a delicate procedure. They don't want to harm these whales any more than they have -- they haven't really harmed them, but they want to make sure they do it carefully. They may attempt it if they get close enough.

PHILLIPS: And, initially they thought the whales might have been injured because of propellers, is that right?

SIMON: Originally they thought it was a large ship propeller, and then they revised that, now they say possibly a keel from a boat. They're really not sure. They were concerned that those wounds were not healing. They felt like if they got the whales into saltwater those injuries would heal faster. Now based upon where they are at this moment, they are in saltwater, so that is good news and hopefully they'll continue on in that direction.

PHILLIPS: Last week, I remember, Dan, they we aren't allowing any recreational boaters get close to the whales. I'm noticing in some of this video, besides the scientists trying to work with the whales, there were some onlookers that got pretty close. Are they letting some of the locals get closer to the whales now or no?

SIMON: We are told there is a 500 yard safety zone around these whales, so think about five football fields. You can't really get close to them. I'm not exactly sure what you're seeing, but in terms of today, they're not letting boaters get close. And of course, this being a major holiday, a lot of folks are out on the water today, and there is a perimeter that is being enforced.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Dan Simon, good to talk to you.

HOLMES: It's the face that launched a thousand quips, and a wardrobe that was just as snappy as his one-liners. We are remembering Charles Nelson Reilly, ahead, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Few assignments tug on the emotions of a photographer like a military funeral. Those with the Associated Press certainly know this firsthand, as you are about to see.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A roadside bomb kills --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq in two days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the highest toll for any four month stretch since the Iraq conflict.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watching the families, watching the mothers, the fathers and the children, you know, it's pretty emotional to watch that. Fathers who you know were looking forward to their sons coming back and leading a great life with their sons and seeing that wiped out in a moment like that, it can jerk on your heart strings a little.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My feelings are kind of secondary. Sometimes you lose it, but mostly that's later when you look at the pictures and you get a chance to really -- maybe you are focusing on the mother and realized that hiding behind her were a couple children and you start thinking about the fact that all of their futures will be spent without their father. Hopefully that's what the people that look at the pictures come away with, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hits a small town differently than when somebody's from Chicago or something like that. I was going into communities where everyone in town knew this soldier. You have to keep that in mind wherever you go, when you're checking into the hotel, when you're in a restaurant, because these people are grieving along with the family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most difficult part is to not intrude on the privacy and sanctity of the proceedings, to let the people have closure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could spend the day covering a soldier's funeral, and seeing his parents an his mother lingering over his casket and go out tonight with dinner at friends and everyone's talking about their day, and your mind goes back to that family, that moment. It does sort of send a slow, sad drumbeat through your core, but that's what we do, and I think we're doing a good thing by being there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: We also remember a woman who came up with this idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died serving the nation during the war. She was the first to wear one and she sold poppies to her friends and co-workers, with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Her name is Moina Michael and she wrote this poem: We Cherish too, the poppy red. That grows on fields where valor led. It seems to signal to the skies that blood of heroes never dies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you give me when we go to that motel in Encino?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Goose pimples.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You scared the heck out of me there. Come on, Charles, be serious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what is the owner of the motel get every time he sees you two pulling up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Goose pimples.

PHILLIPS: It was risky and risque business that made the Match Game a huge hit in the 70s. And Charles Nelson Reilly was one of the celebrity panelists that pushed it the most. And as we reported, Reilly died Friday in Los Angeles, but we want to reminisce about him and about that iconic game show, with someone who was right there. Actress Jo Anne Worley joins me from New York to talk about her good friend -- and Jo Anne, I must say, did you just -- you just never had a birthday. Look at you.

JO ANNE WORLEY, ACTRESS: I know!

PHILLIPS: You look fantastic.

WORLEY: Well, it's the heart. If you wear a hat, trust me, it really helps.

PHILLIPS: I'm going to remember that.

WORLEY: Yes. I didn't know what to wear, because we're hear to talk about Charles, who I love very much, but when you think of Charles, all you can do is laugh. He could make the word, "word" funny. He was so delicious to know as a friend. I knew him from Hello Dolly when it first opened on Broadway. And he was Cornelius Hackle in that. And of course, How to Succeed in Business, he got a Tony, so he's a Broadway person, which by the way, I'm in town doing Drowsing Chaperone on Broadway.

PHILLIPS: And you've even said that you've even channeled Charles many a times.

WORLEY: Just recently.

PHILLIPS: OK. Tell me about that.

WORLEY: Well, I was talking to someone, telling a story and all of a sudden I was sounding like -- and I said, oh, I'm talking like Charles Nelson Reilly. He's so infectious and he is -- so delicious. Now I have a musical tribute to Charles, would you like to hear it?

PHILLIPS: Oh, please.

WORLEY: Because he passed away, he was 76-years-old. So guess what the song is?

PHILLIPS: Oh, no.

