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CNN Live Today

Police Say They Have No New Leads in Case of Missing Woman; Shuttle Delay

Aired April 29, 2005 - 10:30   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, President Bush is taking -- actually talking to an audience in Falls Church, Virginia. A live picture there from Virginia. He's talking about reforming Social Security. Mr. Bush is speaking before a group of mostly younger technology workers. The administration is wrapping up a 60-day national tour on overhauling the federal program. Social Security was a big theme of the president's news conference last night. Mr. Bush said he backs a proposal where benefits for low-income workers would grow faster than for wealthier Americans.
Now here to suburban Atlanta. Police say they have no new leads in the case of a missing woman who vanished just days before her wedding. And with that lack of clues comes a growing sense of urgency and also dread.

Our Tony Harris is in Duluth with the latest.

Tony, hello.

TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.

We can tell you that just about two hours ago, Duluth police roared out of this staging area to begin a new search for Jennifer Wilbanks. As you know and mentioned a moment ago, she is the 32-year- old woman, bride-to-be, scheduled to be married tomorrow, whose fiance says disappeared Tuesday evening when she left for a jog at about 8:30 in the evening.

Now that fiance, John Mason, is trying to decide whether or not he will submit to a polygraph examination, which as you know, Daryn, is routine in investigations like this.

Listen to this soundbite from a little earlier today. This is from Chief Randy Belcher on this very subject of the polygraph on AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RANDY BELCHER, DULUTH, GEORGIA POLICE DEPT.: We requested Mr. Mason to submit to a test yesterday. He's stated at the beginning of the investigation that he would voluntarily submit to a polygraph, but he did advise us yesterday that he would let us know today by 1:00 as to whether he'd take the test or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: So we're waiting for that and a couple of other items that were found in the search yesterday to tell you about -- two sweatshirts, a pair of sweat pants, and that's important because Jennifer was reportedly wearing a sweat suit when she went on her run. The items were found in three different cities in this general area, but we can tell you that one of the cities, and, Daryn, you're pretty familiar with this area, one of the sweatshirts was actually found in the city of Cumming, Georgia in Forsyth County, and that is outside of this extended five-square-mile radius that's been the focus of the search so far, and the other point to mention with regard to the clothing is we still don't know if any of this clothing belonged to Jennifer Wilbanks.

We're expecting another statement today from her family members at about 12:15. And at that time, we hope to learn more about the investigation -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And when we say family members, is that the parents? Does it appear the parents and the fiance are still united in the search for Jennifer?

HARRIS: That's a very good question. The statement that we are expecting to hear today, and the update on the investigation that we're expecting to get today is coming from her parents.

KAGAN: All right, Tony Harris, thank you for that. We will look for that from her parents later today.

Meanwhile, we want to get to Miles O'Brien, another delay for the space shuttle Discovery and a news conference taking place with NASA.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: NASA headquarters in Washington is the place. Let's listen to the new administrator, Michael Griffin.

MICHAEL GRIFFIN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Now, we are here to let you know officially that we will be moving the Shuttle Discovery's return to flight launch window, or launch from the May/Early June window to the mid-July window. We're doing that as a result of over the past week and a half, several reviews to include a shuttle-design certification review for the changes which have been made for return to flight, and then a delta design certification or design verification review on debris issues held down at JSC this week. And as a result of all that and looking at some of the open-analysis items, and small fixes that we need to make, and some issues that arose during the tanking operation of Discovery last week, no one thing, but the sum of all those things together necessitates that we move out six or seven weeks into the July window.

Of course, you know, this is consistent with our overall approach to return to flight, which is that we're going to return to flight. We're not going to rush to flight, and we want it to be right. So we're doing what we need to do to ensure that. If I say any more, as I often say, I'll be repeating myself, so I'll stop.

Bill, you may want to provide some more detail on some of that? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the only other factor that we would probably share is, as a result of those reviews, I think, the new data that we have on the reinforced carbon carbon and the tile, and reviewing past films of some of the ice that has been shed from the lock speed line on the external tank that we may elect to go ahead and implement a heater in the lock speedline (ph) bellows area, the forward one, which would also cause a little extra work and would put us out of the May/June timeframe.

