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Nation Pays Tribute to Military's Sacrifice; Will GOP Criticism of ISIS Strategy Backfire?; Twelve People Missing in Hays County, Texas; Obama to Lay Wreath at Tomb of Unknown Soldier. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired May 25, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:32:53] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: This Memorial Day, our nation pauses to reflect and pay tribute to our nation's fallen heroes. You're looking at live pictures out of Arlington National Cemetery. This is the U.S. Marine Band playing -- just one of several events planned today as families gather to remember loved ones.

Next hour President Obama will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. CNN will bring that to you live as soon as it gets under way.

Not far from where that band is playing is what's known as the saddest acre in America. Section 60 is the final resting place for more than 900 service members who made the ultimate sacrifice. This morning loved ones are gathering there to pause and reflect.

Let's bring in CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Good morning -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning -- Carol. It may be known as the saddest acre in America but right here right now today this is a place full of love and memories and remembrance. This, I must tell you, is where the history of brothers in arms is written for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but also so many other conflicts in the nation's history.

We are seeing just dozens and dozens of families, relatives, battle buddies turning up here to pay respects to their loved ones; so many people coming here on this Memorial Day to pause and remember.

A short time ago we spoke to a young mother and her son. She lost her Marine Corps husband after he served several tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRITTANY JACOBS, HUSBAND DIED IN 2011: I think it's wonderful that people are coming out here and these people aren't forgotten. Their sacrifices aren't forgotten.

CHRISTIAN JACOBS, FATHER DIED IN 2011: (INAUDIBLE). I love you. I hope for you to be here and I know you will be here and I love you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're so sweet.

CHRISTIAN JACOBS: He always watching over me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:34:55] STARR: Four-year-old Chris Jacobs talking about his father who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. His mother brings him here every year to visit his father's grave. We're seeing that --families returning now year after year to be here. We're seeing everything here today from very small children to grandparents and as I said to battle buddies.

So I'm going to be the one to say to all of the folks out there. If you're headed to the pool, if you're headed to the shopping mall, if you're headed to a barbecue or the beach, have a great weekend but before you do, pause, remember and reflect. And if you're here in Washington, get on the Metro and come to Arlington. You won't be sorry. This is a place right now so full of love for the U.S. military members who gave the ultimate sacrifice on Memorial Day 2015 -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ok. That one made me cry. Barbara Starr, thanks so much. Give me just a moment.

All right. On this Memorial Day we are reminded of the grim cost of war. Of course, fighting ISIS remains one of the nation's top priorities. Republicans like Senator John McCain and potential presidential hopeful Senator Lindsey Graham have slammed the President's strategy in recent days.

Graham says he wants 10,000 U.S. ground troops in Iraq but political columnist George Will warns criticizing the President's strategy could backfire for Republicans come 2016.

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GEORGE WILL, POLITICAL COLUMNIST: Isis and the Islamic state is a big problem for Barack Obama. The more they criticize him, it's going to be a big problem for Republicans who are going to be challenged if you will the end, you have to will the means to that end and what are your means?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's talk about the means with Democratic strategist. I'm also joined by anchor of the Hot List on TheBlaze.com, Amy Holmes. Welcome to both of you.

Amy, I want to start with you. Expound on what George Will is talking about.

AMY HOLMES, THEBLAZE.COM: Well, what he's talking about is if Republicans criticize the President for his lack of strategy, lack of plan, we know that because ISIS is growing. It's actually capturing more territory, more cities. It's beheading people. It's burying children alive.

COSTELLO: We get that. But what does George Will --

HOLMES: We know all of that.

But that means -- what George Will is saying is that Republicans can't just be in the peanut gallery criticizing. They have to come up with a plan. And I agree with him to a certain extent. I think what the American people want is they want truth. They want their leader not to relitigate the past but to shape the future and to make sure that ISIS doesn't come to the United States and commit acts of terrorism.

COSTELLO: Ok. Well, let's talk about the present for just a second, Chris because it's difficult to come up with any one strategy in light of what Ash Carter said, isn't it? Do you invest American lives in an Iraqi military that runs from the fight?

CHRIS KOFINIS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I don't know how you do. At some point the Iraqi people have got to choose the destiny of their country. Especially on this it is a lot to ask for more families to bear the ultimate price to fight for a country where the people of that country do not seem to want to fight for it. It really is I think that simple.

Listen, I respect Senator McCain's service but the idea that we're going to send thousands of more troops there and we're going to turn the situation around when the Iraqi people themselves aren't willing to turn it around, I just don't see how that's -- I don't see how that's a solution.

COSTELLO: And, Amy, just to expound on that, I understand what Senator McCain means. He wants to put 10,000 to 20,000 American troops in there to like sort of like teach the Iraqi forces and --

HOLMES: We're doing that.

