Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
Cell Phone Companies Begin Marketing Phones For Children; Space Shuttle Discovery Making Plans For Reentry Early Monday Morning
Aired August 07, 2005 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN ANCHOR: Teenagers and phones are inseparable, but what about your younger kids? There are cell phones on the market designed especially for the 'tweener in your life. We're going to look at a few of them.
And do you own a hybrid? Did you know you can get a tax credit on one? We're going to look at what you, the consumer, can get out of the energy bill.
And believe it or not, Graceland, it's not owned by the Presleys anymore. What's that about?
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Gerri Willis. Those stories after a check of the headlines.
The Israeli withdrawal from Gaza gets the go-ahead. The Israeli cabinet today gave its blessing to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to pull troops and settlements from the region. Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who opposes the plan resigned in protest. The withdrawal is to begin August 15.
At least four people are dead in the wake of a powerful typhoon in China. Typhoon Matsa hit China's northeast coast this weekend, demolishing a half million acres of crops and flattening more than 13,000 homes. The storm has been downgraded to a tropical storm.
Next stop, Earth for the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery. The orbiter is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center shortly before 5:00 a.m. Eastern time. That's tomorrow morning. NASA's ground crew says the weather outlook is good.
Up first, seven Russians who were stuck aboard a disabled sub escaped with their lives and, well, one heck of a story. The crew emerged from the hatch late last night disoriented but thankful to be alive. And they did it with a tremendous amount of help. Here's CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It was the moment for which few Russians had dared hoped. The mini-submarine trapped on the ocean floor for more than three days finally surfacing its seven crew members alive and well. The wife of the sub's commander spoke for many.
ELENA MILASHEVSKAYA, WIFE OF RESCUED SAILOR (through translator): I was ready to dance. I was crying. I was so glad, so happy to hear they're fine.
CHANCE: And for Russian officials a major success, too. Their early call for international assistance of this remote and military sensitive far eastern seaboard now vindicated.
VICTOR FEDOROV, RUSSIAN PACIFIC FLEET COMMANDER (through translator): I would like to stress that the help of the Royal Navy of Great Britain was crucial in this rescue operation. We admire their experience, highest professionalism and technical capability. Their apparatus placed a full stop in the story and released our mini submarine from its shackles.
CHANCE: It was Thursday morning, the Russian craft became tangled in abandoned fishing nets and a mesh of deep sea antennae off the remote Kamchatka Peninsula. British specialists arriving ahead of teams from the United States and Japan launched an undersea robot to cut the mini submarine free, an intensive operation that took three- and-a-half hours.
Underwater footage shows how the British submersible was maneuvered using cameras and lights by specialist operators on the surface. Its powerful cutting equipment severing debris to free the Russian sub.
JONTY POWIS, BRITISH SUB RESCUE SPECIALIST: This was no drill. It was saving the lives of seven men. So, we're all very pleased that it went so well.
CHANCE: These have been tense days in Russia. The crisis renewing bitter memories of the cursed tragedy five years ago: 118 sailors died on board a nuclear submarine marooned in the freezing waters of the Arctic. Back then, the Russian military refused help until it was too late.
The dramatic and happy events of recent days showing with a little help, the best of outcomes can be achieved.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAHNCE: Well, strong testament to the benefits of international cooperation. But this was also a crisis that has once again underlying the thoughts, the failings of Russia's once powerful Army -- Navy rather. And there are questions being asked amongst Russian politicians as why it was a Navy of Russia's size and resources was having to turn to foreign powers to get it out of trouble this time. Back to you.
WILLIS: Matthew chance, thank you for that report. That was CNN's Matthew Chance.
Was the U.S. disappointed it wasn't the one to come to the rescue of the Russian sub crew? CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has reaction.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well Gerri, I don't think they were disappointed in the great tradition of international sea ferry when someone is in trouble, it really is all hands, too. And, in fact, the U.S. Navy did play a bit of a role along with everyone else.
What we have learned today, is that three U.S. Navy divers and a Navy medical doctor did make it onto that ship with the Royal Navy crew that went out to cut that submersible loose.
What really emerged was at that Russian airfield, the British plane, of course, landed ahead of the U.S. airplane. They were simply much closer. And when the U.S. military got to the Russian airfield, the British were already unloading their equipment and getting ready to head out to sea.
Everybody decided the best thing to do, put those three Navy divers and that U.S. Navy doctor with the British ship. Just get them all going as fast as they could. The U.S. Navy would unload and follow as it could.
