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Shuttle Discovery Scheduled to Land Tuesday; London Terror; Borrowed Time
Aired August 08, 2005 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Florida, California or New Mexico? Just where will Discovery land tomorrow morning?
Terror suspects hustled into British court, and one of them is accused of trying to train terrorists right here in the United States.
Blinding sandstorm. Millions of grains of sand delay one important step for Iraqi self-government.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris. Kyra Phillips will join us live from NORTHCOM/NORAD later this hour.
This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
If all had gone according to plan Space Shuttle Discovery would be on a runway in Florida right now, and seven weary astronauts would be getting their Earth legs back after 13 days in space. Of course, if all had gone according to plan the astronauts wouldn't be quite so weary. And CNN's Sean Callebs wouldn't be poring over weather forecasts for early tomorrow morning at the Kennedy Space Center.
What's the story, Sean?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, indeed, the best I can give you at this hour, the weather tomorrow morning is expected to be a lot like the weather this morning here in the central portion of Florida. Meaning there could very well be that low cloud cover which forced NASA to wave off two possible landing attempts by Discovery this morning.
Now, of course NASA has very rigid guidelines for bringing the shuttle back into the atmosphere, back here to the Kennedy Space Center. Then you see a very lonely runway 15, the landing site for NASA here at the Kennedy Space Center. Let's hope tomorrow at this time it's a little more active.
Now, one astronaut who spent six months in space on the International Space Station, Mike Fincke, explains why it is so important to make sure that cloud cover does not obscure the pilot's advisability on re-entry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE FINCKE, ASTRONAUT: Now, with the space shuttle, unlike an airplane, we only get one shot at landing. Now, Eileen Collins is an experienced test pilot, and she'd be able to land almost blindfolded. But there's no reason to take that risk.
So this morning we thought there might be a cloud deck of about 500 feet, and that would have obscured the runway. And Eileen wouldn't have had a chance to really seen the runway, even with all her other navigation aids, to make that landing. This is a human in the loop landing, and we only get one shot. So wanted to make sure that we got everything just right, and so we got -- we're waiting for tomorrow for some better weather.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: And let's hope for that better weather tomorrow. There's a trifecta of possible landing sites tomorrow.
Of course here, at Kennedy Space Center, that is the preferred site. They could begin landing here. They have two attempts. One would be at 5:07. The other one would be at 6:42 in the morning.
A couple also at Edwards Air Force Base. The first one would be at 8:11 Eastern Time in the morning, the second one, 9:47.
And then, of course, always a possibility they could land at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. But to give you an idea, of all the landings the shuttle has had over the years, there has only been one at that site.
Now, NASA, of course, wants to land here at the Kennedy Space Center, chiefly for economics. It costs about $5 million to bring the shuttle across country if it would indeed land in California, and it could also force the possible delay of yet the next shuttle mission.
That would be Atlantis. It is tentatively scheduled for September 22. But of course, Tony, they must work out all the glitches they have with the external fuel tank, the foam protection on that, before they can once again begin launching the shuttle.
Tony, I had a chance to watch your very fine interview with the crew yesterday morning. And it was fascinating to hear pilot Jim Kelly talk about re-entry, saying it was basically like a runaway freight train watching the plasma pour over the outside of the orbiter and just hearing all the noise as they come in. It is going to be something.
NASA, of course, keeping their fingers crossed. And it's amazing. People in the U.S. used to keep this part of the mission almost -- they almost took it for granted all these years.
HARRIS: That's right.
CALLEBS: Once re-entry, it was almost a done deal. But now, of course, because of what happened February 1, 2003, all of that has changed -- Tony.
HARRIS: Well, Sean, I'm going to ask you something. I hope it's not a silly question, but I've heard this so much now. I just need to somehow get an answer on this. I keep hearing one shot, you get one shot at this. And at some point I understand the shuttle is coming in like a plane and it will land like a plane. But if for whatever there's a problem, why can't you just circle and come back in again?
CALLEBS: Basically, Tony, it is simply a big glider.
