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American Morning

Special Edition, Part III

Aired February 02, 2003 - 08:00   ET

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

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


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: A world clearly on edge because of global politics awakens today to the grim reality of space travel. From the White House in Washington to the prime minister's House in Israel, flags are now at half-staff to honor the search astronauts of the space shuttle Columbia.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: As the world mourns today, space travel does continue. That word early. The indications from the briefings we heard right after the disaster. At this hour, in fact, Russia launching an unmanned shuttle. Not a shuttle of sorts; an unmanned spacecraft to take supplies to two astronauts and one cosmonaut still on board the international space station. We'll keep a close eye on that out of Kazakhstan for you throughout the morning here.

And good morning. Welcome back to our Sunday special edition coverage here of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Bill Hemmer live in New York City.

ZAHN: And I'm Paula Zahn. And I know I'm (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I'm right here with you.

Joining us today, Daryn Kagan, who is standing by the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Wolf Blitzer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Let's get started with Daryn at the space center, where Columbia's 16-day mission began with some launch concerns. Do you want to talk about that, first off? Good morning, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it did. Paula, thank you very much. And, in fact, it was January 16. I think you can see over my left shoulder there. That's the launch pad where Columbia took off. And as you did say, on launch there were some concerns that they thought possibly could cause some problems later. And indeed, even though we don't know that it's exactly related to what went wrong yesterday, that is at the top of the list of things they will be looking into.

Space program, shuttle program on hold. I want to give you a lay of the land here at the Kennedy Space Center if you'll take a little walk with me. We showed you this a little bit earlier, and I'll give you more details now. This big building over here is the vehicle assembly building. Because things are on a program here, the shuttle Atlantis was moved in there sometime ago, getting ready for its launch date, which is and actually was scheduled for March 1.

And, in fact, if Jonathan (ph), my photographer, will go with me, Atlantis was going to move from what they call the VAB out to its launch pad, a separate launch pad from where Columbia took off. And that one is way over my right shoulder. Now of course all those plans, even moving Atlantis out of the VAB on hold as of right now.

Also, all the other shuttle programs, including the program to put a teacher in space, Barbara Morgan, in fact she was scheduled to go in November on board Columbia. And clearly that is not going to happen at this time. What will happen to the teacher in space program, along with the shuttle program, and the entire space program up in the air right now.

I want to add to something that you guys were talking about earlier, and that is with the astronauts that are on board the international space station. I had a chance to talk with NASA officials earlier this morning. They say they definitely want to communicate that those astronauts are safe and they are taken care of. And, in fact, the progress module, which is what is launching today, what Bill was talking about, that has been scheduled for a long time. It's not like that's a contingency plan.

That has always been scheduled to send that up and send supplies up to those astronauts who are set, if they need to, to stay up there until June. Back to you.

ZAHN: Thanks, Daryn -- Bill.

HEMMER: Columbia is the oldest craft in the shuttle fleet, built back in 1981. It cost about $1 billion, as we mentioned throughout the day. Twenty-eight flights for Columbia in the 22 history of that shuttle.

Want to get back to Houston and the Johnson Space Center. And Wolf Blitzer is tracking events there again. It is about 7:00 local time, I believe, Wolf. Much happening thus yet?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: There will be a lot happening here in the hours to come, including a briefing we're expecting around 1:00 Eastern Time. NASA administrator, Sean O'Keefe, and others coming to update us on what exactly is the state of the investigation. I have been speaking to NASA officials. They couldn't help but recall that only last week they were remembering an earlier catastrophic loss the Apollo I, the three astronauts who were killed in launch pad fire in 1967; January 27, 1967, to be precise.

And then 16 years ago, on January 28, 1986, of course the Challenger disaster. Seven astronauts killed. They were remembering those Challenger astronauts only last week. And now on February 1, 2003, of course, this disaster yesterday. Seven astronauts dead.

The coincidence of all of this not lost on a lot of people. They're almost distraught by this coincidence. They're feeling numb.