So, it wound up being a bit of an international effort. Certainly the Royal Navy absolutely taking the lead. And U.S. Navy officials we spoke to today saying that they are just delighted everything worked out so well.
Also, behind the scenes, we are learning about a very high-tech Internet effort that went on since Thursday to get this international rescue under way. There has been since that disaster of the Kursk, an international submarine assistance league, if you will, formed.
The world navies have an Internet connection amongst themselves so that when someone's submarine gets in trouble, they can activate this international chat room if you will, and that is what did happen Thursday and Friday when the Russians called for help.
Basically a classified international chat room amongst the world submarine force gets underway. They all started talking online. What did they have? What rescue equipment was available? What could get their first? And they all worked together to try and get this effort underway as quickly as possible, clearly leading to the success.
One last tidbit we have learned here today. The chief of naval operation, Admiral Mike Mullen, who has only had the job for several days, found himself on the phone last Friday morning with the No. 2 man in the Russian Navy talking about the effort, talking directly to the Russian Navy from here in the Pentagon about the rescue effort and what everybody was trying to do to help. Admiral Mullen absolutely expressing his delight today privately that it all worked out so well -- Gerri.
WILLIS: Barbara Starr, boy, a great story about that international cooperation. Technology playing a role. Thank you so much.
STARR: Sure thing.
WILLIS: In the fight for Iraq, a critical meeting today in Baghdad: Iraqi leaders from various political parties are trying to come up with a consensus on a draft of the country's constitution with their deadline just days away. As they negotiate, violence rages in the streets with insurgents stepping up their attacks against Iraqi officials and U.S. troops. CNN's Aneesh Raman has the latest from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Bringing to over 30 the number of U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq just since last Monday. Word that on Saturday, a U.S. marine was killed by a suicide bomber just outside of Fallujah. Also word that two U.S. soldiers were killed, three others wounded north of the capital in the town of Samara. That after a roadside bomb detonated alongside their vehicle.
It ends a horrific week for U.S. forces in Iraq, and comes as the country tries to push forward on political reform. A key meeting taking place late Sunday at residence of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani with key leaders from other political groups trying to hash out the numbers of huge issues that remain: the importance of Islam and what role it will play in the constitution, also the issue of federalism, how autonomous will regions be? No statements came out after the meeting. They plan to meet again on Monday.
But a sign of growing frustration in Iraq, south of the capital in the town of Samawa, relatively quiet place. On Sunday, erupting some 1,000 protesters taking to the streets, demanding better basic services, better electricity and water. So, police surrounded the protesters and an ensuing exchange took place leaving some dozens of people wounded including ten police and at least one person dead.
All of this as a week ahead is a critical one for the Iraqi government. That deadline of the constitution looming now just days away.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Recent events in Iraq have brought the war home to a town near Cleveland, Ohio. CNN's Alina Cho is there to witness the mourning for some of the 23 marines killed in Iraq last week -- Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Gerri, 14 of those marines were from Ohio. We are at Marine Reserve Center where a makeshift memorial lines the front gate here.
Throughout the day, hundreds of people have come here to pay their respects, to offer their prayers and to quietly reflect on what's happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Irene Fisher knows what it's like to lose a loved one. Her brother died in World War II, her husband is a Vietnam veteran, her son-in-law leaves for Iraq next month. IRENE FISHER, BROOK PARK RESIDENT: So I do know how the families do feel, and how they grieve behind closed doors and sob. And it's all very private, but it comes back home.
CHO: Husband Warren things about a friend's son, about all of the troops fighting there now.
WARREN FISHER, BROOK PARK RESIDENT: I pray for him. I pray for all of them. Being a veteran, I appreciate what they gave.
CHO: So they come to remember: a sea of red, white and blue adorns a makeshift memorial outside the marine reserves center, flags and flowers, cards and candles, even a varsity football jersey that once belonged to one of the fallen marines.
(on camera): This is a tough time for you.
JOHN MILBURN, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: Yeah. It's pretty touching. It brings back a lot of memories.
CHO (voice-over): Sergeant First Class John Milburn served a year Iraq. Came back in January. He drove 60 miles to see the memorial.
I MILBURN: had my wife and kids with me. And I mean -- ever since I've been home, they just know -- there's times I go off by myself and think about things I went through, that the unit I'm has went through. And they understand that. And they let me -- I think it's just -- I think we need to do that.
