we got there, being the team player and knowing i've got his back and he's got mine, that's what i reflect. that's what motivates me. >> president obama awarded the medal of honor to clint romesha on february 11th at the white house. his family was there to share the moment, as were his buddies who served side by side with him during the intense fire fight. they flew from all over the country to honor a friend who has become a national hero. meanwhile, the war in afghanistan continues. more than 60,000 american service members are still in that country fighting that war. i'm jake tapper for cnn. i hope you have a meaningful memorial day. happening now, senator john mccain goes inside a war zone, becoming the highest ranking

u.s. official to visit syria's front lines since the civil war began. what this daring trip could mean for the united states. plus, mayhem in iraq. 11 -- yes, 11 -- car bombings, dozens killed. new signs that the nation that cost so much in american life and treasure is now falling apart. and panic on board a cruise ship as fire breaks out, sending thousands of passengers fleeing to safety. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin with today's startling news of senator john mccain's daring visit to a war zone. cnn has confirmed the senator was inside syria today. that makes him the highest ranking elected official from the united states to go there since the civil war started. they're pleading for more pehel

including weapons from the united states. nick paton walsh is joining us from beirut. nick, what do we know about senator mccain's trip to syria? >> reporter: it seems to be reasonably brief, crossing over from turkey heading it seems about a kilometer inside syria. i've been there myself, it's mostly refugees on the other side of the border and quite a distance until you get to the first major heavily bombarded city. he appears to have met the heads of the supreme military council, the governing body. they clearly spoke, had meetings with other activists from the other cities around syria, too. but one of the main ngos that took him in, the syrian emergency task force, declared that part of the purpose was to show it's possible to get inside syria, that it's not too dangerous, that it's not overrun by extremists. of course this visit putting clear pressure, though, on the obama administration, wolf.

>> how significant is it for a major united states senator to show up with the rebels in syria? >> reporter: well, it gives a degree of credibility. it gives the idea that perhaps there's a rebel-held area in the north that can be dealt with on a diplomatic level. it gives that idea some credibility as well. above all, we're talking about the exact choice of a senior u.s. politician to go there. senator mccain having been the most outspoken advocate of a know no fly zone, of greater assistance to the rebels militarily, stopping short of u.s. boots on the ground. but recently in "time" magazine he was quite clear that he now believes the cost of inaction outweigh the costs of action. though many analysts do say the ideal window for a swift and decisive u.s. intervention is long behind us, now this war is dragging into much more of a regional conflict, the u.s. can only get more mired in it. >> the rebels with whom senator

mccain met today, what kind of relationship do they have with those al qaeda oriented rebels also trying to get rid of bashar al assad in damascus? >> reporter: well, certainly one is considered one of the most moderate parts of the free syrian army and what we refer to the free syrian army for the most part is not really that hardcore radical fringe, the most frequently referred to al qaeda affiliate that's part of rebel ranks. of course, everyone has to deal with each other at some point, and the free syrian army in many ways has shown gratitude for the military prowess on the battlefield. but of course relations increasingly strained over time, increasingly fractured among the ranks of syrian rebels and i think really what it gets for meeting senator mccain is a clear dose of credibility. and while the civilian part of the -- whether they'll attend these key talks in geneva, senator mccain is actually meeting them on the ground.

>> secretary of state john kerry is meeting with the foreign minister of russia, certiappare trying to do something as well. i don't know if they achieved much. what are you hearing? >> reporter: very little. this was pinned on to the end of secretary state kerry's trip. they clearly have a good rapport, certainly better than lavrov's was with hillary clinton. their way is whether their perfespective parties will comeo the table in geneva. both sides saying that the difficulty is, can john kerry get the opposition to speak with a unified voice and to come to the table. we're already hearing very fractured messages part of the opposition saying they would in principle attend, about a third saying they're not interested and others talking in shades of gray. real fears that unless you get both of these sides together at the table and agreeing to actually talk, you have even less of a chance of anything

discussed there translating to action on the ground. the clock really ticking here, wolf. john kerry making it clear that unless they see some sort of political transition from what you may see in geneva at some point next month, if this conference goes ahead, the u.s. will have little choice but to up its aid to rebels significantly, wolf. >> nick paton walsh joining us from beirut, thanks very much. later we'll speak live with mu oz mustafa, a spokesperson for the -- he was with senator mccain today. we'll speak with him live coming up later in "the situation room". meanwhile, we're watching an p alarming increase in violence not far from syria. 11 car bombs detonated in and around baghdad today, killing 51, wounding at least 160. sectarian violence has been on the upswing in iraq over the past several weeks. at least 300 people have been killed this month alone, and

today's targets included a number of shiite muslim neighborhoods. while most iraqis are shiites -- over the last decade almost 4500 americans gave their lives to free iraq from saddam hussein. but on this memorial day, iraq clearly seems to be sliding back into civil war and chaos. joining us is our national security analyst fran townsend. she was president bush's homeland security adviser. she is a member of the cia's external advisory board. fran, you look at what's going on in iraq right now. you look at the sacrifice the u.s. made in blood and treasure over a decade. but iraq right now see to be unraveling. what's your assessment? >> well, wolf, as you rightly mention, this has been going on over several weeks. today is only the most tragic and largest example. look, i think what you're seeing is a very aggressive iran. we know iran is very active in

syria. they've been known to be active in afghanistan and certainly they've been exerting their influence and their it powpowere iraq. it is as you know a shiite population and shiite government. but remember, wolf, during the bush administration we faced this same sort of unraveling of civilian strife, sunni on shia violence. what we look to are our allies in the region, the saudis, the jordanians. we looked to our sunni arab allies to try and aexert their influence on tribes there. but this is very difficult, wolf. it's made especially difficult now there's no u.s. presence there. we were unable to associate a status of forces agreement with the iraqi government. so we withdrew very precipitously. this vacuum that was created was bound to cause the sort of fracturing where minority populations like the sune wnis t very vulnerable. >> is there something more the u.s. can do or simply forget about iraq?

