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Mars Lander Sends First Pictures; Obama Speaks to Veterans in New Mexico; Finding A Job: Advice for College Grads

Aired May 26, 2008 - 15:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We will turn back to more of this severe weather, and look at that. There's just disaster everywhere you look. And right about now, it looks like we have seen a whole lot of this all around this year, a terrible tornado season. And it's getting worse in the upper Midwest. We're live in the aftermath. And our Jacqui Jeras is watching the latest threats today.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The red planet in black and white. We have got a picture-perfect start to NASA's latest mission to Mars. And just wait until the Phoenix starts digging. Our Miles O'Brien joins us this hour with all of the interplanetary intrigue.

Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar at CNN Center in Atlanta.

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

KEILAR: Splintered trees, a few walls here and there, lumber and bricks everywhere. This is what Iowa's governor has been seeing as he tours what is left of Parkersburg, a third of which is destroyed. A tornado tore through Parkersburg, Iowa, and nearby New Hartford yesterday, killing six people. And it injured at least 70.

Parkersburg's mayor says it would have been worse, if not for the sirens. The governor at this point has called on the National Guard to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Minnesota's governor also is getting an eyeful of nature's fury, one square mile of it in the St. Paul suburb of Hugo, where CNN's Ed Lavandera takes a closer are look at hard-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. Seeing the looks 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 10 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: And those residents are just now beginning to get a good look at what the destruction and the devastation is that has been left behind by these storms.

They're just now being allowed to go in and start assessing the damage.

Now, just a short while ago, we spoke with the mayor here of Hugo, who described what it was like for some of the people inside the very heart of the worst part of this storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR FRAN MIRON, MAYOR OF HUGO, MINNESOTA: Very difficult. You know, many of our own city employees have been impacted by this devastation. We had two firefighters that live within the within the neighborhood that saw the disaster.

Our public works director, his house was leveled. I literally met him at city hall. And he had just left his family after their house had been devastated. They were clinging to the hot water heater in the basement. And he came to work to do his job. And that's what we have seen people do here, you know, very unselfish in the way they have reacted to the situation in helping others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And one particular story that has really affected a lot of people here, the only person to have died in the storm in this neighborhood was a 2-year-old child. And that child's 6-year-old sibling was also believed -- was so severely hurt, that she was thought to be dead when she left the -- when she was taken away from the scene here yesterday.

But she was brought back to life in the ambulance by paramedics on the way to the hospital. That 6-year-old child is now in critical condition, and the mayor says they're hopeful she will be able to pull through and make it out alive -- Brianna.

KEILAR: My goodness.

Ed Lavandera for us in Hugo, Minnesota, thanks for that report.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

KEILAR: As the nation marks Memorial Day, we're taking another look here, a live look here at Arlington National Cemetery. It's the nation's oldest military burial ground, shrouded today, as always, in respectful silence.

Earlier today, the commander in chief was there to pay his respects.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On this Memorial Day, I stand before you as the commander in chief and try to tell you how proud I am of the sacrifice and service of the men and women who wear our uniform. They're an awesome bunch of people, and the United States is blessed to have such citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Across the Potomac River, in the District of Columbia, Americans by the thousands are filing past the Vietnam Memorial. You see the wall here, these stark black walls bearing the names of more than 58,000 Americans who died in the conflict in Southeast Asia or because of the conflict there.

HOLMES: Well, 44 new Americans already in uniform, they're being sworn in as U.S. citizens at a Memorial Day service in Afghanistan. You need not be an American, just a legal U.S. resident, to serve in the armed services. Thousands of non-Americans are serving today.

KEILAR: After a stinging rebuke from "The New York Times," the White House firing back now. On Memorial Day, "The Times" blasts President Bush and Senator John McCain for failing to support a new G.I. bill that has won bipartisan support, overwhelming bipartisan support, in the Senate.

Now, in an editorial, the paper says, "They would prefer that college benefits for service members remain just mediocre enough that people in uniform are more likely to stay put."

