Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

More Outrage at GSA's Lavish Spending; Hooker Scandal Rocks Secret Service; Shuttle Discovery's Final Flight; God's Holy Word Gets New Translation; Discovery Arrives in D.C.

Aired April 17, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad, and good morning to all of you. I am Carol Costello.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Hawaii, iPods, and gift cards. New questions flying this morning about rampant spending at the GSA. Will Jeff Neely, the man behind the Vegas trip you paid for get up and walk out again today?

Clearances yanked. The Secret Service hooker scandal widens this morning. We've got new information from the White House.

Your money, your taxes. The Buffett Rule blasted. A mood that would boost taxes for the rich. Republicans rallying this morning calling it trickle down taxation.

Pricey light. The new light bulb to replace regular incandescent hits stores this Sunday, Earth Day. This thing lasts for 20 years. It costs -- drum roll, please -- as much as 60 bucks.

New home. Shuttle Discovery hitching a ride and heading up the East Coast right now. From Florida and Virginia, we're live on the historic flight.

And spectacular sight. Amazing new pictures this hour from 93 million miles away. An eye-popping eruption you've just got to see.

NEWSROOM begins right now.

Taxpayer outrage this morning is growing over the millions of dollars seemingly squandered by anonymous bureaucrats. Well, today they're no longer anonymous. Right now current and former GSA officials are on Capitol Hill. It is their second hearing in two days. They're facing questions about their lavish convention in Las Vegas.

A rewards program that gave employees iPods and gift cards worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. And a Hawaii junket for some GSA leader, they spent up to a week there for a ribbon cutting that lasted a mere hour.

Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill.

So, Dana, yesterday we saw some pretty outraged lawmakers and apologetic witnesses. Anything new coming out today?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are already seeing some fire big-time in the hearing. It started already about a half an hour ago. I want you to listen to a very upset Republican chair of the House Transportation Committee -- Subcommittee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JEFF DENHAM (R), CHAIRMAN, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE: And I'm here to tell you the buck stops here. We're not going to hold up any longer. The American public demands to see the budget on the Public Buildings Funds -- the Federal Buildings Fund and how that money has been spent. This slush fund is no longer going to be used for personal uses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, they're making clear already in this hearing this morning, Carol, that they are going to talk beyond that 2010 now infamous conference in Las Vegas and talk about what they say is excessive spending across the board. And -- but I just do want to focus on some of what we have been talking about because again this conference was pretty amazing.

Take a look at this. $59,000 for an audiovisual firm to be hired for the conference, $75,000 for a bike building exercise to be done at the conference, and $9,000 for colored theme tags. And I should also mention that yesterday a big part of the discussion was why the person responsible for spending all this still got a $9,000 bonus of taxpayer money.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Yes, that would be Mr. Neely. Also for the first time lawmakers will hear from a so-called whistleblower. Tell us about her.

BASH: Her name is Susan British. She was the deputy commissioner at the GSA. In fact, they were just talking about her before you and I came on. She turns out used to actually work for the committee that she's going to appear before. She apparently was the first person to say, wait a minute, this is way too much spending on things that we shouldn't be spending on like a mind reader, a clown outfit, things that, you know, really this is -- this is how the government is spending the money at this conference?

She wrote a memo saying that this should be investigated and apparently started the ball rolling on the inspector general investigation into all of this. So it will be very interesting to hear what she has to say later.

COSTELLO: OK. Dana Bash, you're covering for us and we appreciate it.

Now to another scandal rocking Washington and widening this morning. We're now learning that a Colombian brothel is the primary focus of the Secret Service prostitution investigation. Also new this morning, the Secret Service has stripped the security clearance of the 11 staffers accused of bringing prostitutes back to their hotel, you know, back from the brothel.

That was just a couple of days before the president arrived in Colombia for a summit. A former CIA operative explained why this alleged breach could have endangered the president's life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: Well, you know, a Secret Service stays in a hotel. They keep, for instance, the call signs. They keep their encrypted radios. They keep their routes that the president is going to travel.

If I was an assassin, that's precisely where I would want to be. Assassination these days all depends on intelligence. You've got to predict movements and these guys would have it there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Brianna Keilar is at the White House for us.

So, Brianna, tell us more about this brothel.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this according to a source who's told CNN, Carol, is one of the primary focuses in terms of the locations that these Secret Service agents may have visited. Now let me stress, though, that this source says that would be among the venues because, while it's a primary focus in the investigation, there were several groups and stops at several venues according to this source.

