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President and Others Observes D-Day; South Florida Reeling from Heavy Rainfall and Thunderstorms; Justice Department Accuses Couple of Spying for Cuba; Republican Senator Jeff Sessions' Take on Sotomayor's Confirmation Process; Keeping Track of Health Care Reform Talk; 31 Children Killed in Mexico Day Care Fire

Aired June 06, 2009 - 11:00   ET

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

KATE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): -- that he hopes live on, memorial or not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope they learn that freedom ain't free and that they'll never forget it, never forget it.

BALDWIN: Kate Baldwin, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody from the CNN world headquarters here in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes. We have been following this morning of tributes and salutes. That flyover there, just part of the huge ceremony happening in Normandy, France today to honor those who fought and died some 65 years ago today. Our Dan Lothian actually was at that ceremony. We're still seeing live pictures here, and Dan, I'll go ahead and bring you in, but as we watch our live picture. We don't have our Dan Lothian just yet, but we have been watching these ceremonies.

That's the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, who participated a short time ago in the d-day ceremony happening there at the American Cemetery which is the place where some 9400 American service members are buried, those who fought and died in World War II. It's a beautiful place and a beautiful ceremony right there and overlooking Omaha Beach, one of those beaches that American service members landed on 65 years ago today.

That invasion of Normandy as we keep up this live picture I'll tell you was actually months in planning, and involved more than 5,000 ships, 11,000 aircraft. It was co-named "Operation Overlord." In command was General Dwight D. Eisenhower. By the end of the day troops from the U.S., Britain, Canada and France had secured all five beaches along that stretch. Normandy actually has a 50-mile stretch of beaches. Twenty-five hundred allied soldiers were killed on that day.

NGUYEN: We also want to bring you some other news today as we continue to mark the 65th anniversary of D-Day. I want to tell you about this, a story that we've been covering for you. The last thing folks in South Florida want today is an encore from mother nature. I mean, look at the rain that they've been experiencing, especially the folks there along South Beach. The National Weather Service estimates seven to nine inches of rain fell in just a couple of hours yesterday. These are pictures from Miami's South Beach area as I mentioned. One CNN viewer there says he saw hail as big as a quarter and floodwaters as high as three feet. The weather service also recorded nearly 100 lightning strikes in just five minutes.

HOLMES: I know that's not how we're used to seeing South Beach, but that is South Beach. Look at that, is that a surfboard someone is trying to get around on? Reynolds we were talking about this a little earlier, just a mess. We were talking about some people trying to drive through some of this water, but you said you don't even have an option sometimes, the water just comes up so quickly in a situation like we saw down there in Miami.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. I think the rule applies if you're driving through this (INAUDIBLE) country and you happen to see an area where you have the water and it's in a low-lying area and the water is crossing the road. But in downtown Miami yesterday you didn't have the option, it was all over the place, seven to nine inches. You see the video right there, I mean it was just really stacking up, the rain was coming down in torrents. Not only that you had some strong winds too helping to knock out the power to some 10,000 residents. This morning power is still not fully restored and it's going to take a little while before everything gets back shipshape. But certainly quite a mess today. They're not out of the woods just yet. We could see some rain in parts of South Florida. In terms of severe storms, we have had had some strong thunder boomers over towards Cape Coral and up near Tampa and Orlando, right along the I-4 corridor.

But at this time, not so much in parts of South Florida, although that could occur later on today. Not as severe, probably, but still a few rain drops to say the least. Scattered activity possible throughout much of the southeast for the Midwest and the upper plains states. You're going to see some rain but in the Rockies, the central northern Rockies we're talking about not just rain, possibly even some snow. Could be heavy at times as we get to the afternoon hours. Those temperatures this afternoon soaring up to 86 degrees in Kansas City, 77 in Denver, 81 in Las Vegas, 58 in San Francisco, back out to our nation's capital 79 degrees. New York mainly into the 70s. At Belmont for the big horse race, looking at track conditions, it should be OK. Not expecting any rain but a mix of sunshine and clouds and temperatures mainly into the mid to upper 70s. That is a look at your forecast, let's send it back to you guys.

HOLMES: All right Reynolds, we appreciate you buddy. Check in with you again here soon.

