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CNN Live At Daybreak

NASA Gets Ready to Make First Flight in More Than Two Years; Getting Tough on Terror

Aired July 26, 2005 - 06:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, ANCHOR, CNN: But first, "Now in the News." The mood is upbeat. Six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program officially resumed in China this morning. U.S. and North Korean officials held a rare, one-on-one meeting yesterday, and they plan to do it again today
Getting tough on terror. British Prime Minister Tony Blair started meeting with opposition party leaders. They're talking about ways to usher in new anti-terror measures in light of the London bombing attacks.

Windows, buildings, and nerves get rattled in southwestern Montana. A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck the state last night. No reports of any serious damage or injury.

The countdown is on and the world will be watching as NASA gets ready to make its first flight in more than two years. The shuttle crew suits up in just about 20 minutes for their return to space. Let's headline (ph) to CNN's space correspondent Miles O'Brien, he's at the Kennedy Space Center.

Good morning.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, all things look very good right now for the space shuttle Discovery launch. Even the weather seems to be cooperating. Has been upgraded, now, to 80 percent chance of favorable conditions for the launch, coming up at 10:39 A.M., Eastern Time. The shuttle is fueled- off and ready, more than 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in there.

And so far, this little device, which the fuel gauge sensor, which has been causing such problems for NASA, has worked just fine. I'm joined right now by the NASA administrator Mike Griffin, actually he'd prefer it if the system failed right.

Explain why.

MICHAEL GRIFFIN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Well, Miles, if it continues to work, it remains an unexplained anomaly. As I think I indicated the other day, we had a failure tree with 161 possible malfunctions that could cause the failure we saw. We've eliminated 158.

The remaining three can only be found if it were to fail under actual launch-preparation conditions. We'd like to know why.

O'BRIEN: So truly, in an ideal world, if it failed in a way you fully understood...

GRIFFIN: We would be delighted.

O'BRIEN: ... you would know what the problem is, and you would have a rationale for launch with only three of these operative sensors.

GRIFFIN: That's exactly right. We're perfectly safe with only three of those sensors operative. We're 100 percent good to go, and we'd like to have some opportunity to explain an otherwise unexplained anomaly.

O'BRIEN: Could it be possible that the tightening of the grounding wires and all the things to this point might have solved the problem.

GRIFFIN: It might. When you don't know, that means you don't know. That's one of the possibilities. But we literally don't know.

O'BRIEN: What do you say to folks and engineers who say, "You're taking away a layer of redundancy before you ever leave the launch pad." Is that a wise move?

GRIFFIN: The comment is actually not on-point. The master rule that we try to follow at all times is that, for systems like this, we want to be two-failure tolerant. Meaning that, two bad things can happen and the shuttle will continue to fly safely.

With four sensors operating, we are actually three-failure tolerant. So we're one extra layer that we don't need and that is not replicated throughout the rest of the system. With three sensors operating, we are still two-failure tolerant, and we're within our rules.

So the idea that we're bending or waiving rules is just not the case, here.

O'BRIEN: So what you're saying is that the rules are outmoded as you have them and you need to refine them?

GRIFFIN: The flight rule that we had applied to an older configuration of the sensor, where we had the sensors grouped in blocks of two each. And therefore, we did have to have four of four working because if one went down, the other could go down.

So to simplify it, the sensors are now operating as four independent channels, of which we truly only need three. So I wouldn't say that the rule is outmoded, I would say Discovery is flying in a new configuration now. It renders that flight rule inoperative.

O'BRIEN: So when people say, "This feels like NASA talking itself into a rationale for launch," what do you say? GRIFFIN: I say, "You ought to be proud of us," because we examined the exact technical situation very closely, very carefully, came up with the right answer, and we're prepared to defend it, even though it's a difficult argument, and even in the face of the kinds of questions that we've been getting, we're prepared to defend the right answer.

