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CNN Saturday Morning News

Cheney's Remarks at West Point; Warrior One in Ohio

Aired May 26, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, it's Saturday, May 26th. Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Melissa Long in today for Betty Nguyen. Thank you for starting your Memorial Day weekend with us.

Voting no. Have senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama hurt or helped their runs for the White House by voting against money for the war in Iraq? We're going to hear from both this morning.

HOLMES: Also, whether you're hitting the road or staying close to home, there's a good chance you might be complaining right about now about high gas prices. But who's really to blame for the jump? We've got some answers for you ahead on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

LONG: Pride, sacrifice, service. This Memorial Day weekend the nation honors those who gave their all. And a new class of military leaders prepares for duty. Live this hour, commencement ceremonies at the U.S. Military Academy, and the speaker, Vice President Dick Cheney. CNN's Jim Acosta joins us live from West Point, New York, this morning.

Good morning, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Melissa. And you'll have to pardon me if I sound like I'm covering a golf tournament here. I'm going to try to keep my voice down out of respect of the ceremony that's about to start here. But Vice President Dick Cheney will be the main commencement speaker today.

While we don't have a copy of his prepared remarks, it is expected he will offer his usual vigorous defense of the Bush administration's conduct in the war in Iraq and in the overall war on terrorism.

And the graduating class that he's addressing here today comes with a major distinction of being the first class to have entered West Point since the start of the war in Iraq in 2003. A sign as to how long this war has lasted. And during their time here, these cadets have had more than their textbooks to teach them the realities of war.

Forty-nine graduates of West Point have died since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, and also in the war in Afghanistan. And out here today we'll have 978 cadets graduating today. Many of them will be commissioned as second lieutenants, which means it's likely that many of these cadets will lead soldiers into battle.

Now, onto a lighter note. At the end of this ceremony, we'll see that famous tossing of the hats. It is something that has been going on here at West Point since 1946, and from what we understand, it's quite a souvenir. If you look at the program here today, it's advised that there is a limit of one hat per child after this ceremony is over.

So after these hats are tossed into the air, a lot of kids will be out here trying to get those hats and bring them home as a souvenir -- Melissa.

LONG: Hey, Jim, I want to talk to you about the people that may be expected outside of the graduation ceremony. What about possible protests?

ACOSTA: Yes, it is expected that there will be some protests. As a matter of fact, there will be some protests happening outside of the gates of West Point. There was actually a federal judge that had to weigh in on this just this past week, and some of these protestors actually wanted to protest inside the gates of West Point, and a federal judge said no, that's not possible, we don't allow political protests on the grounds of a military academy.

Those protestors said, well, if the vice president is going to get up here and make a political speech, we should be able to do the same outside of the ceremony, but those protestors lost that case in court -- Melissa.

LONG: And as you mentioned earlier, 978 cadets. Congratulations to them this morning, congratulations to their families, as well. Jim Acosta live from West Point, New York.

Jim, thank you.

HOLMES: And now I'm going to give you a live look here at an annual celebration. It will be going on 20 years now, but the ships docked there for Fleet Week up in New York City. Again, 20th year for this. And this is a year, well, you've got about 3,000 sailors, Marines, and Coast Guard members who have descended on New York City.

The parade of ships earlier this week. That was accompanied by a flyover by some Navy jets. But this is the week that in New York they celebrate the sea services and thousands of those sailors and Marines and, like we said, Coast Guard members descend on that area.

And also, it gives every day citizens an up close and personal look at their life, at their military life, at their military service, and also some of those impressive ships and what goes on there.

But this celebration goes through, I believe, the 30th. So a little bit into next week, but a gorgeous Memorial Day weekend is shaping up for it. But a live look here at a gorgeous morning and a start to the Fleet Week there in New York City.

Meanwhile, operations in Iraq and Afghanistan fully funded, for now, as part of the bill President Bush signed last night. It's seen as a victory for the White House in the short-term, but what will the effect be long-term, especially for two of the senators who voted no?

CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the campaign trail in Iowa, Hillary Clinton was already explaining her vote against funding troops in Iraq.

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We owe them more than what they're getting right now. We owe them...

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: ... a change in course in Iraq that recognizes the realities on the ground.

BASH: So was her main Democratic opponent, Barack Obama.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is time to bring this war to a close.

