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NASA Astronauts Discuss Unexpected 9-Month Stay In Space; Immigration Officials Silent After Minnesota Grad Student Detained. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired March 31, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:31:08]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: In moments, we're going to hear from the Starliner astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, opening up and sharing their experience in space.

Remember, their eight-day mission turned into a nine-month stay on the International Space Station when, last June, NASA deemed their Boeing- made Starliner vehicle too unsafe for the return trip back to earth.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: So Williams and Wilmore waited for a ride home on a SpaceX capsule.

Nearly two weeks ago, the world watched for this, the veteran space traveler splashing down in the waters off Tallahassee, Florida. Love the dolphins welcoming them, right?

Since then, they have been based out of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston readjusting to life with gravity.

CNN's space contributor, Kristin Fisher, is with us to talk a little bit about this while we await this.

What are you expecting to hear from them? This is such an extraordinary experience they had.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE CONTRIBUTOR: I know. Well, I'm excited to hear what they have to say about how their time back on earth, dealing with earth's gravity, has been. You know?

I mean, these astronauts have been up there for nine months. It really takes a toll on your body.

But I will say, Suni told an anchor on another network this morning that she ran a three -- she ran three miles just yesterday. So she has to be doing pretty well after, you know, nine months in -- in no earth's gravity. So first and foremost, their health.

I also want to find out more about, you know, how they feel about Boeing and the spacecraft that wasn't able to bring them home, how they feel about SpaceX and the ability -- and its ability to take them home. But also kind of the political stuff. Right? I mean, they have inadvertently been put in the middle of a political firestorm with Trump and Elon Musk saying that they needed to be rescued, NASA saying they don't need to be rescued.

So will they talk about that? I think that's the big question for me.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And we are set to hear opening remarks from them in just moments. We'll, of course, bring you some of that live.

It's funny when you talk about the politicization of all of this because, Kristen, if you take us back, this all started with some pee bags.

(LAUGHTER)

FISHER: That's right. It did.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: It did. It's a factual statement.

FISHER: And what Boris is talking about here is the fact that Butch and Suni had one of their suitcases, so to speak, taken off their Boeing Starliner spacecraft shortly before launch because they thought they were only going to be up there for about eight days.

And there was a broken pump on the urine recycling, the thing that recycles astronauts urine up at the International Space Station. And so they brought the replacement.

SANCHEZ: Well, we'll -- we'll have to explain more in just a second.

Let's listen to Suni Williams now, live.

SUNI WILLIAMS, NASA ASTRONAUT: Commercial crew program with NASA and Boeing, as well as SpaceX, really got us ready to go.

All of the trainers here at Johnson Space Center, the Mission Control teams all over the country in Florida to California. So throughout -- throughout the whole country.

As well as what we're doing now. You know, our teams here are getting us ready to get, you know, rehab and get ready to take on new challenges.

So, you know, feeling good. Since we've been back almost two weeks now. Actually went out and ran three miles yesterday. So I will give myself a little pat on the back.

Our trainers are -- are rocking it and -- and getting us ready to get back to help out with the new astronauts as they're getting ready for their mission. So the biggest thing I want to say was thank you.

BUTCH WILMORE, NASA ASTRONAUT: Yes. Thank you. Suni. Let me start off with an analogy, a sports analogy. This very difficult job that we take part in. It's a team sport. It encompasses organizations throughout NASA, throughout the country coming together.

The commercial crew program, headquarters, the International Space Station program, working together day in and day out, behind the scenes diligently to make all of this work together.

And then you couple that with a nation that comes together and cares about the human space flight program and prays for us and -- and what's taking place. It goes beyond understanding honestly.

[14:35:08]

And then this organization also is incorporated into an international organization that reaches beyond our own borders and brings in the world like no other organization on or off the planet.

And I can tell you, it's simply a privilege to take part in all of that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Thank you all for your opening remarks.

We will go ahead and start taking questions now.

If you're in the room, please raise your hand and we'll be sure to get a microphone over to you.

If you're joining from our phone bridge, please press star one when you're ready to enter the queue.

And due to the high volume of questions today that we are receiving, we ask that media start with one question, and if we have time for a second round, we'll come back around to you.

We'll start here in the first row with any questions.

Mark, go ahead.

MARK STRASSMAN, SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CBS NEWS: Mark Strassmann, CBS News. Welcome back everyone. Good to talk to all of you again.

We're meeting in this auditorium for a reason. There are roughly 60 news outlets represented here, another 120 or so on the phone. Butch and Suni, have you been surprised by? The continuing and intense interest in your space saga?