CNN's Elaine Quijano joining us now from the White House.

This got quite a rebuke, Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It certainly did.

And the White House is pushing back hard against this "New York Times" editorial, saying in a written statement that nothing could be farther from the truth. Dana Perino, White House press secretary, releasing a statement earlier today saying, "Once again, 'The New York Times' editorial board doesn't let facts get in the way of expressing its vitriolic opinions, no matter how misleading they may be."

Now, the White House, in explaining its opposition, does talk about the troop retention, saying, "The Department of Defense has specific concerns because it lacks transferability and could negatively impact military retention."

Now, the G.I. Bill in question would expand education benefits for veterans with more than three years of service post-9/11. This Bush administration supports alternative legislation put forth by Senator John McCain, a measure that provides for a kind of sliding scale, if you will, based on years of service when it comes to education benefits, but interesting to note, Brianna, that for the third time now really in about a week's course, the White House pushing back rather forcefully against coverage, in this case against an editorial by "The New York Times" -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Elaine -- Elaine Quijano for us at the White House, thanks for that.

HOLMES: Well, we haven't found the Martians just yet. But it's early. We're still looking. Next hour, we will be talking to -- or, this hour, I believe we're going to be talking to CNN space guru Miles O'Brien and one of NASA's Mars experts about the news Mars lander mission.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Gail Poindexter (ph). And this is my son, Sergeant Joel W. Lewis.

The Army drew him in because he just would not have survived behind a desk job. Being so tall, 6'6'', you would think kind of would be intimidating, but people were kind of drawn to him. He was a superb young man. He was killed in Iraq on 5/6/07, and will be greatly missed and loved forever.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right, 10 months of waiting, seven minutes of terror, and now NASA is very relieved to see its Mars lander safe, sound and landed. The descent and touchdown, those seven minutes, were pretty nerve-wracking, and now the lander is doing its thing, sending back pictures and getting ready to look for life.

CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in California. Where else would he be right now? Also, you have got NASA's man on Mars with you there as well.

Tell us, where are the Martians?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., no sign of the Martians just yet, but we do have a picture. I promise you, you have never seen this picture before. Stay tuned.

Steve Squyres, who is in charge of the Mars rovers Opportunity and Spirit is with me here.

And this has caused quite a little buzz here at the Jet Propulsion Lab, this picture coming from a satellite orbiting Mars and actually has captured Phoenix on its way down.

Let's show the picture. And why don't we walk people through this.

What are we seeing there, Steve?

STEVE SQUYRES, MARS ROVERS SCIENTIST: This is unbelievable.

You have got to realize, to take this picture, what you're seeing is you're seeing the Phoenix lander as it is on its parachute plummeting towards the Martian surface. The Phoenix lander is descending towards the Martian surface at hundreds of miles an hour. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is screaming overhead at thousands of miles an hour.

And they took this picture and they got it. This is one of the most amazing pictures in the history of Mars exploration. I'm just -- I'm flabbergasted by this picture.

O'BRIEN: Do we know what altitude? Do we know the circumstances...

(CROSSTALK)

SQUYRES: We know more or less what the altitude was and more or less what the velocity was, but not with any precision. They were lucky to hit this, Miles. This is a tough picture to take.

O'BRIEN: All right. Now, let's back just -- let's back up a little bit and show people an animation, so they can understand the whole sequence, if they weren't paying too much attention to this landing.

This landing basically occurred under parachutes ultimately with rockets.

SQUYRES: Right.

O'BRIEN: Most of the speed was bled off just by coming in through the atmosphere. But when it got to about 1.5 Mach, down came this shoot.

And so this parachute ride was, what, about four minutes or so.

(CROSSTALK)

SQUYRES: Yes, yes, about three or four minutes...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: So, they only had a very short window to get this picture.

(CROSSTALK)

SQUYRES: Yes, very short period of time.

