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Unrest Escalates in Libya; Discovery's Final Mission; Gadhafi Loses Control of Large Areas; The Arrogance of Power in Politics

Aired February 24, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And now at the top of the hour, welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. We are minutes away from watching history. Take a look at this with me, live look. That is the space shuttle Discovery, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, to be exact. Got a total of six astronauts getting ready to leave gravity behind and fly into space.

Folks, this is the space shuttle's final mission, thus the historic element here. You are going to see it happen live this hour.

But, first, this, as promised, I want to give you the very latest from Libya. As we have been reporting, the country's second largest city appears to have fallen -- look at these crowds -- from the grip of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. And we promised we would speak with CNN's Ben Wedeman, and we will. He got into Benghazi today.

It was his crew who shot these amazing pictures.

And, Ben Wedeman -- do we have Ben, guys? We don't have Ben? We're going to work on getting Ben. He's in Benghazi. We will talk to him about what he's seeing and if Moammar Gadhafi is losing his grip on power.

But, for now, if it's interesting and if it's happening right now, you're about to see it rapid fire. Let's go. Check out this video. You have a group of 50 teens storming this convenience store in Minnesota, and allegedly start taking things right off the store shelves. Police called it a mob robbery. We're told it's the second time that it's happened in the area in just the past couple of months.

Investigators have identified some suspects, but are still looking for more.

To Los Angeles, where police say a student gets into an argument with a teacher. So, minutes later, he returns to this vocational school classroom, opens fire, kills the instructor. Officers captured the suspect after he left the school. He is now in custody. Another student is in stable condition after being hurt in that rampage.

And a double launch on an island in Northern Wales today. There they are. The royal couple, Britain's Prince William and his fiancee, Kate Middleton, appeared at their official engagement event. They launched a lifeboat, calling it the Hereford Endeavor. It was an ideal spot apparently for both of them. This island is home to a seaside emergency rescue station and Middleton and the prince live there right now. It's also where William is serving as a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue pilot.

Witnesses say it sounded like a bomb went off. This was the scene. Look at this in a Chicago suburb, after a house seemed to just explode. The blast shook this whole block Tuesday. A utility crew helped rescue a woman trapped inside the house. She was hospitalized with some injuries. There's no word as to what triggered that explosion, but a construction crew in the area had to totally stop working when they smelled what they thought was a natural gas leak.

Texas, this little girl pointing to the beach, to a particular spot on the beach there where she says she found a whale, a 1,000- pound whale. We're told the 12-footer washed up in shallow water there in Galveston Island. Crews rescued it, and took it to some local facility, but experts say it was suffering and had to be euthanized.

Florida, a police officer on desk duty after being arrested for DUI. His boss was caught on dash-cam video. Watch it with me here. Police pull him over for doing 20 miles over the speed limit. He takes a couple field sobriety tests and obviously fails them. The state attorney's office is now handling that case.

And, whew, this is going to make my skin crawl. You see that snake? There it is. For an entire month, whoops, it was missing on a public train in Boston. Can you imagine? No. The owner says she lost it. Someone found it a couple of weeks later. And now that owner is being fined. The woman has to pay $650 for the cost of finding the snake and sanitizing that train.

The fight over the controversial budget bill in Wisconsin could be put to a vote very, very soon. And did you hear this? State troopers out of Wisconsin have been sent. They have been dispatched to the homes of several Democrats. Coming up, we will take you live to the scene there in Madison.

And the feds says he wanted to use weapons of mass destruction right here in the United States. His targets? George W. Bush and nuclear power plants. Now he's being charged as a terrorist. So who is this guy? Folks, he's 20. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here we go. We're going to talk about an arrest in an alleged terror plot in Texas, politicians and protesters squaring off there in Wisconsin. And do you remember the "I'm a Pepper" commercials? Well, guess what? Dancing is out. Rambo is in for Dr. Pepper. There's a lot going on obviously today. Time to play reporter roulette.

But I want to begin with Jeanne Meserve for me in Washington.

And, Jeanne, let's talk about these thwarted terror plots. Who is this guy who would have been behind this? And how far had he gotten? JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, his name is Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 20 years old from Saudi Arabia in the U.S. on a student visa studying as Texas universities.

The government alleges that he was researches online targets, which included the home of the former President George W. Bush, nightclubs, nuclear power plants, dams, and even the homes of a couple military personnel who used to work about Abu Ghraib, the prison in Iraq.

