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NASA Attempting to Launch Uncrewed Artemis 1 Rocket on Historic Mission Around Moon; Authorities Tracking Plane in Mississippi Whose Pilot Threatening to Intentionally Crash Local into Tupelo Walmart; Federal Judge Unseals Inventory of Files Recovered by FBI during Search of Former President Trump's Residence at Mar-a-Lago. Aired 10- 11a ET

Aired September 03, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But whatever happens next, nobody will do it quite like her. There will only every be one Serena Williams.

Don Riddell, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of Newsroom starts right now.

Buenos Dias, good morning, it is Saturday, September 3rd. Hope you having a happy Labor Day Weekend. I'm Boris Sanchez.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Boris. I'm Amara Walker. You are in the CNN Newsroom.

In a matter of hour NASA may try to launch its uncrewed Artemis 1 rocket on a historic mission around the moon. Preparations are under way right now at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, including some troubleshooting. Officials say today's launch window is still on track for this afternoon at 2:17 p.m., but NASA still dealing with that liquid hydrogen leak that is causing delays in fueling up the rocket.

SANCHEZ: At last check, they've tried a few different ways to troubleshoot it, to fix the problem. No word yet on whether they've been able to stop it at this point. This follows Monday's scrubbed launch which was largely due to an engine cooling problem. It was a tricky sensor that was off. But engineers remain optimistic that today there will be a launch. For now, the weather has been cooperating, so that helps. NASA meteorologists predict about 60 percent favorable conditions, which increases to 80 percent as the day goes on.

Of course, this historic mission marks the next chapter of lunar exploration and will land the first woman and first person of color on the moon in a matter of years.

WALKER: Let's go now to CNN's space and defense correspondent Kristin Fisher live this morning from the Kennedy Space Center. I don't think Kristin has us. Kristin, can you hear us? Can you hear Amara Walker and Boris Sanchez?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, guys. I'm having a bit of a hard time with my earpiece so I can't quite hear what you said. But let me bring you up to speed on what we're dealing with right now here at the Kennedy Space Center. We are still listening to NASA engineers as they try to troubleshoot this hydrogen leak. They tried plan A. That didn't work. So they tried plan B. That didn't work. So they tried to come up with a plan C, but it sounds like they weren't able to come up with a plan C, so they went back to plan A.

And plan A is essentially trying to warm up and then cool back down this leaky hose, so to speak, to try to get this hydrogen going back through. Let me show you what I'm talking about here. This is the Artemis rocket. You've got the SLS rocket right here, Orion capsule on top, where someday, if this thing ever takes off, this is where the crew is going to be.

And so right now, they're dealing with a hydrogen leak is from the line. It's about an eight-inch line that goes right in about here. And essentially what they're trying to do, this fuel that goes in, the liquid hydrogen, very, very cold, negative 420 degrees Fahrenheit. And so the seal is where the problem is.

And so they're trying to make that seal warmer and then colder again to kind of thermally shock it back into sealing. But again, they've tried this once before and it didn't work. So now they're trying it for a second time.

But Boris and Amara, or -- I'm sorry, the times are getting confusing now. It's Sara now. Sara, the big question now is even if they are able to successfully troubleshoot this hydrogen leak, the big question now, Sara, is there enough time left on the countdown clock to make up for all this time that they've spent troubleshooting. And it just doesn't look like there is. There are some built-in holds where NASA could make up some lost time. But as of now it's looking like there is a pretty good chance that NASA may have to try again on Monday. That's the next launch attempt. There's another potential launch attempt on Tuesday.

But it they can't go during this window, Amara and Boris, they're going to have to roll this entire rocket back to the vertical assembly building, which takes just a ton -- a lot of time, and it also puts a lot of strain on this rocket, which is like moving a skyscraper or the statue of liberty four miles down the road, Boris and Amara.

WALKER: Gosh, that's so disappointing. OK, well, let's just keep our fingers crossed. Kristin Fisher, thank you very much.

Let's go now to meteorologist Britley Ritz for a look at the forecast ahead of today's launch if it even happens. So if all the kinks are worked out, what is weather looking like at that time, 2:17 to 4:17?

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We've got that 60 percent chance of getting this rocket off the ground later in that launch window that extends just after 4:00, a better chance of getting Artemis for an all clear. All dependent on whether or not we're dealing with clouds and lightning.

