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CNN Live Today

President Bush Visits Soldiers at Fort Bragg; Space Shuttle Discovery Prepares for Today's Launch; Citizens Step In To Pay for Military Helmet Upgrades

Aired July 04, 2006 - 11:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: That explains President Bush sweating through his shirt. So he spoke to the soldiers at Fort Bragg, then he had lunch with some of them. He was eating today on this Independence Day with members of the 82nd battalion, the third brigade combat team. So there you are in the lunch line. You look next to you and there's President Bush. How about that. Got these pictures in to us at CNN just a few minutes ago. You can also see deputy chief of staff Karl Rove is along for the ride today. And then a little bit later president sits down to have lunch and he is presented -- with a birthday cake. Why well, in two days the president will celebrate his 60th birthday. So it's a cake that looks like the American flag and has the big 6-0. President Bush proudly displaying that. By the way, after this visit the president goes back to Washington, D.C. where he will take in the fireworks and another birthday celebration.
War and peace, service and sacrifice all themes as President Bush celebrated July 4th at Fort Bragg today. As you saw he was having lunch with the troops before he heads out. The president gave a speech a little bit earlier. He talked about the role that these soldiers play in bringing freedom to Afghanistan and Iraq. And he reiterated the U.S. will not retreat from Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to make you this promise. I'm not going to allow the sacrifice of 2,527 troops who have died in Iraq, to be in vain, by pulling out before the job is done.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And on his 60th birthday president and Mrs. Bush will appear on "LARRY KING LIVE", it's an exclusive. You'll see it at 9:00 eastern, 6:00 pacific and you'll only see that here on CNN.

We are watching the space shuttle "Discovery." We're having some great pictures as we watch the shuttle astronauts load up and get ready. It's their third try in about three days to try to launch. Launch just about three hours away if weather cooperates. More of the live coverage from Kennedy Space Center right here on CNN. We take a break. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, we have this live picture up for you and we are going to stick with this live picture even as we move on to other news because it's a great view of the shuttle "Discovery." The astronauts loading onboard. And if you look at the clock that we'll also keep up in the bottom right of your screen, we're just about almost exactly at three hours to the scheduled launch. Of course they've tried over the last few days to launch this shuttle and weather has not cooperated. Looks a little bit better today. We will stay with these pictures being provided to us from NASA as we move on to other news as well.

A free fix, that's what U.S. troops are getting with operation helmet. Academy award winning actress and singer Cher is backing the program. But now a California business man is showing support with a challenge. Reporter Bob Lawrence from our affiliate KGTV has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB LAWRENCE, KGTV: A marine convoy heads out on patrol and runs head first into an IED, improvised explosive device. This is only a simulation, but these marine reserves will face the real thing soon enough. And many believe they're not as protected as they could be.

SHANNAN LIMON, MARINE'S WIFE: The main thing that these pads do is absorb energy of a bomb blast, which these lightweight helmets were not necessarily designed to do.

LAWRENCE: Before Shannan's husband deployed, he was looking to upgrade his standard issue marine helmet, but the upgrade kit cost about $100. That's where 10,000 RVs stepped in.

TONY FREEMAN, 10,000 RV DEALERSHIP: Cher happened to be on CNN "ANDERSON COOPER" talking about operation helmet.

LAWRENCE: Cher attended a hearing with Dr. Robert Meaders, the founder of operation helmet, who went to congress convinced that the webbing in the other helmets does not offer the protection when it comes to IEDs.

LIMON: This is something that the guys are asking for. And they either have to purchase it themselves if they want it or they have to depend on operation helmet to send it to them.

LAWRENCE: To that effort, 10,000 RVs stepped up with a $10,000 check and a challenge to others.

FREEMAN: Send it operation helmet and we will match all the donations up to $10,000 during the month of July. And we believe that will help eliminate that backlog of needed upgrade kits.

