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Isa Soares Tonight
Boeing Starliner Astronauts Address Extended Stay On ISS; Putin Warns As Biden Mulls Over The Decision To Allow Ukraine Use Long-Range Missiles; Trump Addresses The Press On The State Of San Francisco And California. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired September 13, 2024 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, U.S. President Joe Biden mulls easing
restrictions on long-range weapons for Ukraine as Vladimir Putin warns the West, that it risks war with Russia if it does. Also ahead this hour, we'll
hear from two NASA astronauts who are stuck on the International Space Station.
They're holding their first press conference since they left earth on June the 5th, we'll bring that to you, of course. And CNN gets access to the
Philadelphi Corridor. More on the bitter dispute over who controls this tiny parcel of land along Gaza's border with Egypt.
But first, tonight, Russia's war in Ukraine could be entering a dark chapter, one that might impact the U.S. and other NATO countries. Russian
President Vladimir Putin is trying to draw a red line, warning that if long-range missile restrictions are lifted for Ukraine, Russia will be
quote, "at war with the alliance". Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA (through translator): This is their direct involvement. And this of course, would in a significant way change
the very essence, the very nature of the conflict. It will mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries are at war with Russia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, U.S. President Joe Biden is facing pressure at home to ease the restrictions. The topic is sure to come up today when he meets with
U.K.'s Prime Minister Keir Starmer. However, the White House says it does not plan on making an announcement over the missiles today. Well, the U.S.
and the U.K. debate allowing Ukraine, of course, to launch long-range missiles into Russia.
They're already in use inside Ukraine. Our Clare Sebastian takes a closer look at potential targets here if Ukraine gets the go-ahead, of course, to
launch into Russian territory.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Now, Ukraine has been using western long-range missiles on occupied territory for months. This
believed to be a British Storm Shadow, a long-range stealth cruise missile hitting Russia's Black Sea fleet headquarters in Crimea last year.
Russian territory has been off limits. Now, a major reason for that is of course, western fears of Russian escalation. But recently, the U.S. has
also been arguing that actually lifting those restrictions wouldn't make much difference on the battlefield because it claims many high-value
targets, including aircraft that dropped those deadly glide bombs are out of range.
But what exactly is in range? Well, this map from the Institute for the Study of War suggests that there are well over 200 targets still in reach
of U.S. ATACMS. Those are the red dots you see there. Now, among them is also the headquarters of Russia's southern military district in Rostov and
dozens of command centers, storage depots, weapons production facilities and military regiments including, for example, the 52nd Guards, heavy
bomber regiment, believed to be responsible for a deadly cruise missile attack on an apartment block in Dnipro last January.
President Zelenskyy warning that any further delay may mean the U.S. is proved right.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT, UKRAINE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: All along with their talks on Ukraine. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President Joe Biden, now also expected to discuss efforts
to secure a hostage release as well as ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. CNN's MJ Lee joins me now from the White House.
So, MJ, we have been seeing, I think until today, kind of shift in tone and what relates to those long-range missiles to Ukraine that our Clare
Sebastian was just talking about. But now, we've been hearing from John Kirby that there's no change in U.S. for -- in terms of what will be
announced. What more can you tell us about where that is coming or -- and whether that tone is shifting.
MIN JUNG LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, this was first of all a meeting that the Prime Minister's office requested with President
Biden as he was getting more settled into the job, wanted to have that one- on-one face-time with the President, particularly ahead of the two leaders expected to spend more time together at UNGA in New York City later this
month.
[14:05:00]
But that topic that you just mentioned and that we just saw our colleague talking about is expected to be really at the top of the list for the two
leaders to discuss. Now, as far as the U.S. policy goes, there was a moment earlier this week when the President was asked about the use of long-range
missiles by Ukraine to hit deeper into Russian territory.
And what he had told reporters was we're working that out right now. That had sort of had the effect of kicking off fresh speculation, but
immediately afterwards, U.S. officials told me there is no change in policy that is expected as far as the ATACMS are concerned. These are the
American-made long-range missiles that have been sent to Ukraine.
And as you just mentioned, the White House, even today, reiterating that view that there isn't a new announcement that is coming. What U.S.
officials have continued to say is that they don't see such a potential change in policy as potentially making any kind of strategic change on the
war front in Ukraine.
But there is that separate question of whether President Biden might offer his thumbs up, a green light on other western long-range missiles,
including, of course, U.K.-provided ones. These are the so-called Storm Shadows that have also been sent to Ukraine. But here it's a little unclear
whether the President would end up sort of giving his permission or giving his -- again, green-light acceptance that he would be OK with that.
And we certainly do expect that, that is going to be a huge -- again, important topic of discussion for the two leaders. And one of the reasons
that this is, of course, so important and could potentially have big ramifications is exactly because of the clip you just played --
SOARES: Sorry to interrupt --
LEE: Of Russia --
SOARES: I'm sorry to interrupt, MJ, I want to just go to Donald Trump, who is taking questions. Let's listen.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She is the worst Vice President in the history of our country.
Ninety four percent of the Republicans, and the only one that wouldn't, maybe a Mitt Romney or somebody like that. But we've gotten great praise
for the debate and based on the polls like Rasmussen being up 6 today, the first poll out.
Based on the polls, obviously, I did well in the debate, also based on the debate polls, where sometimes had, in one case, 92 percent win, so, you
know -- look, you come from "Fox", you shouldn't play the same game as everybody else. Go ahead, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Republican colleagues or your allies who are concerned about your close relationship with Laura Loomer.
TRUMP: Well, I don't know what they would say. Laura has been a supporter of mine just like a lot of people are supporters, and she's been a
supporter of mine. She speaks very positively of the campaign, I'm not sure why you asked that question, but Laura is a supporter, I don't control
Laura. Laura has to say what she wants. She's a -- she's a free spirit.
