[Tony Harris, Cnn Anchor:] And kiss on the cheek from the President and a hug. Boy, I can only imagine the emotions of those parents, Thomas and Romaine as they receive the Medal of Honor from the President, posthumously awarded to their son, Private First Class Ross McGinnis who fell on a live grenade in Iraq in order to save four other soldiers on December 4, 2006. The nation's highest military distinction. And Ross McGinnis was just 19-years-old when he died.
[Heidi Collins, Cnn Anchor:] Only the fourth medal of this kind to be awarded since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And a very, very emotional time for this family and certainly proud moments as well. I want to let you know what else we are following this morning. Some breaking news, one of the most recognizable figures in fact in American politics for decades. Senator Ted Kennedy undergoing brain surgery right now. The operation is taking place at Duke University Medical Center. We want to get straight to our Rusty Dornin in Durham, North Carolina, with the very latest. Rusty, have you been able to confirm whether or not the senator is actually in the operating room at this time?
[Rusty Dornin, Cnn Correspondent:] They will not tell us, Heidi. They are keeping very hush, hush about all this. All of the information that's coming through the family and the Kennedy family. They want their privacy. They are keeping very tight control. The hospital will not even tell us, we assume the operation did begin as scheduled at 9:00 a.m. but they will not confirm that. Of course, rumors were swirling over the last 24 hours about this surgery, about the fact that Senator Kennedy had come to North Carolina. They put some of those rumors to rest this morning when he did issue a statement. He talked about the fact that his team and his family spent a lot of time researching nationwide to find absolutely the best place and the best treatment, the best surgeon for this particular procedure. He said "the best course of action for my brain tumor is targeted surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation. This morning I will be undergoing surgery with Dr. Allan Friedman at Duke University Medical Center and expect to stay there to recuperate for approximately one week." Now, the surgery is expected to take about six hours. We don't know if they are going to have a press conference afterwards or not. He is he expected to go through this chemotherapy and radiation at Massachusetts General. He did take the opportunity to say he was going to be back to work at the Senate as soon as he recuperated and that he would be working hard to try to get Senator Barack Obama elected as the next president. But for now we can only assume that Senator Kennedy is under surgery, in surgery right now Heidi.
[Collins:] All right. CNN's Rusty Dornin standing by to follow all of these for us as the surgery takes place. Again, at Duke University Medical Center. Again, Rusty, thank you for that. As we mentioned, surgeons today are attacking that tumor on the left side of Senator Kennedy's brain. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a neurosurgeon himself and is here to talk a little bit more about this surgery. Let's begin there if we could because we're still trying to find out if he really is having the surgery as we speak. What is going to happen in that operating room?
[Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] Well, the main goal of this operation is trying to remove as much of this tumor as possible. Brain tumor surgery is something that's commonly done around the country, many different places. This particular tumor, as we've been talking about for a few weeks now Heidi, is located in a very specific area of the brain, an important area. Let me just show you on this model if I could for a second. This sort of light purple area, that's known as the parietal lobe. Just in front of that is the areas that control your strength, your motor strength on the other side of the body. And over here down in yellow, the temporal lobe is the area that controls speech. You get a sense of what's going on here, it's kind of like trying to find something in between two very, very important areas of the brain and remove as much as possible.
[Collins:] Risky. I mean, we're talking about Dr. Friedman who I know you know.
[Gupta:] Sure.
[Collins:] Doing this surgery. And this is no laughing matter, obviously.
[Gupta:] No.
[Collins:] Very, very delicate procedure.
[Gupta:] They say all operations are potentially very serious. When it comes to this though, we don't know. I have not spoke to Allen this morning about exactly on what he's planning on doing. But sometimes they will actually do some mapping of the brain. They will actually say where exactly are the motor areas here? Map them out. Put little sign posts on the brain to show where it is. But at the same thing sometimes the speech area is down here. And then they know where not to go. They can take out as much tumor as possible without causing any weakness, without causing any speech problems. That's sort of the goal, get as much of the tumor out as possible.