LAWRENCE: That back log is roughly 450 kits. As far as standard issue, the marines are not yet convinced, but they are beginning tests.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: If you'd like to donate to the program there is a website, operation-helmet.org. Once again we continue our coverage and we continue to watch as the space shuttle astronauts get ready to load. And as they are loading onboard the shuttle, do you see the clock in the bottom right? We are less than three hours away to launch. Miles O'Brien and John Zarrella standing by in Florida, we'll check in with them in just a minute. Right now, this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Okay we are multi-tasking here on this Fourth of July. You see on one side of your screen we're keeping up a live picture, those pictures coming to us from NASA from the Kennedy Space Center as the shuttle astronauts load up and get ready to take off. And as you watch the launch clock there, less than three hours away if weather permits. While we do that I want to get to some other stories as well.

Some of you taking some more conventional forms of transportation this holiday weekend and you go through the security line at the airport. They tell you to take off your shoes. Well, all those bare feet in the security line, well, those feet have been a lot of places and picked up a lot of yucky things. Before your next flight you might want to consider this report by Marty Emeralds from our CNN affiliate KGTV.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTY EMERALDS, KGTV: Before you take off on a jet don't take off the protection covering your feet.

I usually wear something thinking that I have to take it off, it will be easier to take off.

EMERALDS: But keep your feet covered. Walking in stocking feet or bare feet through Lindberg Security is not a good idea.

DR. LEE: Fungus can be transmitted from person to person.

EMERALDS: And so can bacteria. You are susceptible to all kinds of nasty things. We found varieties of fungus and bacteria on the carpets of the security areas at Lindberg Field at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, and Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix.

LEE: These infections can penetrate through any crack on the skin, especially on the bottom of the foot.

EMERALDS: Dr. Lee saw the lab reports from our sampling of the carpets. He strongly suggests keeping your feet covered, even when security tells you to take off your shoes.

There's nothing we can do, we have to follow the rules.

EMERALDS: There is something you can do. Carry these -- medical booties to protect your feet from disease.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've looked at them in the past and it was more of a customer convenience because we were told the floor was perhaps too cold. EMERALDS: But now the San Diego Airport Authority intends to revisit the idea of handing out booties as part of its response to our findings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are very concerned about the health and well-being of the traveling public. And again, any remedies that need to be implemented as a result of this, we certainly will move quickly in conjunction with the TSA to implement them.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: About two hours and 55 minutes to the space shuttle astronauts take off, that's the plan any way. We're looking at live pictures being fed to us from NASA as the astronauts suit up and get ready. What kind of personality does it take to be someone excited to get strapped in and go for this kind of a ride? Did you know that the pilot Mark Kelly is a twin? What other little personality quirks can we find out about these shuttle astronauts? We'll check in with our Miles O'Brien and John Zarrella and learn more from them in just a minute. After this break, we're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Continuing to look at live pictures, a lot to go down the check list to make sure all the astronauts are strapped in and ready to go before the space shuttle takes off in about two hours and 53 minutes. The shuttle has been cleared for takeoff and we're counting down to the launch of "Discovery." After two scrubbed launches, maybe the third time will be the charm. Our space correspondent Miles O'Brien joining us again along with John Zarrella who has probably seen more launches than he can count.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, definitely. He's no rocket scientist, he can't count very far. That's why we're here and not out there. It's a good reason for this. Let's bring you up to date Daryn on the weather. Right now it's great, it's beautiful. You know, John, you live in Florida, I mean we know summer in the afternoon in Florida, bad idea to try to do much of anything outside, much less launch a shuttle.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, thunderstorms every afternoon, you can count on them, set your watch by them.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely. So today we have a little interesting confluence of sea breeze currents that are creating literally right on the edge of the coast here, a pocket of dry air that the air force meteorologists say should hold up during the expected launch time of 2:38 p.m. You know if you can't be good, be lucky. And they're going to be a little lucky today on the weather, I think. We're watching it. One of the concerns is that same sea breeze could kick up a cross wind. Why would they worry about cross winds you'd say? Well, if there is an abort it forces the shuttle to come back, that's never happened before, to come back here, though, on the runway, they got to make sure that they don't have a cross wind that's too strong. Remember, it's a $2 billion glider. There's no go rounds, no holding patterns. You have to come in. ZARRELLA: You have one shot at it.