NGUYEN: Want to bring you up to speed on this story, 24 error messages, that is how many signals Air France flight 447 sent out before it crashed into the Atlantic. Aviation experts say the jet may have been given conflicting information about its speed at the time that it was heading through some violent weather. They may have been flying too fast or even too slow. We're also hearing the plane's auto pilot disengaged, cabin pressure was lost and there was an electrical failure. Search teams, they're still trying to locate the jet's debris. The flight was heading from Rio to Paris when it went down Sunday night with 228 people on board, including three Americans.

HOLMES: Feds say that he was known as agent 202. Havana sometimes called her agent 123. We're talking about former State Department employee Kendall Meyers and his wife Gwendolyn. They have now both been charged with spying for Cuba. Authorities say they had been watching Kendall Meyers for years. CNN's Jill Dougherty with more now on the sting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): T.J. and Betty, all of this really sounds like a Hollywood movie.

(Voice-over): The Justice Department in its indictment says that Kendall Myers, 72 years old, used to work as a State Department analyst, and his wife, Gwendolyn, who was working for a bank in the Washington, D.C. area were illegal agents of Cuba for basically 30 years. The government still does not know the full extent of the information that they might have given to the Cuban government, but they do believe they understand perhaps the reason that they allegedly did that. One senior law enforcement source tells CNN that they were true believers. There is no indication in the indictment, for example, that they were paid directly by the Cuban government to give this information. But allegedly in this indictment, they say they got a secret meeting with Fidel Castro in 1995.

(On camera): This is how it happened, and reading from the indictment, "While staying in a small house in Cuba, Kendall Myers and Gwendolyn Myers were visited by Fidel Castro. Fidel Castro spent the evening with Kendall Myers and Gwendolyn Myers and talked with them through an interpreter." They also give very interesting details of how they allegedly passed this information on, using a short-wave radio, getting Morse code from their handlers in Cuba and then also sending information back.

(Voice-over): The wife, Gwendolyn, allegedly said that her favorite method of getting information out was to use exchanging shopping carts in stores.

(On camera): Now all of this came to an end very recently in April of this year. There was a counter-espionage plan that was carried out by an FBI informant who contacted them, pretended that he was a Cuban agent and they spilled the beans on what they had done. Back to you, Betty and T.J.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Very interesting there. Another story to tell you about, reliving the process from the other side.

HOLMES: Yes, the top republican involved in confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been there and done that and he is not exactly looking back fondly on his experience.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We have been looking back this day, 65 years, this anniversary of the D-Day in Normandy. We've been watching the ceremonies all day. We've been showing you live pictures here on CNN. Our Dan Lothian was at that ceremony. He joins us now on the phone. Dan, things have kind of wrapped up there now, but remind our viewers just kind of, we understand that your idea of the theme. But a lot of these leaders hit on some of the same points today.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): They really did T.J., and when you're watching it on television, you hear it on television, you get one sense of what this ceremony was all about, but when you're there in person, it really was a powerful and emotional commemoration remembering the soldiers who died, more than 9,000 buried here, Americans buried here at the American Cemetery. And then the veterans who landed on Omaha Beach and other beaches here in Normandy and are now still alive, up in age, but still alive. We heard from those speakers as you mentioned, from Gordon Brown of Britain, from Prime Minister Harper of Canada, from Sarkozy of France and then of course Mr. Obama talking about faith, courage and sacrifice.

HOLMES: I think we just lost our Dan Lothian. We're having some issues with that signal today. Dan, we do appreciate you. But Dan checking in for us there. He was at that ceremony again, American Cemetery there in Normandy. Really overlooks Omaha Beach where so many Americans did land, did come ashore on this day 65 years ago. Here you're seeing a picture of the president during that ceremony. But really, a day to remember, a day to celebrate, a day to commemorate as well. There are the five leaders, you see Prince Charles there as well who was part of the ceremony. But part of our D-Day commemoration and coverage here on CNN.

NGUYEN: A little bit closer to home, officials in northwestern Mexico are dealing with a tremendous loss. At least 31 preschool children killed and more than 100 hurt after a massive fire at a daycare facility. It happened in Hermosillo yesterday afternoon. Parents they rushed to the scene trying to find their children. All of the victims are, get this, five years old or younger. Some are being brought to Shriner's hospitals here in the U.S. for treatment. The fire is believed to have started at a warehouse next door, and Mexico's president has called on his attorney general to investigate. In fact, we are trying to get a Mexico state government official on the phone to talk with us and give us an update on this story, and as soon as we get that, we'll bring it to you.

