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Discovery Astronauts Sort Through Glitches; Week Two of North Korean Arms Talks

Aired August 01, 2005 - 11:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are right at the half hour. Good morning, everyone. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here's a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
President Bush has named John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He did that this morning. He used a recess appointment, one made while the Senate is not in session, to send Bolton to New York until January 2007. Democrats and some Republicans blocked Bolton's confirmation in the Senate. They said his demeanor wasn't the right one for this job.

Saudi King Fahd died Sunday evening after many years in failing health. His half brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, assumes leadership of the kingdom. Abdullah has essentially ruled Saudi Arabia since Fahd's stroke a decade ago.

Authorities say a Nevada girl is home today, shaken after ten days in the hands of a kidnapper. Police say her mother's boyfriend took the 8-year-old child to Mexico. The mother says she didn't know the suspect was a convicted sex offender. Mexican authorities plan to try the man on rape and kidnapping charges.

And the company founded by Dr. Robert Atkins is filing bankruptcy protection. The Atkins Diet promoted a low-carb lifestyle, but the popularity of the plan has faded, leaving the company to run up to $300 million in debt.

Houston is not exactly saying their shuttle astronauts have a problem, but they do have some situations they need to ponder and figure out.

Our John Zarrella is at Johnson Space Center with the latest. Good morning, John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Daryn.

Well, the two spacewalking astronauts were at it again today. They had the toolboxes out and got busy. They're still out there, as a matter of fact, wrapping up more than a six-hour spacewalk at this point. And just finishing up, cleaning up in the shuttle cargo bay. You can see there the astronauts out in the cargo bay. The primary order of business today -- and there's that shot of the Earth, one of the spectacular views we always get -- was to replace an old gyroscope.

Now, there were four gyroscopes on the International Space Station. And right now, with the configuration of the space station, they only need two gyroscopes to keep the attitude, the orientation, to the Earth proper. But one of them they had to repair on the first spacewalk. This one they had to replace one of the four gyroscopes. And that was the primary portion of the mission.

There you can see spacewalker Soichi Noguchi. And he actually has the old gyroscope in his hands there, and he's working to replace it. They did that successful spacewalk. We are awaiting a mission status briefing in just a few minutes now. And what we expect -- there's a reflection of Noguchi's body in one of the pieces of material on the International Space Station.

And now this briefing today, we think, this morning briefing, may not have any big announcements, but the big issue that they are facing is what to do with what are called gap fillers. And that's exactly what they are. They fill the gaps in between shuttle tiles on the underbelly of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Now, those shuttle tiles in there -- there are two near the nose wheel of the shuttle, and two of those gap fillers are jutting out. Now, NASA is concerned that because they are jutting out, they will change the aerodynamic flow on the space shuttle on re-entry. And by changing the aerodynamic flow, what that might do is end up building up heat behind where those gap fillers are by a couple of hundred degrees, which may not sound like a lot.

So the discussion is right now, what do we do? Do we live with it? Is it OK? Can we come back to Earth the way we are? Or do we do a spacewalk to go out there and either remove the gap fillers, these two gap fillers, or shave them down? That's the discussion. You can see on the graphic there, where those gap fillers are. And you see those little white objects protruding from the underbelly of the space shuttle.

So that's the discussions that have been going on round the clock. Now, the interesting thing is, they know they've had these gap filler issues in the past, but they have never seen them until they got the shuttle back on the ground, because they've never had the camera views, the camera angles, like they have now to actually go underneath the belly of the shuttle and take a look at them.

Well, if they decide to make it as part of the spacewalk on Wednesday, to go out and repair this or remove them, what they would do is have one of the astronauts go down on the arm of the International Space Station, or the shuttle underneath there, and then do the work to shave them off. So Daryn, that's the consideration. Not sure if we will hear anything about that that at this next briefing coming up. It is under intense discussion as what to do.

But I think given what we've been hearing in the last 24 hours from the briefing yesterday, they may well be leaning towards making it part of the spacewalk on Wednesday to go ahead and do something with those gap fillers before they return to Earth. Other than that, Discovery is set to come back in about a week. Everything looks very, very clean on the bird -- Daryn?

KAGAN: Some celestial bodyshop work. Fascinating. ZARRELLA: Yes, indeed.

KAGAN: You'll be listening in. Thank you, John

Other news today, nuclear arms talks with North Korea. They enter a second week in Beijing today, despite a series of one-on-one meetings and a reportedly upbeat mood at the bargaining table. The U.S. and North Korea remain in a stalemate on the conditions of disarmament.

CNN's Stan Grant brings us up to date on the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Week two of the six- way talks and at least on the positive side, the discussions are continuing, particularly between North Korea and the United States. But they are still far apart on the fundamentals. The U.S. saying it is prepared to give this process every chance of success, but they admit they have had to go back to the drawing board.

CHRISTOPHER HILL, U.S. ASST. SECRETARY OF STATE: Overnight, there is a second draft produced. The Chinese hosts put together a second draft. And so, this morning, the drafting committees will, again, look at this new draft. We did some -- my delegation did some discussion, internal discussions, about it, looking at it, seeing what points we're more pleased with, what points we're still concerned about. And so we'll begin the drafting process again.