They say that he was trying to create a chemical called TNP. He had gotten two components. He was trying to get the third when a freight company became suspicious. They alerted authorities and that led to his arrest yesterday, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jeanne, what is next for him? When is the next time we will see him in court?

MESERVE: You will see him in court tomorrow morning in Lubbock, Texas. He's going to be appearing there in his initial appearance. If he's eventually convicted, this gentleman could face life in prison and a $250,000 fine -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jeanne Meserve live in Washington, Jeanne, thanks.

A lot happening today, in Wisconsin, that whole union standoff we have been watching for days and days now. Here's the deal today. State police have been sent to knock on the doors of some of those runaway state senators, those Democrats. So, next up, we have Ted Rowlands in Madison, Wisconsin.

And, Ted, was anyone home when the troopers got there?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, nobody home, Brooke.

All 14 of the state Democrats, state senator Democrats were in Illinois, but apparently there was some rumor that some were sneaking back into their homes. So, they sent out the state troopers to see if they actually were there. They couldn't have arrested any of these lawmakers, but they could have -- quote -- "compelled them" to come back to Madison and come to work, their words, on that.

BALDWIN: Will we see a vote, Ted, I guess it would be the Assembly vote, in the Wisconsin House today?

ROWLANDS: Could see it by the end of the day. They're still at it right now. They have reduced the amount of amendments on the Assembly side of this. So, they're churning through the process there.

Pretty much a foregone conclusion in many people's minds that this half of the equation would be taken off. That may happen today. The big stalemate still over in the Senate side. All 14 of those Democrats in Illinois, they say on a day-by-day basis, they will make their decision on whether or not they will come back here. The governor is standing firm. The other component in this, Brooke, there is a chance if they can convince two of the Republicans to come over to their side, the Democrats, this could also get done that way. One Republican -- they need three total. One has already said he would be open to the Democratic plan on the table, which is basically a compromise. They need two more for that to happen.

BALDWIN: Two more.

Ted Rowlands, keep watching that for us out of Madison. Thanks, Ted.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: And a little addendum, a surprise addendum here to our reporter roulette. We promised we would speak with CNN's Ben Wedeman. Well, guess what? We got him. He is in Benghazi today. His crew shot some amazing pictures, thousands of people out there.

And now Ben is joining me on the phone.

And, Ben, my question to you, I understand you were reporting that people were throwing candy at you as you and your crew were entering Benghazi. Has Gadhafi's support in that city crumbled?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Crumbled? It's absolutely evaporated. There's simply -- as far as we can tell, there's no support whatsoever for Gadhafi.

And, you know, what you pick up everywhere is just -- is profound hatred for everything he ever represented. Every single building that was used by the police, by the army, by his supporters has been burned down and essentially ransacked.

We were in the compound that contained the palaces where Moammar Gadhafi and his sons used to stay. And they have now become sort of museums for people to freely walk in and look around. And everywhere you go, people make it clear that they never want to see him again.

In fact, one man in front of our camera took out a great big knife and pulled it across his neck, showing that what he wants to do is slaughter Moammar Gadhafi like a sheep -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Wow.

So support, to use your words, evaporated. But he's still there, the leader of Libya for 42 years, still in country somewhere. We heard from him today on state TV. He didn't appear on camera. It was audio only.

So, Ben, what would that suggest to you, that perhaps the circle around the Libyan leader is getting tighter and tighter?

` WEDEMAN: I don't think there's any question about it. One Libyan, who listened to that address by Moammar Gadhafi said what's clear is that his appearances on television have been so poorly received by Libyans and by people worldwide, maybe he was advised by the people around him simply not to show his face on television.

Now it was another one of these rambling, rather off-balance addresses that he made, and many people thought it was quite amusing that he warned Libyans not to drink any Nescafe made in the towns that are now under the control of the anti-Gadhafi forces, because he said it was laced with hallucinogenic drugs.

BALDWIN: What? No Nescafe. OK, so that's the word from Moammar Gadhafi.

But we know the situation, Ben, in Benghazi very different from what we've been seeing over the past couple of days in Tripoli, the capital city. Would there be a battle for Tripoli? Who would that battle be between? And what scenario -- give me a scenario under which Gadhafi would be forced to flee Libya?

WEDEMAN: Most people believe that the scenario would be that, either, A, the army simply drops him like a hot potato, because he is such a liability for the country; or that the tribes that currently support him will pull away and come over to the side of the anti- Gadhafi forces.