[10:05:03]

Lightning not only within the storm but with the thrust of the rocket itself. Within 10 miles, we're dealing with the threat of a few showers at the moment within the vicinity off into the Atlantic. You see lightning, but again, it's not just the lightning with the storms, but also the lightning with the thrust as it takes off.

So not just the threat of rain right now off into the Atlantic, but a few of these showers and storms may brush the coastline. And we're watching the winds closely with this. An east wind now starting to push in. That's a good thing, because with the heat of the day, the sea's breeze will kick up, and that stronger east wind pushes most of that rain inland. So we'll have a better chance for liftoff or an all clear as we progress through the upcoming hours.

Minute by minute for you, later this morning into the afternoon, the showers and thunderstorms will start to fire up with warmer temperatures. Expect peak heating around 2:00, 3:00. And that's when we can start to see the sea breeze really kick in. Amara, Boris?

SANCHEZ: At least it seems like the weather is complying with the launch for today. Britley Ritz, thank you so much for the update.

Let's bring in a couple of expert voices now, CNN aerospace analyst Miles O'Brien is with us, and former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino is with us as well. Good morning, gentlemen, great to have you. Miles, I want to put a live picture of the Artemis 1 rocket. They've been working on this hydrogen leak all morning. And I notice that it appears that there's some fluffy stuff, some white stuff coming out of the side of the core engine that I didn't see before. Does that mean anything to you?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: That's just natural gassing that occurs or off-venting that occurs as both the liquid hydrogen, or in this case liquid hydrogen oxygenized, you would say, because there's more of it onboard right now, as it boils away, as it's sitting there on the launch pad. So you're not really seeing the leak there. You're just seeing the boil-off.

The leak itself, what you have to understand is that hydrogen is the lightest, smallest element on the periodic table. It's very difficult to keep it from -- in a place that you want it. And this is what has bedeviled this space launch system. Every time they roll it out to the launch pad and put liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen in it, they seem to have difficulty in particular with the liquid hydrogen leaks at various stages in the game. And here we are once again with a leak in one of these quick disks, the hoses which connect the fuel tank on the rocket to the hydrogen tank on the ground. They have to keep that constantly replenished right up until the last minute before launch.

WALKER: And Mike, you've got a lot of degrees, but you're also a mechanical engineer. This is perfect. So people want to know, is this going to go or knock? Is this leak repairable, in your opinion, before the launch window closes, or in time to meet the launch window? MIKE MASSIMINO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, Amara, I'm not 100

percent sure, but I'm not the guy making that decision. So there's some really smart people. Mike Sarafin is a friend of mine, I worked with him in mission control for years when I was an astronaut. He's the program manager, and a lot of smart people are looking into this. So I think the rocket ship is in good hands. It could be something that might delay them for another day. It also might be something, as Miles said, these things, hydrogen, cryogenic fuels, there's always some leakages, always a little burn-off. It may just be slowing them in fueling the vehicle and they can still do that effectively to make this window.

And they're looking at it in all different ways to make sure that if it is OK they'll be able to go. And if not, they'll wave off. But little things happen. I don't know if this is big enough to have them wave off today. Everything else looks pretty good. I still think there's a good chance they'll go.

SANCHEZ: Mike, let's say they do have to wave it off today, how does that impact the entire plan for Artemis? Does that delay things, can they make the time up? How does that work?

MASSIMINO: It just means you try another day. And sometimes it's weather, sometimes it's a technical issue. There's all kind of things that affect a launch. When I invite my friends to come see me launch into space, when I was with NASA as an astronaut, I would say you're planning a vacation to Florida and you might see a launch. You never really know. We'd be sitting on the launch pad looking at either, wondering if we were going to go that day because the saying was you never know you're going until the main engines light, then you know you might be going somewhere that day. But until that happens, everyone is going to make sure that everything is OK, and if there's anything that really is going to really put you at risk, they're not going to go.

That said, they also do want to go, so if it's a problem they can't fix and be confident in, they will try. And as far as a setback goes, there's other times they can go.

[10:10:00]

If they can't go today, I think the next opportunity for them to try is Monday. If that doesn't work, they'll try to go at the end of the month. They can't go every day, there are certain restrictions, where the moon is and rocket, how it's going to rendezvous, and so on. But they certainly, if they don't feel good about it, and they have real reason to hold off like they did earlier in the week, they'll just go another time. People will understand that, and we'll eventually get off the ground. But they're really close. Even if it's not today, they're close to getting this thing going.