[Collins:] It's amazing. Now, why did he choose Duke?
[Gupta:] You know, I don't know for sure why he chose Duke. But I would tell you a couple of things. You know, a lot of senators around the country do this sort of surgery. Duke also does engages in clinical trials, for example, where they take some of this tumor and actually create a vaccine. Think about that. A brain tumor vaccine where they actually they would inject it back into him in a few weeks and allow that vaccine to kill whatever remaining tumor cells there are. This is cutting-edge stuff. This is still in clinical trial phase but this may have been something that engaged him and his family and thought maybe that was the best course of action. He will still get chemotherapy and radiation after the surgery for a few weeks but I wouldn't be surprised if I hear subsequently a few weeks later he's starting the vaccine trial.
[Collins:] Very interesting. And that may explain, again we don't want to speculate. It would be ridiculous to do so but that may explain why we didn't hear very much about surgery in the beginning and then later all of a sudden today, we hear well yes, in fact, he is having surgery.
[Gupta:] That's right. That was something we all took note. We talked about that they said chemotherapy and radiation. As we said for so long, you know surgery is an integral part of someone's overall recovery from this. Surprised we didn't hear that. But now it's maybe becoming pieced together.
[Collins:] They were saying they expect him to go back to work in the Senate. It's that something I know it's way too early to tell. But is that realistic with this type of procedure.
[Gupta:] It is hard to speculate. But you know, patients do. I mean it's possible that he may even be awake for this operation. So, he may never be actually be asleep. And patients can make recovery fairly quickly within a week or so, see him up marching again.
[Collins:] The brain is truly an amazing and mysterious thing obviously until today. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, we'll talk later thanks.
[Gupta:] All right. Thanks.
[Harris:] And, right now, John McCain is speaking in Washington, D.C.. He is speaking before the pro Israeli group, APEC. Again in Washington, D.C. just a short time ago he had these comments about U.S. support for Israel.
[Sen. John Mccain , Presidential Candidate:] The people of Israel reserve a special respect for courage. Courage that's been required of them. The record of history sheer survival in the face of Israel's many trials would have been impressive enough. But Israel has achieved much more than that these past 60 years. Israel has endured and thrived and our people have built a nation that's an inspiration to free nations every where.
[Harris:] And let's go to John McCain live now.
[Mccain:] So, years ago the moral clarity and conviction of civilized nations came together in a divestment campaign against South Africa helping to rid that nation of the evil of apartheid. In our day, we must use that same power and moral conviction against the regime in Iran and help to safeguard the people of Israel and the peace of the world. In all of this, we will not only be defending our own safety and welfare, but also the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people. They are a great they are a great and civilized people with little sympathy for the terrorists their leaders finance and no wish to threaten other nations with nuclear weapons. Iran rulers would be very different if the people themselves had a choice in the matter and American policy should always reflect their hopes for a freer and more just society. The same holds true the same holds true for the Palestinian people, most of whom ask only for a better life in a less violent world. They are badly served by the terrorist led group in charge of Gaza. This is a group that still refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, refuses to denounce violence and refuses to acknowledge prior peace commitments. They deliberately target Israeli civilians in an attempt to terrorize the Jewish population. They spread violence and hatred and with every new bombing they setback the cause of their own people. During my last visit to Israel in March, I saw for myself the work of Hamas in the town of Stero, just across the border from Gaza. I saw the houses that had been hit by Hamas rockets. In the face of injuries, death and destruction, thousands of Israelis have had to flee. Many others have stayed to carry on as best they can. And this is the home of a man named Pinnahas Amar, who lives with his disabled wife, Alisa and her children. One day last year, the sirens sounded again to alert the town to incoming rocket fire. The rest of the family found cover. Alisa on the other side of the house was knocked out of her wheelchair and struck by a shrapnel. This occurred on December 17 and from that day until the day of my visit, just some three months later, more than 1,000 rockets had struck Stero. Today, siren warnings are common