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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Severe Weather Moves East; D.C. Under Tornado Watch; Unexpected Show of Force in Iraq

Aired May 31, 2004 - 17:00   ET

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

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


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: Severe weather moves east. Washington, D.C., among the areas that are now under a tornado watch.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(voice-over): On the loose, they slaughtered helpless hostages. Why did the Saudis let them escape?

CNN exclusive: Night fights.

In Iraq, an unexpected show of force.

At home, coping with the growing toll of fallen troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DORINE KENNEY, JAKE FLETCHER'S MOTHER: My life changed in that instant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Killer storms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

We heard screams on the other side of the apartment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: More than 150 tornadoes target the Midwest.

And community service. Martha Stewart lightened a likely prison term by teaching poor women how to run a business.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, May 31, 2004.

I'm Daryn Kagan. I'm at CNN Center in Atlanta. As you can tell, Wolf is off today.

It was bold and it was brutal. Terrorists apparently tied to al Qaeda attacked a compound for foreign oil workers in the Saudi city of Khobar. They took hundreds of hostages and killed 22 of them before Saudi commanders launched a rescue raid. But now there are stunning new details that are emerging about that weekend standoff, which ended only when the Saudis let most of the gunmen go.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN (voice-over): For Saudi officials, the most difficult attempt at damage control. An official of the Interior Ministry now says three of the four attackers who went on this rampage were allowed to escape because they were threatening to kill the 242 people they were holding as human shields. Saudi officials say they know who the three men are, and they believe they'll catch them.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: They have on previous occasions allowed terrorists to get away. In this situation, they are now threatening the royal family, and so there's a new interest. There's a new renewed interest on their part to get aggressive toward these terrorists because it's now come home.

KAGAN: A group the Saudis say is connected to al Qaeda is claiming responsibility for the weekend attack, saying this was intended to show that the Saudi government cannot protect oil workers.

Saudi officials offered this response:

NAIL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI EMBASSY SPOKESMAN: Now they are trying to cripple the world economy by trying to send a message that foreigners are not safe in Saudi Arabia. It is a message that is broadcast around the world, and that's what they are going for. I think they are safe, but it's a decision that each individual has to make.

ROBINSON: It shows that the Saudis punting. They know that they can't defend everything, and they've got a serious internal problem because, if they cannot provide stability and security, then the economic ability to produce barrels per day is going to be threatened.

KAGAN: A threat now hitting home on Saudi soil, with accounts on a terrorist-linked Web site that some victims had their throat slit, witness accounts of the body of a British oil executive being dragged through the streets behind a car, and the British ambassador warning that more attacks may be in the final planning stages.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Some oil experts say that the Khobar attack raises the fear factor and could raise oil prices when markets re-open after the holiday. But the Saudis say no facilities were affected by the attack, and one Gulf oil minister says the violence will have no impact on Saudi exports.

There was new violence in Iraq, a car bomb that exploded in downtown Baghdad killed four Iraqis and it wounded 25 others. Our Harris Whitbeck has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The car bomb went off on a busy road normally used by coalition officials and members of the Iraqi Governing Council as they transit the green zone. It was the same area where another car bomb exploded two weeks ago killing the president of the Iraqi Governing Council. U.S. military officials at the scene said the attacks will not dissuade them from meeting the June 30 deadline.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think this is going to slow down the progress to turn over sovereignty to the Iraqi government. I think we're firmly on track to do that.

WHITBECK: Some Iraqi government council members say they feel the U.S. also won't be dissuaded in trying to influence the makeup of the new interim government. Over the weekend and into Monday, the council met, at times with U.S. and U.N. officials, at times on its own, trying to come up with Iraq's new interim president.

MAHMOUD OTHMAN, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL (through interpreter): The United Nations was supposed to take a strong and independent role. We have not seen this, and we think the Americans are the ones that are making the decisions.

WHITBECK: Many council members are said to favor Ghazi Ajil al- Yawir, a Sunni tribal leader they say has great popular support. The U.N. and U.S. are said to favor another Sunni, Adnan Pachachi, the former foreign minister's son, nephew, and son-in-law, are former prime ministers in the pre-Saddam Iraq. Council members say what looks like a deadlock could be broken if a third name emerges.

(on camera): But whoever is chosen, like the rest of the interim government, might face a lack of credibility among the Iraqi population. Many know little about the mysterious and shifting process of choosing a government, and many mistrust anything that might have a U.S. stamp of approval on it.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Despite the continuing violence in Iraq, U.S. troops found time to honor their fallen comrades, marking Memorial Day with a ceremony at Baghdad's Camp Victory. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said that Americans have answered the call to arms for more than 200 years, and he warned that America must not walk away from the current mission.

U.S. troops in Afghanistan also observed the day. You're looking at a picture now of the Memorial Day ceremony at Camp Phoenix. That's just outside of Kabul. American military personnel in Afghanistan continue to hunt out remnants of Taliban and al Qaeda forces.

On the front lines of the war on terror, the grim toll grows steadily higher from Afghanistan to the far east. One hundred twenty- one American troops have been killed in the war on terror, 52 from hostile fire and 69 from other causes. These Pentagon figures do include casualties suffered in a number of countries as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

And in Iraq, 814 American troops have lost their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom. According to the Pentagon and the U.S. Central Command, 597 have died from hostile fire, 217 from other causes.

President Bush today assured the families of Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan that their loved ones served the cause of freedom. Our White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us with a look at the president's day -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, President Bush, as you know running as a wartime president, today acknowledged the great cost of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, but he said that the cause is just, that those Americans who have lost their lives have done so defending the country or actually helping liberate the oppressed or even bringing about peace and freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Bush honored America's fallen soldiers by placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Markers on these hills record the names of more than 280,000 men and women. Each was once or still is the most important person in someone's life.

MALVEAUX: With his emotions just on the surface, the president stood with his secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs to pay particular homage to those U.S. troops serving on the war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq.

BUSH: In places like Kabul and Kandahar and Mosul and Baghdad, we have seen their decency and their brave spirit. Because of their fierce courage, America is safer. Two terror regimes are gone forever and more than 50 million souls now live in freedom.

MALVEAUX: The president now faces a critical juncture in the war on terror. Unrest in Iraq continues as casualties mount, as the deadline to transfer political power to the Iraqis looms less than five weeks away.

A year ago at this time, more than 160 American soldiers had been killed in Iraq. That number has climbed to more than 800. So, with a heavy sigh, Mr. Bush marks another passing of this somber holiday, determined that the U.S. will win the war on terror.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Daryn, it's a critical week for the president. He's going to make his case that U.S. policy in Iraq is sound before a domestic audience when he goes before the U.S. Air Force Academy, a commencement speech this week.

Also later in the week, he's going to be traveling to Europe. That is where he's going to be meeting with international counterparts to make that argument to support the case -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.

Suzanne, thank you for that report.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran, marked the day with a visit to the Vietnam War Memorial. Kerry accompanied the family of William Bronson. He had suffered a head wound in the war and died eight years later. Kerry worked with Bronson's family to get Bronson's name added to the wall.

A three-day truce turns out to be no protection for U.S. troops in Kufa in Iraq. We'll have an exclusive report from CNN's Guy Raz. He is embedded with U.S. forces.

Also ahead:

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In seconds, a tornado transformed Marengo, Indiana, into a mess. Now it's going to take weeks, if not months, for this community to recover. I'm Keith Oppenheim in Marengo. We'll have that story coming up.

KAGAN: And also coming up, Martha Stewart's latest hope for avoiding prison time. Stay with us for the latest on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Showing a live picture right now of Washington, D.C., the Washington Monument there.

Believe it or not, the nation's capital is under a tornado watch. That's supposed to last until 10:00 tonight.

A similar situation along the I-10 corridor from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle. More on that ahead here on CNN.

That follows a weekend of severe and deadly weather that hit the country's midsection over the weekend, including 175 reported tornadoes.

In Tennessee, one person was killed and at least 23 injured in storms that pounded cities, including Memphis, which you see there, as well as Knoxville and Chattanooga.

In neighboring Kentucky, a tornado touched down in Louisville along with one in Paducah, and there was flooding in eastern Kentucky with some areas swamped by up to four inches of rain.

And then there's Indiana which also took a beating. A possible tornado in Indianapolis tore the roof off of a nursing home and damaged almost 300 buildings in all. Four people were hurt, but no deaths were reported. The damage is even worse about is 100 miles south in Marengo, Indiana.

Our Keith Oppenheim is there, and he joins us with the latest -- Keith. OPPENHEIM: Hi, Daryn.

Marengo, Indiana, isn't very big. Only about 800 residents here, but a lot of them have experienced some damage from this tornado. And get this: The wind speeds of this tornado were clocked by the National Weather Service at about 170 miles per hour. So it's no surprise that those winds have transformed much of this community into a disaster area.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Marengo, Indiana, is in a state of reconstruction, reconstructing property and reconstructing memories of what happened Sunday afternoon.