But in the meantime, I want to tell you about this. Two key Taliban figures, they are dead after an ambush in Pakistan's Swat Valley. What's really ironic about this story, Taliban fighters themselves may have killed these men. The men were prisoners of Pakistani troops, the Pakistani military says they were both killed when the Taliban ambushed an army convoy that was transporting the prisoners. It's not clear whether the men were killed by the troops or the Taliban fighters.

It's been a busy week for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor. For three days she was on Capitol Hill meeting with and greeting with senators and answering questions about controversial comments that she's made in the past. Well we've learned those comments weren't a one time thing. We're talking about her saying Latina woman with her experiences would oftentimes reach a better conclusion than someone who is of a different color or race. Well in papers she submitted that comment came up in speeches from 1994 and as recently as 2004.

HOLMES: They're actually saying, Betty, it was almost like a stump speech she was giving. It was part of a stump speech. So she came out and said it was a poor choice of words. Some republicans came out and said well it was a poor choice that she made repeatedly on these words. This morning the top republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee said there was a central question he has for Sotomayor. In the weekly republican address, Senator Jeff Sessions says yes, he wants to know if Sotomayor will allow her ethnicity to color her decisions on the bench like some of those comments seem to suggest to some. Sessions has his own unique perspective, however, on the confirmation process. Our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Listen in to what republican Jeff Sessions told the democratic president Supreme Court nominee.

JEFF SESSIONS: You will get a fair hearing before this committee.

BASH: He is so emphatic because of his own experience. Twenty- three years ago, Sessions was nominated by Ronald Reagan to be a federal judge but was rejected.

SESSIONS: I am sorry that the Senate Judiciary Committee didn't see fit to find me qualified for it.

BASH: He is now the top republican on that very committee.

SESSIONS: That is a very odd thing. Somebody says it gives new meaning to the word irony.

BASH: Irony bringing back memories he tries to forget.

SESSIONS: It was not a pleasant event, I have to tell you. It was really so heartbreaking to me.

BASH: Then a 39-year-old Alabama U.S. attorney, Sessions was accused of racial insensitivity, calling a black lawyer boy, a white lawyer a disgrace to his race and civil rights groups like the NAACP un-American. He was pounded by democrats like Joe Biden.

SESSIONS: They may have taken positions not considered to be adverse to the security interests of the United States.

JOE BIDEN: Does that make them un-American? SESSIONS: No, sir, it does not.

BIDEN: Does that make the positions un-American?

SESSIONS: No.

BASH: Some democratic senators Sessions now serves with called him racist.

SESSIONS: Now that was not fair. That was not accurate. Those were false charges and distortions of anything that I did, and it really was not. I never had those kind of views, and I was caricatured in a way that was not me.

BASH: Sessions went on to win a senate seat in 1996, but the allegations still sting.

SESSIONS: I think it was hard on them.

BASH: The parallel to today, some republicans charging Sotomayor as a racist is eerie.

(On camera): When you hear that, do you hear Ted Kennedy and other democrats going through your head saying Jeff Sessions is a racist?

SESSIONS: You know that's such a loaded word, and I don't think it's appropriate.

BASH: Sessions will ask tough questions about deep differences with Sotomayor on judicial philosophy but also hopes to use her hearing to close the door on a painful part of his past. Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Hundreds of mourners turning out today in Kansas for the funeral of Dr. George Tiller. Interfaith prayer services were held Friday in Wichita. Tiller was gunned down last Sunday in his own church. He was one of the few U.S. doctors who still performed late- term abortions. Anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder has been charged in Tiller's death. Federal civil rights lawyers have also launched an investigation.

We're going to have a rare look at the front lines of the Normandy invasion all online. Our Josh Levs is going to be around to take us through that, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: As we look back I want you to listen to this quote here. It says, you can see why Hitler didn't believe us. Those words of a veteran who served at D-Day.

HOLMES: Yes, and a lot of people maybe trying to figure out what exactly does that mean. There is somewhere you can go and see exactly what that veteran is talking about, it's at a military website. Josh Levs taking us into that. Good morning Josh.

