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Iowa & Minnesota Struck by Major Storms; McCain Gives Memorial Day Address; Airline Passengers Experience More Flight Delays

Aired May 26, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It has been a terrible year for tornadoes and for parts in Iowa and Minnesota, it just got a whole day worse. Live in the wake of the latest deadly storms, and we're watching the latest threats.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: It's Memorial Day. The candidates for commander in chief are saluting the troops. We'll show you who stands where on issues important to men and women in uniform.

Hi, there. I'm Brianna Keilar at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

HOLMES: And hello, I'm T.J. Holmes. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First, we want to let you know there's something we're keeping an eye on right now out in New Mexico. We're waiting to hear from Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president. He is, right now, in the crowd there. You're watching Pete Domenici here speak at a Memorial Day event.

We're expecting to hear from Senator John McCain here shortly, and when he does begin to speak he is going to talk about some veterans' issues. He's also going to talk about the G.I. Bill and taking care of this country's veterans. When he steps up to that mike, we will go back to his comments live.

KEILAR: Splintered trees, a few walls here and there, lumber and bricks everywhere. This is what Iowa's governor is seeing as he tours what's left of Parkersburg, a third of which has been destroyed.

A tornado tore through Parkersburg and nearby New Hartford yesterday and, killing six people, injuring at least 70. Parkersburg's mayor says it would have been worse if not for the sirens. The governor has called on the National Guard to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHET CULVER (D), IOWA: In addition, we've been in touch with the White House this morning. We have requested an expedited emergency response that will be granted, which means we'll get federal assistance at least in this community right away, so we can start the cleanup effort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Minnesota's governor also getting an eyeful of nature's fury. One square mile of it in the St. Paul suburb area of Hugo.

CNN's Ed Lavandera takes a closer look now at the hardest-hit communities.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two states, two stories of destruction. In Minnesota, a 2-year-old child was killed, at least nine people injured, and dozens of homes leveled after a tornado and severe thunderstorms pummeled Hugo and suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Authorities say many residents were away for the holiday weekend, but those who were there were in disbelief.

MIKE ERICSON, HUGO CITY ADMINISTRATOR: The devastation is very real. The residents are very real. And seeing the look in their eyes, they just almost can't believe that it's happened.

LAVANDERA: It was only part of the destruction left by severe weather that rumbled through the nation's midsection this weekend.

In Iowa, at least six are dead. A tornado touched down in the north central town of Parkersburg, taking several lives there before moving on, wreaking havoc and taking more lives ten miles away.

Also badly hit, Waterloo, Iowa, where storms with marble-sized hail devastated homes, trees and power lines.

Iowa Governor Chet Culver declared a disaster area in the three counties. A Memorial Day weekend marked by tragedy that residents will only want to forget.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: T.J., back here in this neighborhood, they still have rescue dogs and rescue teams going through some of the homes. There are still 40 homes where people have been -- haven't been accounted for exactly yet. But authorities here caution that there were a variety majority of the people who live in this neighborhood who were away for the Memorial Day weekend so they're doing that just in the abundance of caution.

You can see the line here of cars starting to build up here this afternoon as residents are just now being allowed to go back into the area. Some 20 to 25 cars already starting to line up so they can get inside this neighborhood, which has been cordoned off since the tornado struck here last night. They want to begin assessing the damage and figuring out what they need to piece back together -- T.J.

HOLMES: Ed, thank you. And like you said, a blessing that some people were out of town for the Memorial Day weekend. Ed Lavandera there for us. We appreciate you, Ed.

And it's been four days, and in those four days we have seen more than 160 tornadoes. And Jacqui Jeras, we could be adding to that toll?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Another busy day, T.J., that's for sure.

But our greatest threat area is a little bit more concentrated today, and we think that's going to be across the panhandles of Texas, Oklahoma, on up into parts of Kansas. But the threat of severe storms does spread here through the middle of the Mississippi River Valley on through the Ohio Valley and into the lower Great Lakes, all the way up there into upstate New York.

So large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes. Again a threat. So we think things could get popping here, probably by mid afternoon, and continue on into the evening hours.

