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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Astronauts Splashdown After Nine Months In Space; Chief Justice Rebukes Trump's Rhetoric On Impeaching Judge; Putin Agrees To Pause Attack On Some Ukraine Targets. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 18, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:37]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Our breaking news, after being delayed in space for more than nine months, two NASA astronauts are finally less than one hour away from returning to Earth. Right now, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are on their last orbit around the Earth until they reenter our atmosphere, the most dangerous part of any flight home from space.

Just moments ago, NASA started putting out video of this mission which is giving us off and on glimpses inside the capsule, a reminder of why this homecoming is long overdue. Butch and Suni arrived at the International Space Station on June 6 last year for a mission that was expected to last about a week. The main goal was to show that their spacecraft, Boeing Starliner, was ready to carry astronauts to and from the ISS.

But Starliner had big issues that led to multiple delays in the return, and for safety reasons eventually had to fly back to Earth without astronauts. Turning this into kind of the Gilligan's Island of space travel. For perspective, the last time these NASA astronauts were on Earth, Joe Biden was still the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

Now, 286 days later, their lift home is courtesy of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule with two other teammates, NASA's Nick Hague and a cosmonaut with Russia's Roscosmos space agency. This crew couldn't come home with Butch and Suni until their replacement arrived at the ISS.

The 17-hour trip home began around 1am EST this morning. Within the hour, they're expected to splash down near Tallahassee in an area that the US Government now calls the Gulf of America, known everywhere else as the Gulf of Mexico. We're closely tracking every step of this journey and we'll bring you the reentry and the splashdown live.

We're going to begin with CNN space and defense analyst, Kristin Fisher. She grew up in the space industry, of course. Her mother was the first mom in space. And, Kristin, tell us what's going on right now.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE ANALYST: So, Jake, we're about 10 minutes away from the most critical, potentially dangerous moment in NASA, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams' long awaited return to Earth. And what I'm talking about is the deorbit burn.

This is essentially the moment when their Dragon spacecraft is going to fire its engines and essentially pump the brakes, try to slow it down so that it stops traveling at orbital velocity around the Earth and begins the process of reentering the Earth's atmosphere. That's when those really high temperatures are going to start to engulf the capsule. There will likely be plasma buildup which causes a communications blackout, and then we will see some big parachutes deploy and the capsule will splash down off the coast of Florida.

A SpaceX rescue and recovery -- them in the water. And then, they will begin their journey back home after nine months up in space, and hopefully, eventually be reunited with their families not too long after that, Jake.

TAPPER: So, Kristin, from what you've seen so far, has the trip home since 1:00AM this morning all gone according to plan. And what are you watching most closely in this final stretch?

FISHER: So far, everything has gone perfectly. And you know, I should note that, you know, SpaceX has made these return flights for astronauts from the International Space Station back to Earth very routine. They have been doing this, you know, about twice a year, if not more frequently, since 2020. So these types of missions, this return to Earth always a very dangerous thing, but SpaceX has made it about as routine as you can possibly make it.

So far everything looking really good. The two big moments that I make are what I just mentioned, the deorbit burn, which should be at about, just about seven minutes now. Of course we'll be watching to make sure those parachutes deploy, another key moment. And then, you know, personally we're going to get to see Butch and Suni taken out of the Dragon capsule on stretchers. And that is common.

[17:05:00]

That is not just because they have been up in space for nine months. That is how every astronaut is taken out as they're trying to get their sea legs or in this case, they're earth legs. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Kristin Fisher, stick around here with us. Joining us to talk is Scott Altman, a former US astronaut and retired US Navy captain. He's a veteran of four space shuttle missions. NASA calls him Scooter. Captain Altman also did some of the flying featured in the 1986 film "Top Gun," so that's something else we'll have to have you back to talk about.

SCOTT ALTMAN, A FORMER US ASTRONAUT: All right.

TAPPER: So, Scott, reentry into Earth's atmosphere is, as I don't need to tell you, the most dangerous part of this. You know Butch and Suni, what are they likely doing and thinking inside the capsule right now at this stage of the journey? ALTMAN: Well, I think each astronaut at this point is thinking about

what do I need to do, how can I add value to what we're doing and make sure everything goes the way it's supposed to go. I know that's how I felt as we reentered each of my shuttle flights.

