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CNN Live At Daybreak

NASA Tells Space Shuttle Discovery to Go West

Aired August 09, 2005 - 06:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is Tuesday, August 9th. Mission control says no to the shuttle Discovery twice. NASA goes from coast- to-coast to try to land the shuttle. The message to astronauts: "Go west."
Also, a truly international mission. You're looking at live pictures of kids in Japan eagerly awaiting the shuttle's return. Guess what, kids? You'll have to wait a bit longer.

And they didn't think they could do it, but they sure pulled it off. British sailors recount a daring undersea rescue.

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. We'll have more on the shuttle mission in just a minute. Also ahead, what's in store for Wal-Mart? It's trying to take a massive discrimination suit off the legal shelf.

And a lot of fathers get to see their babies being born, oh, but not like this. And not in that Wal-Mart store. A little high-tech help goes a long, long way.

But first, "Now in the News."

An emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency begins in just a few hours. They'll be discussing Iran's resumption of its nuclear conversion program. We'll have a live report on the emergency meeting coming up at the bottom of the hour.

Ten Iraqi police officers were killed this morning in a series of drive-by shootings. The attacks took place in both Baghdad and Baquba. Six other police officers were injured in those shootings.

Thousands of people attended a solemn service to mark the 60th anniversary of the atomic attack of Nagasaki, Japan. Japan's prime minister laid a wreath at a memorial to those killed by the bombs.

To the Forecast Center now. And, Chad, oh those poor Discovery astronauts.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: What, they have to land in California? Aww.

COSTELLO: For their families, though...

MYERS: I know.

COSTELLO: ... who are waiting in Florida, that's got to be frustrating.

MYERS: Then they have to pick the thing up. Remember how they used to do it, put it on top of the 747 and then fly it back and all that other kind of stuff?

COSTELLO: Yes, yes.

MYERS: And then, for the astronauts who thought they were going up on the next shuttle, that's now going to have to be delayed because this thing won't be ready to be the rescue rocket.

Anyway, we're taking you back over here to California to show you what's going on, from L.A. back to Edwards Air Force Base. We are seeing some rain showers around Vegas, but other than that, not a thing to worry about out here. Even the wind is not that bad. There sometimes can be a dust problem here, but no problems today.

Rain showers across Atlanta. No dust, just mold in Atlanta, it's been raining for so many days in a row. Greensboro, you're seeing some rain showers right now, down to Asheboro, as well. And then finally back up toward the north, some showers through Richmond, Virginia, D.C., Baltimore, and even a few very close to New York City.

This morning, we have been watching what was Irene, still Irene, tropical depression moving maybe even to a tropical storm later on. The forecast for it is for it to re-intensify and turn to the right. But notice how far it is away from the U.S. and Bermuda. Winds right now, 35 miles per hour, Tropical Depression Irene. It was a storm, then it lost its storm status, but that's how it got its name, because it was a storm for a while.

Ninety-five in St. Louis, 91 in Dallas, 91 in New Orleans, and a wet day across the southeast. I guess I don't even have to tell you that at this point.

COSTELLO: No, you don't.

MYERS: Wet for you, too.

COSTELLO: Yes. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: All right. Once more around the planet, that's what the shuttle astronauts were told this morning when their first and second planned landings were waved off due to weather concerns. But there are more opportunities to bring this shuttle home safely.

CNN's base correspondent, Miles O'Brien, is at the Kennedy Space Center.

Good morning. MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol, the Kennedy Space Center where there won't be a shuttle landing this morning. We're all dressed up and no shuttle to come. So what we're going to see happen instead, in about an hour's time, Discovery will start flying in a backwards position, tail-first. There'll be a two-minute- and-change rocket burn, which will slow it down just enough to begin the process of coming down toward Earth.

Why do these landing opportunities happen this way? Well, as you can see here, that's the shuttle orbiting at an angle to the equator. And as the Earth spins beneath the Kennedy Space Center, then White Sands, New Mexico, and finally, Edwards Air Force Base, fall under that inclined orbit, making those opportunities available. And that's why you see it progress the way it does.

