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All Systems Go for "Discovery"; Outrage over AIG Bonuses; New Taliban Threats; President Obama Wants High-Speed Rail in the U.S.
Aired March 15, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. It is the top of the hour and we are following developing news here.
All systems are go. We're just about 45 minutes away from the launch of the space shuttle "Discovery." CNN's John Zarrella is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. John, any last minute concerns.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No concerns, Don, at all. The weather is absolutely ideal here for a launch and as you mentioned, just under 45 minutes now, 7:43 p.m., lift-off. Shuttle "Discovery", will be the 36th flight of the shuttle "Discovery" heading towards the International Space Station, crew of seven. They're all onboard and they're all strapped in.
NASA is working no issues right now, 13-day mission to the International Space Station where the astronauts perform some major operations. And one thing they'll do is they'll be putting in the last of the backbone pieces of the space station, a giant truss section, as well as bringing up solar arrays, which will -- when they're powered up be the fifth and sixth segments, giving the space station full power and the ability to house not three, but six permanent crew members on the space station.
So at this point, Don, everything looking good. We're in a planned hold right now, which will take us down to the nine-minute mark, at which they will again resume the count.
But weather is perfect, the vehicle appears to be in excellent shape and the crew is ready after several delays, up to five weeks of delays for assorted hydrogen leak issues. They're ready to get off the ground and get on the way -- Don.
LEMON: And we can see the weather is great, because John Zarrella is in short sleeves, he is standing by there at the Kennedy Space Center, as well as our Jacqui Jeras.
So make sure that you stay with CNN for live coverage of the space shuttle "Discovery." Again, it's set just under 45 minutes from now, barring any last-minute complications. John Zarrella is on top of that. We're going to follow every minute of it.
And we just got word from our Jacqui Jeras that NASA is 100 percent go for launch -- Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. You don't see that every day. LEMON: You are breaking news here. Jacqui, why didn't we put the breaking news up? That's good news, too.
JERAS: Yes, well they just posted it, less than an hour ago.
LEMON: Ok.
JERAS: They actually have an officer who is assigned just for the forecast for the shuttle weather because it impacts it greatly. And we did have some cloudiness earlier today. And you've got to have at least 25 percent cloud cover or less in order for the shuttle to go ahead and launch. So that was one thing that we are watching today.
Skies are clear, it looks fantastic, so 100 percent go.
However, if there are some other technical issues, we've got this big front up to the north, as you can see, it's been bringing some incredible wet weather, and that's going to be sinking southward over the next couple days. So if we end up getting a 24-hour delay, the percentage of it going off is going to be lower and lower, just based upon the weather.
And we also had a couple of rain showers that developed off shore earlier. You can see those began to pull out, as well. So that's some good news there. The showers and thundershowers have been a little bit heavier if you head towards the Gulf Coast, so maybe anybody trying to travel to go and see this.
And you can see it from about 500 miles away, Don, by the way. And essentially when you get the night launch, so you'll see that night flare. Unfortunately, a lot of people that are within that radius have cloudy skies tonight.
LEMON: But guess where else you can see it?
JERAS: Where else?
LEMON: Right here.
JERAS: Right here, exactly on CNN.
LEMON: And it isn't actually 5,000 right in front of you on your television, right here on CNN.
JERAS: There you go. Why do you need to be in Florida?
LEMON: And Jacqui Jeras with the breaking news. Thank you, Jacqui. We would show you live pictures, but they're holding a press conference now and preparing for the space shuttle "Discovery" to get ready to launch.
But Jacqui Jeras says all systems go. And that's NASA television right now. We're on top of it. Hey, you want to watch this, so stay right here with CNN.
Why don't we talk some politics right now as we wait for the space shuttle "Discovery."
Former Vice President Dick Cheney has been out of the public eye since January. But today he spoke exclusively on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" with John King and he did not hold back.
He said he doesn't think it's fair for the Obama administration to say it inherited the economic slow down, now facing this nation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The President says, well, we've got a lot to do, but it's not my fault. I inherited a mess. Did you leave him a mess?
DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think you can blame the Bush administration for the creation of those circumstances. It's a global financial problem. We had, in fact, tried to deal with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac problem some years before with major reforms and were blocked by Democrats on the Hill, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd.
So I think the notion that you can just sort of throw it off on the prior administration, that's -- that's interesting rhetoric, but I don't think anybody really cares a lot about that. What they care about is what's going to work and how we're going to get out of these difficulties.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: But as for Iraq, well, Cheney would not go so far as to label it mission accomplished, but he defended the decision to invade. And he said almost all of the mission goals have been achieved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHENEY: The violence level's down 90 percent. The number of casualties and Iraqis and Americans is significantly diminished. There's been elections, the constitution; they're about to have another Presidential election here in the near future.
We have succeeded in creating in the heart of the Middle East a Democratically-governed Iraq. And that's a big deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Some folks are voicing their opposition to what the former vice President said. Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak is a Democrat and a former Navy Admiral, strongly disagreeing with Dick Cheney's assessment of the war in Iraq.
Here is what he had to say on "STATE OF THE UNION" with John King, as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Have we accomplished -- has the United States accomplished everything the Bush administration set out to do in Iraq?
