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American Morning

Historic Talks With Iran; Memorial Day Politics; Unflattering Picture: New Books on Hillary Clinton

Aired May 28, 2007 - 06:58   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Historic sit-down. The U.S. and Iran at the same table for the first time in nearly three decades. Will it offer any new solutions to the violence in Iraq?

Plus, day of remembrance. Saluting America's fallen troops and the families left behind.

Memorial Day 2007 on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Now, here's an incredible shot for you. Start with the Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pool in the foreground. You remember that from the days of the protest against the Vietnam War, and, of course, "Forrest Gump," one of his lines with people in that movie.

And swinging around over to the World War II Memorial, which is nestled right up against 17th Street here and the Washington Monument in the background. The flag there flying in the center of the screen at half staff in honor of all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend the freedom of these United States.

Hey, good morning to you. It is Monday, May the 28th.

I'm John Roberts, live from the World War II Memorial in Washington.

Good morning, Kiran.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you this morning.

I'm Kiran Chetry, here in New York.

We're going to be talking much more about the Memorial Day celebrations and remembrances taking place across the country.

Also "On Our Radar" this morning, Hillary Clinton. As we know, there are two books out about the senator and former first lady that paint quite an unflattering picture of her, someone willing to perhaps overlook her husband's infidelities for her political career.

How will voters respond? Well, we're going to get both sides of that debate coming up. Also, new skin cancer concerns. Cases of melanoma on the rise. Sunscreen is your best protection, but what's the best kind to buy?

We're going to check in with Elizabeth Cohen for some answers for us -- John.

ROBERTS: We start this morning with the historic meeting between the United States and Iran in Baghdad. The two sides sat down this morning for their first formal talks in 27 years. The meeting lasted about four hours, ending about 30 minutes ago.

We're still waiting for a news conference from the U.S. ambassador to Iran, Ryan Crocker. We expected it would happen in our last hour. It could happen, we're told, any minute now.

For now, though, out to CNN's Paula Hancocks. She's covering the meeting from Baghdad and joins us now live.

Anything leaking out of the meeting so far, Paula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, at this point, no. We're just waiting for that press conference from Crocker to give us any indication as to whether or not there was some leeway, whether or not anything was achieved during this meeting.

Now, obviously what most people were hoping for -- obviously no breakthrough at this meeting, but that they were going to agree to have more meetings. And just though to prove the necessity of these two countries joining together to talk about the security in Iraq, as that meeting was finished another powerful car bomb ripped through the central commercial district of Baghdad. At this point we understand 12 people have been killed, 48 wounded, at least.

But we are waiting to hear from Crocker to see if there was any indication as to whether or not the U.S. military put on the table what you would expect them to want to, accusing Iran of funding Shiite terrorists in this country, and also funding, according to General Caldwell of the U.S. military, some Sunni insurgents, as well. So, the U.S. has been accusing Iran also of giving sophisticated technology and know-how for these roadside bombs to some of the militants here, and certainly we have seen the numbers of U.S. soldiers being killed by these armor-penetrating bombs increase over the past few months.

A hundred and three U.S. soldiers so far this month have been killed -- John.

ROBERTS: All right. Paula Hancocks live for us in Baghdad.

Again, we're waiting for that press conference with the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. Supposed to have happened a few minutes ago. We're told may happen within the next 15 minutes or so.

And at the half hour we're going to go to our Aneesh Raman. He's in Tehran, the only U.S. television reporter inside Iran, and get the perspective from there -- Kiran. CHETRY: And there's some good news out of Iraq this weekend. The U.S. military says it freed 42 people that were being held prisoner by al Qaeda in Iraq. All of them Iraqi citizens, one just a 14-year-old boy.

It looks like some of the former captives were tortured. They show signs of that, including broken bones. They had been held, some of them, for as long as four months.

Meanwhile, the search for two missing American soldiers now enters its third week. Soldiers spending the weekend searching the banks of the Euphrates River south of Baghdad. It's the same area where the body of Joseph Anzack Jr. was found last week. The U.S. military says it has now detained 16 people directly related to that ambush.

ROBERTS: Well, happening on this Memorial Day 2007, President Bush is going to take part in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National cemetery. He'll be doing that shortly before 11:00 a.m. Eastern, and we'll be carrying that live right here on CNN.

Thousands of bikers from the 20th annual Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally are going to attend today's memorial event at the Vietnam's Veteran Memorial. Yesterday, the organizers of Rolling Thunder met with President Bush at the White House. They rolled right up there on the -- near the south lawn area there, the south portico. Among other things, the vets wanted assurances that injured veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars receive their living expenses, their pay on a timely basis.

Apparently, Kiran, they're not getting it, making it difficult to make ends meet.