They're saying that they're going to go on. But a lot of questions of course are going to be asked in the investigations to come about the safety of this entire shuttle program. Back to you, Bill, Paula. HEMMER: Wolf, thank you very much. And one of those questions certainly going forward is why is it, as NASA revealed yesterday at this briefing, why is it that shuttle astronauts cannot perform some sort of space walk while in space to check out the tiles on the exterior of the shuttle? That became quite evident yesterday. Why is that? I don't know, I'm not an astronaut. But certainly one of the questions out there.

ZAHN: And a lot of questions being asked by launch and reentry. Why there is no emergency escapability.

HEMMER: Very true. I think in listening...

ZAHN: They've worked on it, but apparently it was really expensive and they didn't find an appropriate option.

HEMMER: And there has not been a black box installed. Perhaps all of these things right now will continue to be examined as the shuttle program goes forward.

ZAHN: Thanks, Bill. Joining me now from Milwaukee is Daniel Salton. He happens to be the brother of astronaut Laurel Clark. Dr. Laurel Clark was a U.S. Navy submarine medical officer and flight surgeon who joined NASA in 1996. Daniel, we are so sorry about your family's loss. Thank you for spending a little time with us this morning.

DANIEL SALTON, ASTRONAUT'S BROTHER: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: I know you were tracking your sister's return yesterday. And as I understand it, it was many minutes before you truly understood what was going on.

SALTON: Yes. It was -- I had no idea that -- I had not watched the landing. I did not realize that when they lost communication that wasn't normal. When it went on for a long time I just thought that they were in some kind of blackout zone. And it took me a good 10 minutes to finally realize what had happened, and it was a shock. I couldn't believe it.

ZAHN: I don't think anybody in the country could believe it. Where were you?

SALTON: I was here in my house. I was sitting in my computer room on the computer. And so I was running between -- after a few minutes I was trying to check the TV and the computer and just trying to figure out what was going on.

ZAHN: I understand the computer was a bit of a lifeline between you and your sister, and she fired off an e-mail to you a couple of days ago. Can you share with us what she was trying to tell you?

SALTON: It was an e-mail to all of her family. The e-mail addresses that she had with her. It was a very special e-mail for us because it was the last real communication we had directly from her. And she just talked about how thrilled she was to be up there, the view from up there, how great it was seeing different sites, being able to see on her very first day Wind Point in Wisconsin, which is where Racine is, and seeing something familiar there. Also different places around the world.

And then getting into how blessed she felt to be serving her country and getting to do the medical experiments, working with scientists around the world and how thrilling it was. And really helping to share with us a little bit of what she was going through, some of the -- what it was like to eat in space and how she was acclimating to it, and that she was having fun. And I think it was -- it was great to get that at the end.

ZAHN: How passionate was she about the science that was being done on this mission?

SALTON: Well, any time you talk to her actually it's what you ended up talking about usually. It's what she wanted to talk about. It's what she really cared for.

She was -- being a medical doctor, I think it's what she really got out, and what she was excited about the space program is what they were able to do in the microgravity research. And she was very into it and loved to talk about it. So I think she was very excited about it.

ZAHN: Were you part of any calls the president made to members of the family effected by this tragedy?

SALTON: I think that the president called the people who were down in Houston. I had -- my sister Lynn (ph) was in Houston and my brother-in-law John Clark and Ian (ph) were there, of course. And he talked to them. So we are heading to -- I'm sorry. They were in Florida at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And I think that's where he talked to them.

We are heading to Houston after this. Well, sometime in the next day or two, where we're going to be with family and hopefully there will be a memorial service. I think there's a plan to having a memorial service there that we plan on attending.

ZAHN: I know you mentioned your sister's husband. Without violating your privacy, are you able to share with us anything this morning about how your sister's 8-year-old son is doing and her husband?