REP. JOE SESTAK, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: The Bush administration may have created, after six, seven long years, some stability in Iraq. But they have not kept the most precious constitutional duty of the presidency in highest regard, which is to enhance the security of America.
We now have the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that months ago said Afghanistan is filing downward. And the head of the CIA over a year ago said Al Qaeda, the al Qaeda that struck us now has a safe haven in Pakistan.
And we do not have a military that's done any training on counter -- except counter insurgency for the last four years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, you can watch more of John King's exclusive interview with the former vice president, his first since leaving office. That's coming up at 8:00 p.m. to the top of the next hour, eastern, 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
And during his interview, the former Vice President says President Obama has made you less safe.
Be sure to join me tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern when I'll talk about that comment and the rest of the Cheney interview with our political editors here. And also the Washington Bureau Chief of the "Chicago Sun Times," Lynn Sweet and Mark Preston will join us and we'll have some feedback for you on that.
Are they taking responsibility or not taking responsibility?
AIG calls the multimillion dollar bonuses it plans to dole out retention payments. But White House officials call them outrageous.
Elaine Quijano is in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAIN QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Outrage over word that AIG is doling out over $165 million in planned bonuses to senior employees, despite getting $170 billion in government bailout money.
LAWRENCE SUMMERS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: There are a lot of terrible things that have happened in the last 18 months. But what's happened at AIG is the most outrageous.
QUIJANO: In a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, the company's CEO, Edward Liddy explained, because of contracts in place before the bailout, AIG's hands are tied. And he warned of serious legal as well as business consequences for not paying the bonuses.
In other words, AIG says it could lose its top performers to higher- paying jobs. The company could go under and the $170 billion taxpayer dollars all for nothing. The Obama administration insists it did lean on AIG to pull back on the bonuses.
CHRISTINA ROMER, CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: We're the first people to be angry, so absolutely Secretary Geithner has been furious, and has been pushing back, urging them to renegotiate this. We're pursuing every legal means to deal with it.
QUIJANO: The administration did get AIG to scale back some of the payments. Still, Main Street outrage is boiling, even among tourists just outside the Treasury Department.
BERNARD DIGREGORIO, WEST VIRGINIA RESIDENT AND OBAMA SUPPORTER: I'm flabbergasted.
QUIJANO: West Virginia resident and Obama supporter Bernard DiGregorio says the AIG situation smacks of injustice at a time when he and other taxpayers are worried about making ends meet.
DIGREGORIO: If they have contracts fine -- it's like, re-mortgage your house. That's what we have to do. Find a way, but don't take it from me. I don't have it anymore.
QUIJANO: Laura Mechanic, another Obama supporter, has some sympathy for the administration, but for AIG, none.
LAURA MECHANIC, WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK: I think it's deplorable. I think it shouldn't be done, whether there were contracts beforehand or not. I think it just should be times have changed, things have changed, and they have to change that.
QUIJANO: An administration official insists, under AIG's restructuring agreement, taxpayers will recoup that bonus money. In the meantime, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants Congress to examine what legal options are available to recover taxpayer funds.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Elaine. Thank you very much for that.
As you can see we're keeping an eye on Florida and the space shuttle "Discovery" set to launch in just under 40 minutes. And we're watching the live pictures. So now you don't want to miss it and we're going to carry it live right here on CNN. All systems are go, we are told and we shall see.
In the meantime, let's talk to cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow from New York. We're going to talk about this AIG thing, and this whole dust- up here. So what's the deal with this latest AIG dust-up?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes, you know, Don, there have been so many people twittering to your show, telling you they're outraged. You heard it in Elaine's piece, so I just want to take a minute and clarify what was outlined in the letter obtained by CNN. And this is the letter that was obtained by CNN. The letter is from the CEO of AIG, Ed Liddy to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Within it, four main points that I want to outline for you here.
First, Liddy is pledging to reduce the 2009 bonus payments at AIG by at least 30 percent. Of course, some people, Don, don't want to see any bonuses at all. That's one concession.
The next is they're addressing the steps to limit the compensation at AIG Financial Products, that's a London-based arm of this company, that's essentially the hedge fund-like arm that made all these risky bets that essentially led to the essential downfall of the company.
The 25 highest paid employees within that division, they will reduce their 2009 salaries to $1 a year.
And also you should know that AIG's CEO, Ed Liddy, will not receive a bonus for 2008.
So those are some of the concessions that have been made. People want to see more, Don --
LEMON: Yes.
HARLOW: -- but we want you to know exactly what has happened, the moves that AIG has made to be fair.
LEMON: Well, wasn't there are some movement though, just recently is there some news --
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: -- on AIG?
HARLOW: There is a lot of news. I'm showing you so many letters tonight, but this is another one that was released by AIG to CNN tonight --
LEMON: Ok.
HARLOW: -- within about the last hour and a half, and what that does is that outlines the counter parties that traded or had deals with AIG. And why do you care about that? Well, it's a list of about 20 banks that could have been seriously hurt if AIG had gone under.
Lawmakers have been asking for this list, since the fall AIG finally conceded. And there are banks on there, Don, a lot of European banks, Barclays, Deutsche Banks, Societe Generale that French bank but also a host of U.S. banks. The top on the list are Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, and also on there J.P. Morgan. And AIG has paid out in some of about $105 billion of the nearly $170 it's gotten from the taxpayers to these banks.