What's interesting, Brooke, is we were speaking with some of the leaders of the ad hoc government in Benghazi, and they told me they are in contact with leaders of Gadhafi's tribe. And they're trying to convince them that there's no future with Moammar Gadhafi and they told the tribal leaders they have no problems with Gadhafi's tribe, their only problem is with the continued presence of Moammar Gadhafi at the head of the Libyan state -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Ben Wedeman, I can't get over these pictures you and Mary Rogers shot there in Benghazi. We'll be watching the story right along with you. Stay safe.

Ben Wedeman on the phone there out of Benghazi, thank you.

Also, did you hear who Gadhafi is now blaming for these protests? We mentioned we heard from him on state TV. Well, here's my hint -- he is one of the most wanted persons in the entire world.

Hala Gorani is standing by with that. "Globe Trekking" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It is time for "Globe Trekking" with a look at Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's shrinking world. Opposition groups have taken over Libya's second largest city where I was just talking to Ben Wedeman from , Benghazi, and the unrest shows really no sign of stopping.

CNN International's Hala Gorani here with me for "Globe Trekking" to talk Libya and all things in between.

And let's first start, give me the lay of the land. We keep talking about the cities. Who is in control?

HAL GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Let me first, the population of Libya and where it is actually centralized is important, because 90 percent of Libyans live along the Mediterranean coast, and there's 6.5 million people. Very different from Egypt with the 80 million people who live there, by the way.

But you see it here. We were speaking or you were speaking with -- I spoke with him a little earlier -- with Ben Wedeman in Benghazi . Benghazi is under opposition control. Mesrata, a little bit further to the west also said to be under opposition control. Az Zintan there, another city -- or I should say, Al Zawia also under opposition control. And there you have Tripoli, the Gadhafi stronghold.

So you see that, as you said, eloquently in fact, the circle is tightening is sort of tightening around Gadhafi. Now we understand from reports on the ground that Gadhafi is bringing in reinforcements to Tripoli and also hiring mercenaries from other African nations to help out in that effort to defeat oppositional forces in the Libyan capital.

BALDWIN: It's interesting, because, what was it, two days ago, maybe it was even yesterday when, we saw Gadhafi speaking on state TV from the bombed out palace from years ago, now we just heard his voice this morning, but in his rambling way, he was blaming a lot of this on the youth and Osama bin Laden.

GORANI: It's sounding more and more like it's all coming unglued frankly in his head. I mean, don't drink Nescafe in opposition- controlled city, it might be laced with hallucinogenics. Osama bin laden is drugging the youth of Libya, that's why they are working to unseat me, overthrow me.

I mean -- but I have to say, although we can chuckle at some of it, it is still laced a little bit with, you know, sort of worrying, threatening undertones. Saying, for instance that if you are a foreign journalist, you have come in illegally and that might be an issue for foreign journalists who might become a targets of forces loyal to the government.

BALDWIN: I was talking to Fareed Zakaria last hour, and I said, what needs to happen with the role of the U.S., for example. And he said President Obama needs to come out, needs to say just very clearly, like this is the time, calling for the end of the regime, the end of the Gadhafi regime.

So let's play the what-if game. If that happens, if Gadhafi goes away, who is the number two?

GORANI: You know, I think we should play the when game, when Gadhafi goes. Because at this point it's just becoming almost impossible to imagine he'll be able to hold on for the longer term. Not for the shorter term, that's impossible to predict, but for the longer term.

Libya is very different from Egypt. It has few institutions, it doesn't have a big middle class, it has a huge disparity between the haves and have-nots, because it does have oil wealth, but it's only concentrated in the hands of a few. Egypt was able to build on institutions that existed before and perhaps modernize them if all goes well there.

But in Libya, it's very clannish, it's very tribal. Eastern Libya, it was easy for eastern Libya to go against Moammar Gadhafi. It's another tribal entity in that part of the country.

So what happens with many households armed while there are fears with violence. The best case-scenarios, if you have the well educated, intelligence of Libyans from outside coming in and those defectors from the government perhaps becoming political figureheads. That's the best-case scenario, but a lot of work ahead.

But a lot of work and uncertainty ahead of course.

BALDWIN: Yes, I hear us saying, not what if by when, but we still don't know who.

GORANI: No, we certainly don't know who, and I wouldn't dare try to try to even start predicting that.

BALDWIN: No, of course. Hala Gorani, thanks for helping us understand what's happening. It changes every single day. It does indeed

Now to this, the showdown in the U.S. Senate. Will lawmakers vote to keep the federal government up and running, and could there be a fight brewing among Republicans over that? Gloria Borger is standing by. She has some brand new information just coming in from the world of politics coming out of Washington, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Let's get that "CNN Equals Politics" update, shall we? CNN's Gloria Borger joins me with the latest news off the Political Ticker.

