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Enterprise Lands in New York; Zimmerman Got $204,000 from Supporters; College Football's Final Four; Santorum Campaign Manager Joins Team Romney

Aired April 27, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips. It is 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 out West.

You're looking at live pictures now, the final flight of a space shuttle that never flew into space.

We're talking about Enterprise. It's a prototype that was built in 1976 to actually test equipment and landings. Right now, it's circling New York City en route to its final destination, as you heard Carol say there, on the Intrepid floating museum.

Intrepid was displaced from its former home, a Smithsonian hangar in Virginia, by the shuttle Discovery which did fly in space, many, many times. We talked about that about two weeks ago.

And watching the skies from Kennedy airport this hour are Jason Carroll. Also our John Zarrella is at our Miami bureau.

Jason, why don't we start with you? What have you been able to see, hear, feel? Give us an understanding of the landscape right now.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do I hear right now? I think it's the Staples Singers singing that classic, "I'll Take You There," and I think that's what they are playing now.

The shuttles definitely took a lot of astronauts to a lot of different places, but, as you say, the Enterprise never made it to space. But still exciting nonetheless, exciting for the hundreds of invited guests who are here at JFK.

We'll have speakers from NASA, speakers from the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, and also Leonard Nimoy, Spock, will be here speaking as well. We spoke to him just a few minutes ago and he talked about how exciting it was for him.

He was actually around in 1976 when the Enterprise made its debut. The whole crew of Enterprise came out for that momentous occasion. As you know, the aircraft is named after the spaceship Enterprise after TV fans wrote in and said, "No, you shouldn't name it the Constitution. You should name it the Enterprise."

So a lot of excitement here as we're now just minutes away from seeing the Enterprise make its momentous landing here at JFK. Once again, we're told the pilots are having a good time doing flyovers over the Hudson.

They already did a fly-over over the Intrepid Air and Space Museum. Now, we're waiting for it to make its way here.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Talk about the flyover of all flyovers, Jason, how many times have we been at the Super Bowl, at a NASCAR race, you know, at some sort of military event, you get one little shoop by the fighter jets, right? This crew must be having a field day.

CARROLL: We have been at so many of those types of occasions, but for me and for a lot of folks here in the Northeast, this is a new one because folks down in Florida are used to seeing the takeoffs and landings.

But for folks here in the Northeast, this is something entirely new, so you can imagine the excitement, especially the little kids here. We saw a group of them dressed in blue sort of like NASA space outfits, absolutely incredibly adorable.

And when I was speaking to Leonard Nimoy about that, he said, when you look at that, what you're seeing is the future of space travel. Hopefully a few astronauts in the bunch who will some day want to fly into outer space as well.

PHILLIPS: All right. John Zarrella, are you connected with us still?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I have you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, so, why don't we talk a little bit more about the Enterprise, what we're seeing, other aircraft out there. It's getting pretty close to the Intrepid, right? It's kind of hard for me to see from the banner. Is it coming up on the deck?

ZARRELLA: Not yet. I'm not even sure the landing gear are down yet.

PHILLIPS: Right. I can't see either. You have better eyes than I do, so why don't we talk a little bit first about the Enterprise, a little bit of background here and just the shuttle action we have been seeing lately, from the Discovery to the Enterprise and how they're switching.

Oh, I think we might have possibly just got some -- our shot froze there. OK. We're trying to keep an eye on it. Go ahead, John.

ZARRELLA: You know, the Enterprise flew test flights. It flew five flights on the back of a 747, just like it is now, and it was released at about 25,000 feet to glide down over the desert in Mojave Desert out there in California to land it in a dry lakebed at Edwards.

And all of that was to test the aerodynamics. Was the concept right? Could you actually have a winged body glide back to earth safely? And we can see some of that old video from 1977. NASA didn't know if it would really work, if they could do it. You're talking about a 150,000 pound spacecraft reentering the earth's atmosphere and then landing as a glider, not under any power.

They did five of these glide tests and Enterprise could have flown and there was talk it would fly after Columbia, but they found some structural issues and design issues in the last of those drop tests that they did and decided it was cheaper to build another spacecraft -- ultimately, that would be Challenger - than it would have been to retrofit the Enterprise.

So it went on to the Smithsonian in 1985 after traveling sort of as an ambassador for NASA all over the world. It was in Canada. It was at an air show in Paris. It was in Germany. It was at the U.S. World's Fair down in Louisiana. And then in 1985 went to the Smithsonian.