TAPPER: Why is reentering atmosphere the most dangerous part?

ALTMAN: Well, you're bleeding off a lot of energy. You're coming back at about 25,000 miles an hour and trying to slow down the reentry speed. And that's a lot of friction as you get into deeper and deeper in the atmosphere as you slow down. So there's a lot of heat that builds up as a result of that.

The capsule is designed to manage that heat load. You still get some heat soaked back into the cockpit, so we have cooling for the astronauts while they're entering. But it's a dynamic time.

TAPPER: What does it feel like? What does it feel like to be reentering the Earth's atmosphere? I mean, a lot of people out there watching probably have a tough time on a roller coaster.

ROBERT BAKER^ Well, it's a little different than that. The G buildup is not huge like on a roller coaster or flying a fighter. But the difference is you've been in zero G, in their case, for nine months. For me, it was 14 days. And as you're coming in, eventually a little bit of gravity deceleration builds up.

And if you let something go, you see it slowly fall. You're like, whoa, look at that. Things are falling. And it's amazing to think about that. And then as you get further and further along, you can look out the windows and see some of the plasma, the different colors. Although I think coming in at daytime like this, there's so much sunlight, you don't get to see it as much as you do on a night reentry.

TAPPER: What was supposed to be a week long stay in space turned into nine months. How did they make it through that mentally and physically? What would you have done in a situation like that to endure?

ALTMAN: Well, the closest analogy I have is my time as a Navy pilot going on cruise. And you plan for a certain amount of time to be on cruise. And I got extended for a month-and-a-half, which seemed like a long time at the time, not much to Butch and Suni right now. But you get into a routine doing the same thing.

And in a lot of ways, life is relatively easy on this station. You wake up, you're at work. What are you going to do, somebody's got a schedule for you, so you know what you're going to do. And you just work your way through that until it's time to come home.

TAPPER: When you're in space for nine months, do you get a day off?

ALTMAN: There's times -- especially on the Station. Shuttle flights were more like a sprint. You knew you were only there for a short period of time. You had to get as much done as you can. Station is more like a marathon where you need to take a break, have some time off.

I think they have like Don Pettit is doing Sunday Science still, I think with his time off.

TAPPER: Do you have TV? Do you have newspapers?

ALTMAN: There's -- they uplink the news. You can find out what's going on. I think they're even able to tweet from space.

TAPPER: Yes, they definitely are.

ALTMAN: Yes.

TAPPER: But I mean, is there entertainment?

ALTMAN: For me, the biggest entertainment was looking out the window and watching the Earth go by. It's an incredible planet.

TAPPER: And it never gets old?

ALTMAN: It never gets old. There's a lot of water down there, I'll tell you that. The other thing I'd say is the Earth is definitely round. You don't see any flat surfaces. So the Flat Earth Society, I can verify 100 percent is not true.

TAPPER: If all goes according to plan, the NASA astronauts are going to get medical evaluations after they're retrieved from the capsule. What is it like for your body, not just in the immediate moment but longer term, to readjust to Earth's gravity after being in space for so long?

ALTMAN: Well, that's one of the most valuable things about having long term stays on the Space Station. It's taught us how to live in zero G, and then be able to respond when you come back into a G environment. I'd hate to have a six month trip to Mars, land, and then not be able to get out of the capsule and walk around.

So the workout regime that they put in, about two hours a day, makes it a lot easier for them to adapt when they get back and be able to walk around.

TAPPER: What sort of red flags might doctors be looking for?

ALTMAN: How your vestibular system responds. I know -- I had a shuttle crew that I was a family escort for that landed at Edwards, and they wanted to go out to eat that night. And two of them pass out while we were out there and thought, oh, my career is over, I've lost a crew at dinner.

[17:10:00]

But it's just a temporary thing. I think they'd look at that. There is some evidence that astronauts' eyes change a little bit by being on orbit for that length of time. And your focus changes, so that's something NASA's looking hard at as we move forward.