And, Gloria, you were busy, busy writing today. You wrote this column about the new budget cutters, both in D.C. and in the states, and you say they have to be careful. Why?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: They do. You know, first of all, let's give them credit, Brooke, OK, because they really came to Washington and came to their statehouses with the notion that they can change the way an inefficient government operates. And I think they have to be applauded for that. In theory, that's a very good idea.

Where they have to be careful, and those of you who have covered politics for a while know this, where they have to be careful is in the overreach and arrogance of power, if you will. You know, I've been around Washington awhile. I saw the overreach when Newt Gingrich took over as speaker of the House in the 1990s, and even you might say when Barack Obama became president of the United States and had Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate. And there are lots of people who would say he overreached in his own agenda, and he didn't end up doing himself any favors. And he only became more popular when he actually started getting things done in the lame-duck session.

BALDWIN: You say overreach, you know, but in your column, you refer to it as arrogance.

BORGER: It is. It is arrogance. It's the arrogance of power.

BALDWIN: Well, what does the public say? How does the public respond?

BORGER: Well, you know, the public is kind of sitting back right now, but if you look at all the polls, you'll see that the public does not want to kill collective bargaining for public employee unions in the states. The public does not want to have a government shutdown.

What the public wants is what it voted for, and the public wants to see members of both parties actually working together to get things done. You know, they didn't vote for Republican control of the House because they were in love with Republicans. They voted for Republican control of the House because they wanted a check on Barack Obama, and they wanted to see some progress on policy.

BALDWIN: It's an important distinction. It's an important distinction. People can check out your write at CNN.com/Politics.

Ms. Borger, thank you.

BORGER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: The feds say she kidnapped a newborn from a hospital more than two decades ago, then she raised her as her own daughter. Today, she is in court. We're learning a lot more about how this whole thing went down. Sunny Hostin is "On the Case." That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You may not remember this name, but I bet you remember when this story broke in January. Carlina White. She was that young woman who had this nagging feeling that the family who raised her really wasn't hers. So, she searched the Internet and found out she had been kidnapped when she was a baby.

Well, the woman accused of snatching Carlina from the hospital some 23 years ago has just gone to court to answer to kidnapping charges. Sunny Hostin is "On the Case," and Sunny, we're talking about Ann Pettway, this woman who snatched her. What did she say in court today?

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRUBUTOR, TRUTV'S "IN SESSION": She pled not guilty today, Brooke. A firm "yes, sir" to the judge when she asked her whether she was pleading not guilty. So, she intends to defend this case. Interestingly enough, her court-appointed defense attorney said that he is investigating whether or not someone else snatched the baby, as you mentioned many, many years ago. So, they are following other lead. and it seems that her defense will be I did not snatch this baby. I got the baby from someone else.

BALDWIN: But that's interesting, because Sunny, I remember you and I talked about this, like, a month ago, and I thought she had allegedly confessed to the FBI. If I'm remembering correctly off the top of my head, it was that she found some guy on Facebook to confess. Were any new details released today about that?

HOSTIN: You are remembering things correctly, Brooke. Apparently in an FBI affidavit, they say that she admitted to taking the baby. They say she was suffering from miscarriages. She thought she was never going to have a child of her own and she went to the hospital dressed as a nurse and took small Carlina White, only three weeks old, and took her to Connecticut and raised her as her own. That was her admission, according to FBI documents.

But that theory is changing today. At least, that's what we learned today.

BALDWIN: Hmm. Sadly enough, Carlina White and her biological mother, whom she tracked down, that relationship isn't even going that well. Sunny Hostin "On the Case." Sunny, thank you so, so much.

Have you heard about this story? This deputy attorney general in Indiana, he got fired over something he tweeted. Did you hear about this? It involves a pretty serious threat to protesters in Wisconsin. Joe Johns has that story in "Political Pop." That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: An Indiana deputy attorney general lost his job yesterday following this Twitter exchange with "Mother Jones" magazine. Joe Johns is here with "Political Pop." And Joe, what exactly did @jccentcom tweet?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: You know, you look at this stuff and the first thing you ask is, what was this guy thinking? Out of a job.

First, his name. He's the deputy attorney general Jeff Cox. There are a bunch of them in this office in Indiana. They put out a statement, the office, saying he's no longer employed.

This was a tweet that went viral. Is it started over the weekend with "Mother Jones" magazine. Now, they tweet out from Wisconsin that the police might be used to get demonstrators out of the Wisconsin capitol building. Then this guy Cox tweets back that the police should use live ammunition. What is he thinking?