And you don't know exactly where this spacecraft is. Now, of course, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, at the same time it's taking this picture, its main job is to relay data via a radio signal from the lander to the orbital. It's doing that and at the same time it popped off this picture.

O'BRIEN: That's just not one of those things you would expect to see. Let's go back to that still one more time.

SQUYRES: I'm stunned by this. I'm absolutely stunned by this picture.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

And part of the thinking was, possibly, if something went wrong, they would have some evidence. But this is just an amazing shot, a little piece of history.

(CROSSTALK)

SQUYRES: It's just a cool shot. Yes, it's a piece of history right there.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's go -- let's talk about rocks here for a moment.

SQUYRES: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Rocks. And we want to talk about these polygons, which I want to walk people through this, why we should be interested in that and why the scientists are interested in this site.

If we could show that color image, they took some of the images as it came down. We will zoom down on it. This is not the Mars of your rovers. It's a different place.

(CROSSTALK)

SQUYRES: Different place.

O'BRIEN: And what we're looking at and what they're kind of focused on are these kind of depressions here, which kind of -- it's soil which is covering cracks. What -- why are those cracks so interesting?

SQUYRES: What happens is, the climate changes gradually on Mars. And as it changes, the soil can get warmer and colder, and warmer and colder.

And especially if there's ice present, what you will see is the soil will contract and expand and contract and expand. So, what will happen is, it will expand and a crack will open up. And then what happens is, sand or dust can fall into that crack, and then, when it -- the crack tries to close again, it can't, because there's stuff in it. And that will cause the soil around it to buckle.

And it moves back and forth as the climate changes, and because the ice is there, you get these fractures. And it's probably telling us that there's ice not very far beneath the surface there.

O'BRIEN: All right. But, just to be clear, we're not talking -- I think I misunderstood initially. It's not that it melted. It's just that the ice changes its volume.

SQUYRES: That's right. You don't necessarily have to melt stuff at all to make this happen. Now, these sorts of things form on Earth, and it's aided by the fact that the ice freezes and thaws, but I think you can probably do it on Mars without melting the stuff at all.

O'BRIEN: All right. So, if they get a scoop of that, who knows what we will find, maybe some organic material. At the very least, they think they're in the right spot to learn a little something about it.

(CROSSTALK)

SQUYRES: Yes. This tells you that you landed where you wanted to land.

O'BRIEN: All right, Steve Squyres, thank you very much.

We're going to be seeing more image. They're going to be coming out on the Web all throughout the afternoon. There will be another briefing tomorrow. And the images will start trickling in. And we're going to get another little piece of the puzzle on whether life existed on Mars at one time or maybe exists right now, T.J.

HOLMES: OK. And that thing can tell us? The lander, you said it's going to find this ice, and it can check for the organisms itself up there? They will be able to analyze that after the rover picks up this ice?

O'BRIEN: Yes. What have you to understand here is it's not like -- how would you come up with a life detector? There's no easy way to do that.

HOLMES: OK.

O'BRIEN: So, what they're doing is, they're kind of going through, what do you need for life? You need water. You need organic material. You need energy. They're going down through the list, looking for the individual ingredients and wondering where that leads them.

HOLMES: OK.

O'BRIEN: And then, ultimately, that may lead you to life. But if this -- this is sort of an intermediate step along the way.

HOLMES: OK. Just give me the little green men, Miles.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: You want the little green men?

HOLMES: I want the little green men.

O'BRIEN: Do we have the picture of the little green men?

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: We don't have that shot. We don't have that.

And we don't have the face on Mars. We're not going to go there. This is this is a serious science program.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: OK. Sorry. Sorry.

Well, Miles, we appreciate you. So glad we have you on these things. Thank you so much.

O'BRIEN: All right. All right.

KEILAR: A mother in China looks for her son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She spoke to him a few weeks before the quake hit. She says he told her he had just fallen in love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: This is a heartbreaking story, one of thousands in the aftermath of the earthquake.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a picture of my brother, Sergeant Jason Vaughn.

