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Oil Solutions: A Show & Tell; BP Preps for Next Attempt to Stop Leak; Mementos for the Fallen; On a Mission to Help Veterans

Aired May 31, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: But here we are at the top of the hour now. Let me tell you what we have got "On the Rundown."

When exactly will we have a permanent fix for the Gulf oil spill? This week, next week? Maybe not. It might not be until sometime in August. We'll explain this sobering prediction from BP.

Also, on this Memorial Day, you'll meet a man who's not just remembering the fallen, he's also looking to the future and to America's would-be service members.

Also on this Memorial Day, going to look to the past a bit, give you some historical perspective on the reason for this day. It's a special "XYZ" that you do not want to miss.

But, of course, today, the big story -- the big story for the past 40 days -- and it looks like it might continue for quite some time -- the oil spill. The oil might continue to spill until August. Let me explain why, because this weekend, we got some disheartening news.

It was really heartbreaking for everyone who was looking at this top kill method and hoping that it could possibly give some relief. BP was telling us, 60 to 70 percent chance that it could work. Whatever those percentages mean, take them for what you will. But a lot of people had a lot of hope that they would work.

It didn't. Top kill not going to happen. So they have to move on to another method, the lower marine riser cap package.

We're going to tell you the details of that here in just a bit, but essentially what we're looking at now, even if this new method does start to catch some of the oil -- it's just going to be some, but they don't put a lot of faith that this new method could work. So that means that the permanent solution is two relief wells that are being drilled that won't be ready, we're told, until sometime in August.

So, yes, folks, we could be seeing that live picture of oil gushing into the Gulf until sometime in August.

Our Reynolds Wolf is in New Orleans, back in the Gulf coast area, his third trip down there.

Reynolds, you have been over there several times now, like I said, three times. But when you first went, that was the initial shock of it all. But now here we are after this top kill doesn't work. Just give people an idea of just how the mood has changed in the time you have been there.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I can tell you, T.J., just in the three trips that I've got here, that I made by my way to the Gulf coast, the frustration has grown as the oil continues to spread. It seems like they both kind of follow each other.

You know what's funny? Is we were showing you the newspaper, the front page of the paper earlier, which is, again, each day is kind of like a scorecard, so to speak, that shows the level of the frustration rising. But we had a fellow that actually just drove by. He stopped by a moment ago, and he put something into perspective that is as clear as anything that I've heard from the start of this incident.

He compared this to being like a house fire. He thinks there's too much bickering going on right now as to how the fire started, instead of putting the fire out and then dealing with the rest later.

You know, there has been a lot of bickering. There has been some anger, of course, with the Obama administration. Definitely, there's been some anger with BP. And certainly there's some anger overall with this happening in the first place.

But the bottom line, this gentleman has said, and I've heard this echoed across this city, is let's stop the darn thing and then let's worry about that later on. Let's stop it, let's clean it up, and then we'll sort out the rest.

HOLMES: That is a good way to put it. You know what? We can deal with fault and all that later, but everybody needs to come together right now just to get it stopped and get it cleaned.

Tell people, as well, because, of course, you're a meteorologist by trade, but just how worried people are now about this storm season that's coming upon us, and how that could complicate things.

WOLF: Well, as we have been talking for quite some time now, sea surface temperatures have been very high. In fact, since they have been keeping record, they're among the highest that they have ever seen in the Atlantic. They do forecast a very busy year, not just because of the sea surface temperatures, but very weak upper level winds can been anticipated as we get into the hurricane season.

As you know well, T.J., all our viewers across America have got a good idea, too, that the Gulf of Mexico tends to be a hotbed of hurricanes. And just the idea, the concept of having a hurricane or a strong tropical storm going across that wide expanse of water that has just been covered with the oil is quite frightening, to say the very least.

Now, when NOAA released their report about the forecast for the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, one thing they did mention is that, really, the oil won't have any impact on the strengthening or weakening of the storm. The reason why, because these hurricanes are so darn big. And second of all, they move so quickly through things like this. It would be almost impossible to imagine the storm pulling up stationary and sitting right on top of this oil spill.

So, that being said, the biggest danger that one of these storms could create is what we refer to as storm surge, which is basically a wall of water that is pushed. They used to think a long time ago it was caused by the very minimal pressure inside of a hurricane, but it's just the force of the winds piling up the water, possibly transferring that piling of water, a transferring mechanism of taking that water, that contaminated water with the oil, and pushing it on shore. That's the nightmare effect that they're afraid of.