TAPPER: Just to translate for people, the vestibular, that refers to your sense of equilibrium and your --

ALTMAN: Inner ear, yes. The first time we'd land in the shuttle and I feel pretty good. And then you turn your head and your inner ear is going, whoa, you got.

TAPPER: So that's not anything to mess around with. I had vestibular neuritis one time and it's like you lose all sense of equilibrium. That is -- you pay for the -- pray for the sweet release of death.

Anyway, Scooter, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. We're going to keep following this.

Again, this leg of the flight back to Earth is considered the most dangerous. The splashdown is expected this hour. We're obviously going to bring you all of that live.

But first, a rare public rebuke from the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts. His unusual statement after President Trump called for a federal judge to be impeached. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:05]

TAPPER: You're looking at live images from NASA. That is inside the capsule bringing astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth. The two have been on the International Space Station, or ISS, for the last nine months.

Right now, the capsule is in its deorbit period. We are told it will splash down near Florida in just a few minutes. We will bring that to you live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Thank you again. Thank you again. Won't forget it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Thank you again. Thank you again. Won't forget it. That was President Trump just two weeks ago thanking the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts. He likely might be thinking something different today after a rare public rebuke aimed at seemingly at the president from Chief Justice Roberts.

A written statement came just hours from Chief Justice Roberts after President Trump called for the impeachment of a judge who issued a temporary block on the Trump administration's deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members. A judicial order not fully abided by the Trump administration.

We should note CNN anchor and chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, who is at the White House, and CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid, who's here with me in studio. Join me now.

Kaitlan, what exactly did President Trump say in his Truth Social post about the judge that elicited this rare response from the chief justice?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's something you don't see every day, Jake. And it all came about because there has been this fight going on between the Justice Department and Judge Boasberg over what Trump invoked over the weekend, that Wartime Powers Act to try to deport these alleged Venezuelan gang members from the United States. Something that really is at the heart of a dispute on whether or not the Trump administration is listening to court orders after the judge issued a pretty explicit call saying to turn those planes around while they were still in the air, something that the administration did not do and is arguing that they were in the ride on.

And that is what led to this morning, where President Trump came out with this statement blasting Judge Boasberg as a radical left lunatic, as he referred to him. But also not just saying that, Jake, going as far as to say that he should be removed from the federal bench. He said, "This judge, like many of the crooked judges I am forced to appear before, should be impeached," in all caps, with several exclamation points there, Jake. And it was that, of course, that prompted this rare response from the chief justice, John Roberts.

And it came after a really testy court hearing that happened yesterday between Justice Department attorneys and Judge Boasberg where he was asking pretty simple questions like when these flights took off, who was on these flights and when they landed, to try to determine whether or not they had willfully defied his order that he issued during that emergency hearing on Saturday night. Now, again, they have argued that they did not, but they were really stonewalling the judge yesterday and saying that they could not answer his questions, citing national security reasons.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan, thank you so much. Paula, how rare is it that we see this kind of statement from the chief justice of the United States who likes to think of himself and the court is completely out of the realm of politics?

REID: Well, it's rare but we have seen this before. You may remember back in 2018 when then President Trump criticized a "Obama judge" for blocking one of his policies. Roberts pushed back saying, look, we don't have Obama judges, Trump judges, Bush judges, Clinton judges, which that didn't make much of a difference in terms of Trump's rhetoric about the judiciary. And this isn't going to make much of a difference either.

I spoke with one senior administration official who just sort of shrugged and said, look, I get what the chief justice is doing. They're trying to show support for lower level judges, but the administration does not believe that this is going to make a difference if this case goes before the Supreme Court on the merits. This larger question about Trump's use of executive power, especially when it comes to flights that have already left US soil.

They say, look, we think he's just showing support for lower court judges, just like the top leaders at the Justice Department are showing support for the prosecutors, making these arguments, risking sanctions in court by signing these filings, something that's really unusual. So this statement from the chief judge justice, it's notable, but it's really not going to change the legal parameters of this case.

TAPPER: All right. Paula, thank you so much. Kaitlan, thanks to you. Kaitlan is back tonight, of course, with a big interview on her show "The Source with Kaitlan Collins." Tonight it will be "The Source with Bernie Sanders."