HARRIS: Oh.
CALLEBS: They do not have any power. There's nothing in the engines that would allow them to boost back and go up. It is just simply -- they have to come in, and while they come in like an aircraft, it certainly doesn't come in at an angle like this.
It comes in at a very sharp angle, something like 19 or 20 degrees. So it almost drops out of the sky like that.
HARRIS: Oh.
CALLEBS: They pull the nose up at the very end. It really, really is something.
It's going 220-some miles an hour when it touches down. That's the reason we need a runway three miles long and you need that parachute to bring it to a very fine stop. Let's hope for a very uneventful landing here tomorrow.
HARRIS: Absolutely. Good information. Boy, thanks, Sean. Appreciate it.
A first-term priority of President Bush is a second-term reality this hour with a visit to the Sandia National Laboratories at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Fascinating though it may be, the lab alone didn't merit a place on Mr. Bush's working vacation itinerary. Rather, he came to sign an energy bill, a hard-fought, long-stalled package promoting promotion and production, conservation and innovation. And, by the way, extending Daylight Saving Time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After years of debate and division, Congress passed a good bill. It's my honor to have come to the great state of New Mexico to sign it. I'm confident that one day Americans will look back on this bill as a vital step toward a more secure and more prosperous nation that is less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
Thank you for coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, if you remember all the fuss about drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, this law doesn't include it, but the head of the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee, New Mexico's Pete Domenici. says he will try to tack it onto later legislation.
In London three of the four men accused of planning bombs that didn't explode exactly two weeks after deadly transit attacks made their first appearance in court today. They are among eight people who went before a judge in connection with the plots last month.
CNN's Robyn Curnow reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A busy day here at Belmarsh Prison, where seven men linked to the July 21 bombings in London appeared before a magistrate, facing a variety of charges ranging from attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, as well as explosive charges. Other men also here charged with lesser counts of helping the suspects to evade arrest.
Also, additionally, one man, Haroon Rashid Aswat, who was reported from Zambia on Sunday, he also reported before a magistrate here at Belmarsh Prison. He was -- appeared on a U.S. extradition warrant. The Americans wanting him in connection with conspiracy to set up a terror training camp in Oregon in the United States.
All in all, an important day for the investigation, the first part of the legal process into the bombings here in London on July the 7th and July the 21st.
Robyn Curnow, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Sources in Saudi Arabia say the kingdom warned Britain of an imminent threat of terrorism before July 7. The unnamed sources tell CNN the warning was based on terrorist communications transmitted between the two countries. The sources also say that there was no direct link between the exchanges that occurred and the actual attacks July 7 or the attempted bombings two weeks later.
Security threats within the Saudi kingdom have prompted a two-day closure of United States diplomatic missions. The embassy in Riyadh and the U.S. consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran are to remain closed through tomorrow. Also today, Australia and Britain are warning that militants may strike soon in Saudi Arabia.
Israel's planned Gaza withdrawal is scheduled to begin a week from today. A spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the pullout will take place as scheduled despite loud opposition from Jewish settlers who will be forced to give up their homes. While some of the settlers are promising a fight, others say they will go quietly.
CNN's Guy Raz joins us now live -- Guy.
GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, as night has fallen here in Neveh Dekalim, the largest of the Gaza settlements, the residents here are creeping one day closer to the moment when they know the settlement will no longer exist. Now, including this settlement, 20 other Gaza settlements in -- 20 other Israeli settlements in Gaza will be evacuated beginning the 17th of October.
Now, if you talk to many of the residents who live here, they will tell you they're going about life as normal, taking their kids to the beach, going to their jobs. But you scratch the surface and it becomes very clear that most are resigned to the reality that the government will indeed begin the process of removing Israelis from land to country first occupied 38 years ago.
Now, while most of the settlers here in this settlement remain, some are beginning to trickle out in other Gaza settlements. That trickle is very rapidly becoming a flood.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAZ (voice-over): The sign reads "Elei Sinai will not fall," but most of the residents here admit it's just an empty slogan. In a few weeks, Elei Sinai will indeed fall.