CHETRY: Well, the memorial holiday won't slow the campaigns of Barack Obama or Mitt Romney, but some of the other high-profile candidates are taking off.

One person who is not taking off is Dana Bash. She is working today in Manchester, New Hampshire, where some of the candidates are going to be -- already are today.

Hi, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.

That's right. You know, most of the -- or many of the high- profile candidates, as you just mentioned, Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain, they're all doing what you and I are not doing, they're taking the day off. But we are going to see some of the candidates here on the campaign trail here in New Hampshire.

Barack Obama has been here really for the past couple of days talking about traditional issues on Memorial Day, talking about veterans' issues. In fact, talking about a proposal to increase benefits, mental health benefits for veterans, when they come home from battle.

Joe Biden is going to be out in Iowa talking about veterans issues. And Mitt Romney, also, the Republican candidate, a former governor of Massachusetts, will be in his neighboring state of New Hampshire talking about veteran issues. Meeting with veterans, as well -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Sounds good.

Also, John Edwards with a controversial take on Memorial Day today on the campaign trail.

BASH: It really has been controversial. John Edwards actually today does not have any public events, but all weekend long, Kiran, he was in the state of Iowa and he was talking up his opposition to the war and trying to use Memorial Day as a way to get a grassroots opposition, really, up and running when it comes to the Iraq war.

He even started a Web site called Support the Troops and OpposeTheWar.com. He said it was the highest form of patriotism to speak out against the war and use Memorial Day as a way to do that, but he really got -- there was some backlash from some veterans groups. The American Legion, for example, they said it was revolting and that he was selling a hallowed day -- Kiran.

CHETRY: You know, the other interesting thing, it seems like candidates can get themselves in trouble when they try to be baseball fans of a certain team when it doesn't look like for years they followed that team. I remember Hillary Clinton caught a little flack for wearing a Yankees' hat in one of her Senate campaigns. And now it's Bill Richardson who's in a little bit of hot water.

Explain this to us, Dana.

BASH: You know, yesterday he said that he is something that, you know, it's pretty hard to be. He said he's both a Red Sox fan and a Yankees' fan.

Interesting and important for him to make that statement if you're somebody who lives in this state of New Hampshire -- of course, the state of die-hard Red Sox fans -- because you're in New York, you of course know, maybe you are, a Yankees' fan. You probably know like I do some die-hard Red Sox fans. It's pretty hard to be both. But he was trying to make the case that he went to school in Massachusetts, he is a Red Sox fan, but that his lifelong dream is to play center field for the Yankees, just like his hero, Mickey Mantle.

It's going to be interesting to see the next time he is in this state to see what kind of blow-back he gets, though, by saying that he is not just a Red Sox fan, but also a Yankees' fan.

CHETRY: It would be like you trying to say you're a Redskins' fan, but also a Dallas Cowboys' fan, and your root for the Eagles every now and then as well.

BASH: Yes, exactly. Somebody growing up in Washington like you, I understand, not happening. Not possible.

CHETRY: Even when you marry into a family.

All right. Dana Bash, thanks so much.

Well, a big reminder. We have two debates that are heading your way here on CNN. The Democratic presidential candidates are going to be squaring off this Sunday, June 3rd. The Republicans go at it two days later, Tuesday, June 5th.

And, of course, AMERICAN MORNING will be there the day after both of those debates with some of the best interviews and the candidates talking about the day after.

John, of course we'll both be there together.

ROBERTS: Looking forward to that.

Some "Quick Hits" for you this morning.

Demonstrators take to the streets in Venezuela. Thousands protest after the country's most popular television station was taken off the air. The station was an outlet for political opposition and was replaced with a state-run channel some 20 minutes later.

Delta and Dawn, you remember them, the mom and baby whale who ended up in the Sacramento Delta, some 90 miles away from the ocean three weeks ago, are on the move toward the Pacific again. Over the weekend, veterinarians on a boat injected them with antibiotics to treat injuries that were possibly inflicted by a boat propeller. It was the first time that antibiotics have ever been given to whales in the wild.

And some newly-released books painting a not-so-pretty picture of Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton. How is her campaign reacting?

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: A close-up look at the small fountain at the Pacific Pavilion here at the World War II Memorial. And people living flowers in memory of those who fought and died in that war.

So many people from the United States fought (INAUDIBLE) died. And this is the newest memorial here on the Mall, and the only one from the 20th century honoring those people who served and died in the greatest war.

Welcome back to this Memorial Day edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

Some "Quick Hits" for you now.

Memorabilia from the Jackson Five is going on the auction block in Las Vegas this week. Eleven hundred items from clothing to contracts expected to fetch millions from bidders around the world.

Television station WABC in New York is back on the air this morning after a fire at its studios in Manhattan knocked out programming just before the 11:00 news last night. It started when one of the lights burst and then a curtain caught fire. No one was hurt.