He's going to join her to weigh in on the Roberts rebuke and much more. He might have something to say about oligarchs, if I know Senator Sanders. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only here on CNN.

As Chief Justice Roberts made that rebuke, President Trump was on the phone with Vladimir Putin on a call changing the course of Russia's three-year-old war in Ukraine, or so he hopes. We'll talk about that coming up. Plus, we're tracking astronauts returning to Earth after nine months in space. The splashdown in the ocean is just moments away. We're going to be right back.

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TAPPER: And you are watching right now from inside the capsule, the progress of astronauts Butch and Suni as they return home here to Earth. NASA says everything is on track as of now for a successful splashdown in less than an hour. The deorbit burn, or the last burn that will happen on this flight, has been completed successfully. Thankfully,.

They are lined up for reentry into Earth's atmosphere and we're going to bring that to you live as soon as it happens. But first, lots going on the big blue marble that they're about to land upon, first in the World Lead. Today's nearly two-hour phone call between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin tops our world lead.

[17:25:02]

Putin says he has ordered the Russian military to immediately stop striking energy and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, as long as Ukraine does the same. Not a full ceasefire but a temporary halt which will last for 30 days. Now, during that time, negotiators will meet in the Middle East. The Kremlin added, in order to prevent "escalation of the conflict," they're demanding that the US Must also stop providing Ukraine with military aid and with intelligence.

The White House did not mention that demand in its official statement. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says he hopes to talk to Trump about the call soon, and he thinks this outcome shows Russia is not ready for a full ceasefire. Since Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Zelenskyy says 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed. But the true death toll is almost impossible to know, with many more captured or declared missing in action. While the United Nations estimates Russian forces have killed around 12,000 Ukrainian civilians.

Now CNN's Clarissa Ward reports from one of the most dangerous cities in Ukraine, Kherson, where Russian drone operators play a sick twisted game, hunting civilians from the sky.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On the streets of Kherson, anyone is fair game. Every day, swarms of Russian drones glide across the river on a deadly hunt that locals have dubbed a human safari. They target the old and the young, men and women. Flying low, they taunt and terrorize their prey.

A man crosses himself, preparing for the worst before the drone buzzes on. Others are not so fortunate. Russian social media is awash with these videos, complete with heavy metal soundtracks and gloating comments. But to the people of Kherson, this is anything but a game.

So this is the central square here in Kherson, and you can see it is eerily deserted. Just a few people out on the streets. It was raining and cloudy earlier, which means sometimes more people go out because that's not good weather for flying drones. But now, again, just a handful of people. All the stores you can see over there are basically boarded up.

The one supermarket open is heavily fortified. For Kherson residents, the simplest daily errand is the riskiest part of the day. Some can't even get to the supermarket. We drive to meet volunteers from the local administration.

So we're heading now to the eastern outskirts of the city. This is one of the most dangerous parts of the city, and they're getting ready to distribute some aid. They have to do it quickly and efficiently to ensure that they don't get seen by the drones.

The area is very exposed. We're told to hide our body armor under our coats.

OK. So we've just arrived at this point. You can see they're starting to distribute the egg.

Beleaguered residents emerge from their homes where they live largely stranded. They grab supplies for neighbors who need help. They've lived through Russian occupation, then liberation, now this.

Ina (ph) and her granddaughter tell me that life is so hard here, but there's no time to be afraid. She goes to collect her box of supplies.

So I told her that she's very strong. And she said, everybody here is very strong. They have to be.

A man sets about repairing the roof of his home, undeterred by the near certain prospect of future attacks.

So they're saying that they have heard from the army that Russian drones have taken off from the other side of the river. So they're telling us to move on now.

We speed through the roads back to a safer part of the city. Nowhere in Kherson is really safe. The local hospital is surrounded by sandbag barriers.

He says they hit here quite a lot. That's why there's all these protections outside.

Across Kherson Region, there were more than 2,000 drone launches just last week. The aftermath of that staggering statistic clearly seen here. Alena Shigareva (ph) says she and her friend were walking home from work when they were hunted.