WALKER: I just don't like hearing there's always tomorrow. I think we've all been waiting for this moment, right. And Miles.

MASSIMINO: That's the space business.

WALKER: Exactly. And I'm sure it's not difficult to get people to come vacation in Florida.

Miles, this is the largest rocket NASA has ever built, right? Can you just, big picture here, how much effort did it take to get to this moment?

O'BRIEN: Well, it's really, depending on how you count, it's about 18 years in the making, if you go back to the predecessor campaign, the constellation program, it is the most powerful rocket that NASA has ever built, 15 percent more thrust than the mighty Saturn V which took people to the moon in the 60s and early 70s. And it is a rocket that is $4.1 billion for a single launch. The idea was to come up with a rocket made of shuttle parts, and literally the engines on this rocket have flown to space on space shuttles, and that that would be faster and better and cheaper. But it's actually been slower and very expensive. Whether it's better is to be determined.

WALKER: We'll going to leave it there. Miles O'Brien and Mike Massimino, we appreciate you both, thank you very much.

We are also following some breaking news out of Mississippi. Governor Tate Reeves says state authorities are tracking a plane whose pilot is threatening to intentionally crash into a local Tupelo Walmart.

SANCHEZ: We've been tracking this bizarre story since earlier today. Let's get right to CNN's Nadia Romero. Nadia, what's the latest you can tell us?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris, Amara, we know that about 5:00 a.m. in the morning, the pilot made contact with 911, calling in, saying that he was going to intentionally crash his plane into a Walmart in Tupelo, Mississippi, on West Main Street. And so right after that, authorities immediately evacuated that Walmart store and the surrounding area. We've reached out to Walmart but have yet to receive comment.

But we do know that the FAA and the TSA are both monitoring the situation. But it's the local police authorities who are the first contact, figuring out what's happening here as this develops in real time. We have video now of that plane circling around that Walmart in the area of Tupelo, Mississippi. We know that that plan, that pilot is flying now north of the city.

This is the statement released by the governor of Mississippi, Tate Reeves, saying "State law enforcement and emergency managers are closely tracking this dangerous situation. All citizens should be on alert and aware of updates from the Tupelo Police Department."

Local police say they have been in contact with the pilot, and they tell us he's flying likely a King Air type, which is a common aircraft, a turboprop aircraft engine. Aviation experts telling CNN that this plane will likely have a tail number. So think of a tail number on the back of a plane, just like your license plate on your car, if you get that registered. That number is so important to planes. It tells you about the aircraft, the manufacturer, the age. It also tells you about the owner. And so that is an important number that will be tracked and followed. We also heard from an aviation expert telling CNN there could be a transponder on the plane, to track that plane as well. But if you look at a map, he is flying north of Tupelo. The closest major city is Memphis, Tennessee, only about 100 miles away. That allows for a much bigger target if he's planning to intentionally crash. Boris, Amara?

SANCHEZ: I just want to make a quick moat, Nadia Romero is actually in Jackson, Mississippi, covering the water crisis there as a result of intense flooding. She's now covering what is being threatened in Tupelo. So Nadia Romero from Mississippi, thank you so much.

Let's bring back in CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien. Miles, police say the airplane is possibly a King Air t King Air type. Give us a sense of scale, what exactly does that mean, and what does it tell you about the situation?

O'BRIEN: It's sort of a mid-sized twin-engine turboprop aircraft, favored for business aviation. Dripping wet on the ramp, depending on which model it is, it weighs about 16,000 pounds, just to give you an idea of scale. They first came out in the early 60s. There's many iterations of it, very successful, built by Beechcraft, which is now owned by Textron. And there are so many versions and models of it that it's difficult to say much more about its range, which is obviously critical.

[10:15:03]

It's been in the air now for more than four hours, evidently. If he checked in at 5:00 a.m. local time, that's 6:00 a.m. eastern. And we're starting to get to the edge of its endurance and fuel, depending on a lot of parameters and how the engines are set. It's certainly something that if it was deliberately aimed at a building could cause quite a bit of damage.

