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Wolf

Searching for Cause of Rocket Launch Disaster Last Night; Beefing Up Security at Federal Buildings; Ebola Concern Heating Up; Heading to Kobani; Atlas Rocket Launch; Interview with Former Astronauts

Aired October 29, 2014 - 13:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, engineers are scrambling to try to figure out what went wrong on this rocket launch disaster last night. And as they do, another launch is planned for this hour. We're going to bring it to you live.

Also, beefing up security to prevent an attack on U.S. soil. More than 9,000, almost 10,000 federal buildings are now part of this security concern. We're going to get more from a former Homeland Security inspector general.

And the Ebola concern heating up. Kaci Hickox, the nurse who was held in New Jersey over Ebola fears, says she has no plans to stay locked up in her home. And now, state officials in Maine, they're trying to figure out what to do.

Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 7:00 p.m. in Jerusalem, 8:00 p.m. in Damascus. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

The countdown is now underway for a rocket launch this hour. And the investigation is underway into the cause of a spectacular rocket explosion late yesterday. The explosion was captured by NASA cameras and by amateur photographers.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God, it's going to be loud! It's going to be loud!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be loud!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Geez!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The rocket was from a private company under contract with NASA. It was carrying supplies, equipment and experiments to the international space station.

Right now, take a look at these live pictures and the Atlas 5 rocket is poised and ready at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station now. We're going to get those live pictures for you coming up. There they are right now. This is the rocket. It will carry an Air Force GPS satellite into orbit. The launch is set for 1:21 Eastern, about 20 minutes or so from now. We're going to bring you that launch live. There, you see live pictures coming in from the Cape Canaveral Air Force base. We'll have live coverage of this rocket launch that's coming up in about 20 minutes, 15 to 20 minutes or so from now.

But first, the new action being taken today to prevent a terror attack on American soil. Security is being beefed up at more than 9,000, almost 10,000, federal government buildings here in the Washington, D.C. area as well as other major cities across the United States. The Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson, is calling it, and I'm quoting him now, "a precautionary move following last week's terror attacks in Canada." Johnson isn't giving details about the enhanced security but he is saying operations will vary and shift from location to location and will constantly be re-evaluated. A Homeland Security official tells CNN there is, quote, "no new intelligence suggesting U.S. government buildings are being targeted but the increased security is going forward."

Let's discuss what's going on. Joining us now, Clark Kent Ervin. He's a former inspector general of the Office of Homeland Security. Clark, thanks very much for coming in.

CLARK KENT ERVIN, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: You know, Jeh Johnson, as you and I know, and we've known him for a long time, he's a serious guy. He would not be ordering enhanced security at 9,500 federal buildings across the United States unless he was concerned something was going on. You agree?

ERVIN: That's exactly right, Wolf. You know, he's a very sober, reflective guy, the former general at the Department of Defense. He approaches things very analytically. My sense is that while there's no specific intelligence indicating an attack in a precise way against a precise building in a precise city on a precise day, chances are there's some chatter indicating that buildings are among terrorist top targets.

BLITZER: And when you say chatter, meaning that the intercept of communications or dialogue or whatever, they're hearing stuff that makes them worried about this. This is a major decision because once you elevate security at these federal buildings, it's hard to tone it down. ERVIN: It is hard to turn it down. On the other hand, you know, it

serves as a deterrent effect. The very fact that we're doing this can dissuade terrorists who might be contemplating it from doing so. And it certainly reassures the public and that's half the battle.

BLITZER: What they're really concerned about right now, correct me if I'm wrong, are the sort of individuals who are inspired whether by ISIS, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Khorasan, any of these various Al Qaeda spin-off groups, they're worried about that inspired lone wolf, if you will.

ERVIN: That's right, Wolf. And that's because that's the hardest to prevent. You know, it's very difficult to prevent catastrophic attacks like 911 but there are lots of opportunities, at least in theory, to disrupt them. If one guy, just one off, wants to do something in a particular building, particular place, it's almost impossible to stop that.