So the question is, would these other banks have gone under if AIG had gone under. Do you see where I'm going with this?
LEMON: Yes, I do.
And you're talking about all of the banks that are connected and it is interconnected and it's sort of circuitous as we say.
But listen, and here is what I want to ask you. Are we still in the digging process in this? Because this is just sort of broke last night. We led with it at 11:00, who these bonuses are going to, and how many people? Because we're talking about millions of dollars here. Were they $10,000 bonuses, $5,000 bonuses? Million dollar bonus -- you know what I mean?
HARLOW: No, you're exactly right, Don, and we don't know that. The only thing that's really outlined in this letter is that the top employees in that financial products division of AIG that I mentioned, they are paid relatively big salaries, an average in excess of $270,000 a year and of course with their salaries --
LEMON: Ok.
HARLOW: -- so you can imagine the bonuses are big.
These are also people that have worked at the company, you can imagine, for a long time. And, you know, not all of them were necessarily involved in what led to the downfall. But it is that Financial Products Division that is taking the biggest cut and it's that division that really led this company down.
LEMON: But I think people, you know, may feel differently about it or may -- may put some folks at ease if you're talking about people who worked for the company, the hard workers, 50, 60, you know, not big huge salaries. And they were getting small bonuses.
But it if it's million-dollar Joe --
HARLOW: Yes we don't know --
LEMON: -- and they're getting bonuses, they're like, whoa.
HARLOW: That's kind of like the next leg of the story, Don. And we don't know because we're hearing the same thing with Merrill Lynch, right?
LEMON: Yes.
HARLOW: The New York Attorney General wants to know who got the biggest bonuses, some of it has been released. And there's a lot of concerns about privacy, and should the public really know what these people got in terms of bonuses. We don't know that yet, we'll be digging on it --
LEMON: Yes.
HARLOW: -- and let you know what we find anything out.
LEMON: And that's what I want to know and I'm sure a lot of folks want to know. If it's the worker bees, then I'll rethink it. If it's the big guys that's getting the big salaries, not so much as we say.
Poppy, we appreciate it. Thank you.
Officials aren't the only ones outraged. You guys have strong opinions about AIG, too. I want you to listen to what some of our iReporters are saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY KUHRY: To put it in perspective for the upper echelon, ok, that means 18 holes of golf, average par is 72. You guys hit 504 strokes to finish that 18 holes. Damn, you failed, okay? And you don't give raises for failure, ok? You don't give bonuses and raises for failure. I would like an answer from Mr. Libby on these facts and this commentary, thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: No. Gary, thank you. We really appreciate it.
And also a lot of you are weighing in, as well. Here is what janeeDoe -- or it could be just Jane Doe is saying, "Put the AIG bonus winners, along with the Taliban and freaky models on the shuttle and let them work it out for a week."
Janio says, "I would love to see them do something retroactively to keep AIG from thumbing their nose at us all.
And anishdave says, "too much attention to corporate bonuses may distract us from looking at the crux of the problem afflicting AIG."
What is that problem afflicting AIG? Is it bad management? What's going on.
Give me another response. Maybe we'll consider it.
Karoli says, "I think AIG needs to learn about contract law, and not assume we're all stupid fools looking to swallow whatever pap they serve."
Thank you, guys. We appreciate your candor. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, iReport.com; tell us what you're thinking. You can be part of the show, just like those folks.
This is a frightening new message from the Taliban. They're threatening to kill aide workers or hold them as bargaining chips. We have an exclusive interview with the Taliban leader.
Meantime, I have a bit of good news for you from a war-ravaged region. Doctors held hostage in Darfur finally set free.
Also, an eye on Florida, and there you go. The space shuttle "Discovery" set to launch in under 30 minutes. You're going to see it live right here. All systems are go for now, but you never know with these missions. Sometimes at the last second, they scrub them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right.
We're standing by for news happening right now. You see the space shuttle "Discovery" at the Kennedy Space Center down in Florida. We're keeping an eye on it. Our John Zarrella is watching it from there to see if the mission is going to go as planned; also Jacqui Jeras keeping an eye on the weather for us.
We're going to carry this for you live to make sure that this goes off uneventful, we hope, in just a few minutes. You want to stay here at CNN.
Meantime, in Afghanistan a top Taliban commander has issued a new threat to foreign aide workers. He spoke to CNN's Paula Newton in an exclusive interview. She is in Afghan -- the Afghan capital of Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's the top commander, field commander from Helman province in southern Afghanistan. After a day or two of negotiation, when he heard the questions we had, he did agree to speak to us by phone. His name is Mohammed Ibraham Hanafi (ph), and some of the categories talked about -- it was a far-ranging interview, but what is important to know is specifically on the issue of foreign aide workers, he definitely determined that there is a new threat against them.
He said they are collecting information against them, and he says that the new Taliban constitution, which he says has now been prepared and been issued, means that they -- when they get these foreign aide workers, they can either kill them or hold them in exchange for other Taliban prisoners.
He says, quote, "If we get someone, that is how we will deal with them under our new constitution." Very chilling, indeed.
And I think for a lot of the foreign aide workers, working here in this country, they have always assumed that they had some measure of protection, because they say over and over to the Taliban, "We are here to fight -- to help the people. We are not here to fight a war. We are not here to be spies for coalition forces."