SARA VAUGHT, MARENGO RESIDENT: We just heard wind, and we heard stuff crashing, and it sounded like houses falling apart.

OPPENHEIM: More than 100 homes were damaged. One mobile home flipped over, and inside an elderly man died. He was discovered by neighbor Randall Meriwether.

RANDALL MERIWETHER, MARENGO RESIDENT: There was a bed, a couch. Everything was kind of on top of him. I saw his legs, started to get all that away so I could get to him. Checked his pulse, but he was already gone.

OPPENHEIM: Search dogs looked for other victims, as neighbors responded to the immediate crisis. Dan Haldauer's home recently won an award for landscaping. In seconds, his house and yard were demolished.

DAN HALDAUER, MARENGO RESIDENT: I don't think there's very much that's salvageable. Just about a total loss.

OPPENHEIM: But the community is not a total loss.

NORMA VANDERPOOL, MARENGO RESIDENT: Thankful. Very, very thankful for wonderful neighbors and church people.

OPPENHEIM: Neighbors in Marengo pulled together to clean up and show that, with all the damage...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We made it.

OPPENHEIM: ... they had largely achieved the most important thing in a storm: survival.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM: We're back live now with that wide view of all those people, sifting through that debris and starting the very long process of cleaning up. Dozens of residents had to stay, understandably, in a school building, which was turned into a makeshift shelter overnight, and the governor of Indiana, Joe Kernan, made a helicopter tour of this area. That's likely going to be the beginning of a state disaster area declaration, and that can free up some funds for some of the people around here who obviously have a long way to go to rebuild their lives.

Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Well, Keith, how convenient that you mentioned the governor because we actually have the governor with us right now. Indiana Governor Joseph Kernan joining us from Indianapolis.

Governor, thank you for being with us. I know this is a very busy time for you.

GOV. JOSEPH KERNAN, INDIANA: Thank you, Daryn, very much.

KAGAN: You've had a chance to get out and survey some of the hardest-hit parts of your state. Can you tell us about what you saw that really made an impact on you?

KERNAN: I think it's miraculous that more people were not seriously injured and that we did not have more loss of life, and I think you saw from the woman that was just on from down in Marengo that people are very grateful for that fact. This is a time when the community down there and a couple of our others that have been particularly hard hit have really come together. You've got communities that are their neighbors that are sending assistance in, the state has arrived with some help as well, and people are really pulling together to rebuild their homes, their businesses and their communities.

KAGAN: Yes, and nothing brings it home more than live pictures we're looking at right now. We're able to show our viewers as people still all this time later try to pick through that debris.

What about help from outside the state? have you asked the federal government to come in and help, Governor?

KERNAN: I made a declaration actually that goes back to some storms that came through here last Thursday and Friday for an emergency disaster and did that for the southern part of Indiana as well as the central part. Last night, we actually expanded that to include the entire state, and so that declaration is the first step in the process of getting the federal government engaged. Folks from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be in here tomorrow and begin the process of doing a detailed assessment of all of the damage that's been done across Indiana.

KAGAN: You know, a nontechnical detailed assessment, as we look again at these live pictures in Marengo -- did you get a chance to get down there today, Governor?

KERNAN: I did. I was on the ground as well as viewed it from the air, and the intensity of the damage there is remarkable, and I am not surprised to hear that the winds were up to 170 miles an hour. A great many homes damaged. We estimate about 200 that were damaged in one way or another, and many of them were severely damaged or completely destroyed. KAGAN: Which is about four times -- our numbers say about 50 homes were completely destroyed. When you look at a community that small, that has a huge impact. How is the state going to help this community pull back together?

KERNAN: Our first responsibility is public safety, and we had a team on the ground yesterday afternoon immediately after all of this happened with the state police, Department of Natural Resources, and our state Emergency Management Agency. Now we're in the process of the cleanup, and that means getting things off of the roads. It means eliminating unsafe conditions within the community. Again, you've had a broader community that has really come together to provide shelter for those families that need it, and now the job will become that of doing the assessments that will give us the detailed information to see what kind of aid there might be available from the federal government.

KAGAN: You said that it's remarkable that even more people weren't killed. Do you credit then the warning system that people are actually staying aware and keeping in mind you're not out of the woods yet, more severe weather could be on the way.

KERNAN: Absolutely. And you made mention of tornado warnings. Take them seriously. Here in Indianapolis last night, there was a great deal of advance warning, and, as this storm was walking its way across the city, there was a lot of warning, and I think we've seen the same kinds of things in other parts of the state, where people were more informed and able to take preventive action in advance.

KAGAN: And I just want to get back to one more question about getting the help that Indiana needs. I know there's been a struggle between the states and the federal government in terms of getting the right amount of money. Are you confident you will get the kind of help, that Indiana will get the help it needs from the federal government?

KERNAN: I think that based on whatever the assessment shows that we will have great cooperation from FEMA. We have a great working relationship with them. We've got a great team of people here in Indiana that are supported now by local folks across the state. We'll get all of the information together, and I have no doubt but that Hoosiers will be treated fairly by the federal government.

KAGAN: Got to get the Hoosier plug in there. We wish you well. Governor Joseph Kernan from Indiana. Good luck to you and the others in Indiana putting the state back together.

KERNAN: Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

We move on to Martha Stewart. Would you take advice from Martha Stewart on how to run your business? Coming up, we're going to look into a report that the domestic diva is interested in offering some lessons. It could help her stay out of jail perhaps.

Also ahead...

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sean Callebs on the National Mall. An eventful few days in the nation's capital marks what many veterans say will be a historic Memorial Day weekend.

KAGAN: And still to come as well, what Memorial Day is like for two families that have suffered losses over the last year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Memorial Day observances in the nation's capital today ranged from somber to celebratory. Our Sean Callebs has seen it all. He's in Washington, D.C. -- Sean.

CALLEBS: Daryn, you're exactly right.

Safe to say, for many people, this holiday weekend really stirred an array of emotions, with heartfelt thanks from World War II veterans to somber, sobering moments at the Vietnam Memorial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS (voice-over): Some come to the wall for solace; some, to grieve. On this day, they all came to honor and remember those who fought and died for their country.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, himself a Vietnam veteran, leading the tribute:

TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: The irony, the cruelty and the good and bad fortune of war is that good soldiers don't always come back.

CALLEBS: The nation's capital bathed in heavy cloud cover, a constant drizzle that at times developed into a steady rain. Heavy hearts perhaps and a time for reflection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in World War II in the infantry, and I survived to have children and grandchildren, and I think on Memorial Day about all the wonderful young men who aren't here.

CALLEBS: From the somber to the celebration. Marching bands ushered in a tribute to World War II veterans as a Memorial Day parade wound its way through Washington. Much of the attention this holiday weekend focusing on those dubbed the greatest generation and the unveiling of the World War II Memorial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Long time coming, but we got it.

CALLEBS: No shortage of sights to pay homage to the fighting men and women serving in the U.S. armed forces, from Arlington National Cemetery to the west end of the Washington Mall. With nearly 150,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, many veterans saying they hope the public doesn't lose sight of their sacrifice day in and day out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It means freedom. It means my kid's growing up in a safe country. It means a lot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: Legions here say they spent the day going from memorial to memorial, honoring those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the nation, as well as offering a salute to all men and women who served in the U.S. armed forces.

Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Sean Callebs on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Thank you, Sean.

For hundreds of families, this Memorial Day has a different meaning than previous ones. They're still mourning loved ones found in Iraq and finding that grief takes many forms.

Tom Foreman has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just off the sunny streets of Bay Shore, New York, where Jake Fletcher dreamed of a soldier's life, his mother packs boxes every day.

KENNEY: I send them toiletries.

FOREMAN: Care packages she sends to troops in Iraq where Jake died six months ago.

KENNEY: I'll never forget that moment in my life. My life changed in that instant. My heart changed in that instant. Everything changed.

FOREMAN: More than 800 American families in towns all over have lost someone in the war.

In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, it was Sherwood Baker just last month. His son, J.D., still doesn't understand why Dad is not coming back. His wife Debbie still wonders why he went.

DEBBIE BAKER, SHERWOOD BAKER'S WIDOW: How am I going to tell him why Dad went, you know, what he was doing there. I'm afraid I'm not going to have the truthful answers for him.

FOREMAN (on camera): You don't know yourself?

BAKER: No. Give me at least a reason why we're there.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The mounting deaths have brought such questions to many families.

KENNEY: We're not supposed to bury our children.

FOREMAN: Dorine Kenney is finding peace through the packages she sends and the grateful letters in return.

KENNEY: "At least because of you, I feel I'm not forgotten."