And Tony award-winning comic actor Charles Nelson Reilly has died. He was also a fixture on television game shows like Match Game during the 1970s and '80s. Charles Nelson Reilly died on Friday in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia. He was 76 years old.

CHETRY: Heavy rains across the Midwest stranding campers. About 1,500 stuck now in a park in Oklahoma after flooding closed the only road in.

Oh, for a minute it looked like he was riding that dog, but, no, they're both in a boat.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Just paddling.

CHETRY: Yes. Hutchinson, Kansas, there. Wow. Check it out.

That's the Hutchinson Zoo in Kansas. Zoo workers used boats to rescue bison that were stranded on the only dry spot available. About 25 animals had be evacuated from the Hutchinson Zoo.

Hope they're doing OK this morning.

Twelve minutes after the top of the hour. Rob Marciano is here.

If you're brave enough to want to venture into the sea on this Memorial Day, head to the beach, should we do it?

MARCIANO: Well, for a lot of folks, the Eastern Seaboard, including New York, is certainly warm enough to head to the beach and cool off a little bit.

CHETRY: Not in the water, though. You need a wet suit.

MARCIANO: It would be a little bit chilly, yes, up there in -- that's for sure. But maybe down in Georgia, Florida, you know the beaches are definitely -- the water temperature is a lot warmer, more inviting there. But today, you know, rip currents are going to be an issue.

We've had strong easterly winds the past several days, really a couple of weeks. And that's going to continue today. So, strong east winds, there'll be some surf, but also the threat for rip currents. And then, of course, there's the sharks.

So, just be careful out there.

I-95, a couple of showers. That front has not quite moved through, even though we saw some rough weather across the tri-state area last night. Still, the back edge of the front moving through Allentown at the moment, and there you see some rainfall.

A little bit of rain from St. Louis to Indianapolis. They had the race shortened yesterday because of rain. They still got it done, as did NASCAR.

And now across Texas, that's where a lot of rain has been falling. We showed you the video from Oklahoma, Texas. Especially the eastern half of Texas will once again see potentially flooding rains today. Flash flood watches are in effect. Another area of concern, North Dakota, South Dakota, possibly some strong thunderstorms there.

We've got the flag waving. It is Memorial Day.

CHETRY: A nice touch.

MARCIANO: Enjoy your day off if you have a Memorial Day parade or just spending time with friends and family.

CHETRY: Rob, thanks so much.

MARCIANO: You bet.

ROBERTS: Coming up now to 14 minutes after the hour.

We want to take you now to Baghdad. We've been waiting for the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, to start this press conference. He has just been meeting with his Iranian counterpart and Iraqi officials for the past four hours.

Let's listen in.

RYAN CROCKER, U.S. AMB. TO IRAQ: We also made it clear from the American point of view that this is about actions, not just principles. 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, that such activities led by the IRGC Quds force needed to cease and that we would be looking for results.

The Iranians did not respond directly to that. They did again emphasize that their policy is support of the government. And the government of Iraq, itself, thanked both delegations for the statements of support that were laid out today. And we'll see what happens next.

Happy to take your questions.

Yes, ma'am.

QUESTION: Can you tell us what some of the principal Iranians -- what some of the concerns that the Iranians had and what your reaction was to those? CROCKER: The Iranians did not go into any great detail. They made the assertion that the coalition presence was an occupation and that the effort to train and equip the Iraqi security forces had been inadequate to the challenges faced. We, of course, responded on both points, making clear that coalition forces are here at the Iraqi government's invitation and under Security Council authorities, and that we have put literally billions of dollars into training and equipping an increasingly capable set of Iraqi security forces.

They -- the Iranians did propose a trilateral mechanism to coordinate on security platters. That, of course, would be a decision for Washington. A point that I made in the meeting is that the purpose of the meeting was not to discuss further meetings, it was to lay out concrete concerns, as we did, and our expectation that action would be taken on them.

Yes, sir?

QUESTION: (SPEAKING ARABIC)

CROCKER: The Iranians again laid out their policy toward Iraq, their aims and goals, in terms very similar to our own policy and very similar to what the Iraqi government has set as its own -- a set of guiding principles. So, from that point of view, I would say that the talks that proceeded positively.

What we underscored to the Iranians, though, is that beyond principle, there is practice. And what we need to see is Iranian actions on the ground come into harmony with their stated principles, because right now the actions that I described to them and that I just described to you are running at cross purposes to their own policy. So, in terms of what happens next, I think we're going to want to wait and see not what is said next, but what happens next on the ground. Whether we start to see...

ROBERTS: Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, saying that after four hours of meetings with his Iranian counterpart and Iraqi officials this morning, a historic meeting, the first time that U.S. officials have sat down with Iranian officials since they cut off relations some 27 years ago, saying what is important to see from Iran is actions, not principles.