SALTON: Well we're very thankful that one of his brothers, Dave Clark, was able to get down to Houston. And my brother John Salton, was able to get down there to Houston last night to help out. And so they're there now and helping out any way they can. And we'll be hearing from them later as to what the plans are, when the rest of us should come down and how it will all work. And I'm just thankful that they were able to get there.

ZAHN: You've said so much this morning about what drove your sister to the excellence that she accomplished in her life. Just a final thought on what else you want people in America to know about the sacrifice she made and how serious she was about serving her country.

SALTON: Well Laurel was a very intense person who would set goals and would go for them. And I think that that's a great role model for kids today, to know that the goal-oriented stuff that they talk about, that the counselors at school tell you about, it works. It gets you places. You can do great things for humanity if you just set some small goals and always go for the next thing and set your sights higher.

If, when you reach that goal, go for the next thing. And that's what she did. And we're all very proud for what she was able to do. And we certainly all hope that NASA keeps going and continues on with its research. I think it's very important for humanity to keep this going.

ZAHN: Well your sister and the rest of the crew certainly set a new standard of excellence. Daniel, thank you for joining us at this very painful time. And have a safe trip down south.

SALTON: Thank you, Paula.

HEMMER: Daniel's sister was amazing. She was a pediatrician out of Racine, Wisconsin, only 41 years old. Trained as a pediatrician first.

Was a Navy undersea medical officer. Went on several submarine missions. She went to the depths of the ocean, in addition to the depths of space. What an incredible resume.

ZAHN: True explorer.

HEMMER: My god. And if you look at some of the accomplishments that these astronauts have done, it really blows your mind. In so many ways they're almost superhuman, just the mental ability they have and the physical ability they have.

ZAHN: And the discipline.

HEMMER: My gosh. Anyway, hats off. And Daniel, to your family, certainly we pass along our deepest condolences to you.

As we have mentioned many times, the space program now on hold. Back in 1986 it was almost two and a half years after the Challenger blew up that a shuttle program went forward. What happens now is a wide open question. But in a moment, Miles O'Brien has made his way to Houston, Texas. We'll talk with Miles as he talks to NASA's administrator, Sean O'Keefe, about the future of space exploration.

Our Sunday edition, special coverage of AMERICAN MORNING, will continue after a short break here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: And at 15 minutes after the hour, it's time to go back to Atlanta, where Heidi Collins is standing by with our NEWS ALERT. Good morning, Heidi. (NEWS ALERT)

ZAHN: Thanks, Heidi. No one knows when the next shuttle mission will launch into space. That will be a joint decision by NASA and the White House. Coming up, how is the administration going to deal with the shuttle tragedy? We're going to talk with the former director of the White House Situation Room when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: The White House flag is flying at half-staff as the nation grieves the Columbia astronauts. President Bush has ordered federal buildings to lower flags half-staff until Wednesday. As you might know, the president learned of the Columbia disaster from the White House Situation Room.

We're going to Houston now, where Wolf Blitzer will talk with the man who had to inform President Reagan about the Challenger disaster. Wolf, I guess it's hard to comprehend the amount of pressure on President Bush right now in this potential run-up to war and now this on top of it.

BLITZER: It's an enormous amount of pressure on any president. I remember covering the Challenger and the pressure on then President Ronald Reagan. Michael Bohn was then the director of the White House Situation Room. It was an awful day, Michael Bohn. Tell our viewers what unfolds when word of this kind of disaster begins to filter in.

MICHAEL BOHN, FMR. DIRECTOR OF SITUATION ROOM: Well, it's a shock to everyone. But the duty officers in the SitRoom and the staff are well trained and well experienced. This sort of thing happens regularly, not necessarily a Challenger or a shuttle explosion, but a crisis. And they know that they have to call people immediately and let them know what happened. And then they know they have to find out the details of what happened and answer questions as fast as they can.

BLITZER: When the Challenger blew up you were in the Situation Room. Who did you call first?