FOREMAN: For Debbie Baker, however, the loss is too new.

BAKER: I still carry the phone to bed with me, check my e-mails. I just keep thinking he's in a bunker somewhere just hiding.

FOREMAN (on camera): For a great many Americans, for a good many years, Memorial Day has been primarily about lives lost a long time ago. But now behind the World War I Memorial at J.D. Baker's school, his classmates have hung a paper chain with a link for every soldier killed in Iraq, and Debbie Baker knows this holiday she faces another long sleepless night of questions and memories.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And now it's your turn to weigh in on the story. Our Web question of the day is this: Is the U.S. doing enough to support the troops and their families? You can vote right now at CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results later in the broadcast.

Behind enemy lines, he escaped the Nazis, and then he began hunting them. Sixty years later, he's awarded the Silver Star.

And this prince has tried more pastoral pursuits. Now the heir to the British thrown is thinking about a career in the military.

Night fight in Iraq. We're on the scene when a cease-fire falls apart. It's a CNN exclusive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Welcome back.

Coming up, we're going to look at reports that Martha Stewart is making a new offer in a bid to stay out of prison. First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines on this Memorial Day.

Residents in many parts of the U.S. heartland are spending Memorial Day cleaning up from wreckage from scores of tornadoes. Indiana and Kentucky were among the hardest-hit states. A Sunday- night tornado in Marengo, Indiana, destroyed at least 50 homes.

A bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Karachi, Pakistan, has killed at least 18 people. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Violent demonstrations followed the bombing and three people were killed when troops fired on the crowd.

The Iraqi Governing Council has postponed a meeting to talk about making endorsements for the new interim government. Coalition officials say that U.S. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will announce the new government, not the Governing Council. Two U.S. soldiers were killed last night in Iraq when a shaky cease-fire turned into a furious battle with the militia of a radical Shiite cleric.

CNN's Guy Raz is embedded with U.S. forces. He's in the town of Kufa and he files this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was supposed to be day three of the truce. But as a recognizance patrol from Task Force 237 approached the center of town, insurgents opened fire from a cemetery near the Kufa mosque.

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're shooting at 2: 00.

RAZ: For well over an hour, 100 U.S. troops, tanks and armored carriers fought a pitched battle with fighters loyal to cleric Muqtada al Sadr. Mahdi militia fighters remained holed up behind this wall of a Kufa cemetery. U.S. officials believe at least 30 suspected insurgents were killed in this fight. Rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire from the insurgents killed two U.S. soldiers as well. The first time U.S. troops have fallen in battle here in six weeks of fighting.

(GUNFIRE)

RAZ: The truce declared by Sadr's militia is viewed with considerable skepticism among U.S. forces.

PFC. NOAH FREEDMAN, U.S. ARMY: I didn't expect the other side to be respecting the cease-fire. I figured the other side; they were going to keep firing. I mean the first day of the cease-fire we took mortar fire here in this camp.

RAZ: Military commanders have temporarily suspended offensive operations. This is regarded as a defensive engagement.

LT. COL. PAT WHITE, U.S. ARMY: We will continue to develop the situation in Kufa to get a feel for what's going on with the Mahdi army. And at some point, Sadr is going to have to come out and tell the world, and at least Najaf, this is a situation that I'm in. Tell my guys to disarm and he's either going to have to disown the people in Kufa. And say hey, those aren't my guys over there; my guys are all over here with me. Or he's going to have to own up to those that are in the Mahdi army that are still inside that mosque with weapons, as you saw tonight.

RAZ: Six weeks since intense fighting broke out here, hundreds of insurgents have been killed. U.S. forces are hoping the latest fighting may finally force Muqtada al Sadr's hand.

Guy Raz, CNN, Kufa, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: With war still raging in Iraq and neighboring Saudi Arabia rocked by a bloody terror attack, I turned earlier to our world affairs analyst, former Defense Secretary William Cohen. He joined me from our Washington bureau.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Mr. Secretary, let's go ahead and start with this second brazen attack on Western interests in Saudi Arabia. Westerners were there to work in the oil industry. Are you concerned with the security and the stability of the Saudi oil industry as it stands?

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think the security and stability are still very strong. But one cannot protect against every type of an assault even in the United Kingdom, where they have very strict security.

The fact is that this is a target of the Laden group or the jihadists. They are determined to strike at the royal family to see if they can't bring it down and in the process cause significant interruption of supplies to the Western world. And so I think as we saw in the attack on the United States on both the Pentagon and the Trade Towers that they are now seeking to move that line of attack against the royal family and to hit the industrialized world at the very center of its existence, namely the dependence upon Persian Gulf oil.

KAGAN: I want to ask you about what is taking place in Iraq right now. U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, it looks he's getting close to wrapping up his work, to naming the next government. This was sold as a government that was going to be very different than the Iraqi Governing Council. And yet a lot of people are just saying, this is just a reshuffling, it's the same familiar faces and too strong of an American influence. Are you concerned it will not be accepted by the Iraqi people?

COHEN: Well, that is a concern.

To the extent that this is not seen as something that truly reflects the Iraqi people in all of their diversity, but simply as another hand of the United States deciding what their political system should be, then it will not be accepted by the Iraqi people. So legitimacy is going to be important. And the give and take of the politics -- and certainly we understand that, in this country, that the members of the Governing Council are trying to preserve their interests in the future political structure. And Mr. Brahimi is trying to work appropriate compromises.

But ultimately, it has to be seen as something more than what the United States has put in place as the Governing Council today. If it's not, then I think we'll have a situation which it will not be accepted by the Iraqi people and this transition certainly will not mark any progress toward stabilization.

KAGAN: And then something I'm sure you're watching with your background and of great interest to Americans especially on this Memorial Day, what happens to the U.S. military in the interim? What happens if there's a question about who they report to with this next phase of the government?

COHEN: Well, clearly, the United States forces must remain under United States command. There must be unity of command. There are arrangements that can be worked out in terms of how decisions are made, but ultimately the United States must remain in charge of its military.

And that really is -- any other alternative is not acceptable. But I think there can be a working arrangement, understandings, a status of forces agreement with the new government that will allow for a consultation, discussions about what military actions can or can't be taken. But ultimately the United States must remain in control of its own troops and its military decisions.

KAGAN: And, finally, as a former defense secretary, I would be remiss if I didn't ask you your thoughts on this Memorial Day, the weekend that the World War II memorial was unveiled and opened, and also, of course, many troops still in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world.

COHEN: Well, this weekend has been an incredible emotional ride for so many people to look back and to see the sacrifices made by the greatest generation and what they endured, what they were able to achieve and overcome, and how they were able to come together as a country afterwards, everybody working together and then leaving the war and coming to really rebuild this country in a way that makes it the superpower of the world.

It was inspiring and it was something long overdue as far as the veterans are concerned. But it also serves as a memorial and an inspiration to those in the future, that these are the sacrifices that have been made. We're going to be calling upon current and future generations to make similar sacrifices in order that liberty can continue to ring in this country and elsewhere.

KAGAN: Former Defense Secretary William Cohen, thank you for your time on this holiday.

COHEN: It's always a pleasure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It took an incredible 60 years, but a World War II veteran finally recognized for his fight against evil.

Word that Martha Stewart may try to trim a prison term by teaching other women how to succeed in business.

And Catholic priests in Chicago denied communion to worshipers wearing symbols of gay rights.

But first, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN (voice-over): Aristide in exile. Former Haitian Jean- Bertrand Aristide is in South Africa, where he received a red carpet welcome. The deposed leader says it will be his temporary home until he can return to Haiti.

The warrior prince? Britain's Prince William is hinting he may embark on a military career when he finishes college.

PRINCE WILLIAM, BRITAIN: I haven't ruled anything out, although a career in the armed services would be the best thing at the moment.

KAGAN: The heir to the throne would be following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and uncle, all of whom served in the armed forces.

A religious relic on display. Tens of thousands of people lined up in Hong Kong to look at what is said to be the finger bone of the Buddha. It is rarely allowed outside mainland China and some say the current exhibition is part of a campaign by Beijing to distract from a call for more democracy in Hong Kong.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Out of prison and into the classroom? "Newsweek" is reporting that Martha Stewart is hoping to reduce her jail time by teaching low-income women how to start their own businesses.

Keith Naughton broke the story for "Newsweek." And he joins us from Detroit.

Good -- good afternoon. I usually say good morning. That's when I'm usually on here. Thanks for being with us.

KEITH NAUGHTON, "NEWSWEEK": Hi, Daryn.

KAGAN: Flush out this idea a little bit more. Tell us more about the organization that you say Martha Stewart approached with her idea.

NAUGHTON: Yes. She approached the Women's Venture Fund, which is a nonprofit in New York that helps low-income and minority women start and run their own businesses.