BLITZER: Because I've always, since 911, been really concerned about what they call the soft targets. There are a lot of soft targets, not only in the United States but all over the world, that if these terrorists want to do something, they could do it.

ERVIN: That's exactly right. Now, on the other hand, what we're talking about is, relatively speaking, hard targets. And that's what really is worrisome.

BLITZER: You mean federal office buildings.

ERVIN: Federal office building. You know, the White House, famously, just a couple of weeks ago, was breached not by a terrorist but, you know, the very fact that the White House apparently is vulnerable suggests that these federal buildings and the security guards at the White House and the secret service, the security guards we're talking about are FDS ones (ph), contract guards, are typically much less effective.

BLITZER: Yes, millions of people visit these federal buildings all over the country, you know, all the time.

ERVIN: Right.

BLITZER: It's going to be more difficult to enter these buildings, I assume?

ERVIN: Well, yes, 1.4 million people every day around the country -- the security will vary from building to building so that's not going to be the case at every building in every city. But, yes, it will vary. And that's important, by the way. I think it makes sense for there to be shifting tactics, depending upon shifting intelligence, and also to throw terrorists off the scent.

BLITZER: I assume that the highest level of security would be right here in the nation's capital.

ERVIN: That certainly makes sense because there's no question but that Washington, D.C. and New York, for obvious reasons, are at the very top of the terrorist target list.

BLITZER: All right, Clark, thanks very much for joining us. Clark Kent Irvin, --

ERVIN: Thank you.

BLITZER: -- always good to have you here at CNN.

Still ahead, a large group of Peshmerga fighters on the way to Kobani right along the border between Syria and Turkey. Will they help turn the tide in the battle against ISIS?

Plus, the day after a NASA rocket explodes off the coast of Virginia, all eyes right now are on this rocket. We're only minutes away from the launch. Take a look at these live pictures. We're going to have special live coverage coming up shortly. We'll see how this rocket is launched. Stay with us.

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BLITZER: All right, take a look at this, live pictures. This is the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. We're only a few minutes away from the launch of an Atlas 5 rocket. We're going to have live coverage of this rocket launch. It's an Atlas V 401. It's got GPS satellites on board. We're going to see how it goes and we're all, of course, hoping it goes a lot better than that rocket launch yesterday in Virginia which exploded literally a few seconds after takeoff. We'll have live coverage of this Atlas V rocket launch that's coming up in a few minutes.

In the meantime, Kurdish fighters are trying to hold off ISIS in a key Syrian border town, and those Kurdish fighters, they are getting serious help right now. Dozens of Syrian rebels armed with mortars, heavy machine guns entered the besieged city of Kobani earlier this morning. There are reports of intense clashes underway right now. Even more reinforcements are on the way. Iraqi Peshmerga fighters, those are the Kurds, they are closing in on the city as well. They're coming in through Turkey by land and by air.

Our Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is at the Turkish-Syrian border overlooking Kobani. He filed this report just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, night has begun to fall here. In the hours earlier, we have seen a B1 bomber making five separate circling runs over Kobani. The Turkish military, you can't see them now, but filling up down on the access roads towards the official crossing from Syria -- from Turkey into Syria into Kobani. And we know that the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga, 30- plus vehicles, 150-plus individuals with heavy weapons on them, are hours away. They may cross in tonight. They may wait until dawn.

But the surprise this morning was that the first reinforcements to arrive were not the Peshmerga, they were, in fact, Syrian rebels, possibly 30 to 50, according to those inside. The man leading those Syrian rebels, Commander Al Akidi, claimed he had 200 with him. But once they entered in small groups, heavy clashes heard behind me. A surprise, frankly, for those Syrian Kurds in the city. This was really Turkey's idea, sending troops in from Turkey. They were expecting Peshmerga. That will probably happen tonight. There have been a lot of explosions during the day, some heavy fighting and the Peshmerga most likely will change some of the balance on the battlefield down there. There are a lot of people standing around me here expecting that entry with great anticipation -- Wolf.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Nick Paton Walsh right at the border with Syria in Turkey. Thanks very much.

