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Memorial Day In Iraq; U.S.-Iran Talks; Separated By Iraq; Summer Travel & Gas Prices; Fries & A Portrait; Gay Rights Violence in Moscow
Aired May 28, 2007 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: To discuss security in Iraq. The first formal U.S.-Iranian talks since the Carter presidency.
MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: Memorial Day in America. The nation pauses to honor the men and women who gave their lives in war. And President Bush, live at the Tomb of the Unknowns next hour.
HARRIS: Moms home from war. And, boy, is someone happy to see her? Surprise reunion on Monday, May 28th, Memorial Day. You are in the NEWSROOM.
LONG: Memorial Day in America. Your flags, parades and cookouts all in a nation at war and locked in debate. The future of U.S. troops in Iraq and in harm's way. This hour, the tributes on the home front and on the front lines.
HARRIS: Pride, sacrifice, service, watch words of any day in Iraq. They resonate even more deeply for U.S. troops on Memorial Day. CNN's Arwa Damon is with U.S. troops in Yusufiya.
Arwa, good to see you.
If you would, tell us about the ceremonies going on there to mark this Memorial Day 2007.
All right. And we will make a better connection with Arwa Damon in just a couple of minutes and have her report for you in just moments here in the NEWSROOM.
Adding up the casualty figures for U.S. troops in Iraq. The military says seven Americans were killed Saturday. The fatalities bring the death toll for May to 103. That makes this month one of the deadliest since the invasion in 2003. The monthly U.S. death toll in Iraq has topped 100 only six other times in the 51 months since 2003. And 3,454 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq.
LONG: Security in Iraq, the focus of today's historic meeting in Baghdad. Representatives from the U.S. and Iran face to face. CNN's Zain Verjee is live in Washington.
And, Zain, did you since some good will?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Melissa, there's really more of a sense of suspicion and mistrust on both sides in the sense of good will. I mean no one was expecting any real miracles here. But the fact that these talks actually happened is important. They're the first direct, official talks between the U.S. and Iran in almost 30 years. U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, described the meeting as business-like. Saying that there was really broad agreement.
And the talks were four hours long. And the focus was only Iraq and how to end the bloodshed. Here's how Crocker put the U.S. position forward to Iran.
Well, he says that he basically presented to Iran the fact that the U.S. accuses Iran of supporting and funding and arming militias that kill U.S. troops. Now he said that Iran did not directly respond to the U.S. accusation and only Iraq was discussed at the talks, nothing else. Crocker also said that overall it was positive but really, Melissa, how much of a difference it's going to make on the ground in Iraq and both sides really will be watching to see if their actions will back up their words.
LONG: Four hours of talks after nearly 30 years. What about Iran? What did Iran have to say at the meeting?
VERJEE: Well, Ambassador Crocker says Iran stressed that it supports Iraq and also called the U.S. presence in Iraq an occupation. Iran says it just wants the U.S. to leave. Iran, Crocker added, was also not happy with how the training and the equipping of Iraqi security forces was going. Crocker says too that the Iranians came up with a whole idea of a three-way plan between the U.S., Iran and Iraq to coordinate security. He says that that's really a decision for Washington to make.
Melissa.
LONG: Zain Verjee live in Washington.
Zain, thank you.
HARRIS: Well, this Memorial Day, a washout in much of the nation's mid section. In the southern Plains, serious problems from too much rain. Much of central Texas is reeling from flash floods. Look at this. Two men whose vehicles were swept away by high water are still missing and presumed dead. That would raise the flooding death toll in Texas to seven.
More serious flooding problems in parts of Kansas and Oklahoma. This scene at the Hutchinson, Kansas, zoo, where a lot of animals had to be moved to higher ground. At least they're OK.
LONG: Yes. Quite a challenge, though, for the zookeepers there.
HARRIS: Yes.
Let's check in now with Jacqui Jeras in the Severe Weather Center.
Jacqui, good morning to you.
(WEATHER REPORT) HARRIS: Let's get you back to CNN's Arwa Damon now with U.S. troops in Yusufiya.
