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Indiana Flooded; Discovery Astronauts Discuss Mission; Clinton Campaign Suspended

Aired June 07, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: Thank you all. Thank you very, very much. Well, well this isn't exactly the party I planned but I sure like the company.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: It is over. Hillary Clinton bows out and backs Barack Obama for president. Hello again, everybody, I'm Rick Sanchez. Big day of news. We'll have the latest on both the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spectacle for the day. But first, I want to let you know there's something going on in the state of Indiana we've been following for quite some time and we understand now the conditions may be even worse. One reporter talking about the floods in Indiana, saying that in some parts, it looks like what happened during Katrina. Let's go to Cheryl Jackson, she's standing by right now. I understand she may be available. Let's hit this right here off the top. Cheryl, are you there?

VOICE OF CHERYL JACKSON, WRTV: Yes, I'm here.

SANCHEZ: Tell us what's going on. We're going to try and play some pictures under your voice to give our viewers a sense of what's happening there. Give us the headline, if you would.

JACKSON: Emergency crews have been rescuing people from their houses and businesses. As much as 10 inches of rain has fallen here in this part of Indiana, the National Weather Service has issued flash flood warnings for 15 counties. Now the most dramatic video we have is of Princess Lake, the dam there has failed, causing major flooding. Many people had to be rescued from their homes near there, covered in sometimes as much as three or four feet of water. More than 30,000 electric utility customers have been blacked out. Earlier we went to a hospital in Johnson County where entire emergency rooms was covered in water. And as fast as they could get the water out, it was flowing back in. I've been a reporter here for almost 10 years and I have never seen this kind of flooding.

SANCHEZ: You know, I'm looking at these pictures and I'm just thinking, this is unbelievable. Our viewers heard you say a dam burst, and when you think of a dam bursting, that immediately makes what Marshall McCluen would call a visual image in our minds of something happening real fast as opposed to something very gently rising. So, is that the case here? Is that what happened? JACKSON: Well, it has been called a flash flood of sorts, but it is tempting to go in very many directions. But as far as it being that dam breaking and suddenly causing people to have to flee, it's not that kind of issue right now. There is some flash flooding here and there is danger. Right now we haven't had any deaths reported and very few injuries. We do have shelters open and Red Cross is on the scene. And some believe that this area is going to be declared a state of emergency.

SANCHEZ: Boy I'll tell you, our viewers are looking at some of these pictures for the very first time. For those of you joining us now, these are pictures coming in from one of our affiliates, WRTV, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Take a look at the depth and the breadth of these pictures in these floodings. How much of the town is underwater and what this is going to cost both on a human toll and on an economic toll. Cheryl, do we have any sense of -- obviously I'm not going to begin to ask you questions about economics at this point, but do we have any sense of how many people have been affected? Whether anyone has lost their life as a result of this yet, or is it just too early to tell.

JACKSON: It's too early to tell. We know thousands are affected. We did see up and down the highway, we saw car lots where you know, 50 cars were covered in water. We have seen motor homes also damaged. Restaurants where the water is three or four feet high inside. Like you said right now it may be too early to estimate what the damage is. But it will be extensive.

SANCHEZ: Cheryl, stay where you are real quick. We're going to keep these pictures up. Maybe we can get Karen McGinnis on a box. Let's go to our severe weather center, don't want to lose the pictures, again Claude, if you can stay with those as we go through this. But let's bring Karen McGinnis in. She can give us maybe an overview of how this started, where it is now, and what possibly could happen as we continue to follow this story. Karen?

KAREN MCGINNIS: Well, Rick, you can see just how widespread this is. This is not just one isolated area, as we heard Cheryl say. This includes 15 counties. Essentially we had a stubborn weather system that was just languishing across that area, producing heavy downpours. Take a look at that dramatic video. Looks like people just almost up to their chest in this floodwaters that we're seeing across this area. But I do want to ask Cheryl something. I know that there are people there and we've heard about band camps and all sort of people with outdoor activities as well as people in some of these subdivisions, did they have time to leave? And if they did, where did they go?

JACKSON: Well many of them didn't get out in time, and had to be rescued. We have video, I don't know if you all have that, but we have video, many people being rescued who did not get out. But we do have shelters in several counties, I think we have one in Bloomington, one in Johnson County, one here in Indianapolis. So, people are going to emergency shelters. They are being set up by the Red Cross all around these areas where the water is rising very fast.

