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American Morning
Special Edition, Part IX
Aired February 02, 2003 - 11:30 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: Welcome back. We continue now with our special coverage of the shuttle tragedy. I'm Paula Zahn along with Bill Hemmer. We're going to bring you the very latest news on all the families affected and on the federal inquiries set to begin.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Our first stop -- this half-hour anyway -- to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. That's where CNN's Wolf Blitzer now joins us to pick up our coverage from there.
Wolf, good morning, once again, to you.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Bill. And good morning to Paula as well.
We're about 90 minutes or so away from the news conference, the briefing we're expecting from NASA officials. They'll be answering questions. We have a lot of questions about possibly what went wrong.
All of those thousands and thousands of pieces of debris -- they're being brought to one location, Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. That's where they'll be reviewed, they'll be searched, because, as you point out, perhaps on one of those pieces of debris, they'll find an answer, why the space shuttle exploded.
CNN's Mike Brooks is at Barksdale Air Force Base. He's joining us now live.
Mike, tell our viewers what you're seeing there and what kind of investigation they plan on conducting at Barksdale.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, one of the reasons they're going to bring the evidence here in Barksdale are because of the hangar spaces they do have here and the close proximity to the debris fields all through the State of Texas and Louisiana.
I spoke a short time ago with representatives of both NASA and FEMA.
NASA said that they're -- basically, quote, "evidence recovery is kind of foreign to us." They're right now focusing on the systems that were involved with the shuttle, but they are going to have to collect that evidence, and that --
Then comes in the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They are the lead agency for searching for, finding, and securing the debris. NASA has the overall responsibility for the investigation and the evidence collection.
NASA said you will be seeing folks out there from their agency in blue jump-suits, yellow gloves that will be actually handling the evidence and picking it up. But, since that is kind of foreign to them, they are going to need the assistance of people that do that every single day.
Right now, they are in the process of trying to figure out exactly how they're going to go about that with the assistance of the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, and the National Transportation Safety Board, who are going help them because they -- of their experience with recovery of this kind of evidence -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Are they treating all those pieces of evidence, all those little pieces of debris as what? How -- when they get to Barksdale, what will they actually be?
BROOKS: It will be evidence. It will be evidence of this investigation. This is an investigation, and, with that, we have evidence.
And I want to point out, too, to any of our listeners, any of our viewers that are watching, if you find anything, please don't touch it. It can be very, very toxic. Some of the residue on the debris can be extremely, extremely toxic because of some of this -- formulas they use in the fuels for the shuttle. So please don't touch it.
If you do find it, we have a number that you can call at the Johnson Space Center. That number is Area Code 281-483-3388. That's the Emergency Operations Center at the Johnson Space Center.
Now, once they do get it here, again, they will go over it, try to figure out exactly what part the piece came from, just as they've done in other investigations similar to this. But they will try to find out and hopefully try to find that one piece -- or there may not be a piece, but to -- hopefully, they will be able to find exactly that one piece and find out what the cause of this tragedy was -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Mike Brooks at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
Let's go back to Bill in New York -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Wolf.
As we have mentioned, 20,000 tiles on the outside of space shuttle "Columbia."
To Renay San Miguel now at the CNN Center for more on these tiles, their use, and, again, what could a bit of a vulnerability.
Renay, good morning.
RANDY AVERA, FORMER NASA ENGINEER: Good morning, Bill. RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually, we have one of the tiles that flew on an early Columbia mission. It is what they call scrap tile. It's the property of Randy Avera, former NASA engineer, who was also involved in the Challenger investigation.
And, you know, is it markedly different, this tile right here from what -- the tiles that were on the last mission of the Columbia.
AVERA: This is exactly the same design that flew on STS-107, the Columbia mission. This tile flew one or two missions on the early flights of Columbia. This tile was located on the rear end of Columbia around the body flap or the elevons in the rear trailing edge of the wing.
SAN MIGUEL: One of these things back here. You can tell that from the thickness, right?
AVERA: Correct. That's right. The thickness of the tile is gauged by the local temperature.
But what's important to understand about a tile is how lightweight it is and how almost like chalk or -- for example, comparing it to a styrofoam ice chest, if you see, I can take my fingernail and on the bottom side of the tile actually just prick up an amount of what looks like chalky material.
SAN MIGUEL: Yes. You're digging that up right there. You're...