DAVID YAMIN, ELEI SINAI SETTLER (through translator): I have accepted that there will be a disengagement.
RAZ: David Yamin and his wife Esti are not defiant or combative. Inside their home, boxes are piled high, prepared for the movers. I asked David whether he settled here out of ideological reasons?
YAMIN (through translator): No, I'm not here for those reasons. I'm here because I love the quality of life. I'm no ideologue and I'm no fanatic. I just like it here.
RAZ: A few streets up from the Yamin family, Anat Sa'adon gathers empty boxes. She, too, accepting the reality that her time in this community is over.
ANAT SA'ADON, ELEI SINAI SETTLER (through translator): We will not argue with the army. There are others here who will stay until the end, but we won't.
RAZ: Elei Sinai stands less than 200 meters from Israel's border with Gaza. But it's land the international community regards as occupied.
(on camera): By the end of September, Israelis will no longer live on this side of the fence. This road will mark a permanent boundary for the first time in 38 years, marking the point at which Israel ends and Gaza begins.
(voice-over): A few miles north of Elei Sinai settlement, inside the recognized boundaries of Israel, a new neighborhood is going up. It's called Nitsan (ph). And in a few weeks, this temporary community will house about a third of the evacuated settlers.
David and Esti Yamin aren't sure whether they'll go there.
ESTI YAMIN, ELEI SINAI SETTLER (through translator): The government wants me to be on the other side of the fence, but I'll go as far away as possible, maybe to the middle of the country, to make sure I won't be moved again.
RAZ: And what next for Elei Sinai settlement? Palestinian and Israeli developers are proposing to turn the site into a casino.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAZ: Tony, for Palestinians, the Gaza pullout is a very insignificant, almost a tiny step forward. For Israelis, it's regarded as a very painful concession. But ultimately, this pullout from Gaza is the biggest change in this conflict in a very long time -- Tony.
HARRIS: CNN's Guy Raz. Guy, thank you.
The high school dropout who became one of the top TV newsmen. ABC anchorman Peter Jennings ahead on LIVE FROM, his life and legacy and what lessons you can learn from his death from lung cancer.
A sandstorm stalls Baghdad and delays an important step in Iraq's future government. Details ahead.
And is stealing bases a crime in baseball? Well, it is if you take the bats and the balls and the gloves, too. Thieves strike a little league team. Outrageous.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
HARRIS: He was one of the most recognizable faces in TV news. Today, friends, fans, colleagues are paying tribute to longtime ABC news anchorman Peter Jennings. He is being characterized as a warm, decent man who cared passionately about what he did. And Jennings died last night, four months after announcing he had lung cancer.
Our Jason Carroll has the story from New York -- Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Tony, all day today we've been hearing the anecdotes, the well wishes, the stories from how Peter Jennings influenced the industry and his colleagues at ABC News. Many people here, in fact, say he was ABC News. That's why I think it came as a shock to many.
It was just about four months ago when he announced on the air that he was, in fact, diagnosed with lung cancer. He died on Sunday at his home with his family by his side. He was 67 years old.
This morning, Charlie Gibson called him the consummate broadcaster. He said, "We are all in awe of him."
Peter Jennings was the type of anchor that was there for every major news event over the past four decades or so: Vietnam, the Berlin wall, going up the Berlin wall, going down, numerous elections, even all the way up to 9/11. His death is a very sad day for the industry at large.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID WESTIN, PRESIDENT, ABC NEWS: We all got to see how professional he was on the air. And sometimes his urbanity could be mistaken for a certain distance. But in fact, he was a very sensitive, warm, decent man who cared passionately for what he did, for what all of us do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS: I never saw anyone work so hard, do so much homework. If I knew the name of a person in the parade, he knew the name of the horse. He was a stickler for detail.