CHO: Bob Skoczan served in Vietnam.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I look at this, I get as emotional as I would when I see the Vietnam wall, and that brings me very, very often right down to my knees there.
CHO: Dan Polichek (ph), who served in the Navy, brought a poem.
BOB SKOCZEN, VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: They're our local boys. I mean, you know, they called to serve their country. They answered that call.
CHO: Warren Fisher says he wants the troops to finish their work in Iraq. He also wants all of them to come home safe.
W. FISHER: They're (INAUDIBLE) world. I just (INAUDIBLE). There's other states and families that lost theirs, but this is home. It's close. It's our family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Tomorrow, thousands of people will attend a public memorial service in Cleveland. And throughout the state, there will be private memorials later in the week -- Gerri.
WILLIS: Alina, those public memorials are so affecting. We saw them in New York after 9/11 and now where you are today. Has this community, though, seen anything of this magnitude before?
CHO: Certainly not, Gerri. This is a big blow to this area. In fact, one mayor we talked to in and around this area told me that they have not seen anything like this since Vietnam. And that is certainly clear when we speak to people around here. They tell us, though, they may not know the families affected directly, they are grieving as though they have lost a loved one -- Gerri.
WILLIS: Alina, thank you for that report.
Another new public opinion poll reflects a growing sense of unease about Iraq. The Newsweek poll was conducted last week as American war deaths rose. It asked how President Bush is handle Iraq? 61 percent said they disapprove. Approving of the president's actions were 34 percent. A 7-point drop from July. And the first time the number has dipped below 40 in a poll conducted for Newsweek.
Elaine Quijano is following the president from Crawford, Texas. Elaine, any response from the White House on these poll numbers?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Not really, Gerri. Of course, though, President Bush in the past said he's not swayed by polls, that he makes decisions based on what he thinks is right. But of course, privately administration officials are well aware of not only these numbers, but similar numbers to these.
But publicly last week, President Bush during that appearance that he had with the Colombian leader came out and said that the United States would stay the course in Iraq. The president also talked about the troops, the fallen U.S. troops saying that they died for a noble cause that included fighting terrorism and helping to spread freedom and democracy. /
But privately, administration officials very much know that Americans are looking for benchmarks, signs of progress and that is why we also heard President Bush talk about Iraqis moving forward on the political front and also training Iraqi forces. The president has said that U.S. troops will only return home once Iraqis can take over their own security responsibilities -- Gerri.
WILLIS: Elaine, I understand there are some protests in the area today. Can you tell us about that?
QUIJANO: That's right. The protests really continuing from yesterday. It's a woman named Cindy Shehan (ph), and she really has spearheaded this protest. Yesterday, there were about 50 demonstrators who came basically to Crawford from Dallas. And they went several miles away from President Bush's actual ranch where they were stopped.
She has continued to camp out there as have a handful of other people. But her son, Casey, 24-years-old was killed. He was an army specialist killed in Baghdad's Sadr City in April of last year.
Now, what Cindy Shehan (ph) wants is to meet with President Bush face to face and ask him questions about why her son died. She vehemently opposes the Iraq war. She feels President Bush's credibility is damaged regarding the reasons the United States invade Iraq in the first place.
Now, we should tell you that she did actually meet with President Bush in the summer of last year. But she says at that time it was only about two-and-a-half months after her son's death. She was still very much grieving, still in a state of shock, still shaken and not able to ask the questions she wants answered now.
Yesterday, two top White House officials did meet with her for about 45 minutes. And they listened to her concerns. And they reiterated the president's position. But Cindy Shehan is adamant, she does not want to leave. She says she'll stay there for the entire month of August if she has to in order to get the message across. She wants to meet with President Bush.
Now meantime, as that debate over Iraq continues, President Bush himself is trying to turn the spotlight on domestic achievements, specifically his second term legislative accomplishments. And to do that, the president is going to be on the road this week. He'll be making a couple of stops this week. Tomorrow, he'll be heading to New Mexico to sign the energy legislation bill that was passed by Congress before the August recess. And he'll also be heading to suburban Chicago for a highway bill.
But the questions and concerns about Iraq certain to continue, that debate certain to continue. The president also scheduled to meet with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week -- Gerri.
WILLIS: Very determined woman. And a continuing debate. Elaine Quijano, thank you.
Did you know tomorrow could be the shuttle's last landing? How is NASA preparing? Our Miles O'Brien spent some time with the NASA family.
And did you know if you buy new windows, can you get some money back from the government? This hour, how the new energy bill can help you.