Well, I don't know. I mean, look, I can't tell Laura what to do. Laura is a supporter. I have a lot of supporters, but -- so, I don't know what exactly
you're referring to. That's OK. Yes, please -- I just don't know, Laura is a supporter -- I don't know. She is -- she is a strong person. She's got
strong opinions, and I don't know what she said, but that's not up to me. She's a supporter. Please?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Traveling with you on your plane --
TRUMP: A lot of people do. It's a very big plane --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, traveling with you, she made racist remarks about your opponent. She also espoused conspiracy theories about 9/11. Do
you disavow those remarks?
TRUMP: Well, I have to see what the remarks are -- you're telling me for the first time -- we're here about -- we're here discussing the destruction
of San Francisco and California by a person that's running for President. So, I don't even know what you're talking about. I do know that she may
have said something, based on what you're telling me, but I don't know what she said. But I'll go take a look and I'll put out a statement later on,
but I really don't know, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President, Springfield, Ohio is experiencing a migrant crisis. Will you --
TRUMP: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Event there to show the media what's actually happening, maybe a town hall?
TRUMP: Well, we could and maybe we'll do that. Where are you from? That's good, very good, they're doing a very good job. Yes, that's very good. Now,
I will -- maybe Springfield, maybe Aurora, maybe both, we'll go there. I can say this. We will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio, large
deportations.
We're going to get these people out, we're bringing them back to Venezuela. You know, he told Biden he is not accepting anybody back. They moved all
their criminals -- not all of them, but the rest are moving in now, they emptied their jails in Venezuela -- emptied their criminals, emptied the
nests.
They call them nests of bad people. They're all now in the United States and they're now taking over cities. It's like an invasion from within, and
we're going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country. And we're going to start with Springfield and Aurora, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mayor of Springfield, Ohio, the police chief, the Republican Governor of Ohio have all debunked this story about people
eating pets, another bomb threats at schools and kids being evacuated. Why do you still spread --
TRUMP: No --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This false stories?
[14:10:00]
TRUMP: The real threat is what's happening at our border. Because you have thousands of people being killed by illegal migrants coming in and also
dying. You have women dying as they come up. They're coming up in large groups, we call a caravan -- I think I came up with that name, but it's
really what it is, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 people.
And you have large numbers of women being killed in those caravans coming up to this country. And then when they get here, they can go into the
country, and they end up being sex slaves and everything else. Those are your real problems, not the problem that you're talking. Yes, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Quick question, so, you just said that you will carry out the largest mass deportation of illegal immigrants. How are you going
to have, for example, Governor Gavin Newsom or officials in sanctuary cities comply with that?
TRUMP: Well, you know, if you go to the people of California, they don't want to have sanctuary cities anymore. They're tired of sanctuary cities.
Sanctuary cities are -- really blocks, that protect bad people from deportation and other problems. And they're going to do it and our federal
government has tremendous power.
We're not going to let states, even like California, even though I know it's largely a sanctuary state essentially, but we're not going to let that
happen to the people of California. They want these people out. They're just as scared as everybody else. The people of Ohio are scared. The people
of Colorado, you have a governor there who's very weak, he doesn't know what to do, and he doesn't want to talk about it.
A lot of it as per your question, they don't want to talk about what's happening. They say it's so bad for the city, let's not go public, let's
live with it for a little while, maybe it will go away. It's not going to go away, it's going to get worse. It's going to get so bad -- you know what
we're experiencing now is, they're just getting settled in.
They just -- 21 million people that have come in, they're just getting settled in, it's going to get much worse. It's going to get worse at a
level like nobody's ever seen before. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One more question, regarding the economy. We're seeing more and more companies, they're taking their jobs overseas --
TRUMP: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're looking for white collar jobs --
TRUMP: That's right --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're having problems without even seeing mass layoffs. How would you prevent these white-collar jobs from being taken?
TRUMP: By lowering taxes and regulations. And what they're doing is they're seeing that every time it looks like Kamala is doing well,
companies want to leave, stock markets go down. The stock market -- there's a great gentleman, Scott Besson(ph), who is one of the top Wall Street
people, he said the market is only up because they all think that Trump is going to get elected. We had a great stock market.
Even with COVID, we ended up handing over a market that was higher than previous two COVID or the China virus coming in. Now, we are going to make
sure that the taxes are going to stay where they are, and/or come down, ideally come down, both for the middle class and for corporations, because
corporations put the people to work.
We had the best numbers in the history of our country by far, not even close. And there are companies leaving because they cannot stand what's
happening right now to our country. And one of the reasons I'm doing this today is to let them know you're not going to have to leave because we're
going to take care of the problem.
They have a tremendous crime problem. Like if you're in Los Angeles, look at the crime numbers, and then you have the FBI lying about the numbers,
saying the numbers went down. But anybody with common sense know the numbers are through the roof. I didn't know they were as high as they are.
But think of it, how good is a person from a government agency that would release the numbers when they saw that I was unfairly targeted by "ABC",
and you could say by the FBI with false numbers. So, I mean, I have great respect -- I have to find out who that person is or who that group is, but
I have great respect. Go ahead, one more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: North Korea, Kim Jong-un, he just showed a uranium facility, the U.S. is saying that Iran is sending ballistic missiles to
Russia. How -- if re-elected, how would you address the situation with our adversaries?
TRUMP: I'll be able to make phone calls and solve most of the problems. I may actually have to meet a couple of times. But, you know, Viktor Orban,
the -- and you've heard me say this, but it wasn't long ago. He said the only way you're going to solve the world problem is Trump has to be
president again.