KAGAN: And she was proposing to teach them how to start businesses, how to do what?

NAUGHTON: Right. She is looking to propose an alternative sentence to the court, so maybe she spends less time in jail, maybe no time in jail, although that seems a long shot. So she approached them and said, I can come and I can help teach these women. She had a specific curriculum in mind. She wants to help teach them how to clean, start a cleaning service.

KAGAN: Because, you know, sometimes it's just hard to find good help, so you have to train people.

NAUGHTON: Well, that's exactly it. That's where it came from. She had a hard time finding good help in her own estates. So, in fact, she has helped train some of her own people, who have gone on to have very successful cleaning businesses. So she said, I would like to come and do this for the Women's Venture Fund. And that could be a community service sort of sentence, instead of the traditional jail time.

KAGAN: OK, and for people who are out there snickering for people saying, oh, here is a rich person trying to get off and not going to jail, let me just play devil's advocate.

NAUGHTON: Sure.

KAGAN: Maybe this isn't such a crazy idea. She' convicted of four felony counts. She doesn't want to go to jail. Where is Martha Stewart going to better serve society, sitting in a jail cell thinking about what she did or actually helping women kind of build up and get out?

(CROSSTALK)

NAUGHTON: Well, you make an excellent point, because this is, after all, a woman who built a $250 million business from a small catering outfit in Connecticut. So she started with a small business. This is exactly her experience. And it seems like she would have an awful lot to share with these women

KAGAN: On the other hand, what would the message be to all the white-collar criminals out there?

NAUGHTON: Well, this is the thing. And this is what the legal experts say when they toss cold water on this whole idea, that if you give it to Martha, then have you to give it to the Enron guys and the WorldCom guys. And all of a sudden, nobody is going to jail. They are all just serving community service.

So she sets a precedent. And while it may be a good altruistic precedent for the people she would serve, perhaps it wouldn't work so well with some of the other white-collar criminals.

KAGAN: One of the most fascinating parts I found of your piece this week is the idea that she has hired a sentencing consultant. Who knew that there was such a thing.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

NAUGHTON: There is. Absolutely.

Herb Hoelter, he is the sentencing consultant to the stars. He's had Leona Helmsley and Al Taubman, and Mike Milken. And he's reportedly talking to the Enron guys. So he has really been very effective in helping rich powerful people shorten their sentences.

KAGAN: And then just Finally, just one other point that maybe the judge will go for this, there is that little issue of perhaps one of the witnesses perjured himself during her trial. So maybe everybody wants this whole thing to go away.

(CROSSTALK)

NAUGHTON: That's right.

Well, what is going to happen first before we get to the alternative sentence, they are going to first ask for this whole thing to be thrown out. But most legal experts say that's not going to happen. She is still facing 10 to 16 months in jail. And she would like it to be less.

KAGAN: And what do we know about this judge? Would she be likely to go for a deal like this?

NAUGHTON: Judges are throwing down really hard sentences on these white-collar criminals. It seems very unlikely that she won't get some jail time. Martha herself even told the president of the Women's Venture Fund that she expects a very harsh sentence. So I think the best she can hope for is perhaps the 10 rather than the 16 months in jail. And then she could spend the rest of the time with the Women's Venture Fund helping women start businesses.

KAGAN: And you'll be watching it, much more in this week's "Newsweek," the one with all the cool cell phones on the cover.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: Keith Naughton for "Newsweek," thank you.

NAUGHTON: Thanks for having me on.

KAGAN: A belated honor for an unsung hero of World War II.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHEL THOMAS, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: It was also personal fight, a personal fight against evil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Still to come, why this man's amazing story was hidden for so long. Plus, the war as seen through the lens of one veteran is our picture of the day. First, our weekend snapshots.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN (voice-over): A crowd estimated at 140,000 turned out on Washington's National Mall for the dedication of the World War II memorial. The speakers included President Bush and former Senator Bob Dole, a World War II veteran who lost the use of his right arm in the conflict.

Communion denied. Catholic priests in Chicago denied communion to worshipers wearing rainbow-colored sashes. Those wearing sashes received only a handshake or the sign of the cross on their forehead. The sashes connote support for gay rights. And Chicago Cardinal Francis George said they are a symbol of opposition to church doctrine.

Checked flag. Buddy Rice achieved his first career racing victory in spectacular style by winning the Indianapolis 500. The race ended early because of rain. Driving for a team co-owned by TV personality David Letterman, Rice was the first American to win the Indy in six years.

And that's a look at some stories you might have missed this past weekend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: This weekend, World War II veterans finally received a memorial. And one aging veteran was finally recognized for his service to his adopted nation.

CNN's Brian Todd has his extraordinary story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB DOLE, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Here's our guy who is going to get the Silver Star in about five minutes.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Among decorated at a veterans at a place they now call their own, Michel Thomas is decorated for the first time at age 90.

DOLE: For gallantry in action against the enemy in France.

TODD: A ceremony just days before the dedication of the World War II memorial 60 years in making.

MICHEL THOMAS, SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: The sacrifice that we all made should not and will not be forgotten.

TODD: Michel Croscof (ph) Thomas, a Polish-born Jew raised in Germany, a young man when Adolf Hitler takes power. Separated from his family, he makes his way to France, but not far enough. He's rounded up after the Nazis invade France and placed in labor camps for two years. He escapes, narrowly missing a deportation to Auschwitz. He later learns his mother and father were killed there. Where many might have looked for a way out, Thomas joins the French resistance.

THOMAS: It was also personal fight, a personal fight against evil, and against those who slaughtered my mother, my father, a whole large family. TODD: Thomas would again veer close to that fate. Interrogated, he says, by the head of the Gestapo in Lyon, a man with a reputation for torture and murder, the notorious Butcher of Lyon, Klaus Barbie. Thomas says he talked Barbie into believing his prisoner was not Jewish.

THOMAS: It is very important, also, in dangerous situations not to be afraid.

TODD: Thomas then makes his way to the American side of the fighting and in 1944 joins a U.S. Army combat intelligence unit. Daring reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines bring him a nomination for the Silver Star. It's never awarded. No one knows why.

With German forces on the run, Thomas joins the unit liberating the Dachau concentration camp, personally captures two Nazis wanted for war crimes. And, according to a U.S. archivist who was there at the time as a soldier, Thomas intercepts the files of the entire worldwide membership of the Nazi Party just before they are to be destroyed at a pulp mill.

ROBERT WOLFE, FORMER U.S. ARCHIVER: He enabled us to punish war criminals, to find them and to have the evidence to punish them and we are -- and to find the Germans that we could trust.

TODD: In 2001, a newspaper report questioned some of Thomas' claims and a movement to authenticate his Silver Star picks up momentum. Key members of the Congress get involved. The Pentagon reviews his case.

THOMAS: After all these years.

TODD: Soldiers who haven't seen him in 60 years attest to his bravery.

BEDFORD GROVES, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: We had a chance to work with him and see what his total commitment was to the cause, to the work that you had to do. You feel obligated to try to do almost as well as he was doing.

TODD: Now a man who moved with history and helped alter it stands with his medal.

THOMAS: Happy is not the right word for it, because it moves me very deeply.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: After the war, Thomas developed a very successful language program. At age 90, he is still publishing and lives in New York with his two children, who are in their 20s -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Very impressive, indeed.

Brian Todd, thank you for that report. Images of war, recalling the service of one World War II veteran. We will hear from him in our picture of the day.

And our "Web Question of the Day" is this: Is the U.S. doing enough to support the troops and their families? Vote right now. CNN.com/Wolf is the place. The results for you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: All right, let's go ahead and take a look at how you are weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day": Is the U.S. doing enough to support the troops and their families? Taking a look, 26 percent say yes; 74 percent say no. Keep in mind, this is not a scientific poll.

One of the highlights of this Memorial Day weekend was the dedication of the new World War II Memorial. Thousands of vets were there, and while some have only their memories to rely on as they recall their service, others actually captured their experiences on film. Stephen Kanyusik was one of them and his pictures are our picture of the day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN KANYUSIK, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: I'm Stephen Edward Kanyusik. I'm a photographer mate first class. And I enlisted in the Navy May 27, 1942. We had designated areas we watched for and we photographed that area. And you had to be very careful, also, not to shoot too many photos, because it's not like now you have sequence cameras. We had limited amount of exposures. It's a 47 pound Fairchild aerial camera. It had a seven-by-seven negative on a roll of film of about 210 exposures.

After the bomb went off, I had ducked down for a moment and then got up and started shooting. Someone might say, try to say that you're brave, but it wasn't bravery. It was your job. You know, there were guys that were below decks had to do their jobs. They had to keep the steam up so the ship would keep going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: A reminder, you can always catch WOLF BLITZER REPORTS weekdays at this time, 5:00 Eastern. You can catch me 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Wolf will be back in this seat tomorrow.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 31, 2004 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: Severe weather moves east. Washington, D.C., among the areas that are now under a tornado watch.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(voice-over): On the loose, they slaughtered helpless hostages. Why did the Saudis let them escape?