So this reporter out in California, San Francisco, picks up on it, a guy name Adam Weinstein. Just talked to him on the phone. He reaches out to this guy, and starts checking him out and finds out, whoa, he's a deputy attorney general. You know, and -- the rest of the story. I think you, Brooke may have some of those additional tweets.

BALDWIN: I do. He says, "Anyone who thinks Wisconsin is Egypt is an idiot. Are unionized employees, those two categories are not mutually exclusive." But yes, I think the whole "use live ammunition" is most definitely what's gotten him in trouble.

We know he's come forward and talked. What have you heard from Jeff Cox?

JOHNS: Well, now that's the thing. When you look at the tweets that you have, and now he seems to be saying all this was a joke. He talked to a CNN affiliate, and let's just listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF COX, FORMER INDIANA DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: I made some comments on Twitter that were intended to satirical. I think in this day and age, um, that tweet was not a good idea. And in terms of that language, I'm not going to use it anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: You know, he says online that he used to be a comedy writer some years ago, but you got to wonder if even a comedian still wouldn't think that was funny.

BALDWIN: Yes, I'm thinking these tweets, not funny at all. Especially if you're any of those protesters in Indiana or Wisconsin or Ohio, for that matter. Joe Johns, thank you for getting to the bottom of that. We appreciate it.

And as we are watching the clock tick down, let's take a look at some live pictures out of Florida. What is this guys? Mission control? I can only guess here. History in the making. Space shuttle Discovery getting ready for its final mission.

So coming up next, guess who I get to talk to? An astronaut. There she is. Shannon Walker to help me put this whole thing in perspective and how she feels about Discovery's final launch. She is live at Cape Canaveral. We'll be back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK. It's just about ten minutes here before the space shuttle Discovery launches on its final mission. And Discovery has been in space more than any other shuttle. This will be its 39th mission. And we wanted to take a look at what it's like for astronauts in those final minutes before takeoff, what it's like to feel weightless. Haven't you always wondered? And also today's historic -- the significance with today's launch.

Both sound like good questions to ask NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, who's good enough to join me from Kennedy Space Center. And Shannon, before I start talking about butterflies that some of these astronauts may be feeling, I've got some astronaut talk I need you to translate for me, OK?

So, our folks in our control room have been listening to the folks in mission control there on the ground at Kennedy Space Center, and they say that there is some sort of computer display problem. This is from the range safety officer at central command, at the central command computer. What does that mean?

SHANNON WALKER, NASA ASTRONAUT: That's a good question. I was just mulling that over myself. So, the range safety officer's the person that tracks the shuttle as it's going uphill to make sure it is staying on course and keeping the Florida coastline safe. And so, I would imagine that's central command computer is pretty integral to the job that the safety officer has to do.

I can't tell you exactly what it does. But if it's big enough to call a no-go, then we'll have to wait and see if they can get the problem resolved.

BALDWIN: So, this is a pretty important computer is what I'm hearing you say. So if they don't get this glitch fixed, this computer display problem, this may be scrubbed today? Is that right?

WALKER: That's entirely possible. The shuttle systems themselves are all good to go, but we're waiting for this computer problem to be resolved.

BALDWIN: Well, as we have folks listening in on sort of that traffic at mission control, let me go ahead and asking the question I've always wondered, because I always did kind of want to be an astronaut. Total transparency here. In these minutes here - I know you've been there and done that - in these final minutes here as you are inside of this space shuttle, do you feel butterflies? Are you nervous?

WALKER: Yes, you do feel butterflies. It's an exciting time. You've been training for a very long time for this moment to happen. And especially this crew who tried to go last November and they've had to wait a couple extra months before they get to take off.

And so, yes. The excitement is building at this point. The commander and pilot are doing the final checks of all the systems in conjunction with the folks in the control center. And as the clock ticks down, the excitement grows on the inside.

BALDWIN: And what we're hearing, speaking of the countdown clock, that it's still counting down. We're still hearing all systems go beyond this little computer glitch, so that's what I'm getting in my ear. So, at least that's a good thing for this crew of six, who have been waiting, as you mentioned, since November to get this thing off and into space.

And how long does is it take after liftoff for Discovery to actually reach the international space station?

WALKER: OK, we take about two days to get to the space station after we lift off. We have a delicate dance that we're basically lower and behind the space station and catch up to it, and it takes about two days to get there.