MCGINNISH: Cheryl, do you know, are they at capacity at these shelters?

JACKSON: Right now, they are not at capacity but they anticipate problems, because we still have people who are in their houses, maybe on the second floor of their houses, who are ok, but are not going to be able to stay in that house once this water subsides. It's possible that these shelters, and maybe more of them will have to be opened because people are still in their houses and still may have to leave.

SANCHEZ: I've got to tell you something, Karen, Cheryl, as I'm watching this boat, it's reminiscent of the scenes that, as a reporter, I covered when I first arrived in parts of New Orleans with us trying to scamper about and get as many boats as we could in the water to go house to house, calling out to people who may be on the second floor or in some cases and this is the dangerous part, stuck in their attics, because they didn't know what else to do to get away from this. I mean, I'll tell you, it's tough to watch. You certainly hope, and your heart goes out to some of these people and hope that they can get themselves out of this situation. How long has this been going on, Cheryl? The depth that we see of this water now. How long has it been that deep?

JACKSON: Well, the rain started last night in some areas. And then this morning in Johnson County, probably around 6:30, the water was -- the rain was just pounding. We were out in the rain and literally couldn't see in front of you. I mean, standing in three or four feet of water and the rain just pounding down. Like you said, you look around and it look likes a disaster area. And that is much like what we've seen here today.

SANCHEZ: Describe for our viewers, if you would, what we're actually looking at. What town is this, what part of town, or any other information that you can share with us, to give us a better picture of what we're looking at.

JACKSON: Ok, this area is Johnson County, which is about 30 miles south of Indianapolis, that's where the most damage is right now. And so, if you know where Indianapolis is, about 30 miles straight south. Johnson County, that's where the hospital, as I said, the hospital emergency room where we saw probably 100 workers trying to squeegee and shovel the water out. As fast as they did it the water was right back in. The drainage system is clogged, therefore there's no way for them to fight this. They have set up an emergency room on the second floor in order to treat people if someone comes in because right now the entire lower level of the emergency room is covered in water.

SANCHEZ: I'll tell you, this is one of those stories where the pictures really do tell the story. You know, this is not just urban flooding that we're looking at here. This is the real thing, folks. You can see in some places, that the water level is really all but covering just underneath the roof line. We're going to be all over this. Karen's going to be checking on it with us. Cheryl's going to stay where she is. As the story develops, we'll be getting back to both of them.

Let's do this now, change course and talk about the big political story of the day, the one that so many people had been waiting for Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential hopes are now officially, and this is the key word here, suspended. Her former rival, now the democrat that she's endorsing for president. Clinton's urging her supporters to support Barack Obama. Let's take a look now at this speech that many people already are calling historic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

And I want to start today by saying how grateful I am to all of you, to everyone who poured your hearts and your hopes into this campaign, who drove for miles and lined the streets waving homemade signs, who scrimped and saved to raise money, who knocked on doors and made calls, who talked, sometimes argued with your friends and neighbors...

(APPLAUSE)

... who e-mailed and contributed online, who invested so much in our common enterprise, to the moms and dads who came to our events, who lifted their little girls and little boys on their shoulders and whispered in their ears, "See, you can be anything you want to be."

(APPLAUSE)

To the young people...

(APPLAUSE)

... like 13-year-old Anne Riddell (ph) from Mayfield, Ohio, who had been saving for two years to go to Disneyworld and decided to use her savings instead to travel to Pennsylvania with her mom and volunteer there, as well.

To the veterans, to the childhood friends, to New Yorkers and Arkansans...

(APPLAUSE)

... who traveled across the country, telling anyone who would listen why you supported me. And to all of those women in their 80s and their 90s...

(APPLAUSE)

... born before women could vote, who cast their votes for our campaign. I've told you before about Florence Stein (ph) of South Dakota who was 88 years old and insisted that her daughter bring an absentee ballot to her hospice bedside. Her daughter and a friend put an American flag behind her bed and helped her fill out the ballot.

She passed away soon after and, under state law, her ballot didn't count, but her daughter later told a reporter, "My dad's an ornery, old cowboy, and he didn't like it when he heard Mom's vote wouldn't be counted. I don't think he had voted in 20 years, but he voted in place of my mom."