The thing I most admired about my brother was his kindness and compassion for others. We always said he should have been a politician, because he could really work a room. He was killed May the 10th, 2007, in Baquba, Iraq. And we will always miss him.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BUSINESS REPORT)

KEILAR: We are going to actually head right now to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where Barack Obama is speaking on this Memorial Day.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... and prayers are with them.

I speak to you today with deep humility. My grandfather marched in Patton's army, but I cannot know what it's like to walk into battle like so many of you.

My grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line, but I cannot know personally what it is for a family to sacrifice like so many of yours have.

I'm the father of two young girls. And I cannot imagine what it is like to lose a child. My heart breaks for the families who have lost a loved one.

There are things I cannot know. But there are also things that I do know.

I know that our sadness today is mixed with pride, that those we've lost will be remembered by a grateful nation, and that our presence here today is only possible because your loved ones -- America's patriots -- were willing to give their lives to defend our nation.

I know that while we may come from different traditions and different places and have different political beliefs, we all, every one of us, hold in reverence those who have given this country the full measure of their devotion.

And I know that children in New Mexico and across this country look to your children, to your brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, and friends, to those we honor here today, as a shining example of what's best about America. Their lives are a model for us all.

What led these men and women to wear their country's uniform? What is it that leads anyone to put aside their own pursuits of life's comforts, to subordinate their own sense of survival for something bigger, something greater?

Many of those we honor today were so young when they were killed. They had a whole life ahead of them: birthdays and weddings, holidays with children and grandchildren, homes and jobs, and happiness of their own. And yet, at one moment or another, they felt the tug, just as generations of Americans did before them.

Maybe it was a massacre in a Boston square, or a president's call to save the union and free the slaves. Maybe it was the day of infamy that awakened a nation to a storm that had gathered in the Pacific, and a madman's death march across Europe. Or maybe it was the morning they woke up to see our walls of security crumble alongside our two largest towers.

Whatever the moment was, when it came and they felt that tug, perhaps it was simply the thought of a mom or a dad or a husband or a wife or a child not yet born that made this young American think it was time to go, that made them think, "I must serve so that the people I love can live in happiness and safety and in freedom."

This sense of service is what America is all about. It's what leads Americans to enter the military. It's what sustains them in the most difficult hours. And it is the safeguard of our security.

You see, America has the greatest military in the history of the world. We have the best training, the most advanced technology, the most sophisticated planning and the most powerful weapons.

And yet, in the end, though each of these things is absolutely critical, the true strength of our military lies someplace else. It lies in the spirit of America's service men and women.

No matter whether they faced down fascism or fought for freedom in Korea and Vietnam, liberated Kuwait or stopped ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, or served brilliantly and bravely under our flag today, no matter whether they are black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American, whether they come from old military families or are recent immigrants, their stories tell the same truth.

It is not simply their bravery and their insistence on doing their part, whatever the cost, to make America more secure and our world more free. It's not simply an unflinching belief in our highest ideals.

It's that in the thick of battle, when their very survival is threatened, America's sons and daughters aren't thinking about themselves, they're thinking about one another. They're risking everything to save not their own lives, but the lives of their fellow soldiers and sailors, airmen and Marines.

And when we lose them in a final act of selflessness and sacrifice, we know that they died so that their brothers and sisters and our nation might live.

What makes America's service men and women heroes is not just their sense of duty, honor and country; it's the bigness of their hearts and the breadth of their compassion. And that is what we honor here today.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once remarked that to fight out a war, you must believe something and want something with all your might. The Americans we honor today believed. Sergeant Ryan Joe Peck (ph) believed. Ryan was just weeks away from coming home when he volunteered for a mission to Mosul from which he would never return. His friends remember his easy smile. I remember Ryan because of the bracelet that his mother gave me that I wear every day. Next to his name it reads, "All gave some, he gave all."