JOSH LEVS: Hey good morning to you guys. Yes, this is one of the most amazing websites I have ever seen. It takes you to the front lines of D-Day with video and images. Let's take a look at two clips of a video here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the evening of June 5, the harbor came alive. I could see one ship signaling to the other that this was it. We would hit the beach the next morning. At 6:30 A.M., June 5, 1944 to be called D-Day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so hard to describe. I can imagine being a (INAUDIBLE) looking through binoculars and seeing all this. No wonder Hitler didn't believe us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: There you go, that's where that quote was. Now this is at army.mil/dday and I'll show you in a minute where you can get a link to it, but let's go zoom back in on the screen for a second. Because you have this video that takes you through a lot of these images as veterans describe what it felt like, and you have photos that were taken there on the front lines on that day 65 years ago today. A little bit earlier I spoke with a military official I asked him about it. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. KEVIN ARATA, U.S. ARMY: Each of the units did have photographers assigned to them to document this as they went through the war. So that's where we pulled most of this from. It's very powerful images that just show incredibly what these men went through as they landed on the beaches of Normandy.

LEVS: So we're seeing all of the really powerful images there. Take a look at this one right here, I want to see if we can click on this because this is a helmet that's on top of what appears to be a rifle there, that's kind of a makeshift memorial at the time, right, to people who were giving their lives?

ARATA: It is, and it's still used as a symbolic measure today to show the respect for soldiers who die in combat, is the helmet on top of the rifle upside down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: That's called a soldier cross there. One of the many images you can see at this site. We actually have a link for you. It's really easy to find, cnn.com/newsroom. Let's zoom in on the board here, I want you to see, we posted this and you have a link in there, and we're also hearing from a lot of you. For example, over here, we got this from Michael who says, "This is the day of remembrance for all people to heed the sadness that war brings. About the lives lost to protect the great American dream of freedom." And over here Charlie Erickson talks about how he went to the site, he liked it, he's going to keep going back. He says, "I noticed they've prominently displayed of one of my former units, the eighth infantry division."

We'd love to hear from you today. We're having these online discussions throughout the day. You can see where, cnn.com/newsroom also on my Facebook page, facebook.com/joshlevscnn, twitter.com/joshlevscnn. And in all of those places you will find the links to the military site that we're talking about here, that takes you through so many of these amazing images. Betty and T.J., we're all learning a lot today. And I'll tell you, getting to the frontlines like that, it's powerful.

NGUYEN: Oh yes, no doubt. In fact, we have our Facebook pages up, too, and we're already getting some information from viewers. One right here from Claire Barnes on my Facebook page who says, "Last month she visited that American cemetery in France and said it was so touching to really understand the full meaning of the invasion and see all the crosses there."

HOLMES: And we've been just seeing those pictures from afar today. But our Dan Lothian and some of our people there describing to us what it's actually like to be there versus the experience. A lot of our viewers still moved by still moving pictures, but it's something else to be there today. Of course the president has been overseas the past few days while he's still been focusing on a lot of big issues right here at home.

NGUYEN: Yes, no doubt. So how is the push for health care reform coming along? There has been a lot of talk but what about the action. We'll get to that, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: June 6, such an emotional time for so many. World leaders, dignitaries and veterans. They spent much of this day at the American Cemetery in Normandy, France. It was 65 years ago that allied forces launched the largest seaborne invasion in history forever to be known as D-Day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Friends and veterans, we cannot forget. What we must not forget is that D-Day was a time and a place where the bravery and selflessness of a few was able to change the course of an entire century. An hour of maximum danger amid the bleakest of circumstances, men who thought themselves ordinary found within themselves the ability to do something extraordinary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Well, today at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, the president's visits this week to Africa and Europe, also his message to the Muslim world and America's appeal abroad, has his words and actions changed attitudes toward the U.S.? That is the topic for the entire hour. Send your questions or comments to our blog now at cnn.com/newsroom or Facebook or just email us.

