Endeavour Launch Scrubbed; Obama Still Heading To Kennedy Space Center; Up Close Look At Destruction; Obama Toured Alabama Storm Damage; William And Catherine Exchange Vows
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, Suzanne, thank you. Our top story this hour, the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour now delayed. Endeavour's 25th flight into space was supposed to take off at 3:47 p.m. Eastern time today, but now it looks like it won't get off the ground until at least Sunday. There are three parts to this story now, what caused the delay, what happens to Arizona representative Gabby Giffords, who was at the space center planning to attend the launch, and what about the president? Will he and his family still attend the launch at this point? We have live team coverage on this story. Let's start with John Zarrella, he's live from Kennedy Space Center for us. John, first off, what is this delay about?</s>JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What happened was that they have what's called three auxiliary power units on board the space shuttle, and these are -- and there are heaters within the auxiliary power units. Two of the heaters in auxiliary power unit number one, those are called APUs, failed, and NASA tried to restart them, tried to do some trouble-shooting, but they were never able to bring them back up online. They are critical because the auxiliary power units are what are used in order for the shuttle -- in order to use the rudder, in order to use any of the shuttle's steering mechanisms, so -- and that is powered by what's called hydrazine. Now, the hydrazine will freeze up if those heaters are not on whenever the auxiliary power units are on, so they have to be working. So, without those two working, NASA was forced to go ahead and scrub the launch. And Randi, we're looking right now at a minimum of 72 hours. At first, we thought 48 hours, but it appears now a minimum of 72-hour turn-around time. They have to get all of the half a million gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen drained back out of the giant tank before the engineers can get in there and start trouble-shooting the problem. So, a minimum now of 72 hours, so we're looking at no earlier than Monday, and that would be some time in the 2:00 hour.</s>KAYE: So, they think, possibly, they can still get it done. What about Gabby Giffords? We mentioned that she's there, she got this medical leave from her rehab facility in Houston, I think that's only for about 48 hours, to see her husband launch with the shuttle Endeavour. Any word on whether or not she'll be able to stay there?</s>ZARRELLA: Well, you know, our medical folks are reaching out to see what kind of a window they're going to allow her. Now that we know it's 72 hours, that would obviously stretch it out a little bit. On the other side of the equation, we just had her folks -- or she tweeted out, bummer, with -- that the launch has been scrubbed. But we also know that a couple of doctors -- her doctors were flying in today to be here with her. So, that may, in fact, allow her to stay an extra day or so. But again, our medical folks are reaching out to see exactly what this means for her.</s>KAYE: All right, John. We'll leave it there with you as we watch this video of Gabby Giffords climbing aboard that airplane, making her way there to Florida. Now let's go to White House Correspondent Dan Lothian. And Dan, what about the president? Any news on whether he'll still stay there and attend the launch, now that it's been delayed for now 72 hours?</s>DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That part of it we don't know of the president. It's doubtful that he'll actually stay here for that new time and date. What we do know is the president is still planning to come here. He lifted off from Alabama, will be landing here sometime in the 2:00 hour. So, they have not scrubbed the president's trip here. Obviously, this would have been a historic day for President Obama. It would have only been the second president to witness a lift-off of a space shuttle, the last president to do that was President Bill Clinton in 1998. In addition to witnessing the lift-off, the first family was to have taken a tour of a facility here. We presume that that will still take place. It's possible that the president will also get to visit with perhaps the crew and other NASA officials here on the ground, but it's unclear exactly how his schedule will play out. But what we do know is that the trip is still on, at least for the president to come here for a visit, but he will not be witnessing the lift-off of the space shuttle.</s>KAYE: And then Dan, he has to be in Miami tonight, right?</s>LOTHIAN: That's right, Miami-Dade County, where the president -- Community College, rather, where the president will be delivering a commencement address. So, that is still on. So, it makes sense for the president to still stop here and then make the little jump over to Miami for his remarks tonight. But again, it has to be somewhat of a disappointment for the first family because this is a historic day, as you've been talking to John about all the other things surrounding this with Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly going up as the commander of the space shuttle. That great story behind that, also this being the second to the last shuttle launch. So, a lot of historic reasons for wanting to be here for this event. Of course, that part of it won't be happening tonight, but at least the president will still be coming here for the visit.</s>KAYE: All right Dan Lothian for us. Thank you, Dan. All right, so I realize it's now been, oh, about five minutes since we've relived the royal wedding, but you know, here comes the Will and Kate addition of "Sound Effect," the most important 33 seconds of the entire affair.