HOLMES: All right. Reynolds Wolf.

It's hard to imagine this thing getting worse. But it absolutely is every single day. Reynolds Wolf, we appreciate you as always. Thanks, buddy. We'll talk to you again soon.

And like I just mentioned a moment ago, the only real permanent solution, we're told, these relief wells that might not be ready until sometime in August. So this oil could be gushing into the Gulf for the next several months.

But right now there is another plan. Everything else has failed so far, but there is another plan on the drawing board -- the lower marine rising cap package.

We'll explain to you exactly what that is. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, it seems like another day, another failure, another option, another new name. That's exactly what we have now. People are getting used to these top kills, top hats, and all this stuff.

But lower marine riser cap package, Josh. This is the latest effort. Not to really stop it, but at least keep some of this oil from going into the Gulf. And please explain this latest.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It moves fast, doesn't it? I mean, you and I were both here this weekend. Right? We were reporting on top kill not working.

Next thing we know, LMRP is the new talk. So what I'll do now is help everyone understand what we're talking about.

Let's go straight to the animation so you can see this first. This is a video BP has provided of what's supposed to happen.

And what we're seeing there is the blowout preventer. And as we move to the top, you're going to see a couple little pieces move away, and then there is going to be a stub that's left. And the idea here is similar to what we have heard before. You've got some extra oil that gushes out in that time, but then the cap should come down and go on top of it. It's not a 100 percent seal. It's not designed that way. What it is designed to do is direct a lot of that oil up to the surface, contain it to a certain extent, not 100 percent of it.

The problem is -- and we'll do this fast -- but what we need to do in order to create that in the first place is slice off a bunch of what you can think of as junk that's in there right now. So they have these underground robots are at work.

Basically, they need to make one slice over here using this robot with hydraulic shears, jump over here. Then they need to make another cut over here using this robot that has a diamond cut, an actual diamond wire cutter.

You know how diamonds are so sharp? It's going to cut off all that. And if all that goes well, then it ends up with the image that we were seeing before.

And this is what they want it to look like, a really smooth stub right there, and a cap right here that's able to fit on. But it's like you and I were saying before. It's like underwater open-heart surgery, because they have to get it exactly right for that to fit.

HOLMES: And we're going to move on to this other, the permanent option, in a second. But have you seen anywhere -- how much are they talking about? They say it's supposed to catch most, it won't catch all. I mean, most could mean 51 percent, like Reynolds was saying, so we don't know how much it could catch.

LEVS: We're trying to know. All they're saying is most. I wouldn't put too much faith in the figures, even if they said them.

HOLMES: All right. Well, the other thing they're telling us that will work, the permanent solution, the relief well that won't be ready, though, until August sometime.

LEVS: Right. This one is better.

Yes, so relief wells are what we're looking for toward August. And this is an image here of relief wells from BP.

And the basic idea is, it just like it sounds, relief well one, relief well two. And basically, you have a giant well down there filled with oil. There's a special liquid that would push the oil into these other wells so that the pressure that's now pushing upward would go away. That's the theory.

They say it will take until August to get it up there. It's hard. It's a lot of construction that needs to go on, and then the oil doesn't automatically go there. That's why they need this special liquid to even get it into these relief wells, and we're talking the entire summer of oil gushing into the Gulf in the meantime.

HOLMES: And like you said, that's the theory, because we have been told everything else that was supposed to work that hasn't worked. Hopefully, this will, but still, we're talking about August. LEVS: We're talking about August at the earliest, right.

HOLMES: All right. Josh, we appreciate it. People need to see exactly how complicated this stuff is and what's going down 5,000 feet below the surface.

Josh, thank you so much.

LEVS: You got it. Thanks.

HOLMES: Of course, today is Memorial Day, and of course we are remembering the heroes, and some unique ways we're doing it as well. We're going to be taking a look at Arlington National Cemetery and a special section, Section 60.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: This Memorial Day, there's not much that needs to be said. As you take a look at this picture, that's Mary McCue (ph). She is on the grave of her fiance, James Regan, from Manhasset, New York.

He is in Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60. He was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq four times in three years. The two were supposed to get married right after his last tour of duty, but in February of 2007, Sergeant Regan was killed by a roadside bomb.