HOLMES: Even though he is overseas, the president remains focused on one of his top priorities at home, health care reform. He talked about it in his weekly radio internet address saying it is time to deliver.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: This week I conveyed to Congress my belief that any health care reform must be built around fundamental reforms that lower costs, improve quality and coverage and also protect consumer choice. And that means if you like the plan you have, you can keep it. If you like the doctor you have, you can keep your doctor, too. The only change you'll see are falling costs as our reforms take hold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Our deputy political director and friend over here on "CNN Saturday and Sunday Morning," Paul Steinhauser joins us now. Tracking all the reform talk. It is still talk, but could we get some action any time soon, Paul?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: We could get some action starting later this month. You know T.J., you just saw the president there in his address outlining what he'd like to do. And sure, everybody wants lower health care costs. I know I do, I think everybody would like that and everybody would like to see those millions of Americans who don't have health care coverage to get it. But there are a lot of thorny issues here including how are we going to pay for all this, because it's not going to come cheap and whether the government itself should be offering new insurance options to millions of Americans.

Not only are the parties split here in Washington but so are Americans. Take a look at this recent poll by CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation, a national poll, and we asked, what do you prefer, a health care plan that raises taxes and covers everybody or one that keeps taxes the way they are but doesn't increase the coverage? Look, Americans are pretty much split dead even right there T.J. on that one. As for the timetable that you asked about, well two senate committees are going to start working in the next couple weeks on competing plans possibly and we may see some votes later this month. The president says he would like congress to get something done by the end of next month. Is that going to happen? It's going to be a tough, hot summer. T.J.?

HOLMES: Is that going to happen? Is it fair to say maybe you don't want to go out on that limb, but it's not happening that soon, is it?

STEINHAUSER: He said he'd like them to complete everything by the time they take that big, long summer recess. I don't know if that's going to happen or not because there's a lot of disagreement here. T.J.?

HOLMES: All right, while the talk continues in Washington, it continues also elsewhere around the country. People are getting involved in one of these grassroots efforts, if you will.

STEINHAUSER: Exactly. This group is called "Organizing for America," we saw them in action earlier this year when they were helping push the president's budget. This is basically the remnants of the Obama for president campaign. You know the campaign ended, he won, but the organization stayed around and they're part of the Democratic Party now. This weekend they're doing what they're calling their kickoff for health care. They're doing events across the country. CNN's at one of them right now. You're going to see a Kate Bolduan report later today on that. They're trying to motivate interest and get people to call their lawmakers and urge them to support the president's plan. But some republicans say this may not be so helpful. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY BIRD, DEPUTY DIR., ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA: We've seen an unbelievable amount of enthusiasm both amongst our hosts of the events this weekend, amongst our volunteer supporters, and amongst new people who weren't involved in the campaign but have now come along and are key volunteers for "Organizing for America."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: That's one of the organizers of the plan, and Congressman Blunt of Missouri, T.J., telling CNN that he doesn't think the plan is very helpful, this organizing this grassroots because it will only prevent republicans from trying to work with the democrats. Again, it could be a hot summer when it comes to health care, T.J.

HOLMES: We have him now, let's go ahead and take a quick listen to him. I just saw his face up here, so I think he have that soundbyte, let's take a quick listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ROY BLUNT, (R) MISSOURI: Activating the grassroots effort from the campaign is one way to keep your campaign effort alive. It's not a particularly effective way to create a bipartisan solution to an important problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: That can be part of the problem, because you know what, the democrats may not have a vote. Their votes alone to get this done, T.J. They're going to need some republicans to help out, and would this plan, this "Organizing for America" grassroots help or hurt? We'll see.

HOLMES: All right. Interesting to see those numbers you brought us, Americans split on what they think the government should do and it could be a tough summer, as you say, up there in Washington. Paul Steinhauser, friend of our show here on "CNN Saturday and Sunday Morning." His official title is deputy political director, but good to see you, as always.

STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T.J.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Branches of the Bank of Lincolnwood in Illinois are opening today under another name, that's because regulators shut down the failing bank. It is the 37th bank to fail this year. Customers they still have access to their accounts, but now they are banking with the Republic Bank of Chicago. The Lincolnwood failure is expected to cost the government about $83 million.

Chrysler will emerge from bankruptcy Monday unless the Supreme Court intervenes. The U.S. Appeals Court says it approved Chrysler's sale to Fiat but it's keeping it on hold until Monday to allow the high court to hear appeals from objectors. The Indiana treasurer is appealing on behalf of three pension funds. We're going to talk to a Chrysler dealer next hour.