(APPLAUSE)

So to all those who voted for me and to whom I pledged my utmost, my commitment to you and to the progress we seek is unyielding.

You have inspired and touched me with the stories of the joys and sorrows that make up the fabric of our lives. And you have humbled me with your commitment to our country.

Eighteen million of you, from all walks of life...

(APPLAUSE)

... women and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African- American and Caucasian...

(APPLAUSE)

... rich, poor, and middle-class, gay and straight, you have stood with me.

(APPLAUSE)

And I will continue to stand strong with you every time, every place, in every way that I can. The dreams we share are worth fighting for.

Remember, we fought for the single mom with the young daughter, juggling work and school, who told me, "I'm doing it all to better myself for her."

We fought for the woman who grabbed my hand and asked me, "What are you going to do to make sure I have health care?" and began to cry, because even though she works three jobs, she can't afford insurance.

We fought for the young man in the Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said, "Take care of my buddies over there, and then will you please take care of me?"

(APPLAUSE)

(END OF VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley was there, she is joining us now. Candy, I hard like at least three speeches there. It was Hillary Clinton on Hillary Clinton, somewhat self-congratulatory at times. I also heard a speech about women and what women had done. I also heard a speech about, we got to get behind Barack Obama. The question that a lot of people are going to be asking and the question I want to start off with you is, did she strike the right balance in those themes?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly the Obama campaign thinks she did. They thought she gave a full-throated, no-holds barred endorsement. They recognized that in fact this was very hard. If you go to the Barack Obama website you will see that they have linked up to her speech. So they were very pleased and felt that she did in fact, give a full unequivocal endorsement. And you're right it really was three speeches. And that's because Hillary Clinton wanted to do three things. She wanted to thank her supporters. She wanted to put her campaign in a historic light so that she could, as one of her aides told me, put a period on this history and she wanted to give an unqualified endorsement of Barack Obama. So I think you saw all three of those. In the paragraph you heard where she talked about all of her supporters and all of the support that she had and the 18 million people, I think that that is just a reminder that this is a power player here, this is a national figure. She will have a say so. She said she was going to be on the front lines of democracy, fighting for all of the things that she has always fought for but she put it in the perspective of, right now, that means you and I need to support Barack Obama.

SANCHEZ: But, to that end, and at the beginning one of the first things you said to us was that Barack Obama supporters seemed satisfied. One would expect that they would be after all they're the winners in this show, they're the ones who come out tap dancing and winning this contest. Let me give you the converse of that and ask you, what about Hillary's supporters, after hearing this speech, will they be more apt to back Barack Obama or are they going to be angry about what they've seen happen to their candidate?

CROWLEY: It's a beginning. And certainly we heard when she started talking about, here's why you should support Barack Obama, there was mostly applause, mostly cheers. There were scattered boos. We heard on the way out people saying, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. Others say, yeah, I am on board we need to elect a democrat. They do not see the speech in the Clinton campaign as the end of it, one said I'm not -- she can't go up there, give a speech, say nice things about Barack Obama and then leave the scene. They believe that she has a role to play, whether it's you know, number two on the ticket, whether it's a chief surrogate or whatever it is she's going to do, that she has a role to play in bringing those supporters along. They do not believe it will happen overnight. And neither does the Obama campaign. And they understand that she can't hand him these supporters. He's got to go out and get them, as well. He needs to go back to the women who were so avid in their support for Hillary Clinton to the downscaled democrats, so-called blue-collar workers, to Latinos and say, listen, I understand that you really supported Senator Clinton, let me tell you the things we have in common. Let me tell you a little bit about who I am. It can't be just her going, ok, here are my supporters.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, yeah.

CROWLEY: She will continue to work on it. But he, it's really up to him.

SANCHEZ: It's not about a speech, it's about a process.

CROWLEY: Right.

SANCHEZ: That's what I hear you saying. In the end I think, for a while, we'll probably be hearing that formidable chant "VP, VP." The best in the business, senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. Thanks so much for your insight.

CROWLEY: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: More analysis of Hillary Clinton's speeches coming up.

