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Cruise Ship Terror; Memorial Day at Arlington; McCain Met with Syrian Rebel Leaders; Tornado Victims Salvage What's Left; Kentucky Officer Ambushed and Killed; Straight Talk From Storm Victims; Back After Superstorm Sandy

Aired May 27, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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


SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Well, that is it for me. Joe Johns takes it from here. Maybe he's a little more daring than I am.

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Not at all. Thanks, Suzanne.

I'm Joe Johns, in for Brooke Baldwin.

First up, another cruise ship nightmare to tell you about. A fire breaking out on a Royal Caribbean ship this morning. The Grandeur of the Seas was en route to the Bahamas when pandemonium erupted. Passengers were woken up in the middle of the night and told to get to the decks and they were ordered to put on life jackets while crews worked to put out a fire that started on the mooring deck and spread to the fourth deck. Royal Caribbean says no one was injured in the fire. Two guests who were on board are with us now. Friends Danielle Miller and Katie Coleman joining us on the phone from Freeport in the Bahamas.

Danielle, you were quoted as saying you truly thought there was a chance you wouldn't see daylight again. This is a nightmare. It started around midnight. And we just saw some of the video you gave us. So talk us through a little bit what happened when you woke up.

DANIELLE MILLER, ROYAL CARIBBEAN PASSENGER (via telephone): I woke up hearing announcements on our intercom saying to put our life jackets on and run to our muster (ph) location. And our state room attendant was pounding on our door. And I opened the door and just see people running around and yelling at us to get our life jackets on and run as fast as we can up to deck five.

So I woke up my roommate and she honestly didn't even believe me, but we were both just like shaking and so much adrenaline was pumping through our veins. We probably ran up to that deck faster than we ever ran before. So we were terrified, though. And a lot of people were just crying and freaking out.

JOHNS: It sounds terrifying.

And, Katie, what about you? You heard about the announcement over the intercom, is that right?

KATIE COLEMAN, ROYAL CARIBBEAN PASSENGER (via telephone): I actually slept through it. And Danielle woke up and I was - I -- she was panicking, she was freaking out, and she told me that we had to get our life jackets on and run upstairs. I honestly didn't even believe her. I thought she was having a bad dream or something. I didn't - I didn't even believe her, but, yes, we changed, grabbed our life jackets and ran.

JOHNS: Danielle, give us a sense of how long all the excitement lasted. How long did it take you to find out what was going on? Was there any panic on board?

MILLER: It -- people were panicking because we had no idea what was going on. And before we went to bed, there was a pretty bad storm and the ship was really rocking. So our first thought was that we were sinking because they said life jackets and run. And we got up to the deck and we see the lifeboats being lowered down. We saw a light sparking and catching on fire. We were basically shoulder to shoulder with a ton of people who were just as terrified as we were. And we didn't know what was going on for about half hour when they made an announcement that there was a fire.

JOHNS: And, Katie, so what's going to happen now? You're in Freeport, Bahamas, and you really have an option to make your way home, or what? What are you going to do?

COLEMAN: I mean we plan on staying and, I don't know, still trying to have fun. I don't know. I mean the pool is empty, so I - there's not too much to do on the boat right now but we'll probably get off the boat later and --

MILLER: (INAUDIBLE).

COLEMAN: Yes.

JOHNS: Are you ever going to go on a cruise again or is this it for you?

COLEMAN: We're not sure. It was honestly the most terrifying thing in my life. But, I mean, I don't know, I'd probably go on a cruise again.

MILLER: I would just because the workers handled it really well and even though it was terrifying, they tried their best to make everyone comfortable and they were so well trained that I felt confident that we would be OK.

JOHNS: All right, then, thanks so much, Danielle Miller and Katie Coleman.

MILLER: Thank you.

JOHNS: As much of the nation takes a welcome Monday off, the commander in chief urged us not to forget the brave men and women who died ensuring our freedoms. That's President Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Present!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Present!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: You see it almost every year, commemorating Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Since last Memorial Day, we've lost 234 fighting men and women in the war in Afghanistan. But as the president noted, none in Iraq. For America, that war is over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, last Memorial Day I stood here and spoke about how, for the first time in nine years, Americans were no longer fighting and dying in Iraq. Today a transition is underway in Afghanistan, and our troops are coming home. Fewer Americans are making the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan and that's progress for which we are profoundly grateful. And this time next year, we will mark the final Memorial Day of our war in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: CNN's Barbara Starr is live for us now from Arlington Cemetery.