CNN exclusive: Night fights.

In Iraq, an unexpected show of force.

At home, coping with the growing toll of fallen troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DORINE KENNEY, JAKE FLETCHER'S MOTHER: My life changed in that instant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Killer storms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

We heard screams on the other side of the apartment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: More than 150 tornadoes target the Midwest.

And community service. Martha Stewart lightened a likely prison term by teaching poor women how to run a business.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Monday, May 31, 2004.

I'm Daryn Kagan. I'm at CNN Center in Atlanta. As you can tell, Wolf is off today.

It was bold and it was brutal. Terrorists apparently tied to al Qaeda attacked a compound for foreign oil workers in the Saudi city of Khobar. They took hundreds of hostages and killed 22 of them before Saudi commanders launched a rescue raid. But now there are stunning new details that are emerging about that weekend standoff, which ended only when the Saudis let most of the gunmen go.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN (voice-over): For Saudi officials, the most difficult attempt at damage control. An official of the Interior Ministry now says three of the four attackers who went on this rampage were allowed to escape because they were threatening to kill the 242 people they were holding as human shields. Saudi officials say they know who the three men are, and they believe they'll catch them.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: They have on previous occasions allowed terrorists to get away. In this situation, they are now threatening the royal family, and so there's a new interest. There's a new renewed interest on their part to get aggressive toward these terrorists because it's now come home.

KAGAN: A group the Saudis say is connected to al Qaeda is claiming responsibility for the weekend attack, saying this was intended to show that the Saudi government cannot protect oil workers.

Saudi officials offered this response:

NAIL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI EMBASSY SPOKESMAN: Now they are trying to cripple the world economy by trying to send a message that foreigners are not safe in Saudi Arabia. It is a message that is broadcast around the world, and that's what they are going for. I think they are safe, but it's a decision that each individual has to make.

ROBINSON: It shows that the Saudis punting. They know that they can't defend everything, and they've got a serious internal problem because, if they cannot provide stability and security, then the economic ability to produce barrels per day is going to be threatened.

KAGAN: A threat now hitting home on Saudi soil, with accounts on a terrorist-linked Web site that some victims had their throat slit, witness accounts of the body of a British oil executive being dragged through the streets behind a car, and the British ambassador warning that more attacks may be in the final planning stages.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Some oil experts say that the Khobar attack raises the fear factor and could raise oil prices when markets re-open after the holiday. But the Saudis say no facilities were affected by the attack, and one Gulf oil minister says the violence will have no impact on Saudi exports.

There was new violence in Iraq, a car bomb that exploded in downtown Baghdad killed four Iraqis and it wounded 25 others. Our Harris Whitbeck has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The car bomb went off on a busy road normally used by coalition officials and members of the Iraqi Governing Council as they transit the green zone. It was the same area where another car bomb exploded two weeks ago killing the president of the Iraqi Governing Council. U.S. military officials at the scene said the attacks will not dissuade them from meeting the June 30 deadline.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think this is going to slow down the progress to turn over sovereignty to the Iraqi government. I think we're firmly on track to do that.

WHITBECK: Some Iraqi government council members say they feel the U.S. also won't be dissuaded in trying to influence the makeup of the new interim government. Over the weekend and into Monday, the council met, at times with U.S. and U.N. officials, at times on its own, trying to come up with Iraq's new interim president.

MAHMOUD OTHMAN, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL (through interpreter): The United Nations was supposed to take a strong and independent role. We have not seen this, and we think the Americans are the ones that are making the decisions.

WHITBECK: Many council members are said to favor Ghazi Ajil al- Yawir, a Sunni tribal leader they say has great popular support. The U.N. and U.S. are said to favor another Sunni, Adnan Pachachi, the former foreign minister's son, nephew, and son-in-law, are former prime ministers in the pre-Saddam Iraq. Council members say what looks like a deadlock could be broken if a third name emerges.

(on camera): But whoever is chosen, like the rest of the interim government, might face a lack of credibility among the Iraqi population. Many know little about the mysterious and shifting process of choosing a government, and many mistrust anything that might have a U.S. stamp of approval on it.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Despite the continuing violence in Iraq, U.S. troops found time to honor their fallen comrades, marking Memorial Day with a ceremony at Baghdad's Camp Victory. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said that Americans have answered the call to arms for more than 200 years, and he warned that America must not walk away from the current mission.

U.S. troops in Afghanistan also observed the day. You're looking at a picture now of the Memorial Day ceremony at Camp Phoenix. That's just outside of Kabul. American military personnel in Afghanistan continue to hunt out remnants of Taliban and al Qaeda forces.

On the front lines of the war on terror, the grim toll grows steadily higher from Afghanistan to the far east. One hundred twenty- one American troops have been killed in the war on terror, 52 from hostile fire and 69 from other causes. These Pentagon figures do include casualties suffered in a number of countries as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

And in Iraq, 814 American troops have lost their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom. According to the Pentagon and the U.S. Central Command, 597 have died from hostile fire, 217 from other causes.

President Bush today assured the families of Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan that their loved ones served the cause of freedom. Our White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us with a look at the president's day -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, President Bush, as you know running as a wartime president, today acknowledged the great cost of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, but he said that the cause is just, that those Americans who have lost their lives have done so defending the country or actually helping liberate the oppressed or even bringing about peace and freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Bush honored America's fallen soldiers by placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Markers on these hills record the names of more than 280,000 men and women. Each was once or still is the most important person in someone's life.

MALVEAUX: With his emotions just on the surface, the president stood with his secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs to pay particular homage to those U.S. troops serving on the war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq.

BUSH: In places like Kabul and Kandahar and Mosul and Baghdad, we have seen their decency and their brave spirit. Because of their fierce courage, America is safer. Two terror regimes are gone forever and more than 50 million souls now live in freedom.

MALVEAUX: The president now faces a critical juncture in the war on terror. Unrest in Iraq continues as casualties mount, as the deadline to transfer political power to the Iraqis looms less than five weeks away.

A year ago at this time, more than 160 American soldiers had been killed in Iraq. That number has climbed to more than 800. So, with a heavy sigh, Mr. Bush marks another passing of this somber holiday, determined that the U.S. will win the war on terror.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Daryn, it's a critical week for the president. He's going to make his case that U.S. policy in Iraq is sound before a domestic audience when he goes before the U.S. Air Force Academy, a commencement speech this week.

Also later in the week, he's going to be traveling to Europe. That is where he's going to be meeting with international counterparts to make that argument to support the case -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.

Suzanne, thank you for that report.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran, marked the day with a visit to the Vietnam War Memorial. Kerry accompanied the family of William Bronson. He had suffered a head wound in the war and died eight years later. Kerry worked with Bronson's family to get Bronson's name added to the wall.

A three-day truce turns out to be no protection for U.S. troops in Kufa in Iraq. We'll have an exclusive report from CNN's Guy Raz. He is embedded with U.S. forces.

Also ahead:

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In seconds, a tornado transformed Marengo, Indiana, into a mess. Now it's going to take weeks, if not months, for this community to recover. I'm Keith Oppenheim in Marengo. We'll have that story coming up.

KAGAN: And also coming up, Martha Stewart's latest hope for avoiding prison time. Stay with us for the latest on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Showing a live picture right now of Washington, D.C., the Washington Monument there.

Believe it or not, the nation's capital is under a tornado watch. That's supposed to last until 10:00 tonight.

A similar situation along the I-10 corridor from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle. More on that ahead here on CNN.

That follows a weekend of severe and deadly weather that hit the country's midsection over the weekend, including 175 reported tornadoes.

In Tennessee, one person was killed and at least 23 injured in storms that pounded cities, including Memphis, which you see there, as well as Knoxville and Chattanooga.

In neighboring Kentucky, a tornado touched down in Louisville along with one in Paducah, and there was flooding in eastern Kentucky with some areas swamped by up to four inches of rain.

And then there's Indiana which also took a beating. A possible tornado in Indianapolis tore the roof off of a nursing home and damaged almost 300 buildings in all. Four people were hurt, but no deaths were reported. The damage is even worse about is 100 miles south in Marengo, Indiana.

Our Keith Oppenheim is there, and he joins us with the latest -- Keith. OPPENHEIM: Hi, Daryn.

Marengo, Indiana, isn't very big. Only about 800 residents here, but a lot of them have experienced some damage from this tornado. And get this: The wind speeds of this tornado were clocked by the National Weather Service at about 170 miles per hour. So it's no surprise that those winds have transformed much of this community into a disaster area.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Marengo, Indiana, is in a state of reconstruction, reconstructing property and reconstructing memories of what happened Sunday afternoon.