Understand its tail number would be important because we'll be able to know a little bit more about the make and model, and of course the ownership. I would presume at this point that there is some effort under way to intercept this aircraft at some level in the air whether through Air National Guard resources or some other type of aircraft in order to get eyes on it and see what's going on. But very troubling, to say the least.

WALKER: Could you talk a little bit more about that, Miles, in terms of how authorities would actually intercept this aircraft, and also are pilots, I guess, in that area being notified as well?

O'BRIEN: Well, if you had, you know, a high performance fighter of some kind, it wouldn't be too difficult to reach a King Air, depending on the speed it was flying. I don't know offhand exactly where the nearest Air National Guard base might be, but I'm sure there's an effort to try to see what's going on with that aircraft and possibly intercept, at least understand what's going on on board that aircraft in greater detail.

But clearly, a very troubling threat. And if the pilot chooses to bring it down on that Walmart, that's not a good thing at all. As time goes on and the fuel becomes more scarce, this situation will come to a head, the laws of physics will apply here.

SANCHEZ: Miles, I'm wondering if there's a plan in place for this sort of thing. I can't imagine this is the first time that something like this has happened. Do you know of what authorities might have in place? You mentioned air National Guard. Is there a playbook for this kind of situation? It just seems awfully bizarre.

O'BRIEN: Well, you could hearken back to 9/11, and the intercept of the aircraft that ultimately crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The Air National Guard craft at the time that intercepted that airliner, which was of course commandeered by those hijackers on that horrible day, they were not even armed, those Air National Guard aircraft. Whether there would be an armed fighter jet nearby and whether it would be in any way appropriate to do something like that, way beyond my pay grade and understanding of what the rules of operation are.

But I do know this, that since 9/11, there has been greater awareness of the possibility that at some point in the future, military aircraft might have to intercept and bring down an airliner, which is a horrible thought. That's not what this case is, but it's an interesting thing to think about.

SANCHEZ: From discussing outer space to the strange and bizarre, Miles O'Brien, we hope you stand by. We're, of course, going to keep watching the story and bring you up to speed with the latest updates. Thank you, Miles.

WALKER: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome.

Still to come this morning, thousands of documents and dozens of empty folders. A federal judge revealing exactly what was found at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.

Plus, emotional moments as Serena Williams walks off the court after losing at the U.S. Open. A look back at what is likely her last match.

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[10:22:51]

WALKER: A new court filing is raising more questions about how government documents were handled or mishandled at Donald Trump's Florida estate.

SANCHEZ: A federal judge has unsealed a detailed inventory of the files recovered by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago during the search last month. For more on the documents and what they reveal, let's bring in CNN reporter Marshall Cohen. Good morning, Marshall. We cut a lot of unexpected detail in this inventory, right?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: We did. Good morning, guys. New details about the Mar-a-Lago search thanks to this unsealed document from the federal court down in Florida. So we're getting more insights into what they took. We already had the big picture on what the FBI took from Mar-a-Lago. Now we've got more details. It basically was an item- by-item inventory. One of the most interesting revelations here was that the 103 classified documents that they took from Mar-a-Lago were interspersed with press clippings, with clothing, even, and gifts. This is something that really raised alarm for investigators because you're supposed to very carefully keep track of these classified documents. They're not supposed to be strewn around with other personal items.

Also, according to these court filings, investigators retrieved more than 11,000 non-classified government documents, but they're still presidential records that are the property of the United States government. So FBI agents took that during the search. And also, guys, they found dozens of empty folders that were marked "classified" on the outside but had nothing inside the folder, which of course is raising all kinds of questions, like what's in the folder, what's missing? Are there documents that might still be classified somewhere at Mar-a-Lago?

So those are the big takeaways from the search. It's a good thing that we're learning this. The judge has erred on the side of transparency, releasing unsealed -- unsealing more records. And now we get a better glimpse of what was found at Mar-a-Lago.

[10:24:57]

WALKER: And we know that the unsealing of the inventory all stems from Trump's request for a special master, this independent arbiter to review the Mar-a-Lago documents and separate his privileged or private documents from the ones that were seized. Are we getting any sense of when the judge is going to make that decision?

COHEN: It's 100 percent up to her. It's whether or not she wants to work on this holiday weekend. A ruling could come at any moment.

But this was a big case about the documents. Donald Trump says that he doesn't trust the Justice Department to go through these materials. He doesn't trust the FBI to do it. He has asked for a special master, which is kind of an antiquated term, but it really is just a reference to a third party attorney that would be brought in from outside the government to look at these materials.