So I think the sum of all those things...

O'BRIEN: All right, this is Bill Reedy (ph), who is the head of manned space flight for NASA, we've got the news out of the way there. The administrator of NASA, new administrator, Michael Griffin, an engineer with no less than six advanced degrees who understands what engineers have to say when the engineers told him that they didn't fully understand issues with some debris and the possibility of ice coming off that external fuel tank for Discovery, their decision was to roll the Space Shuttle Discovery back to the vehicle assembly building, that huge structure in Florida, where the shuttles are housed immediately prior to flight, where they will conduct some modifications and some work on that external fuel tank to ensure, or hope to ensure that debris does not fall and strike the orbiter as it goes to launch.

Let's back up just a little bit to remind folks. Columbia, of course, January, 2003, during its launch, you remember a very large piece of foam fell off that orange external fuel tank. If you look at it, there it is in the circle, about the size of a suitcase, struck the left wing. Sixteen days later, when Columbia came back with her crew of seven, it turned out that that foam had caused a mortal breach.

So as NASA prepares to fly discovery, the first flight back since Columbia, tremendous amount of attention is focused right now on the possibility of debris, for obvious reasons, and of course, ice is also a part of that picture. Of course ice can be a really big problem. The area of concern here, Daryn, I just want to show you where they are most concerned about.

KAGAN: I believe you have a space shuttle.

O'BRIEN: It just so happens we have a space shuttle here to help you out on this. This pipe right along here feeds oxygen, OK? And in that oxygen pipe, there is a spot right here where the tank, of course, loaded with 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen -- you can imagine how cold that is -- it expands and contracts. There's little bellows right there so that the pipe essentially doesn't break. It can't be a rigid pipe. That's been an ice problem. They can't fully address it and feel confident about it. So I think what they're going to do is put a heater on it. That's the current thinking.

Let me just show you quickly what happens when ice hits the leading edge of the wing, and you can see what the problem is. That's about a thimbleful of ice. And you can see that darkened area, that darkened area right around there in that part of the area is a severe bit of damage to that thermal protection system and would, in fact, cause potentially the loss of the vehicle and the crew.

So this is nothing to trifle with, and so NASA is dotting the i's and crossing the t's, and where they cannot verify what's going to happen, they are taking extraordinary efforts to try to make it -- of course, the safest thing to do is to never launch.

KAGAN: Right.

O'BRIEN: Ultimately, somebody, Michael Griffin, is going to have to make a decision to accept some risk. How much, is the question.

KAGAN: The idea this flight is supposed to go up the International Space Station.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

KAGAN: What does it do to that end of it?

O'BRIEN: Well, that's an important issue to bring up, because the International Space Station is a bit crippled and hobbled because of the lack of shuttle flights to it over the past 27 months. Issues with the air-purification system, the air system, issues with the gyroscopes that keep it stable, all things that the shuttle could help out.

While that is pressure to launch this particular launch, I think Michael Griffin has made it very clear to his engineers he's going to listen to his engineers. If they don't feel they're ready, they're not going to launch.

KAGAN: Right, the old better safe than sorry.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

KAGAN: Miles, thanks. We will see you later in the day.

KAGAN: It is spring. Love is in the air. Still to come, Tom Cruise and his new lady friend. You like that term, Miles, "lady friend?"

O'BRIEN: Yes, I do. I like that.

KAGAN: You like that lady.

O'BRIEN: Is Sandy watching?

KAGAN: That's your lady friend.

Hand in hand in Rome, we're going to take a look at the photos coming up.

Plus, the biggest airline is hiking airfares again, but will that fly with consumers. We'll have that story coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: President Bush offering a new way to keep Social Security solvent in the future. For the first time, he is talking about cutting benefits to tomorrow's more prosperous retirees. Future retirees with lower incomes would see their benefits increase based on the rate at which wages increase, but future middle and upper-income retirees would see their increases based only on the rate at which prices, not wages, increase, and that would mean lower Social Security payments than those that are now guaranteed.

Well, it appears the president's Social Security reform is turning out to be a hard sell. The AARP has organized a powerful campaign against it and polls suggest the president is losing ground. Our senior White House correspondent John King has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president hopes a few new ideas and a primetime platform gives a boost to a Social Security sales pitch that so far, is falling flat.