And I don't say it, I didn't say it. I sort of would be embarrassed to say it, but he said everybody was afraid of Trump. He said China was afraid,
Russia was afraid, North Korea was afraid, everybody was afraid. We had no wars. We defeated ISIS in four weeks, and they said it was going to take
five years, right?
The Generals in Washington, I went there and met a great General and a great -- some great people, and I said go do it, and he took them out in
four weeks, a 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate. I flew there, I flew to Iraq, to the field, and they took them out in a very short period of time,
short order.
[14:15:00]
We have a great military, but you know, a great military needs a leader. If you don't have leaders, then you end up with Afghanistan, the worst
withdrawal from a country in the history. Look, I've gotten to know great people -- I went to Arlington at their request, and I stood and I was with
them for hours, and I stood with them, they did a ceremony and then they asked me if I'd go down to the graves of their children -- they call them
their children, that they always will be their children.
And there were tears all over as they should be, and they said, sir, could you take pictures with me by the grave of my son, in one case, a daughter,
and I said I'd loved to. And I took pictures with them for a while and then I left and that was it. And I get home and I get a call from the people in
the campaign, sir, the Biden people are saying that you did this for publicity.
If people knew how hard it was to get there, because I was coming from a location that was very far away. And yet, they were having the ceremony
and I really felt, you know, I had them up to Bedminster, most of the family members, and I got to know them, they're great people.
Their sons and daughter just as though Kamala shot them with a pistol in her hand or his hand. They were killed by Biden and Kamala -- they were
killed. They should have never left from that airfield. They should have left for Bagram. We should have never given up Bagram. Bagram now is
controlled by China.
The reason we shouldn't have given it up was not because of Afghanistan. The reason we shouldn't have given up -- one hour away from where China
makes its nuclear weapons, and I wasn't giving it up. We were getting out quickly and effectively, I'm the one that got the numbers down to less than
5,000 soldiers.
But I would have never left unless they fulfilled their obligations under an agreement. I had a wonderful agreement, but the agreements said you have
to do this, they didn't do three of the first five things. So, therefore they would have done it. Abdul(ph) was the leader and he wouldn't have done
it.
And he would have never done that to us, and just in finishing up with that, and I appreciate the question actually, but in finishing up with
that, for 18 months -- I spoke to Abdul(ph) over the phone, for 18 months, not one American soldier was shot or killed, not one American soldier was
even shot at.
Abdul(ph) understood, don't do it. I said don't do it, Abdul(ph), don't do it. And for 18 months, not one soldier was even shot at, and that's the way
it's supposed to be, right? And then they had that horrible situation with the 13 dead, leaving billions of dollars of equipment behind, and leaving a
lot of Americans behind, a lot of Americans.
And you know what else? Leaving a lot of soldiers badly wounded, nobody ever talks about them, but I do.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, let's talk about California. You are claiming that we need to do major changes in this state. If you're
President, what's the biggest policy difference for the people of California, and what would the nature of your relationship be with the
leaders of California who you're calling scam. How do you get that?
TRUMP: Well, I would have a great relationship with them, and what you have to do is start all over again. You cannot have these policies of high
taxation, you can't have these policies of politics where you go after your politicians. You have to have an honest voting system because you know, you
don't have an honest voting system.
They send out millions and millions of ballots, they go all over the place, some people get 2, 3, 4, 5. You have a very dishonest system over here. If
I ran with an honest vote counter in California, I would win California, but the votes are not counted honestly, it's a very dishonest system that
you have in California.
And I'd make it business-friendly. Right now, it's business unfriendly. Look, Elon Musk is a friend of mine, he endorsed me very powerfully, he
endorses me every time he speaks, he really wants to see us win because he knows we can do a great job and turn it around. He left California. I said
to him, Elon, did anybody ever call you?
His big company, he moved to Texas. Lot of people are moving to Texas, great state, excellent governor and excellent lieutenant governor, great
people. They love entrepreneurs, they love the people that live there, they want to keep their taxes low, taxes are way too high here.
But I said to, Elon, so, you have a big company and you're moving it to Texas from California. Did anybody call you like the governor to try and
get you to stay? No. Did anybody see you write a letter, do anything to try and keep you to stay? You have thousands of jobs, he said nobody ever
called, they'd be so many things you could do.
This would be the easiest place to turn around if they knew what to do. Look at it. I mean, look at the weather, we're standing out here on the
Pacific Ocean, and the most beautiful weather. A lot of states don't have weather like this. They don't have Pacific Oceans.
[14:20:00]
So, it's many things you could do. But you start with lowering taxes and making it friendly. But think of it, Elon Musk, a great guy, brilliant guy,
big company, lots of jobs leaving, nobody even calls him to try and get him to stay. I would have been on him, I would have said let's have lunch,
let's have dinner, and then let's have breakfast the following morning, right?
I would have tried to talk him out of it. Yes, go ahead, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What value -- what value does -- what value do you feel that Laura Loomer brings to you, and has nobody told you about the
conspiracy theories that she's pulled up?
TRUMP: No, I don't know that much about it. No, I don't. I know she's a big fan of the campaign, but I really don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is she adviser?
TRUMP: I would say that -- well, she brings a spirit to us that a lot of people have -- we have very spirited people, and in all fairness to her,
she hates seeing what's happened to the country, I guess. I mean, she hates seeing what's happened to the country. So do I. It's very sad. It's very
sad when I have to stand out here on my property and say how bad California is. You have another one?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, getting back to some questions that matters to the people of California. There are a lot of folks who feel like
they are forgotten men and women, that the state --
TRUMP: They are --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doesn't seem to care, but you were coordinating with the local mayor. What can you do to help this community either now or when
you get elected?
