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Endeavour Launch Scrubbed; Obama Still Heading To Kennedy Space Center; Will And Kate; Up Close Look At Destruction; Obama Toured Alabama Storm Damage; William And Catherine Exchange Vows; Halfway to Sainthood

Aired April 29, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, Suzanne, thank you.

Our top story this hour, the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour now delayed. Endeavour's 25th flight into space was supposed to take off at 3:47 p.m. Eastern time today, but now it looks like it won't get off the ground until at least Sunday.

There are three parts to this story now, what caused the delay, what happens to Arizona representative Gabby Giffords, who was at the space center planning to attend the launch, and what about the president? Will he and his family still attend the launch at this point? We have live team coverage on this story.

Let's start with John Zarrella, he's live from Kennedy Space Center for us. John, first off, what is this delay about?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What happened was that they have what's called three auxiliary power units on board the space shuttle, and these are -- and there are heaters within the auxiliary power units. Two of the heaters in auxiliary power unit number one, those are called APUs, failed, and NASA tried to restart them, tried to do some trouble-shooting, but they were never able to bring them back up online.

They are critical because the auxiliary power units are what are used in order for the shuttle -- in order to use the rudder, in order to use any of the shuttle's steering mechanisms, so -- and that is powered by what's called hydrazine.

Now, the hydrazine will freeze up if those heaters are not on whenever the auxiliary power units are on, so they have to be working. So, without those two working, NASA was forced to go ahead and scrub the launch. And Randi, we're looking right now at a minimum of 72 hours. At first, we thought 48 hours, but it appears now a minimum of 72-hour turn-around time.

They have to get all of the half a million gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen drained back out of the giant tank before the engineers can get in there and start trouble-shooting the problem. So, a minimum now of 72 hours, so we're looking at no earlier than Monday, and that would be some time in the 2:00 hour.

KAYE: So, they think, possibly, they can still get it done. What about Gabby Giffords? We mentioned that she's there, she got this medical leave from her rehab facility in Houston, I think that's only for about 48 hours, to see her husband launch with the shuttle Endeavour. Any word on whether or not she'll be able to stay there?

ZARRELLA: Well, you know, our medical folks are reaching out to see what kind of a window they're going to allow her. Now that we know it's 72 hours, that would obviously stretch it out a little bit.

On the other side of the equation, we just had her folks -- or she tweeted out, bummer, with -- that the launch has been scrubbed. But we also know that a couple of doctors -- her doctors were flying in today to be here with her. So, that may, in fact, allow her to stay an extra day or so. But again, our medical folks are reaching out to see exactly what this means for her.

KAYE: All right, John. We'll leave it there with you as we watch this video of Gabby Giffords climbing aboard that airplane, making her way there to Florida.

Now let's go to White House Correspondent Dan Lothian. And Dan, what about the president? Any news on whether he'll still stay there and attend the launch, now that it's been delayed for now 72 hours?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That part of it we don't know of the president. It's doubtful that he'll actually stay here for that new time and date. What we do know is the president is still planning to come here. He lifted off from Alabama, will be landing here sometime in the 2:00 hour.

So, they have not scrubbed the president's trip here. Obviously, this would have been a historic day for President Obama. It would have only been the second president to witness a lift-off of a space shuttle, the last president to do that was President Bill Clinton in 1998.

In addition to witnessing the lift-off, the first family was to have taken a tour of a facility here. We presume that that will still take place. It's possible that the president will also get to visit with perhaps the crew and other NASA officials here on the ground, but it's unclear exactly how his schedule will play out.

But what we do know is that the trip is still on, at least for the president to come here for a visit, but he will not be witnessing the lift-off of the space shuttle.

KAYE: And then Dan, he has to be in Miami tonight, right?

LOTHIAN: That's right, Miami-Dade County, where the president -- Community College, rather, where the president will be delivering a commencement address. So, that is still on. So, it makes sense for the president to still stop here and then make the little jump over to Miami for his remarks tonight.