Also ahead -- some of the other news that we're following today. Let's take a look once again at that flooding in Indiana. This is from WTHR. We're obviously going to be getting a lot of video from this story and we're going to be turning it around over the next 60 minutes. As we get it we'll share it with you. Sometimes unedited, so look at this. There was a train that used to run under there. I doubt it still can. We'll be all over this. By the way, did you also know that there was a heat wave across the eastern part of the country? We're watching all of this for you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: This is both a breaking news story and a developing news story that we're getting in from Indiana. Look at these pictures. Look at this flooding. We're being told, last word, that at least one dam has burst in part, causing some of what you're seeing right now. We are all over this story. Your weekend weather forecast is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez in the CNN NEWSROOM. Those 18 million cracks, Senator Clinton refers to, include white, blue-collar voters and older women that Senator Obama will need in November to win. So, just how does race and gender and the candidates all fit together in this story? Keli Goff joining us now, she's a political blogger and a commentator, has been busy analyzing the demographics in this campaign. You look at this and it's almost difficult to talk about it, but it does break down, people who are little less educated voted for Hillary, more educated voted for Barrack Obama, whites tended to go -- and the older the whites were, they tended to go for Hillary. The younger they were, they intended to go for Obama. This thing really did split down across demographic lines. The question is, what now if you're Barack Obama?

KELI GOFF, POLITICAL BLOGGER: I think that, Rick, for all of the talk about all of the issues you just raised from race to gender, I actually think at the end of the day when votes are finally tallied in November this is going to really prove to be a generational election. That factors like age are actually going to determine the outcome a lot more than I think we, in the media, have given credit to. I think it's really sort of exciting and, you know, sexy, if you will, to talk about sort of the black and white issues, such as white collar voters or race, because that's sort of what we're used to talking about. But it's a lot more complex than that as you raised. I was going over some of the numbers and if you remember back in the day, during the Potomac primaries when we were all convinced that this race was going to be over a lot sooner than it was, Barack Obama actually won women in states like Virginia and Maryland, they actually helped him to victory.

SANCHEZ: Let me ask you a question, because when I heard this, I didn't quite know what to think about it. When she says, we weren't able to shatter that highest of glass ceilings, was Hillary Clinton saying, look, I didn't get in because in part I'm a woman?

GOFF: Well, look, it's no secret that the Clinton campaign has certainly raised the sexism card and made that a part of the story of the failure of her campaign and in large part about the role that factors into the media play. So I think that might have been a tip of the hat to that issue and the fact that a lot of her supporters feel --

SANCHEZ: Was that -- just to stop you for a moment, if we accept that that's what she was perhaps intimating, if not all out saying, should she have said that, in this moment in this speech?

GOFF: Well, I think that you know, whether or not we agree that sexism played a role or did not play a role in the end of her campaign, the reality is there has been no female president in our nation's history for more than two centuries, so that's a glass ceiling that has yet to be shattered. That's just a factual statement, that's not one that's really up for debate.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, I guess it depends on whether you're looking at this from a pragmatic, concrete standpoint or from an intention standpoint. The next question, of course is, does that also imply that now, with Barack Obama, it's been shattered, at least the other one, the race ceiling.

GOFF: Well, he's not in the White House yet. He's not in the White House yet. The ceiling hasn't officially been shattered. It was a big step for him to receive the nomination and she did acknowledge that in her speech, and I thought one of the really great things that she did, because this was such a contentious primary, I felt at times, I felt as an African-American woman I felt that there was almost this one ups man ship, trying to go on among minorities about who has it worse, women or African-Americans.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, tell Geraldine Ferraro that.

GOFF: Right, and I wanted to say, ok, well what about those of us who are both? What are you trying to say here? I thought it was a smart move on her part to acknowledge that these are both two really accomplished people who both mad history in essence.

SANCHEZ: It reminds me of the song "Stuck in the Middle with You." But here is something that's important, and Candy Crowley and many of our own colleagues have said this on the air, the speech that she delivered where at least the part of the speech where she was addressing women in this country and what she had done for them and what they had done for her, she had to say that, that was important for her to say that today.

GOFF: It was extremely important. It was particularly important for her supporters. And I think that, you know, anyone who expected her to say, hi, my name is Hillary Clinton, and I'm here today to tell you to go vote for Barack Obama, what she did today was a lot smarter than that because what she did, she laid out for women how far we've come, but how much further we have to go. The way she set it up, it was as though she said, if you don't vote for Barack Obama, we won't continue this progression that we've made. I thought it was a very savvy move on her part in terms of maintaining her legacy and possibly helping her with her audition for vice president.