Clearly the Taliban saying that foreign aide workers do not belong in this country.
Also interesting, the Taliban reiterated something that has been confusing. Some say the Taliban will allow girls to go back to school, if again they reached power in Afghanistan, but this commander is saying, in his opinion, not. He says, "In my opinion, the Taliban aren't allowing girls to go to school, because the Taliban want women to preserve their respect by staying in their homes, not to work as laborers for others."
And clearly tough lines are still coming from the Taliban. You know, it was an interesting conversation when we were trying to set up the phone calls, although these were Afghanistan numbers, Afghanistan mobile numbers, when we tried to call over and over in the days prior, the recordings came in, In Urdu, Pakistan that means, and that seems to be where a lot of these commanders are now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, CNN's Paula Newton, thank you for that.
In the Darfur region in Sudan, four aide workers kidnapped earlier in the week had been freed. They worked for Doctors without Borders. The group said all four appear to be okay, and it is not clear who kidnapped them or why, or how their freedom was secured.
So far, the Sudanese government has expelled about 40 percent of aide workers from are the country. It's in retaliation for the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for Sudan's president for alleged crimes against humanity.
They are a staple in Europe and Asia. Now President Obama wants to see them here in the United States. We're talking about the high- speed rail, and the stimulus bill is providing $8 billion to help the president's dream come true.
Plus, shoes tossed, clothes flying. I'm sure there is a lot of hair- pulling and scratching, as well. The crowd gets out of control at an audition, not your typical day for "America's Next Top Model?"
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I am all excited about the space shuttle "Discovery", I cannot stop looking at the picture we have set up here live on the launch pad. There it is. Wow, it's just -- I mean, it is just a few minutes away.
The sun is starting to set a little bit. It's going to be a beautiful, beautiful launch. You don't want to miss it, because it's that perfect time of the evening. What do you call it -- dusk, right? Twilight is in the morning, right, Roger? That's right. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
LEMON: Yes, dusk. Roger is our director back there. And Roger is watching the pictures there in the control room -- watching the pictures and gathering the information. Eddie, our producer, is at the helm. There's our control room right there.
We're going to get all of the information for you when this happens, because as I said, this is going to be a really beautiful launch, and these guys are all in charge.
John Zarella down in Florida; Jacqui Jeras watching the weather. So sit back, get some popcorn, have a brewsky, whatever, if you're of age. Enjoy the shuttle. Let's talk about trains now. You see bullet trains in Asia and Europe. Now there is a movement to build a network right here. And the stimulus bill sets aside $8 billion for investment in high-speed rail.
The request came from President Obama himself, a big believer in this kind of travel.
She is back. Poppy Harlow from cnnmoney.com. Hi, Poppy. This is the Poppy-Don show. Either you need to come here or I go there.
HARLOW: Wow, I feel so honored, thanks, Don.
LEMON: I know, and we just need to hang out and do the show together.
So the president wants to have a high-speed rail system here, and you've been living in the northeast -- northeast corridor. You live there now. I lived there once. Hey, the Amtrak, very, very popular. And one of the most traveled routes in the country.
HARLOW: Yes, although people say Amtrak isn't very well-run.
LEMON: Yes, it's not well-run, and they want the trains to go faster, and we know the tracks weren't really built for the speed and all of that. But if it's done properly, it's -- it should be a good thing, most people said.
HARLOW: Yes, Don, hopefully you're as excited here about the bullet train as you are about the shuttle.
LEMON: I'm really excited. It's going to be great.
HARLOW: I'm just going to talk about this folks. We're going to show you a map here first about what we're talking about here. $8 billion allocated in the stimulus plan to build high-speed rail along all the corridors. Look in California, you have some in Texas, Florida, all along the northeast corridor, but they're expensive, folks.
Let's talk about California, because right now, southern California is the furthest along. There is a mock-up of what this could look like. We're talking about an extremely fast train that would go between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Right now, the state has issued bonds for -- they have approved the bond issuance of $9 billion to fund that. We'll see how much of the stimulus money they get for it. But the total price tag on that thing, Don, is $30 billion. So it is very, very expensive.
And some environmentalists argue, listen, this isn't really any better than -- of course, it'll take cars off the road, but still it's powered with electricity, half of the electricity in this country comes from burning coal. They say not as many people will take it as are planned.
That's one down side of it, but I talked to a Congressman who's in the 20th district right there in California who has been working on this for 20 years. And he said it expects that it will create 300,000 jobs over the next ten years, believe it or not.
LEMON: But Poppy --
HARLOW: If it happens.
LEMON: Isn't that always a criticism, though, not as many people will take it as planned. But then as it turns out, I mean, mass transit -- I mean, look at New York City. Imagine New York City without a subway or a huge city -- even Washington, D.C. without a rail system.
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: I know it's always a criticism, but mass transportation really, it's a good thing, I have to say. I don't know specifics on this particular thing, how much it's going to cost, but if you can get a bunch of people in one thing instead of a whole lot of people driving cars, you know, hey, that's just my opinion.
So listen, also let's talk about Wall Street right now. It was the best week yet.
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: So far this year that we had. Do we know what's going to happen next week? Probably not. And I don't know, maybe people are going to feel like, hey, last week wasn't so bad, so maybe Monday may not be off such a bad start.