BOHN: Well, I didn't call. I was watching the launch on CNN. You know the networks had sort of given up on launches by that time. But you covered it.

And I was in my office watching it and saw it explode. And I just simply ran upstairs. And I broke one of the most sacred rules in the west wing. I opened doors without an appointment.

I went first to John Poindexter and then President Bush. I went in to Don Regan's (ph) office. He gave me a scowl when I opened the door. But when I told him that the Challenger exploded we all went down to the Oval Office and told the president. And we sat in there watching you run that video over and over again.

BLITZER: John Poindexter at that time was the national security adviser to then President Reagan. And then what happens after that? After the president is informed, you're sitting there watching CNN, seeing what's going on. What are they doing in the Situation Room at the White House, which, of course, is the super secret command center, the hub of all national security incidents?

BOHN: Well the super secret command center actually today depends on cable news and the Internet as their most important sources of information. It's a little different today than it was then. I went downstairs in '86 and got NASA officials on the phone. We put them on a speaker box and asked them for information.

We couldn't depend on CNN for the breadth and depth of stories that you carry now. We had to pry it out of them and the FAA and all the other people that had some information. And then try to integrate it and funnel it upstairs as it became available.

Yesterday, they had far more information. In fact, they may have had an overload of information. But the real thing is the alerting process. The conference room gets most of the attention -- the SitRoom -- but it's really the people that are the core and essence of the Situation Room.

BLITZER: Now just to give viewers some perspective on all the speculation and what the cause might have been for the explosion of the Columbia, initially, in that first day or two after the Challenger exploded, what was the relationship between what you thought the cause was then with what eventually turned out to be the case after a lengthy investigation?

BOHN: Well, it was clear. I was a naval officer on active duty at the time and I'm familiar with aircraft accidents. And it was clear to me that something untoward happened with the aircraft itself and it was not a result of an outside force. Today, with the specter of terrorism looming over everyone's shoulder, I'm sure people would have thought, gee, I wonder what was the cause of that yesterday?

But it just is far more complicated today because of that thought. In those days we didn't think about terrorism. It was just an accident.

BLITZER: Right. And that's obviously a difference now, although NASA officials and Homeland Security Department officials, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) officials, quickly insisting yesterday no indication to believe any foul play, any source of terrorism may have been behind the explosion aboard the space shuttle Columbia.

BOHN: Well, the SitRoom has a lot more help today with the homeland defense organization and other folks working the problem. But there's no domestic SitRoom. The Situation Room is formed to handle international situations. But when these major things break across the White House horizon, the SitRoom sort of assumes the responsibility to help out no, matter what the situation.

It doesn't matter whose problem it is. Most of the calls go to the national security adviser, clearly, but yesterday you have to include the chief of staff and his organizations because of the domestic angle of the whole thing. BLITZER: Of course. Michael Bohn, the former director of the Situation Room in the West Wing of the White House. Michael, thanks very much for that sort of perspective useful for our viewers.

BOHN: Thanks.

BLITZER: Let's take it back to Paula and Bill.

ZAHN: Very interesting. Thanks, Wolf.

HEMMER: It certainly was. A couple of similarities brought out yesterday. In 1986, Ronald Reagan immediately, after the Challenger disaster, went on television saying how the space program was going to continue. Same message yesterday from NASA. While the nation grieves, while the families got the information, still saying that the program goes forward.

ZAHN: Even the president making that very clear in an emotionally-gripped statement to the nation.

HEMMER: Do you remember where you were January of '86.

ZAHN: I certainly do. I was on duty in a story, and I think like every other American just happened to go to a television set and stood there in stony silence for hours.

HEMMER: Yes. I was in Europe at the time. We scrambled for an entire day before we could find a television that broadcast the images. And it was stunning and shocking, much like yesterday.