AVERA: It's made of alumina and silica. It's called alumina silica, and it was invented by NASA and Lockheed, and what happens when a tile is being bonded -- if my hand is the belly of the orbiter and a tile is to be bonded on to that alumina structure much like on a pool table, the felt-type material, only a high-temperature version, is glued literally on to this chalky material.
SAN MIGUEL: So we're not talking about welds or bolts. It's just glued.
AVERA: Just glued.
SAN MIGUEL: That keeps this to the underside of the...
AVERA: Silicone rubber glue.
And there's also a densification coating. Since the tile is so porous, the glue cannot grab to that and hold. So this densification was added, if you recall when we took the shuttle tiles off back in 1979 and '80, it was to apply this gray coating where the adhesive glue can grab.
And then, once you have that felt glued on to the tile, then the entire tile gets another coat of glue on that felt and it's glued to the belly of the orbiter.
SAN MIGUEL: And that's all that is sticking it to the shuttle, is pretty much the glue that you're talking about there? AVERA: That's correct.
SAN MIGUEL: Turn it over there and show us some of the pockmarks and, as we talked about, the possibility of that foam coming off the booster rocket on the launch on January 16, the damage that these can take. What -- the surface here -- what are we talking about? What's it made of?
AVERA: Well, this is a glass ceramic coating that is sprayed on to the tile and then baked. It's millimeters thin. It's extremely thin, and it's also brittle.
If you notice, I could take my fingernail, and, see, there's a new damage mark. These are damage marks from the past. Or I could take that ceramic coating with my fingernail and just flip up and flick off pieces, as you see, of that ceramic coating.
SAN MIGUEL: And this is supposed to take up -- almost to 3,000 degrees, right? That's supposed to withstand...
AVERA: My recall is 2,850 degrees on these black tiles. The reinforced carbon-carbon on the leading edge of the wings and the nose cap take the highest temperatures.
But, actually, these black tiles take lower than 2,850. It's in the -- they're called high-temperature insulation, but it's not the highest. But these are extreme temperatures above 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
SAN MIGUEL: What you had told me -- if that wasn't pockmarked, this could have been re-used on another tile mission, right?
AVERA: That's correct. And NASA, over the years, has developed they call standard repairs.
SAN MIGUEL: Which is just filling in with putty-like substance of these...
AVERA: Using tools like dental drills to define that localized repair and to repair it.
SAN MIGUEL: OK.
AVERA: But there are exact procedures and limitations of what repairs are able to be done.
SAN MIGUEL: Randy Avera, we appreciate your time. Thank you so much for showing off the tiles that flew on the actual Columbia shuttle.
Back to you in New York -- Paula.
ZAHN: It's so fascinating. Thanks, Renay.
Bill, you and I were looking at this article in the "L.A. Times," which suggests so much of this technology is -- there's so much you can do to improve on a 40-year design, and they point out that, in some cases, that NASA has actually -- this is according to "The New York" -- "L.A. Times" -- had to go to eBay and its auction site to get parts no longer made to service the shuttle.
HEMMER: And if, indeed, that is true -- we talk about questions going forward 00 there's one for them for you right there.
ZAHN: Yes. And, as Wolf said just about an hour and 15 minutes from now, we're going to get an update from investigators.
HEMMER: That's right.
ZAHN: And we hope you'll stay with us through then.
We're going to get caught up on the latest news right out of the break.
Plus, hers was no ordinary life. Shuttle astronaut, decorated naval flight surgeon, wife and mother. The story of Laurel Clark when our coverage continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Our special coverage continues in the aftermath of the Columbia tragedy.
(NEWSBREAK)
ZAHN: As you know, this has been a day of prayer at many places of worship all over the country, and no more has it been -- nowhere has it been more moving than what we saw unfold in Houston, Texas, a little earlier this morning at the Grace Community Church. That is where two of the astronauts of the Columbia crew attended church.
And Courtney Alston of News 24 is going to let us know what took place and what the sermon was about and how people reacted to it.
Good morning, Courtney.
COURTNEY ALSTON, HOUSTON TV NEWS REPORTER: Good morning.
You know, one moment changes everything. That's what Pastor Steve Riggle opened his sermon off this morning. He went on to talk about triumph over tragedy. He says you can't have one without the other, even to make life better.
Now they also went on to honor all the seven astronauts, but, again, especially Rick Husband and Mike Anderson who were members of this church. Now Pastor Riggle also played an interview of Rick, and Rick went on to talk about the challenges and spiritual growth.