place. The elementary schools are surrounded by concrete shelters. The children walking the streets in costume for Purin celebrations did so in fear. No nation in the world would allow its population to be attacked so incessantly, to be killed and intimidated so mercilessly without responding. And the nation of Israel is no exception. Prime Minister Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are engaged in talks that all of us hope will yield progress towards peace. While we encourage this process, we must also ensure that Israel's people can live in safety until there's a Palestinian leadership willing and able to deliver peace. A peace process that places face in terrorists can never end in peace. And we do no favors to the Palestinian people by conferring approval upon the terrorist syndicate that has seized power in Gaza. Likewise, Israel's chance for enduring peace with Lebanon depends on Lebanese government that has a monopoly on authority within its country's borders. That means no independent militias, no Hezbollah fighters, no weapons and equipment flowing to Hezbollah. Hezbollah fighters recently took up arms against their fellow Lebanese, starting the worst internal fighting since the civil war ended in 1990. In the process, they extracted an agreement for a new political arrangement in which Hezbollah and its allies can veto any cabinet decision. As a leader of Hezbollah often reminds us, this group's mission is the defeat of Israel. The international community needs to more fully empower our allies in Lebanon not only with military aid but also with the resources to undermine Hezbollah's appeal, better schools, hospitals, roads and power generation and the like. We simply cannot afford to seed Lebanon's future to Syria and Iran. And we have an additional task. In the summer of 2006, Hamas and Hezbollah kidnapped, kidnapped three young Israelis, Elad Shalid, Eldad Regev, Ehud Goldwasser. They've held them ever since. I met with the families of two of these men in December of 2006 and heard firsthand about their ordeal. I committed them to bring attention to their situation, to insist that the Geneva Conventions are observed and call for the swift release of these men. These men are being unlawfully held and must be set free and returned home to Israel. Another matter of great importance to the security of both America and Israel is Iraq. You would never know from listening to those who are still caught up in angry arguments over yesterday's options, but our troops in Iraq have made a hard won progress under General Petraeus' new strategy. [applause] And Iraqi political leaders have moved ahead, slowly and insufficiently but forward nonetheless. Sectarian violence declined dramatically. Sunnis in Anbar province and throughout Iraq are cooperating in the fight against al Qaeda and Shiite extremist militias no longer control Basra. The Maliki government and its forces are in charge. Al Qaeda terrorists are on the run and our troops are going to make sure that they never, never come back. It's worth recalling that America's progress in Iraq is a direct result of the new strategy that Senator Obama vehemently opposes. It was the strategy he predicted would fail when he voted to cut off funds for our forces in Iraq. He now says he intends to withdraw combat troops from Iraq, one or two brigades per month until they are all removed. He would do so regardless of the conditions in Iraq, regardless of the consequences for our national security. Regardless of Israel's security. And a disregard of the best advice of our commanders on the ground. This course surely results in a catastrophe. If our troops are ordered to make a forced retreat, we risk all out civil war, genocide and a failed state in the heart of the middle east. Al Qaeda terrorists would rejoice in the defeat of the United States. Allowing a potential terrorist sanctuary would profoundly affect the security of the United States, Israel and our other friends and would invite further intervention from Iraq's neighbors, including very much emboldened Iran. We must not let this happen. We must not leave the region to suffer chaos, terrorist violence and a wider war. My friends, as the people of Israel know better than most, the safety of free people can never be taken for granted and in a world full of dangers, Israel and the United States must always stand together. [applause] The state of Israel stands as a singular achievement in many ways and not the least is its achievement as the great democracy in the Middle East. If there are ties between America and Israel that critics of our alliance have never understood, perhaps that's because they do not fully understand the love of liberty and the pursuit of justice. They should know, they should know those ties cannot be broken. We were brought together by shared ideals, by shared adversity. We have been comrades in struggle, trusted partners in the quest for peace. We are the most natural of allies. And like Israel itself, that alliance is forever. Thank you.
