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Boeing Tests Dreamliner; Women Veterans Injured in War; The Power of Lieberman; Small Illinois Town May House Guantanamo Terror Detainees; Former James Arthur Ray Employee Speaks Out
Aired December 15, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And we are pushing forward now with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Melissa Long.
MELISSA LONG, HOST: Thank you very much, Tony.
Cleared for takeoff, finally. The long-awaited Boeing Dreamliner not quite lighter than air, but lighter than so many of the planes we now have. Test pilots are taking it for a spin, possibly in just minutes.
He was for it before he was against it. Joe Lieberman changes his mind about Medicare, dimming the prospects for health-care reform in the Senate.
And President Obama wants to put the win in winter. Win/win, actually. Save energy, save money, one roll of weather stripping at a time.
Sure, flights get delayed 30 minutes, an hour. But for 2 1/2 years? Finally a maiden flight today for the Dreamliner. It is a plane that Boeing is banking its future on. The test flight happening right now.
This is a live picture from Washington state, from Everett, from the facility out there. It is a 787 Dreamliner. It is a totally new design, mostly made of composite materials, plastics instead of aluminum, so it's much lighter in its weight.
Less weight, what does that mean? Less fuel. Less fuel, what does it mean for you? Fewer high-priced tickets and more money for the airlines.
Analysts say, and Boeing is really hoping, this plane could revolutionize aviation. Getting here, however, has been quite a challenge, because you have to look at the production. Boeing outsourced more than -- of its parts on this plane than many of its other planes to date.
That really came with some mixed success. There were part shortages. Some of the companies simply weren't on the same page. The first Dreamliner was meant to be delivered to the buyer back in May 2008. The new, expected delivery date now, would be 2010, late in 2010.
Want to find out a little bit more on this maiden flight, and for that we go to Everett, Washington, the facility there, a live picture once again from our affiliate KIRO. And all-platform journalist for CNN, Patrick Oppmann is standing by, ready for the takeoff. And I know this is a big day for Boeing, a very, very long-in-coming day -- Patrick.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Executives said yesterday it is one of the most important days in this company's history, and in just a few minutes we're expecting that on this airfield behind me, we'll see the plane come, taxi down, and then go to the north of the airfield and take off. It's going to go about a four- or five-hour flight, just the pilot and the copilot aboard, the beginning of this process where they're really going to take this plane and put it to an absolute test, see what it's capable of doing.
They do this with every new airliner. Perhaps something even more to prove, though, was, as you mentioned, a plane that's mostly plastic. The first airliner of its class to be made of these carbon composite materials. It's really a revolutionary plane. Although it's been called the Dreamliner, it's been anything but a dream getting this plane to market. Some terrible delays.
Despite all those delays, problems with the supply lines, Boeing says the plane is even more relevant now in the era of high fuel prices and increased consciousness over the environment. They say this plane delivers all that and more.
So hundreds of media out here waiting for this flight to take off, as well as several hundred Boeing employees that have just come out here on their own, really, just to see their work take flight today. So, a lot of people with their fingers crossed, despite some really terrible weather out here all day that they're going to be able to get this flight up -- flight up after years of delays.
LONG: Years, really years of delay. This is the first new commercial airliner that Boeing has had in about a decade now, in the works for years. It has huge price tag, $150 million for a plane, and when you're looking at the bottom line for Boeing, this is a very important business venture.
Eight hundred sixty-five orders from what I've been reading from 57 customers. When you look at those numbers, and it's certainly Boeing's most successful launch. And that is just by orders, most successful launch.
Again, this is a very big business concept for Boeing, and this is not only a big day, as you mentioned, for the employees of the company, but also for customers that could be flying on this 787 someday. It could seat 200 to 300, depending on the configuration.
And, Patrick, as you mentioned, this could really revolutionize travel because of the lighter -- of the lighter capacity of the plane because it's made of composites rather than aluminum. It will, therefore, reduce the price that people have to pay when they buy a ticket to fly on one of these 787s.
OPPMANN: Well, we'll see if the airlines actually follow through. They might be saving a lot of money on fuel if they give us a deal. We won't really know until about 2011, which will be the first time that a passenger like you or me can hope to go on a plane. Nippon Airways is the first to get delivery of this plane.
So, still about ten months of testing to undergo before we can hope to get on one of these planes, before they'll make delivery. They're going to take this plane and put it through just about every imaginable scenario to prove that it's safe.
But a big day for this company. A lot of crossed fingers right here. And I've seen a few tears in the eyes of Boeing employees out here, because it's been a long, hard road. But it's going to, hopefully, put the company back on top they say, they say, and also create thousands and thousands of jobs in new facility just for the airplane in South Carolina and some of the producers around this world. A lot of people involved in making a very big project for Boeing.
LONG: And, again, about 2 1/2 years late. Patrick Oppmann joining us live from Everett there in Washington state. We see a lot of people that are bundled up at the airport. Just about mid-40s today, overcast skies, rain in the forecast tonight. But we will be keeping an eye on the launch -- I should say the takeoff today for that long-awaited flight for the maiden voyage of, like, 787. We'll keep you posted. We'll bring you more live pictures this afternoon.