BALDWIN: Shannon, I want to read a tweet. This is what we're just getting from NASA. Guys, let's show the Twitter board real quickly here. NASA is tweeting, "The range safety officer reporter, that the range is no-go. Teams are working the issue and will soon conduct their poll." Does that tell you anything new, Shannon?

WALKER: That really doesn't tell me anything new. We know they're no-go because of this computer problem. So, we're just standing by, as everyone is, to see if they can resolve the problem.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Hopefully so. Fingers and toes crossed here, Shannon Walker. I appreciate you talking to me there from Florida. We appreciate it, and we'll watching and waiting along with you.

Stay right here. Be right back with the breaking news out of the Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want to take you back now live to Kennedy Space Center.

You can see some crowds waiting and watching. And see the clock there? They're now in this critical time, this T minus five minutes here before Space Shuttle Discovery is set to lift off.

The clock, though, as I've just been noticing here, not moving at all. And that may not be a good sign for that crew of six astronauts there on that launch pad.

I want to go to John Zarrella, who is standing by and watching this whole thing with me from Kennedy Space Center, alongside an astronaut.

And John, talk to me about what's happening, this computer display problem. What do you know?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brooke, about what you guys were just talking about on the air. And I'm joined by Steve Swanson, a veteran shuttle astronaut who flew in fact on his last flight on Discovery.

STEVE SWANSON, VETERAN SHUTTLE ASTRONAUT: Sure did.

ZARRELLA: And what we're doing now, Steve just set his clock. They've got five minutes now to resolve this problem.

SWANSON: Very much, yes.

ZARRELLA: The launch was supposed to be at 4:50, but they could go up until about 4:55.

Right? SWANSON: That's my understanding of that's the way it works. It has to do with the orbit of the ISS. That is, the Earth rotates below it.

ZARRELLA: Space Station.

SWANSON: Yes, exactly, Space Station. And we have a little play on either side we can make up, but it's about five minutes either which way. So I'm hoping it gets done.

ZARRELLA: Because the idea there, Brooke, is they've got to get off the ground, and then they've got to catch up to the space station. And it takes a couple of days to catch up. And if they don't get off the ground within this precise period of time, you're not going to get to the station. That's the bottom line.

SWANSON: Not today. Exactly. You've got to wait until tomorrow and do it again.

ZARRELLA: Got to wait until tomorrow and try again.

But the problem is, as you guys were pointing out earlier, Brooke, it's range safety right now. They have a problem with their computer.

SWANSON: Their main computer went down.

ZARRELLA: And they can't see. Literally, they're blind when the shuttle lifts off. And they have to be able to see the shuttle in case, God forbid, something goes wrong.

SWANSON: Right. And it's their job. If we go off of course, they have a way to stop us from going off course.

Oh, we just heard they're going.

ZARRELLA: They're a go. They are a go.

BALDWIN: They're a go?

ZARRELLA: All right. We just hear they are a go. Yes.

SWANSON: That's wonderful.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let's listen in, you guys. Sorry to cut you off, but I want to listen in to some of the traffic within Mission Control. Let's listen to that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Need to put this -- the whole switch to proceed position.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forty seconds remaining in our launch window. Range is go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Negative, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can remove the hold here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a go on 2 and 2.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hold switch in proceed position.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Switching to proceed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifteen seconds remaining in our hold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy. We'll pick up pick momentarily.

Three, two, one, mark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: T minus five minutes and counting.

ZARRELLA: Talking about Discovery being the oldest of the launch vehicles, you know --

SWANSON: Most used.

ZARRELLA: Most used. And what a tremendous vehicle. You know, flew both the return to flight missions, flew John Glenn into space.

SWANSON: That's right. Exactly.

BALDWIN: Guys, let me jump in for just a second.

Z, let me jump in. Because from what we just understood, now we're seeing that the clock is officially ticking down, so it is a go.

So can you ask your astronaut friend there, what would be going on inside of Discovery as the crew of six is sitting there wondering their fate? What would he be thinking right now?

ZARRELLA: The question is what are you guys thinking right now, particularly with this delay? And what's the crew thinking inside there?

SWANSON: Mostly, they're thinking about their job. The biggest fear we have is making a mistake, so we really concentrate very hard on our job and making sure we're going to do everything just the best we can.

ZARRELLA: And you know, Brooke, this is a very veteran crew.

SWANSON: Yes, it is.

ZARRELLA: At one point, this Discovery flight was supposed to be the very last flight in the space shuttle program.

SWANSON: That's right. ZARRELLA: Steve Lindsey, the commander, was the head of the astronaut office. He told me one time he turned down this opportunity a couple times before he finally agreed to fly. Nicole Stott and Mike Barratt were on the International Space Station when they got the call to fly this flight.