HARLOW: If I knew that, I would be home day trading and not here. I would make a lot of money.
LEMON: I'd be your best friend because you would have a lot a lot of cash on hand.
HARLOW: It was, thought Don, you're right, the best week on Wall Street we've seen this year. We'll take the gains.
Let's show you what we saw in the Dow Industrials last week; up 9 percent. The S&P up better than 10 percent, the Nasdaq also up better than 10 percent. And it was bank stocks leading this rally, folks, believe it or not; Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan, extremely strong week. Can we hold on to it? It's anyone's guess.
I talked to a trader, we know very well here at CNN, Teddy White. He's been trading on the floor of NYSE, the New York Stock Exchange for 40 years. He told me, listen, it's anyone's guess. And he said -- this is a quote, "You could smell it, feel it, you knew it was coming, the rally was overdue."
(CROSS TALK)
LEMON: You have to say it like Teddy, though --
HARLOW: You could smell it, you could feel it, you knew it was coming. How's that.
LEMON: There you go. Teddy is a real New Yorker.
HARLOW: We'll see. We'll see. Let's cross our fingers.
LEMON: And I know, Poppy, you're going to be helping out with our special program next week. We appreciate it. Poppy is going to be involved with -- most people, all of the talent, all of the producers here on CNN, we're really going after it for you, because beginning tomorrow, you're going to get five days of unprecedented worldwide reporting on the money meltdown.
Just who can lead us out of this crisis? What do all of the numbers mean? And where are the jobs? That's what most people want to know. Where are the jobs? We're explaining this crisis, breaking it down for you, because we believe knowledge is power. We just don't want to bombard you with bad news everyday and depress you. Knowledge is power. "Road to Rescue, the CNN survival guide" all next week, only here on CNN.
Are you ready for March madness? Are you ready for some basketball? Sports aren't always immune to economic slow downs, but some sports can still do well, even in tough times. Our Rick Harrow joins us from Davy, Florida. He has got another prop, to talk about the business of sports. So Rick, March madness has officially begun. Will the bad economy impact the tournament this year? First of all, what do you have in your hand?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Well, it's an NCA basketball small one. We can palm this one. We go to Detroit for the final four. We'll cover some of that. Road to recovery is good. As far as basketball and golf. First, basketball. The NCA sweep 16 down the road. The 65 teams that are in, just announced about 45 minutes ago, it is a driving series this year. 15 of the teams playing within 300 miles of their playing within 300 miles of their campuses, including all four top seeds. So the one change economically this year is that we understand the budgets, people will not fly as much. Economic impact may be lower. But people really are going to be spending money.
LEMON: OK. All right. If they're spending money, that's good. Yes, that's a good thing. Hope they have the money to spend. A lot of folks don't. So let's talk now, PGA tour, OK, because Tiger Woods is still serving as a one-man stimulus show. He is a very wealthy man, but he's also helping the PGA out, helping the economy, as well.
HORROW: Yes, but this just in. Just came from the C.A. championships at (Dorals) and frankly, over 100,000 people attended this week. 11 percent increase over last year. Phil Mickelson won his first world championship about 15, 20 minutes ago. That's a big deal. C.A., the sponsor, very happy. Two-thirds of the players international. They're an international company. And, oh, by the way, golf - worldwide golf participation, up seven percent this year compared to last January of last year. So people are playing, people are watching, Tiger is excited about everything. But so is everybody else.
LEMON: Yes. HORROW: So that's good news, as well.
LEMON: OK. All right. Rick Horrow, we really appreciate it. Hey, thank you very much, sir. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
In the meantime, we have some breaking news that we want to tell you about here. It involves the vice president's mother. And here's what CNN is learning. We have confirmed that the mother of vice president Joe Biden Kathryn Eugenia Jean Biden has been admitted to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital today. A hospital spokesperson, a senior medical communications officer at the Pennsylvania University -- University of Pennsylvania's hospital confirmed that Kathryn Biden, mother of vice president Joe Biden, was brought to the hospital today. The reasons are unknown. And all that spokesperson would add is that Kathryn Biden is still at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. So the vice president's mother, Kathryn Eugenia Jean Biden admitted to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital for unknown reasons.
We will follow that story for you here on CNN, as well as we're following the space shuttle "Discovery" set to take off in just a few minutes. And this.
If you were watching TV in the '60s and '70s, you didn't see make many black faces in starring roles. But you did see Diahann Carroll. Her incredible story in tonight's up from the past.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We're watching pictures and listening, listening live to the broadcast between NASA and the astronauts and the folks who are getting ready to prepare this. It's going to take off in just a few moments. And there you see, six minutes, 49, 48, 47. We're going to take a look at them. John Zarrella is standing by. He's not ready yet, but he is getting ready to do this. John Zarrella standing by as well as our crew here in the control room. We've got my producer, Eddy, and then roger, as well, the director here.