But again, it has to be somewhat of a disappointment for the first family because this is a historic day, as you've been talking to John about all the other things surrounding this with Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly going up as the commander of the space shuttle. That great story behind that, also this being the second to the last shuttle launch.

So, a lot of historic reasons for wanting to be here for this event. Of course, that part of it won't be happening tonight, but at least the president will still be coming here for the visit.

KAYE: All right Dan Lothian for us. Thank you, Dan.

All right, so I realize it's now been, oh, about five minutes since we've relived the royal wedding, but you know, here comes the Will and Kate addition of "Sound Effect," the most important 33 seconds of the entire affair.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROWAN WILLIAMS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: I, William Arthur Philip Louis.

PRINCE WILLIAM ARTHUR PHILIP LOUIS, THE PRINCE OF WALES: I, William Arthur Philip Louis.

WILLIAMS: Take thee Catherine Elizabeth.

PRINCE WILLIAM: Take thee Catherine Elizabeth.

WILLIAMS: To my wedded wife.

PRINCE WILLIAM: To my wedded wife.

WILLIAMS: To have and to hold from this day forward.

PRINCE WILLIAM: To have and to hold from this day forward.

WILLIAMS: For better, for worse.

PRINCE WILLIAM: For better, for worse.

WILLIAMS: For richer, for poorer.

PRINCE WILLIAM: For richer, for poorer.

WILLIAMS: In sickness and in health.

CATHERINE MIDDLETON: In sickness and in health.

WILLIAMS: To love and to cherish.

MIDDLETON: To love and to cherish.

WILLIAMS: Til death us do part.

MIDDLETON: Til death us do part.

WILLIAMS: According to god's holy law. MIDDLETON: According to god's holy law.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And we'll have much more on the big day later this hour with CNN's Richard Quest in the heart of the festivities. He was out there with all the fans who came out to see the big day for the royal family, and he'll join us.

And I'll tell you what a trouth (ph) is, you heard Kate mention it there. In case you don't know what a trouth is, we'll explain that to you as well.

Also, still to come, President Obama is visiting Alabama today. He was there joining up with officials there, the governor -- he's getting a close-up look at the widespread destruction from a powerful tornado.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (voice-over): And this just in, this new video. This is the president during his tour. He was in Tuscaloosa, and that is where he was before he's planning to head to watch the shuttle launch now that it's been scrubbed, but that was the original plan. So, let's listen to what he had to say there in Alabama.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, Michelle and I want to express, first of all, our deepest condolences to not just the city of Tuscaloosa, but the state of Alabama and all the other states that have been affected by this unbelievable storm. We just took a tour, and I've got to say, I've never seen devastation like this. It is heartbreaking.

We were just talking to some residents here who were lucky enough to escape alive but have lost everything. They've mentioned that their neighbors had lost two of their grandchildren in the process. What you're seeing here is the consequence of just a few minutes of this extraordinarily powerful storm sweeping through this community.

And as the governor was mentioning, Tuscaloosa typically gets a tornado during the season, but this is something that I don't think anybody's seen before.

In addition to keeping all the families who have been affected in our thoughts and prayers, obviously our biggest priority now is to help this community recover.

I want to thank Mayor Maddox for his extraordinary leadership, Chief Burgess I know is having to deal with a lot of difficulties. One of the challenges that the mayor was explaining is, is that the assets of the city, a fire station that we passed on the way in, police resources, emergency resources, those, too, have been affected.

Fortunately, the governor has done an extraordinary job with his team in making sure that the resources of the state are mobilized and have been brought in here. I'm very pleased that we've got a FEMA director in Craig Fugate who is as experienced as anybody in responding to disasters even of this magnitude.

And we've already provided the disaster designations. We've already provided the disaster designations that are required to make sure that the maximum federal help comes here as quickly as possible. Craig is working with the teams on the ground to make sure that we are seamlessly coordinating between the state, local and federal governments, and I want to just make a commitment to the communities here that we are going to do everything we can to help these communities rebuild.

We can't bring those who have been lost back. You know, they're alongside god at this point. We can help maybe a little bit with the families dealing with the grief of having a lost -- a loved one lost, but the property damage, which is obviously extensive, that's something that we can do something about.