>> wolf, we can't forget about iraq. we obviously have regional interest there. we'll continue to engage the iraqi government, but more than anything i think you'll find this administration, like the prior administration, will have to look at arab allies in the region to exert their influence on tribes and work diplomatically to try and engage the iraqi government. >> some analysts clearly predicted that the unraveling of iraq would take place. here's the question -- right now the u.s. is getting ready over the next 18 months to withdraw the remaining 60,000 troops it has in afghanistan. what's to say that the disaster that's happening in iraq right now doesn't also happen in afghanistan at the end of 2014 when all u.s. troops are supposed to be out of there? >> well, wolf, you're raising exactly the right question. of course, pakistan will continue to have its own interest in how afghanistan unfolds. the iranians, the taliban, and this fragile afghani security

force will have a lot of pressure on it. what it underscores, wolf, is getting right the bilateral security agreement between afghanistan and the united states, making sure we don't make the mistakes in afghanistan that were made in iraq when we failed to get a status of forces agreement that permitted us to keep a small force there that could continue to do training, advising, and assisting of afghan security forces. >> do you really think it's going to make any difference long term if the u.s. pulls out now from afghanistan, or if it pulls out 18 months from now? and obviously many more american lives will be lost and maybe another $100 billion, if not more, will be spent. >> what's important, wolf, is how you handle the withdrawal. i think president obama has rightly said this is not going to be sort of walking off a cliff. but the thing that could change that, the sort of deliberate and planned withdrawal, is if you

can't get the status of forces agreement. by the way, americans should not only be concerned about that, the afghan people and afghan commanders are concerned about that. what you need is a very well-planned, deliberate and staged withdrawal that leaves behind a small residual force on which, for example, in afghanistan provides close air support which the afghan forces will not have absent american assistan assistance. >> fran, thank you very much. >> sure. authorities in the united kingdom have made a tenth arrest in last week's gruesome terror attack, the knifing death of a british soldier. four people are still in custody included two suspected attackers, one of whom seen covered in blood moments after the slaying. meantime, the country is exploding in protests amid fear of an all-out backlash against muslims. we are joined from london with more. what do we know about this latest arrest and whoo at it me for this case?

>> reporter: not much. what we know is it was a 50-year-old man arrested by armed officers on the street. he didn't put up a strug he. like the other arrests he was brought in on conspiracy to murder. the other arrests were mostly young men between the ages of 21 and 28, but we don't know how they're all connected. we don't know if they're relatives, if they're friends, in what way they're acquaintance. we don't know at this point. what we do know is that the two main suspects remain under police guard in separate hospitals. they were both shot and seriously wounded. and it's our understanding that police have not yet been fully question them, wolf. >> the attack clearly has resulted in some pretty violent protests in london. who are these demonstrators targeting? >> reporter: this is a group called the english defense league, and they are pretty anti-muslim, frankly. they've come out in force today in front of downing street, of course, the prime minister's

office. there were about a thousand of them. it got rowdy. they showed up alongside their opponents, united against fascists. what they were basically saying were protesting the attack, saying that islam was responsible for it. now, the muslim council of britain has condemned the attack, has come out very strongly and urged people not to be incited to violence. unfortunately in the case of the edl that does not seem to be working. there's good news, however, in some other places, for example, in york we're hearing that one edl protest actually ended up with people in the mosques coming out sharing tea and biscuits with them. it does seem that, while there is anger, maybe the tensions are starting to come down just a little bit, wolf. >> thanks very much. meanwhile, there's tension leerly in london. when we come back, a frightening close call. a military helicopter, a passenger plane and a dangerous collision course over the skies of d.c.

>> they had a helicopter right there off the base of 3-3, and we nearly collided with them.

airline safety officials are investigating a pretty scare close call as planes j s jam thy this memorial day. the near-collision happened in air space over reagan national airport just outside washington, d.c., as the busy holiday weekend was just beginning. our brian todd is joining us from reagan national. what happened, brian? >> reporter: wolf, this happened not far from where i'm standing. you know, this suite behind me, the tarmac at reagan national, the potomac river and points sweeping further north of here, this is an area where a lot of helicopter traffic mixes in with near-constant jet traffic. and recently they didn't mix so well. just how close did a regional passenger plane come to hitting a military helicopter in the skies over washington? listen to the plane's pilot on

air traffic controllers audiotape minutes after the incident. >> they had a helicopter right there, and we nearly collided with it. >> reporter: the faa and safety board are investigating the close call that occurred this past friday afternoon. a us airways flight operated by republic airlines with 73 people on board was approaching reagan national airport from the south toward runway 33. a military helicopter based at nearby andrews air force base was in the air flying toward the incoming plane. at one point, the two aircraft were at the same altitude about 400 feet off the ground. air traffic controllers warned the chopper pilot going by the handle muscle 9 at least three times. >> mussel 9, make a right 360. there's an embriere jet on two-mile. mussel 9, you have that traffic in sight, for runway 3-3? mussel 9, maintain visual separation from that traffic and pass the traffic. >> reporter: after the collision avoidance system sounded, the

passenger jet circled around and landed safely a few minutes later. the helicopter also landed safely. at the closest point, the two became within 940 feet from each other at the same altitude. not far from where it happened, i'm standing a football field length away from our camera. 940 feet is more than three times further than i am. steve wallace is with me right now next to my camera. steve, 940 feet to the layperson seems like plenty of space. is it plenty of space? >> well, it's natural in these situations to focus on the distance between the aircraft. the bigger situation is if it's focused on by the air traffic control. >> reporter: many are constantly flying over the potomac river, the same general air space as commercial jets approaching and taking off from reagan national. is this too busy, too much

traffic for it to be safe in. >> i don't think it's too crowded. it requires precise procedures consistently followed and that's what we have. >> reporter: wallace says another key factor here is whether the plane's pilot and the helicopter pilot had visual contact with each other. did they see each other? an faa spokeswoman says the two pilots had each other in sight. wolf? >> brian, how strict are the rules about why where those helicopters can fly? >> reporter: well, steve wallace says, as many of us know here, that this is some of the most restricted air space in the united states, in the reagan national airport area and that way toward thecapital, toward washington. he said there are clearly defined routes that separate where helicopters and planes can fly. despite the heavy traffic with both types of machinery, chopper pilots -- you can see them all the time flying very close to the river, pretty close to the tree line -- and the planes coming fairly close, despite

that mproximity, they do a grea job the vast majority of the time. >> let's hope. thanks, brian. more frightening moments on board. an alaska airlines flight from anchorage to portland, oregon, after a passenger allegedly tried to open the plane's emergency door just ten minutes before landing. an airline spokesperson says alexander michael herrera was restrained and taken into police custody when the plane landed. emergency doors on planes have locks that prevent them from being opened in flight. it's not just planes having problems right now. look at these horrifying images showing a burned-out royal caribbean cruise ship that was bound for the bahamas. a fire broke out overnight sending passengers fleeing to decks with life jackets. one video was caught, one passenger thought there was a chance she may never see daylight again. the fire was put out after about two hours, and the ship is now

docked at nearby port for evaluation where you can see the company's ceo surveying the damage. the ntsb, national transportation safety board, is joining the investigation into the cause of the fire. we're told two guests were treated for fainting, but authorities confirm there are no other injuries. coming up -- a mormon mom coming home from a funeral arrested in mexico. her family says this is a horrible, horrible mistake. they're about to join us live to explain. and later -- rescuers work against the clock trying to save a newborn wedged in a sewer pipe. you'll see it right here in "the situation room."