Now we do have some showers and thunderstorms out there right now. Nothing particularly severe at this time. We've got good rain makers and also quite a bit lightning. We'll continue to watch it for you and let you know if we get any more touchdowns -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Thanks for keeping an eye, Jacqui. Thank you so much.

KEILAR: And on this Memorial Day, let's take you now to Albuquerque, New Mexico where presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain is about to speak at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, thank you. Thank you for that kind introduction. Thank you for your warm welcome.

A special thanks to my dear and beloved friend, who served not only the state of New Mexico, but the state of Arizona and every state in the United States of America with honor, distinction, courage and skill, our beloved friend, Pete Domenici.

Thank you, again, Pete, for all of your service to our nation.

Heather Wilson, thank you for those very moving words. Congressman Steve Pierce, thank you, also. And I'm always happy to have my friend, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who is the only member of the United States Senate serving in the reserve of the United States of America and continues to serve as active duty in places like Iraq. I'm very proud to have Lindsey with us.

I'm always grateful for the opportunity and pleased to be in the company of Americans who have had the burden of serving our country in distant lands and the honor of having proved your patriotism in difficult circumstances.

As you may know, I was blessed to have been born into a family who made their living at sea in defense of our security and ideals. My grandfather was a naval aviator; my father, a submariner. And it was nearly preordained that I would find a place in my family's profession and that occupation would, one day, take me to war.

Such was not the case, not the case for many of you. Your ambitions may not have led you to war. The honors you sought were not kept hidden on battlefields. Many of you, many of you were citizen soldiers. You answered the call when it came, took up arms for your country's sake, and fought to the limit of your ability. Because you believed America's security was as much your responsibility as it was the professional soldier's, and when you came home, you built a better country than the one you inherited. It is a privilege and an honor to be in your company.

The sacrifices made by veterans deserve to be memorialized in something more lasting than marble or bronze or in the fleeting effect of a politician's speeches. Your valor and devotion to duty have earned your country's abiding concern for your welfare, and when our government forgets to honor our debts to you, it is a stain upon America's honor.

Walter Reed scandal recalled, I hope, not just government, but the public who elected it to our responsibilities to the men -- to the men and women who risk life and limb to meet their responsibilities to us. Such a disgrace is unworthy of the greatest nation on earth.

As the greatest leaders in our history, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, instructed us, care for Americans who fought to defend us should rank among the highest of national priorities.

Those who have borne the burden of war for our sake must be treated fairly and expeditiously as they seem compensation for disability or illness. We owe them compassion and knowledge and hands-on care in their transition to civilian life. We owe them training, rehabilitation and education. We owe their families, parents and caregivers our concern and our support. They should never be deprived of quality medical care and mental-health-care coverage for illness or injury incurred as a result of their service to our country.

As president, I will do everything in my power to ensure that those who serve today and those who have served in the past have access to the highest quality health, mental health, and rehabilitative care in the world. The disgrace of Walter reed must not be forgotten.

Neither -- neither should we accept a situation in which veterans are denied access to care due to great travel distances, backlogs of appointments, years of pending disability evaluation and claims.

I believe we should give veterans the options, the option to use a simple plastic card to receive timely and successful care at a convenient location through a provider of their choosing. We should no longer tolerate requiring veterans to make an appointment, to stand in line, to make an appointment, to stand in line, for substandard care of the injuries you have suffered to keep our country safe.

Whatever our commitment to veterans cost, we will keep them, as you have kept every commitment to us. The honor -- the honor of a great nation is at stake.

I also believe we should provide veterans with a substantial increase in educational benefits. I've joined with colleagues to offer legislation that will do just that. The bill we've sponsored would increase monthly education benefits to $1,500, eliminate the $1,200 enrollment fee and offer a hundred dollars annually for books and supplies. Importantly, very importantly, we would allow veterans to transfer those benefits to their spouses or dependent children or use a part of them to pay down existing student loans.

We also increase benefits to the Guard and Reserve and even more generously, to those who serve in the Selected Reserve.