But I like to say it's kind of the Rodney Dangerfield of space shuttles because it's the one that never flew into space, doesn't get a lot of respect, but if it hadn't have been for those test flights with Enterprise, NASA, had they not succeeded, they may never have flown in space.

What a remarkable vehicle. You and I in our lifetimes will never see another vehicle like this again flying into space, sadly.

PHILLIPS: But still, if we look toward the future, there is still a lot going on with regard to space travel and all the independent, you know, wealthy folks out there, trying to make commercial flight available to those who can afford it.

ZARRELLA: Yes, in fact, I just yesterday interviewed Elon Musk, the head of Space X, because his company is going to be launching the Dragon spacecraft a week from Monday about 9:22 a.m. if all goes right and they are going to attempt to rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station.

No commercial company in history has ever attempted this, let alone done it. It's going to usher in a whole new era in space travel, commercial companies going to the space station, bringing supplies, bringing astronauts up there. Perhaps by 2016, he says, he will be ready to do that.

And then NASA doing what NASA always did best, pressing that final frontier as they said in "Star Trek" and building a rocket that will take humans out to an asteroid and, ultimately, on to Mars.

So, two separate tracks, NASA going into deep space and then commercial companies doing all of this low Earth orbit work and, ultimately, making low Earth orbit accessible and affordable just like air travel has become.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: And one more question for you and Chad, I promise, we're coming to you in two seconds here because I know you're watching all the different angles and different cameras of where the shuttle is and sort of the flight path here.

So my question to you, John Zarrella, once it touches down at JFK, at what point will it make its way to its final destination of the Intrepid, the floating museum there in NYC?

ZARRELLA: It's going to stay out at JFK for several weeks while they are moving some other aircraft around and getting the deck of the Intrepid ready.

And I think it's going to be probably in early June when it will actually make its way on a barge up the Hudson River and out to that Intrepid site and then it will be lifted onto the deck of the carrier Intrepid.

So that will be another spectacular event and moment to watch, too.

PHILLIPS: Definitely. Because if you think about the Intrepid and all the different types of aircraft on the Intrepid, when you think of a carrier and all the assets that they have, it will be kind of cool to have the Enterprise there, as a different discussion.

Those aircraft, they are not used to having a shuttle as a buddy there on a carrier.

ZARRELLA: No, I don't think a shuttle has ever landed on a carrier, has it Kyra?

PHILLIPS: I missed the last part of what you just said. I'm sorry. I heard Chad chuckling. I was getting some direction on where we're going to go here. What did you say, Zarrella?

ZARRELLA: I just said I don't think a shuttle has ever landed on a carrier. That will be a first.

PHILLIPS: That would be a first. I'm not quite sure what wire it could get, but it would have to be pretty darn thick.

All right, I'm getting direction now. Apologize I didn't hear the last thing that you said there. Stay with me, Zarrella.

Also, our Jason Carroll is on the ground there at JFK. Chad Myers is standing by with six different viewpoints of the Enterprise as it's coming in.

We're going to take a quick break here for a commercial. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures now. You're looking at the Enterprise and it's getting quite the royal treatment with a grand entrance into New York City.

The retired shuttle is riding in on top of NASA's 747 shuttle- carrier aircraft and the people of New York City, from what I'm told, are getting quite a flyover, depending on where you are.

Chad Myers, you have a number of cameras. They already flew by the Statue of Liberty, right?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, they did.

PHILLIPS: Where else did they -- I mean, this is every pilot's dream., the longest flyover ever. Look at my stuff. Look at history and look at my stuff. I'm having a good time.

MYERS: This is the circle line going around and around Manhattan. This is the best flight.

PHILLIPS: Until they run out of gas.

MYERS: Exactly. Landing gear still not down. Just made a very low pass over JFK. We just saw Jason Carroll turn around to watch this fly over the top of his head. Amazing shots here.

I think, Kyra, we have more cameras on this shuttle than on a typical landing. Literally, I can tell you, people have asked me, what's that stuff behind you? What's that blurry stuff behind you.

That's all of our cameras and all of our signals. Router one. There's you. You're on router two. There you go. Another router, 801, just went black. There's another, router 843.

We have so many cameras on this thing coming down. What we're really waiting for is the bottom of the plane to show that the landing gear is down. That's when we'll know we're a few minutes away from it actually coming down, actually touching down.

I want to see this thing get on the barge. I want to see them load this thing. I want to see what kind of crane it's going to take to get this on the barge and then what kind of crane is it going to need to get it on top of the carrier deck itself? That's going to be so interesting.