GRANT: It is now a case of who blinks first. The U.S. position is, it wants North Korea to walk away from its nuclear arms program before it sits down to speak about any rewards. North Korea wants the reverse. It wants the rewards first. It also wants to hang on to some part of its nuclear energy program for peaceful purposes. It is also demanding that the United States rid any nuclear weapons it has in South Korea. The U.S. says they are not there. North Korea wants the right to verify that.

On the fundamentals, there is still a long way to go. In the words of the South Korean delegate: "I have headed down the highway, got to the outskirts of the city and have now discovered the true destination lies in the city center itself, without a road map to follow." It could be some days before they reach that destination.

Stan Grant, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And here's some other stories making news around the world today.

U.N. Seals are coming off in a nuclear plant in Iran. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman says the U.N. is aware of its plans to resume uranium conversions in Tehran. The news comes after the European Union was to present Iran with an incentives package for scrapping its nuclear arms. Iran halted its nuclear program last November.

Heavy rains have disrupted flood relief efforts in Western India. More than 900 people are dead after record rains last week triggered floods and landslides. Rain is in the forecast for two more days

In Sudan, riots have erupted in Khartoum. The violence broke out after word that nation's first vice president, John Garang, was killed in a helicopter crash. Some writers are calling Garang's death suspicious. U.S. Embassy Spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton says the loss of the popular leader has rocked Sudan.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ELIZABETH COLTON, U.S. EMBASSY SPOKESMAN: He was completely integral to the entire peace process and brought the south fort to work the peace agreement with the north. And he had been named and was sworn in as the first vice president. People have just -- it's just sort of triggered a huge outcry of concern.

The first vice president, Dr. Garang, just came in on July the 9th. He barely had been in office. It hadn't even been a month. So there's just huge frustration and concern throughout the country right now. The government, however, the government of Sudan has urged the people to be calm and has also said the government is still very much committed to the peace process.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

Garang lead Sudanese rebels against the country's Islamist government for two decades before becoming vice president. He was en route from Uganda when the aircraft went down. The crash is being blamed on bad weather.

Also in Africa, food is being sent to famine-ridden Niger this morning, months after the first pleas for help. Meanwhile, the U.N. has more than doubled the number of people it plans to feed. It's now trying to get emergency aid to 2.5 million people. Many of them are children. Drought and locusts ravaged last October's harvest and now more than three million people are facing a major food shortage.

Because this such an important story, CNN is devoting major resources to it. CNN Anderson Cooper is reporting live from Niger today and tomorrow. Watch him on "ANDERSON COOPER 360," 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

A check of the markets is just ahead. Plus, living long and living healthy. It's not just about diet and exercise.

Coming up, we're going to tell you the other key to aging well.

And ready for some R&R, but you're not really sure where you want to go? We've got you covered on that. Find out the best places to go, and get this, even the best airlines to fly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTINA PARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): You've heard it before. Mom, dad, I need $20 for CDs and clothes. What do you look like? An ATM? Well, CNNmoney.com/101 shows your kids how to save early on. The sooner you teach your children these key concepts, the better financial managers they'll be as adults. First of all, let's start with allowance. Let's be honest, it's probably been a long time since you had one. We'll have you adjust for inflation to determine how much kids need these days.

Say, you got what seemed like a lousy $2 a week in 1955. Going by the consumer price index, that'd be like giving a kid $12.05 today. Are you listening? There's going to be a test. CNNmoney.com/101 schools you on how much you need to know about kids and money. For example, when a child is old enough to count money, that's when they should receive an allowance. We've got you covered, from how to react when your kids come knocking for more dough, to how to handle it when your kids blow their budget.

Hey, you've been guilty of the same thing. And who can argue with the best savings deal of all -- free. That's why all of these tips and tricks are free at CNN.com/101.

Reporting from the dot-com desk, I'm Christina Park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: On to health news now, we all know eating right and exercising can help us live longer, healthier lives, but that's only part of the story. In our daily dose of health news, senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta examines some other keys to living longer and aging well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So you want to live longer? Well, a couple of things to keep in mind. It's estimated that the maximum age our bodies can reach right now is about 120. It could change as science progresses, but 120. And that's based on a complicated mathematical formula. It's about 20 years from the time of our birth to the time of reproductive age. You multiply that times six, and that's how they get the 120.

Another thing to keep in mind is that, as long as we live is 30 percent determined by our genes. That means 70 percent is determined by everything we do from the moment that we're born. Sure, we've been told to eat right and not smoke and all those sorts of things.

But what about stress? Apparently, stress plays a huge role in determining how long we live. Take a look at this animation. When you get stressed, several things happen. This is called the "flight or fight" response, and a lot of cortisol is being released into the body. Your heart speeds up, that cortisol starts making its way through your bloodstream. It deregulates your blood sugar, it increases your blood pressure and it may decrease your immune system, as well. All those things could lead to a shorter lifespan. So try and cut down on the stress.