KEN DUBERSTEIN, FMR. REAGAN CHIEF OF STAFF: I don't think this is time for a tourniquet. This is time to again show the American people the strength of leadership, which is what they went for in the election last year.

KING: The East Room event comes at the end of an aggressive, but on the surface, largely ineffective 60-day White House push. 52 percent of Americans disapproved of the president's Social Security plan 2 months ago; 60 percent disapprove now, according to a new Marist poll.

The urgent challenge tonight is to reframe the debate and move it beyond the overwhelming focus on the controversial idea of allowing private investment accounts as part of Social Security.

DUBERSTEIN: He needs a hit homerun with the American people in the first ten minutes when he's speaking to them directly, not on the media's agenda, but on his agenda.

KING: The president calls it a generational issue, and he tailors his pitch because how his plan works depends on how old you are.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Telling younger workers they have to save money in a 1930s retirement system is like using a cell phone with a rotary dial.

KING: Funny maybe, but not effective, at least not yet. Even though Mr. Bush said younger workers would benefit most from the new private investment accounts he favors, 50 percent of those under 30 disapprove. And among those 31 to 44, 57 percent disapprove of the Bush plan.

BUSH: You will get your check. I don't care what the TV ads say. I don't care what the propaganda say. You are going to get your check.

KING: The president's message to older Americans: don't worry, for you, nothing will change.

BUSH: If you have retired, if you were born prior to 1950, the system will take care of you.

KING: But 68 percent of those 60 and older disapprove of the president's plan. And he must soften their opposition if he is to make any headway of the Congress wary of angering the nation's most dependable voting bloc.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Now we're going to have more on the president's news conference coming up in the next hour of CNN LIVE TODAY. Ed Henry will be along, rounding up the reaction on the Hill and answering Ed Henry question of the day. And Suzanne Malveaux has the buzz at the White House. You'll want to know what they've been hearing, so stick around for that.

"XXX" is making his way back to the big screen, but a different face and a different style.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I'm going to do mission.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: A little bit of action there. Got caught up in the trailer. Ice Cube taking over where Vin Diesel left off. Still to come, Mr. Moviefone takes a look at what's playing on the big screen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, don't tell Dawson, actress Katie Holmes is cozy with Tom Cruise. The two now qualifying as Hollywood's couple in the spotlight. The pair has been snuggling in Rome, where Cruise is receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Italian equivalent of the Academy Awards.

Well, hitch a snarky ride through the galaxy, or a return to "XXX." Two new movies look for audiences this weekend. '

And our favorite reviewer, Russ Leatherman, AOL's Mr. Moviefone can tell us what he thinks.

Good morning, Russ.

RUSS LEATHERMAN, "MR. MOVIEFONE": I don't know about that Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes thing.

KAGAN: That's a different kind of review. LEATHERMAN: It sounds a little bit like a publicity stunt.

KAGAN: You think?

LEATHERMAN: But maybe that's just me. I know, hard to believe.

Where do you want to start?

KAGAN: I want to start with "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." This book's been around forever, and they're finally making it a movie.

LEATHERMAN: The have. It has been around forever. And I think the people who have read the book, who know the source material, are going to be perfectly fine with this thing. They're going to like it. Yes, it's Douglas Adams, hugely popular novel, comes to the big screen. It's about a guy who wakes up one morning, he's in his robe and his house gets bulldozed, it gets run over, so his best friend says, hey, let's hitchhike a ride on this spaceship and take this crazy adventure through the galaxy. That's exactly what they do.

It stars Martin Freeman, Mos Def, John Malkovich is in it. I have to tell you, this is sort of a "Star Wars" on acid sort of movie, Maybe Monty Python meets the Starship Enterprise. It's weird, it's quirky, it's a half a beat off, but I thought it was very smart, well done, and the effects are used in this movie to really propel the story, and not just sort of blow your head off your shoulders, like "XXX," that we're going to talk about in a minute.

So I think if you like this sort of quirky humor, British comedy, Monty Python sort of stuff, you're going to like this movie. You should go check it out.

KAGAN: Very good. I'm going to call that a ringing endorsement of that movie.