The U.S. laid out a set of grievances, saying that it expects that Iran will act on those quickly. Those include support for militias in Iraq, and as well, those deadly EFP explosive devices, explosively-formed penetrators, coming across the border from Iran.

The Iranians themselves counter with a list of grievances, and they also, according to Ambassador Ryan Crocker, proposed some sort of trilateral mechanism to talk about security in Iraq. The United States at this point, though, not willing to entertain that, though he will take that back to Washington for further discussion.

Ambassador Crocker said basically this was not a meeting about having more meetings. This was a meeting to address issues, issues of urgency in regard to Iran and its meddling, as the United States has claimed in Iraq.

Just ahead, some newly-released books painting a not-so-pretty picture of Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton. How is her campaign reacting? Some say by trying to get out in front of the story.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton is pressing on with her presidential campaign with new books out that are putting an unflattering spotlight on her political past. Does her campaign have a plan to return fire?

Nationally syndicated radio host Bill Press joins us now from our Washington bureau.

Bill, how worried do you think the Hillary Clinton campaign is about these two new books?

BILL PRESS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Hi, John.

Well, obviously they were a little bit worried about it, but I think they've done a very smart thing, John, one of the smarter things you and I have seen in politics recently. They have launched a preemptive strike.

What they did was they got -- they got a hold of two these of books, at any rate, and they leaked them to "The Washington Post". So, "The Washington Post" ran the story on the Friday before Memorial Day, when not a lot of people are reading the newspaper.

The story has been percolating and circulating all this weekend. And what they did by in so doing was they kind of stole the fire from the authors.

They were able to get out there, put the books out there, respond to the books before the authors are even on the talk shows. So, by the time the books come out next week, a lot of this, I think, is going to be old news.

ROBERTS: So you believe that's what they did. That was just a theory that was being floated at the end of the week, but you really believe that they were the ones responsible for leaking it to try to get it out there, as you said, in the dark of the holiday weekend and get out in front of this story?

PRESS: Well, let me tell you, John, I have not talked to the campaign, I'm not connected with them. I could not confirm that, but, you know, I've been around politics long enough to see what's going on. And again, I think it was a brilliant move.

Let me tell you, as an author, John, there is nothing worse than having stories of your book appear before your book is in the book store. Because people go to get it, it's not there, and it's all over.

ROBERTS: Well, regardless of how it leaked out, "The Washington Post" is suggesting that this is going to be hard for the Clinton campaign to just brush off, saying, "Unlike books about Clinton written by ideological enemies, the two new volumes come from long- established writers and could be harder to dismiss."

You know, one of the writers is Carl Bernstein, famous from the Watergate era. One of the other writers, co-writers of the second book, is Don Van Natta, who was the guy who exposed the warrantless wiretapping scandals.

I mean, these are well-known, respected journalists. So, can they just get rid of this by -- if, indeed, what you say is true, try to get it out there in the dark of the holiday weekend?

PRESS: By the way, and the third author is Jeff Gerth, who broke the Whitewater story some 15 years ago, or whatever it was. But, you know, these are respected -- these are respected journalists. The books to that extent do have a little bit of weight, John.

But I must tell you, not having seen them but having read all the stories about it, I don't see anything really new in these books. And I think that's -- look, they are going to be a trouble for the Clinton administration, but to the extent that they're focusing on, you know, Gennifer Flowers, I mean, that is so 20th century. The extent that they're focusing on marital problems in Arkansas or on Whitewater, I think most people, most Americans want to see what Hillary is going to do, you know, in the future and what she's done as a senator. They don't care about Arkansas anymore.

ROBERTS: Well, according to Van Natta, he does focus a lot on her time as a senator.

But quickly, Bill, do you think that this could be the beginning of a steady drip, drip, drip that could begin to erode her campaign?

PRESS: Let me tell you, Hillary is the most scrutinized woman on the planet, John, and I'm sure we're going to see more books, more articles. She's been under the microscope for 15 years, and we enjoy doing it.

ROBERTS: All right. Bill Press, nationally syndicated radio host.

Thanks for being with us. Appreciate you coming in this morning, Bill.

PRESS: Good to see you, John. Thanks.

CHETRY: All right. So now let's bring in CNN political analyst Bay Buchanan. She's actually written her own Hillary book titled "The Extreme Makeover of Hillary (Rodham) Clinton". And Bay joins us now from Washington.

Thanks for being with us on this Memorial Day. BAY BUCHANAN, "THE EXTREME MAKEOVER OF HILLARY (RODHAM) CLINTON": Thank you for having me, Kiran.

CHETRY: Now, we just heard from Bill Press. He claims there's nothing new in either of these two new books that are out about Hillary Clinton.