O'BRIEN: You have one shot and speaking of that, we have a crew that is used to kind of one shot flying because these are after all the best and the brightest.

ZARRELLA: The best and the brightest you know, Steve Lindsey who is the commander of this mission, he's a colonel in the United States Air Force. He's flown three times already, he's the veteran of the crew of course. And he flew on STS 104 in 2001. He's 45 years old, born in Arcadia, California and he likes to do a little camping and some mountain and dirt biking. Now it must be in his contract that you can't do that kind of stuff because you know, it's a little dangerous, isn't it?

O'BRIEN: I think they put that in there to see if the managers are really reading their bios. He was the pilot for the John Glenn mission, October of 98, you may recall that. That was his second flight. When you're the pilot of the John Glenn mission nobody remembers that except for space geeks like me. And more recently he was the guy who helped the Husband family through the terrible loss in the wake of "Columbia." Of course Rick Husband, the commander of "Columbia." Just a quality guy. I can't say enough good things about Steve Lindsey unrelated to his flying. Next on our list.

ZARRELLA: Mark Kelly, he's the pilot, he's the veteran of one space flight. He's 41 years old, Orange, New Jersey. He likes cycling, weightlifting. And he's a twin brother. His brother Scott I think you're watching this so are we sure Mark is the one that's up there and not Scott?

O'BRIEN: Well, here's the trick. See the mustache, m for Mark for mustache. That's how you tell the two twin astronauts apart. What are the odds of twins both ending up in the astronaut car. But there they are, still competing as twins do.

ZARRELLA: Piers Sellers, a mission specialist on this mission. He's also flown one time, he's 50 years old from the United Kingdom. He enjoys sailing and hanging out with his son. Good things.

O'BRIEN: Yes he has more degrees than I have socks, he's a smart guy that Piere Sellers.

ZARRELLA: We have Mike Fossum. It's his first space flight. He's going to perform two of the three space walks, 48 years old from Sioux Falls, South Dakota and likes to hang out with the family, do a little fishing.

O'BRIEN: You know it says Sioux Falls, South Dakota but this is guy Texas through and through. He is an Aggie, married to an Aggie. It's all about Texas A&M in their household. Next on our list.

ZARRELLA: Lisa Nowak, her first space flight, she's going to operate that robotic arm, 42 years old from Washington, D.C. Likes the crossword puzzles and playing the piano. O'BRIEN: I doubt she's doing crossword puzzles today. She has three young children. And by the way, we counted it up the other day. Total number of children with parents on this crew, 16 kids. We think that could be a record. That's a lot of kids for one crew.

ZARRELLA: Yeah that's got to be. Stephanie Wilson, also her first space flight. Going to use the robotic arm. 39 years old, born in Boston. Enjoys stamp collecting. I do too but I didn't think anybody else did.

O'BRIEN: I think that's almost just to see once again if the managers are listening. Second African-American woman to fly after Mae Jamison some years ago. And her only point is why has it taken so long? We agree Stephanie. There should be more people of all kinds of diversity flying on the space shuttle. One more.

ZARRELLA: Thomas Reiter and he's going to end up staying up there on the international space station. Veteran of one space flight.

O'BRIEN: And that was a long one, to the space station mir. This guy has got more space time than this entire crew combined, mir, may she rest in peace, was the previous Russian space station. Now he'll spend six months up there with two expedition crews on the international space station and he'll see which station he likes better, I guess.

ZARRELLA: I think this one.

O'BRIEN: I think maybe this one. Alright John Zarrella, we're going to watch it for you. Once again launch at 2:38 p.m. eastern. We'll get a special roll in at about 2:00 p.m. eastern. And as for now weather and technical issues not a problem Daryn.

KAGAN: Great, thanks. I love putting faces and personalities with just the term astronaut. So thank you for doing that guys. Thanks to both of you. Coming up at the top of the hour, a lot of international news, "YOUR WORLD TODAY," Jim Clancy running that show, steering that ship. Jim?