Let's move on to "XXX: State of the Union." This is a sequel, but you got a different XXX. How does this work?

LEATHERMAN: Well, you got Ice Cube, who has replaced Vin Diesel.

KAGAN: What happened to Vin Diesel? Whatever happened to Vin Diesel.

LEATHERMAN: You know what? Here's what Vin Diesel did. He said I'm too big to be your "XXX" movie, and he went on to make some other movies. And as you know, "The Pacifier," that came out recently, made about a bazillion dollars.

KAGAN: Oh, so he's doing OK.

LEATHERMAN: Yes, I was just saying, maybe he made the right move.

But this is really a sequel. It doesn't pick up where the last one left off. It's a new story. They've got a new XXX, and Ice Cube is the new guy, Sam Jackson hires him, because William Dafoe is the secretary of defense and has a plot to overthrow the government and assassinate the president, so they need a new guy to come in and take care of business there. I have to tell you, this movie was explosions, fire, everything...

KAGAN: Everything you love!

LEATHERMAN: I tell you, more louder than you can imagine, Daryn. The only way this thing could have had more explosions or been louder, had I doused myself in lighter fluid and blew myself up.

KAGAN: Well, let's not go trying that at home. But this is like a romantic comedy for you.

LEATHERMAN: I tell you. But I have to say, it's almost bullet proof, because the movie's designed for young boys, 17-year-old kids. It's literally like watching a kid play a video game for two hours. But if that's what you're into, then you're going to be OK with this movie. For everybody else, I don't know, not so much. (INAUDIBLE) the better movie, but man, there is plenty of action and explosions.

KAGAN: Thank you for the review. Mr. Moviefone, Russ Leatherman, you have a great weekend.

LEATHERMAN: Always my pleasure, Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, it's 10:53 on the East Coast, 7:53 on the West Coast. We'll be back in a minute with a quick check of your morning forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Talking about Philadelphia, a nightmare at an elementary school there. Students pricked with a hypodermic needle. One of them apparently had HIV. Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at that.

And legendary baseball manager Tony Larussa talks sports, steroids and pets.

Yes, he's a big animal lover, joining me live here in the studio as the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.

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 April 29, 2005 - 10:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, President Bush is taking -- actually talking to an audience in Falls Church, Virginia. A live picture there from Virginia. He's talking about reforming Social Security. Mr. Bush is speaking before a group of mostly younger technology workers. The administration is wrapping up a 60-day national tour on overhauling the federal program. Social Security was a big theme of the president's news conference last night. Mr. Bush said he backs a proposal where benefits for low-income workers would grow faster than for wealthier Americans.
Now here to suburban Atlanta. Police say they have no new leads in the case of a missing woman who vanished just days before her wedding. And with that lack of clues comes a growing sense of urgency and also dread.

Our Tony Harris is in Duluth with the latest.

Tony, hello.

TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.

We can tell you that just about two hours ago, Duluth police roared out of this staging area to begin a new search for Jennifer Wilbanks. As you know and mentioned a moment ago, she is the 32-year- old woman, bride-to-be, scheduled to be married tomorrow, whose fiance says disappeared Tuesday evening when she left for a jog at about 8:30 in the evening.

Now that fiance, John Mason, is trying to decide whether or not he will submit to a polygraph examination, which as you know, Daryn, is routine in investigations like this.

Listen to this soundbite from a little earlier today. This is from Chief Randy Belcher on this very subject of the polygraph on AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RANDY BELCHER, DULUTH, GEORGIA POLICE DEPT.: We requested Mr. Mason to submit to a test yesterday. He's stated at the beginning of the investigation that he would voluntarily submit to a polygraph, but he did advise us yesterday that he would let us know today by 1:00 as to whether he'd take the test or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: So we're waiting for that and a couple of other items that were found in the search yesterday to tell you about -- two sweatshirts, a pair of sweat pants, and that's important because Jennifer was reportedly wearing a sweat suit when she went on her run. The items were found in three different cities in this general area, but we can tell you that one of the cities, and, Daryn, you're pretty familiar with this area, one of the sweatshirts was actually found in the city of Cumming, Georgia in Forsyth County, and that is outside of this extended five-square-mile radius that's been the focus of the search so far, and the other point to mention with regard to the clothing is we still don't know if any of this clothing belonged to Jennifer Wilbanks.