The judge convened a pretty blockbuster hearing on Thursday, and she seemed to be leaning in the direction of granting former President Trump some relief. She had tough questions for the Justice Department. And her ruling could come at any time.

However, outside of court, the DOJ has found an unlikely ally in former attorney general Bill Barr, who of course was a huge Trump supporter and a real ally of the former president during his tenure. Take a listen to what Bill Barr said about this case yesterday on FOX News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think that the whole idea of a special master is a bit of a red herring. At this stage, since they've already gone through the documents, I think it's a waste of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So you can see where he stands. But of course, it's not up to him. It will be up to the judge. And we are waiting for her decision, guys.

SANCHEZ: And we know you will be eagerly anticipating that decision and talk us through it. Marshall Cohen, thanks so much.

Still ahead, we're going to take closer look at the dire situation in Jackson, Mississippi. Residents there have not had clean water for nearly a week. We'll take you there in just moments.

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WALKER: Jackson, Mississippi, residents are facing a sixth day since a major water plant failed, meaning that they don't have any reliable running water right now, leaving thousands of people without access to clean tap water. Amid the crisis, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell traveled to Jackson, yesterday, to meet with state and local officials, just as another effort to restore water pressure failed.

Joining me now is Andre Perry. He is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program and author of "Know Your Price, Valuing Black Lives and Property in America's Black Cities." You're the perfect person to talk to this morning. Thank you, Andre, for doing this.

First off, I just got back from Mississippi, Jackson, yesterday, or on Thursday. And it was just astounding to see people struggling for the most basic human thing, right, drinking water. We all know that this has been decades in the making. And this is happening once again in a majority black city. I believe the population of Jackson is 80 percent black, a quarter of that population living in poverty. We saw this happening in another majority black city, Flint, in 2014. How much does race have to do with this?

ANDRE M. PERRY, SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM: As we know, race and racism plays a lot in where we live, our land use policy, and ultimately our utilities. Now, in an ideal sense, infrastructure is shared. It serves as the foundation for economic development, for health, for transportation, and many other things. But for water in particular in Mississippi, it's management at the municipal level.

And we know segregation and the composition of race really impacts how we invest in those places. Sometimes we don't necessarily -- we don't have to necessarily discriminate against people when you can discriminate against whole neighborhoods.

And so in large part, what we've seen over years and years is this lack of investment, and also white flight. The population shifted, roughly about in 1990, it was about 50 percent black. Now it's about 80 percent black. And with those, the loss of whites in those towns, you lose tax revenue, and you lose the money to keep the infrastructure safe and sound.

WALKER: So then who would you say is to blame with this? I know you just mentioned it goes down to the management at the municipal level. But being on the ground there and hearing the mayor say over and over, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, saying we've been at this alone for many years. And I know back in 2021 after that crippling storm in Jackson which basically damaged the pipes and shut off the entire water system, unbelievably, that after that, I know that city officials had been asking for, I think it was $47 million from the state, and the state only gave $3 million. So who is to blame here?

PERRY: I won't say if there's any one person to blame. I will say that water is fundamental and essential for living. And we must treat it so by creating shared systems in which -- that are not so susceptible to demographic shifts. If a certain population moves out, we still need clean water. And if that funding is not there, you need more of a regional approach to paying for those facilities.

[10:35:00]

So there's an idea called One Water. It's an integrated approach to managing water. We should move there. Bennie Thompson, Representative Bennie Thompson, is asking for a regional water authority. I think that's the way towards a solution. But it is clear that this problem, in terms of blame, is shared, unlike the infrastructure that is in place.

WALKER: So who would be in charge of the regional water system, then?

PERRY: They come up with regional boards oftentimes. And sometimes those regional boards are stacked with members of the community who don't look like those residents, the overall residents. But we need to -- we can fix that. We can have an inclusive board of some type. But there needs to be some type of regional approach. Just as we have electricity and gas, we can have in water as well.

WALKER: And I do want to ask you about this because obviously there needs to be political pressure as well, right, and there needs to be a stronger political voice. And the city's population, as we were mentioning, predominantly black, yet the state's legislature is predominantly white, right? So how does that all factor in when it comes to underinvestment in these communities?