Just ahead, a rocket explodes into a fireball just after launch, only a few seconds after launch. So, what does the catastrophe mean for the U.S. space program, the future of relying on private companies? We're going to talk with two former U.S. astronauts.

And the countdown clock is ticking right now. Look at these live pictures. Another rocket launch only minutes away from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station there. We're going to have live coverage of this launch. That's coming up.

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BLITZER: It was what they describe as a catastrophic failure. The question now is what caused a rocket under contract by NASA to explode off the coast of Virginia?

And now, right now, in Florida, the countdown is underway for another rocket launch, this one from Cape Canaveral. There you see live pictures. We're only a few minutes away from this launch. It looks like it's a go, all system a go right now. We're going to have live coverage, as I said.

First, a look at the explosion of that unmanned Antares rocket yesterday. NASA cameras and amateur video captured the launch as the mood turned from celebration to shock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, four, three, two, one. And we have ignition (ph). And we have liftoff on Antares (INAUDIBLE) missions delivering (INAUDIBLE) third CRS (ph) mission to the ISS. That main engine's at 108 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on, it's going to be loud! It's going to be loud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be loud. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED). (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Geez!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Launch team, launch team be advised, stay at your consoles. Everyone in the LCC, maintain your positions in your consoles. In the LCC, maintain positions at your console.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And right now we're only, what, three minutes away from the launching of another rocket. An Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force base there.

Joining us now to discuss what's going on, Captain Mark Kelly, the former NASA astronaut, retired combat veteran, as well as Senator Bill Nelson of Florida. He himself is a former shuttle astronaut.

To both of you, thanks very much for joining us. As I say, we're only maybe less than three minutes away from the launch of this Atlas V rocket.

Senator, do you have any idea what happened yesterday? Why that rocket exploded?

SEN. BILL NELSON, FORMER SHUTTLE ASTRONAUT: It looks like it was a failure in the main engine first stage. They're doing the investigation now and they'll let us know just as soon as they pinpoint it.

BLITZER: What does it look like, Mark Kelly? And we see we're only two minutes, 15, 14 seconds away from the launching of this rocket in Florida. Mark Kelly, what does it look like to you? What could have happened?

MARK KELLY, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, they're not going to know for some time. I mean when I watch the video, I watched it last night a number of times. You can see that there appears to be a loss of thrust. So that might indicate that there was an engine problem. There could also be a problem with one of the -- the pressure vessel that supply the fuel to the engine. You know, so they're going to have to look at the debris field, they're going to have to gather all the pieces and it's going to take some time for them to figure out what the cause of the mishap was. You know, it's not going to be days, probably not even weeks. It's probably going to be more like months before they figure this out.

BLITZER: And we're, what, only about a minute or so away from the launch of this Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in your home state, senator, of Florida. You know, people are going to watch all of these rocket launches a lot more closely right now based on what happened in Virginia last night.

NELSON: Well, you can expect setbacks, but people are going to get more and more excited about our space flight as we start now testing the hardware that we will have humans ride back in to space. There's a launch this December, for example, of the capsule we're creating for long-duration space flight out beyond earth's orbit called Orion. That's going to be tested this year.

BLITZER: The weather looks good down in Florida. Right now, all systems go. This is the point, and we're only a few seconds away, Mark Kelly, they get a little nervous right now, right?

KELLY: Well, folks in the control room certainly are, you know, but they're all at their consoles, they're doing their job. You know they've got to - you know, these things are well-managed. Safety is always the number one priority. When you can see with the Antares, you know, as that rocket failed, you know, they sent the signal to destruct it to make sure that nobody on the ground was going to be injured. But, yes, you know, I think, you know, the nerves are a little - you know, they're a little tense there at the launch center.

BLITZER: All right, all right, let's listen in to NASA.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eight, seven, six, five, four, three - we have ignition - two, and lift off of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the H-GPS (ph) 2S (ph) satellite for the United States Air Force. GPS provides worldwide positioning, navigation and timing services for the military and civilian users. You're hearing the voice of Rob Gannon (ph) providing launch vehicle assent data. Let's listen in for mission progress.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good there. Full pitch (ph) rocket (ph) programs are in. Everything looking good. And we'll continue right down the center of the range track, 0.7 miles in altitude, 0.2 miles down range, traveling at 1,000 (ph) miles per hour.