TRUMP: Well, we're going to help them. And I told John(ph), the local mayor, but I told John(ph) we're going to help them with his slide problem.
You know, there are ways of fixing that. We discussed that, he knows better than anybody, and he needs help from the federal government. He needs help
from the state government.
And it's a very wealthy area. But you also have people living here that are elderly and have fixed incomes and have houses that are going to be, you
know, shoved into the Pacific Ocean if something is not done, and he wants it taken care of. He's a great mayor, he wants it taken care of. He was
very -- he wants nothing for himself.
He just wants to help these people. And John(ph), I think you said you have about 600 houses on the site that's sliding, and he'd like to be able to
save those houses for people that some of which will never be able to have a house again. You know, it's pretty sad.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Media shares are down about 75 percent from their peak in March. Your lockdown provision ensue. Will you sell your shares?
TRUMP: No, I'm not selling, no, I love it. I mean, I use it as a method of getting out my word. You know, when it opened, it went way high, but then
the SEC gave us nothing but problems. We had to go through a long process with the SEC. But people think that I'm leaving, that's why they're down.
Because if I leave -- you know, it's different if I leave, but I'm not leaving. I love it. I think it's great, mechanically, it works the best.
And again, I'm friendly with Elon, and Elon would love me to come over to X, but I just -- you know, I have close to a 100 million people on X, I
had 230 million people on X and then they shut me down.
And I said I'm not going to let that happen again. You know that I had hundreds of millions of people on X and Facebook and Instagram, I think
more than anybody. Zuckerberg told me at the White House, he said, congratulations, you're number one on Facebook, this is a number of years
ago.
And then all of a sudden, I went from being number one to having no voice, and after about two or three weeks because I have a lot to say, I put out
old-fashion press statements, like a press statement, and they got really successful and they did very well. And then we built this platform, and the
reason I built it is because I don't want to be -- I don't want to have my voice shut down.
But a lot of people think that I will sell my shares, you know, they're worth billions of dollars, but I don't want to sell my shares. I'm not
going to sell my shares. I don't need money. And it is great for me, it's a great voice. It's a great voice. And it's a voice -- it works so well, and
we just want -- as you know, we got final approval from the SEC, took us a long time.
And that really turned it off. You know, when I've originally opened that stock, it went from about 2 to about 182. Did you know that? It was the
biggest increase in the history of the stock market. I believe -- you know, I have to say I believe because you're going to find one company -- maybe
more, who knows?
But I believe it was the single biggest woven -- and I think I was worth 61 billion from that one stock, and then we had nothing but problems with the
SEC. And it gets whittled down, but I didn't do it for the money, I did it because I really wanted to have a strong voice and it's a great voice for
me. And as long as my voice is on there, it's going to always be good. But a lot --
SOARES: You have been listening there to the Republican presidential nominee, Mr. Trump, as you can see, who has been, I think it's fair to say
railing against Democrats in California, railing against Kamala Harris, early he said that my simple message, not going to let comrade Kamala to
destroy the U.S. like she destroyed California.
[14:25:00]
He says, as he speaks from his golf course in California. And he went on to say that California is a mess. He's criticized her record as a prosecutor
or her impact -- her impact on California. All topics that he didn't address in the debate, he was asked about a plan for California. He started
talking about Texas and Elon Musk.
So, you see where this is going. You also heard him say that there will be plans for large deportations, taking back -- bringing back migrants to
Venezuela, which he called an invasion. The largest deportation he said in history, it's a real threat. The illegal migrants, that's the real threat,
they're illegal migrants on our border.
He is on the campaign trail following that debate that many polls suggest Kamala Harris fared better at the beginning of that, as we took -- as we
heard him, he said the debate poll said 92 percent that he had won. So, we're going to keep an ear out on this today, right now, he's in
California, we understand later, he'll be going to Vegas, Las Vegas for a rally.
So, that was quite something. But what I really want to show you is that what you're seeing on your screen, something out of this world -- well,
both are pretty out of this world to be honest, this and what I'm about to show you, two NASA astronauts who are aboard the Boeing Starliner that
launched two months ago, they're actually speaking now, let's listen to them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, you both have had for the past few years, you played a very kind of intimate role in Starliner's development, which of
course, has not been easy for Boeing for a number of reasons. And I know failures are common and physical testing, but looking back, what could
Boeing have done differently in Starliner's development?
BARRY BUTCH WILMORE, NASA ASTRONAUT: That is a very interesting and a very fair question. I'll say this, there is not enough time right now to go into
all the details to make any answer I think that I could -- I could give make complete sense. I could say a few things and it would be taken the
wrong way, a way that I didn't mean it to be.
So, for questions like that, all that will play out in the coming months. We've got lessons learned that we will go through. We will have
discussions, we will be involved with those discussions and things that need to change will change. Obviously, when you have an issue like we've
had, there's some changes that need to be made.
SUNITA WILLIAMS, ASTRONAUT: Yes.
WILMORE: Boeing is on board with that, we're all on board with that. And I can tell you, when you push the edge of the envelope again, and you do
things with spacecraft that have never been done before, or just like Starliner, you're going to find some things, and in this case, we found
some things that we just could not get comfortable with putting us back in the Starliner when we had other options.
There's many cases in the past where there have not been other options. We were very fortunate that we have the space station, and that we had the
option to stay, and we had the option to come back a different way if that's what the data showed. I think the data could have gotten there.
We could have gotten to the point, I believe, where we could have returned on Starliner, but we just simply ran out of time. Because there's other
tests that need to be done, now there are assessments that need to be done, and had we had a little more time, then we could have done it.