SANCHEZ: That's smart. You're smart, you're savvy. I really have appreciated that. You know there's real insight in your words. Our viewers appreciate that. Thanks so much for being with us..

GOFF: Thanks so much for having me.

SANCHEZ: Senator Obama released a statement shortly after Senator Clinton's exit. Here's part of it. He says, "She shattered barriers on behalf of my daughters and women everywhere, who now know that there are no limits to their dreams. And she inspired millions with her strength, courage and unyielding commitment to the cause of working Americans. Our party and our country are stronger because of the work that she has done throughout her life and I'm a better candidate for having had the privilege of competing with her in this campaign. Again, those are Barack Obama's words.

Let's go to Ann Gregson. She is with the Red Cross in Indiana and is joining us to give us a sense of what they might be able to do for some of these folks who have to be affected by these pictures that you're about to see right now of what's going on in Indiana. That's the flooding that we've been tell you about.

Bring us up to date, Greg.

ANN GREGSON, RED CROSS: Hi. It's Ann.

SANCHEZ: Hi, Ann. How are you?

GREGSON: Hi, hi. I'm with the Red Cross in Indianapolis. And at this point, we are -- we have nine shelters open. I just learned of any new one, due to a power outage. This is extraordinary flooding. And we cover 11 counties we've got shelters all over the place.

SANCHEZ: You know, look at these pictures that we're looking at now. Pictures like this, we're not at any shortage of unbelievable video that describes how devastating this seems to be. Can you give us, because we haven't been able to nail down any numbers yet, can you give us any quantifiable information on who has been affected by this and how?

GREGSON: Honestly, I can't. We are -- we have been -- tried to be flexible all day. We've moved shelters around. We've consolidated them. We've added them. It's -- we know whole neighborhoods are being evacuated, full counties in different parts of Indiana. It's -- it's again, unprecedented. I've never seen anything like this. I've been with the Red Cross 18 years and it's right now in Indianapolis it is sunny. And we're hoping it will dry out. But there are major roads that are just cut off. I am going to have to find an interesting route home, that's one thing. But we have got...

SANCHEZ: The reason I'm ask you that question is because folks at home watching the same pictures. These homes here it looks like they're not that bad. You can see the first floor and the second floor. At worst they might get wet but they're not going to...

GREGSON: Right. At this point it's just evacuating people, sheltering them. Once the water goes down, people you know, emergency management, Red Cross, can get out there and do damage assessment. At this point it's like they can't stay there. So, or they can't go home, they're stuck. We have a county where it's cut off like down the middle. So the Red Cross, we're hoping, one Red Cross out by sending people down to another part of their affected county, because they can't get to it. To see what's the situation. So until the waters go doesn't, we don't know.

SANCHEZ: You know what? We'll stay in touch with you. As you guys get information, we'll be hopefully getting it from you as well.

GREGSON: We appreciate you calling. Thanks a lot.

SANCHEZ: We'll do everything we can. We know it's a very difficult situation.

Let's go to Karen McGinnis.

Karen, she said it wasn't raining in Indianapolis. Does it mean it's not going to rain in Indiana?

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's going to taper off. But we're looking at the rain chances going up on Monday, about a 60 percent likelihood. They're saying the rainfall amounts, according to the computer models, are about a quarter of an inch to a half inch.

But we know that in Johnson County, they're saying that this is just about the worst disaster that county has ever seen. Here's Johnson County. Here's Indianapolis. Here at Vigo County, they are saying they've had 200 plus rescues, people from their homes, trapped in their vehicles and it looks like that is ongoing there as well. They're saying around the Princess Lakes area, the dams are failing. One is threatening the town of Nineveh. Near Lake Lemon, about ten miles to northeast of Wilmington -- here's the county that Bloomington is in, and just to the northeast, about ten miles, they're saying that dams are close to failure. And that is going to cause additional flooding problems there. This is slow to return to normal because the ground is saturated, Rick, it has nowhere to go.

SANCHEZ: You don't know. We're looking at pictures and I was talking to the official with the Red Cross. It's hard to tell how many people have been affected at this point.

MAGINNIS: Exactly. It's so widespread. As I said, they're saying Johnson County -- this is the worst disaster they've ever seen.