WORLEY: Yes. Seventy-six-years-old when he passed away, not 110 away some people say. Now he's up in the sky and we say good-bye to Charles Nelson Reilly! Love you, Charles.

PHILLIPS: Could we have a standing ovation here? The NEWSROOM is standing up right now in your honor and in his honor. You know, that's how you were, the two of you, everybody on that show, I guess even just your group of friends anywhere that you were, I understand the cameras were always rolling, even when you went into commercial break, and things got a little crazy. You have to tell us some of the behind the scenes of how nutty it got.

WORLEY: Well, sometimes you know -- we would shoot five of those shows in one day and there would be a dinner break. And back in those days, they don't do it anymore, but they might have wine available to people during the dinner break. And hello! Sometimes by the fourth -- you always wanted to watch the show on a Friday. You wouldn't want to miss a Friday. That would be like missing the day Rosie O'Donnell was on the view for the last time.

PHILLIPS: Yes, we kind of wondered if there were a few cocktails involved in those commercial breaks.

WORLEY: Oh, yes.

PHILLIPS: Of course, we never do that here. We are very ligit and straight forward.

WORLEY: No, we're all too professional for that.

PHILLIPS: That's right.

WORLEY: Who knew we'd grow up?

PHILLIPS: Live and learn. What do you think the best memory, one of the best moments with him?

WORLEY: With Charles, I was talking on the street in New York, years ago, and he was sitting at a table like they do when it was open, and he --we sat down and talked and played and laughed. That is the main -- and he told me the story of how he tried to serve a dinner -- cook a dinner in his apartment for some friends, and it was, he had bugs, and he opened up the pasta and put it in the hot water and it was like a black scum all over the top of the boiling water, because all the bugs rose to the top, and what he did, he didn't have any other food to serve them, so he skimmed off the bugs, and rinsed the pasta, and served it to the guests. I think just a little extra protein is what he said.

PHILLIPS: Just a little something.

Jo Anne I have to tell you, it was fascinating sitting in our NEWSROOM meeting today. Because we have all different ages, all different backgrounds, T.J., don't give me that look, now, we had to tell T.J. a bit about the Match Game. But it was interesting just to see what people remembered and what people were learning. It was an interesting generational moment.

What is it that you want the younger generation just to remember about this time, about him, about his sense of humor, about how television was. We don't really have what you had during that time. Very raw and uncensored.

WORLEY: I think freedom is the word. We had a great deal of freedom and we were encouraged. I know on Laugh-In we were encouraged to contribute and add and go with our gut instinct feeling. Obviously we did the script also. And when we do the game shows, we took each of us took that game show seriously, because people had something at stake. They wanted to win, either money or prizes, so we didn't mess around too much, but one of the things I think that Charles had personally -- because I was thinking about it -- showed me the importance of sounds in comedy. Sometimes I do things, and he would go hello! and I find myself hello!, it's like a timing device. They would say on Laugh-In let's give this joke to Jo Anne, because she would make it funny, and it usually when I made it funny it had something to do with the sound. And Charles Nelson Reilly was a wonderful actor, singer and director. You know, he directed opera, also.

PHILLIPS: You know, he even said that, Cody said when I die, it's going to read game show fixture passes away, nothing about the theater or Tony awards or Emmy's, but it doesn't bother me.

WORLEY: I will tell you what, I read the "New York Times," this morning, and they mentioned all his Tonys and all his directing and all that. But also a part of the era back then, there were so many celebrity-driven game shows that it was a part of our, you know, scenery. We were there, you did it, and it was fun. It was fun, because we got to play with people that we could laugh with. So we enjoyed it, and we're all going to miss Uncle Charles.

PHILLIPS: Oh, Jo Anne, you brought back a special time for so many of us. It was great to see you. We enjoyed it, very much. Everyone in the control room there all saying, she looks fantastic, that was wonderful.

WORLEY: Hat. Wear a hat.

PHILLIPS: It's the hat. Alright I'm going to remember the hat.

And don't ever tell her age, alright?

WORLEY: No. Gosh, no.

PHILLIPS: Jo Anne, great to see you.

WORLEY: Nice seeing you. Bye-bye.

PHILLIPS: Bye-bye.

HOLMES: Well, we know the age of this next actress, unfortunately she's been in a bit of trouble, all before she's 21. Lindsay Lohan arrested Saturday in Beverly Hills on suspicion of driving under the influence. Police say she was speeding when her Mercedes convertible hit a curb. It happened to be an SL-65, which is worth about $180,000, by the way. She was treated a hospital for minor injuries. Authorities say, a small amount, of what appeared to be cocaine was found in that car. She could face felony charges and it is her third accident in the past two years.

PHILLIPS: See, there's your difference in generations, Jo Anne Worley and Lindsay Lohan. Times have changed.

Well imagine running into this thing. A hog reportedly weighing more than 1,000 pounds. Coming up, we'll tell you about the kid who took the beast down.

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