And why didn't we take the time? Well, it's the International Space Station, we've got seven people, seven U.S. OS crew on board, 12 total, and
we've been six on board for quite some time. And to staff the space station with six people. We've done it, we've done it well, I think over the last
couple of months, but it's not prepared for that long term.
And so, we had to make some decisions on a timeline and the timeline came to the point where we had to decide is Starliner coming back with us or
without us. And we just did not have enough time to get to the end of that runway where we could say that we were going to come back with it. I think
we would have gotten there, but we just ran out of time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll take a question now from Jonathan Serrie with "Fox News".
JONATHAN SERRIE, FOX NEWS: Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. Butch, you mentioned at the beginning of this news conference, you
appreciated all the prayers, you've been very forthcoming about your faith throughout this mission. I'm wondering how your faith has helped you
throughout this mission, and whether there are any ways in which this mission has informed or influenced your faith?
WILMORE: I tell you, I really appreciate that question as well. I don't want to take advantage of my position to do things and say things that are
outside the realm of what should be done and said in any forum. But I will say this, if you really want to know how I feel about all of this 2
Corinthians 12:9 and 10. You can look that up and it will kind of tell the story, 2 Corinthians 12:9 and 10.
[14:30:05]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll take a question from Mark Strassmann with CBS News.
MARK STRASSMANN, CORRESPONDENT, CBS NEWS: Great to talk to you again. Suni, one for you and then one for Butch, but Suni, slight variation on the you -
- trained for a round trip on Starliner and that's not how it worked out. So, how do you feel about -- now about coming home on SpaceX?
And Butch, you went up for you thought roughly eight days, it's going to be more than eight months. Talk a little bit about the psychological
adjustment for you and your family.
WILMORE: Good question.
SUNI WILLIAMS, NASA ASTRONAUT: So, it's interesting questions. You know, when Butch and I were preparing for this flight, you know, we obviously had
talked about it a lot and we had talked about it being a test flight. And knowing that it was scheduled for eight days, there could be other things
that would keep us here a little bit longer.
We've been training for not only Starliner but also the International Space Station for a number of years. Both of us had been up here before so we
have a little bit of experience. And so we could dive right into the International Space Station training. So, we are fully qualified crew
members, both qualified in spacewalking, EVAs and robotics for visiting vehicles.
So, the transition was not that hard. You know, both of us are mechanically inclined, righty tidy, lefty loosey. There's a lot of things to do on the
Space Station when it comes to you know maintenance and repair. Maybe we didn't get all of the science experiments you know training before we left
because that was not really initially on the plate but we're getting some OJT, on the job training while we're up here, so we're blending right into
the increment particularly this one, 72 -- this 70 -- increment 72 because we'll be two of the U.S. crew members that are involved there.
So, I think the transition has been pretty smooth. It wasn't what we expected. However, we were prepared. And you know, the -- NASA, like Butch
mentioned, has got us ready to go for that aspect. So, flying home on SpaceX on the Dragon -- you know, there's been a dragon here the whole time
we've been here of course with Crew 8 that came up on the Dragon. So, we've had the opportunity to go in the spacecraft, look at it, and work with our
other crew members to get it ready to be our, you know, emergency escape vehicle if we have to use it and then, you know, of course we're getting
some training on the Crew 9 vehicle as it comes up.
We're excited to -- actually, we're excited to fly in two different spacecraft. I mean, we're testers. That's what we do. You know, we look at
different aircraft, spacecraft, whatever, evaluate it, and that's a pretty unique opportunity. I think like you know, this was not the very first
option we wanted to take Starliner to the completion and land it back on land at home. But you know, you have to turn the page and look at the next
opportunity, and you know, do good for the agency and the country. And will come back with some evaluations of most spacecraft and that I think we're
pretty fortunate for that.
WILMORE: I think I remember your question.
WILLIAMS: Sorry, I talk too much.
WILMORE: No, it's good. It's good. Let me let me answer your question like this. So, Suni wore a NASA shirt to represent NASA and who we are with,
right? I wore my Naval Aviator Pilot Astronaut Wings shirt. That's both of us. I'm NASA. She's NASA. She's Navy Pilot Astronaut Wings as well. These
wings represent honor, courage, and commitment. NASA, our core values within the Astronaut Corp at flight operations directorate, Johnson Space
Center, we have core values that we stand by and there's many of those. Many of those are biblical principles. I can sum it up in one word and
that's resiliency.
We are tasked and we learn and we train to handle all types of situations. And this is not just at NASA, this is something Suni and I have done for an
entire career. And this is something that, you know, she doesn't have children but she has some, some nieces and nephews, and I know she instills
in them the same thing I instilled in my daughters, my wife and I, and that is to be resilient. You have to go with what the good Lord gives you
whatever that is, whatever is allowed, whatever comes by.
And you know, I don't look back and say would have should have could have. I look back and say going forward, how can I fix. What can we do to make
this better. And that's our mindset right now. I don't look back and say oh my, this or that. I don't. And that's not -- you know, it's more this
resiliency is not -- it's not what we do at NASA. I think it's more who we are. And we deal with all types of difficulties in all types of situations.
And it builds a great deal of fortitude, and it builds a great deal of character not just within NASA but all of the contractors because like I
said earlier this is not an easy business. So, we go with it.
Eight days -- it was more than eight days, but eight days is a number that keeps getting said. It was going to be longer than that. But eight days to
eight months or nine months or 10 months, whatever it is, we're going to do the very best job we can do every single day because that's what the folks
that do this type of job have to do. You have to have that mindset because it is not an easy business like I said.
[14:35:41]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you both. We'll take our next question from Jeff Foust with Space News.