This photo was taken three years ago. The message just as poignant today as it was then.

This day, of course, set aside to remember fallen heroes like James Regan and to support those they left behind. And in some cases, yes, a fiancee.

Well, when paying respect to the fallen at a grave site, we think of saying a little prayer, perhaps laying flowers. But, again, Section 60, Arlington National Cemetery, it's a little different, and you'll find some very personal stories there.

CNN's Barbara Starr is there. She has been bringing us some of those stories.

And Barbara, we appreciate it. And it looks like you have another one of those stories to tell us.

Hello to you again.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you again.

We are again at Section 60. We are with the family and friends of Scott William Dyer. And we are also in the back here, I want to make sure you see and note, with a number of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who are joining us. They, of course, didn't know Chief Warrant Officer Dyer, but it doesn't matter. Everyone here is paying their respects and lending their support.

In fact, the chief foreign officer's 9-year-old daughter Sidney is with us today. She has come up here. Sidney doesn't really feel much like talking right now, but we want everybody to know, she is here as well, with her grandparents.

And we are here with one of his best friends in the world -- and that's what these stories are about today -- Chief Warrant Officer Derek Fritz (ph) of the Florida National Guard. And we saw him show up here early this morning, stand at attention to salute his friend, and he hasn't moved all day.

Derek, you have been here all day long.

CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER DEREK FRITZ, FLORIDA NATIONAL GUARD: Yes, ma'am. It's just an honor for me to pay my respects to the absolute best friend I've ever had in my life.

STARR: Tell me, though. This is more than just your best friend. You two knew each other forever.

FRITZ: Yes. We've known each other since we were causing trouble in our neighborhood. And we both graduated high school and got a little bit more mature, and joined the Army at separate times. And he did one career path and I did the next.

I was very proud that he went to the Warrant Officer Corps shortly after I did. And I could just never be prouder of him. And again, it's just an honor to stand out here amongst all the other heroes that are out here as well.

STARR: You've known each other since you were 14 years old?

FRITZ: About 14, yes.

STARR: And Mrs. Dyer, that's really what we're seeing so much of here today, family, friends and maybe even people that didn't know Scott coming out to pay their respects.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But that's true of Section 60. You know? Everyone in Section 60 lost someone in Afghanistan or in Iraq. And it's true of all the people out here.

And we literally are a family. You know, it's not just the gold star mothers. It's extended family. We're all family out here.

STARR: And behind you, you also have some veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who are here who didn't know Scott. But everyone is out here today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a special, special man.

STARR: And I'll tell you, that's really, T.J., what we're seeing here today. As we take a photo of some of the mementos left, you're going to notice there is a beer bottle here left by his buddies, and we see a lot of that here today at Section 60. We've seen a couple beer bottles, a couple of bottles of whiskey, a lot of toasting going on to very fond memories -- T.J.

HOLMES: Well, we toast him, and toast everyone there, as well.

And Barbara, we see a good collection of folks. And I think you only talked to two there. How many of those folks actually knew Scott?

STARR: Well, let's just step over here for one second. I'll step in front of everybody, and I'm going to talk to Scott's father, Sidney's granddad. She is very safely tucked in his arms, which is where she wants to be.

Tell us about your son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scott was a very special person to everybody. He was probably one of the most outgoing. He was just loved by everybody.

STARR: And how is your granddaughter Sidney doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And loved by Sidney also.

STARR: Yes?

Hey, honey, you miss your dad today, but you want to be here and say hi to him, right?

SIDNEY DYER, SCOTT DYER'S DAUGHTER: Yes.

STARR: Yes? OK. Well, we're happy you wanted to talk to us. Thank you. And we want to say thank you to your dad and to your grandma and grandpa and your whole family.

Thank you.

DYER: You're welcome.

STARR: Sidney's 9 years old, and she is coping with an awful lot, as a lot of families are on this Memorial Day. We pause and remember on Memorial Day 2010. For these families, every day is Memorial Day -- T.J.

HOLMES: Yes. It absolutely is. Barbara, we appreciate you so much for allowing people really to see, and a reminder of just what this day, this whole weekend really should really be about, and every single day, given that we have two wars going on, two fronts, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Barbara, thank you so, so much.