brianna keilar is monitoring some of the other top stories in "the situation room". let's start with the bridge collapse. >> kraus have pulled a big rig out of the xajette river. they're hoping to pull a car, pickup truck and steel debris from the water before the day is over. this part of i-5 collapsed thursday after a tractor trailer carrying an oversized load hit the bridge. no one was killed but it's causing detour headaches. transportation officials hope to have a temporary bridge up by moid-june. a hijacker so home sick he's willing to risk prison to come back too the u.s. william potts forced a plane to cuba over 30 years ago. he served a prison sentence on the island. now he wants to rejoin his family in the states, even

though he'd likely face trial and more prison time here. potts says u.s. officials won't respond to him, and the u.s. attorney's office in miami won't say why. well, no, they can't fly, but one penguin at seaworld in orlando took a flying leap out of its tainks and ended up just waddling in front of park guests. seaworld officials say the birds are getting used to a new home and this one probably misjudged the wall when he was swimming around in the water. a handler ran over and tossed him back in. he's cute. >> beautiful. brianna, thanks very much. congratulations, understood you delivered a beautiful commencement address at your alma mater university of california at berkeley. >> i did. >> everybody was very, very happy. >> thank you. thank you, wolf. >> good work. when we come bashck, a trip home to arizona from mexico ends in more horror for a u.s. woman.

plus, grief gives way to rage in the killing of a kentucky police officer. some now believe he may have been targeted. we'll have the latest on the investigation. stay with us.

a u.s. woman jailed on drug charges in mexico, we'll hear from her family who say it's a false accusation. also, you know lieutenant dan in the movie "forest gump" actor gary sinise talks about how that changed his life. plus, a newborn caught in a sewer pipe am you'll see the amazing rescue. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." a u.s. woman is caught in a legal nightmare playing out on both sides of the u.s./mexican border right now. the mexicans say she tried to smuggle marijuana into the united states. but, as rebecca thomas of cnn

phoenix affiliate kpho reports, the woman's family insists she's been falsely accused and the whole thing is a setup. >> reporter: mexican soldiers took anna soto's mother into custody wednesday. she and her husband gary, both u.s. citizens, were on their way back to arizona after attending her aunt's funeral. the charter bus was stopped and everyone ordered off. after several hours, soldiers told them marijuana had been found under the woman's seat. >> i know there's people out there saying, asking, did she really do it, are you sure? you know, and it hurts, you know, to see that. if you would have known my mom, if you just would have met her, you would know she had nothing to do with it. >> reporter: the woman's husband says an attorney originally told them guilty or not, they could pay off a judge $5,000. but after scraping the money together, gary was told 0 it was

too late. she was moved to a prison in nogalas. he was finally able to see her face to face saturday, the day of her one-year anniversary. >> she just kind of started jumping up and down and gave me a big hug and we just cried. >> reporter: both have signed documents they hope state an accurate account of what happened. gary has also retained mexican attorneys in an effort to free his wife. >> i just love her to death. she's amazing. >> a report from rebecca thomas of our affiliate kpho. two members of maldonado's family are joining us from phoenix. her daughter anna soto whom we just saw in that report, along with her brother-in-law brandon clip. thank you to both of you. anna, first to you. you think your mother -- you insist your mother is innocent. obviously you know your mother well. tell us why. >> she's a person with strong

morals, would never do anything like that against the law anywhere, you know. her home country or here. she's just an amazing woman. she would never take that chance to be away from her family. so that's why i know. >> you visited your mom in prison on saturday. what did she tell you? how did she seem? >> you know, all i can say is she's a strong woman, and when i saw her she just smiled like she's always smiled before. and i broke down in tears, but she just told me that she was going to get out, for me to be strong, that she was innocent. she wanted to tell my brothers and sisters that she loved them

very much and she wanted me to thank everyone that has been helping her. she just seemed very strong. we cried a little bit. i cried more than her. i don't know how she's doing, you know, better than i expected. >> brandon p, yo, your sister-i was due in court today. what happened? any update on her legal status in the case? >> she wasn't actually able to meet with the judge today. what happened instead is she was brought to a small room where there's a metal mesh that divides her from the other people in the room. she met with the judge's assistant, the state attorney and her attorney. her husband wasn't allowed to enter into the room because they're stating he's a witness so he's not going to be allowed to be part of these proceedings. at this point, they've said that tomorrow a trial will take place at 10:00. at that point, the judge will then make a decision by 6:00 in the evening. he is able to grant a 72-hour

extension if rainier ra requests it. we're worried that she may not know she needs to request it. if they don't extend the 72 hours, he'll make the decision whether she can go free tomorrow or whether she'll be transported to a prison in south of mexico to wait for five or six months until her case is officially heard. >> does she have a lawyer? >> they retained a local attorney in nogalas, but we're hoping that works out. if not, we're working on getting an attorney who might be more familiar with that kind of law. >> brandon, do you think there's any chance she can get a fair trial in mexico? >> i don't know if she can get a fair trial. we're learning that the mexican judicial system is so different than ours. you know, the last image i had, i saw her yesterday in the prison, and they gave us visiting hours. we were supposed to have a few hours to visit with her, and they told us because she's not an official inmate, just being held there, we only had ten

minutes. she was at a wire window with her fingertips up through the holes touching her son's hand with one and touching her husband's hand with the other just saying, i don't know how this happened, i never did anything illegal in my life. but in the same breath she knows god will bless her and she'll be home with her family. we hope she will have a fair trial. >> what's your worst fear, anna? >> never to see my mother again. that's my worst fear. i just want her home. i just want to be able to hold her, tell her how much i love and miss her. that's my biggest fear, never to see her again. >> if they're watching you now, the mexican authorities now,

anna, what would you say to them? >> that she's innocent. she is an honest, good woman, a christian woman that would never do anything to harm her own country, jeopardize her freedom. >> let's hope for the best. way, from senator jeff flake of arizona. i know he's trying to help your mom. he put out a statement saying through a spokesperson, senator flake is personally monitoring the situation and he has had multiple conversations with the deputy mexican ambassador this weekend. we're going to put in a call as well to the mexican ambassador here in washington and see what we can learn. thanks to both of you very much for joining us. good luck. good luck, anna, to your mom and brandon, good luck to your

sister-in-law. we hope this turns out good and hope it turns out well in the next -- and very, very soon. thanks very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. just ahead -- thetory story of a policeman t to do a good deed. it turns outs he was uking into a death trap. the actor you know as lieutenant dan. we'll talk about how that one role nearly 20 years ago changed his life and touched so many u.s. veterans. an interview you'll want to see, especially on this memorial day.

a somber moment, president obama laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns and observing a moment of silence this memorial day in honor of all the american service members who, in his words, are willing to lay down their lives for the freedoms this country enjoys. another holiday tradition here in washington, d.c., the national memorial day concert which, for the eighth consecutive year, was co-hosted by emmy award-winner actor gary sinise, a longtime supporter and advocate for the country's veterans. gary sinise is here in "the situation room" on a special

memorial day. thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you. >> tell us about your involvement with veterans. all of us remember "forest gump," the role you played, a significant role, back in '94 when that film came out. but you've had an amazing involvement with veterans over the years. explain how this evolved. >> well, there are several reasons, i think, starting with my family on both my wife's side and my side. i've got veterans. her side vietnam veterans, her two brothers, her sister's husband served in vietnam and was in for 22 years. and my side of the family, world war, korea, world war i. so that's a big connection there. and then my involvement with being in veterans goes back to the 1980s. we all remember how shameful they were treated when they came home from the war. it was a very difficult period for us, and they paid a price.