So let's catch you up on the latest today and what has changed overnight. These 11 Secret Service agents have been stripped of their security clearance. So personnel action has been taken at least preliminarily. And then we also learned from chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Peter King, that there were 11 prostitutes -- that these 11 agents allegedly brought 11 prostitutes back to the Hotel Caribe. And also we should mention that the numbers in terms of how many military personnel may have solicited prostitutes appears to be on the rise according to a spokesman indicating that there may be more than five.

So we're looking perhaps, according to sources, between five and 10, but yes, this location, the brothel is really I think the headline today in terms of new details about piecing together perhaps how the evening went for these Secret Service agents. Remember it was Wednesday night into Thursday morning that this happened -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Brianna Keilar reporting live for us from the White House. Coming up at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, inside Colombia with Colombian reporter Miriam Wells who said Colombia is known for sex tourism and she puts a very -- and of course this whole scandal puts a very public eye on prostitution there. We're going to talk about her live to see what she knows about this problem. Again the country wait in the 10:00 a.m. Eastern hour of NEWSROOM.

Crews in Chile this morning are assessing the aftermath of a strong earthquake that caused mudslides and minor damage. This is video of the quake with a magnitude of 6.7 as it rattled a newscast on our sister network CNN Chile. The quake was felt in the capital less than 70 miles from the epicenter. It knocked out power and phone lines in the region.

A key U.S. ally is making plans to pull out of Afghanistan sooner than expected. Australia's prime minister seen here meeting with troops in Afghanistan in 2010, says the withdrawal could begin in months. Nearly all 1500 Australian troops could be out by the end of 2013, nearly a full year ahead of schedule. Australia says the accelerated timeline is due to the progress made by Afghan troops.

If you haven't filed your taxes, I don't need to tell you this. The clock is ticking, for goodness sake. Americans have until midnight tonight to file their federal returns and a new CNN poll takes the pulse of the American taxpayer.

Forty-five percent say the amount they pay Uncle Sam is too high. You might be surprised that slightly more, 50 percent say the amount they pay is just right. And 3 percent say they actually should be paying more in taxes. Go figure.

This afternoon NASCAR champ Tony Stewart makes a pit stop at the White House. President Obama will welcome Stewart and other drivers and recognize their efforts to give back to the community.

The University of Alabama's football championship trophy has been shattered into little tiny pieces. It happened at a university event on Saturday. A player's father got his foot caught on a rug under the trophy display. The BCS title trophy is valued at $30,000. University official says they will replace it. The father is off the hook for that one.

Retired space shuttle Discovery arrives in the nation's capital in the next hour from the Kennedy Space Center. Discovery left Florida just about two hours ago. It's attached to this Boeing 747. It will replace the test shuttle Enterprise at the Smithsonian.

John Zarrella is at the Kennedy Space Center.

So, John, there was a pomp and circumstance. There were lots of people waving farewell?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. They had busloads of NASA employees, many who had worked for, you know, years in the space shuttle program who were here to watch Discovery head off to Dulles. And of course, you know, the final crew that flew Discovery back in February 14, months ago, they as well were on hand to say, you know, good-bye.

And it was a spectacular, spectacular moment. Discovery lifting off here. It flew down the coast along the beach in Bravard County, then circled back up. It flew over launch pad 39-A where it lifted off so many times in the past and then made one last flyover right behind us. Literally just a couple hundred feet off the deck on the back of that 747 and headed due north into just clear, blue skies.

You know, and it's interesting, Carol, because as Discovery is exiting and the other two shuttles not far behind it, you know, in a couple of weeks just to our south, SpaceX, a commercial company, is going to try to take that next step into space. They're going to be launching their Dragon rocket in an attempt to rendezvous and birth with the International Space Station.

It would be the first time in history that any commercial company has been able to accomplish such a feat. Shortly after that they hope to start taking cargo to the space station and within two or three years SpaceX and other commercial companies believe that by 2016 they will be taking astronauts filling the void left behind as Discovery and the other vehicles retire to their new homes in various parts of the country.

So the end of one era and perhaps the early stages of the beginnings of another era of commercial space travel -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You know, this just kind of a - I mean it's a spectacular sight to see the space shuttle on board on top of that Boeing 747. But it -- I don't know, it's sad, too, because we won't see it again. The final destination is Chantilly, Virginia. Supposedly that plane is supposed to land, what at 10:00 Eastern, and then what happens?

ZARRELLA: Yes, a little bit after 10:00, you know, they left here earlier than we thought about 10 minutes earlier but sometime between 10:00 and 10:30 there will be a ceremony there as well. And you know then very quickly they are going to get it inside the building there at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and they have to move Enterprise out.

