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CNN Live Saturday
Air Show Celebrates American Military
Aired May 03, 2003 - 16:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is a weekend wrapped up in red, white, and blue, across the country, but particularly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. American troops are the toast of the town and right now you're looking at a shaky but soon hopefully into focus view of the Thunderbirds who are taking to the sky there and that's why some two million people are there on the beach, along the coast of South Florida.
And among all the madness there is our own John Zarrella. He's keeping a watch on things there. It looks like that two million has grown now.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: I tell you, Fredricka, you know I wish you could be here, sorry, but this is -- you see them going over right now. I should stop talking. That's what everybody's come here to see, the F-4 -- the F-16s and that is the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird precision flying team.
And, just a few minutes ago, while we watched them fly, and I'll tell you there was a ceremony here where they sang the national anthem, sang God Bless America, and all of the people on the beach were waving American flags that they had been given today, and it was just one wonderful moment here.
And, again, as we watch this precision flying team, they're going to be flying for about 40 minutes, I'll tell you that the people here have been treated to a wonderful show all day, not just the people on the beach but there are thousands of boats out in the water across, oh, about half a mile across the water there, thousands of boats lined up, everything from sailboats to dinghies to catamarans.
And, just a few minutes ago those wonderful airplanes, my favorite, the A-10 Warthogs, those are those tank killer airplanes they flew over just a few minutes ago and performed their precision flying.
Also, had F-14 Tomcats, those are the Navy's F-14 Tomcats that are carrier based. They're being phased out, going to be replaced by the F-18 Super Hornets, and they are also part of the show today as well, F-14s, F-18s, and they are absolutely unbelievable performance aircraft.
But now I'm going to stop again. Look at that. They're nearly wing-to-wing. That's just phenomenal. We could watch them all day. I wish we had that much airtime here. We also had an opportunity to see the B-1B bomber fly over, saw some stealth aircraft as well, but the B-1B bomber is the backbone of the U.S. Air Forces's long range bomber force and it was originally designed in the Cold War as a nuclear strike bomber but it now carries conventional weapons, and it also flew over.
So, it has just been a spectacular day out here today. Again, two million people, another two million expected tomorrow, so come on down, Fredricka. Hop on an airplane. Get off that schedule tomorrow and catch this show. It is just sensational -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: I'm ready. I'm ready to join you. That looks like a lot of fun, my cup of tea. All right, thanks a lot John.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 3, 2003 - 16:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is a weekend wrapped up in red, white, and blue, across the country, but particularly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. American troops are the toast of the town and right now you're looking at a shaky but soon hopefully into focus view of the Thunderbirds who are taking to the sky there and that's why some two million people are there on the beach, along the coast of South Florida.
And among all the madness there is our own John Zarrella. He's keeping a watch on things there. It looks like that two million has grown now.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: I tell you, Fredricka, you know I wish you could be here, sorry, but this is -- you see them going over right now. I should stop talking. That's what everybody's come here to see, the F-4 -- the F-16s and that is the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird precision flying team.
And, just a few minutes ago, while we watched them fly, and I'll tell you there was a ceremony here where they sang the national anthem, sang God Bless America, and all of the people on the beach were waving American flags that they had been given today, and it was just one wonderful moment here.
And, again, as we watch this precision flying team, they're going to be flying for about 40 minutes, I'll tell you that the people here have been treated to a wonderful show all day, not just the people on the beach but there are thousands of boats out in the water across, oh, about half a mile across the water there, thousands of boats lined up, everything from sailboats to dinghies to catamarans.
And, just a few minutes ago those wonderful airplanes, my favorite, the A-10 Warthogs, those are those tank killer airplanes they flew over just a few minutes ago and performed their precision flying.
Also, had F-14 Tomcats, those are the Navy's F-14 Tomcats that are carrier based. They're being phased out, going to be replaced by the F-18 Super Hornets, and they are also part of the show today as well, F-14s, F-18s, and they are absolutely unbelievable performance aircraft.
But now I'm going to stop again. Look at that. They're nearly wing-to-wing. That's just phenomenal. We could watch them all day. I wish we had that much airtime here. We also had an opportunity to see the B-1B bomber fly over, saw some stealth aircraft as well, but the B-1B bomber is the backbone of the U.S. Air Forces's long range bomber force and it was originally designed in the Cold War as a nuclear strike bomber but it now carries conventional weapons, and it also flew over.
So, it has just been a spectacular day out here today. Again, two million people, another two million expected tomorrow, so come on down, Fredricka. Hop on an airplane. Get off that schedule tomorrow and catch this show. It is just sensational -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: I'm ready. I'm ready to join you. That looks like a lot of fun, my cup of tea. All right, thanks a lot John.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