He pushed himself. He pushed us. He made us better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Jennings spent 41 years at ABC, about 22 years or so as sole anchor, where he earned a reputation of being tough on his writers, tough on the staff, tough on the correspondents who worked on the show because he was tough on himself and cared about his broadcasts.
Jennings' family, of course, obviously a very sad day for them. They say he was at peace when he died. Again, Peter Jennings dead at the age of 67 -- Tony.
HARRIS: CNN's Jason Carroll with the story in New York for us. Jason, thank you.
Peter Jennings smoked for years then quit. But he resumed the habit after 9/11. He was undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer when he died.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths for both men and women. The survival rate depends largely on how soon it is diagnosed.
Dr. Daniel Miller with Emory University specializes in treating lung diseases and lung cancer.
Dr. Miller, thanks for being with us.
DR. DANIEL MILLER, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Thank you, Tony.
HARRIS: Peter Jennings was diagnosed in March. He was off the air in April, and dead in August. What does this tell us about lung cancer and how aggressive it can be?
MILLER: Well, it puts lung cancer into perspective. As we know, about three out of four patients when they're diagnosed with lung cancer already have advanced disease. And that's why now in the medical community that we're trying to improve ways to diagnose earlier disease. HARRIS: Give us that statistic again.
MILLER: Three out of four patients when they're diagnosed usually have metastatic disease either to the lymph nodes within the chest, or to other organs. And most of the time they will not beat their disease.
HARRIS: Tell us about the symptoms then. I mean, how do you know when you have something other than just a cough due to cold?
MILLER: Well, and that's the thing. A lot of the symptoms can be nonspecific at first.
Coughing which is normally caused from bronchitis -- but when symptoms do not go away, then you need to see your physician for that. Things you can have, pain in your chest, you can cough up blood and so forth. And when those occur, then you need to see your physician for further workup.
HARRIS: And by the time you've coughed up blood or -- that's a pretty serious sign, isn't it?
MILLER: Yes, it is. And see, the lung has no nerve endings. So something can grow in your lung for a period of time. When you start having the associated symptoms, actually coughing up blood, pneumonia, pleuritic chest pain, then a lot of time it's already spread locally.
HARRIS: Now, depending on when you're diagnosed, what are some of the treatment options?
MILLER: Well, the number one option, the best chance to beat it, is to have some type of surgical resection. And unfortunately, only about one out of four or one out of three patients can undergo that at the time. If they are -- cannot undergo surgical treatment, then the options are chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
HARRIS: What's the promise out there for new treatments, new drugs?
MILLER: Well, that's the excitement right now. There is a lot of different institutions in the United States, a lot of different drug companies that are really working to do this.
There's a lot of new medications coming out, but the problem is that there's not a lot of patients who are around to undergo that treatment. But there is a lot of excitement for that, but there needs to be more emphasis on earlier detection is the main thing, and to stop smoking.
HARRIS: Do I hear you say that by the time you're diagnosed with lung cancer, you are in for a very, very difficult, very much an uphill battle to survive?
MILLER: Yes, it is. If it's diagnosed at an advanced stage. If it's diagnosed at an early stage, where surgery can be done, you know, 65, 75 percent of patients can be cured of their disease. But if the disease has already gone outside of the chest into other organs, then it is an uphill battle.
HARRIS: And as the disease is sort of closing in on you, and the last days, the last months, what's life like? Are you on a ventilator to assist you in breathing?
MILLER: Well, you can be. That's one of the main things. If you develop a lot of disease in your chest, you can have symptoms of shortness of breath, suffocation. But also, the lung cancer can spread to four main organs, the brain, the liver, the adrenal glands and bone, which can be very painful.
HARRIS: It sounds like a horrible disease. It sounds like something horrible to have.
MILLER: It is very horrible. And, you know, we are making some in-roads. There are a lot of excitement now about CAT scans scanning for lung cancer. The jury is still out on that, but hopefully that will make a difference one day. But the bottom line is not to smoke to begin with.
HARRIS: Very good. Very good note to end it on. Let's leave it there. Dr. Miller, we appreciate it.