We were two women, all made up, without hats, carrying flowers and wearing white jackets, she tells us. They could see we were women, not soldiers. It's just horror.

In another room, 19-year-old Boris (ph) is recovering from lung and leg injuries after the minibus he was traveling in was hit by a drone. Two people were killed and eight wounded. They are Russians, what can I say, he tells us. They're animals, nothing else to say.

[17:30:00]

Pretty much every room in this entire ward has someone in it who has been injured or maimed by a drone. The doctor says they 28 drone injuries that they are treating at the moment. This is just one of three hospitals that serve this city. And he said the number has just been going up and up since last August.

We steadily receive 90 to 100 patients injured in drone attacks a month, he said says, and there were 20 attacks in one week on the hospital's generators.

Russia has frequently targeted Ukraine's power infrastructure in this war. Rarely has it so flagrantly pursued civilians.

We can call it a hunt for civilians, Mayor Roman Mrochko explains. The Russians send fresh drone units to Kherson Region and they train by attacking ordinary people with drones. Then send these units to Donetsk and Luhansk. Then they send another new unit here to continue the human safari.

What can you really do to protect people here?

ROMAN MROCHKO, MAYOR KHERSON (through translation): There's no panacea to fully cover the city because the Russians are developing their technologies, he says there's no jammer that can fully close the sky.

And so, the people of Kherson suffer on as outside powers bargain for an end to this war, nowhere are Russia's intentions felt so intimately. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Kherson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our thanks to Clarissa Ward for that report. Meanwhile in the Middle East, horrific scenes out of Gaza today. The fragile Israel Hamas ceasefire shattered. Israel launched what it called a "massive offensive" against the terrorist organization up and down the Gaza Strip. Israel says the strikes killed Hamas most senior political leader in Gaza. The Gaza Ministry of Health, run by Hamas, says the operation killed more than 400 people, marking the deadliest day in Gaza since November 2023. Here's what people on the ground in Gaza said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have been pulling the remains of children since this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Behind the school there were humans in pieces. My son was injured.

ROSALIA BOLLEN, UNICEF SPOKESWOMAN: I could hear people yelling outside, screaming. We've seen reports of dozen children killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining us now, the former US Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, whom we should disclose is married to a CNN executive. Ambassador Nides, you know, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. What was your first reaction to this massive offensive and the breakdown of the ceasefire?

TOM NIDES, FORMER US AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: Well, first and foremost, Jake, you know, we need to get these hostages out of Israel, out of the Gaza Strip and it needs to happen now. It should have happened, you know, year two -- almost two years from now ago. And that's what we need to be focusing on.

And the fact of the matter is, we're at the stage where I give the Trump administration credit with Steve Witkoff basically trying to negotiate the first phase of this deal. But the second phase of this deal fell apart. And I believe fundamentally that Hamas needs to bring home and get these hostages home.

I'm on the phone every day with the hostage families and that's what I've been focused on. And obviously this is tragic for the hostages. It's tragic for the innocent Gazans that are going to die because of Hamas unwillingness to send those hostages home where they belong.

TAPPER: Israel's foreign minister says these strikes are, quote, not a one day operation and said two different proposals presented by Steve Witkoff were rejected by Hamas. If you were advising President Trump on how to proceed from here, what would you tell him?

NIDES: Well, first listen, I give Witkoff and the Trump administration credit for going with the Biden administration even before he was sworn in to get the first hostages out, which I give them a lot of credit with the Biden administration. But I've also said over and over again, the Israelis need to have a plan for what comes after -- what happens after Gaza. And they have to have a plan to drive the ability for even a reformed Palestinian Authority, something to basically be inside Gaza, with the Egyptians, the Saudis, the Emiratis.

But until Israel is willing to basically also come up with a plan for what comes the day after, how are we ever going to get to the second phase of this deal? And that to me -- get the hostages home first, is the first foremost of my views, and second is getting a second phase of this deal done. And both sides need to come to the table to get it done. And the administration needs to force the hands of both parties to get this done.

TAPPER: So President Trump, ever since he got elected, has been threatening Hamas, saying if they didn't hand over the hostages, there was going to be a hell to pay. I interviewed Witkoff on Sunday and he issued what seemed to me at the time a very direct warning to Hamas about its refusal to engage in the peace process and release hostages. Take a listen.