so having them in my family, having several friends who served in vietnam after we started deploying to iraq and afghanistan and having been involved with the dav, the disabled american veterans, since playing one in forest gump in the '90s. i knew there was a role for me to play currently in supporting our active duty service members and trying to make sure that they knew we were grateful for what they are doing. if they go off to war, we'll show our appreciation. >> everyone remembers lieutenant dan taylor, the role you played in "forest gump." when you go into a hospital and meet with wounded warriors, to this day they refer to the film. >> well, yeah. i realized very early on when i started visiting the hospitals, the first hospital i visited, military hospital, was land stool over in germany. i realized as soon as i walked in and started visiting our troops overseas they were all -- most of them didn't even know what my real name was.

they just recognized me from the movie, lieutenant dan. and it was an automatic ice breaker. they started talking to me about the movie, and i could -- you know, they felt like i could relate to what they were going through because i played that part in a movie. so very early on i realized that that particular character was just going to be a part of my life in a way because i'm very twoeted to our military, very devoted to making sure our veterans know we appreciate what they do. and if they want to talk about lieutenant dan, that's fine with me. >> on this memorial day, what's the biggest challenge facing veterans in the country today? >> well, there are multiple challenges. obviously we have a terrible post-traumatic stress issue. there are way too many suicides going on. you've seen the statistics about that. we're trying to address that. i'm involved with different initiatives on that front. jobs, obviously, is an important part of that. i'm involved with some great

initiatives there. the get skills to work program with ge. ge has brought together a great coalition of manufacturers, educators, military nonprofits, all coming together to address the manufacturing sector of our economy by taking skills that people learn in the military and kind of retooling them through training to apply to the manufacturing sector. we have 600,000 job that's are available in the manufacturing industry, yet we can't necessarily fill those jobs with qualified workers. >> so what's your message to a vet right now who's struggling to find a job? >> go to get skills to work.org. that's one. i mean, there are different initiatives, the one i'm involved with right now and that i think is very, very good and growing every day is get skills to work. if you go to get skills to work.org, you can find out how the program works. if you're interested in manufacturing and using what you've learned in the military,

obviously we have one evof the the greatest military, trained and advanced military, the world has ever seen. we're going to have qualified people there. they can use what they've learned in the military and apply it to the manufacturing sector, you know, and use what they've learned in the military to give back to our economy. >> excellent advice, gary. thanks very much for coming in. thanks for all the work that you're doing. we deeply appreciate it. one quick plug. i know you'll be out near chicago ravine ya festival june 13th you'll be performing there? >> yes. i take my band across the world. it's lieutenant dan band, named the band after the character because the military is calling me that all the time. i actually worked at ravinia when i was a kid. now i'll be playing there june 13th. tickets are availae. hope the hometown crowd comes out and sees it. >> i'm sure they will. they're very proud of you in highland park in chicago, indeed

throughout the country. gary, this thanks very much. >> thank you. the mystery behind a deadly ambush. was a killer looking for a target or a specific policeman? our next hour, a cruise ships ends vacations cut short. you'll hear from passengers who lived through the latest cruise nightmare.

let's go to kentucky where an off-duty police officer is dead, sht during what appears to be a cold-bloodied ambush. right now, police are trying to track down the killer and promising, quote, it's an eye

for an eye. what do we know, elena? >> wolf, a reward of at least $6,000 is now being offered in this case. police say they have no solid leads so far, but they are confident they will find the killer. fuelled by anger and grief, the police chief in bardstown, kentucky, is promising revenge. >> i can assure you we won't give up on this person until we have him in custody or on the front side of one of our weapons. >> reporter: jason ellis was driving home from work early saturday morning when he stopped to clear debris from a freeway exit ramp and was ambushed. someone was hiding nearby and opened fire with a shotgun, killing the 33-year-old seven-year police veteran. >> he was a distance away and was obvious he was laying in wait for someone to pick up the debris. you know, as reported earlier, you know, officer ellis never

had a chance. >> reporter: the officer's weapon was still in his holster when he was found. other drivers stopped and called for help, but it was too late. ellis leaves behind a wife and two young boys. his church honored his life during sunday services. >> when you know a guy like jason, who is just a great man and a wonderful guy, you just don't expect this to happen. >> reporter: police say it is not clear if the shooter intended to shoot whoever stopped. residents of this area 40 miles south of louisville, already on edge, are being told to remain vigilant. >> we have a dead police officer, and if a gunman is willing to shoot an armed police officer in a marked state -- in a marked cruiser, then, you know, they are capable of killing anyone. and these people are a danger to the public. >> reporter: and in front of the police station, a memorial of balloons and stuffed animals sits in tribute to a fellow

officer gone too soon. there will be a candlelight vigil at the police department tonight. the officer's funeral is planned for later this week. wolf? >> thank you. reporting from us. when we come back, an unbelievable rescue mission. a baby, yes, a baby stuck in a pipe. the desperate race to save the child. we'll have details. and later, senator john mccain sneaks into syria today. we're going to talk to the man who helped get him in. matt's brakes didn't sound right... ...so i brought my car to mike at meineke...

...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. --ecaptions by vitac -- -fre www.vitac.com an unbelievable rescue attempt with an extraordinary outcome. rescuers in china pulling a newborn from a tiny sewage pipe. here's cnn's hola.

>> reporter: the dramatic rescue began after cries from a fourth floor apartment toilet. alarmed neighbors saw a tiny foot and called the fire department. unable to pull the baby out, rescuers went to the floor below and sawed away the entire section of sewer pipe. but still, the baby remained wedged inside. so, sewer section and baby were taken to the local hospital. where firefighters and surgeons working together carefully began removing the pipe, piece by piece. an hour later, success. a newborn baby rescued, the afterbirth still attached. chinese media said he's a baby boy now in stable condition. police say they are looking for the parents. they say no one has yet come forward to claim the child.