All right. In a moment here, the country of Israel mourning what's considered there a fallen hero. We'll talk to a man who chronicled the life of Ilan Ramon, a decorated fighter pilot and Israel's first astronaut. That and more when our special Sunday edition coverage continues after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired February 2, 2003 - 08:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: A world clearly on edge because of global politics awakens today to the grim reality of space travel. From the White House in Washington to the prime minister's House in Israel, flags are now at half-staff to honor the search astronauts of the space shuttle Columbia.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: As the world mourns today, space travel does continue. That word early. The indications from the briefings we heard right after the disaster. At this hour, in fact, Russia launching an unmanned shuttle. Not a shuttle of sorts; an unmanned spacecraft to take supplies to two astronauts and one cosmonaut still on board the international space station. We'll keep a close eye on that out of Kazakhstan for you throughout the morning here.

And good morning. Welcome back to our Sunday special edition coverage here of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Bill Hemmer live in New York City.

ZAHN: And I'm Paula Zahn. And I know I'm (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I'm right here with you.

Joining us today, Daryn Kagan, who is standing by the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Wolf Blitzer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Let's get started with Daryn at the space center, where Columbia's 16-day mission began with some launch concerns. Do you want to talk about that, first off? Good morning, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it did. Paula, thank you very much. And, in fact, it was January 16. I think you can see over my left shoulder there. That's the launch pad where Columbia took off. And as you did say, on launch there were some concerns that they thought possibly could cause some problems later. And indeed, even though we don't know that it's exactly related to what went wrong yesterday, that is at the top of the list of things they will be looking into.

Space program, shuttle program on hold. I want to give you a lay of the land here at the Kennedy Space Center if you'll take a little walk with me. We showed you this a little bit earlier, and I'll give you more details now. This big building over here is the vehicle assembly building. Because things are on a program here, the shuttle Atlantis was moved in there sometime ago, getting ready for its launch date, which is and actually was scheduled for March 1.

And, in fact, if Jonathan (ph), my photographer, will go with me, Atlantis was going to move from what they call the VAB out to its launch pad, a separate launch pad from where Columbia took off. And that one is way over my right shoulder. Now of course all those plans, even moving Atlantis out of the VAB on hold as of right now.

Also, all the other shuttle programs, including the program to put a teacher in space, Barbara Morgan, in fact she was scheduled to go in November on board Columbia. And clearly that is not going to happen at this time. What will happen to the teacher in space program, along with the shuttle program, and the entire space program up in the air right now.

I want to add to something that you guys were talking about earlier, and that is with the astronauts that are on board the international space station. I had a chance to talk with NASA officials earlier this morning. They say they definitely want to communicate that those astronauts are safe and they are taken care of. And, in fact, the progress module, which is what is launching today, what Bill was talking about, that has been scheduled for a long time. It's not like that's a contingency plan.

That has always been scheduled to send that up and send supplies up to those astronauts who are set, if they need to, to stay up there until June. Back to you.

ZAHN: Thanks, Daryn -- Bill.

HEMMER: Columbia is the oldest craft in the shuttle fleet, built back in 1981. It cost about $1 billion, as we mentioned throughout the day. Twenty-eight flights for Columbia in the 22 history of that shuttle.

Want to get back to Houston and the Johnson Space Center. And Wolf Blitzer is tracking events there again. It is about 7:00 local time, I believe, Wolf. Much happening thus yet?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: There will be a lot happening here in the hours to come, including a briefing we're expecting around 1:00 Eastern Time. NASA administrator, Sean O'Keefe, and others coming to update us on what exactly is the state of the investigation. I have been speaking to NASA officials. They couldn't help but recall that only last week they were remembering an earlier catastrophic loss the Apollo I, the three astronauts who were killed in launch pad fire in 1967; January 27, 1967, to be precise.

And then 16 years ago, on January 28, 1986, of course the Challenger disaster. Seven astronauts killed. They were remembering those Challenger astronauts only last week. And now on February 1, 2003, of course, this disaster yesterday. Seven astronauts dead.

The coincidence of all of this not lost on a lot of people. They're almost distraught by this coincidence. They're feeling numb.