[17:35:08]

STEVE WITKOFF, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE MIDDLE EAST: What happened with the Houthis yesterday, what happened with our strike ought to inform as to where we stand with regard to terrorism and our tolerance level for terrorist actions. And I would encourage Hamas to get much more sensible than how they have been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Do you think Hamas has been hearing these warnings from Trump and Sunday from Witkoff, and basically they don't care?

NIDES: Listen, I think the one thing I try to tell all my friends is that, Hamas doesn't care about the Palestinian people. They don't care about innocent Gazan. It breaks my heart when I see the pictures that you're showing of innocent Gazans dying.

Who -- No human being would want to see those photos of children or innocent people. Hamas doesn't care about innocent people. What Hamas wants to do, if they wanted to end this, they could give the hostages back today, OK? Today and this war could end.

I also fundamentally believe that Israel also needs a plan. They need to understand what comes after this. You can't just wish it. And as you know, the prime minister has a lot of right wing members of his coalition that force his hands not to do some of the things that I believe that Bibi Netanyahu would do on his own to get to a second phase of this deal, which President Trump needs to pressure Bibi to do as well.

TAPPER: Ambassador Tom Nides, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

We're just minutes away from the splashdown of the SpaceX capsule carrying astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. They're feeling the gravity of earth for the very first time in nine months. The impact that will have on their bodies next.

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[17:41:18]

TAPPER: We are watching the progress of astronauts Butch and Suni and their return to Earth. And so far, so good. And the astronauts have just confirmed they are ready for reentry. NASA says this mission remains on track to splash down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, into the Gulf at approximately 5:57PM Eastern. That's just a few minutes from now.

The astronauts have just put away their tablets and they've tightened their safety harnesses, the space equivalent of putting up your tray table and securing your seatbelt on a plane as it descends into the airport. The big splashdown is coming up soon. We're going to bring that to you live.

Former astronaut Scott Altman is back with me. And, Scott, what is this moment like emotionally, physically, psychologically? And where are they exactly in the process?

ALTMAN: So what I understand is they just got to the point where they're having a communication blackout. The plasma around the vehicle is preventing radio transmissions from getting through. So they're going to be -- it's going to be quiet for a little bit, but it's the point where you realize while you've been committed for a while now, you're really committed.

This is coming to an end. I'm sure they're really excited to be this close touching down and getting back.

TAPPER: So explain that for those of us who have not experienced space travel. The plasma is around -- so there is a period to protect the astronauts that there is this extra shield that goes around the --

ALTMAN: No, it's actually the heat of the atmosphere as you're coming back in. There's, my understanding, there's a plasma barrier in the shuttle. I would sit in the seat and look out the window at night, and I could see a glow and pull up and it was green here, yellow there, and red there. And I said, I don't want to look any further because that looks too hot. And it just caused interrupts transmissions we had.

TAPPER: So it's not something that NASA puts up intentionally. It just happens according to --

ALTMAN: Right. And what you have is a heat shield there and heat resistant tile on the vehicle itself that protects the crew from all that magnitude of the heat as they're coming in.

TAPPER: OK. So it's like they're past the point of no return.

ALTMAN: Definitely that.

TAPPER: It's like if you're going cliff jumping, it's like you're --

ALTMAN: Once you're off the cliff.

TAPPER: Off the cliff, that's where they are.

ALTMAN: Only going one way.

TAPPER: OK. And what is that like physically? You said the G force isn't what I was thinking it was. They're going 250,000 miles an hour. It doesn't feel like they are.

ALTMAN: No, but it's going to build up. And when you've been in zero G for nine months, it really feels like a heavy load as you start raising your arm like, whoa, gravity's back. It costs effort to do things.

TAPPER: And it's going into the Gulf of America, what they call around the world the Gulf of Mexico, do they have an idea of where it's going to land in the Gulf?

ALTMAN: They definitely do. Yes. They're targeting a spot. You can actually fly the capsule a little bit. It's got a lift over drag capability to maneuver a little bit. Not as much as a space shuttle because it doesn't have wings, but it's got a center of gravity. You can adjust where the center pressure is and maneuver it a little bit.