O'BRIEN: NASA administrator Mike Griffin. We wish you well today during launch. Thank you very much.

GRIFFIN: Well thank you for your good wishes. When the shuttle lifts off, it ignites not just the rocket engines, but the imagination and the hopes of the American people, and we all pray for a good launch.

O'BRIEN: Alright, thank you very much.

GRIFFIN: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Carol?

COSTELLO: Alright, thank you, Miles. We'll get back to you.

Here's a look at more of this morning's shuttle schedule for you. The launch countdown begins at 6:44 A.M., Eastern, that would make it T minus three hours and 55 minutes. The crew then exits the operation checkout building on their way to the spacecraft. And at 10:39 Eastern, they light the candle and send discovery into space.

Of course, you can watch the launch live, right here on CNN. Miles O'Brien will take you through it.

Let's head to the forecast center because weather is an important factor in the launch this morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Of course. It's even more important than it used to be, because they have all these cameras that are pointed at the shuttle in order to make sure that the launch went exactly as planned. You know, they found that that piece of ice, or whatever it was, fell off the big tank and then hit the wing, and they found that afterwards.

They want to take a look at this all, now, while the shuttle is still in space, so they can see if anything happened to the shuttle on the way up. So they have a hundred cameras around, a little bit more than a hundred cameras, all pointing in different directions.

So they want to know, they want to be able to see, from all those cameras. If there are clouds in the way, they can't see. So there you go.

At Tuesday, that's today, 8:00. A couple of clouds around, a little bit of light of light fog around Kennedy Space Center. But by 9:30, it looks like the sun's out pretty brightly, a couple of cumulus clouds. And by 10:39, an 80 percent chance of the likelihood of a launch, due to weather. As Miles always points out, there are a million parts on that thing and something else could go wrong, but looks like the weather is not going to go wrong.

80 in D.C., 83 in St. Louis, 59 in Denver. 63 right now in Minneapolis. It does warm up down to the South, though. Hot weather all the way across the East. Cold front coming through Chicago to Denver, drops your temperatures by 20 degrees. You even cool down, a little bit, St. Louis. But that just pushes the warm air a little bit farther to the East.

99 in D.C., maybe even making a run at 100 to 105, P.G. County. 95 in Atlanta, 93 in New Orleans. So yes, another hot tomorrow as well.

COSTELLO: Alright. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Here are some other stories making news across America this morning.

An apology has calmed the family of a marine killed in action. They were quite upset when Pennsylvania's Lieutenant Governor showed up uninvited at the funeral and then started handing out her business cards. Catherine Baker Noll issued an apology. Family members say they were upset that Baker Noll told them the U.S. government is against the war.

There is a call for justice on the 59th anniversary of four murders in rural Georgia. The Reverend Jesse Jackson was among those remembering the lynching deaths of four African Americans back in 1946. 55 people were listed by the FBI as suspects in those deaths, but no one was ever prosecuted.

And here's a follow-up to a story we first told you about yesterday morning. Three people seriously hurt when a Greyhound bus flipped over near Baltimore. Investigators say the bus driver lost control while trying to change lanes in the rain. All 33 passengers and the driver were taken to the hospital.

Saturday's attacks in Egypt may be linked to another bombing last year. One man, named by a reporter for a Palestinian newspaper as a possible suspect, may also have been involved in a similar attack last October. The man's brother was killed in that bombing.

In the mean time, investigators are circulating pictures of suspects wanted in connection with the weekend attack. One American was among the 84 people killed in the attack. Christina Miller was in Sharm el-Sheik to celebrate her 27th birthday. Her father told CNN that he wished he could trade places with his daughter. She was killed along with her boyfriend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANY MILLER, SISTER OF CHRISTINA MILLER: She met her boyfriend that she's currently with, who was also involved the attack. And, yes, they were planning getting married, and she was planning on just starting a whole brand-new life. She's been the happiest she's ever been the past seven months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The State Department is urging Americans living or traveling Egypt to avoid the south Sinai resort areas.