And kids and cell phones, how young is too young?
Plus, we're only one day away from going inside the "SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer. It starts tomorrow. Wolf will join me a little later with a preview. CNN LIVE SUNDAY will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: Well, the target market of cell phone users does not stop a teenager these days. The marketing demographic for the industry is getting younger and younger as Ed Baig from "USA Today" is about to tell us. He's joining us from New York.
Ed, welcome.
ED BAIG, USA TODAY: Nice to be here.
WILLIS: All right. What's up here? It looks like they're going after 2-year-olds with these phones.
BAIG: Well, not quite that young. My daughter is a year-and-a- half. And she loves to plays with her -- with my cell phone. But really they're going for six-year-olds on up.
WILLIS: Six on up. And the technology here is really pretty interesting. These phones have been changed pretty dramatically. The options are fewer. Tell us about what you're likely to see in these phones that are targeted to young users?
BAIG: Well, it's more about what you're not likely to see, which is a conventional keypad where the kid can dial out any phone number. Instead, there are buttons. There's a mom, dad button so can you call a number that been programmed into the phone. But the idea here is that the parents can designate the people that the kid can call.
WILLIS: That's an important thing, because I know a lot of adults, a lot of moms and dads don't want anybody to be able to reach their child, right?
BAIG: Well, that's right. And I should also mention that it's not only calls the kid makes out, but not anybody can call these phones either. They're built-in parental controls which prevent just anybody from calling your kid.
WILLIS: That's excellent.
Let's talk about a couple of the models that are out now. And I know you tested some of them. The "Tictalk" and the "FireFly." Let's start with the "TicTalk." Tell me about that product and what you think of it.
BAIG: Well, it's an interesting product. It let's the parent program in numbers via the web, which is a good thing. Although, frankly, it could be a little bit easier in the implementation of that.
What's good about it, though, is that not only does it designate numbers the kid can call, but the times they can call. So, the kid may be able to, let's say, call his best friend right after school for a couple of hours, but at 5:00, the parent can say no more calls. It can also limit the number of minutes that a kid can call somebody which is good as well.
WILLIS: And how expensive is this?
BAIG: It's about $100. Plus you pay for some minutes and activation as well.
WILLIS: What did you think of the "FireFly?"
BAIG: Well, the "FireFly" looks a little bit more like a conventional phone than the "TicTalk" does. I like the design of it very much. I like that can you press, again, a mom button or a dad button and it will, you know, call directly to mom and dad.
What I didn't like about it, though, is it's very difficult to program, at least for a parent.
WILLIS: And when you look at range of options for kids who may be older than six. Does it make more sense financially to use one of these special phones? Or does it make more sense just to get a family plan with your existing cell phone coverage?
BAIG: Well, that's always a tough call for a parent. I think, again, the reason to get these phones is really in the protections of who your child can call. If your kid is old enough and you feel their responsible to call the people they should be calling and not others who are, you know not on your approved list, then I think it's perfectly fine to get them a regular phone. Keep in mind again, though, with a regular phone, anybody can call the kid, whereas here, that's limited.
WILLIS: It's limited. And Ed, are you getting one for your daughter?
BAIG: I think she's a little bit too young. She'll continue to play with my phone, and probably call people when I'm not looking.
WILLIS: Well Ed, thanks for being with us today. We appreciate it.
BAIG: My pleasure.
WILLIS: Home bound: As NASA gets ready for tomorrow's shuttle return, we hear from the crew of the Discovery about their final preparations for landing.
Plus, a footbrawl, that's what they're calling it. Why these teams are going at it before the season kicks off?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: Nervous excitement is building at NASA. In about 12 hours, the Space Shuttle Discovery heads back to Earth. And the last time a shuttle tried to land, it ended with the tragedy of the Columbia disaster.
NASA, of course, is trying not to dwell on that today, instead focusing on the business of bringing Discovery home safely. Here's our John Zarrella.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's actually pretty quiet here at the Johnson Space Center right now, and in space where the astronauts are in the midst of a last sleep period before their planned return to Earth and the Kennedy Space Center very early tomorrow morning. When they get up, however, tonight, things are going to change dramatically. A fever pitch here at Johnson Space Center and in space. At about 1:00 a.m., they will close the cargo bay doors. At 2:40 a.m. Eastern time, they'll get in their seats. And then about an hour later, deorbit burn will take place over the Indian Ocean. Three minutes into that deorbit burn, the vehicle will go through what's called maximum heating where temperatures on those heat shields as the vehicle streaks through the Earth's atmosphere, at 25 times the speed of sound, those temperatures will increase to between 2500 and 3,000 degrees.