People are saying, is it hard to fly? Is this really hard to fly? Of course, the plane is top heavy, a little bit. You wouldn't expect all that weight to be on top of a 747, but would you believe that with the shuttle on top, it doesn't weigh as much as if that plane was loaded with people and baggage. It's less than with people and baggage.

So other than being top heavy, it's not that hard to fly.

PHILLIPS: You know, we have been trying desperately to get one of our astronaut buddies to call in. I tell you. We've had so many calls out.

But the word is that most of them, Jason Carroll, are there either on the ground or at one of the locations, wanting to be a part of history. Maybe if one of my buddies out there, former astronauts, might be watching CNN, one way or another, they could call in and just kind of tell us how they feel. But Jason, as we saw with the Discovery, there were a number of the commanders, you know, at the Discovery's ceremony and there's so many people that have been involved through the years with the Enterprise.

Tell us what it's like there on the ground and every time it comes by, how do people react when the fly over?

CARROLL: Well, that ceremonial fly-by was so exhilarating. The place erupted with applause. I can tell you from the first time seeing it, it's a lot bigger up close. I mean everyone talks about it, but when you see it fly by, you see the power of it. It's really excite amazing.

And just to backtrack just a little bit, before the break, did you call and John Zarrella call it the Rodney Dangerfield of shuttles?

PHILLIPS: Let me make it clear, Jason. That was our dear friend, John Zarrella. He's probably going to want to pipe in. Because the poor Enterprise, if it could talk, it would say, I can't get no respect.

CARROLL: OK. I will give you that, but think about it in this way. The shuttles are still so popular that some 29 cities were bidding to have the Enterprise come to their city.

So the way that it shakes down, you have the Atlantis going to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. You've got the Endeavor going to California. You've got Discovery going to the Smithsonian in Virginia. So this is still a very big day for New York.

There just aren't enough shuttles to go around. Think about the people in Houston. They would love to have the Rodney Dangerfield of shuttles coming to their city. It's still a very exciting moment to have a shuttle coming to a place like the Northeast.

PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what. We'll take it over to John and Chad just for a little bit here.

Jason, maybe you might have a chance to kind of work the crowd. I don't know if anybody is close to you that might be somehow tied to aviation, to space that might want to talk to us about what they are watching there right next to you. You let us know.

CARROLL: We'll search them out.

PHILLIPS: Yes, perfect. OK, give us a holler then.

John Zarrella, Jason kind of taking you to task about the poor Enterprise not getting any respect. And, let me tell you, pal. I don't think any shuttle has ever received this much attention -- this much time for a flyover.

ZARRELLA: You know, it is New York. And just like we saw with Discovery when it flew over Washington, D.C. a week-and-a-half or two weeks ago, these guys are making the most out of this flyover and getting their money's worth and just giving the crowd just a tremendous show of it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

And you know, Jason is right. The folks in Houston would give right arm, left arm, you name it, to have the shuttle. They were not very happy in Texas that they did not get a shuttle because you have the Kennedy Space Center and you have the Johnson Space Center. Those two places synonymous with space shuttles, going back 30 years from the time they first rolled off the assembly line out at the Rockwell plant in Palmdale, California.

Those two places, Florida and Texas, are the two premier sites and one other thing. We're talking about these grand and glorious moments. Let's got get too far ahead of ourselves, but in September when Endeavor goes out to California, what I've been told by NASA folks is that at some point they will have to drive Endeavor, ferry it, down the road on the streets of Los Angeles to get it to the California Science Center.

They will be cutting back trees along the way and moving power lines and things. That's going to be one heck of a sight, watching them drive Endeavor down the streets to get it to the California Science Center.

PHILLIPS: I know and Chad and I were wondering about the details and how this was all going to play out.

So here's a little tidbit for the viewers. Apparently NASA and the FAA had refused to release the flight plan, but some unconfirmed flight plans were leaked and that's how we got some inside scoop on where the Enterprise was going to head and where it was going to fly.

Chad, you have been monitoring all of the cameras that we have up throughout New York City. They have already done the Statue of Liberty. They made it along the Hudson River, right? Already passed the Intrepid museum.

MYERS: Correct. They were out over Queens and then back around now and I suspect that just because we had that very low pass over JFK that we're not going to be up in the air much longer. They are going to come down rather quickly.

All of the cameras we have, they kind of come and they go because it's a low pass. This thing doesn't fly very high. Even when they take it from California back to Florida, it only flies at 10,000 feet. It really gobbles gas, as well, flying that low, but they don't want it up that high?

