closed captioning by closed captioning services,inc good morning i'm kristen sze. cheryl jennings is off. right now on this memorial day, president obama and the first lady are paying tribute to the men and women who have died defending our country. these are live pictures of the vietnam war memorial on the national mall in washington did . the president will be speaking shortly. -- the first couple with vice president biden and defense secretary panetta are marking the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war. [ taps ]

>> earlier in the morning president obama laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown at arlington national cemetery. defense secretary panetta said 6400 men and women have died defending our country since september 11th. mr. obama says the country must strive to be a nation worthy of those sacrifices. >> the president: this memorial day, we mark another milestone, for the first time in nine years americans are not fighting and dying in iraq. [ applause ] >> the president: we are winding down the war in afghanistan and our troops will continue to come home. >> the largest memorial day observance in northern california just getting underway in the presidio. katie marzullo joins us live with more. >> reporter: i am at the presidio national ceremony. the procession arrived a few moments ago. as you can see the ceremony is

underway. hours earlier, a different group began a different trek nearly two dozen wounded vets took off from crissy field on a cross country bike ride. army specialist loss the use of his legs serving his country. >> spinal cord injury in my lower back. >> reporter: he sees no reason to not be a cyclist. >> there's options to keep cycling. >> reporter: one of 21 undertaking this feat, two others are blind riding tandem others have traumatic brain injuries they are cycling from san francisco to virginia beach, 4,000 mile, 68 day trip. not to raise money, rather to raise spirits. >> people serving our country are like everyone else, whether they are able-bodied, disabled they haven't lost their hearts, miminds, soul to the great americans.

>> reporter: ride is called "sea to shining sea." they are shining examples of strength and inspiration. >> there are so many people who made so many sacrifices with their lives, limbs, a lot of people on the ride have lost limbs and parts of their lives. it is great for people to keep that in mind. in everyday life you don't encounter those people that make those sacrifices, some will on this ride. >> reporter: seth told me the thing is he looking most forward to is meeting lots of new people. back at the ceremony at the presidio cemetery the ceremony will focus on the w-2 anniversary commemoration the -- on the world war ii anniversary commemoration as well as the end of the 10 year iraq war a full report later on at 4, 5 and 6:00. katie marzullo, abc7 news. meantime, amy hollyfield is live with memorial day

events in benicia. >> reporter: they are just wrapping up a moving tribute here to those who gave up their lives for this country. they just finished playing taps which gets you every time. i want to show you another highlight from the ceremony that happened 30 minutes ago. there was a fly-over which was impressive, it came from travis air force base, it is an active duty flew only 1,000 feet overhead so it had a pronounced presence it flew over 300 people, this is the oldest military cemetery won't coast established in 1849, vets from the civil war through the korean war are buried here. we asked an active soldier how he feels? he says he appreciates the support but says he feels it everyday. >> i'm lucky, as long as i've been in the military i've always felt that i was fully

supported, my family, my friends and our neighbors. when my dad served years ago and when he returned from his deployment, he had a harder time coming in. >> reporter: we also attended another ceremony held nearby this morning at the veterans cemetery on mare island in vallejo. that cemetery was established in 1856. the service included traditional right walls. then it turned -- traditional rituals. then it turned into a history lesson. in benicia, this ceremony is just finishing up if you want tyke a quick look before we sign off, -- want to take a quick look before we sign off. i don't want to interrupt what happening very solemn and a lot of pride here. any chance you would take the camera often tripod so we can show them this enormous plague back here. live tv you have to love that

look at this huge flag, it is hard to miss here. impressive6rúo+ sight and i wand to share it with you. 600 square foot they only use it on special occasions. we have just gathered two of several special ceremonies around the bay area today to commemorate memorial day. amy hollyfield, abc7 news. a stirring sight, thanks amy. as americans observe memorial day the military announced three nato service members have been killed in afghanistan. officials say two of the troops were killed in a helicopter crash while the third died in an insurgent attack. >> in other news, vallejo police shot and killed a suspect this morning, three days after officers shot another man to death. this man died after being rushed to the medical center in walnut creek. officers shot him following a car chase. police say two officers spotted a speeding lexus driven with its headlights off