JEFF FAUST, AEROSPACE ANALYST, SPACE NEWS: Good afternoon. We had heard in some earlier briefings from NASA officials that you were able on some
occasions to call in from station to some of the meetings they were having about Starliner. What was your impression from your unique vantage point of
how those meetings went and how your input was brought into their discussions about what to do with Starliner? Thanks.
WILMORE: Thorough, all-encompassing, great character that we would hear in the room when there were disagreements. And there are. I mean, any kind of
discussion like this there's going to be disagreements. It was handled with the utmost compassion which is good, passionate about their points but with
the utmost character, respecting each other and each other's opinion going through it all.
We did mostly listening and taking it all in because we did -- you know, we did have a say in how this would turn out. Thankfully, you know, our
managers and our leaders allowed that, that we would be included and they wanted us included. And for that, we were -- we were of course grateful.
Ultimately, like I said though, the decision was made that was made. What - - as soon as it was made, we're on board, right? And it doesn't matter if I agreed or dis disagreed. It doesn't matter. The decision that we are given
is what we're going to march to. Again, like I said, because that's not what we do, that's who we are.
WILLIAMS: Hey, Jeff, I might add just a couple of things. You know, I was - - I was really impressed. There's a -- there were a lot of opinions. There was a lot of data coming in at different times and a lot of people trying
to digest that data and understand it and take it forward. I think it was really impressive for our leadership and our management to take the time
and listen to everybody's opinion and really try to understand where all of that was going. That's really a benefit of this organization.
You know, we have a lot of people from many different backgrounds. You're seeing two Navy test pilots here but, you know, we have scientists, we have
engineers, we have doctors. You know, the whole gamut for putting humans in space. And it takes, you know, a lot of people to get on board to have us
come up to space, to the Space Station, and have us come home. And all of those people have a -- have a say. They have a direct input. And our
leadership really opened the door and really was open to understanding everybody's opinion.
And that's really impressive and it's a way -- you know, a good organization works where everybody's opinion is funneled up to their, you
know, specific director and then taken into account by the upper management. So, we have to just, you know, understand that and be very
thankful we have an organization that does that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll take a question now from Kristin Fisher with CNN.
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there! This is Kristin Fisher and we are actually live on CNN right now, so I might ask a question that has
already been asked before but slightly differently so bear with me.
Butch and Suni, thank you so much for doing this. And I know you both have done long duration missions before. You've trained for every contingency,
but you know, NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio who was in a similar situation as the two of you, he said that he still had a few hard days as he kind of
wrapped his head around going from a six-month mission to a 12 month mission. So, I'm just curious how that transition has been for the two of
you mentally when you learned that you'd be going from a days long mission to a to an eight-month mission. Thank you.
WILMORE: Well, like I said earlier, there's one thing that I try not to fret over. Maybe frets the right word. Things that I can't control I'm not
going to -- I'm not going to fret over it. I mean, there's no benefit to it at all. So, my transition was maybe it wasn't instantaneous but it was
pretty close. If I can't affect it, if there's nothing we can do, there's nothing we can do.
So, we march forward, carry out the plan of the day as we used to say back in my AOCS days, and shortly thereafter. Aviation Officer Candidate School,
by the way, that's what that means. And it was very short-lived if at all for me. That all.
WILLIAMS: Kristin, I just add two thoughts to that. You know, for us I think that's -- Butch hit the nail on the head. You know, you sort of turn
to and you know, just take on the next activity for -- of the day. And you know, we just -- that's what we do. We're professionals. I think I have to
say though in the back of my mind, you know, there's folks on the ground who had some plans, right? Like -- you know, like my family. And so, to
spend some time with my mom and I think I was fretting more about that. Like, the things that we had sort of all talked about and plan for this
Fall and this Winter. And I think I was a little bit nervous to be honest with you to say, like OK, I'm not coming home for it.
But you know what? Like we both mentioned in the very beginning, everybody you know is on board and is supporting us while we're up here. So, I think
that fret went away real quick as well as the idea of like hey, we're here and we're going to be the best crew mates that we can be for our -- for our
crew mates up here.
[14:41:15]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's great to hear, you guys. Our next question now will come from Loren Grush with Bloomberg.
LOREN GRUSH, SPACE REPORTER, BLOOMBERG: Hi, Butch and Suni! Thank you so much for doing this. Earlier you talked about watching Starliner go home.
I'm just curious if you can go more into the emotions you were feeling when it ultimately returned safely. You know, was there any disappointment that
you weren't on it?
WILLIAMS: To be honest with you, I was so happy it got home with no problems. I was -- we were -- we -- you know, we saw it fly away and then
we all got up, the whole crew got up at -- you know, whatever -- 3:00 in the morning and we had it up on our, you know, iPads watching it land. We
know all those people who are part of the landing recovery team, the LRT who are there in the desert. And you know, we were -- of course, fingers
crossed as well as Mission Control, we know all of those folks who were bringing it back home, you know, the entry team. We can hear their voices,
we could hear them communicating with each other. We could -- we got to see the video from some of our aircraft operating director, folks who are out
there doing IR video of the shoots opening. All of that was a good sense of relief.
And we were actually really -- we're really excited for our team, our bigger team who got that spacecraft home and we're actually really super
proud of them for having it land pretty much bullseye there in the desert.
WILMORE: Yes, I was up here -- it's been several years ago but I was here when if you recall the Cygnus launched out of Wallops Island and it blew up
like a couple of seconds after it left the launchpad. It was coming here bringing cargo. And our immediate -- my immediate thought was just the
people that involved in the program. And it was just heartfelt for them because this is a pretty, you know, tight-knit organizations that we, you
know, do this space flight, human space flight, all types of space flight, and we felt for them -- or I -- you know, we did when that happened.