I know that my friend and fellow veteran, Senator Jim Webb, an honorable man, who takes his responsibility to veterans very seriously, has also offered legislation that would provide more generous benefits, for the men and women who serve. Both Senator Webb and I are united in our deep appreciation for them. And I take a back seat to no one in my affection, respect and devotion to veterans. I grew up in the Navy. I served 22 years as a naval officer. And like Senator Webb, personally experienced the terrible cost war imposes on the veteran.

The friendships I formed in war remain the closest relationships in my life. The Navy is still the world I know best and love most.

But as you might know, I'm running for the office of commander in chief. That is the highest privilege in this country, and it -- that is the highest privilege in this country, and it imposes the greatest responsibilities. And this is why I'm committed to our bill, despite the support Senator Webb's bill is receiving.

It would be easier, much easier politically me to have joined Senator Webb in offering his legislation. More importantly, I feel, just as he does, that we owe veterans the respect and generosity of a great nation, because no matter how generously we show our gratitude, it will never compensate them fully for all the sacrifices they have borne on our behalf.

The most important difference between our two approaches is that Senator Webb offers veterans who served one enlistment the same benefits as those offered veterans who have reenlisted several times.

Our bill has a sliding scale. It offers generous benefits to all veterans but increases those veterans' benefits according to the veterans' length of service. It's important to do that, because, otherwise, we will encourage more people to leave the military after they have completed one enlistment.

At a time when the United States military is fighting in two wars and we're finally, finally beginning the long overdue and very urgent necessity of increasing the size of the army and Marine Corps, one study -- one study estimates that Senator Webb's bill will reduce retention rates by 16 percent.

Most worrying to me, most worrying, is that by hurting retention, we will reduce the numbers of men and women who we trained to become the backbone of all the services of the noncommissioned officer. In my life, I have learned more from noncommissioned officers I have known and served with than anyone else outside my family. And in combat, no one is more important to their soldiers, sailors, Marine and airmen and to the officers that command them than the sergeant and the petty officer. They're very hard to replace. Encouraging people to choose to not become knob noncommissioned officers would hurt the military and our country very badly.

As I said, the office of president which I am seeking is a great honor indeed, but it imposes serious responsibilities. How faithfully the president discharges those responsibilities will determine whether he or she deserves the honor. I can only tell you I intend to deserve the honor, if I am fortunate enough to receive it, even -- even if it means I must take politically unpopular positions at times and disagree with people for whom I have the highest respect and affection.

Now, I'd like to end by discussing the subject that concerns all of us more -- more than anything else: the war in Iraq. When I was 5 years old, a car pulled up in front of our house in New London, Connecticut, and a Navy officer rolled down the window and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. My father immediately left for the submarine base where he was stationed. I rarely saw him again for four years.

My grandfather who commanded a fast-carrier task force under Admiral Holtz (ph), came home from the war exhausted from the burdens he had borne and died the next day.

In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home to the country they loved so well.

I detest war. It might not be the worse thing to befall human beings, but it is wretched beyond all recognition. When nations seek to resolve their differences by force of arms, a million tragedies ensue. The lives of a nation's finest patriots are sacrificed. Innocent people suffer and die. Commerce is disrupted. Economies are damaged. Strategic interests, shielded by years of patient stagecraft, are endangered as the exigencies of war and diplomacy conflict.

Not the valor with which is it fought nor the nobility of the cause it serves can justify war or glorify it. Whatever gains are secured, it is loss. It is loss the veteran remembers most keenly.

Only a fool or fraud sentimentalizes the merciless reality of war. However heady the appeal of call to arms, however just the cause, we should still shed a tear for all that is lost when war claims its wages from us.

As we meet in Iraq and Afghanistan, American soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen, fighting bravely and tenaciously in battles that are as dangerous, difficult and consequential as our armed forces' storied past. As we all know, the American people have grown sick and tired of the war in Iraq. I understand that. Of course, I, too, have been made heartsick by the many mistakes made by civilian and military commanders and the terrible, terrible price we paid for them.