WILLIAMS: I would have to say yes, absolutely. You know, it's -- it's interesting. We go and launch. We knew it was a little bit unique. Obviously first time flying on a new spacecraft. So, yes, that was -- that was interesting.

But you know, then life goes on up there. And I mentioned yesterday, you know, we pivoted and we were International Space Station crew members. And we're doing what all of our other friends in the astronaut office do is go and work and train and, and do science, amazing science experiments up on the International Space Station.

So, you know, I think you sort of get maybe a little bit tunnel visioned in what your job is, you know, the -- you know, do your job type of thing. Right. And so you're not really aware of what else is going on down here.

I hate to say that, you know, maybe the world doesn't revolve around us, but we revolve around the world. Something like that.

But, you know, I think we are just really focused on what we're doing and trying to be part of the team and making sure we pulled our weight for the team.

Of course we heard some things and I'll let you know -- obviously, hand this off to Butch -- heard some stuff from our friends and family that people were interested and wondering what was going on and concerned about our health and all that kind of stuff while we're up there.

But, I mean, we were just part of the team doing the job, filling in wherever we could and then knowing that there's rotational flights and we will be coming home eventually on a rotational flight.

So, no, I don't think we were aware to the degree. Pretty honored and humbled by the fact of when we came home like, wow, there's there are a lot of people who are interested.

Very thankful, very amazed that we could hopefully be one positive element to bring people together.

WILMORE: Yes, I don't know that there's much I could add to that. Just thankful for a nation that cares, a nation that prays, and a nation that is involved in the processes that are important to all of us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, we'll take our next question here in the room.

Tom. Go ahead.

TOM COSTELLO, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, NBC NEWS: Hi. Tom Costello with NBC News again. Welcome back. Nice to see you all. Everybody's been thinking about you and worried about you.

And I'm wondering, once you got your feet back on terra firma, what's the first thing both of you wanted to do? And were there any foods you're craving after nine-plus months?

(LAUGHTER)

WILMORE: Go ahead.

WILLIAMS: Oh, yes. I wanted to hug my husband and hug my dogs. And I'll say that in that order.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: But maybe, maybe not. No, I'm just joking.

But of course, food. I -- you know, something that's just like for home for me. Like something that is very, you know, reminds you of home. And I had -- my father was a vegetarian, so I had a good grilled cheese sandwich when I got home. So that reminded me of him.

WILMORE: Yes, certainly. Embracing the family again, but also the opportunity -- and I've already said it a couple of times -- is just to say thank you to a nation that got involved in all of this.

It makes it special, not just for us, but for, I think, our nation as a whole. So thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Well take our next question right here in the front row.

Thank you. My question is for Suni.

When you first got off the plane in Houston, we saw you hug Zena Cardman and there was a nice exchange.

If you could describe what happened and your gratitude towards the crew members who stepped aside so that you'd have seats coming back.

WILLIAMS: Yes, it's a great observation. So thank you very much.

Zena is awesome. Stephanie Wilson awesome.

You know, when this whole thing was unraveling, like my heart went out because it's just sort of like, wow, you're waiting for your space flight, specifically Zena as her first flight. Like, wow.

You know, it's a little bit rough, to know that you are -- you're going to be moved to a different flight.

But at the same time, you know, she -- she is an awesome person, an awesome astronaut. She's going to get the opportunity. And, you know, this just wasn't the right flight for her to be on at that moment in time.

And so I just -- I just gave her a big, huge hug. I told her that I used her Crew 9 shirt when we were up there for a photo op, but I packed it back up real nicely and put it in her stuff.

And, you know, little joking aside, I just wanted to really tell her thank you for taking -- taking one for the team. And that's what our office is about. But she needed to have that acknowledgment.

[14:40:10]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, we'll take one more question here in the room, and then we'll head to our phone bridge.

JEFF SAPPERSTEIN, WEEKEND MORNING ANCHOR & REPORTER, NBC BOSTON: Hi. This question is for Sunita. I'm Jeff Sapperstein, by the way, from NBC in Boston.

A lot of people in your hometown, in Needham, they've been watching this go by --

WILLIAMS: Go sacs (ph).

SAPPERSTEIN: Yes -- every moment. Yes. Everybody at the elementary school. There was a big watch party for you when you came home.

What's your message to them? They've been so anxiously awaiting for you to return.

WILLIAMS: Oh, well, I'm back.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: First and foremost. We were always coming back, and I think people need to know that. And we're back to actually, you know, share our story with so many people.