Well, I can tell you the thrill was equally the opposite side of the spectrum when Starliner landed safely. It was wonderful that it made it
back. And the fact that we weren't on it didn't even come into mind at all. It was never like oh we should -- no, not at all. The decision was made.
Like I said, we flip that bit. We go forward with the plan of the day. And we hope the best for all aspects of all space flight endeavors regardless
of where they are, regardless of what's taking place.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll take our next question now from Avery Gingerich with WBIR Knoxville.
AVERY GINGERICH, REPORTER, WBIR KNOXVILLE: Hi, guys! I know both of you have plenty of experience up in space, but can you describe what's going on
with your bodies right now as you continue to adjust and how you're preparing for the months ahead?
WILMORE: What's going on with our bodies? Well, I asked the question and I was told I have the second best hair in the scene. So, that's for as far as
that goes. Yes, I have grown my hair a little bit longer than I've ever grown it actually since college probably just because why not.
You know, I don't know. Very fortunate -- I think Suni and I both are very fortunate the way the good Lord wired us. Transitioning to space and
transitioning back is very easy for us and it was here as well. It seems like -- it seems like we've been here before. And we have but it just --
it's comfortable.
Of course, one thing about space flight is -- which is wonderful, your joints don't ache because there's no pressure on them. So, all the aches
and pains you may feel on a just daily basis are not prevalent in space which is actually quite nice.
[14:45:02]
WILLIAMS: I will say one -- I wouldn't say unfortunate. One thing -- both Butch and I also like working out so that's a -- that's a good thing
because, you know, when the mission was shorter, you -- I sort of had a small timeline that I was going to really crank it out on the exercise
equipment here because, you know, of course you'd lose bone density and muscle mass. But my mind had a transition now like now to eight months and
how I'm going to keep that motivation up.
Again, good thing both of us like to work out. He's early morning. He's up at like 4:30 in the morning to work out. I'm a little more about 6:00 a.m.
But every day -- I mean, it's every day that you have to do that. Every day we're on a cardiovascular exercise either the bike or the treadmill. Every
day we're on the advanced resistive exercise device called ARED which allows us to do deadlifts and squats and allows us to keep our bone density
and our hips and our feet. But that means we're going to have to do this for a little bit longer time.
I had seen Frank stay up here for a long time and some other folks and thought about like what I would want to do because I like -- I like mixing
it up a little bit. So, we're working with our strength and conditioning guys to add in a couple of more exercise and stuff to keep a -- keep it
going. You don't want to lose it because every day that you don't work out, you're going to you're going to lose some bone density. So, we have to keep
it up and that's a way of life.
WILMORE: And not to slight anyone else on the call. Don't take this wrong. But it is very nice to talk to you from God's country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think we're going to go to a different part of the country here with Laura Caso with WHDH Boston.
LAURA CASO, REPORTER, WHDH BOSTON: Hey, thank you so much. Suni, this is for you. So many of your friends in Massachusetts are of course following
your journey closely, cheering you on. What do you say to your Massachusetts family who are watching you from here on Earth?
WILLIAMS: Hey! You know, we had one press conference earlier when it was like still midst of baseball season. I think I said go Sox. So, this time I
have to say go Pats. You know, again -- now, thank you from the -- for the call from God's country. I know that there some really nice crispy apples
right now that are getting picked off the tree. I was just talking to my family about that and some other folks that it would be nice if somebody
put a New England Apple in a spacecraft that was coming up here because you got the prettiest place on Earth with the Fall coming up.
We'll take a look at it from up here and try to take some pictures for you guys, but I know the Boston crowd is cheering us on, so we'll find a better
place to park the car next time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, our next question comes from Ida (ph) with the New York Times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi! Thank you so much for taking this question. I -- you know the one thing that's been on my mind is that with the challenges --
the challenge of leaving Family behind is one thing but there's -- I wonder if there's like a silver lining for you with this like extended stay. And
I'm not talking about the all the great science you are going to do on the maintenance and all the work, but just this kind of home away from home and
I think, maybe Suni, I heard your spouse say something about how this is like your happy place.
If you could kind of candidly talk about that about sort of getting this extra time that you didn't plan for and what that's like.
WILMORE: Well, I'll tell you what? I'll answer this with respect to the family part. Trying times. And this is -- you know, my daughter's I'm going
to miss most of her senior year in high school, my youngest daughter. And my oldest daughter is a sophomore at East Texas Baptist University, and I
wasn't be -- able to be with her this during the summer. But like I -- like I said earlier, we've tried to teach them the principles that are important
and let them understand that trials however you judge what a trial might be makes you stronger.
And in that respect I'm grateful. I'm grateful that you know it's played out the way it has. We're here. We're safe. We're in a place that we're
both familiar with and doing things that we actually enjoy doing. And -- but for them, it's a -- it's a -- it is different and they're going to
learn from this and they're going to grow from this. And -- like they never could have in any other situation. And for that I am grateful.
WILLIAMS: Yes. And I think -- I think you hit the nail in the head. My husband has said that. My mom has said it before too. This is my happy
place. I love being up here in space. It's just fun. You know, every day you do something that's "work." You can do it upside down. You can do it
sideways. So, it adds a little different perspective. And you know, about staying up here longer, one of the things I was sort of regretting about a
short duration flight is I wasn't going to be able to share it with a lot of people.
One of the things I like to do up here is sort of write like a little recap of the week and send it down to people so they can see what fun we're
having and what -- you know, what kind of work we're doing up here because it is so much different than being on Earth. And I think it opens up that
door of making you think a little bit differently just perspective and I had that opportunity. I think I was on, you know, week 12 of writing a
journal to send down to F and I'm really feel very fortunate to -- about that being able to send it to people and they can understand what we're
doing up here and see that yes, you know, we're living in a remote area but we're doing worldclass science as well as, you know, living with other
people you know for the betterment of so much.