And so, we're going to do everything we can to partner with you, Mr. Mayor, with you, governor. As the governor's pointing out, this community was hit as bad as any place, but there are communities all across Alabama and all across this region that have been affected, and we're going to be making that same commitment to make sure that we're doing whatever we can to make sure that people are OK. That bee likes you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's on you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You stand still.

OBAMA: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He got in the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got it, I got it off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the Secret Service when you need them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

OBAMA: Finally, let me just say this. As you walk around -- we were just talking to three young people over there, college students here at the University of Alabama who are volunteering now to help clean up. One of the young ladies there, she actually lived in this apartment. Wasn't here at the time the storm happened. What you're struck by is people's resilience and the way that the community has come together.

And obviously, that's a testimony to the leadership of the governor and the mayor, but it's also inherent as part of the American spirit. We go through hard times, but no matter how hard we may be tested, we maintain our faith, and we look to each other to make sure that we're supporting each other and helping each other, and I'm sure that that spirit is going to continue until this city's all the way back.

So, Mr. Mayor, he was pointing out that there's a lot of national media down here now, And the mayor expressed the concern that perhaps, you know, the media will move on in a day or a week or a month and that folks will forget what's happened here. And I wanted to assure him that the American people all across the country are with him and his community and we're going to make sure that you're not forgotten and that we do everything we can to make sure that we rebuild.

So, with that, governor, would you like to say a few words?

GOV. ROBERT BENTLEY (R), ALABAMA: I would. And Mr. President, I would like to personally thank you and Mrs. Obama for coming and visiting Alabama, because you know, as you fly over this -- and I did yesterday -- as you fly over from the air, it does not do it justice until you're here on the ground, and I just want you to know how much I appreciate that.

We asked for -- we mobilized the stat state. We declared a state of emergency early on, and even before the first tornadoes hit, and then we mobilized our National Guard the first day. We then asked the president for aid, and we asked him to expedite that, and they have done that, and I just want you to know how much I appreciate that, Mr. President, because all these people appreciate that so much.

We have eight counties across the state that have been hit by major tornadoes. This probably is the worst one, but we have others. As you go across the state, you see this same evidence of tornadoes all across the state. And so, there are people that are hurting.

We have now, what, 210 confirmed deaths in Alabama. We have 1,700 injured. We have a number of people missing at the present time. We're going to continue to work in a rescue-type mode, but we're now more in a recovery mode.

Thank you, Mr. President. And if you'll keep them off of me --

OBAMA: I'm going to keep my eye -- we're looking out for each other.

BENTLEY: I appreciate that, yes, sir.

But I - let me say, I am so proud of - our first responders in this state, they have done an outstanding job. Our mayors, our county commissioners, our police, our firemen, they have all just don't such a fantastic job.

Our EMA people, they have just -- we have got a great team, they've all worked together. And now, we have the federal government helping us, and you know, that just shows that when locals and state and federal government works together, we can get things accomplished, and that's what we're going to do. And so, Mr. President, welcome to Alabama, but not under these circumstances. We want you to come back and maybe go to a football game over here at a later date and -- when things are better. But thank you for your help.

OBAMA: I will gladly, gladly come back.

BENTLEY: Thank you, sir.

OBAMA: Mr. Mayor, why don't you say a few words?

WALT MADDOX, MAYOR OF TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA: Mr. President, governor, miss Obama, thank you for coming today. The last 36 hours have been probably the most trying time in this community's history. But you're going to see a new story being written here in Tuscaloosa. And in years to come, these chapters are going to be filled with hope and opportunity.

Since this tragedy began, I've been using Romans 12:12 when Paul wrote under persecution, "rejoice in our confident hope." Well, today, Mr. President, your visit here has brought a confident hope to this community. And in the days, weeks and months to come, we're going to be a story that you're going to be very proud of and you can talk about across this land. Thank you again for coming today.

OBAMA: Well, thank you for your leadership.