Arwa, if you would, tell us about the ceremonies going on there to mark Memorial Day 2007.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, here at (INAUDIBLE) Yusufiya, home of the 4th Battalion 31st Infantry Regimen, there was a memorial ceremony for the five American soldiers and the Iraqi soldier who died fighting alongside them follow that May 12th ambush that still has two soldiers missing that the search is ongoing for in all of its intensity. But it was a very somber memorial. It was really to honor those who had fallen, to remember them. And it gave for soldiers here a few moments to be able to really let go of their emotions.
This is a very demanding mission, very demanding times for all of these young men. And what many of them said to us was that, at times, yes, it is overwhelming, but that you somehow still do find the strength to put one foot in front of another and just keep going. Many of them saying that they do that mainly for their fellow comrades standing right next to them. They cannot over emphasize enough how they really feel that their fellow soldiers are closer to them than their families.
And in the words of the platoon leader, Lieutenant Morgan Springblaze (ph), this is what he said at the memorial ceremony. He said, "these men all fought and died with honor, but now we must look to tomorrow. For the fallen, we will avenge you. For the lost, we will find you."
Tony.
HARRIS: Arwa, I asked you this question as couple of times last week. Let me start this week with the same question. Is the military continuing to get good leads, actionable leads, that they can move on in the search for the missing soldiers?
DAMON: Well, Tony, this is what the military is telling us. They are telling us they are systematically putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Following the attack, they rounded up hundreds of detainees and began gathering information, intelligence, using interrogation and a number of other means that they have to try to put together really the pieces of this puzzle.
Each lead leads them one step in a direction. And they've been following multiple leads at the same time. And they have gone to great lengths to make sure that they are fully exploring every single lead.
And what they do now believe is that they are, in fact, getting closer to putting together those pieces of the puzzle to figure out exactly what happened at 4:44 on May 12th. And they do believe that they are getting closer to finding those two missing soldiers.
Tony. HARRIS: OK. CNN's Arwa Damon with U.S. troops in Yusufiya.
Arwa, thank you.
They gave their lives for their country. President Bush honors the fallen today. The wreath laying live 10:55 Eastern right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LONG: Separated by Iraq and married over the phone and talking to us live in the NEWSROOM. Hope you'll stay tuned for that conversation.
HARRIS: America takes a holiday. Rising gas prices don't necessarily. Are soaring costs curbing your travel plans? CNN's Greg Hunter checks in, where the rubber meets the road.
LONG: And he didn't run out of paint, he just likes painting with ketchup.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON BAALMAN, PAINTS WITH KETCHUP: Just squirt it out of the packets. You know, sometimes I'm using the packets actually to draw with and other times it's the french fry that is moving the ketchup around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: Yes, fries with that as well. Anticipation, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Welcome back, everyone, I'm Tony Harris and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Americans at the wall honoring the nation's war dead on this Memorial Day. Live coverage all day right here for you in the NEWSROOM.
And home from war, facing a new battle. And by his side, an army of loved ones. The story of Sergeant Coke (ph) in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Good morning to you on this Memorial Day.
A soldier and sweetheart separated by Iraq. They got married over the phone shortly after his deployment. So now they're on a sort of long distance honeymoon. Sergeant Kevin Creel joins us live from Camp Victory in Iraq, and wife, Tara Creel, is on the phone from Nacogdoches, Texas.
Thanks so much for your time this morning. We appreciate both of you.
SGT. KEVIN CREEL, U.S. ARMY: Thank you.
LONG: So tell me, Sergeant, you had been dating a of couple months. You were deployed to Iraq and you just couldn't stand the thought of not being together. How did you decide to get married over the phone?
K. CREEL: We had actually been talking about getting married. We had already been planning a wedding and everything for whenever I got back. And the more we talked about it, the more anxious we both got. And we figured the only way to do it quickly would be to see if we could get help from the state of Texas. And they were great.
LONG: OK. So, Tara, take me through the steps of the vows. Did you have an opportunity to get dressed up? Did you have rings? What type of vows did you have?
TARA CREEL, HUSBAND SERVING IN IRAQ: We actually did it over my lunch break from work. And we got a marriage license and we had someone stand in for him, a good family friend. And we went to the courthouse and had a judge marry us. And then I went back to work.
LONG: OK. Did you have a nice lunch at any point to celebrate this wonderful occasion?
T. CREEL: It was kind of quick. We just stopped for some fast food and then I just went back to work. But it was great.
LONG: Fast food, OK.