We're expecting another statement today from her family members at about 12:15. And at that time, we hope to learn more about the investigation -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And when we say family members, is that the parents? Does it appear the parents and the fiance are still united in the search for Jennifer?

HARRIS: That's a very good question. The statement that we are expecting to hear today, and the update on the investigation that we're expecting to get today is coming from her parents.

KAGAN: All right, Tony Harris, thank you for that. We will look for that from her parents later today.

Meanwhile, we want to get to Miles O'Brien, another delay for the space shuttle Discovery and a news conference taking place with NASA.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: NASA headquarters in Washington is the place. Let's listen to the new administrator, Michael Griffin.

MICHAEL GRIFFIN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Now, we are here to let you know officially that we will be moving the Shuttle Discovery's return to flight launch window, or launch from the May/Early June window to the mid-July window. We're doing that as a result of over the past week and a half, several reviews to include a shuttle-design certification review for the changes which have been made for return to flight, and then a delta design certification or design verification review on debris issues held down at JSC this week. And as a result of all that and looking at some of the open-analysis items, and small fixes that we need to make, and some issues that arose during the tanking operation of Discovery last week, no one thing, but the sum of all those things together necessitates that we move out six or seven weeks into the July window.

Of course, you know, this is consistent with our overall approach to return to flight, which is that we're going to return to flight. We're not going to rush to flight, and we want it to be right. So we're doing what we need to do to ensure that. If I say any more, as I often say, I'll be repeating myself, so I'll stop.

Bill, you may want to provide some more detail on some of that? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the only other factor that we would probably share is, as a result of those reviews, I think, the new data that we have on the reinforced carbon carbon and the tile, and reviewing past films of some of the ice that has been shed from the lock speed line on the external tank that we may elect to go ahead and implement a heater in the lock speedline (ph) bellows area, the forward one, which would also cause a little extra work and would put us out of the May/June timeframe.

So I think the sum of all those things...

O'BRIEN: All right, this is Bill Reedy (ph), who is the head of manned space flight for NASA, we've got the news out of the way there. The administrator of NASA, new administrator, Michael Griffin, an engineer with no less than six advanced degrees who understands what engineers have to say when the engineers told him that they didn't fully understand issues with some debris and the possibility of ice coming off that external fuel tank for Discovery, their decision was to roll the Space Shuttle Discovery back to the vehicle assembly building, that huge structure in Florida, where the shuttles are housed immediately prior to flight, where they will conduct some modifications and some work on that external fuel tank to ensure, or hope to ensure that debris does not fall and strike the orbiter as it goes to launch.

Let's back up just a little bit to remind folks. Columbia, of course, January, 2003, during its launch, you remember a very large piece of foam fell off that orange external fuel tank. If you look at it, there it is in the circle, about the size of a suitcase, struck the left wing. Sixteen days later, when Columbia came back with her crew of seven, it turned out that that foam had caused a mortal breach.

So as NASA prepares to fly discovery, the first flight back since Columbia, tremendous amount of attention is focused right now on the possibility of debris, for obvious reasons, and of course, ice is also a part of that picture. Of course ice can be a really big problem. The area of concern here, Daryn, I just want to show you where they are most concerned about.

KAGAN: I believe you have a space shuttle.

O'BRIEN: It just so happens we have a space shuttle here to help you out on this. This pipe right along here feeds oxygen, OK? And in that oxygen pipe, there is a spot right here where the tank, of course, loaded with 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen -- you can imagine how cold that is -- it expands and contracts. There's little bellows right there so that the pipe essentially doesn't break. It can't be a rigid pipe. That's been an ice problem. They can't fully address it and feel confident about it. So I think what they're going to do is put a heater on it. That's the current thinking.

Let me just show you quickly what happens when ice hits the leading edge of the wing, and you can see what the problem is. That's about a thimbleful of ice. And you can see that darkened area, that darkened area right around there in that part of the area is a severe bit of damage to that thermal protection system and would, in fact, cause potentially the loss of the vehicle and the crew.