Now, once they are in their final approach into the landing site, they'll be flying over Central America near Costa Rica and Nicaragua, up north over Cuba very close to Havana, then off the coast of Key West, coming onto the Florida peninsula, near Naples/Ft. Myers area, then straight north up over to Lake Okeechobee and then right into the Kennedy Space Center for a landing.
This is John Zarrella, CNN, at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Well, Discovery's crew has been very busy today. They're stowing gear and practicing the landing on a computer simulator. Shuttle commander Eileen Collins says they're all very focused on the job at hand. But they took some time out this morning to talk to CNN's Tony Harris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Commander Collins, are you ready to come home?
EILEEN COLLINS, SHUTTLE COMMANDER: Oh, I think it's time for us to come home, but I'm having a great time up here. The Earth is absolutely beautiful. We're having a great time as a crew. We're really having the space experiences of a lifetime. For me, we've done a little bit of everything on this flight. I'm so happy to have done. But it it's time to come home and keep working on getting the shuttle better and ready to fly in the future and time to see our families again.
HARRIS: Stephen Robinson, rate the mission. How difficult has it been? How taxing has the work been?
STEVEN ROBINSON, ASTRONAUT: We were assigned this mission just a little bit over four years ago, if you can believe that. And these 13 days have gone by just so quickly. And there's been a lot of challenges associated with the mission. But they have been very rewarding challenges, the kind of thing that you really hope is at the end of a long road. And very gratifying.
HARRIS: Commander Collins, tell us what you do now to get ready for reentry and landing?
COLLINS: We're going to spend the rest of day today -- we're going to stowing the cabin. Basically putting up the seats and getting our communication and our suits ready -- the orange suits that we wear, the pressure suits -- get all those ready for entry. Pretty much just thinking about what we're going to be doing tomorrow.
HARRIS: James Kelly, what does reentry feel like?
JAMES KELLY, ASTRONAUT: It kind of feels at points like it's a runaway train. You're up here going really fast, but you don't really feel it as much above the Earth. Once we start reentering the atmosphere, you start seeing the plasma go by the windows with us inside. As we get closer and closer to landing, you're doing more and more operations, and really having to keep track of things at a relatively fast pace all the way down to the ground.
HARRIS: It has been wonderful to talk to you. It has been wonderful to follow the mission. Have a safe reentry and landing.
COLLINS: Thanks, it was great to talk to you.
WILLIS: The return of "Discovery" could market end of an era for NASA. All future shuttle flights have been grounded until a foam debris problem is fixed once and for all. People working for NASA have weathered tragedies and disasters before and they are facing this latest problem like they always have as a family. Space correspondent Miles O'Brien has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At the Outpost Bar on the edge of the Johnson Space Center, the walls are lined with family portraits, the NASA family, that is. This is where the steely eyed rocket men and women come to unwind at the end of the day. These days there's an air of uncertainty here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think everybody was real disappointed when we saw the tile foam come off.
O'BRIEN: NASA had spent two and a half years trying to stop the falling foam which pierced Columbia's heat shield and caused it to burn up on re-entry killing the crew of seven. Seeing it happen again struck a nerve, if not Discovery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there is a certain sense of disappointment and real hope that we can find out what this problem is, go off, find a solution to it, fix it, and get to flying again before the end of the year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Moving out. Clear the tower.
O'BRIEN: If it sounds like wishful thinking, it is. But this is a place built on believing in big dreams. How else would they have gotten to the moon? Veteran flight Director Glynn Lunney was there in the trenches for the glory days, there for the triumphs and the tragedies. This time the grounding seems more poignant.
GLYNN LUNNEY, FMR. SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: I was kind of upset. I thought that shouldn't have happened after all that we've been through over the decades with this shedding problem and then for two and a half years after Columbia. O'BRIEN: The NASA he worked at, as a young man was a different place. He said they succeed because they never flinched in the face of anguish and never allowed the optimism to gloss over reality.
LUNNEY: You still have a problem, you have to go fix it, and you're going to have to be harsh about what you have to do to fix it. I don't know what that means exactly. But you got to demand a proper answer to this problem, and you can't let it continue.
O'BRIEN: Certainly the people who strap themselves into the rocket would agree.