One in seven U.S. service members is a woman. That means thousands of moms and wives and sisters, the women who hold many families together, they are sometimes spending long months away, fighting wars alongside the fathers, the husbands and the brothers. And sometimes they do return home wounded.
CNN's Campbell Brown is reporting this week on the special burdens that women warriors carry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA TROTTER, IRAQ VETERAN: Go back. Let's listen to the scale again.
(MUSIC)
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A typical night at the Trotter household in East St. Louis. From flute practice, putting up the family Christmas tree...
TROTTER: Spell it, so I can know that you spelled it correctly.
BROWN: ... to helping the kids with their homework. It's enough to make any single mom tired, especially this one.
TROTTER: From here, the hole was right here.
BROWN: Melissa Trotter, though, is not just any single mother. She's also an Iraq veteran, seriously injured just two months into her tour of duty. TROTTER: My teeth were knocked out. My leg was broke.
BROWN: She was riding in her gunner truck when a fuel truck slammed into her.
TROTTER: As he got ready to turn, I was on the side that he turned to, and he hit me. I don't remember anything. All I know is when I went to check my tongue across my teeth, there was nothing there.
BROWN: An accident like that would change anyone's life. For Melissa, the primary caregiver for her two children Deron (ph) and Tiara (ph), it was devastating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I couldn't really picture it or didn't really believe it that much until I saw her.
TROTTER: It's kind of getting tight.
BROWN: Women make up 14 percent of the active military. The Pentagon doesn't track the number of single mothers, but we do know that 17 have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The statistics didn't scare Special Agent Melissa Trotter. One thing she knew for certain: she wanted to join the military. She thought it was the best way to provide security for her children.
TROTTER: I try not to cry, because, you know, you don't want your kids to see you cry. You've got to be strong, you know, because it's my job. And she might not have understood and he might not have understood, but I know I have to do this. This is what I have to do.
BROWN: But she never expected she'd come home wounded, with shattered teeth and a badly injured knee. The Army sent her to Walter Reed, paid for family visits, then sent her to rehab. She never considered how tough all that would be.
TROTTER: I had to learn how to deal with being a mother and being a wounded soldier coming back, getting back into life, and being that person that I was before. And it's been five years now, and I still haven't figured it out.
BROWN: Eight-thirty a.m. every day finds Melissa here, at the gym, a rehabilitation process that is taking time, but one step, one mile, one workout brings Melissa and her family closer to recovery.
TROTTER: Days I'm in pain, can't walk, they won't know it. By the end of the day, they'll know it, but I'm still going to get up and do what I have to do to keep them going, because I want them to be successful.
BROWN: Her son is a high-school football star with his sights on a college scholarship. Her daughter, a young musician who loves social studies and hopes to be a teacher someday. Melissa is proud of how hard they have worked, not only for themselves, but for her. Everything they've achieved, they've achieved as a family one step at a time.
TROTTER: They're taking care of me when I should be taking care of them, so maybe coming back injured was more -- a little harder than I realized. I don't want them to think that this job that I had stopped me from being a mom, you know? I'm going to always be a soldier. I'm going to always be a mom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: Like men, women often bring the wars home with them. Posttraumatic stress is certainly a wound that really doesn't show on the outside, at least not at first, but it can be just as deadly as a land mine.
On Campbell's show last night, an expert talked about the problems that women warriors face themselves just even in being recognized themselves as warriors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIDGET CANTRELL, PTSO EXPERT: They come home and people don't -- they stereotype. They think well, you know, you're in a support service. You're not going to be outside the wire. And so it gets very frustrating, and they feel like they're invalidated. And they certainly are warriors, and they're out on the front lines. And they're being medics, and they're seeing all sorts of things that their male counterparts are seeing. However, they're not treated the same when they get home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: The story, "Band of Sisters," is a series of special reports on Campbell Brown, 8 p.m. Eastern tonight, and that is only on CNN.
The president and the majority leader, Harry Reid, made his vote for health care reform. No Lieberman, no deal. Today he's talking about what it will take to twin him over and proceed with health-care reform in Washington.
And as promised, we are watching and waiting for the inaugural flight, the maiden voyage, of the 787. It is a Boeing project, first time in some ten years we've seen a new plane from Boeing, and it is a plane that sells for around $150 million. Looks like the wheels are starting to roll.
Again, this is live from Everett, Washington, Washington state, the headquarters, of course, of Boeing, getting ready for a battery of tests, in fact. And this is not a short flight. This is a four- to five-hour flight, but it's going to be circling a lot, around Everett, around Seattle. It will land several hours later today, about 40 miles from the Boeing field south of downtown Seattle.
If you're just turning on your television, again, it's a 787. You can see it there on the tail. It is a Boeing plane, that when it goes commercial, when you have the opportunity to fly on it, you could fly with between 200 and 300 passengers, depending on how it is configured.
The CEO of Boeing, and I directly quote him now, he says, "We think this is a game changer, because it provides so much value to the customer."
The potential value could be passed down -- again could be passed down -- when it comes down to how much you pay. This plane is made unlike any other plane, much more of composites and plastic rather than the traditional aluminum, which could transfer -- again could transfer -- to lower fees when you go to buy an airline ticket in the future.