SANCHEZ: Stay on top of it for us. We appreciate it. Well let viewer in that area know as well, those that are still able to hear us.

CNN I-reporters in Indiana are also capturing video and some images of this flooding as it unfolds. Look at this picture. This comes from Mike Horsley. It shows you how deep the water has gotten in some of those areas already. The car you see there half submerge. Just doesn't seem to be going anywhere. You can even see it, so little of it is showing. Mike says the driver tried navigating the runoff. Obviously, he shouldn't have.

I want to show you this one as well. We've been giving you the aerial shots of our affiliate helicopter. Here's a good look as well from the ground. This is from an I-reporter, Stan Hool (ph) in Franklin, Indiana. He sent us this just a little while ago. You see how the water's running. Remember the reporter told us, Cheryl Jackson, a dam burst as a result of flooding. This is what you see when you see this kind of flash flooding in an area like this. Water's coming down all of a sudden.

To send us an I-report, just logon to ireport.com and share photos or videos with us. We will share them with the country. Always be mindful of yourself in these situation as well.

Up close and personal with the astronauts on shuttle "Discovery." Miles O'Brien talked to the orbiting crew. That's coming up right here on the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Welcome back to these world headquarters of CNN in Atlanta. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Big Brown is gearing up for his shot at history. What or who is Big Brown, you may ask? Well, it's a colt. And he's running in the Belmont Stakes looking to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978. Big Brown is going to be racing on a patched up hoof, but trainers say it shouldn't hurt his chances. He's going to start the race in the number one position. But his chief rival, Casino Drive, won't be out there. He's been scratched from the lineup, due to a hoof injury of his own.

Longtime and legendary sportscaster Jim McKay has died. The eloquent voice for ABC Sports may be best remembered for the Olympic Games he covered, most notefully, 1972 games in Munich as Israeli athletes were taken hostage and later killed. He won both a News and Sports Emmy for that coverage, a first ever for any sportscaster. He also handled ABC's "Wild World of Sports," 25 years, with his best known line that lives today in America's lexicon, "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." We grew up with you, Jim, and watched you every Saturday. McKay passed away this morning at his home in Maryland from natural causes. He was 86 years old.

Out of heartbreak comes a heroic act of kindness. Our "CNN Hero" today, a mother working tirelessly to save other sons and daughters on a sports (inaudible).

(CNN HERO)

SANCHEZ: Here's how you can help us out. If you know somebody who can be a "CNN Hero," tell us about them, logon to cnn.com/heros. You never know, you could see your hero right here on CNN.

"Discovery" astronauts are going to tackle their tasks but still find time to it sit down and chat while they're up in space with our Miles O'Brien. This is a good one. Stay there. It's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We welcome you back. A test run, 200 miles above the earth. "Discovery" astronauts have been trying out a robotic arm on the new Japanese science lab called Kibo. Sounds like a breakfast cereal, doesn't it?

A little while ago, space correspondent, Miles O'Brien, talked to the crew of the shuttle and the international space station. This came in to us a while ago. We want you to hear it for yourself. They're all squeezed inside this new lab, by the way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN NEWS SPACE CORRESPONDENT: The "Discovery" mission now at the midway point, a lot of hard work has been accomplished. Lots more ahead. We're joined by the full crew, the full space shuttle crew and the ISS crew aboard the Kibo laboratory, the Japanese module, which is front and center, the main event for this mission.

Commander Mark Kelly, I want to begin with you. Give us a sense of the scale of Kibo. All of the shots I've we've seen, especially without all of the equipment racks in there, give us a huge -- it look likes a huge space.

MARK KELLY, DISCOVERY COMMANDER: It is, Miles. When we first installed it the other day and opened up the hatch, if you're watching the video, you saw us kind of tumbling out of control, because in most places you can't reach something. Since then we've installed racks and close-outs and the space is more manageable but it is - it's certainly the big of the module on the space station.

O'BRIEN: We noticed Garrett Riesman doing some swimming I guess it was. Pass the microphone over to Garrett.

I'm curious about -- just - just what strokes were those, anyway?

