Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Miles O'Brien Receives Award for Space Coverage

Aired March 09, 2002 - 08:26   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: I guess we're going to bring our Miles O'Brien back in here. And, Jacqui, this is where you and I get to sort of brag about Miles. And he's going to blush and he's going to say aw, shucks. But -- and I actually...

JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But he deserves it.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. Miles, tell us about this award that you received last night in Houston, because I know we've got some video. We're going to roll that. And, Jacqui, I don't know, but the last -- if you know this -- but the last person to receive this award was Walter Cronkite.

JERAS: Wow.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Now is that big time or what?

JERAS: It is big time.

PHILLIPS: Now look at Miles coming up. Doesn't he look handsome in a tux?

JERAS: Look at his suit. Yes.

PHILLIPS: I've never seen him dressed so pretty.

JERAS: Very nice.

PHILLIPS: Yes. He even wore new shoes, I'm told.

JERAS: Wonderful.

PHILLIPS: All right, so Miles, tell us about this award and...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Would you like a little more cream, Mr. Cronkite?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right, let's listen to it a little bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) O'BRIEN: And it's a humbling experience to have Walter Cronkite as your co-anchor. You have to forgive me, I've been up all night all week following the...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: As you say, the last person to receive this award was Walter Cronkite. And at that point, Miles was talking about when he did co-anchor with Walter Cronkite. We have the pictures up here in CNN. If you walk on the CNN tour, you see him there with Walter.

Talk about that, Miles, a little bit, and this award and what it felt like last night to receive this award.

O'BRIEN: It was a great honor. You know, it was such an illustrious group of people there. It really was all the great names of the Apollo program. George Miller, whop was one of the great managers of the Apollo program, was honored. He was the main event, if you will. I was just sort of a tack on. But, you know, people like Chris Craft, the great flight director, were there, Gene Krantz, some of the real space notables. And to be honored by a group like that is really, it's very flattering.

So it was nice to know that people are watching and people like that are watching, in particular. So, you know, our space coverage here at CNN is important to us and we try to give our viewers the best coverage possible about what's going on in the high frontier. And it's just nice to know that, you know, they're recognizing that. And when they recognize me, they're, it's not just me. It's CNN's commitment to covering space, as well.

And so I feel pretty privileged. It was also nice to have my lovely wife Sandy in the audience. It made it even more special.

JERAS: And you do it very well, Miles. Now, really the significance is is that you communicate the information so well, is that right?

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, I think, you know, you've got to try to boil a lot of -- this is a complicated thing. Look, I mean, take a look at this right in here. That is the toilet on the shuttle. Now, that's, in some sense, very straightforward. But that's a seven figure device. Everything is complicated in space and yet everything is very simple. And that kind of sums it up.

So what you have to do is try to find ways to relate to people so they can understand without getting caught up in the jargon. And my job is to actually learn that jargon and then try to translate it back into English for the rest of you. And it's challenging at times, because you sort of get caught up in the acronyms that NASA uses and you understand what they're saying, but you have to remember that people out there don't necessarily know that that's a WCS.

PHILLIPS: Of course, I'm always asking Miles what all this stuff stands for. But I'm learning -- EMU, EVA.

JERAS: Miles, how long have you been doing space reporting?

O'BRIEN: The EMU is not a -- well, really, since I started at CNN 10 years ago. Of course -- and what I mentioned last night, and what is, you know, is kind of a sad twist of fate. The reason -- part of the reason I'm the space correspondent is that my predecessor and our beloved former colleague John Holliman died in September of '98 in a tragic car accident. Up until that time I was sort of his second man and helped out on bigger missions. And it was just before the famous return to flight by Senator John Glenn that he tragically died and I stepped into this role.

And I've tried to remember what he did on the air. He was a great person at never talking down to his audience, always talking as if he was talking to a friend, being fair and critical, but not cynical, always sharing some enthusiasm for what you're doing and connecting with people in that way.

And, you know, his philosophy is something I tried to embrace.

PHILLIPS: Miles, you mentioned John Holliman. This e-mail came in from Jim. It says, "Miles, a well deserved recognition of your quality reporting on an important subject of great interest to both of us. Indeed, with all the ugliness in the world, it's good to see mankind's efforts channeled towards such a high achievement. Some nice guys do win. John would have been proud."

I thought that was a pretty neat e-mail.

O'BRIEN: Wow. Thanks so much.

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