They're monitoring all of the pictures that are coming in from the control room, and all of the information about the shuttle, as well as Jacqui Jeras, watching the weather situation. Jacqui Jeras gave us some breaking news a little while ago, saying that all systems were set to go. And as I said earlier, you want to watch this, because look at this. It is a beautiful, beautiful evening in Florida right now. And it's going to be a fantastic, fantastic launch once it does happen. John Zarrella, what do we have, about six minutes to go?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, about under six minutes now. 5:52 to go, launch of "Discovery." The crew is strapped in, everybody is ready to go. The vehicle is clean, there are no issues, the weather is absolutely perfect. This is the 125th space shuttle flight, and the 36th flight for the orbiter, "Discovery", and of course, it's going on a 13-day mission to the International Space Station, returning to earth here in the early afternoon hours of March 28th and again 13-day mission a couple of milestones they want to accomplish up there, deploying solar arrays, which will give the space station full power and allow for a crew of six, as opposed to the crew of three that they have on the space station now.
LEMON: And, John, we want - we want to talk about the crew there. Make it more personal, because there are very interesting aspects and very personal information about the crew that we're going to get on. But before it happens, we're going to take a very, very quick break. You won't miss it, don't worry about it. So if you've got to go the rest room right now, you want to go to the fridge to get something, go do it now. Because we're going to come back and we're going to watch the launch live here on CNN, and we're all going to do it together. Seconds away.
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LEMON: Right now, we are watching shuttle "Discovery" as it is preparing for liftoff. Liftoff should happen in just a bit. Look, we've got it covered at every angle. You see John Zarrella there. He joins us from Florida and right there next to him, Jacqui Jeras keeping an eye on the sky for us. And there is our crew in the bottom right of your screen, they are keeping an eye on all the pictures and all the information coming in. Roger and Eddie, you ready to lead us through this as well?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go for it.
LEMON: There you see "Discovery" on the bottom left in full now. We're going to first start with CNN's - we got to Jackie or do you want to go to John first, guys? Let's go to John Zarrella. John, we have been talking about the crew that's going to be on this mission, and, you know, there are a lot of families who are at home, very proud of these guys, a lot of folks who know them. Tell us about these crew people.
ZARRELLA: Yes, well, certainly the two people that come to mind, two of them are former school teachers, both of them taught middle school and high school. It's Joseph Okaban and Richard Arnold and it's their first space flights and also going to be performing their first space walks. And I'm joined here by Kate Hire, veteran astronaut, STS 90, and Kate, for these guys, their first flight, like for you, I imagine pretty interesting times up there right now.
KATE HIRE, ASTRONAUT: Oh, I think their heart rate is probably starting to go up a little bit. But they're well-prepared for this mission. I'm sure they're reviewing the procedures in their head right now, and just standing by for liftoff.
ZARRELLA: And Koichi Wakata, the Japanese astronaut. He's a veteran. He has flown twice before, and he'll be staying on the International Space Station, so a whole another whole set of other things going through his mind.
HIRE: Oh, absolutely. He's embarking on a much bigger challenge.
ZARRELLA: So, Don besides the -
LEMON: John -
ZARRELLA: We have Lee Archambault, the commander.
LEMON: Hey, talk to us about what we're seeing now, because we're getting really close. I don't see the countdown clock. Oh, there we go. A minute 40.
ZARRELLA: A minute and a half before liftoff.
LEMON: Ca you imagine? You were saying the first couple of people - did you say two people, it's their first time in space? Can you imagine the excitement, your first time going into space, as we look at this, we're just almost under a minute away. Almost a minute away.
ZARRELLA: Yes, as Kate was saying, you know, the heart rate is going a little bit more right now. I'm sure yours was too, Kay, right?
HIRE: Oh, yes.
LEMON: And, Kay, you know, that's a good thing. Kay, describe for me at this moment, when you're like a minute - what are we like 1:15 and counting, when you're this close, what is going through your mind?
ZARRELLA: What's going through your mind right now, a minute before launch?
HIRE: Reviewing the procedures. We have a bit of a cadence, almost. That you know, it's going to happen. This is going to happen, this, this, the very next thing. So you're already kind of replaying that in your head ahead of time just to be ready for it.
LEMON: No time to enjoy this moment?
HIRE: No. Well, mostly, just because we're very well-trained for this at this point, and just anticipating the normal, but ready to handle anything that would occur that would be off nominal, we call it.
LEMON: And I guess the guys on the flight deck are really sort of behind the 8-ball right now, more so than -
HIRE: Absolutely. The folks on the mid deck just bracing in, getting ready for the - all the noise that's going to happen.
ZARRELLA: And it's coming up in a second.
LEMON: John and Kay, we couldn't have asked for a better evening.
ZARRELLA: Here we go.
LEMON: This will be really beautiful weather here. But let's -
ZARRELLA: This is it, Don.
LEMON: Let's take a listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both main engines start. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Six, four, three, two, one. And liftoff. Space shuttle "Discovery" taking the space station to full power for full science.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is mission control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Discovery" program.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger, shuttle "Discovery."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Discovery" is now on heads down position, on track for its flight to the International Space Station. They'll be flying 365 miles per hour. 1.5 miles in altitude, seven miles down range from the Kennedy Space Center. Discovery's engines are throttling down as the orbiter passes through the area of maximum pressure on the vehicle.
ZARRELLA: We're seeing there now, it's 4.5 million pounds of thrust, and go for throttle up. That's a significant moment right, Kay?
HIRE: Yes, it is. Although we know pretty much all hold our breath so we get off the solid rocket boosters, also because there is a lot of vibration until the solid rocket boosters are spent.