Now it's that message that is being remembered here today as the congregation tries to make sense of what happened and as they mourn and try to come together to find comfort in healing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by. ZAHN: So, Courtney, I'm sure you had the opportunity to talk with some of those folks who gathered to show their respects to -- for the shuttle crew members. Share with us what they had to say.
ALSTON: You know what, I did speak to a lot of the church members out here, and pretty much they are just devastated by what happened. But, again, they're finding strength through faith, and this sermon today with their minister actually helped them a great deal. They talked a lot about leaning on that faith, especially during times like this.
ZAHN: Courtney Alston.
Thank you very much for spending a little time with us this morning.
Faith is an issue or a thread that we've heard throughout the morning, Bill, starting off with the interview I did with one of Rick Husband's best friends when he talked about their last conversation in between missions, where he talked so much about how his faith had guided him and how much reliance he put on it.
HEMMER: It's an amazing family, too. We got the report yesterday of the family members who had gathered in Florida for the touchdown of "Columbia." They were all taken into one room, and they faced this tragedy with amazing strength very early on, and -- really a testament to their own fortitude and their strength going forward.
Laurel Clark was one of four mission specialists on board "Columbia." She had helped on roughly 80 to 90 scientific experiments, and her death now the second tragedy for her family in the past 18 months. Clark's aunt and uncle lost their son in the terror attacks of 9/11.
Brian Cabell is with us now in Laurel Clark's hometown in the State of Wisconsin and the town of Racine.
Brian, good morning.
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. We're out in front of Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church.
This was the church of Laurel Clark's family for about 20 years until most of them moved away in the last three years or so. The minister here was the one who married Laurel to her husband several years back. She came back here and spoke a couple years ago to the congregation.
The minister here just a little while ago in the service remembered her as someone who was not only highly talented, as they all knew, but he said, remarkably, she was a nice person, a genuinely nice person, unpretentious, which he says is not always the case with highly talented people.
Her younger brother, Dan, is the only one who still goes to church here. He attended services this morning. Normally, he teaches Sunday school, but, today, he attended church with his wife. Outside greeting him this morning were bagpipes, bagpipes for not only her but for all the astronauts, and they were greeted and hugged by the reverend here as well.
And they were greeted as well by the rest of the parishioners inside who remember Laurel as a highly ambitious young woman, a highly motivated young woman who became a Navy surgeon, who became an astronaut, who was a wife and a mother of an 8-year-old son.
But to Dan, whom we talked to earlier this morning, he remembers her as a big sister, and he says the only time he really worried about his big sister was at the launch 17 days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL SALTON, LAUREL CLARK'S BROTHER: When the thing lit off and started going up, that's when I really started to just worry that -- you know, the scene of the Challenger plays through your mind, and I wanted to get through that and just -- we all just willed it up into space.
And they had the main engine cutoff after eight-and-a-half minutes or so, and it was just a big sigh of relief and, OK, the -- you know, the hard part's over, now they've just got 16 hard days of work and come on back and give her a big hug, and I don't think any of us ever thought about the landing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABELL: Laurel Clark was a hometown girl who went out in the world and did very well for herself in 41 years.
The reverend in the service just a little while ago said she was a woman who managed in her short lifetime to explore the depths of the seas as a Navy surgeon and also the skies as an astronaut.
I asked her younger brother a little while ago what he remembered most about his sister on this day afterwards. He said her smile. Her smile. Her smile, he said, could fill a room -- Bill.
HEMMER: An amazing young life. Age 41.
Brian, thank you for that.
In a moment here -- it is almost noon in the East. It was 9:00 a.m. yesterday East Coast Time, about 28 hours ago, when the moment -- the very first moment those fireballs went streaking across the sky. A short time later, a president announcing yet another national tragedy to a stunned world learning that seven space explorers were, indeed, lost.
We'll look back as our coverage continues after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: I want to thank you for making us a part of your Sunday morning. That concludes our special edition of AMERICAN MORNING here in New York, and we are certain not to leave the story. We'll be back again tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ZAHN: Wolf Blitzer is going to be up next with a special three- hour edition of his show.
We hope what we've done this morning is give you a sense of how the nation is coming together a day after the horror of what we all witnessed yesterday. And, as we leave you, we wanted to show you some powerful images of what the nation witnessed and what we all have lost.