It's a living reminder of our obligations as Americans to serve Ryan and his compatriots as well as they have served us, as well as the wounded soldiers I've had the honor of meeting at Walter Reed have served us, as well as the troops in Iraq Afghanistan and around the world are serving us. That means giving the same priority to building a 21st century V.A. as to building a 21st century military.

(APPLAUSE)

It means it means having zero row tolerance for veterans sleeping on our streets. It means

(APPLAUSE)

It means bring home all our POW s and MIAs.

(APPLAUSE)

And it means treating the graves of veterans like the hallowed ground it is and banning protests near funerals. But it also means...

(APPLAUSE)

It also means something more. It means understanding that what Ryan and so many Americans fought and died for is not a place on a map or a certain kind of people. What they sacrificed for, what they gave all for is a larger idea -- the idea that a nation can be governed by laws, not men; that we can be equal in the eyes of the law; that we can be free to say what we want and write what we want and worship as we please; that we can have the right to pursue our own dreams, but the obligation to help our fellow Americans pursue theirs.

(APPLAUSE)

So on this day of all days, let's memorialize our fallen heroes by honoring all who wear our country's uniform and by completing their work to make sure America is more secure and our world is more free. But let's also do our part, service member and civilian alike, to live up to the idea that so many of our fellow Americans have consecrated, the idea of America. That is the essence of patriotism. That is the lesson of this solemn day. And that is the task that lies ahead.

God bless you and may God bless the United States of America.

KEILAR: On this Memorial Day, that is Senator Barack Obama, a presidential candidate, of course, talking to a crowd in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he said in honor of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, for our country, let's live up to the idea of America. We'll continue to follow all of the events of this Memorial Day here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: Well, you remember a time when the phrase endless summer was a good thing?

We'll learn how that is certainly changing and how it could impact your travel plans.

But up first here, the clock is ticking for a lot of college graduates out there trying to find a job.

Our Ali Velshi has some career advice that's Right On Your Money.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The class of 2008 is leaving the carefree college life behind for the real world. Step one -- finding a job.

BRAD KARSH, JOBBOUND.COM: My best piece of advice is be flexible in the job search. You know, a lot of students kind of go into the job search right after they graduate and think I want to work for one of the big four accounting firms in New York City. And if they don't get that job, then they're devastated.

VELSHI: Karsh says don't accept a job you aren't going to like, but be open about the types of companies you're applying to. Bigger isn't always better.

KARSH: You can think medium sized, even smaller sized. Those kinds of companies have lots of openings right now. The bigger companies, they hire well in advance. The smaller and medium sized companies, they do just in time hiring. They're looking for people now.

VELSHI: Karsh says your first job will give you a good foundation and will teach you a lot about the working world.

KARSH: It is not 40 years ago where you had one job for the next 30 years. The fact of the matter is now, right now, people have by the time they retire, something like seven or eight different jobs or careers that they go into. Your career path is a winding road, it's not straight and linear.

VELSHI: And that's Right on Your Money.

Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE CORPORAL NATHAN R. WOOD, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Nathan was a true all-American boy. He was very respected, very kind-hearted. He was always full of adventure and very enthusiastic. Unfortunately, November 9, 2004, he was killed. And it was very heartbreaking for us. We know that we're going to miss him a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: It's 39 after the hour and here are three of the stories that we're working on here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Emergency teams are now assessing the damage in Iowa as well as Minnesota. There is a lot of damage there. Weekend twisters battered the two states, leaving seven people dead, and that includes a toddler.

Calling America's troops "an awesome bunch of people," President Bush laid the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns this Memorial Day. The president says he's proud and humbled by the sacrifices made by the military.

And a deadly attack today outside of Sri Lanka's capital. The target here -- civilians. A bomb went off on a crowded passenger train, killing at least nine people, wounding more than 70. The government is blaming separatist rebels.