We were talking as well -- and Barbara, before we let you go, your photographer, if you can direct him, we're going to take a quick break, but we see a picture of Scott, I believe, that's there on that tombstone, on that headstone. Could we get a shot of him? We've been hearing about him. But can we take a look?

STARR: We absolutely will. We had -- we are going to get a Scott -- a shot of Scott as we go to break. I'm going to hold it.

We had a little touch of wind that made it fall off, but this is Sidney Dyer's dad. And we want everyone to see him, and remember him and all of the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: We're taking a quick break here. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, we're "Globe Trekking" now to the eastern Mediterranean sea, where there has been a deadly confrontation off the coast of Gaza. Israeli commandos stormed a six-ship international flotilla that was carrying aid to Gaza, killing nine people on one of those ships.

Organizers claim Israeli troops staged the attack in international waters and opened fire on unarmed civilians. Muslims are outraged.

You're going to get a report from Turkey here in just a moment. But let's go to Israel now and get a report as well from our Ben Wedeman.

Ben, hello to you once again.

What is the reaction? We're getting reaction, of course, from what's happening in other parts of the world. But how is Israel reacting to what happened out there?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it would appear certainly from the crowd of people nearby chanting that there is -- does seem to be a fair amount of public Israeli support for this attack on the Free Gaza movement flotilla. There has been some criticism from some Israeli politicians, some editorialists, because -- as a result of this incident, saying that it's really creating something of a diplomatic catastrophe for Israel.

We've seen the Turkish ambassador to Israel being recalled by Ankara . We've seen Israeli ambassadors across Europe, and those in Egypt and Jordan as well being called in for something of a talk with the foreign ministries in those countries. But it does appear that there is a lot of public support.

Now, of course, missing in this entire equation is we're not hearing from the other side, the Israeli officials are here in force, putting across their point of view. But the hundreds of activists are behind me in the Port of Ashdod in the detention center that Israeli set up, but nobody has been granted access to them. In fact, one Israeli human rights organization has submitted an urgent appeal to the Israeli courts, saying that they want to know the names of the people who have been detained, where they are, the names of those who were killed, as well. So there's still a lot of confusion. But as I said, certainly from the reaction of the people around here, many Israelis seem to think the Israeli government has done a good thing -- T.J.

HOLMES: Well, Ben Wedeman, remind our viewers here once again. People hear that, in fact, this flotilla was supposed to be bringing humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza. Why is it -- just remind people why several years back this blockade by Israel was put up in the first place, and why they believe it's justified.

WEDEMAN: Well, Israel slapped this blockade on Gaza following -- starting in January of 2006 when Hamas won democratic elections in the Palestinian territories, and it tightened that blockade after June 2007 when Hamas in a military showdown with its rival, Fatah, took over the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Israel has very tightly controlled the entry of all manner of goods into Gaza. For instance, people in Gaza can't get instant coffee, can't get chocolate. Israel restricts the entry of construction material, saying it could be used by Hamas, for instance, to build bunkers.

Now since the summer of 2008, five flotilla have actually gotten through the blockade and have gone to Gaza. The Israelis, in the beginning, led it happen. But beginning with the war in Gaza between -- at the end of 2008, 2009 Israel stopped it. And, of course, this was the biggest such flotilla to try to block -- get through the blockade. Around 800 people, 6 ships, 10,000 tons of supplies and all of those are now in the port behind me.

The people have been unloaded, they're in those detention centers and the Israelis have already said that 25 people are in the process of being deported. Fifty of those people have not given their identity, so they're still sort of being detained, and another 15 have already been shifted to a prison nearby here, because they refused to cooperate with the Israeli interrogator interrogators -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Ben Wedeman for us. We appreciate you, thank you so much. The report from Israel.

Let's turn to Turkey now, Istanbul in particular where our Ivan Watson is standing by.

Ivan, a strong, strong reaction coming from the Turkish government and the Turkish people right now.

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, T.J. This situation has rapidly escalated from a deadly incident at sea to a major international diplomatic crisis. Take a listen to what the foreign minister of Turkey just said moments ago at the United Nations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMET DAVUTOGLU, TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER: I am distraught by the fact that the Israeli defense forces stormed a multinational civilian endeavor carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in international waters seven to twelve nautical miles off the coast, to be exact, killing and wounding many civilians. This action was uncalled for. Israeli actions constitute a grave breach of international law. In simplest terms, this is tantamount to banditry and piracy, it is murder conducted by a state. It has no excuses, no justification whatsoever. A nation state that follows this path has lost legitimacy as a respectful member of the international --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: So the Turkish foreign minister is demanding the immediate return, T.J., not only of the ships, but of the bodies of the dead and of the hundreds of passengers that were on board these ships. He is demanding compensation from Israel to the dead and wounded and to the ship owners and an apology from Israel, as well.