Because, you know, it's -- it's like -- like you all mentioned, it's likely unique. And there's some lessons learned to it. And part of that is just resilience and being able to take a turn that was unexpected and make the best of it.

And I think that is the biggest thing that I want to, you know, pass down particularly to, to kids who think that their, you know, their life should be this straight arrow to where you what you want to do and you're just going to get there.

Well, you know, sometimes it takes some turns, some rights and some lefts, and you just keep focused on your goal and other doors might be open for you. So I think that's the -- the biggest message.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. We'll head to our phone bridge.

Our first question there is from Marcia Dunn with the Associated Press.

MARCIA DUNN, REPORTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Welcome back everybody.

Butch, this question is for you.

Where do you lay the blame for your Starliner test flight? Clearly, Starliner was not ready to fly when it did. Whom do you hold responsible for everything that happened? Thanks.

WILMORE: That is a question that I cannot answer in a couple of comments, but I'll start with me. There were some issues, of course, that happened with Starliner. There were some issues, of course, that happened that prevented us from returning on Starliner.

And I'll start with me. There were questions that I, as a commander of the spacecraft that I should have asked, and I did not. At the time, I didn't know I needed to. And maybe you could call that hindsight. But I'll start and point the finger and I'll blame me. I could ask some questions, and the answers to those questions could have turned the tide. So blame, that's a term -- I don't like that term, but certainly there's responsibility throughout all the programs. And certainly you can -- you can start with me.

Responsibility with Boeing? Yes. Responsibility with NASA? Yes. All the way up and down the chain. We all are responsible. We all own this.

And we are, in this business, trust. You cannot do this business without trust. You have to have ultimate trust.

And for someone to step forward and these different organizations say, hey, I'm culpable for a part of that issue. That goes a long way to maintaining trust.

So we're not going to look back and say, this happened or that happened and that person's or that issue or that entity is to blame. We're going to look forward and say, what are we going to use our lessons learned from this whole process and make sure that we are successful in the future?

This is a tough business. The analogy about it is it's always a curvy road. it's never straight in this business. And minimizing those curve --, curves and effectively -- being systems and processes in effect to -- to prevent some of these curves is what we have to do as we leave low-earth orbit and go beyond to the moon and beyond that.

So we're going to look forward. And that's -- that's the focus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Our next question on the phone bridge is from Anthony with Spectrum News.

ANTHONY DABRUZZI, ANCHOR & REPORTER, "SPECTRUM NEWS": Hello. Welcome back, everyone. It's nice seeing everyone return healthy and safe.

I have a question for both you, Suni and Butch. Given an opportunity, would you guys go up on Starliner again?

WILMORE: Yes. Because we're going to rectify all the issues that we -- that we encountered.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

WILMORE: We're going to fix them. We're going to make it work. Boeing's completely committed. NASA is completely committed. And with that, I get on in a heartbeat.

WILLIAMS: Yes, I would -- I would agree. The spacecraft is really capable. There were a couple of things that need to be fixed, like Butch mentioned. And folks are actively working on that.

But it is a great spacecraft and it has a lot of capability that other spacecraft don't have. And to see that thing successful and to be part of that program is an honor. WILMORE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our next question is from Jaqui with the "Times of London."

JAQUI GODDARD, U.S. CORRESPONDENT, "TIMES OF LONDON": Yes, hello, and welcome back to earth.

I wondered about the stuck, stranded, marooned narrative and to what extent were you aware of that narrative playing out around that down here? And has that been frustrating for you to have to address? Thank you.

WILMORE: I'm sorry. That was a little garbled.

[14:45:01]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The stuck, marooned narrative.

WILMORE: Oh, the stuck, marooned narrative. We heard about that. Yes, we heard about that.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: Somebody mentioned it.

WILMORE: We've said this before. We had a plan, right? The plan went way off for what we had planned. But because we're in human space flight, we prepare for any number of contingencies. Because this is a curvy road, you never know where it's going to go.

We prepare for this. So we -- Suni used the term and it's a great term. We pivoted to all that training we did that we didn't think we needed to do, and a lot of people didn't think we needed to do, but we did it anyway, as we pivoted to this other preparation.

And that is what makes human spaceflight -- your human spaceflight program special. It is hard, like I said. And preparing for any number of contingencies is what we do.

It happened to be me and Suni involved in this, but it could have been any one of the astronauts. There's 40 or so of us eligible for assignment.

It would have been any one of us that would have been in the same situation or could have been in the same situation and would have done the exact same thing that we did, because they would have gone prepared, just like we did.