holla gorani, cnn. >> that baby reportedly was just two days old, the pipe said to be about four inches in diameter. happening now, a holiday cruise disrupted by fire. passengers describe their panicked scramble to safety. senator john mccain's secret trip to syria. what it says about u.s. support for the rebels. i'll talk to a syrian official who helped plan that trip. and antimuslim anger surges after the crew gruesome attack on a soldier. are there similarities to the boston bombing? i'm wolf blitzer, we want to welcome our guests from the united states and around the world. you're in "the situation room." up first this hour, scary images of a scorched cruise ship after a fire forced thousands of passengers to rush on deck for

their safety. one person described panic on board with people crying and fainting. the national transportation safety board is joining the investigation into the fire. it's the latest in a string of dangerous problems plaguing cruise lines. cnn's erin mcpike is in baltimore where the royal caribbean cruise to the bahamas began. what do we know, erin? >> reporter: well, wolf, royal caribbean cancelled the remainder of the cruise this afternoon and all passengers will return to baltimore tomorrow, but it was still a long and hectic morning for more than 2,000 vacationers. the entire back end of a massive ship, scorched. more than 2,200 passengers aboard a bahamas-bound cruise were roused by a terrifying wake-up call overnight. >> the emergency life boats have been lowered, and our life jackets, not a drill, not a joke. everyone's freaking out. >> reporter: for the third time

this year, mechanical problems caused a major cruise ship to upend a caribbean vacation for thousands of passengers. this time it was a fire. passenger katie coleman told cnn -- >> most terrifying thing in my life. >> reporter: in february, it was an engine room fire on the carnival ship triumph, shutting down the ship for days. one month later, carnival's dream lost power while in port, and now rival royal caribbean has its own set of problems. royal caribbean said in a statement, at approximately 2:50 a.m., grandeur of the seas experienced a fire on the mooring area of deck 3. the fire has since been extinguished, but in an abundance of caution, the captain deemed it necessary to muster all guests at their assembly stations. all passengers were found and safe, but some complained there

was fainting and vomiting as they waited for hours. the grandeur of the seas was just renovated last year. this morning it was rerouted to freeport for evaluation and royal caribbean's ceo is already surveying the damage. the national transportation safety board and the coast guard will investigate. and this afternoon in a statement, royal caribbean said that they are deeply sorry for the unexpected development and they understand that it was probably a very stressful time for their guests, wolf. >> will the passengers, erin, get their money back? >> reporter: they will, wolf. they'll get a full refund and they'll also get a voucher for another cruise to go on in the future. >> erin mcpike in baltimore for us, thank you. another scare for travelers this holiday weekend. alaska airlines said a passenger tried to open a plane's emergency door in flight this morning. brian todd is watching this story for us. what do we know here, brian?

>> reporter: we have, pretty scary incident aboard alaska airlines flight 132. this was from anchorage, alaska, to portland, oregon, early this morning, about 5:20 a.m. pacific time, 8:20 eastern time. ten minutes before the flight was scheduled to land, a passenger seated in row 17 tried to open the emergency door of the flight. passengers and crew then restrained him. nobody was hurt. the flight landed safely. a federal official says this passenger has been detained and charged with interfering with a flight crew. according to the fbi, the fbi identifies him as 23-year-old alexander michael herrera. again, he is detained in portland tonight, charged with interfering with a flight crew. he is scheduled to appear in portland on tuesday, wolf. >> was the passenger, brian, exhibiting any unusual behavior before he trieied to open that door? >> reporter: according to the fbi, wolf, it seems he was.

an fbi spokeswoman was said he was heard making unusual statements before the incident but did not characterize the nature of those statements. hopefully, we'll get more information on that in the coming days. >> brian todd over at reagan national airport in washington. thanks very much. this just coming in to "the situation room." take a look at this. these are live pictures. you're seeing courtesy of our affiliate there, wabc in new york. an unattended suspicious vehicle in the right lane of the manhattan-bound lanes of the brooklyn bridge. mid-span has shut down all traffic on the brooklyn bridge, this according to an nypd spokesman. you're looking at pictures. now get a wide shot. you can see the traffic has really shut down on the brooklyn bridge because of this unattended vehicle has clearly unattended vehicle is right in the middle of the bridge. you can see cars being diverted from going on to the brooklyn

bridge, which, obviously, connects manhattan to the burrough of brooklyn. very, very busy time in new york, culminating the end of this memorial day weekend. people want to get between brooklyn and manhattan, but this is going to delay a lot as they try to figure out what this vehicle is all about. why is an unattended vehicle right in the middle of the brooklyn bridge? then you can see these chopper pictures coming in. from -- you can, obviously, see the chopper trying to get a better shot of that vehicle. there it is, right there, is that the vehicle? no, those are police vehicles that are monitoring what's going on. they want to, obviously, deal with this information. there it is. that looks like that unattended vehicle right there. i assume that's the unattended vehicle. the police are trying to investigate what it is, trying to make sure there's nothing suspicious. why would anyone drive vehicle on to the brooklyn bridge and leave it there unattended? what's going on?

obviously, causing some serious traffic delays between brooklyn and manhattan. we'll continue to update what's going on as soon as we get more information on this developing story out of new york, we'll share it with you. an unattended and what's described as suspicious vehicle in the right lane of the manhattan-bound lanes of the brooklyn bridge. shutting down all traffic on the brooklyn bridge, at least for now. standby, we'll get more information, let you know what we know. meanwhile, other news we're following, including a significant new development in syria's civil war. senator john mccain visited syria today and met with rebel forces. the arizona republican is the highest-ranking u.s. official to visit syria since the war began more than two years ago. joining us now on the phone, one of the people who planned senator mccain's trip, the executive director of the syrian emergency task force. you're joining us, i believe you're in turkey, is that right? >> yes, on the border with syria. >> on the border with syria.

tell us how this came about. you helped plan senator mccain's trip inside syria. what happened? >> well, it was actually a very interesting trip. he came, the senator met with a total of about 18 commanders from the free syria army under the supreme command. he had two meetings in benghazi, first with ten commanders, second with four, and third meeting, which was inside syrian territory, had five commanders, all of which were attended by the supreme commander of the free syria army. >> how many hours was senator mccain inside syria proper? >> about an hour. >> about one hour. was there ever any danger to the start? >> no, actually, not at all. and i think it's testament to the free syria army, which was very limited weapons and capabilities has been able to secure and liberate large swaths of area in the north. the senator did not go too far

deep in syria, was less than one kilometer in, and the meeting, again, took about 45 minutes to an hour, then there was the free syria army was incredibly cooperative, didn't even stop the convoy, let us come back to the door to the room where the meeting took place. it was incredibly productive. >> what was the senator's message to the free syrianarmy? >> the senator, first of all, i think, wanted to assure the syrian people and the free syrian army that the people of the united states in general support their strive for freedom, support their revolution, which for seven or eight months, was completely peaceful, and they were forced into taking up arms to defend against the assad regime massacres that were occurring against innocent people and discussed his concern about the increasing numbers of hezbollah fighters that have been entering

syria and taking part in aiding assad and oppressing his people. also, the revolutionary guard from iran that are also operating in taking part in combat operations inside of syria, he also discussed briefly the use of chemical weapons, as well as what were the needs of the free syria army. he also discussed the aspects of extremism that may have sort of popped up in southwestern parts of syria and to what extent that was and what ways we could take to be able to marginalize groups due to the lack of international intervention or aid. >> what was the main message to senator mccain from the free syrian army, the rebels, who are opposed to the regime of president bashar al-assad? >> the free syrian army, first of all, incredibly appreciative, some came as far away as homs,