This is really significant, because Turkey has long been Israel's only real Muslim friend in the Middle East, and that relationship has been strained over the course of the past year. Now it looks like it's really dangerous, really in danger of completely unraveling.

In the streets of Istanbul today, we saw protests erupting at the Israeli consulate were some windows were broken when early in the morning some demonstrators tried to storm the consulate, the high rise where it's located. There were protests in the square behind me, as well. Some people chanting "Zionist dogs," or praying for revenge from god against the Israelis for the death of their fellow countrymen.

Now, just take a look at this footage that I would like to show you now, T.J., from a little bit more than a week ago. This is one of the ships as it embarked from Istanbul. It was given a hero send off. We believe this was a Mavi Marmara taking off.

Turkish government officials, the prime minister insists the ship was inspected by Turkish authorities before it left. It had no weapons on board. It only had humanitarian supplies.

The Israeli government has given a very different account of what's been on board that ship. It insists that the activists were out for violence, and that they were armed with weapons and they have shown images of slingshots and steel balls -- T.J.

HOLMES: Well, Ivan, some strong words there made by the foreign minister at the U.N. today. He is certainly not mincing words, making it clear how the government of Turkey, at least, views how this whole thing went down.

Give if you can briefly -- we hear the only real friend in the Muslim world they have. Tell us how important this relationship has been. Has it been a fragile one as well? These two seem to have at least been able to, quite frankly, get along. Again, remind our viewers just how important this particular relationship is for the whole of the region.

WATSON: Yes, yes, that's really important point here. Throughout the '90s, the Turks and the Israelis blame close strategic allies. They shared intelligence, their intelligence agencies working together. They hold frequent military exercises. Turkish -- rather Israeli fighter pilots conducted exercises over Turkish air space because Israel doesn't have a lot of air space to fly a jet long distances. It was doing that over the plains of the highlands of Anatolia.

There is also economic trade going on. And, for example, Israeli tourists come in droves to Turkey. I've been to resorts on the coast, the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, where waiters and bartenders speak Hebrew. In the course of today, as this crisis erupted, more than 15,000 Israeli tourists have cancelled their trips to Turkey -- T.J.

HOLMES: Ivan Watson, thank you, putting that in perspective better just how valuable that relationship has been. Ivan, we appreciate you. Thank you so much.

Well, coming up here on this Memorial Day, talking about helping veterans. But some were trying to help veterans before they even become veterans, before they even enlist actually. Does that sound impossible? Our "Mission Possible" guest makes life before and after military service a whole lot easier.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Our "Mission Possible" on this Memorial Day, the American Legion. The largest veterans service organization has over 2.5 million volunteers.

Chartered and incorporated by Congress back in 1919, founded on four pillars. Number one, veterans' affairs and rehabilitation, which makes sure vets get access to medical care, career opportunities, and help transitioning back into civilian life. Number two, national security, which offers support for the Department of Homeland Security, helps provide decent quality of life for active troops and their families, and works towards disaster preparedness. Number three Americanism, which supports voter registration and participation and the Boy Scouts of America, as well. And children and youth, works to strengthen the family unit, and supports quality organizations for young people.

And one of the people at the helm of the American Legion, Mr. Peter Gaytan, executive director of the D.C. office. Mr. Gaytan, I certainly appreciate you being here with us on this Memorial Day.

You know what, I kind of went through it there, the four pillars, but do you think, as large as you guys are, do people know enough about you?

PETER GAYTAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE AMERICAN LEGION: It's our hope that the people do know about the American legion, and I think a lot of that falls on us. As the volunteer members of this great organization, we don't tell our story quite well enough. We don't let people know that we're there in their local communities, that we're there to help transitioning veterans and their families.

That we're there to support great programs for our youth in America today, like Boys' Nation where we teach young men and women about our government and about our nation, and they can start with a strong foundation when they're young people to find a direction for their own lives, be that military or anywhere else in the last.

But your question about do enough people know what we do, I think we need to do a better job of telling our story.