SWANSON: Exactly. Right.

ZARRELLA: So, a real veteran crew, and it has been a long road getting here. Problems with hydrogen leaks, et cetera, et cetera.

SWANSON: Exactly.

ZARRELLA: And finally, here now, in February, Discovery set to make her 39th and final voyage.

What are we looking now? About three minutes to liftoff here.

BALDWIN: Three minutes to go. This space shuttle has spent 352 days in orbit, circled the Earth 5,628 times. And it's just amazing.

It has to though be bittersweet for the folks at NASA to see this final launch for Discovery.

ZARRELLA: Yes. I was saying that to Steve, too, because Steve flew on Discovery his last flight.

You're watching Discovery fly for the final time now.

SWANSON: Oh, it's sad in a way. We enjoy launches, and the missions are a great thing. We're all happy about that. But in a way, it's also sad to see the last flight. I mean, it's such a wonderful vehicle.

ZARRELLA: You know, Brooke, when you think back, three flights left. There over 250,000 people we've been told out there along the space coast to watch this launch today.

BALDWIN: Yes. I was wondering if the crowds would be bigger. Are they bigger?

ZARRELLA: A huge crowd, enormous crowd, much, much bigger. And when you get to that April launch, they expect about 400,000.

SWANSON: Yes, it's pretty huge.

ZARRELLA: And then in the summer, June/July, the last Atlantis launch, a million people expected here for that launch, Brooke.

What are they doing right now? This is it. We're in the final couple minutes now.

SWANSON: Right. It's two minutes to go right now. So right now they just close their visors, turn on their oxygen so their suits can be pressurized. They don't have to worry in case the cabin does depressurize. They're going to be fine in there. And now at this point they're just getting ready, they're kind of settling down in their seats, making sure everything is ready to go, and getting ready for the big ride.

ZARRELLA: You get to this point now, when you're sitting up there, those two flights, you're thinking, OK, I think we have got a pretty good shot of getting it off the ground?

SWANSON: Exactly. Until you come out of the nine-minute hole you don't really think you're going. Then you come out of the nine- minute hole and you think, well, there's a pretty good chance I'm going. Now you get to this point and there's a really good chance you're going.

ZARRELLA: The heart guess going a little faster?

SWANSON: Yes, exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: It looks like they are going.

SWANSON: The computers on board take over.

BALDWIN: Yes, it looks like they are going here.

SWANSON: When that happens --

BALDWIN: Take a look at the clock here. Here we go -- 1:29.

SWANSON: That's pretty almost much like a 99 percent chance you're going at that point. That's what we always wait for. And when that takes over, all right, we're going.

ZARRELLA: You know, though, Brooke, I've been here for a lot of launches. And I've seen them stop this countdown literally with a couple seconds before they light the solids.

SWANSON: That's true. But in the last about 10 years it's changed. They've gotten much better at it.

BALDWIN: So it's not a go until it's a go.

Guys, let's just listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One minute and counting.

The ground launch sequencer will verify that the three main engines are ready to start. The booster joint heaters are being deactivated at this time.

T minus 48 seconds. And we're transferring to orbiter internal power. Discovery is running now on its three on-board fuel cells.

Coming up, we want to go for auto sequence start at T minus 31 seconds. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a go for auto sequence start.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we have a go for auto sequence start. Discovery's onboard computers have primary control of all the vehicle's critical functions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty seconds.

The sound suppression water system has been activated protecting Discovery and the launch pad from acoustical energy waves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a go for main engine start.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go for main engine start. We have main engine start.

Two, one, booster ignition, and the final liftoff of Discovery, a tribute to the dedication, hard work and pride of America's space shuttle team.

The shuttle has cleared the tower.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Discovery now making one last reach for the stars.

Discovery's engines are now throttling down as the orbiter passes through the area of maximum pressure, reducing the stress on the shuttle as it goes supersonic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Discovery, Houston. You are go at throttle up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Commander Steve Lindsey acknowledging the call from (INAUDIBLE) as Discovery's three main engines throttle back up.

Lindsey is joined on the flight deck by pilot Eric Boe; mission specialists Al Drew and Nicole Stott; mission specialists Mike Barratt and Steve Bowen.

Discovery's three main engines are burning fuel at a rate that would drain an average swimming pool in about 25 seconds. The engines, combined with the solid rocket boosters, produce more than seven million pounds of thrust.