PERRY: There is a racialized preemption. Preemption is this idea that a higher authority trumps any decision of a lower authority, in this case the state would trump the city. And there is a racialized version that have going on in Jackson and Mississippi in general. Many mayors have asked for fixes to the system, and it's not occurred. They've blocked many tax policies, proposals to generate more revenue.

In addition, states and counties have not invested in people in Jackson in terms of this overall economic development. If you're not building new structures, new businesses, and the like, you're not going to get infrastructure built around it. And so the lack of overall investment in people throttles the amount of income revenue that people in Jackson have to contribute to their own infrastructure. So I think what needs to happen is to put pressure on the governor, and not just have the governor cry for help when a disaster hits, but to really invest in all of its residents, including those in Jackson.

WALKER: Got to be proactive. Andre Perry, we're out of time. Thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: We're continuing to follow that breaking news out of Mississippi where police say that a pilot threatened to intentionally crash into a Walmart. The situation appears to still be ongoing. We have an update just minutes away. Stay with CNN.

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[10:42:09]

WALKER: We're continuing to follow that breaking news out of Mississippi where authorities are monitoring a pilot circling over the state after threatening to crash a small plane.

SANCHEZ: Let's bring in CNN's Pete Muntean. Pete, you've been tracking the story since we first hurt about it. What are you learning from authorities about what is happening right now?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, a government source familiar now tells me the plane is over Holly Springs National Forest, and that Tupelo police who were initially communicating with this pilot, we think via phone, are now no longer in touch with the pilot. This plane, you can see in this video, was circling overhead Tupelo, Mississippi earlier today. This all began around 7:45 in the morning central time, 8:45 on the east coast. So this has been going on about two hours.

I can tell you just by eyeballing a lot of this video, this plane is what's known as a Beechcraft King Air C-90. It has a top speed of 250 knots, about 275 miles an hour. It has a fuel endurance, depending on the model, of between four and six hours.

We also know from some of the initial reports around this, information coming from the governor of Mississippi, also from local authorities, that the person who is piloting this plane, we don't know whether or not this person is a pilot, was an airport employee. So there are some big questions here about how this person got into the airplane, started the airplane, and then took off, the reports say initially from the Tupelo airport. And the initial reports also say that this pilot was threatening to crash this plane into the Tupelo, Mississippi, Walmart. But we now know from this government source who tells me that this plane has flown away, it has essentially gone over to a national forest and is now over that area as well.

Unclear what the outcome will be here. Could the plane run out of fuel? We're not totally sure. We're only two hours into this. Could the pilot land successfully? Also unsure. We're not sure if this person is a pilot or trained. We do think, or at least I think that this person at least has some good familiarity with flying if they were able -- if they were not a pilot, able to start this airplane and take off, they would have had to have had at least some aviation knowledge. So still not clear whether or not this person is a trained pilot or not, although we do know from initial reports that this person was an airport employee. Boris, Amara?

WALKER: So Pete, the local authorities, TSA, they're all watching this monitoring this. Do you know what the plan is, protocol, I guess, to intercept this plane, if they had to at some point?

MUNTEAN: Really there is no protocol. We know from the Horizon Air incident back in Seattle several years ago, when an airport employee essentially broke into a Dash 8 airliner and flew over some of the outlying islands in the Seattle area and then ultimately crashed into one of those islands, we know that there were fighter jets sent after the airliner in that case.

[10:45:15]

In this case, we're not sure. We've reached out to the local National Guard in Mississippi. They're not able to tell us what their plan is just of yet. We know the FAA is monitoring this, and they are the authority that essentially controls the radar stations that would be able to track this airplane and figure out exactly where it is. But the FAA doesn't have any sort of ability to intercept an airplane. That would be more or less up to the military or some military apparatus, some extension of it, either it would be the Air Guard or the Air Force.

So we will have to see. It is usually the last resort in something like this. So if police are in communication with this pilot, they're likely trying to talk him down and get him back on the ground without hurting himself or herself or anybody on the ground as well. So we'll see as this plays out, Amara.

WALKER: Yes, we certainly hope the resolution is a peaceful one. Pete, just for the sake of clarity, when we first got information about this, officials had told us that the pilot called 911 at about 5:00 a.m. local time. It sounds like you're getting updated information. Just to have an idea of how much time, how much fuel may still be in the tank on this plane. The information you have is the latest, most updated one, and apparently, it's only been in the air for about two hours?