</s>ROWAN WILLIAMS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: I, William Arthur Philip Louis.</s>PRINCE WILLIAM ARTHUR PHILIP LOUIS, THE PRINCE OF WALES: I, William Arthur Philip Louis.</s>WILLIAMS: Take thee Catherine Elizabeth.</s>PRINCE WILLIAM: Take thee Catherine Elizabeth.</s>WILLIAMS: To my wedded wife.</s>PRINCE WILLIAM: To my wedded wife.</s>WILLIAMS: To have and to hold from this day forward.</s>PRINCE WILLIAM: To have and to hold from this day forward.</s>WILLIAMS: For better, for worse.</s>PRINCE WILLIAM: For better, for worse.</s>WILLIAMS: For richer, for poorer.</s>PRINCE WILLIAM: For richer, for poorer.</s>WILLIAMS: In sickness and in health.</s>CATHERINE MIDDLETON: In sickness and in health.</s>WILLIAMS: To love and to cherish.</s>MIDDLETON: To love and to cherish.</s>WILLIAMS: Til death us do part.</s>MIDDLETON: Til death us do part.</s>WILLIAMS: According to god's holy law.</s>MIDDLETON: According to god's holy law.</s>KAYE: And we'll have much more on the big day later this hour with CNN's Richard Quest in the heart of the festivities. He was out there with all the fans who came out to see the big day for the royal family, and he'll join us. And I'll tell you what a trouth (ph) is, you heard Kate mention it there. In case you don't know what a trouth is, we'll explain that to you as well. Also, still to come, President Obama is visiting Alabama today. He was there joining up with officials there, the governor -- he's getting a close-up look at the widespread destruction from a powerful tornado.</s>KAYE (voice-over): And this just in, this new video. This is the president during his tour. He was in Tuscaloosa, and that is where he was before he's planning to head to watch the shuttle launch now that it's been scrubbed, but that was the original plan. So, let's listen to what he had to say there in Alabama.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, Michelle and I want to express, first of all, our deepest condolences to not just the city of Tuscaloosa, but the state of Alabama and all the other states that have been affected by this unbelievable storm. We just took a tour, and I've got to say, I've never seen devastation like this. It is heartbreaking. We were just talking to some residents here who were lucky enough to escape alive but have lost everything. They've mentioned that their neighbors had lost two of their grandchildren in the process. What you're seeing here is the consequence of just a few minutes of this extraordinarily powerful storm sweeping through this community. And as the governor was mentioning, Tuscaloosa typically gets a tornado during the season, but this is something that I don't think anybody's seen before. In addition to keeping all the families who have been affected in our thoughts and prayers, obviously our biggest priority now is to help this community recover. I want to thank Mayor Maddox for his extraordinary leadership, Chief Burgess I know is having to deal with a lot of difficulties. One of the challenges that the mayor was explaining is, is that the assets of the city, a fire station that we passed on the way in, police resources, emergency resources, those, too, have been affected. Fortunately, the governor has done an extraordinary job with his team in making sure that the resources of the state are mobilized and have been brought in here. I'm very pleased that we've got a FEMA director in Craig Fugate who is as experienced as anybody in responding to disasters even of this magnitude. And we've already provided the disaster designations. We've already provided the disaster designations that are required to make sure that the maximum federal help comes here as quickly as possible. Craig is working with the teams on the ground to make sure that we are seamlessly coordinating between the state, local and federal governments, and I want to just make a commitment to the communities here that we are going to do everything we can to help these communities rebuild. We can't bring those who have been lost back. You know, they're alongside god at this point. We can help maybe a little bit with the families dealing with the grief of having a lost -- a loved one lost, but the property damage, which is obviously extensive, that's something that we can do something about. And so, we're going to do everything we can to partner with you, Mr. Mayor, with you, governor. As the governor's pointing out, this community was hit as bad as any place, but there are communities all across Alabama and all across this region that have been affected, and we're going to be making that same commitment to make sure that we're doing whatever we can to make sure that people are OK. That bee likes you.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's on you.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You stand still.</s>OBAMA: OK.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He got in the way.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got it, I got it off.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  (INAUDIBLE.)  UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the Secret Service when you need them?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>OBAMA: Finally, let me just say this. As you walk around -- we were just talking to three young people over there, college students here at the University of Alabama who are volunteering now to help clean up. One of the young ladies there, she actually lived in this apartment. Wasn't here at the time the storm happened. What you're struck by is people's resilience and the way that the community has come together. And obviously, that's a testimony to the leadership of the governor and the mayor, but it's also inherent as part of the American spirit. We go through hard times, but no matter how hard we may be tested, we maintain our faith, and we look to each other to make sure that we're supporting each other and helping each other, and I'm sure that that spirit is going to continue until this city's all the way back. So, Mr. Mayor, he was pointing out that there's a lot of national media down here now, And the mayor expressed the concern that perhaps, you know, the media will move on in a day or a week or a month and that folks will forget what's happened here. And I wanted to assure him that the American people all across the country are with him and his community and we're going to make sure that you're not forgotten and that we do everything we can to make sure that we rebuild. So, with that, governor, would you like to say a few words?