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COSTELLO: We are doing that with 3,000 American troops there now. But it's not quite working, right, as we witnessed with the fall of Ramadi.

HOLMES: Correct -- yes.

COSTELLO: So is that what we want to do is to put like tens of thousands of American soldiers there? If we do that, how long do they stay?

HOLMES: Well, I think what we want is a strategy. Right now we're offering air support and drone strikes. That's not working. ISIS is actually gaining territory. It's not just an Iraq problem. Iraq's home base is in Syria. We have putative allies like the Saudis, the Jordanians and the Egyptians who don't believe us and don't trust us and are now trying to litigate this war against ISIS themselves. I think what American people are looking for is leadership and

that has been lacking with this president. It's not just --

COSTELLO: When you say leadership, like I know what you're talking about. You're talking about President Obama. But tell me what effective leadership looks like when it comes to Syria, the problems there, and in Yemen and in Iraq and the problem with Iran.

HOLMES: Well, unfortunately, it's getting more and more difficult as time passes and as ISIS gains ground. We know in the beginning of Syria, ISIS was only sort of a burgeoning force there but they turned out to be the most effective fighters and so Syrians who are fighting against Bashar al Assad were teaming up with ISIS because the United States was leaving a power vacuum.

Again, Republicans -- I understand George Will's point that they can't just criticize. They have to come up with a plan.

But I think that the American people also want truth. They don't want a president who calls ISIS the JV team who says that capturing Ramadi, Mosul and cities in Syria is merely a setback. It's not a setback. It's a victory on the part of our enemy.

[10:40:11] COSTELLO: So Chris we're sitting here, we're criticizing Republicans but I haven't heard a strategy from Hillary Clinton either frankly.

KOFINIS: Well, I mean, I think she's made it clear that she does not want more troops on the ground. Listen, I think it's really --

COSTELLO: That's not a strategy.

KOFINIS: Well no, I mean listen it's part of the strategy in the sense that you want the Iraqi people to decide their own destiny. You need the Iraqi government to basically formulate a strategy. You need the Iraqi military to actually fight the fight. Everyone keeps wanting a somewhat grand strategy to solve a problem that's been going on for decades if not depending on how you want to look at it, thousands of years.

The bigger issue here is at what point is the American people going to say enough. I think they've said that a long time ago. The idea that we're going to send tens of thousands more troops there to turn the situation around and at the price of more men and women, at the price of billions of dollars is just not a tenable solution.

And it's really easy to blame the President. Let's not forget how we got into this mess. We got into this mess because of strategic mistakes of the Bush administration. Everyone seems to forget that.

Amy, I let you speak. I let you speak.

COSTELLO: I'm with Amy on this one. We have to move forward now.

KOFINIS: That is the reality. COSTELLO: All right. We have to leave it there. Chris Kofinis,

Amy Holmes -- thanks so much. I appreciate it.

HOLMES: Thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And as we go to break, these live pictures from the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

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[10:45:26] COSTELLO: Deadly flash flooding ravages parts of the United States. Three people have died in Texas and Oklahoma and 12 people are missing in Hays County, Texas right now.

Daniel Guerrero is the mayor of San Marcos, Texas. He joins me live now on the phone. Welcome, sir.

MAYOR DANIEL GUERRERO (D), SAN MARCOS, TEXAS: Thank you. Glad to be here.

COSTELLO: Mr. Mayor, are those 12 people missing from your town?

GUERRERO: No, ma'am. I think the 12 that have been referenced during our recent press conference -- 12 throughout the county. San Marcos is certainly the county seat -- one of the larger communities in Hays County but that count is for the county at large.

A greater portion of the floodwaters that probably had the most devastating effects took place in a community immediately to our west in Wimberley. San Marcos is a little further down in the area from there so we got the same level of floodwaters from what we're seeing thus far reports indicate that a significant amount of damage and still missing folks are more in those hill country areas in Wimberley.

COSTELLO: Tell me about the damage in your town.

GUERRERO: It's significant. This was the most devastating flood in the history of our community and we certainly have had our fair share of significant flooding. This tops the chart.

We're looking at upwards of 400 homes that have been damaged or destroyed. We have a fire station that has been put out of operation for a period of time. We're still assessing what we'll need to do to get that back up and functioning. A number of businesses and apartments were damaged as well.

Fortunately in the last -- since the rains have started to subside and the waters have gone down, we've seen a lot of community members coming forward offering their resources and services and banding together with neighbors to start cleanup efforts. We're working with other nonprofit organizations, the Red Cross, Salvation Army, our faith-based communities as well and they're going to be coordinating those volunteer efforts to assist people that have been affected throughout the San Marcos area.