So this is nothing to trifle with, and so NASA is dotting the i's and crossing the t's, and where they cannot verify what's going to happen, they are taking extraordinary efforts to try to make it -- of course, the safest thing to do is to never launch.

KAGAN: Right.

O'BRIEN: Ultimately, somebody, Michael Griffin, is going to have to make a decision to accept some risk. How much, is the question.

KAGAN: The idea this flight is supposed to go up the International Space Station.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

KAGAN: What does it do to that end of it?

O'BRIEN: Well, that's an important issue to bring up, because the International Space Station is a bit crippled and hobbled because of the lack of shuttle flights to it over the past 27 months. Issues with the air-purification system, the air system, issues with the gyroscopes that keep it stable, all things that the shuttle could help out.

While that is pressure to launch this particular launch, I think Michael Griffin has made it very clear to his engineers he's going to listen to his engineers. If they don't feel they're ready, they're not going to launch.

KAGAN: Right, the old better safe than sorry.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

KAGAN: Miles, thanks. We will see you later in the day.

KAGAN: It is spring. Love is in the air. Still to come, Tom Cruise and his new lady friend. You like that term, Miles, "lady friend?"

O'BRIEN: Yes, I do. I like that.

KAGAN: You like that lady.

O'BRIEN: Is Sandy watching?

KAGAN: That's your lady friend.

Hand in hand in Rome, we're going to take a look at the photos coming up.

Plus, the biggest airline is hiking airfares again, but will that fly with consumers. We'll have that story coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: President Bush offering a new way to keep Social Security solvent in the future. For the first time, he is talking about cutting benefits to tomorrow's more prosperous retirees. Future retirees with lower incomes would see their benefits increase based on the rate at which wages increase, but future middle and upper-income retirees would see their increases based only on the rate at which prices, not wages, increase, and that would mean lower Social Security payments than those that are now guaranteed.

Well, it appears the president's Social Security reform is turning out to be a hard sell. The AARP has organized a powerful campaign against it and polls suggest the president is losing ground. Our senior White House correspondent John King has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president hopes a few new ideas and a primetime platform gives a boost to a Social Security sales pitch that so far, is falling flat.

KEN DUBERSTEIN, FMR. REAGAN CHIEF OF STAFF: I don't think this is time for a tourniquet. This is time to again show the American people the strength of leadership, which is what they went for in the election last year.

KING: The East Room event comes at the end of an aggressive, but on the surface, largely ineffective 60-day White House push. 52 percent of Americans disapproved of the president's Social Security plan 2 months ago; 60 percent disapprove now, according to a new Marist poll.

The urgent challenge tonight is to reframe the debate and move it beyond the overwhelming focus on the controversial idea of allowing private investment accounts as part of Social Security.

DUBERSTEIN: He needs a hit homerun with the American people in the first ten minutes when he's speaking to them directly, not on the media's agenda, but on his agenda.

KING: The president calls it a generational issue, and he tailors his pitch because how his plan works depends on how old you are.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Telling younger workers they have to save money in a 1930s retirement system is like using a cell phone with a rotary dial.

KING: Funny maybe, but not effective, at least not yet. Even though Mr. Bush said younger workers would benefit most from the new private investment accounts he favors, 50 percent of those under 30 disapprove. And among those 31 to 44, 57 percent disapprove of the Bush plan.

BUSH: You will get your check. I don't care what the TV ads say. I don't care what the propaganda say. You are going to get your check.

KING: The president's message to older Americans: don't worry, for you, nothing will change.

BUSH: If you have retired, if you were born prior to 1950, the system will take care of you.

KING: But 68 percent of those 60 and older disapprove of the president's plan. And he must soften their opposition if he is to make any headway of the Congress wary of angering the nation's most dependable voting bloc.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Now we're going to have more on the president's news conference coming up in the next hour of CNN LIVE TODAY. Ed Henry will be along, rounding up the reaction on the Hill and answering Ed Henry question of the day. And Suzanne Malveaux has the buzz at the White House. You'll want to know what they've been hearing, so stick around for that.