Now Enterprise was a test shuttle. It never flew into space. They used it to test the aerodynamics. They dropped it from a 747 back in the days before the very first shuttle actually flew into space. They've got to move it out. Put it on top of the 747 and ferry it up to New York because it will eventually, when their museum housing is ready, it will end up in the intrepid museum in New York. So Enterprise go on up there. So a lot of work to be done in the next -- in the next few days -- Carol.

COSTELLO: John Zarrella reporting live for us. And when that thing lands in Chantilly, Virginia, we'll take you there live. That'll happen in the 10:00 a.m. Eastern hour of NEWSROOM.

Thanks, John.

Still to come behold the new light bulb. It lasts for 20 years. It uses a fraction of the energy. But boy, it will cost you a lot. Sixty bucks. So will you buy it?

Plus, Buffett world battle plan. A new fight for fairness. We're talking your money and your taxes with Jon Avlon and why he thinks tax reform talk is dead.

And the voice and the holy book of the bible. In a new translation. But here's the hook. You will not find the words Christ, angel or apostle in the book. We'll talk to the man behind it.

You're watching NEWSROOM. We're back in two.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is 9:15 Eastern Time.

Checking this morning's top stories:

Happening right now on Capitol Hill, the GSA getting grilled again. This time, there are new witnesses and new questions. This morning, they are asking why GSA employees got trips to Hawaii, gift cards, and iPods.

The attorney for George Zimmerman asking for a new trial judge in the Trayvon Martin case. Mark O'Mara filed a motion to have the judge recuse because of possible conflict of interest.

Zimmerman is asking being held on second-degree murder charges in the teenager's death.

Two Americans Barbara and Gerald Heil were among the last bodies pulled from the Costa Concordia wreckage today. At least 30 people died when the cruise liner struck off the coast of Italy back on January 13th.

Are you cell phone only or do you have land line? More states are ending a requirement that phone companies provide everyone land line service. At last check, about 30 percent of American households were wireless only.

Google needs a doodler. The drawings and animations at the top of the search engine page celebrate holidays and anniversaries and the like, Google says the job requires a sense of humor, love of all things historical and an imaginative artistry. No salary has been revealed.

And a spectacular view of the sun and exploding flare. The eye popping video caught by a NASA spacecraft. Jacqui Jeras joins us now.

And we just want to talk about how beautiful these pictures are.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. I can't get enough of it. Just keep it rolling. It's so cool when you watch the explosion and what happens after the fact.

Let's roll that. I want to show you one thing to point out, too, is that there is so much energy in magnetic field associated with this. You see the explosion or the CME as we call it, a coronal mass ejection, and then you see the gravitational field suck it back in. Look at that at the end, see how it is coming back in? So, there wasn't quite enough energy to get those little bits that got caught up.

COSTELLO: So, does this happen all the time?

JERAS: It happens all the time, yes. Actually, we're in a very active cycle. This is what we call an M class flare. So, you know, on a field like one to 10, it's a five. So, it's in the medium range.

It was not directed at earth so that's good news. You see that on the left side of the sun there. If it was directed at us, we could have some ramifications as a result so to speak.

COSTELLO: Would it incinerate us in a minute?

JERAS: No, no. We'd have radio blackouts. You know, there could be some interruptions and things like that.

COSTELLO: That's worse.

JERAS: Yes, that would be worse. It could mess with your GPS and our satellites and those kinds of things. But this couldn't get near us. It's just beautiful to look at.

COSTELLO: Well, thanks for sharing. We appreciate it.

JERAS: Sure.

COSTELLO: Many people know King James Version of the Bible, even though they've actually never actually read the whole thing. Well, now, a new translation is out, but it does not include the words Christ or angel. Just ahead, I'll talk to the scholar behind this new book.

Plus, Democrats vow to keep pushing the Buffett Rule for taxes on millionaires. And a new poll finds most Americans support it. So, where does it go from here?

Oh, it's not dead yet. We'll talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning: Should marijuana be legalized?

The Secret Service scandal overshadowed everything else that happened on President Obama's trip to Colombia. Maybe you missed it. But the president pretty much put the kibosh on legalizing pot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Legalization is not the answer. The capacity of a large scale drug trade to dominate certain countries if they were allowed to operate legally without any constraint could be just as corrupting if not more corrupting than the status quo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That got the ire of pro-legalization bloggers who called President Obama, quote, "A teleprompter-reading puppet of the global elite. He does what they tell him to do, and right now, they're telling him to push drug war propaganda," end quote.