alep aleppo, and other provinces all over syria just to meet the senator. we are helping coordinate them coming out and what they wanted to say, thank you very much for taking the time and coming to see them. one major thing that they realize is that many in the west and the united states, specifically, are afraid to arm the rebels, because they don't know who they are or afraid the weapons would fall in the wrong hands, and their message is they are confident that if the weapons are given to the supreme military council, that it will not fall in the wrong hands. they also assured him serial numbers would be written down and such weapons would be returned once assad is deposed, but also that if the united states does not act and take greater leadership in supporting the rebels in a more serious manner, that the threats of increased extremism in the country will be realized and

that the disintegration would greatly increase. so, their main message was that we are desperate for ammunition, we are desperate for weapons through a hierarchy of free syria army that is willing to be under civilian command, that is merely defending their people and wanting to insure that their greatest fear, more than anything else, is extremism and they want to fight against hezbollah, iran, and all these other countries that are intervening. and finally, they wanted to mention that the president had mentioned the red line on different issues, including the chemical weapons and they had provided, they said, to the state department previously evidence of the use of chemical weapons, yet when the red lines are placed, it's more of a green light for bashar assad to ferociously attack his people. that was the message, go to the united states and ask for help. >> hold on for a minute. there's a developing story

that's just coming in and i want to get your quick reaction. hold on for one second. all right, this just coming in. the european union has now agreed, yes, agreed, to lift its embargo on arming the syrian rebels. diplomats in the hague say there's no immediate decision by european governments for any delivery of weapons for the rebels. other sanctions, they say, remain in place. your quick reaction to the eu decision. >> we really welcome this decision. this is something that i believe the french and the british and meetings with the french ambassador and british ambassador envoy to syria, they have been adamant about pushing the european union to lift the arms embargo. this is not a decision to arm the free syria army, but it is a very welcome development, just as the visit of senator mccain is a welcome development. we hope that this will result in aiding and ammunition and

weapons for the free syria army to be able to defend assad regime before it's too late, before we lose the country. >> mohaz, thanks so much for joining us. we'll stay in close touch with you. >> thank you, sir. up next, are there similarities between the bloody attack on a british soldier in london and the boston marathon bombing? and who's behind a deadly new wave of bombings in iraq? change makes people nervous. but i see a world bursting with opportunity, with ideas, with ambition. i'm thinking about china, brazil, india. the world's a big place. i want to be a part of it. ishares international etfs. emerging markets and single countries. find out why nine out of ten large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal.

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take a look at this. not something you see every day, empty, the brooklyn bridge empty right now. they've shot off traffic in bett directions between brooklyn and manhattan after an unattended suspicious vehicle on the bridge was discovered. unattended suspicious vehicle.

that's what an nypd spokesman is describing that vehicle. you see one of the police vans, trucks, heading towards that area, but they've diverted all traffic going on the brooklyn bridge between manhattan and brooklyn right now. these are pictures coming in from our affiliate wabc. we're trying to get more information, checking with nypd and other sources, as well. this at the end of the memorial day holiday weekend, nothing on that brooklyn bridge except maybe a few police vehicles and an unattended, suspicious looking vehicle in the middle of the bridge. maybe that's that vehicle right there that you see on the upper part of the screen. maybe not. in any case, we're watching the brooklyn bridge. we'll update you on what we know, if this is a serious issue. right now it's serious for people who wanted to go between brooklyn and manhattan right now at a minimum. we'll let you know if we get more information, let you know what we know about what's going

on on the brooklyn bridge right now. in the meantime, another arrest today in connection with with that bloody hacking death of a british soldier in london. a 50-year-old man was taken into custody in southeastern england on suspicious of conspiracy to murder. the gruesome attack with a meat cleaver is raising questions about global efforts to track muslim extremists. paul crookshank is joining us now. paul, we're learning back in 2010, kenyan authorities arrested one of the suspects in last week's murder on suspicion of links to a somalia terrorist group. here's the question, how similar is this plot, potentially, to what happened here in the united states in boston? >> well, wolf, there are, indeed, similarities with the boston, you'll recall with the boston plot, tamerlan tsarnaev, one of the bombers, tried to travel to dagestan and failed to

connect with jihadist groups there, so he decided to come back to the united states and launch an attack there. now we're learning with this plot in the uk, one of the killers tried to join in somalia but was arrested in kenya on the way there in 2010. after that, subsequently, then launched this murder here in the united kingdom. similarities in both cases, and one of the reasons we're seeing more lone wolf cases is it's become more difficult in the west to connect with jihadist groups overseas because of drone strikes, counterterrorism operations, and so on. >> paul, just yesterday, the british prime minister's office announced they are forming a task force to examine what they call the dynamics behind these extremist groups in the country. what are they saying to you? >> i have indeed, what they are saying to me, and these are groups which are really on the cutting edge of derad

clieization, number one, give us the tools necessary, empower us to take on this violent ideology on britain streets. we need more resources to do that, they are telling me, wolf. number two, find every way possible to actually shut down some of these extremist preachers who are peddling ideology on the streets of the uk. and in this case, michael, one of the alleged killers, was actually a follower of one of those pro-al qaeda groupings in the uk for more than a decade. they are saying, you need to find ways to shut these extremist preachers down and more needs to be done to combat violent extremism. online magazines, like "inspire," putting out a message to launch attacks like in the west, wolf. >> backlash seems to be growing in britain. the english defense league has been launching protests in different parts of the country in the wake of the murder, so how big of a problem is islam-aphobia after these

attacks? i sense it's a delicate situation in the country right now. >> there's real, real concern about some of these rallies, the violence against the muslim community. everybody's worse nightmare, a sort of vicious cycle of violence with these extremist groups on the islamist side, but also the far right nationalist side feeding off each other. that's really everybody's nightmare, and british authorities want to do everything possible for that not to be the case, wolf. >> big picture, let's wrap it up with this question, what is this attack, this most recent murder on the streets of london, tell us about the future of self radicalization and al qaeda support in the west? >> well, i think it shows that lone wolf terrorism is here to stay. this is something that al qaeda has been encouraging. it's under pressure from drone strikes in places like pakistan and yemen, so it's telling followers in the west, stay home, don't come and travel to us, stay home and launch attacks. these attacks, much more

difficult to stop because it's two or three or four people, sometimes even just one person discussing amongst themselves, not having overseas connections, so causing a lot of concern in the west, wolf, but there's still, obviously, concern that al qaeda affiliates like al qaeda's affiliate in yemen, will be able to launch larger scale attacks, as well. this threat is coming from a lot of different fronts, wolf. >> seems to be growing. thanks very much, paul cro crookshank, joining us from london. up next, bob dole's criticism of his own political party. he says the gop should close for repairs. and more reports anthony weiner is making fellow politicians uncomfortable. it appears it's an agent of good. ♪ [ agent smith ] ge software connects patients to nurses to the right machines