In fact, researchers looked at centenarians -- those are people who live over 100 years old -- and tried to find out what was it about their personality that caused them to live so long. Out of 16 personality traits, they found four that were some of the most common in centenarians. Some of those things specifically are: they tended to be more dominant personalities and they also had strong, but flexible characters. They didn't have the explosive heat, for example, of a type A personality. They also had more suspiciousness. They didn't take information necessarily at face value. They were practical, but also more relaxed.

And that leads to several tips for you, if you're thinking about trying to live longer. And who isn't? Tip number one, take as much control of those things that you can control and relax about those things that you don't have any control over. Tip number two, stay socially connected. Now, this is probably more important for women than for men. And it's important to stay socially connected to people who are younger than you, as well. So grandparents, pay attention to those grandkids, for example. And finally, tip number three, design exercise and stress relief methods according to what you enjoy the most.

That's what the centenarians tell us. Those are tips for you to hopefully live longer and healthier, as well.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: To get your daily dose of health news online, go to CNN.com/health to find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness.

So you want the creme de la creme of traveling? We have it for you here next. We're going to take a look at some of the best cities and airlines around the world, according to "Travel & Leisure" Magazine. You'll want to hear about this before your next vacation.

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KAGAN: What better time than Monday to think about getting away? Face it, you think you deserve the best. Your getaway should be the best. You might want to check out the August issue of "Travel and Leisure" Magazine, where readers rank the best of everything. They have hotels, airlines, even cities. They have tour outfitters, car rental agencies. The lists go on.

Nathan Lump is an editor at "Travel and Leisure." he joins me again here in New York. Nathan, good to see you again.

NATHAN LUMP, EDITOR, "TRAVEL AND LEISURE": Good to see you, Daryn. KAGAN: I love this because it's your readers telling you what they really like.

LUMP: Absolutely. We love to turn to them and kind of aggregate all of all their knowledge. They're traveling all over the world every year, so it's great to be able to ask them what they like best.

KAGAN: Let's -- let's let them do the work. Let's look at cities first. The favorite city of your readers, Sydney, Australia.

LUMP: Yes. It's the eighth time out the last ten years that Sydney has been number one in the world. So not exactly a surprise. You know, I think the reason Sydney comes out on top, year after year, is it's such a well-rounded city. It has cultural attractions, it has great shopping, it has great food. The people of Sydney -- Sydney- siders, are renowned for their friendliness. And I think all of those things kind of come together. It's also unusually sophisticated city. It has also incredible natural beauty wrapped up in one package, and that's quite unusual for major urban destinations around the world.

KAGAN: Some of those qualities could also apply to the other top three, Bangkok and Rome. As for American cities, though, New York is the highest ranking at number five.

LUMP: Yes, New York is number one in the U.S. and Canada again this year. Comes in number five in the world. This is the fifth year in a row that New York has been number one in the U.S. It's nice to see New York do so well. Obviously, we all know it's great for restaurants and shopping. Those are its two highest scores in the various categories in which we ask readers to rate cities. And it stays up there pretty high.

KAGAN: San Francisco, number ten. What was the biggest surprise on the cities list, do you think?

LUMP: I think Istanbul this year in the top ten. You know, Istanbul's been rising year after year. And I think one of the things that we really see is that "Travel and Leisure" readers continue to be excited about the idea of going to places that feel authentic, that might be a little bit more exotic, a little bit more far-flung. The readers are really pretty fearless. They like to get out there and explore. And I think we see Instanbul's success as part of that.

KAGAN: As I said, you have a number of lists here. I think that the best domestic airlines list might get some attention from the top carriers because they do not appear here.

LUMP: Absolutely. This is the first year in the last ten years that not one of the six largest carriers in the U.S. makes the top ten overall. They're all regional, low-cost smaller carriers. Midwest Airlines is at number one in that group, Milwaukee-based carrier. Known for their extremely comfortable cabin, wide leather seats, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies on board. It's very much kind of like a business-class experience at coach prices.

KAGAN: And JetBlue, I think some folks have heard of them. LUMP: Absolutely. JetBlue at number one. Independence Air, relatively young airline, coming in a number three. Song at four, Alaska Airlines at five. It's really a victory for a lot of these newer airlines, smaller airlines that have really made a commitment to customer service over the last few years.

KAGAN: You know, it's that simple, isn't it?

LUMP: Absolutely.

KAGAN: Where can people find more lists besides the magazine? Online as well?

LUMP: Online at travelandleisure.com, spell out the "and." It's all there, as well in the August issue, which you'll find on newsstands now.

KAGAN: Very fun, to take your own choices, then compare it to what the readers of "Travel and Leisure" picked for theirs. Nathan, thank you...

LUMP: Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: ... for stopping by. I hope your next vacation is a good one. Thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: And that's going to do it for us for today. Went by very quickly. I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is up next. Stay tuned for "YOUR WORLD TODAY" with Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee. That's after a quick break. I'll see you back here tomorrow morning.

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