LEMON: Ask Kay how much longer before that happens, John?
ZARRELLA: It's about a minute, Don. A little over two minutes in, we will have the separation of those solid rocket boosters, and then the next milestone, of course, is main engine cut off, about eight minutes in, and you're traveling at 17,300 miles an hour.
HIRE: Yes, that's right and at main engine cutoff, all of a sudden it gets very quiet and everything starts to float.
ZARRELLA: Just everything is floating.
HIRE: Just instantaneously, right at main engine cutoff.
ZARRELLA: And at that point, you're about to enter orbit, right?
HIRE: You are in space. Definitely.
ZARRELLA: So we're coming up here, Don, on the burnout of the solid rocket boosters, and we'll probably get a good shot of that on those pictures there. I'm sure we'll see it very clearly. That's that camera mounted right there on the side of the tank.
HIRE: Yes. On the orbiter itself.
LEMON: It's always amazing to see that camera. When you consider the amount of heat and just how fast this is going, and what that camera is up against. You see that camera is that close to the space craft.
ZARRELLA: Boosters are off. Yes. And the boosters, Don, have separated there. You can see that spectacular shot of that booster separation there, and, of course, they will fall back into the ocean. And they're recovered and then they're reused, right, Kay?
HIRE: That's correct. That's quite an interesting process.
ZARRELLA: And you know - you know, Don, everybody says, and Kay wanted to point this out. You know, the astronauts get all of the credit, but this is a big team, right, that it takes to put this show on.
HIRE: Oh, all the way across the country, and in the case of the International Space Station, around the world, with our international partners. The astronauts are just the fortunate folks that actually get to fly in space. But it takes a very large team to put us there.
ZARRELLA: Yes, it's quite a fortunate - it's quite fortunate you get to do that.
HIRE: Yes, it is.
ZARRELLA: So now the next milestone, I heard two engine towel, down, which of course, means that they can get to the transatlantic board sites if they need to, but now it looks like everything is fine.
HIRE: Yes, as a matter of fact for the folks right here at the Kennedy Space Center and along the east coast, we can actually still see the solid rocket boosters behind us, as they're separating and falling into the Atlantic Ocean.
LEMON: And John, I want to bring -
HIRE: You can see the three main engines of the space shuttle "Discovery" as it's headed towards orbit.
ZARRELLA: Go ahead, Don.
LEMON: John and Kay, I want to bring Jacqui Jeras in here to talk about that. Because we saw just how quickly -- how it got dark really quickly there, Jacqui. And I guess pretty good weather. We can leave John and Kay up, as well. But I want to bring Jackie in and talk about the weather condition.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, it couldn't have been better, Don. The winds were relatively light. We had some gusts around 20 miles per hour, but well below the criteria in order for the thing to take off. We had some cloud cover earlier in the day, some patchy cumulus clouds, but they cleared just in time and in fact, they haven't really seen whether they're better than this, other than for people who are trying to watch this elsewhere on the east coast, we got a lot of cloudiness for us in the southeast and mid Atlantic.
LEMON: And John, you can see it for miles and miles. I mean, where you guys are. I mean, the skies just lit up, you guys.
ZARRELLA: Oh, yes.
LEMON: Just watching you on the monitor, it looks like daylight there, and then as soon as it got out to a distance, back to darkness.
ZARRELLA: Yes, night to day, instantaneously, and you hear that - you know, that rumble, as, you know, we got just that shock wave that rolls across from the launch pad out here. And you know, usually you hear everybody's car alarms going off in the parking lot here. And, you know, now, what, we're looking at another - less than four minutes - three minutes or so, right, Kay, until we have main engine cut off, and that's when everything starts floating and you're in space.
HIRE: Yes, that instantaneously, that's right about eight and a half minutes.
LEMON: What we're seeing, though, John, is we are replaying the launcher, because it was such a beautiful launch. But you said just about three or four minutes before the main engine cutoff is what we're waiting on, the next milestone -
ZARRELLA: Right.
LEMON: And in each one, the mission becomes safer and safer and safer, and they start to relax and breathe easier.
ZARRELLA: And, you know, Don, what's funny is that this launch was actually - even though it was just at 7:43, NASA considers it a night launch, because it was more than three minutes after sundown. So while we still had some light here, it was considered a night launch.
LEMON: Very nice. Very nice. And I imagine Kay - you can ask Kay, at this point if you are aboard that shuttle, at each milestone, you go, whew, OK, we've reached that, now we've got to get to the next one.
ZARRELLA: Yes. Now we have the helicopter coming in, of course, so you may not be able to hear us. But, yes, you're now - you're breathing a little bit a sigh of relief and you know you're close.
HIRE: Right. A little bit more of the G-force, right into your chest. 3.5 Gs, not that much, but it's enough to make you feel it. So right at main engine cutoff that disappears.
LEMON: And if you're not strapped in, you're floating.
HIRE: Floating. Yes. Absolutely.
ZARRELLA: And at that point and we can see that we're pressed to go to main engine cutoff. That's means they're pressed to go to main engine cutoff. Good sign now. So they're not coming back. They're going to space.
HIRE: That's correct. But they haven't relaxed yet. So they're still monitoring all of their systems to make sure that everything is working properly and ready to respond in case anything misbehaves.