And she continues to operate as expected. Flight control looks good. Breaks (ph) are as expected. Engine is steady at 100 percent rate of thrust. Everything is looking good. (INAUDIBLE) program complete. Everything looking good. Continuing right down the center of the range track.

Entering up mock one. And the vehicle is now supersonic, continuing to fly down the range of track. Everything looks good. Engine is still operating as expected at 100 percent rated thrust. Flight control distributions are good. We are now passing through mass dynamic pressure. We have entered our second throttle phase. We are now operating the engine at 95 percent rated thrust, rated as expected. And we are at nine miles - or 10 miles in altitude, 5.9 miles down range, traveling at nearly 2,000 miles per hour.

Enter (ph) parameters look good. Vehicle is stable. Normal control on booster P.U. (ph). And the vehicle is continuing to fly as expected. And we are now at 50 percent of our liftoff rate. Everything is looking good.

BLITZER: All right, well, that's very encouraging. He says everything is looking good right now. It looks like a perfect launch of this Atlas V. It's carrying GPS satellites to serve U.S. military personnel in what they describe as navigational assistance for military operations on land, at sea and in the air. It's also carrying some GPS satellites that will help civilian users, they say, around the world who will rely on this GPS equipment for highly accurate time location velocity information. That's the official word.

Senator Nelson, it looks like a perfect launch fortunately right there. You saw any problems at all?

NELSON: No, sir. Wolf, when I hear those engines roar, I get excited. And the flashback went -- since Mark was the commander of the next to the last mission of the space shuttle, I was right there at the Cape just screaming at the top of my lungs as that baby lifted off. And it looks like this rocket, Atlas V, they've had 50 straight, successful launches of this Atlas V. So, again, it looks like a perfect launch.

BLITZER: And, Mark Kelly, your brother is on that International Space Station right now, isn't he?

KELLY: No, he isn't, Wolf. He actually launches on March 29th of next year.

BLITZER: Oh, so he's going there?

KELLY: He going to spend a year in orbit. Yes, he'll be making his second long-duration flight here starting in March.

BLITZER: All right, so this gets very personal for you as well. Who's going to launch him to go up there since the U.S. dropped that shuttle?

KELLY: Yes, since we retired the space shuttle, you know, since the space shuttle program was, you know, retired, we now launch on the Russian Soyuz rocket up to the International Space Station. That's how American crew members get there. So he'll be launching on a Russian Soyuz. But hopefully by 2016 with SpaceX and maybe 2017 with Boeing, you know, we'll be seeing American astronauts launching on American rockets again up to the Space Station, which would be - which would be great.

BLITZER: You think that's going to happen, Senator Nelson, in this time of budget cutting?

NELSON: Amen. They are well underway. As I mentioned, even the big monster rocket for NASA for exploration in the heavens is going to have its first test flight, which is a ballistic reentry, coming up in just a couple of months. But these two companies that Mark mentioned, Boeing and SpaceX, are now putting in all the design of redundancies, the escape systems on their spacecraft so that we can launch humans successfully.

BLITZER: Senator Nelson, thanks very much. Mark Kelly, thanks to you. Wish your brother our best wishes as he undertakes this mission in March.

We're going to continue to watch this Atlas V rocket as it heads into space carrying this GPS equipment. We're going to try, obviously, to learn a lot more about what happened last night in Virginia with that explosion of that other rocket, a contract rocket on -- contracted by NASA. Guys, thanks very, very much.

More news coming up, including the mystery of the missing North Korean leader. Apparently it's solved. He's back. We're going to find out why Kim Jong-un was out of the spotlight at least for a month.

Plus, the defense secretary of the United States announces a new policy for U.S. military personnel returning from West Africa. We'll have details in a live report coming in from the Pentagon.

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