Do you agree?

BUCHANAN: No, I think there is some new material in both of them, but I think clearly the key here is that Hillary is portraying herself as somebody she is not. And as I wrote in "Extreme Makeover," as well as these two authors are writing, that the image that she is putting out there, projecting, is completely false. And what's key here is that she's running now for president.

Bill Press said this is old stuff, but she's now running for president in a character you carry with you. And it's imperative that the American people know the true character. And I think that they go to that (ph).

CHETRY: Well, let me ask you about a couple of things.

BUCHANAN: Sure.

CHETRY: And this is some of the stuff that's going to come out.

In one of the books they give an account of both of the Clintons going through great lengths to try to keep the lid on Bill's infidelities. They even recount, apparently, Hillary sitting in on a questioning of a woman who claimed to have an affair with Bill Clinton. It paints a picture of someone who is so ambitious that they would be willing to overlook certain things, including infidelity.

How will that play, in your opinion, with the voters?

BUCHANAN: Well, I think the key here is, you take that one step further. That was always assumed, that's she really stayed with him only for the power. And it's truly -- you get to see the person, then, the real true character of Hillary.

But the fact that she would sit down with a woman who has had an affair and that she would be involved in hiring detectives to try and destroy the reputation of individuals who had come out and make these kinds of suggestions against him, it goes again to the character of the person. And that's what American voters have to start realizing, is the person she's being projected as is not the true character. And if you're a very flawed individual, you should not be seriously considered to be the commander in chief of our armed forces.

CHETRY: Well, in fairness, her campaign calls it rehash.

BUCHANAN: Exactly.

CHETRY: For example, they're saying that the themes of infidelity, ambition have all been out there before, and what's really different about the latest claims?

BUCHANAN: Well, and this is what they'll continue to say, that it's mean -- it's just part of the mean-spirited attacks of the past, rehash of the old stuff. And what's imperative, though, is that you recognize that that old person is truly still Hillary.

If, indeed, in the past she never told the truth, never believe that that's an important -- does not have any sense of integrity or sense of responsibility for her own actions, that is the same person who is now asking us to vote for her to be president of the United States. That's where it goes to.

It's not whether Bill was, you know, not faithful and how they resolved that problem. It's that, what kind of person is asking us for their vote?

CHETRY: OK.

BUCHANAN: It is imperative that the press get behind that.

CHETRY: Well, we have to switch gears quickly...

BUCHANAN: Certainly.

CHETRY: ... and talk about an article in this week's "New Yorker" titled "Party Unfaithful". It's about the GOP.

In it, former House majority leader Tom DeLay says -- is quoted as saying, "We don't have a good shot at winning in 2008. It's going to take six years to rebuild."

If you're not hopeful about '08 -- he's even questioning whether it's -- whether the GOP can get back on track by 2012. Do you agree?

BUCHANAN: I think there's no question he's accurate to say that '08 is going to be a tough year. We've got an unpopular president, an unpopular war. Very, very difficult.

However, if you look at Hillary Clinton, if she becomes a nominees, she's a very flawed individual. That could hurt the Democrats, although they definitely have the edge on us.

I think that the grassroots is strong. They believe very firmly in principles, but that our leaders have failed us. And that's who represents us, is our leaders.

So we now have to get the leaders the kind of leaders who will truly represent the principals of our party in order to inspire our troops to get behind us again.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: All right, Bay Buchanan, CNN political analyst, thanks for being with us.

BUCHANAN: Thank you.

CHETRY: Just ahead, how will high gas prices affect your summer vacation? We sent Greg Hunter on a road trip.

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're shoving off from beautiful Columbus, Ohio, to take a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We're comparing driving to flying and we may even give you a few tips on how you might be able to save some money this summer on your driving vacation as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN ROBERTS, They fought together as brothers in arms. They died together and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation, words of tribute from Admiral Chester Nimitz, namesake not only of the "USS Nimitz" but also an entire class of aircraft carriers. The Nimitz nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, those floating cities that we see so much of these days. As you look across the plaza of the World War II memorial, the Lincoln Memorial in the background there. And welcome back to you. It is Memorial Day, Monday May 28th. I'm John Roberts and we're broadcasting live this morning from the World War II memorial in Washington. Hi, Kiran.

CHETRY: Beautiful shot behind you John, good morning and good to see you. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York and we have some new details right now about that meeting that took place, historic, really, between the U.S. and Iran.