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. Thanks Daryn. Well, we're going to be following the shuttle of course, this July 4th launch, big international news as well. But we'll be covering a lot of stories right around the world. We'll look at the situation in Gaza of course where an Israeli soldier remains captive, no solution there, a deadline passes. Questions about collective punishment.

We're also going to take you on a train ride to the roof of the world, a new train linking Lhasa with Beijing. It cost billions of dollars. It's tough to breathe at that altitude. But tourists and transport may transform Tibet. The question Daryn, is it going to be for better or for worse? And finally, a peek at the shake, rattle and roll of belly dancing. Cairo holding a contest. You're going to be surprised to see exactly who won. Daryn all of it coming up at the top of the hour, "YOUR WORLD TODAY."

KAGAN: Do you belly dance Jim?

CLANCY: Oh I don't think so. Let's be nice.

KAGAN: Just asking. Thank you Jim. And of course you will be following the shuttle as we will to the top of the hour. To a more low tech science, how many dogs does a top dog eat? Allan Chernoff our dog on that story from Coney Island, hey, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Daryn. The eaters are in the house. Some of them on the stage as I speak. The big question, how many dogs can they consume in only 12 minutes? We'll have a pre- game analysis when LIVE TODAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Getting closer and closer, two hours and 43 minutes away from launch, if weather cooperates. We are watching live pictures fed to us from NASA at Kennedy Space Center. As we watch the astronauts load up and get on board. Hopefully the third time will be a charm for them.

Probably won't be eating hot dogs as they head up into space, but there will be plenty of hot dogs eaten today at Coney Island. You can call it the world series for hot dog eaters. It's a dog eat dog kind of event. And the best never choke. It's an interesting split screen as you have the people getting ready for the hot dog eating contest and for shuttle "Discovery" on the other side of your screen. Let's go to Coney Island, Allan Chernoff sizing up the competition. Allan, hello.

CHERNOFF: Hi, Daryn. You know there are so many thrills here at Coney Island. Behind me is the great cyclone roller coaster. But there is no thrill that can compete with the thrill of watching the championship of eating here. That's right, it all happened for the hot dog here in Coney Island. 1871, the very first hot dog stand came here so it is only appropriate that the greatest stage in the world for the greatest sporting event ever be right here at Coney Island, Nathan's Famous. Yes we will have several dozen of the greatest eaters on this planet competing in only one hour's time.

And the big excitement this year is that there is a serious challenge to the five-time champion Takeru Kobayashi. Yes, Kobayashi's fame is on the wall. The wall of fame here, you can see Kobayashi's record stands 53 1/2 hot dogs and buns consumed in only 12 minutes. But that record was set two years ago. Last year Kobayashi won with 49 and guess what, in a preliminary contest, leading up to today's big super bowl, today's final event, Joey Chestnut of San Jose consumed 50 dogs. And so, there is the possibility that Joey Chestnut could bring the international mustard yellow belt back to the United States on this July 4th, the nation is waiting. Wondering how many can Joey Chestnut eat, how many can Kobayashi eat. Daryn, the suspense is intense here.

KAGAN: I'm telling you.

CHERNOFF: You see the thousands of people here. KAGAN: Quickly, because we only have about 30 seconds. Does each contender have a different technique?

CHERNOFF: Joey Chestnut just takes it straight, right on in. Kobayashi has a technique that is only unmatched. He splits it. Quickly consumes and then the bun. The bun is dipped in water. That allows it to go down very quickly. Right down. Very simple. You'll see Kobayashi is the master of this.

KAGAN: Incredible demonstration technique from Coney Island. Allan thank you, we'll be checking in to see, will it be America or the world? At the hot dog eating contest. We'll be watching that, we're watching the shuttle as well. Keep it here. I'm Daryn Kagan, you are watching CNN. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" up next. Once again, we're watching the shuttle and I'll have American headlines for you in about 20 minutes. Have a great holiday.

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