BASH: Both were reacting to the rapid-fire Republican criticism of their no-votes on the war funding bill. John McCain called the votes the "height of irresponsibility."

Mitt Romney said, Clinton and Obama's votes "serve as a glaring example of an unrealistic and inexperienced world view." It's all political fallout from last night's drama. After refusing for days to say how they would vote...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Obama. Mr. Obama, no.

Mrs. Clinton. Mrs. Clinton, no.

BASH: ... by voting against funding the war, both presidential candidates stood exactly where many Democratic primary voters want them. Cutting off funding is something both had vowed not to do.

CLINTON: I am not prepared to vote to cut funding to American troops.

OBAMA: Democrats aren't interested in playing chicken with the troops. And we're absolutely committed to making sure that the troops have the equipment they need in order to come home safely.

BASH: Changing their positions is sure to help in the short term with staunchly anti-war voters both candidates need to win the Democratic nomination. But how will it play in the general election? Flash back to 2004, when Democrat John Kerry voted against a war spending bill.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), 2004 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it. BASH: The Bush campaign pounced, saying he...

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Abandoned our troops in combat by voting against the funding.

(BOOING)

BASH: But things are different now. The vast majority of Americans oppose the war.

ANDREW KOHUT, PRESIDENT, PEW RESEARCH CENTER: The Democratic candidates now come closer to the way the middle of the country thinks about the war in Iraq than do Republican candidates.

BASH (on camera): Senators Clinton and Obama are banking on that trend continuing: more and more Americans, Democrats, independents and Republicans, opposing the war. But that's hard to predict. And there are still 18 months before Election Day.

Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LONG: Three more military families are grieving this Memorial Day weekend. Two U.S. soldiers and a Marine died Friday in Iraq. One of the soldiers was killed in a blast south of Baghdad. The other died during an operation in Baghdad province. The Marine was killed in a non-combat related incident in Anbar province.

Since the start of the war, 3,444 American service members have been killed in Iraq.

Two weeks of searching, still no sign of two American soldiers missing after a deadly ambush in Iraq. Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops are hunting for the men who vanished in the Triangle of Death south of Baghdad. Twenty-two people were detained for questioning yesterday, as the search focused on an area along the Euphrates River. The body of a third missing soldier was pulled from the water on Wednesday.

HOLMES: And just in time for memorial weekend, CNN Iraq War Hummer known as Warrior One, making an appearance today in Ohio.

LONG: It's actually all a part of a nationwide tour to raise money for the Fisher House. It's a place that provides free services for wounded veterans and also their families. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is one the road today joining us live from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, with more on Warrior One. And of course, she has the details on the Memorial Day forecast.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, Melissa.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SCHNEIDER: We are here in beautiful Chagrin Falls, Ohio. This is a picturesque, lovely town. And we have had a chance to meet some of the folks here for the Jaycee Valley (ph) for the Blossom Time Festival, where we have our CNN's own Warrior One Hummer.

This Hummer was in Iraq in 2003. It came under heavy fire back then. Then last summer it was overhauled, completely, by the show "Overhaulin'" from TLC. And you can see how great it looks now. Joining me now is our guest, Mike Baldwin. He is an officer here with the Chagrin Falls Police Department.

Now, Mike, I understand that you were actually in Iraq just a couple years ago.

MIKE BALDWIN, CHAGRIN FALLS POLICE DEPT.: Yes.

SCHNEIDER: OK. So tell me what it means for you when you see this? Does it kind of bring back the memories of your time serving over there?

BALDWIN: Absolutely, because we spent a lot of time in our Humvee.

SCHNEIDER: And this festival brings about 50,000 people, so I'm sure a lot of your friends and family are going to come by and see this. And what kind of a message do you feel like this presents to them?

BALDWIN: I think it presents a very good message, one, for the community and two, definitely for the soldiers. It's going to the charity for the soldiers who are wounded and everything, and they're giving a life-long sacrifice. We've all sacrificed by going over there, but they will sacrifice the rest of their lives for what they had to do. So it's definitely awesome.

SCHNEIDER: And I'm sure it's going to be a very popular attraction here for this Memorial Day weekend. Thank you so much, Mike, for joining us.

BALDWIN: You're welcome.

SCHNEIDER: And kids, been watching over there, they're doing some games with the kids, under the tent. Very smart to have tents when the weather is as wet as this.