"XXX" is making his way back to the big screen, but a different face and a different style.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I'm going to do mission.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: A little bit of action there. Got caught up in the trailer. Ice Cube taking over where Vin Diesel left off. Still to come, Mr. Moviefone takes a look at what's playing on the big screen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, don't tell Dawson, actress Katie Holmes is cozy with Tom Cruise. The two now qualifying as Hollywood's couple in the spotlight. The pair has been snuggling in Rome, where Cruise is receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Italian equivalent of the Academy Awards.

Well, hitch a snarky ride through the galaxy, or a return to "XXX." Two new movies look for audiences this weekend. '

And our favorite reviewer, Russ Leatherman, AOL's Mr. Moviefone can tell us what he thinks.

Good morning, Russ.

RUSS LEATHERMAN, "MR. MOVIEFONE": I don't know about that Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes thing.

KAGAN: That's a different kind of review. LEATHERMAN: It sounds a little bit like a publicity stunt.

KAGAN: You think?

LEATHERMAN: But maybe that's just me. I know, hard to believe.

Where do you want to start?

KAGAN: I want to start with "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." This book's been around forever, and they're finally making it a movie.

LEATHERMAN: The have. It has been around forever. And I think the people who have read the book, who know the source material, are going to be perfectly fine with this thing. They're going to like it. Yes, it's Douglas Adams, hugely popular novel, comes to the big screen. It's about a guy who wakes up one morning, he's in his robe and his house gets bulldozed, it gets run over, so his best friend says, hey, let's hitchhike a ride on this spaceship and take this crazy adventure through the galaxy. That's exactly what they do.

It stars Martin Freeman, Mos Def, John Malkovich is in it. I have to tell you, this is sort of a "Star Wars" on acid sort of movie, Maybe Monty Python meets the Starship Enterprise. It's weird, it's quirky, it's a half a beat off, but I thought it was very smart, well done, and the effects are used in this movie to really propel the story, and not just sort of blow your head off your shoulders, like "XXX," that we're going to talk about in a minute.

So I think if you like this sort of quirky humor, British comedy, Monty Python sort of stuff, you're going to like this movie. You should go check it out.

KAGAN: Very good. I'm going to call that a ringing endorsement of that movie.

Let's move on to "XXX: State of the Union." This is a sequel, but you got a different XXX. How does this work?

LEATHERMAN: Well, you got Ice Cube, who has replaced Vin Diesel.

KAGAN: What happened to Vin Diesel? Whatever happened to Vin Diesel.

LEATHERMAN: You know what? Here's what Vin Diesel did. He said I'm too big to be your "XXX" movie, and he went on to make some other movies. And as you know, "The Pacifier," that came out recently, made about a bazillion dollars.

KAGAN: Oh, so he's doing OK.

LEATHERMAN: Yes, I was just saying, maybe he made the right move.

But this is really a sequel. It doesn't pick up where the last one left off. It's a new story. They've got a new XXX, and Ice Cube is the new guy, Sam Jackson hires him, because William Dafoe is the secretary of defense and has a plot to overthrow the government and assassinate the president, so they need a new guy to come in and take care of business there. I have to tell you, this movie was explosions, fire, everything...

KAGAN: Everything you love!

LEATHERMAN: I tell you, more louder than you can imagine, Daryn. The only way this thing could have had more explosions or been louder, had I doused myself in lighter fluid and blew myself up.

KAGAN: Well, let's not go trying that at home. But this is like a romantic comedy for you.

LEATHERMAN: I tell you. But I have to say, it's almost bullet proof, because the movie's designed for young boys, 17-year-old kids. It's literally like watching a kid play a video game for two hours. But if that's what you're into, then you're going to be OK with this movie. For everybody else, I don't know, not so much. (INAUDIBLE) the better movie, but man, there is plenty of action and explosions.

KAGAN: Thank you for the review. Mr. Moviefone, Russ Leatherman, you have a great weekend.

LEATHERMAN: Always my pleasure, Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, it's 10:53 on the East Coast, 7:53 on the West Coast. We'll be back in a minute with a quick check of your morning forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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KAGAN: Talking about Philadelphia, a nightmare at an elementary school there. Students pricked with a hypodermic needle. One of them apparently had HIV. Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at that.

And legendary baseball manager Tony Larussa talks sports, steroids and pets.

Yes, he's a big animal lover, joining me live here in the studio as the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.

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