People ask me all the time. Is it safe up there? Is it going to fall off? Well, if the shuttle doesn't fall off a rocket, it's not going to fly off an airplane. They use the same attachment points for the shuttle that they attach it to the airplane as they do attaching it to those booster rockets and the big red rocket.

So, no, the shuttle is safe. It's not going to fall off the 747 there.

It's an old American Airlines 747, too, completely gutted, nothing on the inside at all. That's what makes it actually weigh a little bit less.

We do have some more live pictures. I see it coming in there on router number 8. There we go. Coming in. You can still see the flights are on, but the gear is still not done, so I guess they are still having fun.

They are waiting exactly now for the warning light that says they are out of fuel.

PHILLIPS: Yes, what's it called? "Bitchin' Betty?" I think that's what the guys call her in the Navy.

So you're saying right now, because I wasn't able to see the close-up, it looks like the landing gear has not come down yet?

MYERS: I don't believe so. No.

PHILLIPS: No, there we go. Take a look, Chad. Does that look like it's down?

MYERS: You know, it doesn't to me still. I saw that same angle before when it flew over Jason, and that's what the bottom of the plane looked like, but as it gets closer and closer we'll be able to see.

PHILLIPS: Jason Carroll, what do you think? Jason Carroll, can you hear me?

CARROLL: Yes, I can.

PHILLIPS: OK, you can hear me. I know you're working the crowd. Question for you because we're sitting here, the amateurs that we are trying to figure out if the landing gear has come down. We're not sure. Do you have word yet? Is it down?

CARROLL: They are trying to sort out if the landing gear has come down yet. We're hearing that the landing gear has, in fact, come down.

First of all, introduce yourself because right now we're in live coverage here on CNN.

LORI GARVER, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, NASA: Sure. I'm Lori Garver. I'm the deputy administrator of NASA.

CARROLL: And I'm now told, Lori, that we're just a few minutes away from the Enterprise actually making its landing. We saw the ceremonial fly-by which was extremely exciting.

GARVER: This is a great day. If the gear is down, they are coming in for landing. These pilots are having a ball, showing this space shuttle to New York.

CARROLL: There was some concerns whether or not wind would be an issue, but the wind is actually dying down a little bit now, so things are looking good and we heard about how much of a good time the pilots were having flying by the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum as well as the Statue of Liberty.

GARVER: The pilots told me in Washington last week they were really looking forward to coming to New York and I knew that they were going to have a great time showing her off. Winds are a good thing sometimes when you're flying. It all depends on the direction.

CARROLL: And this is a big win for New York City, outbidding the other cities who were vying for this spot, including Houston. Tell us about why New York was chosen.

GARVER: Well, we had a set of criteria that included how many people could ...

PHILLIPS: Jason? Stay with me Jason. It's coming down, Jason. It has just touched down.

Here we go. It's now landed.

Jason has a good shot of it. He can see it. Our picture froze a little bit there, but there you go. The final flight of a space shuttle that actually never flew. The Enterprise has now touched down at JFK.

What can you see, Chad?

MYERS: That was a great landing, right on the main gear, exactly as they wanted. It came down. I'm surprised that they are so far away that the media really didn't get a good view of what they just saw because we had a better view here.

I guess that's sometimes what you do when you watching racing. Sometimes the best view is sitting right at home. We had a great view of that landing. There it is. There's a better shot as it's pulling in now, taxiing down the runway and back towards the press. Good shot there.

PHILLIPS: Perfect. John Zarrella, take us from this moment. We were just hearing there from one of the NASA administrators that she had actually talked to the crew. They were so excited about doing the flyover. They were ready to show off Enterprise. They took their time passing the Statue of Liberty, coming down the Hudson, passing the Intrepid museum.

They must have had the time of their life, easing into this final landing.

ZARRELLA: You know, it's exactly what they did when they flew over Washington, D.C. when they brought Discovery in to go to the Smithsonian to replace Enterprise, which, of course, is now, as we see, safely on the ground at John F. Kennedy airport, where it will stay for the next four or five weeks until the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, the deck of the Intrepid is ready.

But they did. They took their time. We never knew exactly what the flight plan would be for security reasons, which was the case back when Discovery flew over Washington, D.C. But there was never any doubt. We have been told they'd land by 11:30. Here it is 11:23 or so Eastern time and they are on the ground.

There was never any doubt that the folks in New York were going to get their money's worth and that NASA was going to make sure they got their money's worth and this crew was going to ensure that as well.