Still to come on "DAYBREAK," a new reward and a new lead. We'll bring you the latest in the Natalee Holloway case.

Also, hot in the West, hot in the East, too, and just about everywhere in between.

And they're the kind of plastic containers that might be sitting in your kitchen right now. We'll tell you why they've become a focus of the London terror probe.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It was a sad beginning to a massive Boy Scout Jamboree in Virginia. Four adult scout leaders were killed while they were setting up camp. They were electrocuted. They were setting up a tent pole and it touched some electrical lines overhead. They were electrocuted and killed.

Some Boy Scouts witnessed it all. Grief counselors are available today to help cope with what the Boy Scouts saw. Let's get more from reporter A.J. Lagoe of our affiliate station, WRIC.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

A.J. LAGOE, WRIC REPORTER: Truly a tragic start to the 2005 Boy Scout Jamboree here at Ft. A.P. Hill. Four Scout leaders are dead and another severely injured after an accident that happened while tents were being set up.

We want to show you several photographs that were taken by the Associated Press shortly after this fatal accident that happened around 5:00 P.M. Monday evening.

Witnesses tell me that a number of Scout leaders were setting up a tent when they somehow hit an overhead power line. Four of the Scout leaders, all from Alaska, were killed. Another leader, along with a civilian contractor, was severely injured. Jamboree organizers tell me right now, their biggest concern is for the young Scouts, who lost their close friends and role models.

GREGG SHIELDS, JAMBOREE SPOKESMAN: They are our primary concern right now. We have chaplains with the boys, and we're doing everything we can to comfort them.

LAGOE: The victims' families are being notified. No word, yet, as to what this means for the remainder of the Boy Scout Jamboree.

For CNN, I'm A.J. Lagoe, reporting from Ft. A.P. Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: A reward for Natalee Holloway's safe return has been raised to $1 million. This comes nearly two months after the 18-year- old Alabama girl disappeared in Aruba.

In another development, the family's private investigator says he has a new lead. A witness reported seeing a vehicle matching the one used by two former suspects near a racket club the night Holloway disappeared. The family is asking for any new information.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE "JUG" TWITTY, STEPFATHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: There's been rumors out there for many, you know, weeks that we can't find her on the island. That she's possibly in Venezuela, Curazao, all these places. And hopefully, this will help, you know, if she's out there, if people have information that they can help us, you know, find her, that they will come forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The FBI has a more active role in the case now.

In news, money, weather, and sports, it's 6:14 Eastern. Here's what's all news this morning.

The shuttle Discovery astronauts are set to lift off in under four-and-a-half hours. NASA is pressing on with the launch, even though it hasn't figured out what caused a fuel sensor glitch.

In Canada, nine Roman Catholic women have been unofficially ordained as priests and deacons. The ordinations are not valid in the Catholic and the women face excommunications.

In money news, want a seat on the New York Stock Exchange? Pay up. Two seats have sold for $2.6 million each. That's just shy of a record. The price has jump since the exchange announced plans to go public.

In culture, Kanye West and Kelly Clarkson will be among the featured performers at this year's MTV Music Video Awards. The August 28th award show will be live from Miami, hosted by P. Diddy.

In sports, Ricky Williams is back with the Miami Dolphins one year after his surprise retirement. The one-time pro-bowler returned to the practice field for the first day of training camp. If he makes the team, if, Williams will miss the first four games of the season for violating the league's drug policy.

Somehow, I think he'll make the team because Miami was pretty bad without him, Chad, last year.

MYERS: Yes, and he owed some money, too, didn't he? Back to the team if he didn't go back? Yes, I remember that.

Hey good morning, everybody. In New York City, 85 today. 95 by the afternoon. It never even cools down this morning, or tonight. If you can't cool your apartment because you have the windows open, you're certainly not going to be able to even handle that 95 tomorrow. That's the problem. When you just don't cool down, you can't get cooled down.