Also this, the Obama administration is pushing for tough new auto emission standards. The goals, more mileage, less gas, less pollution. We'll delve into that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, officials in northwestern Mexico are dealing with just a tremendous loss. At least 31 preschool children killed and more than 100 hurt after a massive fire at a daycare facility. It happened in Hermisillo yesterday afternoon. Parents they rushed to the scene trying to find their children. All the victims were 5 years old and younger. Some being brought to Shriners hospitals here in the U.S. for treatment. That fire is believed to have been started at a warehouse next door. Mexico's president called on his attorney general to investigate.

The Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento is expected to receive a number of the injured from that fire, and joining us on the phone is Dr. Tina Palmieri who is the assistant chief of burns for the hospital. Dr. Palmieri, talk to me about what you're expecting and what kind of facilities that you have ready for the injured that will be coming there.

DR. TINA PALMIERI, N. CALIF. SHRINERS HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN (via telephone): It's an evolving situation, as you can imagine, with that number of children. The resources in the town of Hermisillo are stretched to their maximum, so we're learning things as time goes by. We are preparing to accept patients and we're going to be starting that later today, and we're just taking things one at a time and getting our resources together to take care of these children.

NGUYEN: Do you have any idea, doctor, how many children that could be coming to that hospital?

PALMIERI: It really does change with every hour. So the number --

NGUYEN: Ballpark, what do you know?

PALMIERI: So far? NGUYEN: Yes.

PALMIERI: Like I said, it changes every hour, so I don't want to give a number because it's going to change five minutes from now.

NGUYEN: Right, but are you saying a handful, are you saying a dozen, a couple dozen? How many children?

PALMIERI: I really can't say at this point in time how many. A lot depends on how stable they are and what their needs are.

NGUYEN: OK. And when it comes to children, and we're dealing with burns like this, what are the biggest concerns?

PALMIERI: There's several areas of concern with children with large burns, and some of them is just being able to transport them safely, because they have severe dehydration and these children were likely to have inhaled a lot of smoke, so initially we just need to get them stabilized from those two standpoints. And then as time goes by, obviously we need to take care of their burn wounds.

NGUYEN: Well that's something I want to ask you about, are you prepared for some long-term treatment?

PALMIERI: Yes. And to give you a background, a child with a burn injury is in the hospital an average of a day per percent burn. If a child, half their body is burned, they're in the hospital an average of 50 days. So it's a prolonged process to actually get a child through this type of injury.

NGUYEN: We do wish you the best of luck. I know that you're going to have a lot on your hands today. Dr. Palmieri at the Shriners Hospital. Thanks for your time today.

PALMIERI: Sure.

HOLMES: That was a remarkable number. Did i hear that right? For every percent of the body burned is how many days the child will be in the hospital?

NGUYEN: So if they're burned over 50 percent, they're looking at quite some time they're at the hospital. But they say they're prepared for that kind of treatment and hopefully the children get there as soon as possible so that they can start getting the treatment.

HOLMES: I had never heard it quite put like that. That gives a whole new perspective.

We're going to turn now, transition to some weather now, and let's show you this video we got out of the high plains just yesterday.

NGUYEN: Storm chasers caught, look at this, the entire life cycle of a tornado. Check it out. This funnel cloud formed some 50 miles northeast of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Now, the local sheriff's office reports no damages or injuries, so that's the good news here despite the fact that this twister traveled 10 miles on the ground and lasted for some 25 minutes. But boy, what a sight that is. It's always great to see this type of twister because we know that it hasn't done any kind of damage or caused any injury to anybody.

HOLMES: You can see all that land all over the place, so Reynolds this, one was literally out in the middle of nowhere, and that's a good thing. You could almost enjoy the picture. These things are fascinating to see, but knowing it's not doing damage, you can actually take in the sight.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That is a storm chasers dream. When you can chase one of these, you can watch it, no one's going to be hurt by it, it's not going to be destroying anything, certainly a great thing. Obviously when you have one of those, in a populate area, that's when you have to take action, that's really when you have to seek shelter immediately.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: You mentioned Beaumont today. It could be a big day, we could see a triple crown winner, right?

WOLF: In terms of man, not beast, yes.

NGUYEN: Exactly. For those of you who don't know, in fact, the jockeys can change horses. The jockey today has already won twice.

HOLMES: Calvin Burrell, yes, he won the Kentucky Derby on "Mine that Bird," won on "Rachel Alexander" in the Preakness.

NGUYEN: And he's on "Mine that Bird" again today. So, there you go, we'll see how it turns out. Thank you Reynolds.