Now, of course, it will take a couple days before they actually -- the equipment is all in place and they're ready out there at JFK to hoist the Enterprise off of the top of that 747 and then, I believe, it will be housed for awhile in a climate-controlled bubble out there at JFK until they can move it.

Because, Kyra, one of the main criteria that NASA stipulated for anybody who got a shuttle was that it had to remain encased. It had to be preserved. You couldn't leave it out in the elements.

So that's a couple of things that they still have to work out and look how clean it is. You remember Discovery back when we saw Discovery fly-in?

PHILLIPS: It had a few bumps and bruises, John Zarrella.

ZARRELLA: It flew in space. This one has been in a museum since 1985. It's nice and clean.

PHILLIPS: You've got to love it. The NASA crew, of course, the moment we all look for, right? The American flag coming right out top. Chad Myers, you notice that. A little American pride as its rolling in there.

MYERS: They have the checkered flag in their hand. It just happens to be the American flag today as they taxi in. It's a great shot with them sticking the flag right out the top like that.

PHILLIPS: Jason Carroll, what's the feeling there? What are people saying? What was it like when it touched down?

CARROLL: It was a round of applause and then into stunned silence as they saw Enterprise taxiing down the runway. It will be here until June 6th. That's when it will be loaded onto a huge barge and sail its way up the Hudson to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

Folks who were not invited here will actually be able to see it on display starting, I'm told, in July. So expect lots of visitors to be heading to the museum at that point. How exciting was it when it landed here ? It was absolutely incredible to see it make its way down. Everyone standing out here, waiting for such a long period of time.

Eventually, I'm going to have to introduce you to some of my new friends here, Kyra. I know that you were looking for an astronaut to talk about the feelings, but what I have -- calm down. What I have is the next best thing which are some future astronauts. Some kids that I found out here that I'm just going to have to get you a chance to meet at a certain point.

Here they are. They come from a school in New Jersey. I don't know if you can make this out, but they are all wearing NASA uniforms, little blue ones here. Can you guys see it?

Want to show the camera? Show what you guys are wearing. Proudly wearing their little NASA uniforms. What school are you from?

UNIDENTIFED MALE/FEMALE: Hawes.

CARROLL: That's in New Jersey, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Ridgewood, New Jersey.

CARROLL: Ridgewood, New Jersey. And tell us why they are out here today and where they got their uniforms.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, every year at Hawes school, we have space week and it was created by two of the teachers, Terry Dunn and Dave Jenkins, who are here, but they are over there.

And the second-graders learn how to be astronauts and they learn how to live in space and then they take a mission. They fly in a shuttle and the gym becomes the ISS and they go on a mission and they wear their flight suits.

CARROLL: So what was it like for you kids seeing the shuttle landing here today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was awesome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was really cool because I never saw a spaceship land before.

CARROLL: How about for you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was amazed because I didn't think that a shuttle would be that big.

CARROLL: Amazing. Live TV is hard for a second grader.

Tell me. What was it like for you seeing the shuttle land?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was really cool because we've never seen a shuttle ever land in my life. And I never knew it was that big.

CARROLL: I didn't know it was that big either. What do you think about the future? Do any of you think about possibly being an astronaut some day?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: During space week, I thought it was so cool how astronauts went up and I want to be one, one day.

CARROLL: I hope to see you as one, one day. Thank you very much for joining us. You guys are great second-graders.

This is your future, Kyra. That is your future. Couldn't get you an astronaut yet because it's too close to the landing and the astronauts are doing their thing and getting ready to go on stage. We'll have some speeches coming up here soon.

But the next best thing, the future astronauts, second-graders from New Jersey. Thanks very much, kids. Really appreciate it.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Beautifully wrapped up. Jason Carroll, thanks so much and, if you're just tuning in. It's half past the hour or about 11:28 Eastern time.

And you are watching history, folks. It's the final flight of a space shuttle that actually never saw space, but had a heck of a flyover and it's a part of history. That's Enterprise.

And we'll be talking more about it arriving there in New York City and what is next for the space program. Take a quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And welcome back. You are watching a bit of history here. The final flight of a space shuttle that never flew in space. This is the Enterprise that just landed moments ago there in New York City.

After John Zarrella and Jason Carroll, a pretty amazing -- probably the longest flyover we have ever witnessed. Right, Jason?

(LAUGHTER)

CARROLL: That was a long one. And the longest time it has taken to find a parking space as well. But as you can see now it has landed and parked into a perfect, perfect position. At least for our cameras here at JFK.