And two last points I want to make. First of all, we've got our congressional delegation here. And I am absolutely confident that they will make sure that the resources are available to help rebuild. To all the local officials who were here, I know that they've been personally affected, but I know that they're going to provide the leadership in this community, working with the mayor and the governor to do what is need.

And finally, I think the mayor said something very profound as we were driving over here. He said, you know, what's amazing is, when something like this happens, folks forget all their petty differences, you know? Politics, differences of religion or race, all that fades away when we are confronted with the awesome power of nature. And we're reminded that all we have is each other. And so hopefully that spirit continues and grows. If nothing else comes out of this tragedy, let's hope that that's one of the things that comes out of it.

So, thank you very much, everybody.

KAYE: And there you have it. That was the president, along with the governor of Alabama, Governor Robert Bentley, and the mayor of Tuscaloosa, where they were. That is your first look at the president's tour of Tuscaloosa and the state of Alabama, surveying the storm damage there. You heard from the governor, 210 dead in Alabama, 1,700 injured. They have no idea how many are still missing.

But also, I just want to point out one thing. As we were listening to the president there, our weather team got this in. We're learning that aerial surveys that were taking place this morning of the twister that slammed Tuscaloosa and Birmingham show a nearly continuous damage path across Alabama from Mississippi to Georgia. And that's according to the National Weather Service. If that's true, that would mean, our weather folks say, the path of destruction this tornado left in its wake was at least 200 miles long or greater. So you can certainly see why the president thought it was important to see exactly what damage has been done there in the state of Alabama.

We will take a quick break and be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Ali Velshi is always watching "YOUR $$$$$." He had an interesting discussion this morning with James Altucher, the managing director of Formula Capital, about a case against home ownership. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, James, there is a difference between buying a home to live in it and buying a home as an investment. If you are buying a home solely as an investment, I would argue that a house probably won't bring you the best return for your money. But you argue that it's never the right time to buy, despite falling home prices and despite those historically low interest rates. Explain.

JAMES ALTUCHER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, FORMULA CAPITAL: Right. I'll go one step further. I actually think housing is a good investment. I'd be going out there and buying housing-related stocks. But I think owning a home is always a horrible investment. You lock up your cash. You borrow too much money. It's illiquid, so when you need the money, you can't get it out. There's no diversification. And, by the way, every year, your maintenance costs, your property taxes, everything is going up with inflation. So it's not as if you really get the benefits of locking in the price of your house by buying.

VELSHI: But you're not -- if I rent, I'm still paying those costs because somebody else is paying them and transferring over to me.

ALTUCHER: Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no. You don't know what the maintenance costs are going to be for the upcoming year. Pipes could burst. Plumbers could get called in. Your rent stays the same. And you don't have to deal with it. You call the landlord. You don't have to -- for me, personally, owning a home, too much stress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And to check out the rest of their discussion, make sure to watch "Your Money" with Ali Velshi this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. And be sure to join Christine Romans for "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" each Saturday morning at 9:30 Eastern.

Catherine Middleton married Prince William today. Have you heard? Yes. In an intimate, little affair watched by millions, perhaps billions around the world. Our Richard Quest joins us from London with a royal wedding review. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Screams and cheers went out around London's mall this morning after Prince William and his college sweetheart, Catherine, exchanged vows. Earlier, I played you some of the vows, and they ended with the couple promising their trouth to each other. Well, the word is sweeter than it might sound. Trouth means faithfulness or fidelity. Richard Quest covered all the festivities today for CNN in London.

And, Richard, not only did Kate promise her trouth to William, she also managed to get all four of his names correct, something we know the prince's mother couldn't do at her own wedding.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a completely different mood. A different feeling. It was a beautiful moment. They both spoke with firmness and with declaration. Kate -- I mean just think about this poor woman. She has to walk down the aisle knowing billions of people are watching. Not trip up. There's that magnificent moment when Harry looks back and says to William, "You should see what's coming" or "You should see what she looks like." And then they come together at the sanctuary and he says, "You look beautiful."

Now, look, a hardened (ph) old hack like me even had a moist -- a moist eye, which I chose to think it was something to do with the pollen.