ROBERTS: The two met for four hours today. It was the first formal meeting in 27 years between the two countries. Just minutes ago we heard from the American representative at that meeting, U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker telling Iran that it was time for their actions to match their words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN CROCKER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: What we underscored to the Iranians, though, is that beyond principal there is practice. And what we need to see is Iranian actions on the ground come into harmony with their stated principals because right now the actions that I described to them and that I just described to you are running at cross purposes to their own policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: CNN's Aneesh Raman is following this story today from Iran. He is the only American television journalist in Iran and joins us live now. It doesn't sound like there was too much of a meeting of the minds there his morning in Baghdad, Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, John, it pretty much fits with what we expected. Both sides were going into this to essentially vent. They both lobbed allegations at each other through the press, through other governments. This was a chance for them to do it face to face. The allegations that the U.S. raised about arming, funding, training Shia militias within Iraq, Iran denied that in the meeting. It's denied it throughout. The U.S. is saying if we are going to have future talks, actions need to change, but Iran is denying it's even doing that in the first place. For its part, Iran has said through the foreign ministry today, that future discussions are dependent upon the U.S. changing, what Iran calls is a failed policy. So I think if anything can come out of this meeting, it was a small success for the Iraqi government. They were desperately trying to bring these two countries together, fearful of Iraq becoming a proxy war between Washington and Tehran. They were able to do that, but in terms of where it goes from here, it's up to Washington and Tehran. Both or either feel that there is some good will and at least the talks were business-like to build upon, John.

ROBERTS: Aneesh, Ambassador Crocker said that the Iranians did propose some sort of three-way mechanism between Iran, the United States and Iraq to try to resolve the security situation there. Ambassador Crocker didn't seem to be too receptive to that, saying hey listen, this meeting was not about future meetings. This meeting was about action on the part of the Iranians. How likely is it that the Iranians will take this as a cue that they have to change their ways?

RAMAN: First they continue to deny that there is anything they're doing they need to change. These accusations that the ambassador made to the Iranians in the meeting have been made publicly before and will be nothing new to the Iranians and as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq said, the meeting today was itself sort of a security conference. Iraqi officials, Iranian officials and U.S. officials talking about security in Iraq and that something has to happen for another meeting to actually be worth it. I think out of this meeting Iran will say, look, we went, we tried, we talked, we vented. Where things go from here though, its it is unlikely that we'll see talks down the line because both sides are requiring change in the other, that the other is not willing to do.

ROBERTS: Pretty extraordinary, Aneesh, that they sat down and talked with each other at all, first time in some 27 years. Aneesh Raman for us in Tehran this morning, Aneesh thanks.

CHETRY: Kicking off our gas gauge challenge. CNN's Greg Hunter will be driving 600 miles over the next three days. He's headed from Columbus, Ohio, to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Greg joins us live from Columbus with an update and also some tips for your wallet. Hi, Greg.

HUNTER: Hey, Kiran. Behind me the beautiful skyline of Columbus, Ohio. A lot of people in Ohio like to head to the coast, the closest beaches, the beach of North and South Carolina. So we're heading to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Let's take look at our route. We'll head from Columbus, Ohio, through the mountains to Greensboro, North Carolina. We'll spend the night there, used to live there, great city. Then we'll go from North Carolina to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the next day and end up down on the beach. Before we take this driving trip, we took a little trip to the local Target store. Reason why we got treats and cooler, water, diet Coke and reason why, not just for comfort, because it saves you time and money on the road. You don't have to stop as much and that stuff is much cheaper in a big department store. And also I got on gaspricewatch.com to find the cheapest fuel here in the Columbus, Ohio area. It's a little higher than the national average. It's $3.37 a gallon and so we head to top off our tanks. So all told, we got 10 gallons. So day one expenses look like this. That's $10 for gasoline and $59.16 for some extras. That brings the total up to $69.16. Kiran?

CHETRY: All right, sounds good, $69.16 so far. And that's just the very beginning as you get set to take off, Greg, on your trip. Thanks.

Some more quick hits now from the campaign trail. Today Senator Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney both campaigning in New Hampshire. Senator Joe Biden will be attending events in Iowa, including the veteran's day parade in Waterloo.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on a trip to Europe. She is talking about global warming. Pelosi and seven other House members are going to be meeting with scientists and politicians in Greenland, Germany and Belgium.

Coming up, doctors say that more than 90 percent of all skin cancer is preventable. What you need to know to be able to enjoy the sun and avoid harmful rays. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.

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ROBERTS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Some quick hits for you now. The parents of missing four-year old Madeline McCann will meet with Pope Benedict XVI this week. The little British girl vanished from her bed in the middle of the night while on vacation in Portugal with her parents. Kate and Jerry McCann are launching a worldwide search for their little girl. The pope had expressed an interest in meeting with the McCann, who say they have drawn strength from their faith during this ordeal.

Japan's agricultural minister was found dead just hours before he was to face questioning in parliament over a scandal involving suspicious bookkeeping practices in his offices. Japanese mediators reporting that it was a suicide. Government officials though won't confirm that.