</s>GOV. ROBERT BENTLEY (R), ALABAMA: I would. And Mr. President, I would like to personally thank you and Mrs. Obama for coming and visiting Alabama, because you know, as you fly over this -- and I did yesterday -- as you fly over from the air, it does not do it justice until you're here on the ground, and I just want you to know how much I appreciate that. We asked for -- we mobilized the stat state. We declared a state of emergency early on, and even before the first tornadoes hit, and then we mobilized our National Guard the first day. We then asked the president for aid, and we asked him to expedite that, and they have done that, and I just want you to know how much I appreciate that, Mr. President, because all these people appreciate that so much. We have eight counties across the state that have been hit by major tornadoes. This probably is the worst one, but we have others. As you go across the state, you see this same evidence of tornadoes all across the state. And so, there are people that are hurting. We have now, what, 210 confirmed deaths in Alabama. We have 1,700 injured. We have a number of people missing at the present time. We're going to continue to work in a rescue-type mode, but we're now more in a recovery mode. Thank you, Mr. President. And if you'll keep them off of me --</s>OBAMA: I'm going to keep my eye -- we're looking out for each other.</s>BENTLEY: I appreciate that, yes, sir. But I - let me say, I am so proud of - our first responders in this state, they have done an outstanding job. Our mayors, our county commissioners, our police, our firemen, they have all just don't such a fantastic job. Our EMA people, they have just -- we have got a great team, they've all worked together. And now, we have the federal government helping us, and you know, that just shows that when locals and state and federal government works together, we can get things accomplished, and that's what we're going to do. And so, Mr. President, welcome to Alabama, but not under these circumstances. We want you to come back and maybe go to a football game over here at a later date and -- when things are better. But thank you for your help.</s>OBAMA: I will gladly, gladly come back.</s>BENTLEY: Thank you, sir.</s>OBAMA: Mr. Mayor, why don't you say a few words?</s>WALT MADDOX, MAYOR OF TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA: Mr. President, governor, miss Obama, thank you for coming today. The last 36 hours have been probably the most trying time in this community's history. But you're going to see a new story being written here in Tuscaloosa. And in years to come, these chapters are going to be filled with hope and opportunity. Since this tragedy began, I've been using Romans 12:12 when Paul wrote under persecution, "rejoice in our confident hope." Well, today, Mr. President, your visit here has brought a confident hope to this community. And in the days, weeks and months to come, we're going to be a story that you're going to be very proud of and you can talk about across this land. Thank you again for coming today.</s>OBAMA: Well, thank you for your leadership. And two last points I want to make. First of all, we've got our congressional delegation here. And I am absolutely confident that they will make sure that the resources are available to help rebuild. To all the local officials who were here, I know that they've been personally affected, but I know that they're going to provide the leadership in this community, working with the mayor and the governor to do what is need. And finally, I think the mayor said something very profound as we were driving over here. He said, you know, what's amazing is, when something like this happens, folks forget all their petty differences, you know? Politics, differences of religion or race, all that fades away when we are confronted with the awesome power of nature. And we're reminded that all we have is each other. And so hopefully that spirit continues and grows. If nothing else comes out of this tragedy, let's hope that that's one of the things that comes out of it. So, thank you very much, everybody.</s>KAYE: And there you have it. That was the president, along with the governor of Alabama, Governor Robert Bentley, and the mayor of Tuscaloosa, where they were. That is your first look at the president's tour of Tuscaloosa and the state of Alabama, surveying the storm damage there. You heard from the governor, 210 dead in Alabama, 1,700 injured. They have no idea how many are still missing. But also, I just want to point out one thing. As we were listening to the president there, our weather team got this in. We're learning that aerial surveys that were taking place this morning of the twister that slammed Tuscaloosa and Birmingham show a nearly continuous damage path across Alabama from Mississippi to Georgia. And that's according to the National Weather Service. If that's true, that would mean, our weather folks say, the path of destruction this tornado left in its wake was at least 200 miles long or greater. So you can certainly see why the president thought it was important to see exactly what damage has been done there in the state of Alabama. We will take a quick break and be right back.