Let's take a look at the flight path going into Edwards Air Force Base and the high desert north and east of Los Angeles. Across the Pacific they come. The peak heating period, the period when we lost Columbia right about there.

And down in this range right in here is Edwards Air Force Base. As they come in, they'll take a hard right turn of 196 degrees and line themselves up for Runway 22 -- two-two -- which is a southwesterly direction. And you can see the runway there at Edwards Air Force Base, of course, the famous test-pilot school. They'll be coming down this way down the runway on a beautiful, clear day expected there. Of course, it'll be nighttime.

Let's take a look exactly and see sort of a pilot's-eye view. Commander Eileen Collins, when she grabs the stick and takes that hard right turn on this glider, will come down across the mountains there, dropping really at an angle that is probably about 20 times steeper than a commercial airliner.

Down to the runway they go. Of course, this is a glider. There's no second opportunity. You want to make that first landing be a good one.

Now, what happened here this morning, well, they looked, and they looked, and they reconnoitered with radar and all the other satellite capabilities that they have, as well as the shuttle training aircraft, a Gulfstream.

You see that white dot there. That's an infrared shot. That camera would have been used to track the shuttle coming in. Instead, it shows the Gulfstream flown by chief astronaut Kent Rominger, who was checking the area for storms.

And here's what he saw: Off in the distance, offshore not a pretty picture. Well, it is a pretty picture, it's just not a pretty picture if you want to see a shuttle land. This is what we saw as we drove into Kennedy Space Center this morning. Quite evident we weren't going to see a shuttle landing here.

As the skies lit up, embedded thunderstorms, lots of clouds in the area, so-called ambo clouds (ph), all the things you would like to avoid in having a shuttle land, because, to underscore that point, there's no go-rounds, no second opportunities.

This is the most sophisticated, heavy, expensive glider ever devised, Carol. So the crew coming home. I'm sure they're happy about that. Unfortunately, all their families are here in Florida, anxiously awaiting their arrival here. The reunion will have to come a little later in the day in Houston. That's at least the plan right now -- Carol?

COSTELLO: All right. I know that's the plan. Thank you, Miles.

Edwards Air Force Base, of course, was always the fall-back position for today's shuttle landing. So they are prepared. They've been prepared just in case. CNN's Ted Rowlands has a front-row seat for the landing in California.

Will you be able to see it, if you look up in the sky around, oh, 5:00 a.m. Eastern time -- or 5:00 a.m. your time?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We'll be able to hear it, according to NASA. It's going to fly directly over where we are stationed, at a media center, about three-quarters of a mile away from the runway. But we will not be able to see it, except for the landing gear, because it is going to be dark out. It will be 5:12 Pacific time.

So for members of the public, that will be the problem, as well. That said, the anticipation here at Edwards is growing with every minute since the announcement was made by NASA that, indeed, the shuttle will be ending its trip here at Edwards in the Mojave Desert.

Now, there has been, since 2002, since a shuttle landed here -- Endeavor landed here in 2002 after it was rerouted from Cape Canaveral. This used to be the primary landing spot for the shuttle program. Then it was changed to Florida because of the expense of transporting the shuttle from California back. It's about $5 million to do so. They put it on top of a 747.

It also throws the scheduling -- a little bit of a wrench into the scheduling. The next scheduled flight is for early September. And that may be pushed back about five days, according to NASA. That is the scheduled flight of Atlantis.

And most family members, as Miles said, are in Florida. There are a few family members, though, we are told of Steve Robinson. And they are here at Edwards. They are among the very few that will watch this shuttle and greet the astronauts as they make their return -- Carol?

COSTELLO: Lucky them. Thank you very much, Ted. We appreciate it.

Let's talk about this amazing rescue. A group of British rescuers return home today with tales of their Russian adventure. They helped free the seven-man crew of a Russian submarine that was stuck at the bottom of a bay on Russia's far-eastern coast for three days. And while they said they were optimistic before the rescue attempt, it may have been more hope than confidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMANDER IAN RICHES, BRITISH NAVY: I lied. I said I was. I was scared. But I shouldn't have been, because I have a team of professional men who worked damned hard to ensure that the guys onboard that Russian submarine got off alive, and we got their in time, that we did the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: They certainly did. Russia, in the meantime, has launched a criminal investigation in an effort to find out who's responsible for that small submarine being stuck underwater.