MUNTEAN: I could be wrong on the times here, Boris. I'm also still getting up to speed. But we know that a King Air 90 like this, if you look at the statistics online, I've talked to folks who have flown them, they fly for about four hours if they're full of fuel completely, depending on the model, if it's a C-90. There's also an E- 90 which has extended fuel tanks, that can fly for about six hours.

So as time goes on, the options get more and more limited here. The plane could run out of fuel. At that point, an airplane like a King Air like that just essentially turns into a glider. So taking the stored-up energy in the airplane from being at altitude and coming in for a landing without any engine power, that would be a tricky situation, especially for any pilot, really, but especially for a nonpilot. Again, we do not know. We don't know if this person is a pilot or not. So we will have to see as this pans out. It's still in the early hours yet.

WALKER: It's going to have to come to an end at some point. Pete Muntean, appreciate you joining us, thank you. And, of course, we'll continue to monitor the situation, give you those updates as they come in.

We'll be right back.

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[10:52:10]

WALKER: Serena Williams is starting life after tennis.

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SERENA WILLIAMS, 23-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: I don't know. I think that I'm definitely going to probably be karaoke-ing tomorrow.

(LAUGHTER)

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WALKER: That's what the 23-time Grand Slam champ told reporters after stepping off the court for possibly the last time at the U.S. Open.

SANCHEZ: It is a good plan. Let's got to CNN's Carolyn Manno. She was at the match. She joins us live with this morning's Bleacher Report. Good morning, Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. That's a plan that's going to come to fruition. I just spoke to her head coach Rennae Stubbs a short time ago. She said, yes, we're going to party tonight. And I think that they deserve it. Last night was so emotional for her. I think that there was a calm around her separating from the sport. But tonight it's going to get rowdy.

And what a way to go out, just going down swinging. She's such a fighter. It's what has made her an icon. And that was on display last night. The crowd was raucous, it was the loudest I've heard this entire week. They were just trying to will her to another victory. She lost the first set to Ajla Tomljanovic, who, give a lot of credit to, she played unphased. But Serena dug so deep like she has done so many times. She wasn't going down without a fight. She played some of the best points she has played in the tournament, this year, in fact, to get to that second set and the tie break.

And even when she was struggling in that third set, she just would not quit. She staved off five match points before finally falling in a three hour and five minute match, the longest of her career. And she certainly got emotional when the reality of the moment hit her right after.

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SERENA WILLIAMS, 23-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: It all started with my parents, and they deserve everything. So I'm really grateful for them.

(APPLAUSE)

WILLIAMS: Oh, my God. These are happy tears, I guess. I don't know. And I wouldn't be -- I wouldn't be Serena if there wasn't Venus, so thank you, Venus.

(APPLAUSE)

WILLIAMS: She's the only reason that Serena Williams ever existed.

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MANNO: She was so honest, she was so vulnerable, like she has been this entire week, letting us in to how she's truly feeling. And if this was her last match, she walks away as an absolutely legend, 23 Grand Slam titles, one shy of Margaret Court's all-time record, 14 doubles titles with Venus, four Olympic gold medals.

And the tributes have been pouring in all over social media. Coco Gauff saying, "Serena, thank you. It is because of you I believe in this dream. The impact you've had on me goes beyond any words that can be put together, and for that I say thank you, thank you, thank you. GOAT." And Tiger Woods saying, "Serena Williams, you are literally the greatest on and off the court. Thank you for inspiring all of us to pursue our dreams. I love you little sis."

[10:55:05]

And you guys, it's impossible to quantify her legacy. There are the numbers that are easy to point to, but she has changed this game, she's changed the world. She's the greatest of all time.

SANCHEZ: Yes, the phrase GOAT gets tossed around a lot nowadays. It does not apply to anyone more than it does Serena Williams. Amazing career. Carolyn Manno from Flushing, New York, thank you so much.

And speaking of strong women, in a new CNN fil, "No Ordinary Life," you'll see the remarkable story of five women who made their mark by braving the front lines to capture images from conflicts all over the world. "No Ordinary Life" premieres Monday at 10:00 p.m. eastern, only on CNN.

WALKER: And is our time. Thank you for yours. Thanks for watching.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much for being with us. There's still much more ahead in the next hour of the CNN Newsroom. Sara Sidner picks it up in just a few minutes.

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