Barbara, it's always a moving scene there on Memorial Day.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It absolutely is, Joe. You know, President Obama, after giving those remarks, came here to section 60 to visit with some of the military families and friends who have come to visit their fallen comrades. Some 800 troops have fallen in battle in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried here.

And we're here talking to the family of Marine Corps Sergeant David James Smith. You can see his friends have left mementos here. His family, his other Marine buddies, are here visiting him today. But I want to talk to a very special young man. This is his nephew Logan.

And, Logan, you had the opportunity to speak to the president of the United States. Tell us what that was like.

LOGAN: Well, it was really cool because he's, like, very high in the government and it was nice to talk to him.

STARR: Do you remember anything he said to you?

LOGAN: He said -- he said, we thank you for your sacrifice and God bless you.

STARR: Was he nice?

LOGAN: Very nice.

STARR: Yes. So it's kind of cool?

LOGAN: Yes.

STARR: Tell me about your uncle, Sergeant Smith. Tell me about David.

LOGAN: He was - he was very funny. He loved to just have fun and mess around with people.

STARR: A cool guy?

LOGAN: Yes, very cool.

STARR: Yes. And this is your mom?

LOGAN: Yes.

STARR: Right. And back here some of Sergeant Smith's buddies in the Marine Corps, in the same unit he was in.

Tell us, sir, who are you, give everybody your name.

CASEY (ph): My name's Casey.

STARR: And you can talk to me.

CASEY: He was a fantastic Marine. He was the kind of Marine that everyone wanted to be like and he was a great leader.

STARR: Yes. He was in your unit?

CASEY: Yes. He was - him and I were in the same crew as David and he was -

STARR: Right.

CASEY: It was our first deployment. And he was a great person to take us in. And, you know, it was horrible to lose him, but definitely learned a lot from him and we'll carry out his legacy.

STARR: And on this Memorial Day, would you have been anywhere else but here?

CASEY: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

STARR: This is - this is where you wanted all to be, with him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

STARR: OK.

And, you know, Joe, that's really what we're seeing from so many of the troops that have come here to visit their friends, their fallen friends, their colleagues, their battle buddies. A lot of them tell us they just wouldn't be anywhere else on Memorial Day except here at section 60 at Arlington.

Joe.

STARR: Barbara Starr, thanks for that.

Vietnam veteran and Senator John McCain has just become the highest ranking U.S. official to enter war ravaged Syria. He went there and met with rebel leaders. "The Daily Beast" reports McCain entered Syria from Turkey with the leader of the Free Syrian Army. He sent out a photo several hours ago and with it the tweet, quote, "with U.S. Air Force before taking off from Turkey. Thank you for your service."

Going to turn now to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh in Beirut, Lebanon.

Nick, the senator is no longer in Syria. When did he leave, do you know?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think it was purely in the last few hours. That trip across from Gaza in (INAUDIBLE) where we know from Mr. (INAUDIBLE) he was earlier on today. He goes through Killish (ph), another Turkish town, and across the border, a very populated crossing there, refugee camp. I've been through myself just inside the border, slightly further on a key town of Azaz (ph) that's been bombarded heavily. Perilous journey and certainly a more difficult one for a man of his seniority, Joe.

JOHNS: Nick, do we have some sense of who the senator actually met with there?

WALSH: Well, "Daily Beast," who appear to have spoken to the NGO he went with, known as the Syrian Emergency Task Force, say that he met a bunch of activists from cities across the country and, of course, the military general, Salaam Idriz (ph). Now that, of course, is key because it is a high ranking U.S. official giving credibility and standing alongside these vital parts of the Syrian military rebel opposition here. At a time when the U.S. is corralling the opposition towards a negotiating table, McCain has long been an advocate of military intervention here. He wrote recently in "Time" magazine that the costs of inaction are significantly higher than the costs of action. And, of course, many now looking at when the U.S. would best have intervened in seeing that amount of time has long past. That conflict here now increasingly regionalized.

Joe.

JOHNS: Do we have any sense of whether the Syrian regime was notified of Senator McCain's trip before it hit the media?

WALSH: No, it would be highly unlikely (INAUDIBLE). I believe he wants (ph) to kept the whole thing secret from the fractured rebel opposition themselves purely for security reasons. A very dicey part. Mr. McCain has been a very outspoken against the Syrian regime and it would be highly if he would have notified them and, of course, given that area is mostly rebel held now, simply at peril from regime air strikes. He wouldn't really have needed Damascus to be on board, Joe.