SARA VAUGHT, MARENGO RESIDENT: We just heard wind, and we heard stuff crashing, and it sounded like houses falling apart.

OPPENHEIM: More than 100 homes were damaged. One mobile home flipped over, and inside an elderly man died. He was discovered by neighbor Randall Meriwether.

RANDALL MERIWETHER, MARENGO RESIDENT: There was a bed, a couch. Everything was kind of on top of him. I saw his legs, started to get all that away so I could get to him. Checked his pulse, but he was already gone.

OPPENHEIM: Search dogs looked for other victims, as neighbors responded to the immediate crisis. Dan Haldauer's home recently won an award for landscaping. In seconds, his house and yard were demolished.

DAN HALDAUER, MARENGO RESIDENT: I don't think there's very much that's salvageable. Just about a total loss.

OPPENHEIM: But the community is not a total loss.

NORMA VANDERPOOL, MARENGO RESIDENT: Thankful. Very, very thankful for wonderful neighbors and church people.

OPPENHEIM: Neighbors in Marengo pulled together to clean up and show that, with all the damage...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We made it.

OPPENHEIM: ... they had largely achieved the most important thing in a storm: survival.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM: We're back live now with that wide view of all those people, sifting through that debris and starting the very long process of cleaning up. Dozens of residents had to stay, understandably, in a school building, which was turned into a makeshift shelter overnight, and the governor of Indiana, Joe Kernan, made a helicopter tour of this area. That's likely going to be the beginning of a state disaster area declaration, and that can free up some funds for some of the people around here who obviously have a long way to go to rebuild their lives.

Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Well, Keith, how convenient that you mentioned the governor because we actually have the governor with us right now. Indiana Governor Joseph Kernan joining us from Indianapolis.

Governor, thank you for being with us. I know this is a very busy time for you.

GOV. JOSEPH KERNAN, INDIANA: Thank you, Daryn, very much.

KAGAN: You've had a chance to get out and survey some of the hardest-hit parts of your state. Can you tell us about what you saw that really made an impact on you?

KERNAN: I think it's miraculous that more people were not seriously injured and that we did not have more loss of life, and I think you saw from the woman that was just on from down in Marengo that people are very grateful for that fact. This is a time when the community down there and a couple of our others that have been particularly hard hit have really come together. You've got communities that are their neighbors that are sending assistance in, the state has arrived with some help as well, and people are really pulling together to rebuild their homes, their businesses and their communities.

KAGAN: Yes, and nothing brings it home more than live pictures we're looking at right now. We're able to show our viewers as people still all this time later try to pick through that debris.

What about help from outside the state? have you asked the federal government to come in and help, Governor?

KERNAN: I made a declaration actually that goes back to some storms that came through here last Thursday and Friday for an emergency disaster and did that for the southern part of Indiana as well as the central part. Last night, we actually expanded that to include the entire state, and so that declaration is the first step in the process of getting the federal government engaged. Folks from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be in here tomorrow and begin the process of doing a detailed assessment of all of the damage that's been done across Indiana.

KAGAN: You know, a nontechnical detailed assessment, as we look again at these live pictures in Marengo -- did you get a chance to get down there today, Governor?

KERNAN: I did. I was on the ground as well as viewed it from the air, and the intensity of the damage there is remarkable, and I am not surprised to hear that the winds were up to 170 miles an hour. A great many homes damaged. We estimate about 200 that were damaged in one way or another, and many of them were severely damaged or completely destroyed. KAGAN: Which is about four times -- our numbers say about 50 homes were completely destroyed. When you look at a community that small, that has a huge impact. How is the state going to help this community pull back together?

KERNAN: Our first responsibility is public safety, and we had a team on the ground yesterday afternoon immediately after all of this happened with the state police, Department of Natural Resources, and our state Emergency Management Agency. Now we're in the process of the cleanup, and that means getting things off of the roads. It means eliminating unsafe conditions within the community. Again, you've had a broader community that has really come together to provide shelter for those families that need it, and now the job will become that of doing the assessments that will give us the detailed information to see what kind of aid there might be available from the federal government.

KAGAN: You said that it's remarkable that even more people weren't killed. Do you credit then the warning system that people are actually staying aware and keeping in mind you're not out of the woods yet, more severe weather could be on the way.

KERNAN: Absolutely. And you made mention of tornado warnings. Take them seriously. Here in Indianapolis last night, there was a great deal of advance warning, and, as this storm was walking its way across the city, there was a lot of warning, and I think we've seen the same kinds of things in other parts of the state, where people were more informed and able to take preventive action in advance.

KAGAN: And I just want to get back to one more question about getting the help that Indiana needs. I know there's been a struggle between the states and the federal government in terms of getting the right amount of money. Are you confident you will get the kind of help, that Indiana will get the help it needs from the federal government?

KERNAN: I think that based on whatever the assessment shows that we will have great cooperation from FEMA. We have a great working relationship with them. We've got a great team of people here in Indiana that are supported now by local folks across the state. We'll get all of the information together, and I have no doubt but that Hoosiers will be treated fairly by the federal government.

KAGAN: Got to get the Hoosier plug in there. We wish you well. Governor Joseph Kernan from Indiana. Good luck to you and the others in Indiana putting the state back together.

KERNAN: Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

We move on to Martha Stewart. Would you take advice from Martha Stewart on how to run your business? Coming up, we're going to look into a report that the domestic diva is interested in offering some lessons. It could help her stay out of jail perhaps.

Also ahead...

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sean Callebs on the National Mall. An eventful few days in the nation's capital marks what many veterans say will be a historic Memorial Day weekend.

KAGAN: And still to come as well, what Memorial Day is like for two families that have suffered losses over the last year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Memorial Day observances in the nation's capital today ranged from somber to celebratory. Our Sean Callebs has seen it all. He's in Washington, D.C. -- Sean.

CALLEBS: Daryn, you're exactly right.

Safe to say, for many people, this holiday weekend really stirred an array of emotions, with heartfelt thanks from World War II veterans to somber, sobering moments at the Vietnam Memorial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS (voice-over): Some come to the wall for solace; some, to grieve. On this day, they all came to honor and remember those who fought and died for their country.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, himself a Vietnam veteran, leading the tribute:

TOM RIDGE, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: The irony, the cruelty and the good and bad fortune of war is that good soldiers don't always come back.

CALLEBS: The nation's capital bathed in heavy cloud cover, a constant drizzle that at times developed into a steady rain. Heavy hearts perhaps and a time for reflection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in World War II in the infantry, and I survived to have children and grandchildren, and I think on Memorial Day about all the wonderful young men who aren't here.

CALLEBS: From the somber to the celebration. Marching bands ushered in a tribute to World War II veterans as a Memorial Day parade wound its way through Washington. Much of the attention this holiday weekend focusing on those dubbed the greatest generation and the unveiling of the World War II Memorial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Long time coming, but we got it.

CALLEBS: No shortage of sights to pay homage to the fighting men and women serving in the U.S. armed forces, from Arlington National Cemetery to the west end of the Washington Mall. With nearly 150,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, many veterans saying they hope the public doesn't lose sight of their sacrifice day in and day out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It means freedom. It means my kid's growing up in a safe country. It means a lot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: Legions here say they spent the day going from memorial to memorial, honoring those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the nation, as well as offering a salute to all men and women who served in the U.S. armed forces.

Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Sean Callebs on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Thank you, Sean.

For hundreds of families, this Memorial Day has a different meaning than previous ones. They're still mourning loved ones found in Iraq and finding that grief takes many forms.

Tom Foreman has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just off the sunny streets of Bay Shore, New York, where Jake Fletcher dreamed of a soldier's life, his mother packs boxes every day.

KENNEY: I send them toiletries.

FOREMAN: Care packages she sends to troops in Iraq where Jake died six months ago.

KENNEY: I'll never forget that moment in my life. My life changed in that instant. My heart changed in that instant. Everything changed.

FOREMAN: More than 800 American families in towns all over have lost someone in the war.

In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, it was Sherwood Baker just last month. His son, J.D., still doesn't understand why Dad is not coming back. His wife Debbie still wonders why he went.

DEBBIE BAKER, SHERWOOD BAKER'S WIDOW: How am I going to tell him why Dad went, you know, what he was doing there. I'm afraid I'm not going to have the truthful answers for him.

FOREMAN (on camera): You don't know yourself?

BAKER: No. Give me at least a reason why we're there.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The mounting deaths have brought such questions to many families.

KENNEY: We're not supposed to bury our children.

FOREMAN: Dorine Kenney is finding peace through the packages she sends and the grateful letters in return.

KENNEY: "At least because of you, I feel I'm not forgotten."

FOREMAN: For Debbie Baker, however, the loss is too new.