D.C. 100 degrees today. 85 will be the low tonight and then back up to 99. There is relief on the way. By Thursday and Friday, your temperatures are back down into the 80s. Orlando, you don't get that cold front. Forget about that. Chicago, though, you already have it. Only 80 degrees today. Seattle, sunny at 80 -- Carol?

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

That's a look at the latest headlines for you this morning.

What do you think about the man President Bush picked to be the new Supreme Court Justice? A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll finds 59 percent say the Senate should vote to confirm John Roberts. 22 percent are opposed to his confirmation, 19 percent aren't so sure.

As senators get to know Roberts in informal meetings, they're also looking to learn more about his views by reading documents he prepared over the years of his government service. But the White House says it won't release documents from Roberts' time in the Solicitor General's office from 1989 to 1993. Senator Joe Lieberman is urging the White House, though, to be flexible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: The focus here ought to be on Judge Roberts' credentials. To the extent that the Judiciary Committee will be aided by the documents that they're seeking, then the administration, White House, ought to try to give them as many as they feel they can, without setting a precedent they feel will be dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The National Archives is releasing some documents, today, from Roberts' time as special assistant to the Attorney General during the Reagan administration. We'll keep you posted.

Still to come on "DAYBREAK," pay for play? You can't do that in radio. Now a record company thinks there's a judge.

And single and looking for love? We'll tell you the best cities to make that happen.

But first, good morning, Ft. Lauderdale. Has the big dust storm made it your way? If it did, you'll have a spectacular sunrise this morning. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (NEWSBREAK)

COSTELLO: Time now for a little business buzz.

Two of the largest unions in the AFL-CIO have bolted, we told you that yesterday. But this morning, two other major players could follow suit. We're talking about more than five million workers. That's nearly 40 percent of the AFL-CIO's membership. The moves will likely have a long-term impact on both organized labor and the Democratic Party.

Housing sales are through the roof. An industry expert -- or an industry report, rather, says existing home sales hit a new record last month, exceeding Wall Street expectations. The median price of an existing home is a record $219,000. It is the biggest jump in prices in 25 years.

If you listen to the radio and notice the same songs playing over and over, we might be able to explain. Carrie Lee joins us. More on a payola settlement.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the songs might not even be that great, right?

COSTELLO: Like "Jenny From the Block." We've heard that song 8 million times.

LEE: Well, this is a decades-old practice, apparently. The music industry -- well, Sony BMG is now agreeing to pay 10 million dollars to settle the payola allegations with New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer. As Spitzer held a press conference yesterday to announce the settlement, this investigation is continuing into other record companies.

Spitzer said Sony BMG would illegally pay for radio stations to play certain songs in the way of outright bribes, gifts to use as contest give-aways, and, for middlemen paid by the labels, to promote the songs. Now, e-mails obtained by Spitzer showed a flat-screen television, laptop computer, disguised as contest give-aways, were, in fact, given away to radio station employees.

In another e-mail, a Sony plan suggested sending DJs one sneaker and then sending the other shoe once the song had been played ten times. So really dangling the carrot, there. But you've got to give them some points for creativity, I guess.

As part of the deal, Sony BMG admitted wrong-doing. Also, Epic Records, one of the company's labels, reportedly fired one executive and disciplined several other employees. So hopefully, this is the end of this story. Yes.

COSTELLO: So it's just greed. That's why they have such terrible play lists.

LEE: All these things going on behind the scenes. COSTELLO: You know the sad thing? That's what killing them. They play the same songs over and over, not necessarily the songs that people like.

LEE: Well another challenge is iPods, all of these other music formats. Satellite radio. They're trying to do it.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: ... millions of dollars in bribes. Quick look at the future.

LEE: Yes, things looking up, today. We did see some selling yesterday after a four-week winning streak for stocks. A couple of companies reporting profits today, including Dupont and Verizon.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Carrie.