Marijuana advocates accuse the Obama administration of cracking down more on medical marijuana than George Bush ever did. One thing is for sure, the president is more hawkish on drugs than GOP challenger Ron Paul who says we should legalize not only pot but heroin. For Paul, it's a question of personal liberty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Do you have a right to do things that are very controversial? If not, you're going to end up with government that's going to tell us what we can eat and drink and whatever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: According to Gallup, a record 50 percent of Americans think marijuana should indeed be legal. So, dudes, what about you?

Talk back question today: Should marijuana be legalized?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.

You will not find the words Christ, angel or apostle in a new translation of the Bible that's just come out. They are well known terms to Bible readers. So, why the change and why now?

Just ahead, I'll put that question to the lead scholar behind "The Voice".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Opening bell about to ring on Wall Street. Stocks set for a higher open today as investors keep an eye on several key economic reports, including some new housing numbers and building permits. Democrats today say they will keep push the so-called Buffett Rule on the campaign trail. That's after Senate Republicans blocked a move to bring it up for a debate.

The Buffett Rule is based on making rich pay their fair share of taxes.

GSA officials getting grilled for a second day on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers want to know why GSA employees got trips to Hawaii, gift cards and iPods from taxpayer funds. They're also hearing for the first time from a so-called whistle-blower.

The Secret Service stripped the security clearances of 11 of its members accused of bringing prostitutes to a Columbian hotel and we're now hearing they allegedly visited a brothel, too. The investigation targets several members of the U.S. military as well.

That prostitution scandal rocking the Secret Service may cost a lot of agents their jobs all together. But one Washington gadfly is outraged by one aspect of the story you might have missed -- Steven Colbert of Comedy Central.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: Now, not only does America owe billions to China, we owe $47 to a Colombian prostitute. A prostitute your grandkids will have to pay for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In the next hour, we're going to go inside Colombia with Colombian reporter Miriam Wells, who says the country is known for sex tourism and this puts a very public eye on the prostitution there in that country. We're going to talk to her live in the next hour, in about a half hour.

If you've always wanted to read the Bible but find it's a little like reading Shakespeare, there's a new alternative. It's called "The Voice." And you won't find the words Christ, angel, or apostle in the book.

Here's an example.

This is from the King James version of the Bible, which has been around for more than 400 years. This is Genesis 1:1 in the King James. It reads, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth." Well, in "The Voice," that same verse reads, "In the beginning, God created everything, the heavens above and the earth below."

Here's what happened. Another popular verse, John 3:16 in the King James Bible, it reads, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

"The Voice" translation, "For God expressed his world this way: He gave his only son so that whoever believes in him will not face everlasting destruction but will have everlasting life."

So, I'm joined by the lead scholar of "The Voice," Professor David Capes.

Welcome.

PROFESSOR DAVID CAPES, HOUSTON BAPTIST UNIVERSITY: Good to be with you this morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: This is a fascinating topic. We were talking about it a lot in the newsroom this morning before the show. You spent seven years working on "The Voice." With so many other translations of the Bible out there already, why come out with another one?

CAPES: That's a great question. There are more Bibles today than ever before, and more Bible translations than ever before. But it's probably the most owned and least read book out there.

So, we wanted to give people a copy of the Bible that they would not only want to own but also want to read.

A few years ago, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, guitarist, made the statement, I read the Bible sometimes but I find it deadly boring. What we wanted to do is give Keith a copy of the Bible and others like Keith because there are a lot like him, give him a copy of the Bible that frankly he would want to read and he would not want to put down.

COSTELLO: As I said earlier, your translation doesn't use the word Christ and I want to show our viewers what's posted on your Web site as the verse of the day. This is what it says on your Web site. It's from Acts 28:31. It reads, "With great confidence and with no hindrance, he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the ultimate authority -- the Lord Jesus, God's anointed, the liberating king."

Now, in the King James Version, it says the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why eliminate the word Christ?

CAPES: Well, Carol, basically because people don't understand exactly what Christ means. You ask a lot of Christians and people who read the Bible frequently, they think Christ is a name. Jesus Christ, Jesus is his first name. Christ is his second time.

But in fact, it's a title. It's probably one of the earliest Christological titles expressing the fact that they believe that Jesus is the long awaited messiah. So, we made a strategic decision early in the process not to transliterate anything. The word Christ is not a transliteration. It's not a translation of what the word means, which is anointed one of God.

COSTELLO: I know some people believe Christ translates to messiah.

CAPES: Exactly.

COSTELLO: Right.

CAPES: It is. Yes. Yes.

Let me express that. The word Christ is a Greek word. It is a translation of a Hebrew word Hamaschiah, the messiah. So that word again is not very well understood.