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happening now, memorial day rituals for the commander in chief, but he's not getting a holiday from some controversies and scandals. plus, snow in may isn't that unusual. what happened in vermont sure is. we're going to show you what happened. and a school bomb plot foiled. wait until you hear what police say they found inside a teenager's home. i'm wolf blitzer in washington, you're in "the situation room." president obama heads to his hometown of chicago this week to help fellow democrats raise money for next year's midterm election, but some members of his party may be feeling anxious considering a series of controversies weighing on the president right now, including irs targeting of certain groups,

justice department surveillance of journalists, and lingering questions about the benghazi, libya, attack. joined now by ryan lizza, washington correspondent for "the new yorker" magazine. these controversies going to get some new life this week, or are we basically moving beyond that? >> i think if you have investigations going on in congress when congress starts subpoenaing stuff, they find something out, they find stuff out. yeah, the irs scandal is not going to go away. if these were stocks, i'd buy irs, james rosen scandal, benghazi, i feel republicans banked a lot on the talking points being the center of some kind of conspiracy, and, you know, i think that's sort of fizzled out. having said that, investigations will continue. we'll find new facts. >> james rosen being the fox news correspondent who was being investigated, really, by the justice department for a leak he received from an official at the state department. >> that case took an interesting

turn this weekend, wolf. i've been making some calls on this today. the justice department said they told fox about these phone records, these subpoenas. at first, news corp., the parent company of fox says yes, we did, but we didn't tell the information to fox. then it turns out the general counsel at the time went out publicly, former fox general counsel went out publicly, no, i was there. we didn't get this notification and news corp. clarified its statement. there was a lot of mystery about what was going on behind the scenes that caused news corp. to originally agree with the justice department and then back off. i think one of the interesting side issues here is the justice department has been looking into news corp. related to the hacking scandal. remember the hacking scandal? news caorp. was accused of hacking. some are wondering whether the justice department and news corp.'s ongoing negotiations over the hacking scandal is

interfering with the rosen case. you've got justice department investigating two things here and they are starting to intersect. i'm going to be writing about this tonight. it will be on new yorker.com. >> tomorrow? >> yeah. >> we'll look forward to that. let's get back to some of the other stuff that's going on, including lois lerner, she was put on administrative leave, but she's still drawing a salary, so are three state department employees named in the benghazi report for failing to do what they were supposed to do. take a look at this, the man charged with killing 13 people in cold blood in ft. hood, texas, he's still making his military salary, as well, an estimated $280,000 so far since the shooting, still collecting all that taxpayer money. you hear these kinds of things. lois lerner is basically getting paid vacation while she pleads

the fifth. nidal hassan has collected nearly $300,000. what's going on? >> look, government employees have pretty -- have pretty good benefits and have pretty good protections, and it's cases like this that really undercut support for those kinds of protections. and, you know, it seems this has been an issue that republicans have been on for awhile and i wouldn't be shocked if republicans start to look at some of the laws that guide these things and whether it should be easier to either take away salary or to fire government employees when they are under suspicion. the question is, if charges haven't been brought, then what do you do in that case, right? you are innocent until proven guilty, as outrageous as it is, to see people on the government dole when clouds are hanging over their heads. >> especially someone like nidal hassan, he's gotten $300,000 in paychecks from u.s. taxpayers

since what happened. >> that case is more outrageous, lois lerner is a little trickier. >> bob dole, great guy, bob dole. let's talk about the former republican presidential nominee, the senator from kansas who was on fox news over the weekend and he had some choice words for his fellow, fellow republicans, suggesting maybe they are out of touch right now. he said that maybe they need it -- that he himself and maybe even ronald reagan wouldn't make it in today's republican party. >> he's actually saying this, it's sort of a funny time. i feel like since the election, we had both the republican national committee issue a very soul-searching report pointing out that the republican party, they needed to modernize, now you have immigration reform moving through the senate with at least five republicans voting it out of committee. i feel like dole's comments are a few months behind.

you're seeing a little bit of a turn, trying to yank the party forward. on the other hand, you have some very, very strong conservatives like rand paul and ted cruz in the senate, who are pulling from the other direction, but i at least think that the debate has now been joined. the republican party has enough voices where there is a debate. it's not like it was in 2010, '11, and '12 where it was really just going in one direction. >> i think they ought to put a sign on the national committee's doors that says closed for repairs until new year's day next year and spend the time going through ideas and agendas. senator dole, 90 years old. >> get to a point in politics where you speak your mind. senator dole is definitely at that point. >> always enjoyed listening to senator dole. thanks very much for that, ryan. still ahead, it doesn't look like the unofficial start of summer. the latest on the strange weather across the nation. and the dramatics rescue of

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story's getting more mysterious right now. you're looking at police there getting ready to approach this vehicle on the brooklyn bridge right now. these are live pictures you're seeing courtesy of our affiliate wabc. the suspicious vehicle on the brooklyn bridge, we are now told, has no license plates or any vehicle identification number, any vin number, according to the new york city office of emergency management. a spokesman, christopher miller, telling us the suspicious vehicle has no plates or vin number. so, we don't know what's going on. what we do know is that traffic in both directions on the brooklyn bridge between manhattan and brooklyn has been suspended. all cars being diverted away from the brooklyn bridge right now. we're trying to figure out what's going on, so the nypd and

other emergency personnel, if you look at live pictures, once we reconnect with our affiliate, aerial pictures, you'll see empty on the brooklyn bridge right now except for police vehicles. they are going to get closer and try to figure out what's going on with this suspicious, unattended vehicle. meanwhile, brianna, what's going on? >> wolf, more than 50 people have been killed and more than three times that many injured today, most of those attacks happening in shiite neighborhoods in and around baghdad. that's what iraq's interior ministry is telling us. it's been intense and violent month in the country as sunnis clash with shiites and the shiite government. 300 people have been killed across iraq since the beginning of may. a 13-year-old boy in southwest china had a brush with death. you can see in those pictures there, he fell off of that dike, he was trapped in the water. it took several rescuers, possibly risking their own

lives, to get him out of there. the boy is said to have just minor injuries. so, good news there. the oklahoma tornado stole tom bridges' home like so many others in moore. what were the chances, do you think, it would spare the envelope filled with $2,000 in cash? he left it on a window sill before the storm. you think the bills would have blown clear to kansas, but with a lot of prayer and looking, the envelope turned up with all of the money inside. >> when i found it, i just sat down and started crying and they all got around me and prayed for me that i found it. they said 20 minutes before that, vehicle come by -- that they was praying that we'd find that. the prayers was answered. >> and that is not the only treasure the tornado spared at the bridges' place, wolf, he also found his wife's diamond rings, which were valuable, but also had a lot of sentimental

value, as well. >> thanks very much for that. just ahead, president obama's memorial day salute to troops, those who have died and some who are finally coming home. and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea,

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we're watching the breaking news. this is the middle of the brooklyn bridge right now. look at that, that emergency response, full protective gear going into this mysterious, unattended vehicle right on the brooklyn bridge. there's no license plate on that car, no vin number, no vehicle identification number on that vehicle right there.