HOLMES: We've been talking about the veterans today and being honored, remembering this D-Day anniversary, and our Susan Lisovicz who's usually doing her reporting from Wall Street, doing some reporting from a family home, talking about her uncle.

NGUYEN: Yes, this is really a remarkable story. In fact, her uncle talks about the longest day in the first person. You don't want to miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, giving the audience the best possible show. That's the idea behind a play on Broadway where they looked past the norm to cast the lead. CNN's Alina Cho has more on the role of the actress who broke new ground to play the part.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Phylicia Rashad may be best known for her 1980's role as TV's favorite mom, Clair Huxtable in "The Cosby Show." The sitcom was considered ground-breaking in its portrayal of an upper middle-class African-American family. Nearly two decades later, Rashad is breaking ground again, this time on Broadway. The 60-year-old actress plays Violet Westin in the Pulitzer Prize winning play, "August Osage County," a drug addicted mother in a dysfunctional family. The move to cast Rashad is unusual, and it's making headlines because all of her relatives in the play are white.

PHYLICIA RASHAD, ACTRESS: I didn't know what to feel, I just said oh.

CHO (on camera): So how did you feel?

RASHAD: I didn't know how to respond because it was so unexpected.

CHO (voice-over): One scholar of African-American theater calls it a significant step and a sign of the times.

PROF. HARRY ELAM, SANFORD DRAMA DEPARTMENT: In this age of Obama, in many ways things are opening up and opening up possibility. So this allows producers to think outside the box.

CHO: There have been plays in the past that have been recast with actors of a different race than the playwright originally intended, but that's usually involved all of the actors, like "On Golden Pond, " and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," which also featured Rashad. The actress downplays the significance of playing the matriarch in an all white family.

(On camera): Do you look at this role as being ground breaking as well?

RASHAD: I'm an actor doing my work. That's how I see it. I'm an actor doing my work.

CHO: Will audiences buy it?

ELAM: Theater is built on the convention of disbelief, that you will accept something when you walk into the theater. So you can see an actor playing a dog, a chair, and you'll accept that for the time you're in the theater.

CHO (on camera): Is your hope that there will be more Violet Westin's cast who look more like you?

RASHAD: My hope is that it won't matter. That is my hope. My hope is that we really put the tomato in our shoe and catch up and that it won't matter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Our correspondents cover the stories developing every day in the black community. Our Soledad O'Brien has been working on stories you will see only on July 22 and 23 when CNN Presents, "Black in America 2." Two nights, two prime time documentaries, all new stories, right here on CNN.

NGUYEN: And also working hard today, our very own Fredricka Whitfield. She joins us now with what's coming up at the top of the hour.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you. Yes, lots coming up. Chrysler dealers, many of them having to close the doors this week. We're going to be talking to two in South Florida. Yes, they're closing because that's the way I guess the cookie crumbles these days. But here's a dilemma for them, they've gotten new cars, dozens of new cars in the lot but they can't sell them as new cars even though there may be zero miles on the odometer. Why? They're going to join us to tell us about this predicament that they are in.

Here's another predicament, something right out of the pages of your favorite spy novel. We're talking about two Americans, one a former diplomat with the U.S. State Department, and wife now being accused of spying for Cuba. There are diaries involved, and so now this is a pretty serious federal case. And that man right there, Fidel Castro, apparently had one-on-one conversations allegedly with the State Department employee. So our legal eagles are going to be delving into this one. They can't wait because they're going to talk to us about some of the obstacles that have now been presented, trying to pursue this case. Involving high levels of the State Department. And we're talking about spanning three decades. Why now?

NGUYEN: That is interesting stuff, though. All right, I can't wait to see that.

WHITFIELD: OK, good. So you'll be tuning in.

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

HOLMES: We always do.

WHITFIELD: So you're going to start your day after this.

HOLMES: Start?

WHITFIELD: You've already started.

NGUYEN: Our day has been going.

HOLMES: The day is wrapping up.

WHITFIELD: OK, well maybe you'll be in front of the television at the 4:00 Eastern hour as well because we'll be capping off this whole week of the president being abroad. "America's Appeal Abroad." Has he helped? As we try to continue to forge our international relations, whether it be in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, join us in the conversation, "America's Appeal Abroad," 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

HOLMES: Dedicating the hour to it.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

NGUYEN: We'll be sending you tweets then.

