Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

U.S. Detainees Making Trip Back to Home

Aired April 12, 2001 - 09:06   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.
LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: In the meantime, we want to go on to our other big story this morning, the return of the Navy spy plane crew. At this hour, the 24 crewmembers are headed to Hawaii on the second leg of their journey home.

CNN national correspondent Rusty Dornin joins us live right now from Honolulu. Big celebration planned there, Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, they're about midway in their eight-hour flight from Guam to Honolulu. They started their journey upon their release from Hainan yesterday, where they flew on commercial jetliner from Hainan to Guam, and we have a few photos where it looked they were celebrating a little bit with the folks aboard that jetliner.

Apparently, they were able to even watch some movies and have a meal and that sort of thing. And when they got to Guam, they were able to freshen up, take a shower, call their loved ones, which, of course, was, I'm sure, a number one priority on their list. And then they boarded a C-17, a military transport plane.

That's quite a bit of difference from the jetliner that they took earlier. It's a big transport plane, very noisy, not very comfortable and there are no in-flight movies on that flight. So, don't know how much rest they're getting on the eight-hour flight here to Honolulu. They will have a busy schedule ahead of them, though.

They are scheduled to land at 7 a.m. Honolulu time. That's about 1 p.m. Eastern. They will be greeted by a big welcoming party here, a Navy band and dignitaries, and we are told that the crew will come down, possibly Lieutenant Shane Osborn, the pilot, will say a few words. We're not sure. We have been told it's possible that he'll make a couple comments,

But there will be some members of the public on hand and the crew will go down and shake a few hands here in Honolulu before they are taken over to Pearl Harbor Naval Base where they will be debriefed for two days. They'll have medical examinations and some psychology counselors will be on hand to help them if they need it. But those debriefing will have them talk about everything that happened before the collision, during the collision and right before the plane landed in China.

And Leon, it looks like they'll be home soon and the party will begin. Back to you.

STOUFFER: OK, Rusty, thanks. It's good to see those smiles in the photographs. We appreciate it. Thanks, Rusty.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com