WILLIAMS: Yes. And one, one addition to that. You know, this is a lot bigger than, you know, Butch and myself, like we've talked about already. This is a -- this is an International Space Station program.

And there's a lot of, you know, wheels that are turning and wickets that are -- that we have to go through to get people up to the International Space Station to do all of the amazing science that we're doing up there.

We recognize that. We know that. Just like anybody else in the astronaut office. And we came, as Butch has mentioned before, prepared. And we were ready to do that pivot and be part of that bigger thing that's not just about us.

Knowing that everybody on the ground -- there's a huge team of people, like I quickly mentioned in my quick thank you. But there's a huge group of people who are looking at the whole program and understanding how and what was the best time and way to get us back home.

We knew that. And we were ready to wait until that decision was made, and that was fine.

WILMORE: And I'll also add that we're grateful for people that -- I don't think they we're looking just at us. When they make --

SANCHEZ: We're listening to Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, fresh off of their nearly 10-month journey, an unexpected 10-month journey into space. Some really fascinating remarks there from Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Asked who he holds responsible for this 10-month or nearly 10-month ordeal, Butch Williams (sic) says that he blames himself. Butch Wilmore, I should say, says that he blames himself.

He calls himself responsible for issues that happened with Starliner, because there were questions that he should have asked as commander that he didn't know to ask.

He says that they'll take those lessons and move forward with them into the future.

Notably, Suni was asked whether she found the attention that they were receiving on earth surprising. She said that she did, but life goes on up there. We pivoted. We got to work, we trained and did science. We were honored and humbled that so many we're invested in their journey.

KEILAR: Yes, they really make the best out of it, Kristin Fisher.

FISHER: They sure did.

I tell you what, two things really stood out to me from that press conference. First is the fact that they look good. I would never say that in almost any other setting, but they look good. They look healthy. You don't always see that after that much time up in space.

And I mean, you heard Suni say she just ran three miles after being back on earth for, you know, less than a week. That's really incredible.

And the fact that, you know, NASA had a choice to make. And, yes, that Boeing Starliner capsule came back safe and secure, and Butch and Suni would have been fine in hindsight.

But the fact that NASA did make that decision, after Challenger, after Columbia, and those two astronauts, three astronauts are sitting there today, safe and sound, looking good and looking healthy, that's a big deal.

And also what you we're talking about, Butch taking some responsibility for what happened and saying, you know, in hindsight, there we're questions that I wish I would have asked. What a class act, what a professional.

And of course, there's blame to go around. Boeing first and foremost, and -- and NASA, too, to some extent.

But for Butch Wilmore to sit there today and say, I'm pointing the finger at myself, really shows a lot about the caliber and the character of who he is as an astronaut.

KEILAR: It certainly does. And we are still following this.

We're going to get in a quick break and we'll be following more of what is happening in this press conference with Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

[14:49:20]

We'll be right back.

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KEILAR: There are growing concerns about another international student detained by immigration officials. This time, it's a University of Minnesota graduate student.

And it's unclear what the person is accused of, what their immigration status is, or even where they're being held.

SANCHEZ: The university's president says the student, who has yet to be identified, was taken into custody at an off campus residence.

CNN's Rafael Romo is following this for us.

Rafael, what more can you tell us?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, Brianna, this case stands out due to some of the things that you we're talking about before, the lack of information about what exactly happened to the student.

Officials have not released the students identity, where this individual is currently being held, or the reason for the detention. CNN reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to request information about the case, but so far, there has been no reply.

The University of Minnesota disclosed in a letter sent to students, faculty and staff on Friday calling what happened "a deeply concerning situation" as many on campus rallied in support of the detained student, expressing concern and indignation.

[14:55:00] According to the letter, an international graduate student who's enrolled at the Twin Cities campus was detained by ICE agents on March 27th. The detention, the letter said, happened off campus.

University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham said in the letter that, quote, "The university had no prior knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities before it

occurred."

This is what Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently had to say about these cases, and what the policy is for the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You're saying it could be more than 300 visas?

RUBIO: I mean, at some point, I hope we run out because we've gotten rid of all of them.

Why would any country in the world allow people to come and disrupt? We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses.

And if we've given you a visa and then you decide to do that, we're going to take it away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: The detention comes as several foreign nationals affiliated with prestigious American universities have been arrested amid the Trump administrations immigration crackdown -- Brianna?

KEILAR: Rafael Romo, thank you.

And we're coming up here on the last hour of trading in what could be the worst quarter in years. We'll have much more on that just ahead.

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