But we cannot react to those mistakes by embracing a course of action that will be an even greater mistake, a mistake of colossal historical proportions which will -- and I am sure of this -- seriously endanger the security of the country I have served all my adult life.

We have new commanders in Iraq and -- we have new commanders in Iraq, and they're following a counterinsurgency strategy that we should have been following from the beginning, which makes the most effective use of our strength and doesn't strengthen the tactics of our enemy.

This new battle plan is succeeding where our previous tactics failed. The government of Iraq and the Iraqi army are now taking more responsibility for the security of their own country and fighting successfully in Basra, Sadr City and Mosul.

We must give General Petraeus and the Americans he has the honor to command adequate time to salvage, from the wreckage of our past mistakes, a pressure of stability for Iraq and the Middle East and a more secure future for the American people.

To walk -- to walk away now before the Iraqi government can fully protect its people from ruthless enemies would strengthen al Qaeda, empower Iran and other hostile powers in the Middle East, unleash a full-scale civil war in Iraq that, quite possibly, could provoke genocide there and destabilize the entire region, as neighboring powers come to the aid of their favorite factions.

The consequences would threaten us for years and, I am certain, would eventually draw us into a wider and more difficult war that would impose even greater sacrifices on us. Our defeat in Iraq would be catastrophic not just for Iraq, but for us. I cannot be complicit in it. I will do whatever I can, whether I am effective or not, to help overt it. That is all I can offer my country.

You know, it's not much, compared to the sacrifices made by Americans who have volunteered to fight this war for us. I know that. And I'm humbled by it. But though my duty is neither dangerous nor onerous, it compels me, nonetheless, to say to my fellow Americans, as long as we have the opportunities to succeed, we must try to succeed. And I firmly believe that, with the continued right course of action, we will succeed.

I have many responsibilities to the American people, and I take them all seriously. But I have one responsibility that outweighs all the others, and that is to use whatever talents I possess and every resource God has granted me to protect the security of this great and good nation from all enemies, foreign and domestic. And that I intend to do, even if I must stand athwart public opinion. I will attempt to convince as many of my countrymen as I can that we must show even greater patience, though our patience is nearly exhausted, that as long as there's a reasonable prospect for succeeding in this war, then we must not choose to lose it. That is how -- that is how I construed it yesterday; that is how I construe it today. It is how I will construe it tomorrow, and I do not know how I could choose any other course.

The war in Iraq has divided the American people, but it has divided no American, no American in our admiration, the men and women who are fighting for us there.

It is every veterans' hope -- it is every veterans' hope that, should their children be called upon to answer a call to arms, the battle will be necessary in the field well chosen, but that is not their responsibility. It belongs to the government that called it. As it once was for us, their honor will be in their answer, not their silence.

Whatever we think about how and why we went to war in Iraq, we are all, those who supported the decision that placed them in harm's way, and those who opposed it, humbled by and grateful for their example. They now deserve the distinctions of the best Americans and we owe them a debt that we can never fully repay.

We can only offer the small tribute of our humility and our commitment to do all that we can do in less trying and costly circumstances to help this nation keep it worthy of their sacrifice.

Many of them have served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many have had their tours extended. Many have returned to combat sooner than they had been led to expect. It's a sad and hard thing to ask so much more of Americans who have already given more than their fair share to the defense of our country.

Few of them and their families will have received the news about additional and longer deployments without aiming a few appropriate complaints in the general direction of people like me, who help make the decision to send them there. And then they shouldered a rifle and risked everything, everything to accomplish their mission, to protect another people's freedom and our own country from harm. It is a privilege beyond measure to live in a country served by them.

I have lived a long, eventful and blessed life. I have had the good fortune to know personally a great many brave and selfless patriots who sacrifice and shed blood to defend America, but I have known none braver and none better than those who do so today. They are our inspiration, as I suspect -- they are our inspiration, as I suspect all of you were once theirs.

And I pray to a loving God that he bless and protect them. Thank you.