Thanks again for joining us.
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Aired February 2, 2003 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. We continue now with our special coverage of the shuttle tragedy. I'm Paula Zahn along with Bill Hemmer. We're going to bring you the very latest news on all the families affected and on the federal inquiries set to begin.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Our first stop -- this half-hour anyway -- to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. That's where CNN's Wolf Blitzer now joins us to pick up our coverage from there.
Wolf, good morning, once again, to you.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Bill. And good morning to Paula as well.
We're about 90 minutes or so away from the news conference, the briefing we're expecting from NASA officials. They'll be answering questions. We have a lot of questions about possibly what went wrong.
All of those thousands and thousands of pieces of debris -- they're being brought to one location, Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. That's where they'll be reviewed, they'll be searched, because, as you point out, perhaps on one of those pieces of debris, they'll find an answer, why the space shuttle exploded.
CNN's Mike Brooks is at Barksdale Air Force Base. He's joining us now live.
Mike, tell our viewers what you're seeing there and what kind of investigation they plan on conducting at Barksdale.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, one of the reasons they're going to bring the evidence here in Barksdale are because of the hangar spaces they do have here and the close proximity to the debris fields all through the State of Texas and Louisiana.
I spoke a short time ago with representatives of both NASA and FEMA.
NASA said that they're -- basically, quote, "evidence recovery is kind of foreign to us." They're right now focusing on the systems that were involved with the shuttle, but they are going to have to collect that evidence, and that --
Then comes in the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They are the lead agency for searching for, finding, and securing the debris. NASA has the overall responsibility for the investigation and the evidence collection.
NASA said you will be seeing folks out there from their agency in blue jump-suits, yellow gloves that will be actually handling the evidence and picking it up. But, since that is kind of foreign to them, they are going to need the assistance of people that do that every single day.
Right now, they are in the process of trying to figure out exactly how they're going to go about that with the assistance of the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, and the National Transportation Safety Board, who are going help them because they -- of their experience with recovery of this kind of evidence -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Are they treating all those pieces of evidence, all those little pieces of debris as what? How -- when they get to Barksdale, what will they actually be?
BROOKS: It will be evidence. It will be evidence of this investigation. This is an investigation, and, with that, we have evidence.
And I want to point out, too, to any of our listeners, any of our viewers that are watching, if you find anything, please don't touch it. It can be very, very toxic. Some of the residue on the debris can be extremely, extremely toxic because of some of this -- formulas they use in the fuels for the shuttle. So please don't touch it.
If you do find it, we have a number that you can call at the Johnson Space Center. That number is Area Code 281-483-3388. That's the Emergency Operations Center at the Johnson Space Center.
Now, once they do get it here, again, they will go over it, try to figure out exactly what part the piece came from, just as they've done in other investigations similar to this. But they will try to find out and hopefully try to find that one piece -- or there may not be a piece, but to -- hopefully, they will be able to find exactly that one piece and find out what the cause of this tragedy was -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Mike Brooks at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
Let's go back to Bill in New York -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Wolf.
As we have mentioned, 20,000 tiles on the outside of space shuttle "Columbia."
To Renay San Miguel now at the CNN Center for more on these tiles, their use, and, again, what could a bit of a vulnerability.
Renay, good morning.
RANDY AVERA, FORMER NASA ENGINEER: Good morning, Bill. RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually, we have one of the tiles that flew on an early Columbia mission. It is what they call scrap tile. It's the property of Randy Avera, former NASA engineer, who was also involved in the Challenger investigation.
And, you know, is it markedly different, this tile right here from what -- the tiles that were on the last mission of the Columbia.
AVERA: This is exactly the same design that flew on STS-107, the Columbia mission. This tile flew one or two missions on the early flights of Columbia. This tile was located on the rear end of Columbia around the body flap or the elevons in the rear trailing edge of the wing.
SAN MIGUEL: One of these things back here. You can tell that from the thickness, right?
AVERA: Correct. That's right. The thickness of the tile is gauged by the local temperature.
But what's important to understand about a tile is how lightweight it is and how almost like chalk or -- for example, comparing it to a styrofoam ice chest, if you see, I can take my fingernail and on the bottom side of the tile actually just prick up an amount of what looks like chalky material.
SAN MIGUEL: Yes. You're digging that up right there. You're...