The crowd now anxiously awaiting as some of the speakers will eventually step up on the desk and give their final thoughts to this momentous and historic occasion. Once again, this is -- this is quite a moment for New York City to be able to receive -- to receive a shuttle, which eventually will be housed at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum up on the Hudson River.

You can hear folks applauding now as some of the engines shut down as the Enterprise makes its -- one of its final stops here in New York -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And John Zarrella, you know, we were talking about the Discovery just a couple of weeks ago.

ZARRELLA: Yes.

PHILLIPS: And how many times, you know, it's circled the heavens. But this is -- let's, as you say, not forget what the Enterprise did. Even though it never flew in space, this was the prototype built in 1976 that basically kicked off what we would have been able to see and experience throughout the years.

ZARRELLA: Yes. No question about it when it rolled out of the assembly plant there at Palm Dale, the Rockwell Plant. You know, the first of the shuttles, it was used for all of these tests to determine whether the concept, the design of a wind body could actually return and land, and the size, 150,000 pounds is what Enterprise weighs, would be able to glide back to earth, if that would actually work.

And the fact was that it could have flown in space. It was not originally outfitted with engines. It didn't have all those heat tiles underneath the belly of the vehicle. But it could have flown and might have flown except in some of those last drop tests that they did to certify the design. They found some flaws, some things they decided to change. And they decided that it was less expensive to just build another shuttle and to not go back and tear this one apart, to retrofit it. So when they finished the design of Columbia and then Challenger and Discovery, they were a little bit different than what you're looking at with Enterprise.

But, you know, $2 billion a piece is what the shuttles ultimately cost. And I guess by today's standards, $2 billion is probably -- would have been a bargain for the kind of vehicle that we're looking at there.

And you know, Kyra, it's nothing that in our lifetimes we'll ever see again. Anything with those kinds of capabilities -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Landed and ready to go to its final home there on the Intrepid there in New York City.

John Zarrella, thanks so much. Jason, thanks.

We're going to continue to monitor, of course, all of the live events surrounding the Enterprise making its final landing there in New York City.

But we are going to move on to other news right after a break. We'll be talking about George Zimmerman, his lawyers saying that he was broke. Well, it turns out he's sitting on more than 200,000 bucks. Should he go back to jail for this? One person thinks so, and is ready to fight for it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, his lawyers told us that he was broke, that he had no money. And if allowed out of jail on bond, he would have no idea how he was going to pay for it. Well, it turns out that George Zimmerman, the man charged with killing Trayvon Martin, did have money and plenty of it. $204,000 to be exact.

His attorney says that he was using the money for, quote, "living expenses and other necessary expenses based upon the charge and eventual arrest." Well, now the lawyer for Trayvon's family says that Zimmerman should give or should actually go back to jail for not disclosing that he had that cash.

Let's talk more about this with Martin Savidge.

A little bit of an outrage here because I think folks are wondering why didn't he disclose that he had the money. Why didn't he?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Everybody was surprised. And that includes George Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara. He says he first learned of this just Wednesday. And it actually was a result -- what he was doing was closing down the websites that George Zimmerman had. The attorney wants to have more control of George Zimmerman's public persona.

PHILLIPS: All right. To give a little background, he started this Web site.

SAVIDGE: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Before he was even arrested. When this story broke and it was making national/international news, he started this Web site why?

SAVIDGE: He started it, it was called TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com. It started it, one, to get his message out there, and two, for fundraising. He said that. He said that quite up front. He said --

PHILLIPS: Because he couldn't get a job. He was being --

SAVIDGE: He couldn't go back to work because he was being hounded in the media and there was safety concerns.

PHILLIPS: Right.

SAVIDGE: So as a result of that, he needed money. There were people who sympathized greatly with him and believe that he is being wrongly persecuted so they were not only happy to support him verbally, but financially. He raised a good chunk of change in a relatively short amount of time. So that's the money we're talking about.

PHILLIPS: PayPal.

SAVIDGE: Right.

PHILLIPS: PayPal account. And he just said, anybody out there that supports me, wants to help me out, please donate.

SAVIDGE: And he could use the money any way he wishes.

PHILLIPS: OK.

SAVIDGE: Most people thought it was for his defense fund and that's likely where most of it will go. Some of it went to put up his bond. Others, you know, as we say just supported his lifestyle.

PHILLIPS: So did he have to disclose he had this? Did he -- did he lie? Did he not tell his lawyers everything? What is your sense from what everybody is saying he did? And did he do anything illegal? SAVIDGE: OK. No to two of those.