BAKER: I still carry the phone to bed with me, check my e-mails. I just keep thinking he's in a bunker somewhere just hiding.

FOREMAN (on camera): For a great many Americans, for a good many years, Memorial Day has been primarily about lives lost a long time ago. But now behind the World War I Memorial at J.D. Baker's school, his classmates have hung a paper chain with a link for every soldier killed in Iraq, and Debbie Baker knows this holiday she faces another long sleepless night of questions and memories.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And now it's your turn to weigh in on the story. Our Web question of the day is this: Is the U.S. doing enough to support the troops and their families? You can vote right now at CNN.com/Wolf. We'll have the results later in the broadcast.

Behind enemy lines, he escaped the Nazis, and then he began hunting them. Sixty years later, he's awarded the Silver Star.

And this prince has tried more pastoral pursuits. Now the heir to the British thrown is thinking about a career in the military.

Night fight in Iraq. We're on the scene when a cease-fire falls apart. It's a CNN exclusive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Welcome back.

Coming up, we're going to look at reports that Martha Stewart is making a new offer in a bid to stay out of prison. First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines on this Memorial Day.

Residents in many parts of the U.S. heartland are spending Memorial Day cleaning up from wreckage from scores of tornadoes. Indiana and Kentucky were among the hardest-hit states. A Sunday- night tornado in Marengo, Indiana, destroyed at least 50 homes.

A bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Karachi, Pakistan, has killed at least 18 people. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Violent demonstrations followed the bombing and three people were killed when troops fired on the crowd.

The Iraqi Governing Council has postponed a meeting to talk about making endorsements for the new interim government. Coalition officials say that U.S. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will announce the new government, not the Governing Council. Two U.S. soldiers were killed last night in Iraq when a shaky cease-fire turned into a furious battle with the militia of a radical Shiite cleric.

CNN's Guy Raz is embedded with U.S. forces. He's in the town of Kufa and he files this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was supposed to be day three of the truce. But as a recognizance patrol from Task Force 237 approached the center of town, insurgents opened fire from a cemetery near the Kufa mosque.

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're shooting at 2: 00.

RAZ: For well over an hour, 100 U.S. troops, tanks and armored carriers fought a pitched battle with fighters loyal to cleric Muqtada al Sadr. Mahdi militia fighters remained holed up behind this wall of a Kufa cemetery. U.S. officials believe at least 30 suspected insurgents were killed in this fight. Rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire from the insurgents killed two U.S. soldiers as well. The first time U.S. troops have fallen in battle here in six weeks of fighting.

(GUNFIRE)

RAZ: The truce declared by Sadr's militia is viewed with considerable skepticism among U.S. forces.

PFC. NOAH FREEDMAN, U.S. ARMY: I didn't expect the other side to be respecting the cease-fire. I figured the other side; they were going to keep firing. I mean the first day of the cease-fire we took mortar fire here in this camp.

RAZ: Military commanders have temporarily suspended offensive operations. This is regarded as a defensive engagement.

LT. COL. PAT WHITE, U.S. ARMY: We will continue to develop the situation in Kufa to get a feel for what's going on with the Mahdi army. And at some point, Sadr is going to have to come out and tell the world, and at least Najaf, this is a situation that I'm in. Tell my guys to disarm and he's either going to have to disown the people in Kufa. And say hey, those aren't my guys over there; my guys are all over here with me. Or he's going to have to own up to those that are in the Mahdi army that are still inside that mosque with weapons, as you saw tonight.

RAZ: Six weeks since intense fighting broke out here, hundreds of insurgents have been killed. U.S. forces are hoping the latest fighting may finally force Muqtada al Sadr's hand.

Guy Raz, CNN, Kufa, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: With war still raging in Iraq and neighboring Saudi Arabia rocked by a bloody terror attack, I turned earlier to our world affairs analyst, former Defense Secretary William Cohen. He joined me from our Washington bureau.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Mr. Secretary, let's go ahead and start with this second brazen attack on Western interests in Saudi Arabia. Westerners were there to work in the oil industry. Are you concerned with the security and the stability of the Saudi oil industry as it stands?

WILLIAM COHEN, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think the security and stability are still very strong. But one cannot protect against every type of an assault even in the United Kingdom, where they have very strict security.

The fact is that this is a target of the Laden group or the jihadists. They are determined to strike at the royal family to see if they can't bring it down and in the process cause significant interruption of supplies to the Western world. And so I think as we saw in the attack on the United States on both the Pentagon and the Trade Towers that they are now seeking to move that line of attack against the royal family and to hit the industrialized world at the very center of its existence, namely the dependence upon Persian Gulf oil.

KAGAN: I want to ask you about what is taking place in Iraq right now. U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, it looks he's getting close to wrapping up his work, to naming the next government. This was sold as a government that was going to be very different than the Iraqi Governing Council. And yet a lot of people are just saying, this is just a reshuffling, it's the same familiar faces and too strong of an American influence. Are you concerned it will not be accepted by the Iraqi people?

COHEN: Well, that is a concern.

To the extent that this is not seen as something that truly reflects the Iraqi people in all of their diversity, but simply as another hand of the United States deciding what their political system should be, then it will not be accepted by the Iraqi people. So legitimacy is going to be important. And the give and take of the politics -- and certainly we understand that, in this country, that the members of the Governing Council are trying to preserve their interests in the future political structure. And Mr. Brahimi is trying to work appropriate compromises.

But ultimately, it has to be seen as something more than what the United States has put in place as the Governing Council today. If it's not, then I think we'll have a situation which it will not be accepted by the Iraqi people and this transition certainly will not mark any progress toward stabilization.

KAGAN: And then something I'm sure you're watching with your background and of great interest to Americans especially on this Memorial Day, what happens to the U.S. military in the interim? What happens if there's a question about who they report to with this next phase of the government?

COHEN: Well, clearly, the United States forces must remain under United States command. There must be unity of command. There are arrangements that can be worked out in terms of how decisions are made, but ultimately the United States must remain in charge of its military.

And that really is -- any other alternative is not acceptable. But I think there can be a working arrangement, understandings, a status of forces agreement with the new government that will allow for a consultation, discussions about what military actions can or can't be taken. But ultimately the United States must remain in control of its own troops and its military decisions.

KAGAN: And, finally, as a former defense secretary, I would be remiss if I didn't ask you your thoughts on this Memorial Day, the weekend that the World War II memorial was unveiled and opened, and also, of course, many troops still in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world.

COHEN: Well, this weekend has been an incredible emotional ride for so many people to look back and to see the sacrifices made by the greatest generation and what they endured, what they were able to achieve and overcome, and how they were able to come together as a country afterwards, everybody working together and then leaving the war and coming to really rebuild this country in a way that makes it the superpower of the world.

It was inspiring and it was something long overdue as far as the veterans are concerned. But it also serves as a memorial and an inspiration to those in the future, that these are the sacrifices that have been made. We're going to be calling upon current and future generations to make similar sacrifices in order that liberty can continue to ring in this country and elsewhere.

KAGAN: Former Defense Secretary William Cohen, thank you for your time on this holiday.

COHEN: It's always a pleasure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It took an incredible 60 years, but a World War II veteran finally recognized for his fight against evil.

Word that Martha Stewart may try to trim a prison term by teaching other women how to succeed in business.

And Catholic priests in Chicago denied communion to worshipers wearing symbols of gay rights.

But first, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN (voice-over): Aristide in exile. Former Haitian Jean- Bertrand Aristide is in South Africa, where he received a red carpet welcome. The deposed leader says it will be his temporary home until he can return to Haiti.

The warrior prince? Britain's Prince William is hinting he may embark on a military career when he finishes college.

PRINCE WILLIAM, BRITAIN: I haven't ruled anything out, although a career in the armed services would be the best thing at the moment.

KAGAN: The heir to the throne would be following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and uncle, all of whom served in the armed forces.

A religious relic on display. Tens of thousands of people lined up in Hong Kong to look at what is said to be the finger bone of the Buddha. It is rarely allowed outside mainland China and some say the current exhibition is part of a campaign by Beijing to distract from a call for more democracy in Hong Kong.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Out of prison and into the classroom? "Newsweek" is reporting that Martha Stewart is hoping to reduce her jail time by teaching low-income women how to start their own businesses.

Keith Naughton broke the story for "Newsweek." And he joins us from Detroit.

Good -- good afternoon. I usually say good morning. That's when I'm usually on here. Thanks for being with us.

KEITH NAUGHTON, "NEWSWEEK": Hi, Daryn.

KAGAN: Flush out this idea a little bit more. Tell us more about the organization that you say Martha Stewart approached with her idea.

NAUGHTON: Yes. She approached the Women's Venture Fund, which is a nonprofit in New York that helps low-income and minority women start and run their own businesses.

KAGAN: And she was proposing to teach them how to start businesses, how to do what?