So a lot of promise, possibly, for the passengers and a lot of promise for the airline itself. Hasn't created a new plane in about a decade now. But there were a lot of production delays. There was a strike. There were technical problems.
Boeing will talk about how it had problems with some of the suppliers, outsourced a lot of the work itself, which led to, again, many of the delays. About 2 1/2 years now that this plane has been delayed, the 787. You can see on the left-hand side of your television screen, 800-plus orders. Eight hundred sixty-five, in fact, from 57 customers. When you look at those numbers, that makes this Boeing's most successful launch, when you look at orders themselves.
I know we have a CNN all-platform journalist standing by for us in Everett, Washington. He is there to watch this plane as it goes on its inaugural flight, again on this maiden voyage. Patrick, are you able to hear me? Patrick Oppmann is there for us. He's there on this cloudy day.
OPPMANN: I heard you loud and clear.
LONG: I'm curious what you can tell us about what it's like there. I know this is a very important project for the employees.
OPPMANN: It's first things first. It's very cold. A lot of -- lot of bundled-up people out here on an airfield. You don't want to be at an airfield on a cold day, but this is an exception. It's an incredible day to be here.
And off to my right, I can see hundreds and hundreds of Boeing employees trying to get a glimpse of the work of their company. Down the runway, just over the berm there, where the national, international news media, about 300 members of the media from around the world, have set up. You can look down the runway and see hundreds of more Boeing employees.
So it's just an incredible sight, people come out to see this plane off. And you think the years of work that have gone into this plane. It's really coming down to this moment. Can it fly?
Boeing has every reason to believe the design is sound, that this flight today is going to prove a lot of things about the future of the airliner, the 787 Dreamliner, and the future of their company, but it really comes down to this: can it fly?
There are only two people on board this flight, the pilot and the copilot. There have been test flights in the past. It's not been very often, where there have been accidents, some things have happened. People don't think that anything like that's going to happen today. They've done all the safety tests. They've gone through this plane again and again and again to make sure it's a sound aircraft. But until it takes off down the runway in just a little bit, we really don't know.
So they've got their best pilots in the cockpits today. Again, they'll be going up for about four to five hours. They'll be traveling 40 miles, but in that four to five hours, it will be the beginning of a ten-month process of taking this plane to the limit and beyond. Boeing wants to prove everything in this flight can do the things, Melissa, that they said is -- they want to show that this plane can take a lightning strike.
LONG: Wow.
OPPMANN: And obviously a lot of people have been in flights before when you get hit by -- by lightning and...
LONG: Patrick, you mentioned the pilot, Patrick. I wanted to tell our viewers exactly who was in the cockpit right now. It's Mike Carriker. He's an engineer and also former Navy flight instructor. Of course, he also has a copilot with him.
And I know you mentioned this is really just day one of a lot of testing. Because we have today, and then we have nine, ten more months of testing. So, Mike and his co-pilot and a team of more than three dozen other pilots will be testing this 787, giving the engineers, hopefully, the results, the data, that they have worked hard for, worked tirelessly for, as they've been building this new plane. Again, a Boeing 787.
I want to tell our viewers a little bit more -- oh, there's a picture of the pilot right there on the left-hand side of your television screen. Again, that's Mike Carriker. As I mentioned, an engineer and also a former Navy flight instructor. He is at the controls of this 787, built mostly of composite plastic. That is significant.
It's made up, unlike the traditional planes that you fly on, maybe today if you happen to be at the airport or if you're taking off later today, a plane built of aluminum. This is built of plastic. And Patrick, that is a very big focus when it comes to looking at exactly what this plane could do, how it could possibly revolutionize airline travel.
OPPMANN: You're absolutely right. It's going to be lighter. It's going to be faster. Boeing estimates that you can save -- airlines can save between 15 to 20 percent of their fuel costs. That's just a huge number right now when you think about how airlines are cutting back on every little thing to try and stay solvent, so to go and tell an airline that they can save that on fuel. Of course, they have to invest in a very expensive airplane, but for the ones that are able to -- and a lot of international carriers are looking at this. Despite the yearlong -- years-long delays, you still have over 800 planes that have been orders for, so that's an enormous number. When you think, considering the problem that it had getting this airplane ready, you can hear the helicopters buzzing over. And you can feel sort of the energy getting ready as the plane is getting out on the runway, and we expect to have a takeoff here very soon. But across...
LONG: As we watch the live pictures as it taxis -- as we watch the live pictures as it taxis there in Everett, Washington, again, 10:17 in the morning West Coast time.
Patrick was just talking about the plastic. The company, Boeing itself, is saying this new material will allow it to hold up better to wear and tear than the traditional aluminum planes we're all accustomed to flying on.
And Patrick was talking about how it could using up to 20 percent less fuel. That's also significant, because of the environmental nature. Boeing is saying this will be a more environmentally friendly way to fly, because it's more efficient. It will use less fuel and, again, costing the operator less to fly and possibly transferring down to you, the customer, with cheaper fares.