Some troubling news to pass along to you this morning. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in adults aged 20 to 30 and the rate of melanoma is on the rise, even though we're warned about it every year. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now from Atlanta. Elizabeth, this advice to wear sunscreen has been around for a long time. It's repeated constantly year after year. Why does it seem that people aren't getting the message?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not entirely clear but one of the big reasons, one of the big things that seems to be going on here, John, is tanning beds. We're talking about the start of the summer but tanning beds really seem to be a big thing, year round, especially for young people. As you mentioned melanoma is now the most common cancer for adults ages 20 to 30 and some states have now actually passed laws that restrict the use of tanning beds for people under the age of 18. ROBERTS: So it gets confusing out there. We have all of these different SPFs. We've got UVA, UVB and when somebody goes to the drugstore or to the grocery store or wants to pick up some sunscreen, what is the best thing that they should be looking for to try to prevent skin cancer, not it help them tan, but to prevent skin cancer.

COHEN: Right, it can be really confusing. You go into a drugstore and there's shelf after shelf after shelf of these sunscreens with all these different SPFs. They seem to go up to a zillion. Here's the advice that we've gotten from dermatologists that we talk to. They say look for an SPF over 30, if you're going to be spending time outdoors, you want one that blocks UVA and UVB. That is really crucial. You don't want to block just one of those, you want to block both. Also use a lot of sunscreen, enough believe it or not to fill a shot glass. Picture a shot glass and how much would be in there. That is a lot of sunscreen and apply it every two to four hours.

ROBERTS: Elizabeth, I got religion on this issue a couple of years ago when I had a basal cell carcinoma removed from my nose. It looked like it was just a typical mole, up until it's started bleeding. But if somebody gets a mole, what is it that they should be concerned about and what could you pass off as just being benign, nothing to worry about?

COHEN: There are four things John that you want to look for if you have a mole and you're wondering, is this a mole that I ought to bring to the attention of my doctor? There are A, B, C and D. A stands for asymmetrical. If you have a mole that it asymmetrical, like the one that you see here, then you want to bring that to the attention of your doctor, also look for an irregular border, a border that is not smooth all the way around and color. If you see several different colors within one mole, that is definitely a warning sign and, lastly, diameter. If it's bigger than the end of an eraser that is on the end of your pencil, that's also something you want to bring to your doctor. And John a really good rule of thumb, when in doubt, show it to your doctor.

ROBERTS: Yeah I guess a really good thing too is to have regular checkups with your dermatologist.

COHEN: Yes.

ROBERTS: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks, all good tips, appreciate it.

CHETRY: It's about 15 minutes before the top of the hour now. Rob Marciano joins us and we're talking about using sunscreen and this is the unofficial start to summer. Can people head to the beach today?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, but got to bring (INAUDIBLE) Do you have your supply for the summer?

CHETRY: I like that continuous spray stuff. You kind of just like throw it back there and hope for the best.

MARCIANO: Hope for the best, I'm sure Elizabeth will be happy to hear you say that. Bring along the sunscreen in some places today, especially across the southeast where they just haven't got any rainfall. The drought continues there, high pressure, the big blue H you see there off the Carolina coast, the typical summer-type scenario where you got the Bermuda high or close to it and you get dry weather across the southeast, strong east winds will bring in the rip tides and rip currents I should say along the Florida coastline so be aware of that.

Not so much sunscreen needed across places like eastern Texas. They've got flooding issues there, temperatures, generally speaking, will be above normal or above average, especially across the northeast, 10, in some cases 15 degrees above average, even with a cool front sliding across the area today, you will still see above average temperatures. All right, precip over the last, next 48 hours, they've already seen a ton the last 48 hours or so and another four to six inches possible across parts of eastern Texas and parts of the plains. So flash flood watches remain in effect for that area ongoing throughout the day today.

Where is the rain right now? We'll be firing up as moisture continues to feed in across the Gulf of Mexico through I-10 up 35, 45 towards Dallas. Across the Midwest, there are some showers lingering. These are the same areas that have seen showers for the past couple days. The weather channel, weather forecast or pattern really hasn't changed all that much. Across the east coast, we do have that weak cool front sliding across the area, so you had some rough weather last night across the tri-state area, the back edge of the front through Allentown right now heading through Poughkeepsie, so still a slight chance of seeing a shower or two before the parade service or your backyard barbecue, but generally speaking, could be worse weather certainly for Memorial Day and definitely, if you're going to be outside, sunscreen, sunglasses.

CHETRY: Slather up and be safe and wear the hat. Thanks Rob.

Spanish police arresting 14 suspected Islamic terrorists today. Officials say that many of the suspects are of Pakistani origin and they believe them to be involved in recruiting militants to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those arrests were made mostly around Barcelona.