HOLMES: Two weeks now after the earthquake in the Chinese heartland and a village had to be evacuated today for fear of a possible landslide. All the while, lakes formed from clogged rivers are claiming more land and several reservoirs may have been compromised. The official death toll has now topped 65,000. Today the government said families that lost only children can be exempted from China's one child limit.

More than 23,000 people are still unaccounted for in Southwest China. Their families hope for miracles, but would settle for simply knowing.

CNN's Wilf Dinnick has one mother's story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILF DINNICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Shu Hong Shen will not give up. Her 23-year-old son has been missing since the earthquake struck two weeks ago.

"He's a good boy," she says, "happy and loyal to the family."

Her son, Ganu Shen (ph), was a chef in Shanghai, but recently moved to near Sichuan to try and look for work in a hotel -- an area hard hit by the quake. Now she spends her day in Mianyang, a city not far from the epicenter, where people post pictures of their loved ones still missing.

She spoke to him a few weeks before the quake hit. She says he told her he had just fallen in love. The trail ends there. She has not heard from him since. (on camera): People are coming here every day with many questions, but getting very few answers. The only official list posted on that wall behind me are those people who have been injured and taken to hospitals. No record here with the names of those people who have died.

(voice-over): That makes closure for people here very difficult. It is a painful story played out again and again and again. There are about 24,000 people still missing.

The Wong Family searches for their 17-year-old daughter. They know she was in a school in Beichuan when the quake struck. The school collapsed. But no one has confirmed she is dead. They have not seen her body. They remain hopeful.

Government officials say close to 80 percent of the bodies found had been buried or cremated to make sure disease does not spread. A DNA database is being formed, but it's not clear whether tissue was taken from all the bodies. For now, families can enter names of the missing with volunteers, but this is simply for recordkeeping.

Asked if Shu Hong Shen has any idea what happened to her only son, she says she's not sure, but refuses to stop searching. "I cannot give up," she says, "I won't stop looking." She promises to be back tomorrow.

Wilf Dinnick, CNN, Minyang City, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And CNN I-Reporters have been sharing their pictures from the earthquake zone in China, as well. And you can see them or share yours at iReport.com. To find out how you can support the relief effort, you can go to impact your world. That Web page we have you'll find links to many aid groups and details on what you can do to help them. That's CNN.com/impact.

KEILAR: Remember when the phrase endless summer was a good thing?

Well, you will learn how that's changing and how it could impact your travel plans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my brother, Sergeant Phillip anniversary. He grew into a wonderful man and he was a very dedicated soldier. He loved his job and the men he worked with. I remember so many happy times when were growing up. And we used to get in trouble together. And I remember all the laughter and the hugs. I'll miss his phone calls. He never ended a conversation without saying I love you.

(END AUDIO CLIP) KEILAR: Chances are if you're driving somewhere this holiday, you might want to tuck some extra dough into your wallet because you are going to need it to get back home. Gas prices have jumped to a new record high again. According to AAA, the average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is more than $3.93. Last year at this time, you were paying about 70 cents less per gallon.

HOLMES: Well, too many people, too few planes. And if that's not enough, all of that, still you're at the mercy of weather delays. Now, this could mean an endless summer of waiting and wondering, are we there?

Our Jeanne Meserve explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We wanted to get a sense of whether delays this summer we're going to be as bad as they were last summer, so we decided to test the waters -- or the skies -- by taking the flight that according to the most recent statistics is delayed more often and for the longest time. It originated right here in Newark.

(voice-over): Our journey started last Wednesday evening.

(on camera): That's Europe. We don't need that, unfortunately. We wish were flying there, but only Dayton today.

(voice-over): The board showed Continental Flight 2286 on time. We headed for the gate and boarded just a few minutes late. But just after they shut the door...

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

(voice-over): We waited in a long line for takeoff, and it was, indeed, almost an hour before we were airborne.

(on camera): So here we are in Dayton. We got here four minutes early, even though we took off from Newark almost an hour late.