Sergeant Creel, when you are in Iraq, separate from your bride, your blushing bride, how do you keep in touch? How do you keep that romance alive?
K. CREEL: We've actually been very lucky. The job that I work at allows me to call home several times a week, unlike a lot of other guys who are stationed out on the outlying areas that can't get to the phone. So I try to stay in touch that way. And, of course, e-mail as often as possible.
LONG: Tara, do you have a support system back home or do you find yourself constantly longing to be together?
T. CREEL: Of course, I find myself longing to be with him, but I do have a wonderful family support. My parents are close by and his family is amazing and very supportive of this as well.
LONG: So you have to look until next February on the calendar before the two of you can be together?
T. CREEL: Well, he's actually supposed to get to come home for two weeks in September. And I'm waiting very patiently for that. And then February for him to come home for good.
LONG: OK, Sergeant, the pressure is on, September, two weeks, what are we going to do during that two-week interval? K. CREEL: Well, I promised my new little boy that we would take a Disney trip, so that's going to be the focal point. But just being able to spend time, being able to relax and actually being able to look at each other instead of just hear each other's voice on the phone, that will be the biggest thing.
LONG: All right. So September you have a brief break. And then February you're due to come back home?
K. CREEL: Hopefully in mid to late February, but we're, you know, we're going to wait to hear on that.
LONG: OK. And I have to also ask, do you have rings? Are you both wearing rings today? Wedding bands?
K. CREEL: Yes, ma'am.
LONG: You are?
K. CREEL: Always.
LONG: And how did you end up getting that? How did the both of you end up with the rings?
K. CREEL: Through the mail. That was the only way we could make sure we got them.
LONG: Was that FedEx, DHL or just regular snail mail?
K. CREEL: It seemed like it took forever, but I think it was probably as quickly as they could get it here.
LONG: Well, Sergeant Creel and Tara, I just want to ask you as well. Of course, today is Memorial Day. Any special message that you have for each other or perhaps for others who are separate from their loved ones on this day?
T. CREEL: I love you so much and I am waiting patiently for you to come home and I will be here waiting for you.
LONG: Sergeant?
K. CREEL: Thank you. I love you, too. And I miss you. I know that the families go through a lot right now and this is the first time I've had to experience being away from my family. So God bless all you guys back home. We miss you and we'll be home soon.
LONG: Sergeant Creel and Tara Creel, thanks so much. And I hope when you reunite in September you'll have an opportunity to not only go to see Mickey Mouse but have something more than fast food in order to celebrate your union. Thanks so much.
K. CREEL: Thank you very much.
LONG: Thanks so much.
T. CREEL: Thank you.
HARRIS: Oh, that was outstanding. Good stuff. Good stuff.
They gave their lives for their country. President Bush honors the fallen today. The wreath laying live, 10:55 Eastern right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The anguish of war. Photographs filled with pain. You'll remember these images long after this Memorial Day is over. You can see them coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Summer travel and gas prices are climbing with the temperatures. Will those soaring costs curb your travel plans? We're putting that question to the test over the next three days. CNN's Greg Hunter will drive 600 miles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Behind me, beautiful Columbus, Ohio. We're shoving off from here in our little adventure. You know, a lot of people here in Ohio travel to the coast for summer vacation. And one of the great destinations is Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. North and South Carolina, really. So let's take a look at our route.
We'll be shoving off from Columbus, Ohio, and we'll be traveling to Greensboro, North Carolina. A lovely city. Used to live there. We'll spend the night there. Then the next day we'll get up and we'll head to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
But before we take our trip, we took a trip to a local Target store. We bought, you know, sundries and treats, a cooler, water, soda. All that stuff saves time and money on the road. It's cheaper to get it at a big department store. You don't have to make as many stops.
Finally, I got on gaspricewatch.com and found the cheapest fuel here in the Columbus, Ohio, area. I put in the zip code and it came up with $3.37 a gallon at a local Sonoco station. We already had gas in the vehicle, so we just topped off the tank. All that set. Day one totals, gasoline $10. Extra, $59.16. A grand total for day one, $69.16.
Two of the best things you can do for a summer vacation driving to save money on gasoline, number one, check your tire pressure. This is an air gauge. Number two, slow down a little bit. Knock five or 10 miles an hour off your speed. You can save a lot on gas mileage.