TAPPER: Are Butch and Suni the ones flying that or adjusting it or is it back at NASA?

ALTMAN: It's all being done remotely, basically. There's some capability to take over and interact, but it's not the stick and rudder kind of thing.

TAPPER: Do people ever black out during this period? No?

ALTMAN: No, it's not that kind of thing. And I would say that there's actually two other guys on there along with Butch and Suni, Nick and Aleksandr, who are both also happy to be coming home.

TAPPER: Now, tell us about Nick and Aleksandr.

ALTMAN: So Nick Hague is a NASA astronaut, it's on his third flight and Aleksandr is a Russian astronaut who's --

[17:45:03]

TAPPER: They went up on the SpaceX vehicle to pick them up?

ALTMAN: They went up back six months ago, whenever. They launched that vehicle with only two people on it so there'd be room for Butch and Suni to come home. And that's -- they're now -- the ride's been there the whole time, now they're getting to use it to come home.

TAPPER: And what is the reason? It was because the Boeing vehicle took them up --

ALTMAN: Right.

TAPPER: -- but then couldn't take them back?

ALTMAN: Well, there was some concern because there were failures of different valves as they were coming in. And it took NASA quite a while to decide if it was safe to dock. They finally made the decision they could go ahead and dock, which they did safely.

Then they did tests while they were there. They extended the time that the vehicle was there and finally decided, you know, the best thing for safety is to deorbit the Boeing vehicle by itself, see how it does. And then we'll figure out what we do next. And bring Butch and Suni home another way.

TAPPER: All right. Captain Scott "Scooter" Altman, who has flown four space shuttle missions with me in studio. We're going to squeeze in a quick break.

When we come back, we're going to bring you the big moment. After 286 days of weightlessness orbiting Earth more than 4,500 times, traveling more than 121 million miles, NASA astronaut Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are just minutes away from splashing down in the Gulf. And we're going to bring you that big moment after this quick break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:14]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. And we are following major breaking news. At any minute, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are set to splash down just off the coast of Florida, finally coming home after their week long mission in space became a nearly 10 month stay on the International Space Station.

We are now getting our very first live look at the Dragon capsule. These images coming to us from a high altitude NASA airplane. Any moment we expect to see the parachutes deploy over their Dragon capsule, slowing them down ahead of splashdown. CNN's Ed Lavandera is live from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

And, Ed, what are you hearing from mission control in these final minutes leading up to Butch and Suni's splashdown into the ocean?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, at this very moment they're not able to communicate with the crew inside this capsule because that capsule is now coming through the Earth's atmosphere, and there will be several minutes of a communication blackout. This is the most dangerous part of this reentry here back into Earth's atmosphere and returning to Earth.

This is a capsule that's traveling about 17,000 miles per hour, going through temperatures of 3,500 degrees. And that's what that heat shield and that heat capsule crucial at this point.

So here in a few minutes they're hoping to regain communication with the crew, and then it will begin that descent toward the gulf waters off the coast of Florida, south of Tallahassee. And, Jake, we are told that after splashdown, which is coming here within the hour, that that crew will, over a course of 30 to 45 minutes, the capsule will be retrieved from the Gulf waters.

And then the crew will be helicoptered back to shore and then put on an airplane and flown from Florida here to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. And that's when we're told that the crew and these astronauts will be able to reunite with their families here later this evening, presumably.

TAPPER: Ed, to the extent you can tell us, what are the emotions like inside the Johnson Space center right now?

LAVANDERA: Well, it's, you know, a lot of anticipation as to what is going on here. The crews and the teams here at the Johnson Space Center will be really focused on getting these astronauts re acclimated to Earth's gravity, and going through the medical testing and the process to get those astronauts reacclimated. So they will be able to -- they'll be brought here the Johnson Space Center. We're told that they will go through days, if not weeks, of spending time in a pool to regain strength, to go through all of those procedures to help those astronauts get reacclimated here, especially after being in space for almost nine months.