One minute 50 seconds into the flight, we're standing by for separation of the twin solid rocket boosters. Discovery now traveling 2,695 miles an hour. Its altitude, 24 miles. Downrange from the Kennedy Space Center, 29 miles.

BALDWIN: There they go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Booster separation confirmed. Discovery's guidance is now converging as the shuttle's onboard computers fine- tune the flight.

Two minutes 25 seconds into the flight, Discovery traveling 3,189 miles an hour.

BALDWIN: Well, I don't know about you, but I just got goose bumps watching that happen, the Space Shuttle Discovery's final launch from Kennedy Space Center.

I want to go back to John Zarrella and his astronaut friend there, Steven Swanson.

And gentlemen -- Z, can you asking Steven what that feels like? I mean, we just mentioned it goes supersonic. How loud? What does that feel like?

ZARRELLA: The question, of course, is what everybody wants to know, and Brooke was asking us, what does that feel like? You know, when you go through that maximum aerodynamic pressure? It's the elephant on the chest?

SWANSON: Oh, yes. You know, one word is acceleration. It's amazing.

It's like you're on your back, and there's like a big hydraulic press that just hits you on the back and it never stops going. It just keeps pushing and pushing, and it's just amazing. It just keeps going. And for that long, 8.5 minutes, you get that kind of acceleration.

ZARRELLA: Because, yes, we're waiting now because, Brooke, the next major milestone comes up, as Steve was saying, at 8.5 minutes, when the giant orange tank there -- that's the external tank -- separates. And at that point you're in space.

T minus You're free-floating, you're in space. You're done.

BALDWIN: Well, what's the moment of weightlessness? What does that feel like? We all want to know that.

ZARRELLA: What does it feel like when you go weightless? Well, you're strapped in, so you don't feel it.

(CROSSTALK)

SWANSON: What you feel though, or what you see mostly is the fact that everything you had on you just kind of floats up in front of you, you need to grab it and then put it back where it belongs. You didn't have it done well.

ZARRELLA: Yes, if it wasn't on right, because it's not supposed to be doing that.

BALDWIN: I imagine they are --

ZARRELLA: Brooke, we just heard negative return.

BALDWIN: Z, hang on, because I think we're going to quickly turn around. We have the moment of liftoff.

Do we have that, guys? Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one, booster ignition, and the final liftoff of Discovery, a tribute to the dedication, hard work and pride of America's space shuttle team. The shuttle has cleared the tower.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You heard Mission Control, dedication, hard work, pride. And from what I understand, talking to an astronaut just a moment ago, it takes two days for this crew to get all the way up to the International Space Station, where they're headed. And they're headed up there for this 11-day mission.

John, what is the mission once they get up there?

ZARRELLA: Well, you know, again, it's mostly a resupply mission to the International Space Station. They're going to bring up -- really, a big closet is one of the things they're bringing up.

SWANSON: Exactly. A storage area.

ZARRELLA: A storage area, because the station is built, it's done. And they're also bringing up Robonaut 2. That's a big deal. It's the most sophisticated, dexterous artificial intelligence that's ever been anywhere. You know, General Motors and NASA combined on that project.

And eventually, later generations of Robonaut will probably accompany crews to Mars to help out with tasks on Mars and places like that.

SWANSON: Yes. We hope to use it on spacewalks some day, too. It would be a great thing to have to hold something for you when you're moving some of the tools around, or moving something around, something that you can say, hold this for me. It would be great to have while you're out there.

ZARRELLA: Yes. And so there are a tremendous amount, you know -- the fact of the matter, Brooke, is we're looking at the end of an era here.

SWANSON: Yes.

ZARRELLA: You know, this is it. We're not going to see a lifting body like this probably in our lifetimes again, to do this and then return safely here.

BALDWIN: This is it.

SWANSON: The shuttle is an amazing vehicle, and what it can do is fantastic. But it can't take us out of the low earth orbit.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Well, I know I've got to let you two go.

SWANSON: What it can do is just amazing.

BALDWIN: It is amazing. I've got to let you go because I have a feeling the folks in "THE SITUATION ROOM" want you to stand by, because I know Wolf Blitzer will want to talk to you about this historic moment as well.

But my thanks to Steven Swanson.

And to you, John Zarrella, for that.

And how about that? We just watched the 39th voyage liftoff of Space Shuttle Discovery. It's hugely significant not just for this space shuttle, but the entire fleet, because these are the final liftoffs we will be seeing this year.

And that does it for me here in Atlanta. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Now to Wolf Blitzer in Washington with "THE SITUATION ROOM."