Greg Hunter, CNN, Columbus, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: Tony, what are you having on that burger later, Heinz or Hunts?
HARRIS: Heinz is what it -- yes.
LONG: Well, America loves their ketchup.
HARRIS: Yes.
LONG: Whether it's Heinz or Hunts or a store brand, whatever. So does an artist in Colorado. To him, it is paint. Here's reporter McKenzie Martin of our affiliate KKTV.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BAALMAN, PAINTS WITH KETCHUP: Well, I was just sitting around in my studio and cleaning up and found a ketchup packet and remembered working, you know, that last little bit of ketchup to make it -- get on all the fries. And it just seemed like something fun to try to do.
MCKENZIE MARTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): And so using only ketchup and french fries.
BAALMAN: You know, just squirt it out of the packets. You know, sometimes I'm using the packets actually to draw with and other times it's the french fry that is moving the ketchup around.
MARTIN: Jason Baalman painted these two portraits of Ronald McDonald and Morgan Spurlock from Super Size Me.
BAALMAN: No one's ever seen me. I do this in the middle of the night.
MARTIN: But when he put this time lapse of him painting on YouTube, the response he received was overwhelming.
BAALMAN: E-mails, phone calls. Millions of people had seen it. My phone was ringing off the hook.
MARTIN: Since then, Jason's had to invest in a lot more ketchup and he's become a regular at McDonald's.
BAALMAN: It take some tricks and every french fry is different. It's not as friendly as paint, but it's, you know, like anything else, it's learning to, you know, adapt the medium.
MARTIN: He's doing a pretty good job. Jason's had so much success with ketchup, he says he's been experimenting with a few other things.
BAALMAN: I've actually done chocolate paintings. I make my own paints with chocolate. Mascara. Something called Vegemite from Australia, crayons, coloring crayons. Just coming up with things that can work that seem entertaining to people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Good.
LONG: Very creative.
HARRIS: Yes. I didn't expect that. That was great.
Signs of hope. Delta and Dawn, the mother and child whales, on the move this morning. Rescue teams watching closely as they make progress toward the ocean. For days, the whales seemed stuck about 70 miles upstream in the Sacramento River. Scientists tried all sorts of things to get them turned around but didn't have much luck. Yesterday the whales started swimming toward the sea on their own. The concern right now, keeping them away from big ships in the San Francisco Bay.
LONG: No support. Gay rights activists attacked in Moscow right in front of police and then arrested. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Fearless fliers? They thrill millions with those high- risk maneuvers. Whoa! Riding with the stunt pilots, ahead in the NEWSROOM.
LONG: Did you see the smile on Miles' face?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And here we are coming up on the half hour. Good Memorial Day to you, everyone. Good morning. I'm Tony Harris.
LONG: Good morning. I'm Melissa Long, in for Heidi.
And we're going focus now on central Baghdad. Powerful car bomb blows. Dozens dead and wounded. Government officials say the blast shattered a busy commercial district. At least 21 civilians are dead, 66 others are wounded. Police believe civilians were indeed the intended targets. And earlier in the day, police got into a shootout with gunmen who had hijacked two mini busses. Three police officers were killed and four wounded.
HARRIS: Looking for two of their own in Iraq. The U.S. Army conducting another mission to find those missing soldiers. They were taken after a deadly May 12th ambush. A scout team searching a village on an island in the Euphrates River. The military was told the soldiers could have been taken to the island, then moved out of the area. Six thousand U.S. and Iraqi forces are searching south of Baghdad; 16 people are in custody. The military says four are directly involved in the abduction of the soldiers.
They gave their lives for their country. President Bush honors the fallen today. The wreath laying live, 10:55 Eastern, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LONG: It is about 25 minutes from now. We want the weather to hold out. I was looking, looked like there were clouds moving in.
HARRIS: Overcast skies?
LONG: Yeah.
HARRIS: Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras now, in the Weather Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
A violent reaction in Moscow to a call for gay rights. CNN's Matthew Chance has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Peter Tatchel (ph) is one of Europe's most prominent gay rights activists. This was his reception in the Russian capital. His attacker was an anti-gay protestor, apparently undeterred by the heavy police and media presence.