And as you can see there, the parachutes on that capsule have deployed. And this is the process of slowing this capsule down dramatically from the speeds that it has been traveling at. And by the time it hits the water, Jake, we're told it should be traveling about 20 miles per hour. So it'll as gently as imaginable, will descend there into those Gulf waters here in less than an hour.

TAPPER: Ed Lavandera at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, standby. I want to bring in my panel of incredible space experts to help guide us through this extraordinary moment.

Before I do, though, Scott Altman, retired Navy captain who's flown four space missions, what are we looking at right now? That's the capsule and that's two of the four parachutes.

ALTMAN: Yes. Those, I think, are the drogue chutes that are going to pull out the main after it's slowed it down a little. Yes, there they go. Here comes the mains. And we'll see them blossom as they're unreefed.

You bring them out in a small amount at first and then let the whole thing expand after you've slowed it down a little bit.

[17:55:04]

TAPPER: With us, in addition to Scooter Altman, we have astronaut who know Butch and Suni, Anna Lee Fisher, the first mom to ever venture into space. She's also Kristin Fisher's mom, retired US Air Force Colonel and former astronaut Jack Fischer, spelled differently, not related. And then, of course, as we mentioned before, Scooter Altman, retired Navy captain, former astronaut, who flew on four space shuttle missions. And if that weren't enough, he did some stunts for the 1986 movie "Top Gun." Thank you all for joining us.

So, Scott, let me start with you. So NASA says the crew is expected to experience 3 to 5 GS during the splashdown. They say that feeling is similar to being on a roller coaster. Astronauts certainly train for more intense force than that. So what is the training like? ALTMAN: Well, the training is really good, and you think you're ready

for the real thing until you're there. And it feels a little different. But 3 to 5 Gs is not a lot for a pilot to go through. It's -- but after nine months in space, it's a little more dramatic.

TAPPER: Yes, I would think. And we're watching. Look at this, just incredible.

ALTMAN: It is.

TAPPER: Beautiful.

ALTMAN: It looks beautiful.

TAPPER: Beautiful sights. Anna Fisher, first mom in space. When it comes to making sure everything's going smoothly, how much back and forth communication is happening between mission control and Butch and Suni right now? We see them right now. Look at that. Amazing.

And what does the communication sound like? Is it all just professional, typical NASA like in the movies, or is there some emotion in there?

ANNA LEE FISHER, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, you might be feeling some emotions, but generally you try to keep your communication at this point brief, and to the point and professional. I'm sure they're excited to be back, though.

TAPPER: Yes. We've got about 30 seconds until splashdown. Jack, what is it like for astronauts to prepare to land in the ocean as opposed to a hard surface?

JACK FISCHER, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: YES. So I landed in a Russian Soyuz on land. So it was like being in a dishwasher in a car crash, followed by another car crash. There's just going to be one car crash, and then they'll be -- hopefully in the Gulf, bobbing up and down, waiting for those rescue divers to hook on and get them on board that ship.

TAPPER: And when it splashes down, how submerged does it get, Scooter? Does it go completely underwater and then bob up or?

ALTMAN: Well, it may drop a little bit, but typically, I know the Orion has these balloons basically that come out that keep it above. So it's really -- I don't think going to be too much.

TAPPER: Here we go. It's about to -- it's about to splash down. Look at this.

ALTMAN: Beautiful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Splashdown, Crew 9 back on Earth.

ALTMAN: Back on Earth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And SpaceX Freedom splashdown good. TAPPER: You can see it's floating upright.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Main chutes cut. Nick, Aleks, Butch, Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is an amazing. What a ride. I see a capsule full of (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And as you can see on your screen we have visual confirmation of splashdown. Dragon Freedom has returned home and NASA astronauts --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: System safety verifications are in progress. We'll report back when recovery personnel are en route.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Understand. And we're in section 24 decimal 800 landing response and looking for your word is -- necessary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the distance we can see the recovery vessel making its way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Copy. You're in section two for the environmental assessment in 4.800. That is not necessary today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Understand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we will continue to have communications between the Corps and Nick Hague, the commander of Crew Dragon Freedom which just splashed down two minutes ago off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. Dragon Freedom has returned home with NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. They're back on Earth after approximately 17 hours of a return journey from space.