So, we decided to translate every word, every phrase. The only thing we transliterated that is rendering in English sounds are names like Jesus and Peter and Paul and Mary. Those are the things that we decided to do.

COSTELLO: Right. I guess it would be a difficult decision because, you know, the Bible is so precious to so many people.

CAPES: It is.

COSTELLO: How difficult was it for you to decide to take these words out and are you worried that people won't read the book because you did?

CAPES: I don't think so. I guess what we'll see what critics say and what our readers say. We know a lot of people and have given it to a lot of people that like the King James Bible and other modern translations that use those words.

We actually did this, Carol, for people who don't read the Bible at all or very seldom read it. We did it for them. We asked, what kinds of questions are they coming to the text with? What do they need to know in order to read the Bible for all it's worth?

And so, we decided, made that strategic decision not to transliterate but to translate everything to give them the meaning of the text and to give them a sense of where the story, this great story of love and redemption is going.

COSTELLO: Professor Capes, thanks so much for joining us this morning. It's a fascinating topic. We appreciate it.

CAPES: Thanks. Good to be with you.

COSTELLO: We're going to take you live to Chantilly, Virginia, now, because we understand the shuttle is just about to land at Dulles Airport, which of course as you know is in Virginia. The shuttle was on its way from Florida and when it lands at Dulles here, I guess it won't land right away, it will fly over the Washington Mall so people can look up and se it, which is kind of cool and then -- I can hear it in background in the live pictures.

And then it will land at Dulles and then it will be taken to the Smithsonian so that people can view it as a museum piece. As you know those shuttles retired are moving into a new era of space travel.

When we get better pictures of it coming in, we'll take you back. This is Dulles airport. We don't see it yet. But it's just about to land. So, it must be circling the Mall.

So, we're going to go to a break. When we come back, hopefully, we'll be able to see this thing. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. We got this one down now. You are looking at live pictures of the space shuttle Discovery. And it's on the back of the Boeing 747.

Right now, it is flying over Dulles airport. It will do a flyover of the airport and then it will go back and fly over the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It came all of the way from Florida.

Our Lizzie O'Leary is live with us now. This is an incredible sight.

LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN AVIATION AND REGULATIONS CORRESPONDENT: This is an incredible sight, Carol. What we're going to see is a fly by here at Dulles. There's a crowd here waiting for it. It's coming from the south.

And everybody has their eyes trained that way. It will fly by here and then spend about half an hour going over the National Mall and other parts of downtown D.C. There have been people camped out for hours waiting to see that.

Then it will then land at Dulles. And as you mentioned before, it goes to the Smithsonian. A part of Smithsonian that's based out here at Dulles that takes about two days to get the shuttle off of that 747 that it is flying on. They call that de-mating. That's the process for disjoining the two of them -- the two-day de-mating process, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hey, let's listen to the NASA like announcements, because they're announcing it just like the space shuttle.

Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are cleared into the Washington tri- area of travel space to hold at/or above 3,000. Advise prior to altitude changes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pluto 95, heavy, copy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pluto 95, heavy, roger. As the flight is now, flight element, is one mile southwest of you. Please stand by. Pluto 95, heavy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pluto 95, heavy --

COSTELLO: It's pretty cool, isn't it? Just like a NASA transmission when the space shuttle blasted off into space.

John Zarrella watched this thing take off from Florida.

So, John, you have a monitor there? Are you watching?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): I'm listening. I can hear it. I know it must be -- it's an absolute spectacular sight, you know, seeing it come into Washington. And, you know, literally, Carol, the last crew that flew Discovery was out here this morning, as well as hundreds of former space shuttle workers now. And, you know, for them, we say we overuse that word bittersweet, but certainly it is. It is bittersweet.

The program really the exclamation point today on the end of the space shuttle program, as you see -- as you see Discovery and we saw it heading north up to Dulles.

Two more still to be retired, as you know. They still have to retire Endeavour will be going out to the California Science Center in the fall and Atlantis, which will actually stay here. The only one that doesn't have to be put on the back of the 747, they can just basically roll it down the road and over to the visitor complex. That will happen sometime late this year as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Let's go back to Lizzie O'Leary.

Lizzie, I would imagine if you're in Washington and didn't know this was happening today and you would look up and you would say to yourself what is that?

O'LEARY: What in the world is that? Because, of course, you're not just seeing a space shuttle, you're also seeing a space shuttle on top of a 747.