And you know, being able to have a perspective out the window as well as a perspective upside down or sideways is something that I hope we can pass on
to the rest of humanity.
[14:40:49]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, our next question is with Aishwara Aishwarya Kumar with ESPN.
AISHWARYA KUMAR, ESPN: Hi! Thank you guys so much for taking the time. My question is for Suni. And it's a little philosophical, so apologies for
that. But what do you feel in your body, your mind, and your soul when you run in space and how does it compare to running on Earth?
WILLIAMS: So, interesting question. You know, I was mentioning a lot of the physical activity that we do up here. It's a little harder, a little
different but fun at the same time. When I'm on Earth and I'm running or moving, you know, there's a lot of things going on in your mind but you
can't get away from being on Earth. I love to take my dogs for a walk in the early in the morning so you can, you know, hear the birds singing and
hear the -- you know, the day start. Here that's really not the activity.
It's sort of funny though that I -- just thinking about it, when I first got up here, I saw something fly by and I thought it was like a bug, but
then I realized, oh yes, we're up in space, that's not going to happen. So, your mindset sort of changes. But then again, like I was just mentioning in
the question beforehand, your perspective changes. And being able to be on the lifting device and looking right out the window above you and seeing
our planet go by and then taking the moment to go and look in the window between sets or just to have that moment to be quiet on the, you know,
treadmill or whatever, it takes you to a different place.
And you know, it's very -- it's very peaceful up here a lot of times. There's a lot of work that's going on but it's also gives you a time to be
a little introspective a little pers -- change your perspective on a lot of things that we -- how we do things on earth. Like, it really is difficult
for me to imagine people on Earth not getting along together. It's the one planet we have, and we should all really be happy that we're there together
because that's it, that's our place. So, I think that's pretty much how I feel about that. It just changes your perspective.
WILMORE: I can tell you if you're looking for a guest picker for college game day, give me a call. Also, I've been asked several times, yes, I do
have the SEC network.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Well, that is all the time that we have. I want to sincerely thank you Butch and Suni for participating today. We
can't wait to follow along with the rest of your mission. Goodbye, good night, and thank you again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Station, this is Houston ACR. That concludes the event.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: That was that was truly spectacular. You saw there the two NASA astronauts who were aboard the Boeing Starliner that launched two months
ago, of course. Were just speaking -- it is the first time that we've heard from both of them from Butch Wilmore and Suni since they found out that the
10-day mission was now becoming an eight-month mission in fact.
Let's get more on this. Listening into that is NASA Solar System Ambassador Sarah Treadwell. And Sarah, we've got about three four minutes left here.
Your takeaway from that was truly astounding just to hear from them from the personal but also from the technical and how they're feeling given that
they're somewhat disappointed that the Starliner came to Earth without them.
SARAH TREADWELL, NASA SOLAR SYSTEM AMBASSADOR: I think that they honestly had just this most positive can-do attitude. That is so admirable. I was
just floored with kind of their positivity in their responses.
SOARES: Yes. They were incredibly positive. They are -- they were also prepped in questions in terms of what Boeing could have done differently.
What did you get from that?
TREADWELL: You know, I think that was also held very -- or you know, handled very well with a lot of grace. I think that they probably don't
have the crystal ball that any of us have to know what could been done wrong right in the past, what's going to happen in the future. So, again I
think they handled it so gracefully because we don't really know.
SOARES: Yes. And do we -- and just to remind our viewers very briefly, Sarah, if you could, what was the problem to start off with.
[14:55:00]
TREADWELL: Sure. There were some helium leaks that were happening which is pretty not common but can be common with helium being such a light element.
But then also there were some misfirings with the thrusters. And some of those they were able to figure out what went wrong but a couple of them --
at least one they weren't sure what was wrong with it. So, that was ultimately the problem and what made them decide we just -- because they
didn't know for sure what the issue was, they didn't feel comfortable sending them back home on it.
SOARES: So, what did you get in terms of how they adjusted from going from a week to now going to eight months because they're now only coming back in
February, right? So, what did you take away from that?
TREADWELL: I think but really hit it on the head where it's I can't do anything about it so he snapped his mindset into this is what it's going to
have to be now and how am I going to make the best of this situation because this is truly the island. You cannot just jump off the Space
Station if you wanted to, so you definitely have to have that mindset that tells you the best way to cope.
SOARES: Yes. And I mean, she was saying simple things such as walking a dog and obviously for Butch missing his -- missing his family. But I was struck
by what Butch said. He said he had sent down his requests for an absentee ballot today he said because of course he won't be back in time for the
U.S. election November thing, things we just take for granted, right?
TREADWELL: Oh, yes. Yes, something I've heard from other people other astronauts say that things you take for granted. You can't drink liquid in
space like you can on Earth, so you have to drink hot coffee through a straw. And they miss that. You miss those like comforts of gravity and home
and the way that you know things, right?
SOARES: They look pretty good, don't they? Sarah. Just very briefly. I mean, they look -- they were optimistic./ They were positive. They were
smiley. They were engaging.
TREADWELL: Absolutely. And I think too they probably also where they are in the stage of their age and their career know that they're not going to have
many other chances to go up to the space station, so I think that this is obviously something that is unexpected but very much welcomed in the long
run getting to spend more time in space.
SOARES: Sarah, I really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us. Thank you very much indeed.
And everyone, that does it for us for tonight. Do stay right here "NEWSROOM" with Jim Sciutto is up next. Have a wonderful weekend. I'll see
you next week.
END