Live pictures right now, just turning on your television, from our affiliate KIRO out of Seattle, Washington state. The Dreamliner, that's the name for this plane, 787. It is a Boeing project, some ten years in the works, because this is the first commercial airline for Boeing in a decade now.
It has delayed about 2 1/2 years. There were some problems with production. A lot of the components were outsourced. Also, a strike during the process of putting this plane together.
So, if you're just turning on your television, we want to make sure you're aware of what you're watching right there. Again, the Boeing 787 getting ready for its maiden voyage.
It's about 43 degrees right now in Seattle. Rainy forecast, a little overcast skies, pretty typical for Seattle this time of year. But Patrick, you did mention it's pretty chilly and that despite that, you have a lot of people out there at that facility in Everett.
OPPMANN: I'm amazed by the turnout, but I guess for a lot of these employees it may be the last time they get to see a project this big come out, as we were talking about. It's only about every decade that a major airliner comes out, that you have this kind of event, and they're able to see the -- all the work really condensed into one event like this.
So, I saw some people today, engineers up there, watching it, and they were very emotional already. I'm sure they're feeling the emotion right now. And the composite materials are so interesting because, as you said, they have that environmental impact. They have the cost-saving impact. But even though there are some military planes that are made up of this mostly composite materials that this flight uniquely has, they still haven't used them commercially. They still had to do some selling.
So one of the things they did when they were trying to sell this in Japan was bring some of the panels and actually let some of the airline executives from Japan hit it with hammers and axes to show that it can hold up to wear and tear, because they said they just had a problem convincing people that plastic could hold up.
LONG: Showing how durable it is.
OPPMANN: They feel they've done that sales job.
LONG: Yes. All right, Patrick, you mentioned how chilly it is right there. I know you're just one of many reporters. Because this is not just a plane for domestic flights. This is a plane that would be bound for international flights. You have a lot of international interest, as well, of course, the many people there that have worked at Boeing over the years.
So, they are all bundled up right there at Everett and braving the kind of chilly temperatures. And we want to bring in Chad Myers, tell us a little bit more about the forecast. Because I know, Chad, also we have been waiting to see whether or not this flight would take place today, because obviously, you need to have the appropriate weather to actually make this plane get off the ground.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You've got a 3,000- to 3,800-foot ceiling. So as this plane takes off, unless it stays below that ceiling, you're going to see it fly right straight into a cloud mass.
So, yes, it is a cold day. The relative humidity is very high. I think you're going to see something with this plane. I don't know what the pilot and copilot will do with the plane, but realize now the plane is light, because that's how they built it. The plane is empty, because they are the only two in there. There's no cargo in the hold that we know of.
This plane may jump off the runway, literally, in half the time that you would think of a regular airliner would take as it rumbles down the runway, you know. Sometimes you get in one of these big planes and you go, "Man, are we ever going to get off the ground?"
LONG: Right, right, right.
MYERS: Are we going to fly? Are we going to fly? Come on. This thing, I think, will get up to speed very quickly because of the way that it is now. And it will get off the ground very quickly. Temperatures are in the 30s. And with a little bit of wind, that feels cold. You can see how wet it is. It's the cold that goes right through you. You know, you may be wearing some gloves, but that cold just seems to go right through the gloves and right into your fingers. But obviously, the pilots don't care, but the employees standing outside there, waiting for a -- it seems like a very slow taxi.
LONG: It does.
MYERS: Slow!
LONG: You know, par for the course perhaps for some of the people who have been working tirelessly on this project. You said it may get off the ground quickly.
MYERS: Yes.
LONG: But it's certainly not a plane that has gotten off the ground quickly how many years this was certainly in development. I mean, certainly the airline and the CEO saying this is revolutionary. It could revolutionize air travel, but of course, it's a project that they've been working on for years. Again, we haven't seen a plane, a commercial plane out of Boeing in about a decade now.
Pulling up the camera there from the helicopter perspective and showing you the plane and the surrounding facilities right there in Everett, Washington, the headquarters, of course, of Boeing in the Seattle area.
The plane will take off momentarily. We're just watching and waiting along with you. The pilots that got the go ahead from air traffic control to take off, not going to be traveling all that far. But he's going to be up in the air for a while, because they're expected to be at about four to five hours, doing a lot of testing.
And the testing will actually continue for the next nine to ten months as they work on all the data and get the data that the engineers need for this flight to therefore be sold to the many customers that have already placed orders for the plane.
And it does look like a chilly day, as Chad was saying and as Patrick Oppmann there, our all-platform journalist, was saying a moment ago who is in Everett. I wanted to just -- Chad, are you still is us?
MYERS: Of course.
LONG: You are. OK, I just wanted to also check in with you a little bit more about -- you were talking about the experience that some people have when they are flying, when they're waiting to take off, and how we really don't know how fast this plane will go, since we don't have the cargo on the plane. And we don't have the people on the plane, aside from that -- the captain and his copilot.