We're starting to get some folks very excited about it here. Everybody has their eyes trained on the south. As John was talking about, this really is sort of the signature capstone on 30-year shuttle program. One of the things that is important to point out is that this is really the sister ship of all of those other shuttles that we have spent so much time looking at and covering and it's flown 39 missions since 1984.

So, it's been up in space a lot. The Enterprise has been here but it didn't go up into space. So once the Discovery rests here, people will get a good look at something that flew 39 times into space and the storied part of the shuttle program.

COSTELLO: I saw the control tower there of Dulles Airport. Has it turned around to head back to the Mall?

O'LEARY: Not yet. It's still going to be a fly by here. And you heard them when you were listening to the air traffic control, the call sign of this plane is Pluto 95. They call the 747 NASA 905. That's the specially designed 747 that carries the shuttle along its back. When you hear them talking about Pluto 95, that's the plane they are referring to that's carrying Discovery.

COSTELLO: So a lot of people are planning to go to Washington, D.C. and visit the Smithsonian this summer.

So, will they be able to see the space shuttle like this summer?

O'LEARY: Absolutely. They'll be able to se it later this year. And, remember, right now they can see Enterprise. Eventually, Enterprise will go up to New York, and Discovery will be here. People will able to get a close look at a shuttle that has really gone and done this a lot and carried many astronauts into space many times.

Be able to get up close and personal. You can get close to Discovery right now. Soon they'll be able to -- to Enterprise right now -- soon they'll get to be up close with Discovery.

And I keep looking over my shoulder because we're all waiting for this thing to come from the south and fly past us.

COSTELLO: Oh, it's so cool.

OK. So, we're going to take a break. Hopefully on the other side of the break, we're going to get a clear indication of where this -- we're not leaving. We're staying with it, Lizzie, because we're afraid it's going to do something cool if we leave.

O'LEARY: You can see on the NASA pictures --

COSTELLO: I'm sorry. We're going to go to break. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: OK. You are looking at the space shuttle Discovery on top of a Boeing 747. Eventually that space shuttle will make its way to the Smithsonian.

It's supposed to circle Dulles Airport and then go to the National Mall. Circle there and then come back.

Let's listen to the NASA transmission for a bit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tower, Pluto 95, heavy, inbound, one of the two for the low fly by.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pluto 95, heavy Dulles tower, runway one right clear for low approach. Winds 350 at 17.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) approach, one ride (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: This picture is just so magnificent. I can't believe it.

So, Lizzie O'Leary, I know you are still out there. Are people around you watching with you?

O'LEARY: Oh absolutely. There are a couple hundred people up where I am on this balcony and then below us down in the parking lot there have been families camped out for a couple of hours with lawn chairs waiting to see this.

You heard them say Pluto 95. That is the 747's call sign. They are going to eventually land when you hear them in the air traffic control talking about one right. That's the runway they're going to land on in Dulles.

But first, there will be a pretty spectacular fly by for people who are in downtown D.C. We'll see it first out here at Dulles and then a pretty low fly by near the National Mall and a series of monuments.

So if you are looking up in Washington, D.C., you're going to get a pretty amazing sight which is the shuttle piggy back on top of a Boeing 747. COSTELLO: Why did NASA decide to do this flyover over Washington, D.C. and over the National Mall?

O'LEARY: Well, this is a bit of a good-bye to the shuttle program, which is ending after 30 years so you -- oh, you may have just heard a whoa. People are starting to see it come into view. Here it comes. From -- you won't get a shot. There you go. You see the NASA TV shot and it's pretty amazing. It's going to go just right over basically where I am. Give it about 15 seconds.

COSTELLO: Lizzie, I know that thing is not blasting off into space but it gives you chills.

O'LEARY: It really does. That was quite an amazing flyover. It essentially went right over our heads here, Carol. It has also a little escort plane with it, a T-38. And that was the signal when we saw that thing going up in the air that the shuttle was coming soon and that we would get that spectacular fly by.

And now it will only take a few minutes to reach downtown Washington. People there are going to get some great views as this thing charts its path right around the National Monument.

COSTELLO: John Zarrella is in Florida where this thing took off. And John, I'm amazed at how small the shuttle looks in comparison to the Boeing 747.

And I don't think we have John Zarrella. So I'll -- I'll pose that question to you, Lizzie. I mean, we always have this picture in our mind that the shuttle is huge.

O'LEARY: Yes, you do. Now this shuttle has initially clocked in at about 167,000 pounds. So it is big. But that 747 pretty much looks like it dwarfs it. And we should point out to viewers that's a specially modified 747. They do use it. They've used it in the past to carry shuttles when they needed to be repaired and things like that but it's basically built to get to piggyback a shuttle on top of it.