They're saying that they're going to go on. But a lot of questions of course are going to be asked in the investigations to come about the safety of this entire shuttle program. Back to you, Bill, Paula. HEMMER: Wolf, thank you very much. And one of those questions certainly going forward is why is it, as NASA revealed yesterday at this briefing, why is it that shuttle astronauts cannot perform some sort of space walk while in space to check out the tiles on the exterior of the shuttle? That became quite evident yesterday. Why is that? I don't know, I'm not an astronaut. But certainly one of the questions out there.

ZAHN: And a lot of questions being asked by launch and reentry. Why there is no emergency escapability.

HEMMER: Very true. I think in listening...

ZAHN: They've worked on it, but apparently it was really expensive and they didn't find an appropriate option.

HEMMER: And there has not been a black box installed. Perhaps all of these things right now will continue to be examined as the shuttle program goes forward.

ZAHN: Thanks, Bill. Joining me now from Milwaukee is Daniel Salton. He happens to be the brother of astronaut Laurel Clark. Dr. Laurel Clark was a U.S. Navy submarine medical officer and flight surgeon who joined NASA in 1996. Daniel, we are so sorry about your family's loss. Thank you for spending a little time with us this morning.

DANIEL SALTON, ASTRONAUT'S BROTHER: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: I know you were tracking your sister's return yesterday. And as I understand it, it was many minutes before you truly understood what was going on.

SALTON: Yes. It was -- I had no idea that -- I had not watched the landing. I did not realize that when they lost communication that wasn't normal. When it went on for a long time I just thought that they were in some kind of blackout zone. And it took me a good 10 minutes to finally realize what had happened, and it was a shock. I couldn't believe it.

ZAHN: I don't think anybody in the country could believe it. Where were you?

SALTON: I was here in my house. I was sitting in my computer room on the computer. And so I was running between -- after a few minutes I was trying to check the TV and the computer and just trying to figure out what was going on.

ZAHN: I understand the computer was a bit of a lifeline between you and your sister, and she fired off an e-mail to you a couple of days ago. Can you share with us what she was trying to tell you?

SALTON: It was an e-mail to all of her family. The e-mail addresses that she had with her. It was a very special e-mail for us because it was the last real communication we had directly from her. And she just talked about how thrilled she was to be up there, the view from up there, how great it was seeing different sites, being able to see on her very first day Wind Point in Wisconsin, which is where Racine is, and seeing something familiar there. Also different places around the world.

And then getting into how blessed she felt to be serving her country and getting to do the medical experiments, working with scientists around the world and how thrilling it was. And really helping to share with us a little bit of what she was going through, some of the -- what it was like to eat in space and how she was acclimating to it, and that she was having fun. And I think it was -- it was great to get that at the end.

ZAHN: How passionate was she about the science that was being done on this mission?

SALTON: Well, any time you talk to her actually it's what you ended up talking about usually. It's what she wanted to talk about. It's what she really cared for.

She was -- being a medical doctor, I think it's what she really got out, and what she was excited about the space program is what they were able to do in the microgravity research. And she was very into it and loved to talk about it. So I think she was very excited about it.

ZAHN: Were you part of any calls the president made to members of the family effected by this tragedy?

SALTON: I think that the president called the people who were down in Houston. I had -- my sister Lynn (ph) was in Houston and my brother-in-law John Clark and Ian (ph) were there, of course. And he talked to them. So we are heading to -- I'm sorry. They were in Florida at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And I think that's where he talked to them.

We are heading to Houston after this. Well, sometime in the next day or two, where we're going to be with family and hopefully there will be a memorial service. I think there's a plan to having a memorial service there that we plan on attending.

ZAHN: I know you mentioned your sister's husband. Without violating your privacy, are you able to share with us anything this morning about how your sister's 8-year-old son is doing and her husband?