The father of actress Lindsay Lohan is encouraging her to go back into rehab. Lohan arrested Saturday under suspicion of driving under the influence when her convertible crashed into a curb on Sunset Boulevard. This is video that was obtained by the Web site tmz.com a couple of hours before the incident. Police also found a small amount of what they called usable amount of cocaine in her car.

And imagine running into this thing, it's a hog weighing in at over 1,000 pounds. It's a lot of barbecue. Coming up, we're going to tell you about the kid, the 11-year-old, who took this beast down and how he may get a part in a movie that was also inspired by a humongous hog. They call it hogzilla.

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ROBERTS: It's coming up now to about 52 minutes after the hour. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has dropped by to chat with us a little bit about the future of the Iraq war. Thanks for being by.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

ROBERTS: Appreciate you coming down to the mall in front of the World War II memorial, beautiful day. The talk has been over the weekend that the White House is kicking around this idea of a 50 percent troop reduction in Iraq next year. Are you hearing anything about that from the Pentagon? Is that something that they could sign onto?

STARR: I think what's most interesting is we're not hearing about that. Most of the reports are indicating this is more of a political discussion inside the White House, much less a military discussion at the moment because when you talk to the top commanders, they still are desperately wanting the time that Baghdad clock time to try and make the security plan work. So, they're not willing to go there at this point.

ROBERTS: Is there any question, though, particularly when you hear things like what Senator Jeff Sessions said on CBS' "Face the Nation" yesterday that no question that some time in the fall we're going to have to start reducing this so-called surge, that there is a big change in the wind, which will probably happen after General Petraeus issues his report on whether or not the so-called surge has been working.

STARR: You know, I think most people agree September is in fact when that clock starts ticking because as much as the commanders say they want time, there also is no question that they have really determined they can't make this increase troop level, this so-called surge go much past April. They begin running out of troops again and they don't want to, especially on Memorial Day. It's worth remembering, they don't want to break the promise to the troops. They promised them now a 15-month tour, they want to keep it at that.

ROBERTS: It doesn't sounds like there's a plan "B" for security. It sounds like plan "B" is going to be how do we get out of this thing. People keep pointing to whether they're military or whether they're in office, on Congress, Congress, in the administration, they keep saying, we got to have a political solution to this, but do the military leaders believe that there is any indication that the Iraqi leaders are capable of a political solution?

STARR: That is one of the things that is perhaps most concerning. Most of the commanders we talk to privately will tell you they're very, very concerned that the Maliki government in Baghdad simply isn't making the progress and probably is so fragile that it can't. Because the same inside, you know, inside the commanders' own camps is plan "B" still is to make plan "A" work.

ROBERTS: Thanks for that, Barbara. Good analysis. We'll put some of those questions to General Peter Pace in the next hour as well. Kiran? CHETRY: A couple of minutes before the top of the hour, some quick hits now, violent Sunday at a gay rights protest in Moscow. The demonstrators were attacked when they tried to deliver a petition to the mayor of Moscow. They were demanding the right to stage public marches. Russia decriminalized homosexuality back in 1993.

And heavy rains across the Midwest causing some problems at a zoo in Kansas. Workers at the Hutchinson zoo used boats to rescue bison stranded on the only dry spot available. About 25 animals were evacuated from the zoo.

Is it a troop surge or a troop reduction we're looking at? We could see a new strategy in Iraq. We're going to ask General Peter Pace, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, when he joins us live in our next half hour. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.

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CHETRY: Some quick hits before the top of the hour. Now 11-year- old Jamison Stone has quite a story to tell his friends in school, that's for sure. He brought down this 9'4"1,000-pound hog with a pistol.

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JAMISON STONE, KILLED GIANT HOG: I was scared, little excited. It was pretty nerve wracking at first knowing I was about to go after that big, old hog.

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CHETRY: Big old hog as he calls it. He and his dad were hunting in east Alabama when they came upon the monster hog. Bigger than the mythological hogzilla that was thought to roam southern Georgia back in 2004. In fact, they're actually making a movie about that hogzilla and now apparently the producers of that movie are talking to Jamison about a possible role.

ROBERTS: There you go, might as well have the real deal in your film right?

Life is full of ups and downs, especially if you're trying to become the pogo stick world record holder. But Scott Gererra (ph) is probably feeling more down than up this morning. His attempt to hop on a pogo stick for 24 hours came up about 12 hours short. He was attempting to raise money for the Stamford (ph) home for children in Sacramento, California. Good cause, but didn't quite have the stamina to do it.

CHETRY: He had his knees taped up, bandaged, drinking water. At least he tried. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

ROBERTS: Historic diplomacy. The U.S. and Iran meet for the first time in 27 years, coming together in Iraq.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I laid out direct specific concerns about their behavior.

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