KAYE: Oh, yes.

QUEST: And then you had -- then had -- then you had the procession. I promised you this week the sort of thing that only the Brits do best, and I didn't let you down. The household cavalry, the queen, the Glasgow (ph) -- you name it, it was all there.

KAYE: It was beautiful!

QUEST: And right now you can't see it -- you can't see it, but the Union Jack, which is the flag of Britain, flying over Buckingham Palace. Can you just do anything so we can see that flag anymore? No, we can't. It's all I can tell you -- is it's very big.

KAYE: Well, what about -- speaking of Buckingham Palace, what about the two kisses? Not one, but two on the balcony there.

QUEST: That was interesting, wasn't it, because if you remember, with Charles and Diana, there was a hand and then sort of a tentative kiss. But this one, two full throttle kisses on the lips. It was what was -- it was more than was expected. And if you take into account also the way they left, in dad's Aston Martin with "just wed" -- "just married" on it, they are clearly happy.

Look, this is the tone, I think -- if I take away one thing from today, besides the pageantry and all the pomp and circumstance, which, frankly, the Brits can do in a (INAUDIBLE). I mean we can just easily -- we can get that out of a cupboard, we've been doing it for so many centuries. But the naturalness of the couple involved, the hymns that they chose, the dress that she wore, the way that they looked at each other, the way that she and he left the palace, the complete ease. We have -- to paraphrase -- to paraphrase a very famous speech that you know so well, the torch has been passed to a new generation. Born late in the century, tempered, and you know the rest of it.

KAYE: Absolutely. I've got to say, they look certainly very happy together. What, they've been together like nine years and they just -- they look great.

Richard, thank you. Appreciate it.

QUEST: Thank you.

KAYE: Well, if you missed any of the very special moments from this morning's historic wedding, you can catch them in a special edition of "Piers Morgan Tonight." Piers will show you some of the biggest moments of the day. That's tonight, "Piers Morgan," at a special time, 8:00 Eastern. So don't miss that one.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: President Obama left tornado-ravaged Tuscaloosa, Alabama, just moments ago. He got a firsthand look at the devastation left behind by this week's tornado outbreak across the south. It's now blamed for 298 deaths, most of them in Alabama.

Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is live in Tuscaloosa for us. Reynolds, we heard from the president earlier after he toured some of the damage. Any word on how his visit was received there?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: His visit was received very warmly. What he saw, I'm sure was shocking to him. I know he said he was horrified by the devastation, and there was plenty of it.

What's funny is when the president and first lady arrived from Washington, D.C., there was someone else who came in from Washington, D.C., today. And that was homeowner Julie Odom, who owns this residence. We had permission from Julie to walk up and take a look at her house. Julie told us she knew her home had been damaged by some phone calls and also by some digital images that friends had sent to her after the tornado came through. She, thankfully, missed it firsthand, but she said when she came and saw it firsthand, it just blew her away. She was just stunned by it.

You can't see it from your vantage point, but here at the end of this deck, you'd have the door that would stand right here, but the upper-level winds just picked this thing up right off the foundation, pushed it back some 20 feet. And now this cement slab just kind of stands alone like an island.

But as bad as this happened to be, Randi, there's a house across the way that looks even worse. As I step off of here and we spin around a little bit, you're going see Julie's boat, actually, right here - oops - stepped over Julie's boat right here in the middle of the street.

And then you see the house I was referring to. There's nothing there. You've got a cement slab. Everything else gone. You have part of a door frame that was on a closet, but nothing else.

Then as we pan over a little bit to the left, you're going to see an SUV tangled in a bunch of debris and a few trees left over. Then on this side, you're going to see what's left of a house, and looks like part of a closet, too, where we often tell people that during these storms, these immense tornadoes, the safest place to be is, say, inside a bathroom or inner-most closet. Well, in this scenario, I'll tell you, that is the safest part of this particular structure. You might have survived in that.