SALTON: Well we're very thankful that one of his brothers, Dave Clark, was able to get down to Houston. And my brother John Salton, was able to get down there to Houston last night to help out. And so they're there now and helping out any way they can. And we'll be hearing from them later as to what the plans are, when the rest of us should come down and how it will all work. And I'm just thankful that they were able to get there.

ZAHN: You've said so much this morning about what drove your sister to the excellence that she accomplished in her life. Just a final thought on what else you want people in America to know about the sacrifice she made and how serious she was about serving her country.

SALTON: Well Laurel was a very intense person who would set goals and would go for them. And I think that that's a great role model for kids today, to know that the goal-oriented stuff that they talk about, that the counselors at school tell you about, it works. It gets you places. You can do great things for humanity if you just set some small goals and always go for the next thing and set your sights higher.

If, when you reach that goal, go for the next thing. And that's what she did. And we're all very proud for what she was able to do. And we certainly all hope that NASA keeps going and continues on with its research. I think it's very important for humanity to keep this going.

ZAHN: Well your sister and the rest of the crew certainly set a new standard of excellence. Daniel, thank you for joining us at this very painful time. And have a safe trip down south.

SALTON: Thank you, Paula.

HEMMER: Daniel's sister was amazing. She was a pediatrician out of Racine, Wisconsin, only 41 years old. Trained as a pediatrician first.

Was a Navy undersea medical officer. Went on several submarine missions. She went to the depths of the ocean, in addition to the depths of space. What an incredible resume.

ZAHN: True explorer.

HEMMER: My god. And if you look at some of the accomplishments that these astronauts have done, it really blows your mind. In so many ways they're almost superhuman, just the mental ability they have and the physical ability they have.

ZAHN: And the discipline.

HEMMER: My gosh. Anyway, hats off. And Daniel, to your family, certainly we pass along our deepest condolences to you.

As we have mentioned many times, the space program now on hold. Back in 1986 it was almost two and a half years after the Challenger blew up that a shuttle program went forward. What happens now is a wide open question. But in a moment, Miles O'Brien has made his way to Houston, Texas. We'll talk with Miles as he talks to NASA's administrator, Sean O'Keefe, about the future of space exploration.

Our Sunday edition, special coverage of AMERICAN MORNING, will continue after a short break here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: And at 15 minutes after the hour, it's time to go back to Atlanta, where Heidi Collins is standing by with our NEWS ALERT. Good morning, Heidi. (NEWS ALERT)

ZAHN: Thanks, Heidi. No one knows when the next shuttle mission will launch into space. That will be a joint decision by NASA and the White House. Coming up, how is the administration going to deal with the shuttle tragedy? We're going to talk with the former director of the White House Situation Room when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: The White House flag is flying at half-staff as the nation grieves the Columbia astronauts. President Bush has ordered federal buildings to lower flags half-staff until Wednesday. As you might know, the president learned of the Columbia disaster from the White House Situation Room.

We're going to Houston now, where Wolf Blitzer will talk with the man who had to inform President Reagan about the Challenger disaster. Wolf, I guess it's hard to comprehend the amount of pressure on President Bush right now in this potential run-up to war and now this on top of it.

BLITZER: It's an enormous amount of pressure on any president. I remember covering the Challenger and the pressure on then President Ronald Reagan. Michael Bohn was then the director of the White House Situation Room. It was an awful day, Michael Bohn. Tell our viewers what unfolds when word of this kind of disaster begins to filter in.

MICHAEL BOHN, FMR. DIRECTOR OF SITUATION ROOM: Well, it's a shock to everyone. But the duty officers in the SitRoom and the staff are well trained and well experienced. This sort of thing happens regularly, not necessarily a Challenger or a shuttle explosion, but a crisis. And they know that they have to call people immediately and let them know what happened. And then they know they have to find out the details of what happened and answer questions as fast as they can.

BLITZER: When the Challenger blew up you were in the Situation Room. Who did you call first?

BOHN: Well, I didn't call. I was watching the launch on CNN. You know the networks had sort of given up on launches by that time. But you covered it.