But it is pretty amazing when you realize the size of the two of these things put together. One thing I want to point out, there are probably according to folks that we spoke to out here, about five people in the cockpit. Usually when you fly a 747, you have three. But this is a special flight to have a couple extra people in there today.

COSTELLO: Is that so, ok. We have John Zarrella on the phone. Tell us what the feeling was like when this 747 took off with the shuttle on its back from Florida.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think it was pretty close to what Lizzie was experiencing and the folks out there were experiencing as well. Because you know, it did a flyover here. After it took off, it flew down the beach then it circled back and went over launch pad 39-A where it had lifted off so many times before, Carol.

And then it flew over the Visitor's Complex and then it came right back over the shuttle landing strip where all of us were and where it took off from. And it was right off the deck. It wasn't more than a couple hundred feet off the ground as it flew by us and then headed due north into that clear blue sky heading up to Dulles, of course, where it is about to arrive now.

So you know just -- I had with me during -- during that live -- live moment as it took off, I had Bob Cabana, who is the head of the Kennedy Space Center now, he had flown on four shuttles. He was -- his first flight was 22 years ago on "Discovery" as a pilot and he flew "Discovery" twice.

And he just said, you know what? He thought that all of the tears were behind him and it had been out of his system by now. But when we saw "Discovery" lifting off, you could see his eyes were welling up once again because it is for so many people here who have lost their jobs, for so many people that's been part of the shuttle program for 30 years, this is a sad, sad day, you know, to see the first of these three orbiters go to head off to museum -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, even in Washington, D.C. at Dulles International Airport, you know, when that thing flew over, people are camped out for hours waiting to get a glimpse of it. And we heard the reaction from the crowd, Lizzie. People were overcome.

O'LEARY: Absolutely. And you heard the reaction from the crowd up here which is where people are up on the balcony getting to look at this and there was even a reaction down below; people who have been waiting for quite a long time to see this thing fly over. I've got to tell you it cleared our view, it came in to our view quite quickly over a building.

So not only did you get to see it with just a few hundred feet from where we are but a really spectacular moment when it burst in to view and that's the view that people are going to be getting in downtown D.C. It's not something you see there every day.

COSTELLO: Ok. I think we have a shot of people on the National Mall waiting for the flyover so -- oh, isn't that beautiful? I'm sorry. Washington, D.C. is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, especially in the springtime and people are going to get to look up and see this fantastic sight flying overhead. What could be better than that, Lizzie O'Leary?

O'LEARY: Well look. This is a city that gets jaded about a lot of things and certainly a lot of different things in the air. You see people go, oh, there is just the president going by in his helicopter. Not today. This is obviously a historic flight to get to see and a historic sight to see those two enormous aircraft mated together flying essentially as one.

And as you and John were talking about, you know these things move together as one. It is moving on the back of a 747 which is a pretty magnificent thing to see on its own. Add to that, a shuttle that has been in space 39 times. That is something that none of those folks on the Mall have ever seen before and are probably certainly never going to see again. COSTELLO: Unless they go to the Smithsonian and they can see it for free, which is the cool thing about the Smithsonian Institution.

O'LEARY: Exactly.

COSTELLO: It's all free.

Let's go back to John Zarrella because I know you've being doing the math, John. How long does it take for the shuttle to get from Dulles -- or I'm sorry, from the Mall back to Dulles?

ZARRELLA: I'm not sure exactly how long it's going to take. It won't be too very long at all. I mean, it's even though it's moving very slowly, you know, relatively speaking, it's very heavy, they're not real aerodynamic. But you know I expect that within the, you know the next 10, 15 -- depending. You know, I was talking to these -- the shuttle commander again Bob Cabana. And you know you've got guys flying this thing and they're going to -- they've got a flight plan to follow but even here they left early this -- earlier than we expected. They did some flyarounds that were not quite expected, a little bit of a deviation.

So you know, it's -- it's not like the space shuttle when it lifts off from Pad 39-A out here and when you know exactly when it's going to go. Either it goes or doesn't go. They've got some leeway here built in to -- to their schedule but they have to be on the ground they said by 10:30 because of air traffic in and around the Washington area.

I'm sure you know Lizzie can speak more to that. So they wanted the "Discovery" on the ground before 10:30 when traffic really gets heavy up in the -- up in the Washington, D.C. area.

COSTELLO: I can understand that. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back with more coverage of the space shuttle making its way to the Smithsonian. Right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Ok. We are still watching these fantastic pictures of the space shuttle "Discovery" on the back of this Boeing 747. It's flying over the Washington Mall right now, you know, where the Lincoln Memorial is and all of the other the monuments. I think they're all crowded in there now.