WHITFIELD: OK. Or maybe on the blog. HOLMES: On the blog is better.

WHITFIELD: OK that's better, I can handle that.

HOLMES: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: My work load is such.

HOLMES: Coming up, don't know if you've seen this story, Fredricka, but one of our own.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I love this.

NGUYEN: This is such a good story.

HOLMES: She's going from Wall Street to a family home to talk to her uncle about what he was doing on this day 65 years ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We want to give you some pictures, actually, of what happened in Normandy. Well, I'm being told we don't have those pictures now, OK.

HOLMES: But we have a story to tell nonetheless.

NGUYEN: Yes we do. And these pictures that you're about to see in this story really very touching. As veterans are honored and remembered on this D-Day anniversary, our own Susan Lisovicz sits down with her uncle.

HOLMES: Yes, he's a war hero, he was there the day the allies stormed Normandy. And in Houston he reminisces for the first time at length about the longest day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All my life I've known my Uncle Lenny is a war hero, but he never wanted to talk about it.

LEONARD LISOVICZ, D-DAY SURVIVOR: I don't want to say -- I try to rub that out of my mind. But it won't go away.

LISOVICZ: What won't go away is the chaotic scene 65 years ago on a sliver of sand thousands of miles away. He was a 26-year-old lieutenant when he stormed Omaha Beach. The first words came from his captain.

L. LISOVICZ: He said this is the real thing. Let's see what you can do. That was it. So you hit the beach.

LISOVICZ: But the Germans hit back.

L. LISOVICZ: They had to pinpoint. It was just like shooting ducks on a pond. Your comrades would get artillery busted, a hand flying here, a leg there. Guts laying out on the ground just asking for help and you couldn't help them. You had to move. You just had to push them aside.

LISOVICZ (on camera): You lost so many men. Were you ever scared?

L. LISOVICZ: Nobody can tell me that you don't fear going up against a man you've never seen in your life and look him in the eye and know you're going to kill him.

LISOVICZ (voice-over): But the Nazis held a superior position. Then Uncle Lenny said help came from above.

L. LISOVICZ: At times there were so many planes in the sky, you couldn't see the sky. You could see them forming from all directions coming into one pattern. And that's how we got off the beach, darling. We found the paratroopers. But they were all dead. They massacred them in the field.

LISOVICZ: From that beach, my uncle fought all the way to Germany. He started with 220 men but says only 22 made it back home alive. My uncle returned with many medals for his service, including the prestigious silver star for his valor in the battlefield.

(On camera): What does it mean to you now when you look at it?

L. LISOVICZ: I don't care for it. I did the walk, baby, I did the walk.

LISOVICZ: You don't need to do the talk.

L. LISOVICZ: That's right.

LISOVICZ (voice-over): But I finally convinced Lieutenant Leonard Lisovicz, my Uncle Lenny at 91 to do the talk. After 65 years, it was time. Susan Lisovicz, CNN, Houston, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Indeed, it is time. These stories are just so touching because so many of these veterans are getting up there in age. As we've been talking they're a dying breed. And if they don't tell the story then we can't record it in history. Each of them has a specific story of their experience on that day.

HOLMES: And he's 91. We talked to a gentleman earlier, 85. We saw so many of those veterans at the ceremony today over in Normandy. President Obama mentioned it today, talked about it in his speech, that no matter how small of a nugget that story is, you need to tell that story, it's important for that to get passed on and passed on because we are losing this generation.

NGUYEN: Speaking of losing this generation, he also spoke of one veteran who made the difficult journey to Normandy to the American cemetery there. And he knew that he wasn't feeling well. He was in bad health. Well, he went to the American cemetery for the very last time yesterday and he died last night.

HOLMES: He was expecting to be there, part of the ceremony, part of the celebration, the anniversary today but that was one of the stories. I know we've been interacting, you have specifically on your Facebook page today with folks talking about their experiences on this day. I posted that story, I posted what happened. The response has been overwhelming. It's one of those touching stories. But he got to see that cemetery for one last time.

NGUYEN: Fredricka Whitfield is coming up at the top of the hour and of course Fred I know, you're going to be talking a lot more about the 65th anniversary of D-Day so stay tuned for that. CNN Newsroom continues right now.