AVERA: It's made of alumina and silica. It's called alumina silica, and it was invented by NASA and Lockheed, and what happens when a tile is being bonded -- if my hand is the belly of the orbiter and a tile is to be bonded on to that alumina structure much like on a pool table, the felt-type material, only a high-temperature version, is glued literally on to this chalky material.
SAN MIGUEL: So we're not talking about welds or bolts. It's just glued.
AVERA: Just glued.
SAN MIGUEL: That keeps this to the underside of the...
AVERA: Silicone rubber glue.
And there's also a densification coating. Since the tile is so porous, the glue cannot grab to that and hold. So this densification was added, if you recall when we took the shuttle tiles off back in 1979 and '80, it was to apply this gray coating where the adhesive glue can grab.
And then, once you have that felt glued on to the tile, then the entire tile gets another coat of glue on that felt and it's glued to the belly of the orbiter.
SAN MIGUEL: And that's all that is sticking it to the shuttle, is pretty much the glue that you're talking about there? AVERA: That's correct.
SAN MIGUEL: Turn it over there and show us some of the pockmarks and, as we talked about, the possibility of that foam coming off the booster rocket on the launch on January 16, the damage that these can take. What -- the surface here -- what are we talking about? What's it made of?
AVERA: Well, this is a glass ceramic coating that is sprayed on to the tile and then baked. It's millimeters thin. It's extremely thin, and it's also brittle.
If you notice, I could take my fingernail, and, see, there's a new damage mark. These are damage marks from the past. Or I could take that ceramic coating with my fingernail and just flip up and flick off pieces, as you see, of that ceramic coating.
SAN MIGUEL: And this is supposed to take up -- almost to 3,000 degrees, right? That's supposed to withstand...
AVERA: My recall is 2,850 degrees on these black tiles. The reinforced carbon-carbon on the leading edge of the wings and the nose cap take the highest temperatures.
But, actually, these black tiles take lower than 2,850. It's in the -- they're called high-temperature insulation, but it's not the highest. But these are extreme temperatures above 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
SAN MIGUEL: What you had told me -- if that wasn't pockmarked, this could have been re-used on another tile mission, right?
AVERA: That's correct. And NASA, over the years, has developed they call standard repairs.
SAN MIGUEL: Which is just filling in with putty-like substance of these...
AVERA: Using tools like dental drills to define that localized repair and to repair it.
SAN MIGUEL: OK.
AVERA: But there are exact procedures and limitations of what repairs are able to be done.
SAN MIGUEL: Randy Avera, we appreciate your time. Thank you so much for showing off the tiles that flew on the actual Columbia shuttle.
Back to you in New York -- Paula.
ZAHN: It's so fascinating. Thanks, Renay.
Bill, you and I were looking at this article in the "L.A. Times," which suggests so much of this technology is -- there's so much you can do to improve on a 40-year design, and they point out that, in some cases, that NASA has actually -- this is according to "The New York" -- "L.A. Times" -- had to go to eBay and its auction site to get parts no longer made to service the shuttle.
HEMMER: And if, indeed, that is true -- we talk about questions going forward 00 there's one for them for you right there.
ZAHN: Yes. And, as Wolf said just about an hour and 15 minutes from now, we're going to get an update from investigators.
HEMMER: That's right.
ZAHN: And we hope you'll stay with us through then.
We're going to get caught up on the latest news right out of the break.
Plus, hers was no ordinary life. Shuttle astronaut, decorated naval flight surgeon, wife and mother. The story of Laurel Clark when our coverage continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Our special coverage continues in the aftermath of the Columbia tragedy.
(NEWSBREAK)
ZAHN: As you know, this has been a day of prayer at many places of worship all over the country, and no more has it been -- nowhere has it been more moving than what we saw unfold in Houston, Texas, a little earlier this morning at the Grace Community Church. That is where two of the astronauts of the Columbia crew attended church.
And Courtney Alston of News 24 is going to let us know what took place and what the sermon was about and how people reacted to it.
Good morning, Courtney.
COURTNEY ALSTON, HOUSTON TV NEWS REPORTER: Good morning.
You know, one moment changes everything. That's what Pastor Steve Riggle opened his sermon off this morning. He went on to talk about triumph over tragedy. He says you can't have one without the other, even to make life better.
Now they also went on to honor all the seven astronauts, but, again, especially Rick Husband and Mike Anderson who were members of this church. Now Pastor Riggle also played an interview of Rick, and Rick went on to talk about the challenges and spiritual growth.