After he had recovered, Tatchel (ph), who was attending an unauthorized gay rights march, was arrested and taken away. He wasn't the only casualty.
RICHARD FAIRBRASS, POP SINGER: We're here just here to support the demonstration. Yeah. Yeah. No, we've literally been here two minutes. Just two minutes.
(CROWD SHOUTING IN RUSSIAN)
CHANCE: Richard Fairbrass, of the pop, Right Said Fred, was also punched in the face. A number of European parliamentarians, supporting gay rights, say they were also assaulted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you talking to them? Why don't you protect us? Where is the police? I'm a member of parliament. I'm a member of parliament. Why you don't protect --
CHANCE: The issue of gay rights in Russia is proving increasingly controversial. Uniting communists, right wing extremists, and the devoutly religious in their opposition.
This seems to be official sanction, too. The powerful mayor of Moscow has described homosexuality as satanic, ruling out any legal gay parades in the Russian capital. This march was meant to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality here. But it seems on the issue of gay rights, many Russians prefer living in the past. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: Weren't they surprised? What a special gift. Ah, a mom in uniform makes her daughters' special day even more special. The story coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Well, there goes the neighborhood. Seriously, a home in foreclosure, an angry owner, and three little pigs set loose to do pig business. The story in the NEWSROOM.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz in New York on this Memorial Day when NEWSROOM returns, I'll grill Tony and Melissa about a sizzling business, the business of barbecue, next.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Good morning. A South Carolina mother, thousands of miles from her family, deployed in Iraq. But this Memorial Day weekend she pulled off a big surprise. The story from WCBD's Octavia Mitchell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say I love you and I miss you.
OCTAVIA MITCHELL, REPORTER, WCBD TV: Taylor Deal thought she was celebrating her 10th birthday without her mom. She also thought she was filming a greeting for her mom who was deployed in Iraq.
When asked how she would feel if her mom were at her birthday, she says --
TAYLOR DEAL, DAUGHTER: I would be really happy because it's first time that she's ever been away for my birthday.
MITCHELL: As it turns out Taylor thought wrong and her surprise birthday gift was not wrapped in decorative paper, but in military uniform.
T. DEAL: Ah!
DEAL: Hey, baby. Hi. How are you? How are you? Oh. It's all right. It's all right.
Hi. Hi, handsome, how are you? I love you.
MITCHELL: Airman Tech Sergeant Caroline Deal had been deployed in Iraq for four months. Her children did not know when she would be coming home.
CAROLINE DEAL, AIRMAN TECH SERGEANT: It's a wonderful feeling. I miss them. And it was hard to lie to my kids for the first time. You know, telling them that I might not make it home. But it's a good feeling to be home, it definitely is.
MITCHELL: A special gift not only for the birthday girl but the entire family.
(SINGING): Happy birthday dear, Taylor. Happy birthday to you!
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: Happy birthday, Taylor. Touching story from our affiliate WCBD in Charleston, South Carolina.
HARRIS: Hot dogs, hamburgers are as much a part of the Memorial Day as the red, white and blue, which means this is like Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving combined for the barbecue industry. How about that? Susan Lisovicz joins us now with more of the numbers on this sizzling business.
Susan, good Memorial Day to you.
LISOVICZ: And a happy one to you, Tony. And to all of our viewers. Hopefully they are with family and loved ones today.
HARRIS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: It is so important to the barbecue business. May is National Barbecue Month. Surprise, surprise, Memorial Day one of the three most popular grilling holidays along with 4th of July and Labor Day.
The popularity of grilling is growing. The Hearth Patio & Barbecue Association says 17 million grills were shipped last year, that's up 15 percent from '05 and up from 11 million from 1985. Here's some etiquette for you.
If you're invited to a cookout this Memorial Day, bring the potato salad or steak sauce, but don't touch the grill. The primary griller in the majority of households considers him or himself to be an average or above average cook, and you wouldn't want to step on that person's toes or ego.
Tony, my guess is you're quite the master of grilling.
HARRIS: Grill master, perfectly said.
LISOVICZ: Absolutely. With the spatula and the tongs, you can probably throw them both up in the air.
HARRIS: Thank you, Susan, and the apron, as well.
LISOVICZ: Do you know the breakdown? Do you have any idea what the break down is, you guys?
HARRIS: No.
LISOVICZ: Sexes, between men and women?