NAUGHTON: Right. She is looking to propose an alternative sentence to the court, so maybe she spends less time in jail, maybe no time in jail, although that seems a long shot. So she approached them and said, I can come and I can help teach these women. She had a specific curriculum in mind. She wants to help teach them how to clean, start a cleaning service.

KAGAN: Because, you know, sometimes it's just hard to find good help, so you have to train people.

NAUGHTON: Well, that's exactly it. That's where it came from. She had a hard time finding good help in her own estates. So, in fact, she has helped train some of her own people, who have gone on to have very successful cleaning businesses. So she said, I would like to come and do this for the Women's Venture Fund. And that could be a community service sort of sentence, instead of the traditional jail time.

KAGAN: OK, and for people who are out there snickering for people saying, oh, here is a rich person trying to get off and not going to jail, let me just play devil's advocate.

NAUGHTON: Sure.

KAGAN: Maybe this isn't such a crazy idea. She' convicted of four felony counts. She doesn't want to go to jail. Where is Martha Stewart going to better serve society, sitting in a jail cell thinking about what she did or actually helping women kind of build up and get out?

(CROSSTALK)

NAUGHTON: Well, you make an excellent point, because this is, after all, a woman who built a $250 million business from a small catering outfit in Connecticut. So she started with a small business. This is exactly her experience. And it seems like she would have an awful lot to share with these women

KAGAN: On the other hand, what would the message be to all the white-collar criminals out there?

NAUGHTON: Well, this is the thing. And this is what the legal experts say when they toss cold water on this whole idea, that if you give it to Martha, then have you to give it to the Enron guys and the WorldCom guys. And all of a sudden, nobody is going to jail. They are all just serving community service.

So she sets a precedent. And while it may be a good altruistic precedent for the people she would serve, perhaps it wouldn't work so well with some of the other white-collar criminals.

KAGAN: One of the most fascinating parts I found of your piece this week is the idea that she has hired a sentencing consultant. Who knew that there was such a thing.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

NAUGHTON: There is. Absolutely.

Herb Hoelter, he is the sentencing consultant to the stars. He's had Leona Helmsley and Al Taubman, and Mike Milken. And he's reportedly talking to the Enron guys. So he has really been very effective in helping rich powerful people shorten their sentences.

KAGAN: And then just Finally, just one other point that maybe the judge will go for this, there is that little issue of perhaps one of the witnesses perjured himself during her trial. So maybe everybody wants this whole thing to go away.

(CROSSTALK)

NAUGHTON: That's right.

Well, what is going to happen first before we get to the alternative sentence, they are going to first ask for this whole thing to be thrown out. But most legal experts say that's not going to happen. She is still facing 10 to 16 months in jail. And she would like it to be less.

KAGAN: And what do we know about this judge? Would she be likely to go for a deal like this?

NAUGHTON: Judges are throwing down really hard sentences on these white-collar criminals. It seems very unlikely that she won't get some jail time. Martha herself even told the president of the Women's Venture Fund that she expects a very harsh sentence. So I think the best she can hope for is perhaps the 10 rather than the 16 months in jail. And then she could spend the rest of the time with the Women's Venture Fund helping women start businesses.

KAGAN: And you'll be watching it, much more in this week's "Newsweek," the one with all the cool cell phones on the cover.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: Keith Naughton for "Newsweek," thank you.

NAUGHTON: Thanks for having me on.

KAGAN: A belated honor for an unsung hero of World War II.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHEL THOMAS, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: It was also personal fight, a personal fight against evil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Still to come, why this man's amazing story was hidden for so long. Plus, the war as seen through the lens of one veteran is our picture of the day. First, our weekend snapshots.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN (voice-over): A crowd estimated at 140,000 turned out on Washington's National Mall for the dedication of the World War II memorial. The speakers included President Bush and former Senator Bob Dole, a World War II veteran who lost the use of his right arm in the conflict.

Communion denied. Catholic priests in Chicago denied communion to worshipers wearing rainbow-colored sashes. Those wearing sashes received only a handshake or the sign of the cross on their forehead. The sashes connote support for gay rights. And Chicago Cardinal Francis George said they are a symbol of opposition to church doctrine.

Checked flag. Buddy Rice achieved his first career racing victory in spectacular style by winning the Indianapolis 500. The race ended early because of rain. Driving for a team co-owned by TV personality David Letterman, Rice was the first American to win the Indy in six years.

And that's a look at some stories you might have missed this past weekend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: This weekend, World War II veterans finally received a memorial. And one aging veteran was finally recognized for his service to his adopted nation.

CNN's Brian Todd has his extraordinary story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB DOLE, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Here's our guy who is going to get the Silver Star in about five minutes.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Among decorated at a veterans at a place they now call their own, Michel Thomas is decorated for the first time at age 90.

DOLE: For gallantry in action against the enemy in France.

TODD: A ceremony just days before the dedication of the World War II memorial 60 years in making.

MICHEL THOMAS, SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: The sacrifice that we all made should not and will not be forgotten.

TODD: Michel Croscof (ph) Thomas, a Polish-born Jew raised in Germany, a young man when Adolf Hitler takes power. Separated from his family, he makes his way to France, but not far enough. He's rounded up after the Nazis invade France and placed in labor camps for two years. He escapes, narrowly missing a deportation to Auschwitz. He later learns his mother and father were killed there. Where many might have looked for a way out, Thomas joins the French resistance.

THOMAS: It was also personal fight, a personal fight against evil, and against those who slaughtered my mother, my father, a whole large family. TODD: Thomas would again veer close to that fate. Interrogated, he says, by the head of the Gestapo in Lyon, a man with a reputation for torture and murder, the notorious Butcher of Lyon, Klaus Barbie. Thomas says he talked Barbie into believing his prisoner was not Jewish.

THOMAS: It is very important, also, in dangerous situations not to be afraid.

TODD: Thomas then makes his way to the American side of the fighting and in 1944 joins a U.S. Army combat intelligence unit. Daring reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines bring him a nomination for the Silver Star. It's never awarded. No one knows why.

With German forces on the run, Thomas joins the unit liberating the Dachau concentration camp, personally captures two Nazis wanted for war crimes. And, according to a U.S. archivist who was there at the time as a soldier, Thomas intercepts the files of the entire worldwide membership of the Nazi Party just before they are to be destroyed at a pulp mill.

ROBERT WOLFE, FORMER U.S. ARCHIVER: He enabled us to punish war criminals, to find them and to have the evidence to punish them and we are -- and to find the Germans that we could trust.

TODD: In 2001, a newspaper report questioned some of Thomas' claims and a movement to authenticate his Silver Star picks up momentum. Key members of the Congress get involved. The Pentagon reviews his case.

THOMAS: After all these years.

TODD: Soldiers who haven't seen him in 60 years attest to his bravery.

BEDFORD GROVES, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: We had a chance to work with him and see what his total commitment was to the cause, to the work that you had to do. You feel obligated to try to do almost as well as he was doing.

TODD: Now a man who moved with history and helped alter it stands with his medal.

THOMAS: Happy is not the right word for it, because it moves me very deeply.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: After the war, Thomas developed a very successful language program. At age 90, he is still publishing and lives in New York with his two children, who are in their 20s -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Very impressive, indeed.

Brian Todd, thank you for that report. Images of war, recalling the service of one World War II veteran. We will hear from him in our picture of the day.

And our "Web Question of the Day" is this: Is the U.S. doing enough to support the troops and their families? Vote right now. CNN.com/Wolf is the place. The results for you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: All right, let's go ahead and take a look at how you are weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day": Is the U.S. doing enough to support the troops and their families? Taking a look, 26 percent say yes; 74 percent say no. Keep in mind, this is not a scientific poll.

One of the highlights of this Memorial Day weekend was the dedication of the new World War II Memorial. Thousands of vets were there, and while some have only their memories to rely on as they recall their service, others actually captured their experiences on film. Stephen Kanyusik was one of them and his pictures are our picture of the day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN KANYUSIK, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: I'm Stephen Edward Kanyusik. I'm a photographer mate first class. And I enlisted in the Navy May 27, 1942. We had designated areas we watched for and we photographed that area. And you had to be very careful, also, not to shoot too many photos, because it's not like now you have sequence cameras. We had limited amount of exposures. It's a 47 pound Fairchild aerial camera. It had a seven-by-seven negative on a roll of film of about 210 exposures.

After the bomb went off, I had ducked down for a moment and then got up and started shooting. Someone might say, try to say that you're brave, but it wasn't bravery. It was your job. You know, there were guys that were below decks had to do their jobs. They had to keep the steam up so the ship would keep going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: A reminder, you can always catch WOLF BLITZER REPORTS weekdays at this time, 5:00 Eastern. You can catch me 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Wolf will be back in this seat tomorrow.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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