Now it's that message that is being remembered here today as the congregation tries to make sense of what happened and as they mourn and try to come together to find comfort in healing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by. ZAHN: So, Courtney, I'm sure you had the opportunity to talk with some of those folks who gathered to show their respects to -- for the shuttle crew members. Share with us what they had to say.
ALSTON: You know what, I did speak to a lot of the church members out here, and pretty much they are just devastated by what happened. But, again, they're finding strength through faith, and this sermon today with their minister actually helped them a great deal. They talked a lot about leaning on that faith, especially during times like this.
ZAHN: Courtney Alston.
Thank you very much for spending a little time with us this morning.
Faith is an issue or a thread that we've heard throughout the morning, Bill, starting off with the interview I did with one of Rick Husband's best friends when he talked about their last conversation in between missions, where he talked so much about how his faith had guided him and how much reliance he put on it.
HEMMER: It's an amazing family, too. We got the report yesterday of the family members who had gathered in Florida for the touchdown of "Columbia." They were all taken into one room, and they faced this tragedy with amazing strength very early on, and -- really a testament to their own fortitude and their strength going forward.
Laurel Clark was one of four mission specialists on board "Columbia." She had helped on roughly 80 to 90 scientific experiments, and her death now the second tragedy for her family in the past 18 months. Clark's aunt and uncle lost their son in the terror attacks of 9/11.
Brian Cabell is with us now in Laurel Clark's hometown in the State of Wisconsin and the town of Racine.
Brian, good morning.
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. We're out in front of Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church.
This was the church of Laurel Clark's family for about 20 years until most of them moved away in the last three years or so. The minister here was the one who married Laurel to her husband several years back. She came back here and spoke a couple years ago to the congregation.
The minister here just a little while ago in the service remembered her as someone who was not only highly talented, as they all knew, but he said, remarkably, she was a nice person, a genuinely nice person, unpretentious, which he says is not always the case with highly talented people.
Her younger brother, Dan, is the only one who still goes to church here. He attended services this morning. Normally, he teaches Sunday school, but, today, he attended church with his wife. Outside greeting him this morning were bagpipes, bagpipes for not only her but for all the astronauts, and they were greeted and hugged by the reverend here as well.
And they were greeted as well by the rest of the parishioners inside who remember Laurel as a highly ambitious young woman, a highly motivated young woman who became a Navy surgeon, who became an astronaut, who was a wife and a mother of an 8-year-old son.
But to Dan, whom we talked to earlier this morning, he remembers her as a big sister, and he says the only time he really worried about his big sister was at the launch 17 days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL SALTON, LAUREL CLARK'S BROTHER: When the thing lit off and started going up, that's when I really started to just worry that -- you know, the scene of the Challenger plays through your mind, and I wanted to get through that and just -- we all just willed it up into space.
And they had the main engine cutoff after eight-and-a-half minutes or so, and it was just a big sigh of relief and, OK, the -- you know, the hard part's over, now they've just got 16 hard days of work and come on back and give her a big hug, and I don't think any of us ever thought about the landing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABELL: Laurel Clark was a hometown girl who went out in the world and did very well for herself in 41 years.
The reverend in the service just a little while ago said she was a woman who managed in her short lifetime to explore the depths of the seas as a Navy surgeon and also the skies as an astronaut.
I asked her younger brother a little while ago what he remembered most about his sister on this day afterwards. He said her smile. Her smile. Her smile, he said, could fill a room -- Bill.
HEMMER: An amazing young life. Age 41.
Brian, thank you for that.
In a moment here -- it is almost noon in the East. It was 9:00 a.m. yesterday East Coast Time, about 28 hours ago, when the moment -- the very first moment those fireballs went streaking across the sky. A short time later, a president announcing yet another national tragedy to a stunned world learning that seven space explorers were, indeed, lost.
We'll look back as our coverage continues after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: I want to thank you for making us a part of your Sunday morning. That concludes our special edition of AMERICAN MORNING here in New York, and we are certain not to leave the story. We'll be back again tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ZAHN: Wolf Blitzer is going to be up next with a special three- hour edition of his show.
We hope what we've done this morning is give you a sense of how the nation is coming together a day after the horror of what we all witnessed yesterday. And, as we leave you, we wanted to show you some powerful images of what the nation witnessed and what we all have lost.
Thanks again for joining us.
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