HARRIS: No.
LISOVICZ: Well, according to the Hearth Patio & Barbecue Association. They say 66 percent, the grillers, men. So it's still -- you still have this male --
HARRIS: It's a fraternity.
LISOVICZ: Something about fire and men.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: There you go. You know what, I am caught in this debate and I'm losing it. I would prefer to go with charcoal. But for expediency and everything else, you know, we -- all right, we gave in and now we're going with --
LISOVICZ: You're the connoisseur, Tony. You're the slow-food movement.
HARRIS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: They have their advantages and disadvantage. Gas grills, of course, take less time to heat up and cool down. They usually cost more. When it comes to taste, Tony Harris knows, the grill master, most say no contest. Charcoal grills come out on top.
There still, it seems, that convenience. Everyone's so busy, don't have the time. Convenience wins over taste in the eyes of America. Sales of gas grills have tripled since 1985. While charcoal grills sales have declined.
Of course, while Americans are hitting the Memorial Day circuits, the markets are closed today. I'll be back down on Wall Street tomorrow.
Last week the Dow industrials edged lower, snapping a streak of seven straight weekly gains. So a little bit of a pullback there, but it wasn't major.
Tony, Melissa, back to you.
HARRIS: I'm upgrading the grill next year. Oh, maybe --
LISOVICZ: I think the whole control room is waiting for the party.
HARRIS: Yeah.
LISOVICZ: Now that you have touted your skills.
LONG: I didn't get an invite or anything.
HARRIS: Let's put a little something together, a little impromptu something here in the NEWSROOM. We can do that. All right.
Susan, see you next hour.
LISOVICZ: You got it.
LONG: Thank you.
Well, you have heard about a house being a pigsty, right?
HARRIS: Yes.
LONG: This is a story we've been wait for all morning. This is pretty ridiculous. It's an Oregon home, trashed because of them -- the culprits -- the piggies. Three of them, three little piggies. They're not little. Where's the owner? That's what police want to know. They say this home was in foreclosure and left to the pigs. Details from Scott Burton of our affiliate KGW.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he busted it all to pieces. All the windows are broken. Obviously dumped some gravel on top of the roofline. He took his excavator and smashed it into the wall.
SCOTT BURTON, REPORTER, KGW TV (voice over): Pat Bradshaw couldn't believe his eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trashed. It's almost like he had to collect trash to put that much trash in there.
BURTON: He returned from California Thursday to find his neighbor's home in ruins.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see any way to salvage it.
BURTON: There was hardly a spot left untouched, the front brickwork, gone. The back concrete patio, rubble. It was awful to find. Then, Pat found more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That door right over there, the red frame door, they were looking right out of that, three of them. Three little pigs in the house. A huff and a puff and blew the house down.
BURTON: Almost too much to fathom, left inside this ramshackle residence were three red-haired round, snouted pigs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously it ripped the porch off, so they couldn't get out. So we had to call the sheriff to come and let them out.
BURTON: Police still can't prove that Shane Lovett is behind all this but the three-foot tall letters on the side of his former home have given them a reason to look in his direction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe he signed it to let them know it was him.
BURTON: We tried to find Lovett at his new rental home this afternoon to ask him about it, but all we found this time was his last name. No sign of the 33-year-old. At last check police haven't caught up with him either. But according to Pat Bradshaw, he's been around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday afternoon, I saw him drive by.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: What about the piggies, right?
HARRIS: What about the piggies? LONG: Cute little red-snouted, red-haired piggies. Well, an animal rescue effort who freed them from that home said they're a little dehydrated but they're just fine.
HARRIS: Now they're OK? Pigs are going to be all right?
LONG: Why? Do you want a pet?
HARRIS: I'm just thinking, we're talking about grilling --
LONG: No -- Tony!
HARRIS: What? What happened?
LONG: Cruel.
HARRIS: What?
LONG: Cruel.
HARRIS: What?!
LONG: No.
HARRIS: What happened?
LONG: No.
HARRIS: Something just happened? Did you say something?
LONG: No. Let's put that veggie dog on the --
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, historic meeting, U.S. and Iranian diplomats in formal talks for the first time since the hostage crises, ahead in the NEWSROOM
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: They gave their lives for their country. President Bush honors the fallen today. The wreath laying live just minutes from now; 10:55 Eastern right here in the NEWSROOM.