GARRETT REISMAN, DISCOVERY ASTRONAUT: As -- I think it was a desperate attempt at a backstroke. I'm not really sure. I can tell you the swimming in air doesn't work very well. And that was, you know, the concern coming in, because Akihito and I were both schedule for a lot of time in here. We're both a little vertically challenged. And so there was a concern that you could get stuck in the middle of the module, it's so big, and not be able to touch anything. And Ken Hamm (ph), over here, decided to test that theory. And we found out that you know, eventually, you can get sucked into a vent.

O'BRIEN: You need one of those pendants, I'm floating and I can't get up, whatever, something like that.

Mike Fossum, I wanted to ask you, before you left, you were talking about, you know, taking a few moments of the taxpayer time, while doing your space walk, kind of stop and smell the rose. Did you take the time, and what do you owe us? No, seriously, what exactly did you see? What were your impressions as you're doing your work in space?

MIKE FOSSUM, DISVOERY ASTRONAUT: In space, it's an awesome experience. It's very much unlike anything else you'll experience anywhere. The personal moment I took was a couple of days ago when we were working on a camera, hanging out on the port side of the station. And we had a sunrise come up and for just a moment, watched the sky turn to a blaze of color along the horizon and then the white sun just pushed up through there. And it just hits you square in the face. You know, the sun rise takes place in just a few seconds and it was pretty neat.

O'BRIEN: While I have you, Mike, I noticed while you were out there you noticed a potential problem -- I underscore the word potential -- with other side of the station, the huge paddle wheel device designed to keep the solar rays tracking with the sun. Does it look like the problems you see on the right side or starboard side, and if so, what are the potential implications?

FOSSUM: No, I don't believe it looks at all like the starboard side. The starboard side has metal shavings that show up. And you can see some damage to the metal surface. There's just some things look different on the side that we looked at the other day, the port side. It really looks, to me, like a little bit of grease, which is not a terrible, big surprise when dealing with a bearing surface, but it was not expected. Through the photographs they think there might be a little bit of dusting of other deposits around there.

Right now - and this plan has changed by the hour -- tomorrow we plan to go out with a bit of special tape, and collect some of that dust from around the edge of the bearing but really, that baring looks to be in pretty darn good shape.

O'BRIEN: Let's send it over to the Akihito Hoshide, Japanese astronaut on board.

This is a milestone moment for the Japanese space program. Put it into perspective, having seen Kibo attached, there you are in it, it's a beautiful facility. What does this mean for Japan?

AKIHITO HOSHIDE, JAPANESE ASTRONAUT: First of all, Miles, the Kibo lab is men for science, like life science, material science, and outside we don't have it yet, but we'll have a porch next year and we'll have some equipment outside for some science experiments as well. And it's a big milestone. We have our own house here now, and it's bigger now. So people can start doing some plans here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Mark Kelly and the rest of the combined crews of the international space station and "Discovery," thanks very much for your time. They continue their mission. They're at the midway point, as we speak, hurdling over Australia, 17,500 miles an hour. The mission continues and so does our coverage. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Isn't that fascinating? Unbelievable. Nobody handles it better than Miles. I should say, at least nobody I've met thus far.

Two astronauts will do last-minute outfitting of the lab and a third space walk tomorrow.

Check this out, picture of Martian soil take by the Phoenix Mars Lander. This craft has begun sampling dirt to tester to signs of red planet can, or has in the past, supported life. Today's execution, not successful. NASA's not sure why, but none of the dirt that Phoenix scooped up made it into the actual testing chamber so they can actually see what it's composed of.

This week in politics starts right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Rick Sanchez at the CNN Center in Atlanta. These are some of the headlines we're following for you right now.

She spent nearly 18 months trying to defeat Barack Obama. Now Hillary Clinton wants here supporters to help him win the White House. That's right. Clinton suspended her presidential campaign today and endorsed her one-time rival. She said it's time for Democrats to unite and restore the ties that bind them.

It was already wet in central Indiana. Then came ten inches of rain today. The White River is out of its banks south of Indianapolis, by the way. Let's see if we can look at some of the pictures coming in from Indiana. It has sent rescue crews, house to submerged house in boats. Different pictures coming in, bringing older and handicapped residents to higher ground as well. So far, no injuries or any deaths have been reported.

Let's go to Karen McGinnis. She's following this for us.

Look at that one picture, Karen. It almost looks like there's no way that that train can go over that again at least for some time.

MCGINNIS: It really doesn't. And take a look at these rescues taking place. The emergency management official out of Johnson County says that this is the worst disaster that...