they tried to stop the car the driver refused to stop and led officers into an apartment complex where three bailed out and ran from the car. >> i heard a caricom racing through and then i heard siren -- i heard sirens and seen the lights it was heart pounding, i heard five gunshots. >> officer says he opened fire when it appeared he tried to reach for a weapon. last friday vallejo police shot and killed a robbery suspect. police say that man flynted officers with a bb gun made to look like a real gun. -- firefighter escaped with minor injuries after he fell through the roof of a burning home in fremont around 5:20 this morning. the flames spread quickly to an an joining home. crews worked aggressively to stop the flames. >> we had a firefighter on the roof cutting holes, we had an active fire in the attic the roof collapsed while he was making the cut and he went

through the roof up to his waist. his fellow crewmembers pulled him out and his gear kept him from being hurt. >> firefighter suffered a minor burn to his hand he didn't need to go to the hospital. investigators trying to figure out what sparked the fire. the fire displaced two families. the red cross is helping them fan a place to stay. latest update from the dumbarton bridge. right now seismic work is 75% complete. the bridge is on track to reopen by 5 a.m. tomorrow. caltrans crews spent the weekend installing a new expansion joint on the western part of the bridge's main span that joint will help the dumbarton bend and not break during a major effort quake. >> we are in some of the work that is easier but has longer processing times if we can get a jump on that we'll gain time on the reopening and we'll let people know about that tonight. at this time it looks like 5 a.m. is still a good bet. >> the 60 million dollar

project started two years ago. it should be done next year. the vatican's embarrassing leak scan tell is widening. >> former british prime minister tony blair testifies in a phone-hacking scandal. why he says he never challenged the media. beryl is soaking parts of the southeast, ruining memorial day plans for residents and vacationers. copd makes it hard to breathe, so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life,

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say soldier from salinas has died. he died saturday in kandahar province. they believe he was killed by an i am advised explosive device he was base -- based at fort lewis, washington. former stanford university professor died in palo alto he held the president post from 1970 to 1980 best known for having clamped down on student protests during the vietnam war. urging riot police to come on campus after students vandalized buildings. he was 88-years-old. united nations special envoy kofi annan is in damascus today meeting with syrian president assad, calling for an end to violence following a weekend massacre

that killed more than 100 people, including dozens of children and urged every individual with a gun tone the bloodshed. russia backing away -- from supporting assad. syria has denied accusations that its troops carried out the killings. one of the vatican's biggest scandals widened with the pope's butler agreeing to fully cooperate. the butler's lawyer says his client wants the truth to come out. today's new developments suggest higher ranking officials may be named in the leaks of confidential vatican files. documents claim to shed light on power struggles and corruption inside the highest levels of the catholic church. the pope's butler was arrested over the weekend after police found secret documents in his vatican apartment. former prime minister tony blair was interrupted by a heckler today as he testified to a panel investigating the phone hacking scandal.

security received the heckler who was protesting the iraq war the panel is looking into ref s that rupert murdoch -- -- blair testified that he never challenged the british media because doing so would haveffn plunged his administration into a politically damaging fight. >> you would have had virtually every part of the media against you in doing it. and i felt the price you would pay for that, would push out a lot of the things i cared more about. >> blair led britain from 1997 to 2007. his labor party government has been criticized for being too close with the country's powerful newspapers. meteorologist mike nicco is ahead with our holiday forecast. a lot more sun, earlier than yesterday still breezy and cooler than average for the rest of the afternoon if you have festivities outside

warming trend when it will feel like summer. why authorities in los angeles want to question pop star justin bieber and even his girlfriend selena gomez. southern california city that sent president obama a massive bill for a recent ñ e