Memorial Day is for remembering, remembering our loved ones serving overseas and remembering those we lost. CNN's Robin Meade has one family's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WENDY RAFFERTY, HUSBAND DIED IN AFGHANISTAN: I wondered if it's comforting to walk by this, or if it's difficult every day to walk by this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me, it's comforting that I see this picture. I'm thinking he's saying it's OK. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I disagree. Every single time I walk by this, it just -- it's a real downer. I miss him.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is going to be the first Memorial Day since your dad passed on, and since your husband passed on. How is that going to impact the meaning of Memorial Day?
W. RAFFERTY, It's not going to be just another day where you get a day off from work, that the kids get a day off from school. This is one of those times that you realize that it happened to you. It's not somebody else.
MEADE: Up and down, though Kayla and Samantha on this trampoline they got after their dad deployed to Afghanistan. If you haven't noticed yet, that's how their emotions have fluctuated since his death, up and down.
Who's going to be the trampoline king when he came back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He always bragged about his mad trampoline skills.
MEADE: What do you remember about him?
KAYLA RAFFERTY, FATHER DIED IN AFGHANISTAN: The morning whenever he would go for work, he would kiss everyone on the forehead, and say good night.
SAMANTHA RAFFERTY, FATHER DIED IN AFGHANISTAN: We all got up really late for school so I was going over to his truck, I was trying to open the door. I'm like, "Dad!" He said, "Uh-uh, I'm walking you to school. That's what you get for sleeping in. We walked all the way to our school. All the way up there.
MEADE (on camera): How do you think his not being here has impacted you the most in the last year?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whenever I'm at school everyone starts talking about their dad, and every time they say it, it just reminds me that I don't have one.
MEADE: Do your friends understand?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My friends are supportive but, you know, they never understand. We just got stronger from it.
MEADE: When does the situation, you know, drive you guys to tears or do you not guy anymore?
W. RAFFERTY: Actually when you get ready for bed and you start to go to sleep, and you're thinking about your day. You can't help but think about what happened. I've been with my husband since I was 15. And I think there hasn't been a moment, not even in my childhood, whenever I didn't even know him. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whenever I see my mom cry, I always give her a hug and say it's OK. Because whenever I see her cry I know that I can't cry, because I need to be strong for her.
W. RAFFERTY: We all take our turns. We all take our turn.
MEADE: Was there anything else that we didn't touch on about your dad or about your husband that you think, hey, the world should know this about him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every time I remember mom and dad, there was always dad, once he knew he thought he was right, he would fight until she says, OK, you're right. You have to go online, Google it up until they find it.
W. RAFFERTY: Daddy always had to prove himself right. I'm right. That's why every time he said I'm right, no one ever argued. We're like, yep, you're right, you're right. Even if I didn't even know, yeah, you're right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And we are just moments away from the wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery.
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day. A day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service; Memorial Day, what started out as a memorial for Civil War veterans have become so much more, Melissa. And now both national decoration day, a family graves, see those family members placing flowers at the head stones of their loved ones.
And also the holiday that opens the summer season. So today, Memorial Day celebrated with what, backyard barbecues, outdoor picnics in parks around country.
LONG: A day of togetherness.
HARRIS: Togetherness. Parades, as well all over the country.
LONG: Of course, so many of the people listening today don't have that opportunity to be together. So many of our soldiers serving overseas on this Memorial Day.
President, first lady arriving there at Arlington National Cemetery this morning. This is actually the sixth Memorial Day at Arlington for the president, as a wartime president in 2002 he was in Normandy, France, for some D-Day observances. He had to miss the event that year.
HARRIS: So, as we take a look at this, there are several families joining the president and the first lady today, just always a moving, moving ceremony of the Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery today. In moments we will see the president, and we will give you the pictures and the sounds of this solemn ceremony today. LONG: Of course, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, paying tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in all wars.
HARRIS: That's right. There you see the President of the United States George Bush. And in just moments the ceremony will begin.
(MILITARY BAND, "STAR-SPANGLED BANNER")
(PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESENTS WREATH AT TOMB OF THE UNKNOWNS)
(DRUM ROLLS, BUGLER, PLAYING TAPS)
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