But then the home right next door is an entirely different scenario. So, it just shows how random these storms can be. What's even more amazing when it comes to these tornadoes, you look at the top of the hill and there is the regional medical center, which was halfway full before the tornado. Today it's filled up even more because you've got so many people being treated for injuries, injuries caused by this devastating tornado, Randi.

KAYE: What a scene there, Reynolds Wolf. Appreciate it. Thank you. From Tuscaloosa.

A federal court has given the Obama administration the go-ahead to continue embryonic stem cell research. The controversial 2-1 decision this morning is a victory for supporters of federally funded testing for a range of diseases and illnesses. The U.S. court of appeals for the District of Columbia lifted an injunction imposed last year by a federal judge who said all embryonic stem cell research at the National Institutes of Health amounted to destruction of embryos in violation of congressional spending laws. Opponents to the decision can still file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily block research.

The Vatican is answering the prayers of millions of Catholics who consider John Paul II a saint. Well, it is almost answering their prayers. After a break, the man and his miracle and the milestone that he will reach this weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: As Catherine Middleton walked down the aisle to wed her college sweetheart this morning, no doubt people were comparing her to Princess Diana. They have been doing that for years. But are they really that much alike? You decide after you take a look at the similarities and the differences between the two.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (voice-over): Take a good look at these pictures. Notice anything similar? That's Princess Diana in Milan in 1985 and Kate Middleton at a London fundraiser in 2008, both in the same color pink. Princess in training? We asked the experts at "Glamour" magazine. CINDI LEIVE, "GLAMOUR" MAGAZINE: Lots of people ask, is Kate trying to dress like Diana? I don't think so. I think this is her style. She is too smart to try to emulate an icon like Diana. She knows she has to blaze her own path.

KAYE: And that's exactly what Kate Middleton is doing, despite some remarkably similar outfits. And despite headlines like this one, suggesting Kate is Diana 2.0.

Unlike Diana, Kate has a confidence about her, with good reason. She's known her prince for years. She and Prince William attended university together and they live together. Diana and Prince Charles had dated for only six months before he proposed, and their interests could not have been more different. The blushing bride seems so uncomfortable around her prince, she earned the nickname Shy Di.

CNN's Richard Quest covers the royals.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's not that shy, mouse, rabbit-in-the-headlight looks that we saw with Diana, who finally brokedown under the pressure of all of this even before the wedding at a polo match.

But there's none of that. Kate is confident because she has the support of William, and she has the support of the royal family, who have learned from their mistakes.

KAYE: Kate also has the advantage of age and maturity. She's eight years older than Diana was on her wedding day. Kate's also five months older than William. Diana was 13 years younger than Prince Charles.

QUEST: She's an educated woman who's been to university. She's had her own life. She has her own friends. She knows what she's getting into.

KAYE: What she's getting into looks nothing like where she's come from. Kate grew up a commoner. Her parents met while working for British Airways. Mom was a flight attendant, dad a flight dispatcher. They later started a successful Internet business that sells party accessories. That newfound wealth allowed them to move into a large country estate and send Kate to Marlborough College, an elite boarding school. Some consider Kate classic nouveau riche.

QUEST: Upper middle class, went to a good private school, then went to a good university. And it's there that she met her prince.

KAYE: A very different background than Diana. She was an aristocrat. Her father was the Earl Spencer. Diana had been around royalty her whole life. So, while many around the world may see great similarities between the princess and princess-to-be, it's clear Prince William has no intention of letting his bride replace the memory of his mother.

QUEST: But William also is very clear that Kate Middleton is not Diana mark (ph) two. Kate Middleton will not be allowed to become a substitute, if you like, in the nation's eyes or the world's eyes for his late mother.

KAYE: But Kate Middleton does share one thing in common with William's mother: this diamond sapphire engagement ring. Taken too soon from Diana and now worn by England's future queen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Well, if you missed any of today's royal wedding coverage, like that very special moment when William winked at Catherine at the altar -- it was a very nice little moment -- well, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT" will recap some of the biggest moments of the wedding. That is tonight at a very special time, 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

On Sunday, the late Pope John Paul II will officially be halfway to sainthood. We'll break it down for you after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The church, the crowds, the ritual, spectacle, exaltation. Today, it's all about London and matrimony. Well, on Sunday, we'll all be watching Vatican City for the beatification of Pope John Paul II. Barely six years after he died, John Paul is being officially recognized for a miraculous healing, that of a French nun who suffered from Parkinson's disease just like the pope. The Vatican accepts that Sister Marie Simon-Pierre was cured overnight -- in June 2005 this happened -- after imploring John Paul's intercession.