traffic in both directions between brooklyn and manhattan now has come to a halt. no one is going on to the bridge or coming off of the bridge right now. all traffic being diverted. they are going through this vehicle very, very closely right now to see if anything, anything untoward is unthis vehicle. why would someone leave an unattended vehicle with no license plates, with no vin number, right in the middle of the bridge? ross levet is our new york producer who's joining us on the phone right now. what else are you learning, ross? >> hi, wolf, i'm at the mouth of the brooklyn bridge. i can see on to it. as you describe, no vehicles coming either direction. now, obviously, it's memorial day here, so actually this is quieter than usual, so it's not creating quite the jam it might have at rush hour on a typical monday afternoon. but, you know, it's -- the vehicle itself is on the brooklyn side of the bridge

heading in toward manhattan. and, obviously, it's unusual, as you mentioned, for it to be abandoned and for it not to have a vin number or for it to have plates on it. so, that's, obviously, creating a lot of suspicion. now, we saw emergency service vehicles pass by it three times slowly, and we've seen other situations like this that they typically x-ray those vehicles, so that might have been what was going on there. and now it appears they are going to send somebody in for a closer look, someone from the bomb squad, and that's probably what you're seeing as they get suited up in the green suit that we've seen so many times. >> clearly someone from the bomb squad going through the rear of this vehicle right now, fully protected. i haven't seen any dogs sniffing around yet, maybe that has already occurred, we missed that, but i see that responder there removing all sorts of stuff from the rear of that vehicle. once again, this is the brooklyn

side of the brooklyn bridge between manhattan and brooklyn right at the end of this memorial day weekend. normally, there would be a lot of traffic going back and forth, especially on a beautiful day like today, but right now, looks like they are trying to figure out what's going on. when we say it's a mysterious vehicle, the new york city office of emergency management says there's no license plate on that vehicle or any vehicle identification number, vin number, on that vehicle, raising all sorts of fears, all sorts of suspicions in new york right now at the end of this memorial day weekend. ross, all the traffic being diverted, so i guess it's causing some congestion at the bottom of manhattan there and also in brooklyn. >> absolutely. lots of traffic headaches for folks today. they've closed off not just the bridge itself, but some of the onramps on to it, yeah, we're seeing traffic backed up quite a bit. i also see what appears to be a

police helicopter hovering very close to the bridge itself, apparently, giving them an aerial look, then, of course, you have the news choppers around, as well. much higher up than that, but the police helicopter is just above the span there giving them an aerial look, as well. quite a scene for folks here. lots of people, you know, stopping and taking a look. it's also, by the way, the bridge is very popular on a day like this for walking across it, folks go across and take pictures, have a picnic and that sort of thing. so we're seeing people just at a standstill looking at it and hoping that they can cross shortly. >> but nobody's being allowed to walk across that bridge either, right? >> no, they can't walk across it, they can't bike across it, and that's a very popular activity this time of year. not allowed to do that at all. complete standstill. >> bomb sniffing dogs, you haven't heard any of them have

been on the scene yet, have you? >> no, i haven't. i haven't heard that at all, wolf. i don't know. that may not be unusual that they would instead use some sort of x-raying equipment instead and perhaps also, you know, a human element, a person who's in full bomb gear who can go in and really take a closer look and see exactly what's going on with this vehicle. >> you can see now that individual fully protected in all that protective bomb-related gear is now about to be debriefed, i assume, by fellow officers on the brooklyn bridge to see what, if anything, he saw that would further cause concern or potentially hopefully give an all clear that just some random individual left the vehicle in the middle of the brooklyn bridge without a license plate or a vin vehicle identification number, in order to lose that vehicle identification number, you have to go through some work

and either scrape it off or remove it somehow so there would be no trace. i'm sure police are going to want to go through this vehicle, get fingerprints and evidence to see what, if anything, they can learn. now we see another officer going there without any protective gear. i assume they've received some sort of all clear, otherwise that officer wouldn't have walked that closely without any of the protective gear we just saw the other person fully protected go forward. here comes a dog right now. that's what i suspected would happen. that dog will probably be able to do what we humans can't do, and go ahead and sniff and see if there's any explosive material, anything leftover, any lingering danger there. we'll watch this dog do what it does and does very, very well. so, we'll see what, if anything, this dog determines and if we see what's happening, there's the dog jumping around a little bit. i'm surprised they haven't opened up the front hood of that vehicle yet.

here's the dog going through the front, the back seat right now. and then going to go through the rear right there, as you can see. >> wolf -- >> go ahead, ross. >> yeah, a and that in fact turned out to be, i believe, a storing vehicle that someone decided to band on. so these things do happen from time to time where they -- there's no sort of connection to any terrorism or anything to that. and that's, of course, what we're hoping for this this situation. but, you know, when they strip the vin number and license plate off, that could be a stolen vehicle if anything else. it certainly raises a lot of suspicions. that's why you're seeing this response right now. >> it looks like since that police officer went there without any protective gear, just the dog sniffing around, maybe that's what it was. simply a stolen vehicle. and if you look carefully, it

looked like that police officer with the dog just gave a thumbs up, meaning that no sign of any explosives. i assume that is what the thumb up would suggest. if it's just a stolen vehicle, someone panicked, maybe that individual ran out of gas, didn't want to stick around and deal with what was going on. then obviously that will be good news relatively speaking. but the bridge still remains shut down at least for now. they're going to -- if it's just a stolen vehicle, they'll tow that vehicle away and then thing as long the brooklyn bridge will get back to usual. we're going to continue to watch what is going on. i'm encouraged by that thumbs up from that one police officer with the dog, the bomb-sniffing dog that just left that vehicle. we'll take a quick break. want younger looking eyes that say wow?

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these are live prikts frictm the brooklyn bridge right nowment we dnow. we did see a thumbs up from the police officer with a bomb-sniffing dog indicating there is no bomb there. they went through the vehicle with protective gear. the brooklyn bridge has been shut down for a while. there it is that, dark car. it does not have a license plate or a v.i.n. number. no traffic has been allowed on

the brooklyn bridge going in either direction as a result of this suspicious vehicle and it looks like these police officers have been reassured. our new york producer is on the pho phone. someone may have run out of gas and ran away to avoid being arrested? >> that is possible. but we still have traffic completely shut down where i am, wolf. so no all clear at least given at this point. we are seeing a police helicopter right now circling the bridge very, very closely. so i imagine they're going to check out every inch of that vehicle. as we know all too well from the boston bombings that something as small as a backpack can cause quite a bit of damage. so they're going to check every inch of that vehicle. i think they're probably also scoping some of the rest of the bridge, too, to make sure nothing else seems out of place. >> we'll watch it very closely, ross. stand by.

we'll take a quick break. when we come back, erin burnett "outfront" will resume our coverage. [ male announcer ] running out of steam? ♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle.

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[ female announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. "outfront" next, the latest from the terror attack in london. ten people have been arrested in connection with the brutal meat cleaver murder of a soldier there in broad daylight. also, here we go again. the cruise industry takes yet another hit. a fire breaks out onboard a ship. we're going to show you some pictures today. also, a kentucky police officer gunned down in what authorities believe was a preplanned ambush. who is targeting our law enforcement agents? let's go "outfront."