(voice-over): 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 our 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 a 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-FORT WORTH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Because of load factors being as high as they are and flights limited, it's not just a simple thing of getting off the next day. It may take you one or 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.

(on camera): The Federal Aviation Administration says it will open up some military air space to commercial aviation this summer and it will give pilots more flexibility to fly around bad weather -- hoping that will take some of the hassle out of air travel this summer -- back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: And Jacqui Jeras is following your Memorial Day forecast.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: We now want to check in and see which videos people are clicking on on CNN.com.

A teenage actor from the upcoming Harry Potter movie has been stabbed to death. Rob Knox is his name and he plays the role of Marcus Belby. London police say he was caught up in a bar brawl this weekend.

Another story people are clicking on, the big demand for smaller fuel-efficient cars is putting dealers in the drivers' seats. It goes beyond those waiting lists, as well, for those hybrids.

Our Chris Lawrence found a 16-year-old subcompact car that was just sold for more than it cost when it was brand new 16 years ago.

Also, a dark opera takes place in Prague. It depicts 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. And you can watch a few minutes of that opera and get more on those other stories at CNN.com.

But right now, it is time for us to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

KEILAR: He's standing by in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, guys.

John McCain is using this Memorial Day to talk about his plan for American veterans and why he says his bill is better than the Democrats' version.

Barack Obama is campaigning out West today. Lots of speculation about a possible running mate for Barack Obama. We're looking into that part of the story.

And a 747 splits in two.

What possibly could have caused this? Could it happen again?

You're going to find out what aviation investigators are now suggesting.

All that and more coming up on this Memorial Day are right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- back to you.

HOLMES: All right, Wolf.

We'll see you here in a few minutes. Thank you so much.

KEILAR: Well, a holiday deep in meaning and rich in symbolism -- we will explore the role of riderless horses at Arlington National Cemetery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM MCGOVERN, SENDING MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE: This is Jim McGovern. This is my mother Marilyn (ph). And we're -- we'd like to send out a Happy Memorial Day tribute to my two uncles, Uncle Bob and Uncle Jim, one of whom unfortunately passed away, both of whom served honorably in World War II. And we'd like to say thanks to all the troops for all your efforts.

Keep it up. We're right behind you. Take care. Happy Memorial Day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: A somber afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery. Families and well-wishers are marking the Memorial Day at the nation's oldest military burial ground.

We spoke with a U.S. soldier who takes part in some of Arlington's 30 or so daily funerals.

His role -- he leads the riderless horses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STAFF SERGEANT TRAVIS NIELSEN, U.S. ARMY: And what we like to say is we carry America's heroes to their final resting place. I think that sounds pretty good.

When I was growing up, I think I rode a horse twice like on a Boy Scout thing or something. I consider the official stance of the cat force (ph), as far as the Army is concerned, to be a little hazy. What it is, is they dated it back to Roman times. And back then, they were shrouding their horses or putting them in battle armor and escorting the fallen to their grave.

We put each one of the boots backwards to symbolize, you know, that the fallen won't ride again, that he's looking back on his family one last time.

It can get pretty cold out there. In the summer, that's no joke. That's -- the summers get extremely hot. Right now, it's pretty of the best time to be out there, because it's not too hot yet.

Memorial Day weekend is a very busy around here. We have a lot of people coming up here to visit their family members. We're responsible for going out in the cemetery and placing the American flags next to all the headstones. And you get a sense of how many soldiers are buried in that cemetery. I guess working there every day, you don't really think about it a whole lot -- about how many service members are buried out there. But getting in there and planting all those flags.

I feel pretty good about it. I think it's really rewarding. I think there's a ton of challenges that come at you every day. I joined for four years of active duty with the infantry and I had no -- did not -- I didn't even know about this place, really. And yes, I wouldn't have seen this coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. And now it's time for us to turn to "THE SITUATION ROOM".

KEILAR: And Wolf Blitzer in Washington -- Wolf.