JOHNS: Nick Paton Walsh, thanks so much for that. Coming up next, while picking up the pieces in Oklahoma, one man recovers thousands of dollars thought to be lost in the storm. An amazing discovery, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: In Moore, Oklahoma, tornado victims are sifting through the rubble that used to be their homes. They're searching for anything worth salvaging. Some 12,000 houses either damaged or destroyed. It's a daunting task. Our Nick Valencia is in Moore.

Nick, amazing stories we're hearing of lost treasures amid the destruction. What's the latest?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe, residents are starting to slowly trickle back into this Moore neighborhood and dig through the rubble, trying to find some valuable possessions. We're here with Tom Bridges. And Tom came back here after a week.

You got back. What did you find?

TOM BRIDGES, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I found $2,000.

VALENCIA: And then you came back to look for that. You found that - where did -- how did you find it?

BRIDGES: Yes. Well, kind of figured kind of the area where it was and everybody just started digging around in that area. And we got down to the bottom of it, there it was. It's like, you know, we were guided there. You know, it's -- and it just, you know, a miracle that, you know, that I found it and --

VALENCIA: Look at that. Look at that.

BRIDGES: Put it in my pocket and it's still on it got the band, it says $2,000 on it. So, that's - I was meant to still have it in my pocket.

VALENCIA: What did you think when you first saw it?

BRIDGES: Oh, I just - I couldn't believe my eyes. I wasn't - I wasn't expecting it. It was just -- it is a miracle. It is a miracle. It just -- just like it was meant for me to be still here, you know, God still got a better -- another purpose for me. And so he's taking care of me. So - so, anyhow I still got that and --

VALENCIA: This neighborhood is filled with miracles and that's not the only one that you've experienced. You rode the storm out in your cellar.

BRIDGES: Yes, I did and got buried in it. And about 25 minutes, and I heard somebody hollering at a distance and I started hollering back at them and they started following my voice to where I was at. And they all got all the rubble off the door, because I couldn't even open the door to the cellar and --

VALENCIA: You were rescued by strangers.

BRIDGES: Yes. And I still don't know who they are. They told me my name. I don't remember. But they got the door open and drug me out of there in one piece, you know, and so that was -- that was a miracle right there and a blessing. You know, to survive that too. So - but the wife's jewelry, the main jewelry in her jewelry box, a couple of days later, I was targeting that. And --

VALENCIA: And you found that too.

BRIDGES: And I finally figured out which direction that went and started looking there and there it was.

VALENCIA: Now we were talking, you've lived here for 19 years. Some people say it's foolish to rebuild. Tell them why you want to live here, why you want to rebuild here.

BRIDGES: Well, I love Moore. I love the people here. And I love the neighborhood. I just - I don't - I just don't know any place any better. Because we chose this place to live because there was a nice place and it still is. So --

VALENCIA: It's treated as such -- so well, our crew. Thank you very much for taking the time. It's these miracles that are keeping hope alive here in the community of Moore.

Joe.

JOHNS: Nick Valencia, thanks for that. A little bit of good news.

An officer ambushed, killed in the middle of the night. Why a Kentucky policeman got out of his car and the strong warning his police chief has for the person who pulled the trigger.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: The police chief in Bardstown, Kentucky, is vowing revenge after one of his officers was ambushed and killed. Canine Officer Jason Ellis was attacked on an exit ramp of the Blue Grass Parkway on Saturday when he stopped to remove debris from the roadway. He never had a chance. His gun was still in his holster. His chief was blunt about the hunt for the officer's killer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RICK MCCUBBIN, BARDSTOWN POLICE: I can assure you, we won't give up on this person until we have him either in custody or in the front side of one of our weapons. And I personally hope the latter is the choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Joining me now is Alina Machado.

Alina, police believe the debris was actually placed in the middle of the road as sort of a trap? ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Joe, at this point, that's what it looks like. Police tell us that they believe Officer Jason Ellis was ambushed. This all happened early Saturday morning, just as Ellis was driving home from work. They say the seven-year veteran had stopped to remove some debris from the road and that's when someone started shooting at Ellis, killing him. Police say the suspect used a shotgun and was a distance away, but they aren't saying much else about the investigation.

Now, Ellis was a husband and the father of two young boys. Those who knew him are trying to make sense of what happened. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PASTOR BRENT SNOOK, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF GLEN ESTE: When you know a guy like Jason, who is just a great man and a wonderful guy, you just don't expect this to happen. He was a courteous kid. And when he was a teenager, a lot of times teenagers go kind of do their own thing, but Jason stayed just as respectful as he always was when he was a kid. He wanted to make a difference in people's lives and so he had a passion and always wanted to be a police officer. There's three characteristics that come to mind about Jason, his integrity, his honesty, and his respect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So, Alina, the first question is, target versus stranger. Was this officer an intended target? Do we know? What do we think?

