[Unidentified Female:] I made it!
[Rick Sanchez, Anchor, Cnn Newsroom:] She made it, all right. Next in the NEWSROOM, this young lady from homeless and living under a bridge not that long ago tonight, a featured hero. Brenda Combs joins us live with a remarkable story. Also, wildfires, thick smoke and high winds once again closing stretches of major highways in the Southeast. We're going to take you live to Florida to bring you the very latest on that. Also, three U.S. soldiers that have been missing in Iraq. We're going to bring you the very latest on what's going on with that, as 4,000 of their comrades are now trying to move heaven and earth to try and find them. U.S. military leaders are vowing to leave no soldier behind. Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. Let's try and bring you up to date now on all the stories that are taking place. First, that pre-dawn attack that we've been telling you about that's affected the insurgent stronghold of Mahmoudiya, leaving four Americans dead. Also killed, their Iraqi interpreter. Tonight, three troops are still missing, possibly in the hands of insurgents. Some 4,000 Americans are going house to house, tree to tree and bush to bush to try and find them. The very latest on the story from Baghdad from CNN's Arwa Damon.
[Arwa Damon, Cnn Correspondent, Baghdad:] Carefully maneuvering through the brush and canals, Iraqi troops help U.S. forces search for clues, combing through every field, every farmhouse, searching this dangerous and harsh landscape south of Baghdad, also known as the "triangle of death." The U.S. military is determined to find three of its own.
[Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, U.s. Military Spokesman:] Every asset we have, from national assets to tactical assets and when I say "national," I mean United States government assets that may not habitually be routinely used on a daily basis are being used, all the way down to the 4,000 troops.
[Damon:] These pictures are said to show where the pre-dawn ambush took place. No answers yet about why it was such an unusually small contingent of Americans, or why it took as long as an hour for quick reaction forces to respond. The little that the military is disclosing is enough to conjure horrific images of the scale of the attack. Over 24 hours later, and still, the bodies of the dead are not all identified.
[Caldwell:] We can establish now the identity of three of the American soldiers who were killed and the one Iraqi army interpreter that was killed. So the identification of four of the five who were killed is now complete. The fifth one is still ongoing.
[Damon:] Posted on an extremist Web site, a claim of responsibility from the Islamic State of Iraq, a group led by al Qaeda. Last June, in the same area, a group affiliated with al Qaeda claimed it kidnapped and killed two U.S. soldiers. Their mutilated bodies were found three days later gruesome images America cannot forget. The U.S. military doesn't want to see this happen again. One of the main tenets the U.S. military lives by is never to leave a man behind. One can only imagine what is going through the soldiers' minds as they relentlessly search for three of their own and try and figure out what went horribly wrong. Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
[Sanchez:] Meanwhile, two bombs killed scores of Iraqis today, including several dozen Iraqi Kurds. In northern Iraq, a suicide attacker drove a truckload of explosives into an office of a Kurdish political party. At least 50 people, we understand, were killed. More than 100 hundred, by the way, were wounded, as well. And in Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near a central marketplace. At least 15 people were killed and about three dozen hurt. Also today, 22 bodies found dumped throughout the capital. Well, today, the military reported the deaths of two more American troops, as well. One was killed today in a blast near Haditha. Another died after an explosion. This was near a U.S. combat patrol. Less than two full weeks into the month, 42 Americans have died in Iraq in May. The death toll for the war is now approaching 3,400. CNN's Michael Holmes just got back from Iraq. And in the next couple of minutes, you're going to hear from him with the inside story behind his hour-long report, "Month of Mayhem." Michael's going to be along about 7:20 Eastern. "Month of Mayhem" airs tonight, by the way, at 8 o'clock. It's a special you don't want to miss. Vice President Dick Cheney's Middle East tour took him to Cairo today for talks with Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. Mr. Cheney is trying to get moderate countries in the region to support Iraq's fragile government. He later ended the tour in Amman with a chat with Jordan's King Abdullah. Now to Iran. After decades of bad blood and some harsh words between Tehran and Washington, Iranian and U.S. officials say they're going to be sitting down together and talk about security in Iraq, specifically. A landmark meeting could happen, we understand, within weeks. CNN's White House correspondent, Elaine Quijano, has details from Jamestown, Virginia. President Bush spent some time there today.
[Elaine Quijano, Cnn White House Correspondent, Jamestown, Virginia:] On a visit commemorating the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, America's first permanent English settlement, President Bush predicted democratic ideals would eventually prosper worldwide.
[George W. Bush, President Of The United States:] These values took root at Jamestown four centuries ago. They have flourished across our land, and one day they will flourish in every land.
[Quijano:] But in Iraq, getting democracy to take root amid the violence has proven daunting, and the effort complicated, the White House believes, by Iranian interference. Now, more than four years into the war, President Bush is allowing top U.S. officials to sit down with their counterparts from Iran, a country he once labeled part of the axis of evil. A White House spokesman says, in the next few weeks, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker will meet with the Iranians in Baghdad for talks limited to a single topic Iraq. Said the spokesman, "This is not about the United States and Iran. This is about Iraq. This is about Iran playing a constructive policy role inside Iraq." The U.S. wants Iran to use its influence with Iraq's majority Shia population to forge political reconciliation. And the U.S. wants Iran to stop sending bomb components into Iraq. But Republican Senator and presidential hopeful, John McCain, has reservations. The U.S. could risk elevating Iran's international standing.
[Sen. John Mccain, R-arizona, Republican Presidential Candidate:] Remember, this is the world's largest sponsor of state sponsor of terrorism. They're dedicated to the extinction of Israel. There are enormous difficulties. But if there is something to be gained, OK.
[Quijano:] The Bush administration insists talk on Iraq do not mean the U.S. is going soft on Iran over its nuclear ambitions. Vice President Dick Cheney tried to underscore that message just days ago with a blunt warning to Iran, delivered from the deck of a U.S. carrier poised in the Persian Gulf.
[Dick Cheney, Vice President Of The United States:] And we'll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region.
[Quijano:] As for the upcoming Baghdad meeting, the U.S. would not say which side initiated it. A White House spokesman would only say that it resulted from informal meetings during regional conferences over the last couple of months. Elaine Quijano, CNN, traveling with the president in Jamestown, Virginia.
[Sanchez:] And we have this significant development coming out of Afghanistan. One of the Taliban's most notorious leaders is now confirmed dead. NATO officials say that Mullah Dadullah left his haven in southern Afghanistan, and U.S.-led forces killed him. To prove his death, in fact, Afghan officials showed off his body before television cameras. We're going to the video here. A warning, of course. That video might be disturbing to some of the viewers. We're not going to go in tight or anything. You can see it there. Various marks on Dadullah's body and an amputated leg helped officials ID him. His death is being called the biggest blow to the Taliban in the last six years. Just who is the elusive Taliban leader? And why is his death considered so pivotal in the fight against the insurgency in Afghanistan? A fascinating look at someone called a killer of killers. That's coming up in just 20 minutes, by the way. Up next, Florida still under fire wildfires, that is. Major interstates are closed. People still kept out of their homes. Driving? Well, a nightmare. Imagine trying to go through that smoke. What they need now is rain. Then, she was once homeless and living under a bridge. Today she has two college degrees, and she's actually going for a third. What a story hero story, wouldn't you say?