And I was in my office watching it and saw it explode. And I just simply ran upstairs. And I broke one of the most sacred rules in the west wing. I opened doors without an appointment.

I went first to John Poindexter and then President Bush. I went in to Don Regan's (ph) office. He gave me a scowl when I opened the door. But when I told him that the Challenger exploded we all went down to the Oval Office and told the president. And we sat in there watching you run that video over and over again.

BLITZER: John Poindexter at that time was the national security adviser to then President Reagan. And then what happens after that? After the president is informed, you're sitting there watching CNN, seeing what's going on. What are they doing in the Situation Room at the White House, which, of course, is the super secret command center, the hub of all national security incidents?

BOHN: Well the super secret command center actually today depends on cable news and the Internet as their most important sources of information. It's a little different today than it was then. I went downstairs in '86 and got NASA officials on the phone. We put them on a speaker box and asked them for information.

We couldn't depend on CNN for the breadth and depth of stories that you carry now. We had to pry it out of them and the FAA and all the other people that had some information. And then try to integrate it and funnel it upstairs as it became available.

Yesterday, they had far more information. In fact, they may have had an overload of information. But the real thing is the alerting process. The conference room gets most of the attention -- the SitRoom -- but it's really the people that are the core and essence of the Situation Room.

BLITZER: Now just to give viewers some perspective on all the speculation and what the cause might have been for the explosion of the Columbia, initially, in that first day or two after the Challenger exploded, what was the relationship between what you thought the cause was then with what eventually turned out to be the case after a lengthy investigation?

BOHN: Well, it was clear. I was a naval officer on active duty at the time and I'm familiar with aircraft accidents. And it was clear to me that something untoward happened with the aircraft itself and it was not a result of an outside force. Today, with the specter of terrorism looming over everyone's shoulder, I'm sure people would have thought, gee, I wonder what was the cause of that yesterday?

But it just is far more complicated today because of that thought. In those days we didn't think about terrorism. It was just an accident.

BLITZER: Right. And that's obviously a difference now, although NASA officials and Homeland Security Department officials, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) officials, quickly insisting yesterday no indication to believe any foul play, any source of terrorism may have been behind the explosion aboard the space shuttle Columbia.

BOHN: Well, the SitRoom has a lot more help today with the homeland defense organization and other folks working the problem. But there's no domestic SitRoom. The Situation Room is formed to handle international situations. But when these major things break across the White House horizon, the SitRoom sort of assumes the responsibility to help out no, matter what the situation.

It doesn't matter whose problem it is. Most of the calls go to the national security adviser, clearly, but yesterday you have to include the chief of staff and his organizations because of the domestic angle of the whole thing. BLITZER: Of course. Michael Bohn, the former director of the Situation Room in the West Wing of the White House. Michael, thanks very much for that sort of perspective useful for our viewers.

BOHN: Thanks.

BLITZER: Let's take it back to Paula and Bill.

ZAHN: Very interesting. Thanks, Wolf.

HEMMER: It certainly was. A couple of similarities brought out yesterday. In 1986, Ronald Reagan immediately, after the Challenger disaster, went on television saying how the space program was going to continue. Same message yesterday from NASA. While the nation grieves, while the families got the information, still saying that the program goes forward.

ZAHN: Even the president making that very clear in an emotionally-gripped statement to the nation.

HEMMER: Do you remember where you were January of '86.

ZAHN: I certainly do. I was on duty in a story, and I think like every other American just happened to go to a television set and stood there in stony silence for hours.

HEMMER: Yes. I was in Europe at the time. We scrambled for an entire day before we could find a television that broadcast the images. And it was stunning and shocking, much like yesterday.

All right. In a moment here, the country of Israel mourning what's considered there a fallen hero. We'll talk to a man who chronicled the life of Ilan Ramon, a decorated fighter pilot and Israel's first astronaut. That and more when our special Sunday edition coverage continues after this.

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