PHILLIPS: OK.

SAVIDGE: No, he didn't lie because he was never asked under oath if he had this money.

PHILLIPS: Got it. OK.

SAVIDGE: And it wasn't illegal to do fundraising at this manner. People do it all the time. Should he have told the attorney? That's the real question mark here. And the other real question is that three of his family members last week, his mother, father, and his wife, were under oath and they were asked specifically about the Web site any money. And they said they didn't know anything about it.

Well, wait a minute, if they're spending money on living expenses, they had to figure money was coming from somewhere. So that's the real iffy part here. But George Zimmerman, should he have told his attorney? Probably. Sooner. Have they done anything illegal? Absolutely not.

PHILLIPS: Martin Savidge, appreciate it so much. Thanks.

SAVIDGE: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: More from CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

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PHILLIPS: All right. So college football fans have been screaming for a true playoff system for years. Even the president of the United States. Well, now it looks like it's finally going to happen. But it won't look anything at all like March Madness. Just forget about 16 or eight teams battling it out for the championship.

Here's what you can expect. A four-team playoff. Now if the major conferences approve it, it will actually replace the current BCS system that's despised by most fans. I guess you could say. The new system could go into effect, too, as early as the 2014 season.

Joining us on the phone, ESPN college football analyst and former pro- football quarterback, Jesse Palmer.

So Jesse, what's your take on this?

JESSE PALMER, ESPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANALYST (via phone): I think this is a great day for all college football fans. You know, I think it's important to remember, when the BCS was made, its main mission was to pit the one and two teams against each other in the national championship game. And I think for 14 years, the BCS, for the most part, have done a great job of that.

I think one thing the BCS has failed to do over the last 14 years is give us an undisputed national champion. You know I can remember two years ago when Auburn won the national championship, that there was TCU undefeated off a Rose Bowl win. A lot of people wondered what would have happened if both those teams played one more game. Who would have been the national champion?

A similar situation the year before than when Alabama won, Boise State was undefeated the year before that, 4-1, and there was an undefeated Utah team. So I think for the last 14 years, maybe 97 percent sure at the end of the season who the national champion was. I think with this new format, which will take effect in 2014, I think it will bring us that much closer to being 100 percent sure who the national champion is year in and year out.

PHILLIPS: What about current bowl games? How would that fit into this proposal?

PALMER: Well, I think one of the big topics of discussion right now is trying to determine where and when to play these games. If this is after all going to be a playoff. Should there be homefield advantage given to the first round of these final four games, the teams that finished number one and number two at the end of the regular season? Or do you somehow find a way to tie in the current BCS bowl games with these games?

I think one of the reasons I like this format and this playoff format that everyone is talking about right now, the final four, I think you can still find a way to keep bowl traditions alive. Depending on how the final four teams play out in the rankings, you can still have a big 10-team play, a packed 12-team in the Rose Bowl. You could still have an SEC champion playing in the Sugar Bowl or a big 12-champion playing in the CS Bowl, depending on how it all plays out.

I think there's a lot of different reasons why this model makes sense, but certainly right now a big hurdle moving forward is figuring out when and where exactly to play these, quote-unquote, "final four games."

PHILLIPS: All right. Before I let you go, Jesse, let's get down to the real point here, and that is when my team, we all pick our teams and put our whole structure together and compete against everybody else, will this make it easier for us to win?

(LAUGHTER)

PALMER: I guess it depends on who -- I think playing that extra game, you know, it's potentially making it a lot trickier. It's funny, you know, I have spoke to a lot of coaches over the last couple of weeks. There are a lot of coaches that oppose this because they don't want to have to play a 15th game at the end of the regular season because of injuries.

PHILLIPS: Sure.

PALMER: And how things stack up.

PHILLIPS: Makes sense.

PALMER: A lot of coaches are a little bit weary of doing that. Especially teams from the Best Power Conferences, example an SEC. And Alabama doesn't want to have to play LSU or Arkansas, the Floridas of the world, the Georgias of the world, have to play an SEC championship game, have to play a top four opponent in the post season, and then play another top four opponent just to win a national championship.

But I think at the end of the day, this is the best model in terms of figuring out who truly is the national champion and for all fans throughout college football, this is what we have been screaming for for the last 14 years and finally in two years, I think it's finally going to come to fruition.

PHILLIPS: And Jesse is screaming now. Jesse Palmer, thanks for calling in. I sure appreciate it.