JIM WEATHERBEE: The crew doesn't worry about launch delays. In fact, the crew would rather delay to make sure that everything was right as best we can make it and then launch.
O'BRIEN: Jim Weatherbee commanded five shuttle missions before retiring last year.
WEATHERBEE: Our business is a dangerous business. Many of us are involved in testing of airplanes and jets and space vehicles. So we're used to having the ups and downs on the technical side and, of course, the emotional side as well.
O'BRIEN: John Clark knows this all too well. He lost his wife, Laurel, on "Columbia" 2 1/2 years ago and his grief was compounded when he saw that foam fall off.
JOHN CLARK, COLUMBIA FAMILY MEMBER: My heart goes out to the external tank folks. They were the problem with the Columbia. They brought the bird down. Now, they're still having a problem with it because they haven't fixed it yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Standing by for burnout and jettison of the rockets.
O'BRIEN: Even before the problems with "Discovery," the shuttle fleet was slated for a trip to the Smithsonian in 2010. At best there were 15 shuttle flights remaining. Now, who knows? For NASA a new vehicle and a trip to moon or even Mars may lie in the future. But for unflown astronauts like Terry Vits and there are about 55 of them, the odds of getting a ride of a lifetime anytime soon are not good. Remember, this is a family that believes in dreams.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a lot better to be in line even if the line is moving slowly.
O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: From the deorbit burn to wheels down on tarmac. CNN's Miles O'Brien will bring you the complete details of "Discovery's" return to earth. That is all going to begin at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow Eastern.
The Mid East pullout...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to be very, very inventive and very creative if you want to get it.
WILLIS: Why are these Israelis running past their own country's soldiers. We will take you inside a showdown that is testing Israel's future.
And the energy bill. OK, you know it sounds boring but it can save you some money, and we'll show you how.
And it was Elvis' house, Graceland, now can you think of it as the heartbreak hotel, it no longer belongs to the Presley's. Will tell you how that went down when CNN LIVE SUNDAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: Tomorrow CNN's afternoon landscape will undergo a bit of an overhaul. Uber anchor Wolf Blitzer will be your guide through the day's events from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. each afternoon starting on Monday. Now Wolf's in Washington to tell us what's going on with "The Situation Room." Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much Gerri. We're going to try to bring the hard news, the serious news, sometimes the lighter news in a little different way. This is what we're calling our "Situation Room." And we have a wall. This is a video wall where we get all these feeds coming in from around the world, our reporters are news gathering capabilities here in Washington, around the United States, around the world.
We'll bring in all the satellite feeds coming in when we want to bring in data feeds, we'll do that as well. We can bring in all the data feeds. The "New York Times," the "Washington Post," CNN.com, Time.com, we'll bring that in to the "Situation Room." We will have a chance here to speak with our national security analyst, our homeland security analyst, and our political analysts. We're going to try to make sure that all of the news happening between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. On the East Coast, the time when news is still developing, news is still influx; we'll get it to our viewers right away. That's what we do best, as you know Gerri here at CNN.
WILLIS: That's certainly what you do best, Wolf. Getting us the news directly and quickly. Of course there's a lot of political news to wrap up each day. Where is that going to be in your show?
BLITZER: We are going to try to make sure that none of our hard political news junkies are disappointed by any means. We'll focus much of that 4:00 hour, our second hour on all the important political news here in Washington around the country, and when appropriate around the world. If there's a big election in England, we'll go there as well.
The 3:00 hour, our first hour, will be devoted to security. Whether national security, homeland security, our economic security, our personal security, identity theft, all those issues are going to play a very important role, and during our third hour, we're going to try to bring all the news together that's happened during the course of the day. It's an ambitious agenda. We'll do the best that we can.
WILLIS: Sounds jammed pack. What do we have on tap for tomorrow?
BLITZER: We're going to speak to the Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. He is going to be joining us here in the "Situation Room." And also Kyra Phillips, our own Kyra Phillips she is already out at NORAD, North Com, Cheyenne Mountain. She is taking us inside to see where the U.S. military is preparing for some of the worst-case scenarios. A rare live inside look at what's going on there. We've got some excitement coming up.
WILLIS: We are looking forward to it Wolf. Thank you so much.
BLITZER: Thanks Gerri.
WILLIS: A show of defiance in the Middle East.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Knowing that these people are struggling for their life. Everything they build for the last 30 years and I couldn't sit home any longer.