Beatification is the halfway point to sainthood, and the latest milestone for a pope who really broke the mold. John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. In his 26 1/2 years as leader of the Roman Catholic Church, he visited 129 countries. And he himself canonized 482 saints, more than all of his predecessors combined.

I want to talk more about John Paul's journey in this life and after with David Gibson. He is an author, filmmaker and award-winning reporter for Religion News Service.

We're also joined by Father Albert Cutie, bestselling author, TV host and former Catholic priest, who's now an Episcopal and married. His latest book is called, "Dilemma: A Priest's Struggle with Faith and Love."

David, tell us about the process. What exactly had to happen to bring us to this point?

DAVID GIBSON, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR, FILMMAKER: Well, at least one miracle had to be attributed to the intercession of the late pope, and that's what the miracle that you were detailing before, in order for him to get to this second step, beatification, which is the ultimate step before canonization, at which point we'll be able to call him Saint John Paul.

KAYE: And, Father Cutie, we all remember the "sainthood now" chants at John Paul's funeral. We're still not at sainthood, as we said, but things are moving very, very fast. In fact, some are saying that the pope is being fast-tracked to sainthood.

FATHER ALBERT CUTIE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, AUTHOR: Well, definitely this has been an exception. I think that Pope Benedict worked so closely to Pope John Paul II for so many years that he himself was a witness of the holiness of this great man.

I think John Paul II is perhaps one of the greatest spiritual leaders in the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. And he was all about the new millennium, bringing the gospel to the world, speaking in people's languages, culturally adapting the message of Christ to so many different places and regions throughout the Catholic world. He really was a superstar in every way, and I think that one of the issues that we were seeing today is obviously criticisms about some of his failures.

Well, guess what? All of us have virtues and defects, but I think John Paul II made a very possible impact in the world. And beyond the Roman Catholic world, I think many people admire him.

KAYE: So, then, would you say -- I mean, is sainthood and beatification just about the miracles then? Or is it really a referendum on the person's life?

CUTIE: I think it has a lot to do with a person's life, a lot more than the miracle. The miracle is something the church has always insisted upon in order to prove, if you will, that this person is an intercessor in heaven. For those of us that are part of the reformed churches, we don't believe that saint has to intercede for us. We believe Jesus does that just fine.

But, unfortunately, you know, that insistence on the miracle is kind of a way of judging whether the person is in heaven or not, or close to God or not. And that's what's a little awkward about the process.

But I would venture to say that most people will look at John Paul II and will see that he was heroic. I mean, this was a very sick man for most of his pontificate, who still went out and preached to the whole world, who was a symbol of hope in his own body -- the fact that he was bent over, slouched over, paralyzed with Parkinson's, but still got on airplanes and went all over the planet bringing hope.

You know, just that, I think, is a saintly feature about this man's life.

KAYE: And, David, I want to ask you -- I mean, certainly, the pedophile priest scandals certainly cast a cloud on John Paul II's papacy. Do you think that they will hinder at all his procession toward sainthood?

GIBSON: No, I don't think it will in the official institutional church. But I think among the Catholic public and the wider public, the erupting of this scandal near the end of John Paul's papacy in 2001-2002 -- he died in 2005 -- really cast a shadow at the end of his papacy and has continued to, I think, raise questions about whether he should be made a saint so quickly.

Now, the Vatican, as Father Cutie has indicated, is really focusing on the pope's personal holiness, saying, "We're making him a saint because of his personal holiness, his personal sanctity, rather than his track record as pope." And, I mean, he did so many astonishing things, really, from you know, traveling behind the Iron Curtain during the days of communism, suffering an assassination attempt, so many of the other things that we've seen.