Alright, lots of jokes going around the CNN Newsroom about the "Best Cities for Singles" list. It's on the "Forbes" magazine Web site, in case you're interested. Guess what the best city for singles is -- Carrie?

LEE: New York.

COSTELLO: That's in the top ten. Denver, actually, is number one. Of course, that's the Mile High City. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. That's number one. Actually, it's the Denver-Boulder area. Boulder is the home of the University of Colorado. Oh, I hear Chad.

MYERS: Yes, Denver, Colorado.

COSTELLO: All these married people talking about the best cities for...

MYERS: Colorado Buffaloes are having a good time out there.

COSTELLO: Number two is Boston.

MYERS: Pleasant city, really great downtown. A lot of great local choices for music and for that kind of stuff. In fact, now they're even adding in how much money the singles are making in those cities, as well. So the income's very good in Boston.

COSTELLO: Third is San Francisco. And I think New York came in number eight.

MYERS: Yes. Atlanta was in there. I mean, a number of really good cities. Raleigh-Durham in there. The coolest city is still Austin, Texas. Yes.

COSTELLO: You know, I've always heard about New York, that women outnumber men like ten to one. But I guess that must not be true.

MYERS: Not when I go there. All the meetings are with guys.

COSTELLO: Anyway, if you want to check out the list, go to forbes.com/singles.

Still to come, on "DAYBREAK," is there any relief in sight? Summer is still sizzling. It has put a huge chunk of the nation on the hot seat.

And gearing up, the Discovery astronauts head to the launch pad within the hour. We'll head to the Kennedy Space Center right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. Thank you for waking up with us.

Coming up this half hour, we're getting closer to go time for the space shuttle Discovery crew. We'll have a live report from the Kennedy Space Center.

Also, record temperatures have much of the country sweating it out. We'll check the highs and see how some people are dealing with heat.

But first, "Now in the News." Britain apologizes to Brazil. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says he's very, very sorry for the fatal police shooting of a Brazilian citizen on a London subway station. Police now say the man was not linked to the recent terrorist incident.

A tent pole touching a power line appears to be what caused the electrocution of four adult Boy Scout leaders. The deaths came on the first day of a National Jamboree in Virginia.

Florida is in for a dusting. A massive dust cloud from the Sahara Desert in Africa could arrive over south Florida today. We've been telling you about this. That cloud is known as Haboob, and it is nearly as big as the continental United States. We keep waiting, Chad, and it's not coming.

MYERS: Well, you know why? Because it's already here. But it's so thin, you don't even know. It's such a non-real story. By the time that thing gets to America, most of the sand and dust has fallen out. It's all mixed up.

So it's not like there's going to be this big, black, gray cloud that's going to fly over you. All you're going to see is a little bit more color when it comes to a sunset or a sunrise. It's really not that big of a deal.

83 right now in St. Louis, 77 in Chicago, 80 in D.C., and 79 in Atlanta this morning. There will be cooler air that works its way down through the upper-Midwest. At least a little relief for you, not for the east coast. All that cooler air does is shove the hot air a little bit farther to the East.

Ninety-nine in D.C., probably a hundred to get up to Baltimore. Temperatures are going to be hot, again, tomorrow. But notice, the cool front is now through Chicago and Detroit, and it will be pushing through New York City, into D.C. Lots of excessive warnings for the heat index across the east coast.

Carol, you asked for it, here it is. The heat index is equal to -42.379 plus 2.049 times temperature in Fahrenheit, plus 10 point -- you get it, huh?

COSTELLO: It's like "Good Will Hunting."

MYERS: I'm not kidding. That is the real heat index number. The relative humidity is in a whole integer. So if it's 65 percent relative humidity, you have to use 65, not .65. The temperature is in Fahrenheit, and then you have to square it some times, cube it other times.

COSTELLO: Stop it.

MYERS: Back to you.

COSTELLO: Thank you.

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