KEILAR: Senator John McCain. Senator John McCain there speaking at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial, telling the crowd there that as long as there is a reasonable prospect for succeeding in this war, the war in Iraq, of course, then we must not choose to lose it. He says that's how he construes this responsibility to his country. That's how he construed it yesterday. That's how he construes it today, and it's how he will construe it tomorrow.

He also talked about the legislation of an updated G.I. Bill. This was in the Senate last week. And McCain was part of a small minority that did not support this bill that would pay for soldiers' education for four years at a public institution. This would include soldiers who have only served really one deployment.

McCain saying that he did not support that version. He supports a bill -- a bill with a sliding scale where, if a soldier has gone on more than one deployment, they would get more educational benefits. And he acknowledged today maybe that maybe that isn't politically popular, but he says as president he would be very concerned that it would affect the retention of troops, that it could decrease the number of noncommissioned officers, and he doesn't want to see that happen.

We're going to continue to follow all of the events of Memorial Day today here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: Well, our coverage of Memorial Day events across the country continues here in the NEWSROOM. And we will check in with a company of soldiers in Baghdad.

KEILAR: Homes smashed as tornadoes plow across the central U.S. More could strike today. We're going to go live to the severe weather center.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Jeff Lucas. He decided to be in the Navy SEALs at age nine. He went on to become the top Navy SEAL on the East Coast in 2004. Jeff loved his lord, his family and his country more than anything. He was very special. The family grieves to this day, but we are so proud of him.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, crowded airports, delayed flights (ph), bad weather, all of that fueling air travelers' frustrations these days. And you add to that jacked up fares to offset skyrocketing fuel prices, and this could be a very bumpy summer travel season. Our Jeanne Meserve at Newark international airport.

It doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun flying these days, Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. We decided to try and find out if travelers were likely to see as many delays this summer as they did last summer, so we picked a flight which according to the most recent statistic is delayed for a longer period of time and more often than any other flight. It originated right here in Newark. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Our journey started last Wednesday evening. That's Europe. We don't need that, unfortunately. We wish we were flying Europe but only Dayton today. The board showed Continental flight 2286 on time and we headed for the gate and boarded just a few minutes late. But just after they shut the door...

Well, the crew just announced we're going to be delayed for about an hour because of airport traffic.

We waited in a long line for takeoff and it was, indeed, almost an hour before we were airborne. Here we are in Dayton. We got here four minutes early even though we took off from Newark almost an hour late. How is that possible? Continental put an hour pad in the schedule to compensate for Newark's routine delays. That gives passengers a realistic arrival time, but it also means that hour wait on the tarmac wasn't recorded as a delay which makes this statistic even more amazing.

In March, this flight was officially late more than 92 percent of the time with an average delay of an hour and a half. This flight may be the worst but the cascading effects of bad weather, congested air space and the over scheduling of flights at some airports is making plenty of other flights late, too.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D) NEW YORK: Passengers were delayed by 320 million hours last year, 320 million hours. If you divide that by 24 hours in day, 365 days a year, passengers were delayed a total of 36,500 years.

MESERVE: And if your flight is canceled, it can be tough to get another.

BYFORD TREANOR, DALLAS, FT. WORTH INTL. AIRPORT: Because of load factors being as high as they are and the flights limited, it's not just a simple thing of getting out the next day. It may take you one to two days to get out.

MESERVE: The airport at Dallas, Ft. Worth is trying to ease that pain. It now has a stock of cots and pillows, toiletry kits, even diapers and formula for stranded travelers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: The Federal Aviation Administration is going to open some military air space to commercial traffic. They're also going to give some pilots some flexibility so they can fly around bad weather. The hope is that those steps are going to take some of the hassle out of flying this summer.

T.J., back to you.

HOLMES: We'll take hope at this point right now.

Jeanne Meserve for us at Newark International. Thank you so much.

KEILAR: After almost 10 months, speeding through space, the Phoenix Mars Lander has reached its destination. NASA managers clapped and they hugged as the craft radioed back from Martian soil last night. CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien was at NASA's jet propulsion lab for this landing. He's got the details on the first photos that Phoenix has beamed back.