On to Iraq now. The funeral of Sgt. Nathaniel Rock is scheduled for this morning. Sgt. Rock was among the 19 Marines from Ohio killed in action last week. Thousands of people came to remember those Marines at a memorial service near Cleveland.

The Marines were part of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine unit, based in Brook Park, Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. KEVIN RUSH, U.S. MARINE CORPS: They got their boots on the ground in Iraq in March of this year. Since then, they've been disrupting the insurgency on a daily basis and doing an outstanding job.

These Marines have been giving their all. And sadly, some of them made the ultimate sacrifice. Our hearts go out to their families and all of the families of the Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen who've died in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: As for how you feel about the war, we have numbers from a new CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll. When asked if the war in Iraq was worth it, 44 percent said yes, 54 percent said no. Forty-two percent of you said the war in Iraq would make the U.S. safer from terrorism in the long run. Forty-eight percent said it would not.

The U.S. military has released this footage of an attack on suspected insurgents near Haditha in western Iraq. These images were captured by an unmanned drone plane. None of the suspects are thought to have survived the counterattack on U.S. forces on what was believed to be a safe house. Twenty Marines were killed in the attacks near Haditha last week.

Still to come this hour, back to our top story. Home towns around the globe awaiting the return of Discovery. We'll talk with students half a world away from where the landing will take place in just a couple of hours, but one astronaut on board close to their hearts, anyway.

Also, a huge class action case against Wal-Mart. Does the mega- chain treat its female employees differently from the men?

And later, the question lots of home owners ask themselves: Is it time to sell and make a whole lot of money? We'll look at which options will get you the most bang for your buck.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports at 6:14 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.

NASA will try again to land the space shuttle Discovery. It'll happen two hours from now at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The weather is said to be beautiful there. Mission Control waved off two landing opportunities this morning because of storms at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

In money news, the price of oil edging up above $64 a barrel this morning. It is another record high. Rising nuclear tensions and terrorism are being partly blamed for the skyrocketing prices.

In culture, trailblazing publisher John Johnson has died. Johnson is best known for founding "Ebony" and "Jet" magazines more than 50 years ago. He also built the world's largest African- American-owned publishing company. John Johnson was 87.

In sports, all eyes were on Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams at this year's hall-of-fame game in Canton, Ohio. He managed only eight yards rushing in the team's loss. That's pathetic. The Chicago Bears won the game 27-24 behind rookie quarterback Kyle Orton.

MYERS: And you don't think you're going to see him again, huh?

COSTELLO: No. I mean, when do you -- when is anyone really a standout in the hall-of-fame game? I mean, they put in all the worst players. So he might have done well, but...

MYERS: So you're telling them that Ricky's the worst?

COSTELLO: Well, Ricky's just crazy.

MYERS: He's just practicing.

Good morning. Rain showers across parts of the Northeast this morning. That could slow you down. Expecting delays, New York, D.C., Philadelphia, all the way down to Atlanta, as well, this morning. We'll take you around, show you what's going on across the rest of the country if you are traveling.

Boston, you get rain this morning. But, in fact, the rain moves away and the sun comes out. You warm up. You warm up to 88, where Newark's only going to be 81, because it's going to be cloudy and rainy most of the day. There's your rain through D.C., through Hampton Roads, even into Raleigh and Durham, and right on down even through Garrett County seeing rain showers.

From Atlanta eastward through Charleston, seeing rain. And right on down, yes, even into Florida. We're looking at the radar around Melbourne, Florida, Titusville right now. And, yes, there are a few showers. So that decision to cancel the shuttle probably a good one -- Carol?

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

That's a look at the latest headlines.

This is huge. Coming up, the world's largest private employer tries to block the nation's biggest employment discrimination lawsuit from going to trial.

And it's a brazen bank heist. You will not believe how robbers got their multi-million dollar loot. DAYBREAK will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Time now for a little business buzz.