People are waiting to see it pass over so that they can get a last glimpse of the space shuttle "Discovery" before it goes in to the museum at the Smithsonian Institution.

Jeff Fischel usually does sports for us but he, like the rest of us, he's watching these pictures with a sense of -- I mean isn't it -- it's just awesome.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: It is. It's great.

And I'll briefly tell a story from my end. This does bring back memories. When I was a child I got to attend one of the first space shuttle landings out in California. My grandfather worked for NASA for many years. I was lucky enough to be at one of the landings.

And I actually remember after it landed, shortly thereafter, they hitch it right on the back of the 747 and fly it back. And I saw it truly -- this image is exactly what I remember from my childhood realizing, oh my gosh, the space shuttle is huge but not as big as a 747. And that -- so it's funny you started that conversation because it's exactly a memory from my childhood.

COSTELLO: Isn't it strange how looking at the space shuttle brings all of these emotions up inside of you?

FISCHEL: Oh, yes. Absolutely. I mean it was -- again, going back to my childhood -- one of the most exciting memories I had. Getting to go out there and watching this thing land, hearing the booms, you know, before you see it. Yes. Truly.

COSTELLO: And now it's going to be in a museum and you feel really old, don't you?

FISCHEL: Just one reason I feel old.

COSTELLO: Exactly. Lizzie O'Leary's in -- she's at Dulles Airport actually, which is in Virginia and there were a crowd of people and when that thing passed over Dulles -- you know, just tell us about the emotion people felt.

O'LEARY: Oh, you certainly had people cheering and shouting and in part because it came -- cleared over the building here and the building where we are is the part of the Smithsonian. Most people just think of the Smithsonian as that castle down on the National Mall but there's a special part out here that is an extension of the air and space museum and that's actually where "Discovery" will live.

People can come see it as early as Friday. It takes a couple of days to de-mate it -- that's the term they use -- basically to take it off of that 747. And then it will be here at this part of the Smithsonian out near Dulles Airport where people can come and see it. So the people who have been camping out here will have a chance to come back in the next few days if they want a closer look at "Discovery".

And we'll get another look. It's actually going to come in and land. When it lands here it will follow the same flight path as that flyover.

COSTELLO: Got you. We don't know if it's turned -- I can't tell by looking at this picture whether it's turned around yet or if it's flown over the National Mall. Has it, Lizzie? Do you know?

O'LEARY: Well, we have seen some pictures of it going over the National Mall and they had scheduled about a half hour flyover or so of the Washington area. You heard John talk about it. This is a special flight so the exact flight plan hasn't been as to the letter as you would see in a normal shuttle flight if they were delivering the shuttle, for example, somewhere else but certainly they're taking a special flight, if you will, over downtown D.C.

COSTELLO: Yes. I don't think blasting in to space is quite the same as flying over Dulles and the National Mall but that's why they have to be exacting when they do stuff like that in to space. We expect it to land at 10:15 Eastern time at Dulles and we are going to bring you those pictures. So don't worry. We'll be up and running. You won't miss it.

Let's go back to John Zarrella; he is in Florida. And tell us how the -- you know, Lizzie told me there were five people on board the plane flying that thing. Do you know who's in there?

ZARRELLA: I don't know their names. I was talking -- and I believe -- I was told there were four and they are NASA employees. I think there are a couple of astronaut pilots up there as part of this flight crew but that 747 is stripped down. I mean it is literally just, you know, a flying gas can, you know, on wings because it has to carry the shuttle.

So there's no seats in that 747. So they can't take any passengers on joyrides. And there are no luggage on board. Other than the astronaut crew or the pilot, the co-pilot, the flight engineer and whoever the fourth person is. But I was told there were four.

And you know what Carol, you have people (inaudible) what's that shuttle there standing -- sitting there behind John Zarrella? Well, you know, they have had to play musical shuttles. That's not a real space shuttle although it's full scale model. The tiles underneath are real.

Actually the wheels are real, as well, but that was the one that used to be over at the visitor complex. It's supposed to go out to Houston to end up out in Houston as part of their exhibit out there.

So they had to pull it out from the visitor complex to make room for "Atlantis" when it goes over there in the fall and of course, we know "Endeavour" goes to California in the fall, to the California Science Center.

"Enterprise" heading up to New York and so they're really playing musical shuttles right now. And so a lot of moving parts to get the vehicles in place, you know, by the end of the year and early next year when all those museums are supposed to be up and running with the vehicles, vehicles inside it -- Carol.