What do they look like, Miles?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it looks like a very different kind of Mars.

It's not the mars we're used to seeing from those plucky little Rover, Spirit and Opportunity or for that matter Pathfinder and even going back to Viking. Those missions all landed sort of in the equatorial regions of Mars, lots of hills and rocks by design. That's what they wanted to look for. In this case they were hunting for tundra.

They sent the Phoenix Lander toward the Arctic circle of Mars, near the North Pole, deliberately going for tundra in the hopes that they will find water ice. But before that, they had to land safely and that is a risky proposition as we've seen over the years, so when it happened, the place just erupted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Talk about a happy landing. NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander arrived alive and well on the surface of the red planet, opened its solar arrays and started snapping pictures like an eager tourist. A hundred and seventy million miles away, the intrepid robot's human keepers rejoiced.

STEVE SQUYRES, MARS ROVERS SCIENTIST: This is hardware that these guys have held in their hands, that they've nurtured, that they've sweated over for years and then to see that very same hardware on the surface of another world. It's an incredible feeling.

O'BRIEN: It was an incredible descent. The $420 million Lander breezed through a searing perilous arrival at Mars. Pieces separated. The parachute unfurled. The radar started scanning the ground and a dozen rockets fired all as designed. And Phoenix slowed from 12,700 miles an hour to 0 in all of seven minutes.

MIKE GRIFFIN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Today you had a chance to watch a team in action making something that is incredibly hard to do look easy.

ED WEILER, NASA ASSOC ADMIN: It's like trying to hit a hole in one. You tee off in Washington and you hit the ball 10,000 miles and you score a hole in one in Sydney, Australia.

O'BRIEN: The last time NASA tried a soft landing on Mars like this, it was a disaster. The sister craft of Phoenix, the Mars Polar Lander, crashed in 1999, a casualty of a cost-cutting program that NASA admits went too far. This time, the space agency spent more money and is ready to focus on the mysteries of Mars.

PETER SMITH, LEAD SCIENTIST: This is a scientist's dream right here on this landing site.

O'BRIEN: They believe the rocky tundra here is filled with ice crystals, which could hold clues about life on the planet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For example, if there are organic molecules, which is one of the key ingredients for life, they may be trapped in that ice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: So Brianna, let's take a look at some of these pictures and give you a sense of what we're talking about. This is one of the first images that came down from the 360-degree camera. Let me show you the camera very quickly. It's up here on a mast and it's got two eyes. It's stereoscopic. They are spaced about where human eyes are spaced apart to give people a 3-D image here on earth. This will help them decide where ultimately to dig.

But take a look at this image. I'll show what I mean when I say it's a different kind of Mars.

First of all, let's talk about this whole issue of roving. As far as the eye can see, it's really the same stuff. It's flat and it's rocky. It could be a Martian parking lot, I guess. There's no need to rove there. The thing to do there, the thing you want to do there Brianna is go down into the soil and this Rover -- excuse me, this Lander is designed to do just that.

It's got a shovel. It's got a little drill to chip through this tundra which they think is as hard as a sidewalk and gather up that soil, mixed in with some ice, put it in a oven, a high-tech oven and bake it and see how at all comes apart, the energy levels it requires for it to change its consistency and its form. All of that is like having an laboratory. It's just that the scientists are 170 million miles away.

Here another thing to look at too here. This is what intrigues them. See these kind of indentations, these sort of cracks? They believe that's caused by - it's kind of like a frost heave up in New Hampshire. Ice getting underneath and it just changes the -- it pulls the turf apart, creates these indentations. That would be a good place to go to look and dig if you were looking for ice on Mars and ice is a big deal because not only is that frozen water, water is a essential ingredient to life, but it also could be a little mini deep freeze for organic material, another important ingredient for life.

KEILAR: Is that really the thing that has these scientists so excited about these images because you look Miles and it seems pretty flat. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot going on but is it really just these grooves that means so much to them?