MYERS: Well, that's completely up to the captain right now. He can -- he can bring the thing all the way up to a nice idle and get it up to 60 percent thrust, and that plane will take off anyway. Or if he really wants to show it off, he go, "OK, here we go," and put it down. And that's not what a green plane really likes to do. Don't really want to floor it, you know, the jack-rabbit start. But I'm sure that he may put this thing through its paces, or she. I'm not sure. There you go, a little bit of an escort, there. I can't tell what they are from this far away. But a good-looking shot there out of Boeing.
LONG: Hey, Chad, I don't want to cut you off. But I understand we can actually hear some of the conversation taking place right now between the captain, the copilot and air traffic control.
MYERS: Cool.
LONG: We want to let our viewers hear it as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're flying north now, but they'll come around. There is actually -- there will be cameras on board, both still and video cameras on board those two planes. And we will have video from the chase planes later today after the airplane lands at Boeing Field.
LONG: And it will land later today several hours from now. Not in Everett, Washington, but at a nearby location. It will be actually landing about 40 miles away at Boeing Field, which is just south of downtown Seattle. We're just outside of Seattle right now in Washington state. Live picture from Everett, Washington, from our affiliate KIRO and also Boeing.
10:24 in the morning, West Coast time. As you know, 1:24 in the afternoon East Coast time. And we are waiting for this flight 787, the plane 787, the maiden voyage, the maiden flight. More than two- plus years of delays have brought the plane to this place, cleared for takeoff at the Everett facility.
The test flight today, test flight over the weekend and then a series of nine to ten more months of testing for this plane before you will have the opportunity to fly on it.
And a lot of orders have already been placed. In fact, it is Boeing's most successful launch when you look at the orders that have already been placed, 865 of them right now from some 57 customers.
At the controls right now, a pilot and his copilot. That is Mike Carriker. He's an engineer and also a former Navy flight instructor. He is at the controls. And just the two of them on board this flight right now, getting ready to take off from Everett, Washington.
When you fly on the plane someday, if you have the opportunity to do so, you will be flying with between 200 and 300 passengers. It depends on how it is configured. Planes will sell for around $150 million each. It is a very big project for Boeing. The airline has not put out a commercial airliner in about ten years now, a little more than a decade now.
The 787 is not anticipated -- it isn't anticipated that it will start flying passenger routes until at least maybe even 2011, the end of 2010, early 2011.
And the flight today, certainly important to eliminate doubts about this plane. It is made very differently than the planes that you fly on today, which are predominantly made of aluminum. This one predominantly made of composite materials or plastic.
Patrick Oppmann, are you still with us?
Patrick Oppmann is an all-platform journalist there for CNN at Everett.
Patrick, if you can tell us a little bit more about the composite materials, the plastics, and how Boeing has been trying to prove to people who may be a little bit skeptical that this is truly, possibly a revolutionary way to travel and how durable this plane really is.
OPPMANN: An interesting thing is there are military planes that are -- have the same makeup, but no commercial airlines. And Boeing, they're trying to compete with the big reliable Airbus. Years back they had the choice of do we try to go bigger? And instead they thought, smaller, faster, more fuel efficient.
The irony is, of course, they would have liked to have this plane ready years ago, but as Boeing CEO Jim Albaugh told me yesterday. In a lot of ways this plane is more relevant, so even though they've had these delays, it would have -- what it means is that they're coming out with a plane that really is much more relevant to the market right now, a plane that is more fuel efficient, a plane that is going to be more environmentally friendly. As he told me...
LONG: Patrick, I think we're ready. I think we're ready to watch the maiden flight right now, the flight 787. Here's the opportunity. You hear the applause and the celebration in the background. And let's watch as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner makes its debut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three three with you, two-six four, 250 Delta.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you much, tower. Boeing 001 Flight 128.5.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There she goes. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner. One for the ages.
LONG: Live pictures right now from affiliate KIRO out of Everett, Washington. You are watching the maiden flight of 787. More than 2 1/2 years of delays, and now this Boeing project is, again, cleared for takeoff and taking off in the skies over Everett, Washington.
At the controls, that's Mike Carriker. He's an engineer and former Navy flight instructor. And he has a co-pilot in there, as well.
A day that has been long in coming for the endless number of employees at Boeing and the companies that were responsible for putting together so much of the composites that are a huge component of this plane. The Boeing CEO, Jim Albaugh telling our Patrick Oppmann just yesterday about how important the plane is for the company. He said, "We think it's a game changer because it provides so much value to the customer."
That value also to the airlines. It is anticipated that it will use 20 percent less fuel, therefore, possibly environmentally friendly, as well.
Just because it's taking off today, though, doesn't mean you'll be flying it tomorrow. This is the first of many days of testing. Nine, ten months of testing will follow as they gather the data, as they gather all the data that the engineers will need before this plane can be flying commercially.
But a lot of the companies out there would really like to have this airline in their fleets, in the fleet. Boeing has, in fact, called this the most successful launch, when you look at orders, to date, some 865 orders from some 57 customers.
Live pictures right there of many people that have gathered in Everett, Washington, which is outside of Seattle, to watch this Dreamliner make its debut on this Tuesday, late morning and early afternoon on this Tuesday.