WILLIS: How one group is protesting the pullout when CNN LIVE SUNDAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: Israel's cabinet is giving Prime Minister Ariel Sharon the green light to withdraw troops and three Jewish settlements from the Gaza strip. Now it's the first phase of a broader pullout plan that begins in just eight days. Today's formal approval was expected but there was one very unexpected moment involving one of Israel's best known and out spoken cabinet members. In Jerusalem, CNN's Paula Hancock's.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): There comes a moment of truth for any leader to ask himself what he's fighting for, a quote from the Former Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that moment for him is now. The highest-ranking minister to resign in protest over the Israeli pullout of all 21 Gaza settlements and hold from the West Bank. Nethanyahu said there is (INAUDIBLE) to plan with (INAUDIBLE) starting in just over a week makes his position as a cabinet minister untenable.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, FORMER ISRAELI FINANCE MINISTER: I cannot be a partner to a move that I think compromises the security of Israel. Tears the people apart.
HANCOCKS: His resignation comes too late to impact Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. After Netanyahu put his resignation on the cabinet table. That same cabinet overwhelmingly approved phase one of the pullout. Political analysts believe Netanyahu is looking beyond the issue of disengagement positioning himself politically for what happens after the pullout. MICHAEL OREN, THE SHALEM CENTER: Who is going to lead this the good party? In so far as it could remain the leading party in this country. Well who is going to be the dominant force in the Israeli political system?
HANCOCKS: Netanyahu was prime minister from 1996 to 1999. Few say that he still has further aspirations for the top job. He is expected to challenge Sharon's leadership with the ruling Likud Party before the next election. Netanyahu has received accolades for his economic reforms while finance minister, he widely credited with pulling Israel out of recession. Sharon says economic policy will not change but neither will his plans for disengagement saying the resignation will not delay the pullout.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Mr. Sharon's office tells CNN the prime minister intends to appoint Israeli Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to take Netanyahu's place as finance minister.
Israeli troops could run into stiff resistance when they try to evacuate the Jewish settlements. Many settlers insist they are going nowhere. Some are even moving to Gaza just to take a stand when the troops arrive. CNN's John Vause visits one settlement where they're getting ready for confrontation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Today it looks like well, summer camp. Big blowup slides, cotton candy, teenagers spend their day surfing. Hundreds of families have moved here, living in tents and old abandoned buildings on a Gaza beach, preparing for nothing less, they say, than a battle between good and evil. The evil they say is Israel's plan to withdraw thousands of Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip and give control to the Palestinians. The good, they say, is their utter determination to stop it.
MICHAEL TAWIL, JEWISH SETTLER: There I was sitting in my house and knowing these people are struggling for their life. Everything they built for the past 30 years and I couldn't sit home any longer.
VAUSE: Michael Tawil originally from Brooklyn, New York packed some clothes, food and sleeping bags and with her two young boys left their home in a West Bank settlement to make a stand here on Gaza.
TAWIL: We got lucky, we got concrete floors, and we got cement so we don't have to sleep on sand.
VAUSE: She won't say how you got past the Israeli police and soldiers.
TAWIL: You have to be very inventive and creative if you want to get it. VAUSE: A little over three weeks ago the Gaza settlements were declared a closed military zone. Off limits to just about everyone except residents. Since then, those opposed to the disengagement say about 200 protesters each day have made it past soldiers and checkpoints. Many ending up here at Silat (ph).
Some have simply rushed the border; others were smuggled in the cars of residents while many have trekked over land at night. They talk about a Jewish underground, which has outsmarted the government.
MADIA MATAR, CAMP ORGANIZER: Thank god we're bringing in many, many Jews and as I told you so Jews that on D-Day Ariel Sharon will not be able to implement his criminal decree.
VAUSE: In Hebrew, silat (ph) means song of the sea. And in just over two weeks from now, summer camp will end, and thousands of police and soldiers will be here to remove them by force if necessary.
John Vause, CNN, Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: Cashing in on energy efficiency. The new energy bill can save you money; we're going to tell you how. That's when CNN LIVE SUNDAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: Taking a look at stories across America now. A preseason practice for the New York Giants and New York Jets got way out of hand. Giant's tight end Jeremy Shockey got into a brawl with two Jets players yesterday. As you can see many others joined in. Practice continued after the brawl was broken up.
And Elvis Presley fans are all shook up. Lisa Marie Presley has sold the business side of her father's estate and turned over his home to the entertainment company that owns the American Idol television show. Some fans worry Graceland just won't be the same.