MACHADO: Well, authorities at this point believe that this was a planned attack, but they're not sure if Officer Ellis was specifically targeted or if the shooter was just going to start shooting at whoever stopped to try to clear that debris from the road.

JOHNS: So, considering the possibility of a stranger, you would think that authorities are saying, be on the lookout because it could be a dangerous situation.

MACHADO: That's exactly what's going on. Authorities are telling people to be very vigilant because you have to keep in mind, they say this is someone who shot and killed an officer who was inside, who had approached the scene in a marked squad car. So this person could potentially be willing to kill anyone.

JOHNS: Alina Machado, thanks so much for that.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, things are beginning to get back to normal in the Jersey shore. We'll talk to one long time business owner looking forward to the vacation season.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did what we had to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JOHNS: It's business as usual again on the Seaside Heights Boardwalk, sort of. Most of the iconic Jersey Shore landmark reopened this weekend seven months after Superstorm Sandy. Much of the region still has a long road to full recovery, but this weekend's Memorial Day reopening marks a hopeful comeback. President Obama will visit New Jersey tomorrow, joining Governor Chris Christie, to tour the progress. The president last visited the region in October, in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

Victims of the superstorm have some advice for tornado survivors in Oklahoma -- keep on fighting. Seven months later, they're still trying to take back what Sandy took from them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Seven months after Superstorm Sandy tore through Long Beach, Long Island, Fran Adelson is about to rebuild her home. Four feet of water caused so much damage that she decided, like many of her neighbors, to raise the house on a concrete platform. What caused the delay, a protracted battle with her insurance carrier.

FRAN ADELSON, LONG BEACH RESIDENT: Seven months later, this is what's going on. Not just for me, for everybody else. It's been nothing but frustration. Nobody ever expected that it would take this long. Nobody ever expected. You figure, OK, a couple of months, but then time goes on and time goes on and you just -- you know, the money - the money's coming too late. It's coming too late for a lot of people.

JOHNS: Superstorm Sandy didn't claim any lives here in Long Beach, but it affected nearly every one of the 35,000 residents. A quarter of the population is still displaced and businesses are still shuttered as Memorial Day marks the beginning of the summer tourist season.

The city has been famous for its boardwalk and its surfing. The iconic boardwalk is being rebuilt, and the waves are still breaking. But Luke Hamlet, who has run the Long Beach Surf Shop for 32 years, says the town still feels empty.

LUKE HAMLET, OWNER, LONG BEACH SURF SHOP: There's still a little weird feeling going on in town. People are rebuilding still, people are waiting for insurance money, for SPA money.

JOHNS: In Hamlet's case, insurance didn't cover his losses from flooding and the government programs didn't do much to help him reopen his doors. What mattered in the end was his own sweat equity.

HAMLET: We spent five months demoing everything down to the brick, down to the original ceilings, down to the floors, and then we just put it back together, just my family and kids that work with me.

JOHNS: Along Beach Street, The Doughnut is back in business. Swing Belly's Barbecue reopened this weekend.

For Fran Adelson, the lessons of Sandy are that communities, whether on Long Island or Oklahoma, shouldn't lose faith in their struggle to rebuild. ADELSON: I would say, fight for every dime, every single dime from the insurance companies. Do not stop. Be tenacious. I don't care if you need to have it become your second full time job. Do it. Go for it. You deserve it. You've been paying insurance all along. Do not stop until you get what you deserve, until you're able to rebuild and get back in your home.

JOHNS: The people of Long Beach say their greatest asset in rebuilding came not from the federal government or the insurance industry, but their own tight knit community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Now, in New Jersey alone, storm damage from Sandy has been estimated at more than $36 billion and one of the hardest hit areas was the iconic Seaside Heights Boardwalk. Joining me is Seaside Heights business owner Wayne Cimorelli.

Mr. Cimorelli, what does this weekend's reopening mean for the Jersey Shore?

WAYNE CIMORELLI, OWNER, SPICY CANTINA: It means a lot. We started off with bad weather on Saturday. And I think we were all a little nervous. The weather definitely had an effect on the crowds. People came out in spite of the weather, but it certainly wasn't a normal beginning. But yesterday -- the sun came out yesterday and we always say in our industry, when the sun comes out, we're all geniuses. Yesterday was a tremendous day for Seaside Heights. All the shore towns that I spoke with had a great day yesterday. Families poured out. People were very - very - it was different. I must have heard the world "thank you" a couple hundred times.