You're watching CNN. You're in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: We have certainly talked about health care reform being a make-or-break issue. So, think of independent Joe Lieberman as a make-or-break senator. His vote is vital for this bill to survive from the Senate. Lieberman's pretty much saying drop the public option and ditch the Medicare buy-in and, yes, he will be on board. The president and Senate Democrats meeting, in fact, today to talk about the bill.
And we'll find out more by talking to congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar. Hi, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Melissa. The Senate Democrats have had a hard go of it in trying to find a hallmark of their health care reform bill that they can get 60 votes on, all of the Democrats and two the independents that normally stick with Democrats on domestic issues.
At first, they were going to try for the public option, that government-run, insurance plan, it was clear they didn't have the votes for that. So then there was this tentative agreement they worked out for the Medicare buy-in that you mentioned. This was the idea of allowing uninsured folks between the ages of 55 and 64 buy in to Medicare.
Well, Senator Joe Lieberman, of course, an independent of Connecticut, poured cold water all over that, making it very clear over the last day to Senate Democratic leaders, he was not going to be their crucial 60th vote on that item, but today he did say, with what looks like obviously the public option gone, with the idea of the Medicare buy-in gone, he thinks he can get behind it. Take a listen to what he said just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, (I) CONNECTICUT: I'm getting toward that position where I can say what I wanted to say all along, that I'm ready to vote for health care reform. My whole point has been here that the president laid out a couple of big goals for this process. Bend the cost curve down for individuals, families, businesses, our government, our economy, of health care. And secondly, bring a lot of people in who can't afford health insurance now. The basic core bill does that.
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KEILAR: So, after being skewered, really, over and over by some liberal blogs and some liberal observers off the Hill, Senator Lieberman trying to make it very clear there that he is behind health care reform and passing it before Christmas. It's just that he really has some conditions that definitely need to be met before he can support it.
And in talking with sources familiar with the thinking of Senate Democratic leaders, Melissa, it really seems even though they haven't officially put up the white flag of killing this Medicare buy-in idea, they want to pass a bill. Even if it won't include the Medicare buy- in, their main goal is passing a bill. They don't want it going into the new year, so it appears that they'll just have to capitulate to Senator Lieberman's demands on this.
LONG: Passing a bill by, again, Christmas holiday, not letting it drag into the new year. That's the goal. I know there is a big meeting at the White House. What do they expect to come out of this?
KEILAR: I talked to Democratic sources, and they said they are expecting it to be a little bit different. President Obama has come up here to Capitol Hill, and he's met with Democrats and Senate Democrats and a lot of times he's given them a pep talk to use his own description.
Well, this is expected to be a little different. This is the first time that all Senate Democrats have gone to the White House. So, symbolically, it tells you they are trying to set a different tone. The White House is trying to set a tone that this is different.
This is really expected to be, according to one Democratic source I spoke with, a message of do or die. "We need to get this done now or it can very well die." And this is an effort that is completely stalled and it falls apart, then basically that is going to be riding on the Senate and it's going to be a generation we're expecting President Obama to tell them, before this is going to be taken up, and he's obviously going to say that just is not okay. And you guys need to move forward. So, we're expecting a really stronger message. That meeting actually happening here in a few minutes, and some of these Senate Democrats have already been showing up at the White House, Melissa.
LONG: As Obama really putting the pressure on today.
KELIAR: Yes.
LONG: OK. Brianna Keilar, live for us from Washington. Thanks, Brianna.
We want to get you up to date on some of the other stories developing today. Three officers with the Shenandoah Police, including the chief, are due in court next hour. Indicted in a hate crimes probe into the fatal beating of a Hispanic man last year. The officers are accused of hindering the investigation in to the death of Luis Ramirez. Two teens also face hate crime charges. They allegedly beat Ramirez while shouting racial slurs.
Freedom, now uncertain for two convicted murderers in North Carolina. They were set to be released from prison yesterday, but an appeals court blocked it. The inmates were sentenced under a 1970s law that limits life terms to 80 years. Their attorneys argue their good behavior credits that shorten their terms further. The latest ruling gives the state another chance to keep the inmates locked up.
And the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control, is recalling 800,000 doses of swine flu vaccine for children. There are some concerns the serum may not be as potent as it should be, but health officials say you do not have to have your children vaccinated again.
Good news for tiny Thomson, Illinois. New jobs are coming. The bad news, about 100 terror suspects are coming with them.
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LONG: Sometime this afternoon, we should know for sure if dozens of terror detainees will be leaving the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and moving to the state of Illinois. The state prison in Thomson, about 150 miles northwest of the city of Chicago, could become Gitmo North. Right now, much of that prison is, in fact, empty. Only about 200 minimum-security inmates there, even though there are some 1,600 cells. Now, the feds would upgrade it to a supermax-like prison for the detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
We want to find out a little bit more about the community. Thomson, Illinois. Population around 600. It is a place that could really use some jobs, but not everyone sure that this is the kind of stimulus they want. We have the sheriff, Jeff Doran, on the phone, joining us live from Carroll County, which is where Thomson is located. Sheriff, thank you very much for your time. Appreciate it.
SHERIFF JEFF DORAN, CARROLL COUNTY, ILLINOIS (via telephone): It's no problem. Nice to talk to you.