O'BRIEN: Yes. I mean, I guess we've proven tundra, the galaxy over pretty much looks the same. Tundra is tundra. Yes, you might look at that and say what has got scientists so excited? What's got them excited is where they are and they know with a high degree of probability, because of what the satellites have told them from looking down at images that there is water/ice there and that is like gold if you're in this business.

KEILAR: That's like gold, all right. Miles O'Brien for us in Pasadena, thanks.

HOLMES: Taking care of this country's mentally ill, is America doing enough? All three major presidential candidates have something to say about this issue. We'll let you know where they stand.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: By CNN's count some 630 troops have died in Iraq since last Memorial Day. That includes a soldier killed today in a roadside bombing. Arwa Damon is joining us now from Baghdad.

She is with a unit that is pushing ahead minus five fallen comrades --Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, that's right.

In fact, we actually met the soldiers of Delta company back in September and since then, they've really been through just so much here in the heart of Baghdad. Now, they've had some great accomplishments in this neighborhood but they have also paid the ultimate price.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice-over): Staff Sergeant David Julian loved children. He used to say that's what made all of the sacrifices worth it.

SPEC. TOM RINI, U.S. ARMY: It's not all fame and glory. It's a lot of hard times over here. But without Americans willing to pay that price, who's going to? It makes it worth it to know you might provide a future for those kids.

DAMON: We met Sergeant Julian and the men of Delta company back in September, but just two months ago, he and four fellow soldiers and their interpreter were all killed when a suicide bomber struck their patrol. Every second of every day, those who survive remember their fallen comrades.

STAFF SGT. DAVID JULIAN, U.S. ARMY: It's hard. Because, you know, the thought of possibility of losing more guys is the possibility that happens every day as we go out but I know it's what they would want. They wouldn't want us just sitting around mourning for them and they would want us still out doing our job.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: I lost my crew. I was in a tank platoon and a tank platoon by itself is like a family. To tell you the truth, I've got soldiers underneath me and if I break down, then they don't know what to do so I kind of got to do it for them. Plus, you can't show emotion over here because if you do, you'll get ate up. You can't let it get to you.

DAMON: Each soldier here displays that determination.

LT. GREGORY FREDLUND, U.S. ARMY: At the end of the day, it's them taking that burden on saying we're ready to go out, I want to protect my platoon. I want to protect my soldiers and my brothers to my left and right and they took that burden on to go back out again.

SPEC. JORDAN TUCKER, U.S. ARMY: The bond we have together is something I really never found anywhere else and it's the stress and it's the hazards that really bring us together.

DAMON: It's a bond borne out of the experiences they can only share with each other, knowing that some of their comrades will not be going home.

SPEC. THOMAS WEBER, U.S. ARMY: I will remember them as five guys who were doing their job, who were doing what they raised their right hand and swore to do and I'll think more than anything about the fact that (INAUDIBLE) had daughters born while they were here.

CAPT. WES WILHITE, U.S. ARMY: I want them to know that those five, just like everybody else that's laid down their life down here, to know that they gave up everything, they sacrificed everything for what America is about.

FREDLUND: I would love to bring all my men home. I would love that more than anything. To not do that, it's going to be very bittersweet going back.

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DAMON: You know Brianna, there wasn't any sort of special Memorial Day ceremony here. Things were pretty much missions as usual. That's not because the soldiers here don't want to remember their fallen comrades. They remember them every second of every day. It's because the mission here is still so intense and their wounds are so fresh that they actually can't afford to let their guard down.

And now here to talk to us about this bond that exists between the soldiers here is Specialist Tom Rini, Specialist, thank you for being with us.

Tell me, how do you do it every day? How do you go out there?

RINI: It's kind of like a cliche but I look at everybody else and I see everybody else mentally and physically drained and hot and sweaty and tired and I just do it and we all got to do it and it just makes it go by that much quicker.

DAMON: And this bond that exists between all of you, how would you describe it?

RINI: It's a brotherhood. You know, I've got my family back home, but this is my family over here. And these guys are all brothers. DAMON: And you guys, a lot of you weren't aware that it was Memorial Day until you asked us why we were here and what we were doing on this embed. Now that you know that it is Memorial Day, what are your thoughts?