[Harris:] There you have it, presumptive GOP presidential nominee, John McCain speaking before APAC this morning a pro Israeli group. Foreign policy obviously the focus of the address this morning, talking about U.S. support for Israel, obviously, Hamas and the Palestinian territories and comments about Iran as well. And criticism for Barack Obama. It should be mentioned here that both Obama and Senator Clinton will address this group later this week. Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, Hillary Clinton with a Puerto Rico landslide but does it change the landscape of the race? We will talk with two reporters covering the campaign.
[Collins:] We're going to get a check on the weather for just a moment here but first we got some more news on a very busy news day. In fact, coming to us out of San Angelo, Texas, we have our producer, Tracy Sabo, on the phone now to talk a little bit more about a decision that has been made regarding those 400 children at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Texas, the polygamous ranch there. Let's go ahead and listen to what Tracy has to say about what has happened here. It's unbelievably stunning.
[Voice Of Tracy Sabo, Cnn Producer:] That's right, Heidi. Judge Walter signed the order this morning and there was much debate as to how many children this order would pertain to. It looks like it will apply to all 450 plus children that were taken from the YFZ ranch over a month ago now. The opinion issued by the judged actually orders that the department start returning all of those children to their parents starting tomorrow morning at 10:00. And however long it takes them to pick up their children. Obviously, remember some of these parents have children at five different facility, you know, across the state of Texas. So presumably it will take several days at minimum to get all their children back in their custody. They will not be able allowed to leave the state of Texas. These children while they're under some type of guardianship and being watched over by the state of Texas. The CPS departments here in Texas will also have the ability to stop by the ranch or wherever they choose to live. Anytime during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. to watch over these children and to check in with parents, perhaps interview the children as to what their life continues to be like. And they will continue to monitor these children and their progress with parents taking some parenting classes, and several other things outlined by the court here today.
[Collins:] Tracy, that's what I found interesting is I'm looking at the same thing you are. They're talking about taking a photo of the child with the guardian. They're talking about taking fingerprints, parenting classes. There's other types of counseling that they're going to have to do. What if one of these parents or guardians decides they don't want to abide by this? Do they not then get their child back?
[Sabo:] Well, all parents, when they pick up their children, or whichever guardian shows up to pick up their children at the shelter will have to sign a piece of paper saying that they will abide by all of these things as outlined by the court. Now, if the court determines these parents aren't following up with that and they are not allowed access to continue to monitor these children, then each child will be considered an individual case at that point and perhaps up for scrutiny in the future as to whether the parents are upholding their end of this agreement here.
[Collins:] Yes. And also, I have in front of me, too, Tracy, it appears to be that they're going to reunite these parents with their children, beginning today, June 2, from 10:00 until 5:00. Did they change that? Or are we still trying to get confirmation on whether or not that will indeed begin today?
[Sabo:] Right. We are trying to work on that. Obviously this order just came down this morning by the judge. It would apply to them starting at 10:00 a.m. So, whether that's actually feasible, parents will make it to some shelters today, that's possible, yes.
[Collins:] OK and before we let you go, we want to go ahead and show on the screen a little bit more of this order. This is really fascinating. This is what a portion of it says. "This court has an obligation to ensure that all of the children and their parents are reunited with all deliberate speed while ensuring the safety and well-being of the children." So you can see just a portion there coming from the district court order that both Tracy and I have in front of us. And Tracy, you do mentioned that we believe at least at this time that it is going to pertain to all of the children, 450 or so of these kids, will in fact over the next couple of days go back with their parents?
[Sabo:] That's correct, Heidi. That's obviously a development that these families have been waiting for for some time, and obviously not everyone agrees with this we're hearing. So there could possibly be some attorneys at this court today filing an order saying that this is perhaps too strict. And we'll see what happens with that.
[Collins:] All right. We know you'll be following it very closely. Our producer Tracy Sabo, thanks so much from San Angelo, Texas today.