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CNN Live At Daybreak
Global Reaction to Tragedy
Aired February 03, 2003 - 06:24 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The United States is not alone in its sorrow over the loss of Columbia's crew. An Indian born woman and an Israeli Air Force colonel were among the astronauts killed.
We're going global now for reaction to the tragedy.
Our Jerrold Kessel is live from Jerusalem. CNN New Delhi bureau chief Satinder Bindra is also with us live and Ralitsa Vassileva is in Moscow.
We start with Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, Israelis not just mourning, but trying to come to grips with how a mission which had so lifted the devastated national spirit, so dramatically lifted them, could collapse and disintegrating into tears, bitter tears for a national hero. And they're asking themselves how come they feel so much. And as one man said, it's because we were all there. He represented us all and that's why it was so painful.
And his wife, the wife of Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut, Rona Ramon, has been speaking out for the first time. And she said this was a man who never spoke about, never talked about, never contemplated death.
Here's what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONA RAMON, ILAN RAMON'S WIDOW: He had no fear. He left us with the impression that everything was going to be fine. He didn't doubt that. He didn't even leave a will. He was taking everything with a smile and that's how we will continue living.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KESSEL: And Rona Ramon also disclosed that the youngest of their four children, 5-year-old Noah, said when the blast off of Columbia happened, she said, "I've lost my daddy," and her mother said ruefully, "Perhaps she knew something we didn't."
And now there's another community that's been grievous over one of its lost daughters from this mission, India.
CNN's Satinder Bindra is in New Delhi.
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Jerrold and hello Carol from the streets of New Delhi.
Here, the sadness lingers and the mourning continues. Kalpana Chawla, of course, was a U.S. citizen, but she was born here in India and millions of Indians still have a lot of affection and a lot of regard for Kalpana Chawla.
In about 15 or 20 minutes, there'll be another large prayer service for Kalpana Chawla. But in the meantime, just north of here in a small place called Karnal, which is Kalpana Chawla's hometown, the local government there has already declared two days of state mourning.
Even in death, for many Indians, Kalpana Chawla remains a powerful symbol. She symbolized that it's possible to dream and it's possible to reach out and touch the stars. Already today, the Indian government has instituted two scholarships in honor of Kalpana Chawla, but many Indians want New Delhi to honor her with a national award. They believe that will keep her memory alive and that will keep Kalpana Chawla alive in their hearts.
Now, over to Ralitsa in Moscow.
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Satinder, thank you.
In Moscow, the Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, has just been to the U.S. Embassy here, signing a book of condolences, writing, "The tragedy of the Columbia shuttle has brought pain in the hearts of all Russians." He expressed the Russians' deepest condolences to the relatives and friends of the crew of Columbia and also to the whole American people.
This reflects very much the painful mood of the Russian space agency at the loss of their colleagues from the Columbia crew. But also the Russian space agency looking ahead as to how to save the international space station that will be severely affected by the grounding of the shuttle program. They say that this is a very important project, a $95 billion project that needs to be kept alive and that it's up to Russia and the United States to make that happen.
They realize that they're now the life line for the international space station. They already launched on Sunday a Progress cargo ship, which is expected to dock with the international space station and bring supplies, and they're thinking of how to make the best use of their limited resources to keep the space station alive for the next year. They have three more cargo ships like the one they sent to the international space station and two more Soyuz rockets -- Carol, back to you in Atlanta.
COSTELLO: All right, Ralitsa, Satinder, Jerrold, many thanks to all of you this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 3, 2003 - 06:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The United States is not alone in its sorrow over the loss of Columbia's crew. An Indian born woman and an Israeli Air Force colonel were among the astronauts killed.
We're going global now for reaction to the tragedy.
Our Jerrold Kessel is live from Jerusalem. CNN New Delhi bureau chief Satinder Bindra is also with us live and Ralitsa Vassileva is in Moscow.
We start with Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, Israelis not just mourning, but trying to come to grips with how a mission which had so lifted the devastated national spirit, so dramatically lifted them, could collapse and disintegrating into tears, bitter tears for a national hero. And they're asking themselves how come they feel so much. And as one man said, it's because we were all there. He represented us all and that's why it was so painful.
And his wife, the wife of Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut, Rona Ramon, has been speaking out for the first time. And she said this was a man who never spoke about, never talked about, never contemplated death.
Here's what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONA RAMON, ILAN RAMON'S WIDOW: He had no fear. He left us with the impression that everything was going to be fine. He didn't doubt that. He didn't even leave a will. He was taking everything with a smile and that's how we will continue living.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KESSEL: And Rona Ramon also disclosed that the youngest of their four children, 5-year-old Noah, said when the blast off of Columbia happened, she said, "I've lost my daddy," and her mother said ruefully, "Perhaps she knew something we didn't."
And now there's another community that's been grievous over one of its lost daughters from this mission, India.
CNN's Satinder Bindra is in New Delhi.
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Jerrold and hello Carol from the streets of New Delhi.
Here, the sadness lingers and the mourning continues. Kalpana Chawla, of course, was a U.S. citizen, but she was born here in India and millions of Indians still have a lot of affection and a lot of regard for Kalpana Chawla.
In about 15 or 20 minutes, there'll be another large prayer service for Kalpana Chawla. But in the meantime, just north of here in a small place called Karnal, which is Kalpana Chawla's hometown, the local government there has already declared two days of state mourning.
Even in death, for many Indians, Kalpana Chawla remains a powerful symbol. She symbolized that it's possible to dream and it's possible to reach out and touch the stars. Already today, the Indian government has instituted two scholarships in honor of Kalpana Chawla, but many Indians want New Delhi to honor her with a national award. They believe that will keep her memory alive and that will keep Kalpana Chawla alive in their hearts.
Now, over to Ralitsa in Moscow.
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Satinder, thank you.
In Moscow, the Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, has just been to the U.S. Embassy here, signing a book of condolences, writing, "The tragedy of the Columbia shuttle has brought pain in the hearts of all Russians." He expressed the Russians' deepest condolences to the relatives and friends of the crew of Columbia and also to the whole American people.
This reflects very much the painful mood of the Russian space agency at the loss of their colleagues from the Columbia crew. But also the Russian space agency looking ahead as to how to save the international space station that will be severely affected by the grounding of the shuttle program. They say that this is a very important project, a $95 billion project that needs to be kept alive and that it's up to Russia and the United States to make that happen.
They realize that they're now the life line for the international space station. They already launched on Sunday a Progress cargo ship, which is expected to dock with the international space station and bring supplies, and they're thinking of how to make the best use of their limited resources to keep the space station alive for the next year. They have three more cargo ships like the one they sent to the international space station and two more Soyuz rockets -- Carol, back to you in Atlanta.
COSTELLO: All right, Ralitsa, Satinder, Jerrold, many thanks to all of you this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