RINI: I'm thinking of the guys that aren't coming home. We lost a number of guys and I've lost a lot of friends over here and I'm thinking about them and their families.

DAMON: And what would you like everyone else to know about them? Why did you care about them so much? What did they mean to you and the unit?

RINI: They were -- they were Americans and they were -- they did exactly what they were told to do and they did it of their own free will and no one asked them to do it, they did it by themselves.

DAMON: Thank you.

Brianna, we've seen that same sort of courage and strength really being displayed across the board here.

KEILAR: Thanks so much for bringing us that story, Arwa.

Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad.

HOLMES: Protecting your mental health. What do the three major party presidential hopefuls have in mind? Facts you can use to make important choices right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HOLMES: Well, health care certainly a hot topic in the presidential campaigns right now, but where do the three main candidates stand on coverage for mental health?

Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has been doing some digging here and we hear about all of these health care plans but not too much about mental health.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You don't hear a lot about mental health coverage even though one out of four Americans will have a mental health disorder every year. That's a lot of people. And insurance for mental health really isn't quite the same as it is for physical health.

Many times, the same insurance policy will have much more extensive coverage for a physical ailment than for a mental health ailment. For mental health there are often all sorts of limits so let's take a look at how the candidates stand on this.

The big question is parity. Should there be parity for physical health, as well as for mental health? In other words, should insurance companies have to give the same coverage?

Clinton and Obama both support that strongly. McCain, however, does not support mental health coverage parity at this time and, T.J., this is obvious when the Senate took up this issue earlier. They passed a bill, these two Democrats supported the bill. McCain did not.

HOLMES: Is there going to be conversation as well and a lot of attention paid to veterans and seniors specifically when it comes to mental health?

COHEN: Absolutely. Mental health issues and war veterans, that's a big issue. A lot of people come home need help. Let's take a look at where the candidates stand on that issue. Clinton, her whole approach is to have more money for at home care, in other words where mental health services would come to where the veteran lives.

For Obama, he focuses more on money for more specialists. Sometimes it's hard to come by mental health specialists. There's not enough money to hire them. McCain, his focus is more money for the Veterans Administration and military hospitals and to offer the services that way.

For seniors, here are some of the issues for people who are on Medicare. Clinton and Obama are both in favor of mental health coverage parity, in other words that the coverage ought to be the same for physical as well as mental health issues but McCain, he advocates working to change policies. More specifically, he wants to see whether it's wasted Medicare how you can get down some of the costs and then move on from there to think about how you could possibly fund more mental health issues.

HOLMES: Maybe we will hear more about it but you're right, certainly veterans, many coming back we know they have so many issues of physical and mental issues.

Thanks so much.

KEILAR: An image that we won't soon forget. A tornado touching down and tearing across an Oklahoma farm live on our air. We will be hearing from the chopper pilot who was in the heart of the storm.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my brother David Kirkpatrick. What I miss about him most is his, you know, humor. He was such a funny kid and you know, he was quiet but anything that he said, anything that came out of his mouth was always funny. He always had something to tell you and he is only 20 and we miss him so much and we miss him more and more every day.

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HOLMES: All right. Now I want to check on which videos are being clicked on the most right about now, CNN.com, a teenage actor from the upcoming Harry Potter movie has been stabbed to death. Rob Knox played the role of Marcus Delphi (ph). London police say he was caught up in a bar brawl this weekend. Big demand for smaller fuel-efficient cars is putting dealers in the driver's seat and it goes way beyond those waiting lists for hybrids. CNN's Chris Lawrence found a 16-year-old subcompact car that just sold for more than it cost brand new.

Also a dark opera takes the stage in Prague to depict the 1950 trial of a prominent women's rights activist. Czechoslovakia's communist regime trumped up treason and spying charges against her. She was found guilty and hung. You can watch a few minutes of that opera and get more on our other stories at CNN.com.

KEILAR: CNN's Hugh Riminton is in the earthquake zone in China and ahead, he has got a look at a very dramatic look at why the danger is far from over for tens of thousands of quake survivors.

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