LONG: Nice to talk to you, as well. Tell us about the prospect of having about 100 detainees from Guantanamo Bay moving into your community.
DORAN: Well, I don't think we're too much focused on the part of 100 detainees as we are about the jobs that it will bring to the area.
LONG: How many jobs could you see? How many new jobs could you see, in your community, and why is it that you are so in need of jobs right now? What is the major employer that is there?
DORAN: Actually, the major employer that had been here in the past was two different railroads that picked up stakes in the 1980s. And also the federal government had an Army installation on the north end of the county, and they closed up in about 1999 or 2000.
LONG: So, some people may see the real benefits of having these jobs now available to the people that live in your community. But there are, I would imagine, people that are concerned about security. So, what type of security changes will take place at this facility, which has never been truly used at full capacity?
DORAN: Well, I don't know what kind of changes they anticipate at the prison. I know that there's going to be a military presence at the prison for the detainees. I also know that there's going to be a number of guard positions for when it opens up to regular federal prisoners.
LONG: And you said, obviously, there are jobs that are needed, that there are people in your community that would like to fill these positions. What is the buzz about on the streets of your community about this?
DORAN: I think most people are in favor. I think most people are excited about it. You know, the detainee issue, I don't think it's really an issue. You know, the Army installation that was there in the past, it was from World War I up to Desert Storm had, you know, had anything from nuclear weapons to holding prisoners of war at there at one time. So, you know, I don't think it's anything new to the county that, you know, we do have security issues here. We're just gearing up for it.
LONG: Gearing up for it. What would you be doing? Would you be changing about anything you go about your day, you go about your job, if, in fact, you did have about 100 detainees from Guantanamo Bay living not too far from where you call home, the home place where you live?
DORAN: We're going to -- you know, we're going to do some -- we've already been having some meetings with the chiefs of police in the area and the Illinois state police, and we'll be doing a few things different. But obviously, I'm not going to get into it with you about the security, what we're going to change, what we're not going to change. We're just going to gear up for it and we're ready for it and looking forward to the prison opening.
LONG: Again, it's the Thomson Correctional Facility in Thomson, Illinois. We could know a little later today whether or not the terror detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, could in fact be moved to Mr. Doran's community in Thomson, in Illinois.
Sheriff, thank you very much for your time and your perspective. We do appreciate it.
DORAN: Yes. Thank you.
LONG: New witness accounts from the sweat lodge tragedy in Arizona. You're going to be hearing from a former employee of self- help guru James Arthur Ray. Find out what that person has to say. And she certainly does not hold back.
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LONG: If you need your home in shape for the winter, you need to have it warm and energy efficient. Federal government may be willing to help you out. President Obama pitched a plan at a Home Depot outside of Washington, D.C. He wants to offer tax breaks for Americans who retrofit their homes and make them more energy efficient.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The simple act of retrofitting these buildings to make them more energy efficient. Installing new windows and doors, insulation, roofing, ceiling leaks, modernizing heating and cooling equipment, is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest things we can do to put Americans back to work while saving money and reducing harmful emissions.
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LONG: Now, the president says the plan also means jobs for small contractors.
The days of passing a note to a friend in class. Apparently so over. Texting, especially with photographs certainly has really changed adolescence. So, why does 21st century dating seem to require snapshots of body parts?
Well, speaking of body parts, yes, the octopus known for its eight arms, right? But maybe we should love and it cherish it for its brain. It might, in fact, be the Einstein of the sea. All that, and much more coming up next hour.
Also new witness accounts from that sweat lodge tragedy in the state of Arizona. You're going to be hearing what a former employee has to say about the self-help guru, James Arthur Ray.
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LONG: We want to make sure you have all of the information we have that we have been following for months, and we keep finding new chapters. James Arthur Ray, the self-help guru who claims to have followers across the globe. Three of the followers died after they took part in an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony that Ray was running back in October. Ray really has not been talkative or cooperative with law enforcement since, nor have any of the employees until now. A former high-level employee details what happened that day in October. Quite simply, instead of helping the victims, Ray allegedly -- allegedly -- ignored their cries for help and did nothing as they were dying.
We have a powerful interview that Gary Tuchman conducted with that former employee, a former senior employee and now turned whistleblower. I want to show you some of the highlights from last night's Anderson Cooper "360" program.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Melinda Martin is the first person who worked for James Arthur Ray the day of the sweat lodge tragedy to speak out against him. And what she tells us is chilling and sickening.
Melinda was Ray's event coordinator. She helped plan the sweat lodge event at Sedona, Arizona. People were overcome by the oppressive heat and three people, James Shore, Liz Neuman and Kirby Brown died.
Melinda was outside the tent that the sick came out with many collapsing, while she says Ray continued to lead the ceremony inside the tent.
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MELINDA MARTIN, FMR. JAMES RAY INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYEE: It was like an absolute MASH unit. Helicopters are coming down. You know, well, when he came out, the helicopters weren't there. But at that time, still bodies everywhere, passed out. I mean -- and then he walked out of there looking like a million bucks.
TUCHMAN: What was James Ray doing during this time?