And listen up; the next few minutes could help you save thousands of dollars. The energy bill President Bush plans to sign tomorrow offers big tax credits to consumers from everything from buying hybrid cars to making your home energy efficient. So what can you due to reap the benefits? Joining us now Brian Castelli he is Vice President of the Alliance to Save Energy. He is here with some ideas. Brian welcome.
BRIAN CASTELLI, VICE PRESIDENT, ALLIANCE TO SAVE ENERGY: Thank you. Nice talking to you, Gerri.
WILLIS: Well let's look at this. Because I think everybody was obsessed with the big benefits for the energy benefits for the big energy companies and missed what's in there for consumers. Let's start with the hybrids, there are tax benefits for those people, can you tell us about them? CASTELLI: Right, there are some really good tax benefits for hybrid vehicles. They are going to be anywhere from maybe $500 to $3,000. It depends basically how much increased fuel mileage it gets. How much gasoline it's going to save over the life of the car. But it's a very good deal. It is a tax credit, and it's better than the tax deductions that we're getting now.
WILLIS: Yes, that makes a good point. There are already some tax deductions on the book. Brian, tell me, does this actually make it worthwhile to buy the hybrid now because one of the problems of course is that hybrids are typically more expensive than your average car by about $3,500 to $5,000.
CASTELLI: Right. Well this brings down the cost of that additional increment by about half. And that's very good. People who want to drive a cleaner car, who want to get better gas mileage and who are looking at the future and seeing gasoline prices is not coming down are certainly going to want to make that move. I think this tax credit really, really helps those people make those decisions.
WILLIS: And of course you know hopefully people will be able to get a hold of one of these cars. I know there's long lines for the Prius?
CASTELLI: Right. There's been lines for a number of the cars and they're going to continue, I believe, because people see the benefits of driving a really clean car, and a car that gets high mileage.
WILLIS: All right. Lets talk about some of the benefits for people who are running energy efficient homes. Now, there is a tax benefit if you are buying energy efficient appliances and the government put the energy star label on the products, the appliances that are really truly saving energy dollars. How much money is in there for me?
CASTELLI: Well it depends what you do. If you want to make your home more efficient, you can get a tax credit up to $500. And that is up to 10 percent of any energy efficient majors you take. For example if you want to add insulation to your home that is going to qualify for the tax credit. You might want to put new doors, new windows. Now if you put new windows you are going to be maxxed out at $200 of that.
WILLIS: That is not a whole lot of dough right there.
CASTELLI: No. But it's still -- if you are going to get the benefits of lower energy costs over the life time of those windows it is a real good incentive for you to think about that once it is time to look at lowering the cost of your utilities.
WILLIS: And daylight saving time also a part of this bill. I guess I have to ask what is in it for me?
CASTELLI: Well again, for you if you are a gardener like I am it gives you an extra hour of light every night. OK. I love that alone. But it also means that you are not going to have to have your lights on as early in the day, you are going to have that extra hour at night. And you know it is going to be an extra month over the year that it is going to incur.
WILLIS: Good news. Lets get quickly the solar energy here. There are already some tax benefits on the books for people who use solar energy and installed solar panels. What does this bill provide for?
CASTELLI: Well this bill provides a 30 percent tax credit for putting solar panels or solar hot water on your home. So this is a good time to look at that, it is a great way to produce your own electricity on your home at the same time get the benefit of the additional tax credit. And you can always look to your own state too, because there are many states that have state tax credits for the same thing. And you can apply --
WILLIS: All right. Brian thank you so much for your help today. We appreciate it.
CASTELLI: Sure. Thank you.
WILLIS: Carol Lin is here with a preview of what is to come tonight. Carol what is on tap for your show?
CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. You are from New York.
WILLIS: Yes I am.
LIN: Many people ride taxicabs every day. The taxi cab driver looks in the back seat after a passenger leaves normally he finds cell phones, notebooks. He found a suitcase stuffed with diamonds.
WILLIS: And then what did he do?
LIN: He gave it back. Unbelievable, I am going to be talking to him live in the 6:00 hour.
WILLIS: Fabulous.
LIN: What a great guy. At 10:00 an interview with Hugh Heffner, there is a new reality based TV show not on Heff, on his girlfriends. Three of them now in the mansion, it is life behind the mansion doors as he says. The sexy times and the quiet times.
WILLIS: Well we will be looking forward to that. That sounds very interesting combination of stories Carol. Thank you.
Two minutes and we will be back with headlines. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