COSTELLO: Are you expecting more rain later today? GUERRERO: Yes, ma'am. In fact, I'm sitting outside of our

police department right now and it's beginning to sprinkle. We are anticipating more rain coming in today throughout the day. I think the projection that I've heard thus far is probably as much as two inches. And with the ground already saturated from previous rain, we're not anticipating that it's going to be absorbed into the soil quickly.

So we certainly recognize that folks want to get to their property and get to their homes and begin cleanup efforts but also we want to remind all of our residents that this adventure is not over. I don't anticipate that we'll see flood levels nearly what we saw on Saturday evening and Sunday morning but certainly be cautious and be aware. There's still a lot of debris. There's still a lot of infrastructure that needs to be evaluated, assessed and improved and we're just encouraging caution as folks are beginning to get out into the community.

COSTELLO: All right. Mayor Daniel Guerrero -- thank you so much. I appreciate you being with me this morning because I know --

GUERRERO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: -- you've had a busy weekend and a busy day ahead.

GUERRERO: Thank you as well.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, holiday travel is at a ten-year high. Chad Myers is tracking the trend. Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Carol, you know, most people are going to be traveling today by car, many of them driving through thunderstorms that you just talked about. I'll show you where that's coming up just in two minutes.

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[10:52:28] COSTELLO: More than 30 million Americans are hitting the road and heading home as they wrap up the holiday long weekend -- or is it the long holiday weekend? I think it's that. Perhaps easing some of those back to work blues the prices at the pump; nationwide drivers are filling up for $2.74. That's up for the month but compared to last year it's a steal.

Chad Myers is in Atlanta to tell us more -- good morning.

MYERS: Carol -- why does it cost $50 to fill up my tank?

COSTELLO: Because you're driving a big old SUV. You have to get rid of that.

MYERS: I have a tiny little car. It just has to be big enough to hold my son's tuba. That's all it has to be so I know -- I could be driving a mini but no, I can't. So $2.74 -- that's our number. $3.66 is where we were last year at this time. It's going to continue to go down we all hope. I can't move this graphic here so, Monica, you're going to have

to do that for me. 33 million Americans are now driving today. And my guess is about 31 million of those, Carol, will be in the left lane for no reason I don't know why but people here especially in the south I guess, they just like the left lane.

I want to make a new sign that says slower traffic keep left rather than slower traffic keep right because I just don't know what they're doing out there. Anyway, I digress.

37.2 million people and about four million of those will be in aircraft today. That may be the best place because if you're driving, I-20, I-40 all the way across parts of Alabama, you may run into some pretty serious weather. If it looks really bad out there, maybe a good time to pull over or just pull off and let it go by. These storms are only going to last about 20 or 30 minutes. Better than trying to drive through it or for that matter trying to run into somebody who is already stopped there ahead of you.

Look at these rainfall rates -- two inches per hour -- Carol. That's enough to blind you and there's also the potential from I-40 down to 20 and even 35 for the potential for tornadoes later on this afternoon. You don't want to be driving when something like that is on the highway.

Please enjoy your day but please be safe -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And for goodness sake, drive in the right lane if you're not going over 60 miles per hour.

MYERS: My pet peeve.

COSTELLO: It's good. I'm glad that I allowed you to vent this morning. It's important. Thank you -- Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, on this Memorial Day, Americans honor those killed while serving their country. This is a shot of Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington, as you know.

[10:54:58] President Obama will honor our fallen military in just about seven minutes.

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COSTELLO: Just minutes from now at Arlington National Cemetery, President Obama will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. It's one of the more iconic traditions on this Memorial Day.

Let's check in with senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta with more. President will be speaking and so will the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey and also Ash Carter, the defense secretary -- correct? JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I believe

that's right -- Carol. And keep in mind this is something that the President is going to be focused on all day today. He started the morning over here at the White House meeting with and having breakfast with organizations that help families of fallen soldiers. And the President as you'll see here in a few minutes will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown and then deliver remarks.

And Carol, you know, the White House is not really telling us that the President is going to be making a whole lot of news with this speech. But he is going to be paying tribute to the generations of lives that have been lost and sacrificed for this country and the speech comes, you know, really at a critical time as this country is trying to figure out once again what to do about Iraq.

This forever war that seems to have been going on since President George H.W. Bush and went right into the Clinton administration, George W. Bush's administration and President Obama thought he wrapped up this war in Iraq and now he's faced with this prospect once again, recommendations here in Washington of sending more troops into Iraq.

[10:59:56] And it's going to be a tough call for this president and something for this country to think a lot about. But all of that can be set aside I think as this country remembers people who have made this ultimate sacrifice on behalf of their country.

We'll see the President here marking that in just a few moments.

COSTELLO: We will. And thank you, Jim Acosta.

Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.