Take a look. Anheuser-Busch is putting together alcohol and caffeine for this latest new product. As you can see, it's called Tilt. It includes ginseng and guarana. And if you're wondering what guarana is, it has the same chemical compound as caffeine. So, in essence, it's caffeine.

Sure, you want a cool car, but Ford says its new Mustang could save you money on insurance. The automaker tells "USA Today" it worked with insurance companies to design a car that's easier to fix and less likely to sustain damage in a wreck. The drop in insurance rates, if it happens, is expected in 2007.

Wal-Mart is asking an appeals court to block a huge class-action suit against the company. Carrie Lee is with us now to explain the -- this is a huge suit.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Huge suit. And it is one of many against Wal-Mart. A lot of worker discrimination cases. This particular one, Wal-Mart is accused of underpaying women compared to their male coworkers.

Now, this is a class-action suit representing 1.6 million women and is one of the largest civil rights, class-action suits in U.S. history. It could cost the company billions of dollars in economic losses.

Now, this appeals panel is not deciding the case. It's only deciding whether or not the case should move forward. Wal-Mart says the class is too big, that each of the 1.6 million women has a different situation, because each store operates independently. The plaintiffs' lawyers, meanwhile, say it is impractical to have 1.6 million separate hearings. The panel's decision not expected for a few months. Wal-Mart, of course, is the nation's largest private employer, with about 1 million workers. Sixty-five percent are women, but plaintiffs say only about a third of the managerial positions are actually held by women.

So, obviously, some former employees here, too. This is a very big deal, and not the only case we've heard like this against the company.

COSTELLO: I find this so fascinating, because why are we fighting this in 2005?

LEE: Yes.

COSTELLO: Women still make 77 cents on the dollar for what a guy makes.

LEE: Right.

COSTELLO: So, if this suit is successful, then maybe every other company will have to start looking at its books, because you'd have to bet that more women would jump on board with class-action lawsuits.

LEE: Yes, it could certainly set a precedent. Wal-Mart's argument is, "Hey, each of these stores operates independently, so they can't all come together as a group." But it's going to be very interesting to see how this all falls into play.

COSTELLO: A quick look in the future.

LEE: Yes, things looking a little bit higher for today's session. Of course, yesterday, we had record oil prices, close to $64 bucks a barrel. The Federal Reserve decision comes at 2:15 Eastern today. A lot of people anticipating that quarter-point hike.

And Disney, one of the Dow 30, out with profits today, as well.

COSTELLO: Ooh, it's an exciting day on Wall Street.

LEE: A lot happening on Wall Street.

COSTELLO: Yep, thank you, Carrie.

A bunch of Brazilian bank robbers stole at least $65 million. $65 million. Here's how: Police say the thieves built a 13-foot- deep, 262-foot-long tunnel from a house to a central bank vault in northeastern Brazil. The tunnel had electric lights and walls reinforced with wood panels and lined with plastic sheeting.

Cameras and motion detectors inside the vault didn't work, but they were there. The heist took place sometime this weekend, and they got away with $65 million.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, we'll take you live to the hometown of one of the Discovery's astronauts half a world away. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. Thank you for waking up with us. Chad will have your forecast in just a minute.

Also coming up this half-hour, Iran's nuclear ambitions have led to an emergency meeting of atomic energy experts. Could U.N. sanctions be the next step? We'll have a live report for you.

And how long will it be until the housing bubble bursts? Oh, we ask you that question all the time. We'll look at when to sell and how to avoid getting stuck with your hand in the cookie jar.

But first, "Now in the News."

"Make in California." That's what the shuttle crew was told this morning. Weather concerns have forced NASA to abandon plans to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. We'll have a live report on the extended mission in just a few minutes.

Three larges caches of weapons have been found in Afghanistan. Coalition forces say they found and destroyed items among the munitions, including dozens of rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds. Hundreds of rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition were found near Jalalabad.

British rescuers are back home today after their heroic mission off the coast of Russia. They freed seven sunken sailors who were stuck in a small Russian submarine at the bottom of the bay in the Pacific Ocean. That sub crew had only about six hours of air left when they were rescued.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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