HOLMES: Well, that's something else, as large as you all are, you are still a secret almost and it sounds like you need a good PR agency.

GAYTAN: We're doing the best we can. If you visit our website, www.legion.org, you can learn about not only the national organization which is here in Washington D.C., and goes to Capitol Hill and works with the Department of Veterans' Affairs and works with the administration to make sure that we as a nation meet our obligation to our servicemen and women when they take that uniform off, when they return home, that they have the benefits and health care and services they need that we owe them as a nation.

HOLMES: And like you said, legion.org -- make sure people hear that, legion.org. What would you say now? We're going through the four pillars of what you do, but what would you say your largest impact -- where do you make the biggest difference? And has that evolved, I guess, over the past several years, given what we have seen in Iraq and Afghanistan?

GAYTAN: Well, with the many different layers of our great organization, we're effective in a lot of different areas. I mentioned what we do here on Capitol Hill and Washington D.C. We provide the largest voice for America's veterans and service members to our Congress, saying we owe these men and women who are defending our freedoms as a nation, we owe them what they return. They need quality health care, they need improved GI benefits, which we, the American Legion, helped pass.

They deserve employment opportunities, specifically our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are coming back from combat. We need to make sure that when they take that uniform off they have the opportunities ahead of them to live a full life.

Now the other layer is we're effective at the local community level. The organization and the influence we have within the Beltway in Washington D.C. is only as strong as our membership. And we have a devoted volunteer membership in this organization and that's what makes us great.

HOLMES: And, Mr. Gaytan, you said in there, make sure we give them what they've earned. We owe them what they have earned when they come back. How good are we right now, how good of a job are we doing at meeting that obligation?

GAYTAN: The American Legion is working hard -- HOLMES: I know the American Legion. I'm saying us as a nation. What would you say, how good a job are we doing as a country to make sure they get what they have earned when they come back?

GAYTAN: We're improving, but we need to do is listen. We need to know what the military families need. We need to know what the spouse who is at home with two young children while her husband is deployed or he or she their spouse is deployed for two or three times. We need to listen to them and make sure we know what they need. Do they need quality health care, daycare for their children? Do they need help when their spouse comes back and they're a different person? What do they need from us as a nation?

And what we need to do, we as active citizens, not only veterans, not only American legion theirs, but as citizens of this country, we need to remind our elected officials of our obligation as a nation to care for he who has born the battle and his widow and his orphan.

So it's our obligation as a nation, not just the American Legion, but the citizens of this country to help the American Legion, to help our veterans who are coming back, especially this weekend.

You mentioned it earlier, we need to recognize the meaning of today. Of we need to recognize the meaning of today every day because every day we as a nation are making new veterans, and the men and women of this country are defending our freedoms across the globe.

HOLMES: You're absolutely right. Again, it's Legion.org. Peter Gaytan, we appreciate you taking the time out of this special day to spend it with us. Thank you so much and good luck getting that message out.

GAYTAN: Thank you for this opportunity.

HOLMES: We'll hook you up with a good PR agent possibly to get that word out. Thank you so much, Mr. Peter Gaytan.

GAYTAN: Thank you.

HOLMES: Stay with us here. One of the favorite parts of filling in for Ali Velshi is I get to talk to that guy right there, Mr. Ed Henry. "The Ed Henry Segment" coming up, right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, he's so special, he gets his own special graphics here on the Ali Velshi show. Ed Henry, "The Ed Henry Segment" here now.

Ed, at the White House, my friend, good to see you as always. Let's start on this Memorial Day with what's really been an interesting weekend for the president that ended up in kind of another interesting scenario today when he's trying to give his remarks outside Chicago.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You saw the pictures. Really terrible, because obviously so many people had gathered at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois outside Chicago. The president, as a senator I believe in 2005, had given a Memorial Day speech there, so he was trying to come back. People waiting, you know, hours to see him. Rain starts coming down and gets worse and worse. The president goes to the microphone and basically says, folks, go back to your cars, there's lightning and thunder and we want to make sure everybody is safe.

The president actually waited in his motorcade for some time, we're told by reporters traveling with him, to try and come back if the weather would pass. It never did, so he got on some buses with some of the families of veterans and those who have fallen to just wish them well.