But some are saying now, look, we need to examine his record as head of the Catholic Church rather than just the great sort of Catholic traveling evangelist that he was.

KAYE: I just want to ask you, Father Cutie, this very quickly, what is the point of sainthood and being blessed? Why do Catholics put such stock into their saints?

CUTIE: You know, it's interesting. Saints have been part of the Christian tradition from the early days of Christianity. We have the cult of the saints, all these different things that the historians tell us. They are basically the role models of faith.

They have been unfortunately put in a situation for some people of almost like an extreme devotion to the point where we dehumanize them, but it'd be good for us to return to the traditional practice of just considering them role models for the Christian faith and not people that we have to pray to, because ultimately we only pray to God.

KAYE: Well, I want to thank you both. David Gibson, Father Cutie, what an interesting discussion on this Friday. We are all looking forward to Sunday as well. Thank you, both.

And, now, the top story this hour is the delay of the space shuttle launch. Well, coming up, right after this quick break, we want to introduce you to some young women who are researching away to harvest energy from space suits. It's really cool. You don't want to miss this.

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KAYE: Welcome back. So, the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour is now delayed until at least Monday afternoon at 2:33 Eastern Time. There was a problem it turns out with one of the shuttle's power units. The external fuel tank will now be drained so that the equipment can be fixed. The shuttle is planning to take a huge piece of equipment to the International Space Station, and the technology will help NASA study the formation of the universe and it can see exploding stars and black holes and all kinds of stuff.

In today's "Big I" segment, we are keeping with the space theme. It turns out a space suit could power electronics just by using the movements of the astronauts in the suit. This incredible research is being conducted by a team of undergraduate students in the reduced gravity student flight opportunities program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

And we are lucky enough to have two of the great minds behind all this research with us today. Olivia Lenz from Seattle. Hanna Clevenson is live from our studios in New York.

Olivia, let's start with you. If you could, explain how this works.

OLIVIA LENZ, STUDENT, SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY: So, basically, we microwaved a bunch of zinc powder in a conventional microwave from Best Buy to get something called zinc oxide nanowires. These nanowires have the special property called piezoelectricity. And if the nanowires is piezoelectric, that means you can be bent or strained it in a mechanical way and you can eventually get an electrical current from this nanowire.

KAYE: And so, if you're wearing, if an astronaut is wearing this, how would it work exactly? What does it do?

LENZ: Yes. So, the material would be integrated into one of the layers of a space suit. And as the astronaut moves, you get a sort of tension and the fibers in your clothing will, like, twist against each other. And you can build the fiber in such a way that that causes the mechanical strain that eventually can produce a small current.

KAYE: Very cool.

Hannah, how much power can be produced in a typical day? I mean, can it power something like a cell phone or?

HANNAH CLEVENSON, COOPER UNION: Yes. The -- it would be in the milliwatt range. It's not a lot of power, but it could be enough to -- for a hiker in the woods to make a call, for a soldier to charge a piece of equipment, something like that.

KAYE: So, it sounds like, Olivia, that the technology could be used beyond space?

LENZ: Yes. It was actually -- our project was inspired by some research that's focused for earth application, be it inserts in boots for the military or for the average person as they are walking. You know, that you always run out of power on your iPhone and we run those things down all of the time. And your shoe -- you can just be walking around during your daily life and charging your cell phone.

KAYE: Yes, I tend to leave the chargers in hotel rooms and at home. So, I think it would be really cool to be able to just walk around, move your arms, walk around the studio and power up on myself. That would be great.

Listen, you guys are doing great work, and it sounds like maybe us regular folks might be able to use it one day. So, we certainly appreciate you coming on and telling us it, and we wish you luck with the project.

LENZ: Thank you.

KAYE: Thank you.

CLEVENSON: Thank you.

KAYE: And to check out more on this research, head to our blog, CNN.com/Ali. We'll get you linked up with NASA. And we'll also link you up to the complete video of the experiment.

We'll be right back after the great with more on the shuttle delay and how it affects Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

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