Now incidentally, this CNN Hummer is not just going to be here in Ohio. It is touring the entire country as part of the Tour of the Troops program through RE/MAX, and the money raised will go to the Sentinel Foundation that helps some of the severely wounded veterans and their families transition back into daily life with education, rehab, transportation for family members.

So a great cause. You can catch the CNN Hummer here in Ohio, but you can also catch it across the country at auto shows, Air Force bases. It will be on tour, coming to a city near you, I'm sure, very soon -- T.J., Melissa.

HOLMES: All right, Bonnie, thank you so much. We'll see you shortly. Hopefully, it won't be raining on everybody out there all day out there. LONG: While raining on the parade in Ohio, it looks like beautiful weather at West Point. Live pictures right now of graduation ceremonies under way. Vice President Dick Cheney delivering the commencement address to 978 cadets and their family members, their loved ones. Again, a beautiful day today for the members of the 2007 military class.

It is West Point's 209th graduating class, the first class to enter the academy since the war. Here you see pictures from just earlier today of Vice President Dick Cheney arriving there at the graduation ceremonies with the beautiful music. And again, as I mentioned earlier, beautiful weather to celebrate their tremendous achievements today.

HOLMES: All right. And we will be checking in with the vice president, monitoring his comments, see what he has to say to the new grads, and if anything jumps out at us, we will certainly bring that to you.

Meanwhile, it's now time to bring you another installment of an on-going series here on CNN weekend mornings...

LONG: What is that?

HOLMES: "Implosions," if you didn't know. This is an ongoing thing we do.

LONG: This is a serial?

HOLMES: This is a series of implosions, and yes, once again, it's implosion time.

(VIDEO OF IMPLOSION)

HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) this is what we do. We have a crack staff here who finds implosions and we bring them to you on the weekend. This is what we do, Melissa. And this one is in your hometown, Buffalo, New York. The blast, the crash enough to scare a few people out of their beds at nearby Buffalo General Hospital. The more than 40-year-old medical office building came down pretty quickly.

LONG: Third chance to see it.

HOLMES: We're going to do this all morning, we're going to do this until noon at least. There are no current plans, actually, to put anything else in its place. But while I've got you here, let's give it one more go. There it's coming again.

LONG: Well, you've become quite an implosion expert. So comparing this implosion to prior implosions, what do you think?

HOLMES: We've had better implosions, we have, but you do what you've got to do. This is the best we could find on short notice. But there you go. We like implosions here on CNN weekend mornings. So welcome to that. Glad you got to experience it. But many more to come. Many more to come. LONG: All right. My life seems changed through that experience.

HOLMES: It will, it will change your life.

All right. Well, moving on here to talking about the prices at the gas pump. The question a lot of folks have, why? Coming up, we'll search for answers and look for some solutions.

LONG: And 38 astronauts in one place for one wild and expensive ride. We're going to tell you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Take you to another live picture here and pretty good timing, I guess, here. Vice President Dick Cheney set to give the commencement address to the grads at West Point Academy, the Military Academy in New York. We've been watching him there. He has had his seat for the last couple minutes during the commercial break, and sure enough, he's up right on time. We are actually going to be monitoring this ourselves and see exactly what kind of words he does have for the graduates. Actually, since the timing worked out just right, we will go ahead listen in, see what he has to say here at the beginning.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... distinguished guests; officers, cadets, members of the Class of 2007: Thank you all for the welcome to West Point. I'm delighted to be here again, and to join in today's ceremony, and to stand before the newest graduates of the greatest military academy in the world.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CHENEY: Today the Class of 2007 leaves behind its leadership duties to the Corps of Cadets, and takes up leadership duty to the United States of America. As a class they've brought honor to Cadet Gray. As commissioned officers they'll bring the same honor to Army Blue.

Graduates, this is a proud moment in your life, and in the life of our country. I count it a privilege to be in your company, and I bring warmest congratulations from our commander-in-chief, President George W. Bush.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CHENEY: There is one item of business to take care of today. Apparently some members of the Corps of Cadets are still on restriction for minor offenses. And I guess you're looking for a little compassion. Such matters are to be decided by the president himself, and so he and I had a discussion about it.

He took the strong view that we ought to be lenient. Me, I could have gone either way.