MILLER: Thank you, Tony.
HARRIS: And just ahead on LIVE FROM, Kyra Phillips with a CNN "Security Watch." An exclusive report from NORTHCOM/NORAD.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. We're going to take you live inside the joint operations center right here at U.S. Northern Command and NORAD. You'll see how the men and women here are keeping you safe from any threat of terrorism.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. Up next, oil prices are hitting fresh all-time highs. I'll tell you what's behind the surge and why it makes Wall Street nervous next on LIVE FROM.
Stay right here. More LIVE FROM right after this.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
HARRIS: In our "Security Watch" today, the military's elite. They have some of the most sophisticated radar and satellite tracking systems in the world. Homeland security issues have led to a new collaboration between NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command.
Our Kyra Phillips, anchor of this program, joins us from NORTHCOM-NORAD with an exclusive look inside.
Hi, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Hi, Tony. We don't want to give too much away, because, of course, we're going to go really in-depth coming up in "THE SITUATION ROOM." And that's not far from now. But I wanted to give you just a little bit of a glimpse inside the joint operation center here at U.S. Northern Command. And you made a very good point. It is U.S. Northern Command and NORAD.
NORAD handles all air defense. We're going to talk more about that tomorrow. But today it's about U.S. Northern Command and what's happening here with regard to homeland defense.
And I can tell you right now in this center these men and women are monitoring everything from ports, to borders, to restricted airspace, to even the path of the space shuttle.
Don is actually the deputy chief right now in charge of exactly those elements.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. How are you doing, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Thank you for talking to me. Great to see you. Why don't you just go ahead and give our viewers a quick glimpse as we look down the row.
And I know it starts with maritime there at the end with Paul. Kind of just tell me what each one of these guys is monitoring right now. And also, we can see it up on the screen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Paul down at the end is working our maritime desk, and he's monitoring vessels of interests that are entering and exiting both coasts of the United States.
We've got Irv Paulier (ph) down there at land west. And he is monitoring wild land fire fires.
We've got Frank Earnest (ph), who is working the land east desk. And he is monitoring hurricane activity on the East Coast.
And Brad here is monitoring our space shuttle recovery mission, which is probably our most important mission right now that we're looking at.
PHILLIPS: Well, and I want to point out, too -- and it's perfect that I ask you this because you're with the United States Coast Guard -- there are a number of responsibilities that happen here at U.S. Northern Command here in the jock.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.
PHILLIPS: And you support homeland security. I mean, you are -- you are trying to prevent any type of terrorist activity to hit the United States. But at the same time, you're also taking on helping homeland security. Example, the firefighting and the hurricanes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.
PHILLIPS: Kind of tell us how you play into that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm filling a joint role here. I'm basically trying to create a tighter link between the Department of Homeland Security, with the Department of Defense, with the creation of northern command here. And the area of responsibility being the United States, as well as Mexico and Canada and the Virgin Islands.
We're just trying to make sure that we tighten up our security and take care of the global war on terrorism.
PHILLIPS: It's a whole new world, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.
PHILLIPS: Don, thank you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: I know you've got to get back to work.
And we're going to talk more about that obviously, Tony, coming up in the next actually three hours. You're going to see every aspect of the U.S. Northern Command and NORAD over the next two days, but today we're talking homeland defense. And we're talking about how the men and women here support the Department of Homeland Security.
I know we're going to hear from Michael Chertoff coming up in the next hour. So we'll explain how that all folds into what the men and women are doing here right now.
We always wonder -- or we wonder every day how safe we are, every day since 9/11. Well, it's these people here that are making sure that another 9/11 never happens again -- Tony.
HARRIS: What wonderful access. Can't wait to see you, Kyra, and Wolf, when we see you inside "THE SITUATION ROOM" at the top of the hour.
Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
HARRIS: And CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night.
Irene and Harvey are dancing to their own beats in the Atlantic. So far the two tropical storms are not bothering anyone. Is that likely to change? Let's bring in our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras.
(WEATHER REPORT)
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