And if you see behind my right shoulder up there above the residence, you see the American flag waving in the wind. There is also a POW/MIA flag up there. We don't normally see that here at the White House. They put that up for Memorial Day. So the president was obviously trying to pay his respects. The weather did not quite cooperate. But here in Washington, it's a pretty nice day so they were able to raise that flag.

HOLMES: All right. Like I said, it's been really an interesting weekend, given the president was in the Gulf Coast area, dealing with Memorial Day today in the rain, but also now word that the prime minister of Israel he was supposed to meet with. This issue with Israel and what happened off the shores of the Gaza Strip, I'm sure the president is keeping an eye on that, as well.

HENRY: They absolutely are. What's really fascinating is the whole back story which is the fact that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel last week was in Israel, in part with his family to sort of some downtown, celebrating his son's bar mitzvah. But at the same time, a little diplomatic work, as well. Met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and officially extended an invitation for him to come visit President Obama tomorrow at the White House.

That's all been cancelled because of this incident now. You know, obviously, Prime Minister Netanyahu insisting that Israeli commandos were acting in self defense. Other diplomats around the world suggesting that's not true. This has become a full-scale diplomatic forensic as.

And it's fascinating here at the White House, a quiet day, there's obviously not a lot going on here. The president is not here. A lot of his staff hoping to get time with family. Just a couple moments ago, though, I saw Dennis Ross, the president's -- one of his national security aides who handles Mideast peace negotiations walking by in shorts and a Polo shirt going into the West Wing. Clearly some sort of a meeting going on. We're trying to find out the details. Maybe he's just trying to get a handle on it, maybe there's not a formal meeting, but he's back here at work, shorts and a Polo shirt, realizing this is no longer a day off anymore for the president's national security staff.

HOLMES: I'm sure he would appreciate you telling his wardrobe choice today, as well. Ed Henry, thank you for dressing appropriately today, appreciate you. Good to see you, as always.

HENRY: I didn't say anything about his knees or his suntan or anything like that. He looked casual. That's all I want to say.

HOLMES: That sounds casual. I hope we can't pan down -- you're not wearing shorts or something with that suit.

HENRY: No, I've got a suit on.

HOLMES: "The Ed Henry Segment," always a highlight on the show. Thank you so much, buddy.

And of course we can only hope now as we keep an eye on this oil spill, the worst in the U.S. history, that maybe there's a teachable moment in there, somewhere. But one thing for sure, we've learned a whole lot of new words, new lingo. Straight ahead, the lingo of the day in "Wordplay." 

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HOLMES: Every day, of course, take a word right here a phrase from a big story and show you why it's in the news, explain it to you. Today it's a mouthful, really, not just one word, a few -- "Lower Marine Riser Package."

Forty-two days ago, nobody outside the oil industry would have had any idea what that was. But then the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, it sank, vast amounts of oil and gas released into the Gulf. Today, with the failure of the other words you've heard a lot about -- top kill, junk shot, containment dome, all that stuff -- well now it brings us to the Lower Marine Riser Package. That's the latest best hope for a stopgap solution. It refers to the pipes at the top of the now infamous blowout preventer BP is hoping to sheer off and cap so the oil can be siphoned to a tanker. If it works, the LMRP will spell relief for the gulf. But even then, a permanent solution still at least two months away with the relief wells.

Coming up, today's "XYZ." Memorial Day, wasn't always called that.

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HOLMES: Well, it's unofficially summer. What did you do this Memorial Day weekend? Make it to the beach, maybe the lake? Did you get with friends and family for a cookout? Did you simply take advantage of the three-day weekend to rest up? Did you visit a military cemetery, possibly? Chances are, that wasn't on your list of things to do this weekend, but that was the original point of this day.

Memorial Day began as something called "Decoration Day." Why that name? Because it was a day set aside to go decorate the graves of the war dead. General John Logan started this tradition back in 1868, that was three years after the end of the Civil War. General Logan was the head of a group of union veterans called the General Army of the Republic. In his Decoration Day declaration he wrote, let us then, at time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime. He went on to write, we should guard their graves with sacred vigilance, all that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders.

So it wasn't just about Memorial Day, folks. Of course, the day went on to encompass just more than the civil war dead. But on this Memorial Day, yes, take time to remember but also remember it's decoration day. Maybe take a trip out to a military cemetery.

That's my "XYZ" today. Also, at 3:00 straight up, you stop for a moment, for a moment of silence, and we'll do it now.

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