(LAUGHTER)

But the President is in charge, so at his direction, I hereby grant amnesty for all cadets on restriction for minor conduct offenses.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Now here's the fine print: For the definition of "minor offenses," you've got to check with General Hagenbeck.

(LAUGHTER)

CHENEY: Like every Academy graduate who came before, each of you will leave here with a rucksack full of memories. After you've gone out Thayer Gate for the last time, I have a feeling you'll cherish above all the friendships you've made here.

You'll remember the training and the testing that you've faced together, as well as the challenges you faced alone. Wherever you go in life, you'll hear the voice of the BTO telling you to keep your elbows off the table.

(LAUGHTER)

You'll think of Lake Frederick whenever you get soaked in the rain. And of course, you'll think of your dean, General Finnegan, every time you see a pair of "really cool running shoes."

(LAUGHTER)

CHENEY: A friend of mine, General Norman Schwarzkopf, once said that if you "ask any West Pointer what day they remember best, almost all of them will say it's that first day," R-Day, maybe the longest in your cadet life.

You didn't know any of your classmates, you weren't sure of all that lay ahead of you in Beast Barracks. If you had doubts, you overcame them. If you had fears, you mastered them. Inside of you was a basic confidence, a sense of who you were, and of the officer you hoped to become.

But your making as an officer didn't really begin on R-Day. The process started out much further back, over many years of guidance from the ones who know you best and care about you the most. For them, too, this is an incredibly proud day. So may I suggest a grateful round of applause...

HOLMES: All right. Again, just listening in there to Vice President Dick Cheney, beginning his comments, the commencement address to the new graduates of West Point Academy.

It comes, certainly, at a time when there is some concern about the number of graduates who get out after their service of five years to the military, and some concern that the U.S. military is losing some of their best and brightest and some of the future military leaders because they are getting out of the military after they do their service of five years.

But still, a great day there for the West Point grads, and they have the vice president there. And if you'd like to continue to watch that, you can go to CNN PIPELINE, it is streaming there live. We will continue monitor it, and if anything he says in there jumps out, and certainly in relation to the war in Iraq or war in Afghanistan, we will certainly bring that to you.

LONG: And as T.J. just mentioned, again, cnn.com/pipeline to continue to follow the graduation ceremony for the 978 cadets.

Now fallen, but not forgotten. On this Memorial weekend we remember the men and women who gave their lives in service for our country.

ANNOUNCER: CNN would like to honor all those who have served their country in the armed forces.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And give you a triple live look here of things we are following on this Memorial Day. Things happening right now. Three live pictures here to show you. There at the top left of the screen is Vice President Dick Cheney speaking to the close to 1,000 graduates of the West Point Academy, talking to them today on their big day.

Also, we're keeping an eye on Fleet Week, certainly a great celebration there in New York, 20th year for it. A week to celebrate the military, the sea services, and so many sailors and Marines descend on that town. Many citizens, civilians get an up close and personal look at those Marines and sailors and their military life.

And also, there at the bottom, something we're certainly proud of, the Warrior One, hanging out in Ohio this weekend on display at a festival there. Of course, Warrior One travels around and raises money for Fisher House, which helps wounded veterans. Our Bonnie Schneider there, been giving us the weather reports and also the updates and all of the goings on and what's happening with our CNN Hummer there, that beautiful vehicle.

But three live events we're keeping an eye on, we will be following all this morning for you.

LONG: And as we are following the commencement address at West Point, we are also following commencement commotion in Amherst.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Andrew Card Jr.

(MIXED APPLAUSES AND BOOS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LONG: All the noise, the signs brought on by former Bush chief of staff Andrew Card, getting an honorary degree from the University of Massachusetts. Protestors complained that awarding the degree makes it look like the university supports the war in Iraq.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And coming up next, besides those backyard barbecues, maybe a trip to the beach, we're going to show you a way to really make the Memorial Day holiday count. How you can be a hero next, that's from the dot-com desk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: Great opportunity this weekend if you'd like to do something to help military families.

HOLMES: Yes, you might want to donate those frequent flyer miles. A nice easy way to do it. People have got them stacked up and don't even know it.

DE LA CRUZ: It is so easy, you are right. People collect them, they're piling up. Give them away, donate them. And when you think of three-day weekends, you think of, what, backyard barbecues, maybe a trip to the beach, right? But this Memorial Day weekend, maybe before you pack up the car even, head online and be a hero.

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