ZARRELLA: And with this crew, with all the delays they've had to go through and endure, I can imagine they must be awfully excited right now.
HIRE: I think, well, again, I think they're pretty much focused on getting safely to orbit. They're almost there. We're getting close. But I think the excitement will come once all of a sudden that G-force is off of their chest and they're floating in space.
ZARRELLA: And again, Don, the mission 13 days long, going to the International Space Station. It will be a day or two before they actually catch up to the space station.
HIRE: That's right. Yes, we consider it flight day three. Today is flight day one. So they have a lot of task that they have to do before they go to sleep tonight. And then they have flight day two in preparing for the rendezvous and docking. And that will actually occur on flight day three.
ZARRELLA: And you know, Don, Kay is scheduled for another flight maybe by December, if it doesn't move over into next year to the International Space Station. She's already in training for that.
HIRE: That's correct. I'm fortunate to be assign to SDS-130. And we'll be delivering (inaudible) to the International Space Station.
ZARRELLA: So maybe, Don, like the bat that hitched a ride. We don't know what happened to the bat. Maybe one of us can hitch a ride with Kay on SDS-130.
Right now we're coming up to main engine cutoff. You can see on those shots. It looks like we're pretty close.
LEMON: Yes. Poor bat. We don't know what happened to it.
HIRE: We have a tremendous amount of G-force on us right now. It's just not that much, it's just in a different direction than we normally experience.
LEMON: And John, you know, talk to me about the mission because they are delivering the final parts needed for an expanded solar energy power system that's going to allow the station to double it's -
ZARRELLA: Solar arrays, correct.
LEMON: Talk to us about that.
ZARRELLA: Well, the solar arrays that they have, literally about 115 feet when they're extended will provide power to the International Space Station. They have them up there already, four of them. They're bringing up another set. So give them six. And then they will be able to provide full power. Right now, there you go. Look at that shot. There it is, that's it. The space shuttle literally falling away from the external tank there. And they're in space now, right.
HIRE: They're in space.
ZARRELLA: That's a spectacular shot, Don. LEMON: Isn't that technology is just amazing that we can watch this live as it's happening from space. And what happens to this chunk that falls off here and the camera that goes with it?
You were just going to say it.
ZARRELLA: I was going to say that. The external tank falls away and it disintegrates, right, Kay? Over the Indian Ocean or something?
HIRE: That's correct. It breaks up on the way back into the atmosphere.
ZARRELLA: Sot that's a light weight tank, and it's disposable. And they got lots more where that one came from. Right now, Don, they're in space and they couldn't have asked for more perfect weather, perfect flight of "Discovery," No problems. And now they're on their way to that 13-day mission.
LEMON: Yes and we wish them, of course, the best of luck. Hey, listen, we're going to replay this because we want our viewers to see it. It was so beautiful. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four, three, two, one, and booster emission, liftoff, space shuttle "Discovery," taking the space station to full power for full science.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Discovery" roll program.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger roll.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Discovery's" rollover is in complete. And it's now in a heads down position on track for its flight to the International Space Station. "Discovery" flying 365 miles an hour, 1.5 miles in altitude, 7 miles downrange from the Kennedy Space Center. "Discovery's" engines are throttling down as the orbiter passes through the area of maximum pressure on the vehicle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It was spectacular. It was just about 10 minutes ago. I want to read some of your comments. Here's what you're seeing. You're seeing - bejewel says NASA liftoff, loved that booster recycled. Very green. Heatherp62 says awesome launch! I love seeing that go up. Another person writes, that takeoff was amazing. Someone else writes, shuttle launches don't get old. I agree. Always spectacular and awe inspiring. Wow! Godspeed to the crew.
Someone else writes Sunday's with Don Lemon, the best. Thank you very much for that one. And then someone else writes space liftoff is pretty cool. I wouldn't be the one to go, though, god bless them. I agree with you.
So beautiful launch. We hope they are safe and they get back soon. A 13-day mission for the crew of the space shuttle "Discovery" I want to thank John and Kay and Jacqui and our crew in the control room as well who kept us honest right here as we watched the launch. I hope you enjoyed it. I certainly did. It's amazing. I agree with you, guys.
Meantime, a fashion model is supposed to represent grace, style and poise. So tell me what this was all about, the shoes and the clothes and the hair and the scratching. It was everywhere. And now we're hearing from Tyra Banks, herself. We'll tell you what she said.
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LEMON: Want to be on top? That is the theme for the reality show "America's Next Top Model." And when this scene happened at a New York City audition, the melee made it to the top of the headlines. That is, police believed it was a combination of a fight that had broken out in the crowd, a car backfiring and then someone yelling, bomb. Why would somebody do that?
When it was all said and done though, three people went to jail, six people were hurt. And just moments ago we received this statement from the show's host, Tyra Banks and her executive producer. We're now going to hear from Tyra. Here's what she says. "We are concerned about the events that occurred Saturday afternoon in the vicinity of the New York City casting call for the next cycle of "America's Next Top Model." AT the vicinity she said, not there.
"At this time we still don't know all the details of what happened or what triggered the incident. We appreciate the efforts of the N.Y.P.D. and will assist them in any way possible in this matter." You've heard from Tyra Banks. Very interesting show. We got a lot covered. And we thank you for joining us. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters. See you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. "State of the Union" with John King right now.