MARTIN: Watching -- standing above and watching. They hosed him down and he said, "Oh, thank you." And, you know, and then he walked past the guy who was screaming, saying he was earlier saying he didn't want to die, and "please don't let me die." When James walked by him, this guy went to -- said to James from his sitting down position, he goes, "I died. I literally died and I came back to life."
And James was like, "Hey, all right, man," gave him high five. You know, it was like fantastic. James, I think, was completely oblivious to the pandemonium that was taking place around that sweat lodge.
TUCHMAN: What happened during the worst point of all this, the most horrifying point?
MARTIN: My worst point, or my most horrifying point, was when the ambulances arrived and the helicopters arrived and the paramedics came and they surveyed Kirby Brown and they put her in an ambulance instead of a helicopter. And that was the worst moment for me.
TUCHMAN: Because you knew it was too late for her? MARTIN: Yes. And after me, giving her mouth to mouth, I would breathe into her mouth, her stomach would go up and when it would go back down again, she'd vomit into my mouth. And this happened four times. And I really thought I was going to bring her back. I really thought that she was going to survive.
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ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": I mean, it's stunning that James Arthur Ray left it to his employees to be giving mouth-to-mouth while he's just standing there being hosed down and giving people high- fives.
You also did another story recently. You tracked down another woman who had died, committed suicide, apparently, during another James Arthur Ray seminar.
TUCHMAN: Right. And that event, Anderson, it was in San Diego. James Ray told participants to not carry I.D.s or cell phones and pretending they were homeless for a few hours in the downtown area. It was supposedly a self-sufficiency exercise.
In the middle of it, one of his participants jumped off a balcony and killed herself. For seven hours, she was a Jane Doe in the hospital morgue because she had no I.D. Meanwhile, James Ray employees and participants had no idea why Colleen Conaway didn't leave the event with them. But the medical examiner says he confirmed with the James Ray people that night that it was Colleen who had jumped.
But Melinda says the next day, she had this conversation with Ray.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN: During breakfast, I inquired, I just said, off-handedly, "Hey, any idea how -- you know, where Colleen is, or have you been able to find her?" The staff, they just all looked at me like, you know, like -- you know, deer in a headlight.
And he said, "Well, I've talked to my attorneys and basically it's really important that you're not involved in this. And we have found her and she's fine and she's decided not to return to the event. And if anybody else asks you that, we have found her. She is fine. She has decided not to return to the event."
TUCHMAN: Well, obviously, now, you know, she decided not to return to the event because she was dead.
MARTIN: Right.
TUCHMAN: But he told you that she was fine, though, James Arthur Ray.
MARTIN: Right. And I had no reason not to believe him. I thought it was strange that he was kind of angry with me for asking questions. I thought it was an innocent question. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Gary, I know you were actually kicked out of a James Arthur Ray meeting when you tried to ask a question. He hasn't been talking to the media. What does he have to say about this?
TUCHMAN: Well, James Ray, Anderson, is not talking to us. But his company has given us a statement which it declares: food, water and hoses to cool people off and staff members with CPR training -- which included Melinda -- were outside the tent. The company says, quote, "No one had any reason to thing that more precautions were required. If Mr. Ray or James Ray International believed anything more was needed, they would have done it."
And they also say, "The moment James Ray learned that sweat lodge participants had become seriously ill, Mr. Ray and his staff members acted immediately."
Now, Ray faces the possibility of serious charges. The investigation continues. The sheriff's office in Sedona is not talking to reporters but is talking to families of the sweat lodge victims. And some of them have told us they are confident -- based on their conversations -- Ray will be charged.
Melinda Martin, who the James Ray Company does acknowledge helped those who were sickened, has also been interviewed by the authorities and tells us she believes Ray and others will be charged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: What have they told you about that?
MARTIN: I think they told me there might be 10 people indicted. I don't know who those 10 people might be.
TUCHMAN: But might we presume there are other employees of James Ray who'd be included in that?
MARTIN: Yes. You know, I hate to speculate. All I could do is speculate and that would look bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Melinda says she has been assured she will not be one of the people indicted. She adds she has regular nightmares about the situation, has visited family members of the victims. And if you're wondering about her employment with Ray, she took a leave of absence before receiving a note from the James Ray Company that her position was being eliminated.
And, Anderson, not a surprise here, but down the road, it's very possible that she could be a very important prosecution witness against James Ray.
COOPER: Right. And I kind of assumed that after all these deaths happened, that James Arthur Ray would, you know, at least cooperate with police. But if not that, then at least have some decency and kind of go into seclusion or cancel seminars. He's still out there making money.
TUCHMAN: Well, here's the latest, OK? You can sign up for James Ray courses next year. So, he can make money in that way. But he has stopped holding these free seminars...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Because you went to some seminars right after these things had happened.
TUCHMAN: We went to a seminar. Afterwards, I wasn't allowed in. My producer went in, asked James Ray a question in front of 150 people, "Why are you holding seminars two weeks after three people died?" He said this is not a news conference. My producer got booed out of the room. Few days after that, he decided not to hold the seminars anymore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: Correspondent Gary Tuchman. Of course, he's going to be keeping a close eye on this developing story and bringing you information as soon as we get it.