. if you missed it or can't get enough here it is again the incredible fireworks show that lit up the sky last night celebrating the golden gate bridge's 75th anniversary. only the second time fireworks were set off from the bridge. and the first time they were accompanied by a light show. to watch more of the fireworks and read about the history of the golden gate bridge, go to the front page of abc7news.com. the weather cooperated with our fireworks show but it has been wreaking havoc in the southeastern u.s. the region is soaked in rain and dealing with power outages after an early at tan lick storm beryl slammed ashore -- atlantic

storm beryl slam add shore at near hurricane strength now a tropical depression but still causing problems. >> reporter: the wind gusts here at jacksonville beach are up to 40 miles per hour the rain still coming down and it will for days. the next two days going to be a soaker they expect anywhere from 5 to 10 inches of rain. the surf is still high. this is not the day at the beach that a lot of folks this memorial day expected. the storm came ashore after midnight and the gusts were upward of 70 miles per hour. 74 would have put it at category 1 hunk strength so it didn't quite get -- hurricane strength so it didn't quite get there -- [ inaudible ] here at the beach, we will be watching the continued rainfall. if they get up to 10 inches at least there is positive in this story it is going to help to put a dent in that excessive drought that the southeast has been enduring.

abc news jacksonville beach, florida. another positive, one couple said their vows just in time before tropical storm beryl came ashore in florida yesterday. nothing could stan in the way of true love. you can hear the winds. you can see her veil whipping around. [ inaudible ] that rain still coming. >> that would be the main threat now it sits in the panhandle possibly flooding there hopefully it will move out over the next 24 to 48 hours and leave them with much needed rain. >> calm for kwupls it really -- you can see the clouds breaking up quicker than yesterday from mount tamalpais towards sausalito you can barely see san francisco under the cloud deck we have a partly cloudy conditions as we look from south beach back towards the

north over the san pablo bay up to possible we could see sacramento the clouds are a little too thick. clouds quickly he raising from the coast still a little left -- erasing from the coast, still a little left. winds manageable, fastest right now sfo 15, oakland southwest 13 concord 17 fairfield 18 not bad compared to yesterday still in the upper 50s in those areas you see green most of news the low to mid 60s already monterey 57, everybody else inland low to mid 60s with more shun cooler than average today better -- better day of the last couple to get outside cloudy tonight drizzle possible at the coast most of us dry for the morning commute. warmer afternoons wednesday flew friday. today this is what i mean by cooler than average four degrees in livermore, six

degrees shy of average, seven in san jose redwood city 11° cooler than average. winds still in the 15 to 20 mile per hour range start gusting up to 25 along the coast at 4:00, through 5, 6, 7, 8, up to near 30 by 11, 12:00 they start calming overnight into tomorrow morning they should be around 10 to 15. temperatures today mid 60s in milpitas to 72 los gatos most of us upper 60s to low 70s low to mid 60s most of the peninsula, palo alto and south bay upper 60s mid 50s along the coast some clouds lingering with near 60 downtown to 63 south san francisco 62 sausalito. upper 50s at beaches 52 richmond mid to upper 60s the rest of the east bay shore into the valleys, if you have a party today low to mid 70s,

60 two in monterey, 70 in watsonville to -- around the state we have a few showers up north mainly low to mid 80s through the central valley, 69 at big sure. 2:05, a different time at tila tequila and. -- at at&t park. 61 to 63°. 40s and 50s mostly cloudy tomorrow's temperatures like today wednesday, thurlgs day, friday all of us 8 to 10° warmer their day warm with a slight cooling trend saturday and sunday. the city of newport beach wants president obama to pay for his visit there the revenue division is charging mr. obama and his reelection campaign more than $35,000 for the city's cost to cover a fundraising stop. the mayor says that's the tab for extra police officers and overtime pay. the fundraiser was health in

february at a newport beach home causing traffic closures and security. l.a. county sheriff's want to question justin bieber after a photographer claimed bieber roughed him up he called 911 and complained he had chest pains claiming it was the relate of a scuffle that happened when he tried to take pictures of bieber and his girlfriend selena gomez. youngest contestant believed to have competed in the national spelling be, competitio

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mark zuckerberg and his wife make a bizarre cameo in a chinese documentary. finally, 6-year-old girl getting ready for the first rounds of the national spelling bee tomorrow. laurie madison is the youngest person ever to qualify. the virginia girl will be on stage with youngsters more than twice her age. no one younger than eight has ever qualified. prelims are tomorrow and wednesday that sign is practically bigger than her she is six. >> for all of us here at abc7 news thanks for joining us. enjoy a safe memorial day. enjoy a safe memorial day. bye-bye.