All right. Well, you've been called boring, stiff, told that you don't connect? What's the solution? If you're Mitt Romney, you consider a "Saturday Night Live" cameo. Good idea or a disaster in the making?

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PHILLIPS: Well, they were at each other's throats, the campaigns of Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum tearing each other's candidate apart but the clash of the camps has apparently found peace. Kind of.

Here's the word, Santorum's former campaign manager is now with Romney. The new role, national coalition director. His job, winning over the conservative vote, Tea Party, evangelicals, and all. Today Mike Biondo is fair game.

Democratic strategist Keith Boykin and Republican analyst Boris Epshteyn with me this morning.

So, Boris, just a few weeks ago Romney was Biondo's target. Now he's got to get people to vote for him. I mean that's like telling a Yankee fan you've got to love the Red Sox.

No, not quite. That's more like telling a Yankee farm team that you've got to go for the main team now. And this is a great example of how good the Republican Party is at coalescing behind its leader.

BORIS EPSHTEYN, REPUBLICAN ANALYST: When I was on McCain/Palin '08 last time around, we had people from the Giuliani campaign, Thompson campaign, and the Romney campaign all working very well together once McCain was our standard bearer. This is another great example of how good Republicans are uniting and being a great, great party.

PHILLIPS: Keith, I know you'd love to be a fly on the wall.

KEITH BOYKIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, it's funny Boris said that the 2008 campaign was a great example of how the Republicans worked together? Well, look how that campaign turned out. Guess who won? It wasn't the Republican candidates. I think what's going on here --

EPSHTEYN: That's a low blow. BOYKIN: What's going on -- yes, it's the truth. The truth is sometimes a low blow. The reality is that the Republicans will almost say or do anything apparently to get elected. And you got this guy, Rick Santorum, who hasn't even yet endorsed Mitt Romney, who was out there just a month ago saying that Romney would be the worst possible candidate that the Republicans can run and now suddenly his campaign manager is working for Mitt Romney.

PHILLIPS: All right.

BOYKIN: These guys would do anything.

EPSHTEYN: The Republicans being -- the Republicans being a big tent is the reason we're going to win this election. Big tent.

PHILLIPS: There are so much talk, guys, about Romney being boring, stiff, he can't relate, you know, to you and me, "SNL" has pretty much nailed that. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When a service provider isn't doing the job, you have to make a change. Adding that I like to be able to fire people. I think the audience understood what I was saying. It's like when you've been raking leaves out in the yard and your T-shirt is a little clammy. You go inside and fire it.

I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts the Broncos give my beloved Patriots quite a run for their money on the gridiron tomorrow. Let me tell you, I'll be watching that game along with my five human sons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right, now there are these rumors flying, it's been fueled by Ann Romney who spoke to "Entertainment Tonight" that possibly, maybe he might go on "SNL." If he were to do it, Keith, what should his skit be?

BOYKIN: Well, I think he should make fun of himself. I mean here's a guy who's talking about making $10,000 bets, who says that $374,000 is not much money, who has -- he say his wife is driving a couple of Cadillacs at the same time --

PHILLIPS: All right. Make fun of himself.

BOYKIN: He's building a (INAUDIBLE) in his house.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Boris, you got 10 seconds.

BOYKIN: He's filled with humor.

PHILLIPS: You got 10 seconds.

(LAUGHTER) EPSHTEYN: That was -- that's a headpiece by Keith. Romney should go out there and talk about not just how great a president he's going to be when he is elected but also how great of a person he is and poke fun of himself. We all like to see that. That's how you like Governor Palin was great at that in '08 actually.

PHILLIPS: We'll see if indeed --

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: And she won, right?

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Keith and Boris, that's fair game.

EPSHTEYN: Your guy is going to leave this time around.

PHILLIPS: Quick break. We'll be right back.

EPSHTEYN: Don't rest on those laurels.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. For full disclosure, my team knows that I am not a fan of the cat stuck in the tree stories, but I -- don't laugh, Suzanne. But when they showed me this picture, I have to say my hardened heart softens.

This is Cactus Jack, and yes, he got the name after he got caught in a cactus in Arizona. But don't worry, because a passerby actually saw this eight-year or eight-week-old Yorkie terrier pup, by the way, and the dozens of cactus needles that got stuck right there in his snot were pulled out one by one.

Now Cactus Jack apparently whimpered but he also wagged his tail. And here's the best news of all. He was adopted. Now the new owner is debating whether or not she's going to change his name.

(LAUGHTER)

Thanks for watching, everybody. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with our Suzanne Malveaux right after a break.

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