giving the rest of us hope on earth. when they get to the iss and becoming part of the expedition 63 the crew, they will perform tests on crude dragon and we wish them the best. we hope to get to lift off into ours hours, weather permitting. i'm harassed, is dana. is it a musica♪ >> dana: a live look at cape canaveral in florida where the countdown to lift off is just minutes away. it's a first time a private company is set to send to nasa astronauts into orbit. hello everyone, my dana perino and this is the daily briefing. ♪ >> dana: spacex's dragon spacecraft set to carry them to the international space station. the launch also marks the first time in nearly a decade that astronauts will lift off from american soil.

phil keating is live on the ground near the launch site, and it's an exciting day. phil, catch us up. >> is at this day needed any more drama because it is a historic launch, moments ago the national weather service issued a tornado warning for brevard county and the kennedy space center happens to be in brevard county. nasa employees are walking around telling all of the reporters and photographers to take shelter at this point. so we will probably do that as soon as we finish this report. there is a lot of pressure on this launch, lives are on the line. two men, bob bacon and bob hurley, two experienced astronauts, and a private company for the first time, spacex, we'll actually launch humans on board its own rocketing capsule into space. all systems for this historic launch argo and that's the falcon nine rocket out there on launch pad 39 a with the falcon crew on board right now.

inside that dragon capsule which is on top. right now it appears the only possible thing that could scrub the launch because all systems are go would be the weather. we still have two and a half hours to go before the actual launch window at 4:33 p.m. eastern time happens, so we will see how this afternoon works out with us. the two astronauts have been here at the cape for the past week. they arrived here last saturday and -- for last wednesday and they have been training and going over all the final precautions and details. great spirits, they called them cool as cucumbers and they call this launch america because it's the first time in nearly a decade that they have launched from an american rocket on american soil. this is a test flight, the second test flight of the space system. the first flight was january of last year without crew and it basically went flawlessly talking with the space station and returning to earth.

the flight from the launch path pad will take about 19 hours and that the crew dragon will slowly and gently lock into the hatch of the space station and be welcomed aboard. they've been in quarantine for basically the last ten weeks, coronavirus as well as the typical launch protocols but they are ready. they are inside and getting strapped in and working with the flight team as you can see there on tv. you can tell the design is new and slick, the outfit is all designed by the >> tucker: team the tower, launch pad. i a had to phone makeover so know it, too, is black-and-white in tone. elon musk and his team had the plan as futuristic as possible, taking a whole giant new step for humans and americans space exploration. it's extremely ambitious and very exciting.

of course mother nature's way here, you lived down there, and i know you just had a tornado warning for that area. how long do those learnings usually last and one might me know if this launch is a go? >> typically they begin and are called off within roughly a half hour depending on the storm itself. the second string as well as where you are in the country, florida gets a lot of tornadoes. and of course you have tornado alley in the center of the u.s. hopefully this passes without any formal clouds and that's certainly what everyone here helps in the astronauts are up there in the launchpad, they are anchored down to the pad. before a rocket launches, and how does the stock stay there and not get blown over, there are huge not screwed on and

holding it down. as soon as the countdown clocks hit zero, and hopefully they are pretty secure and safe out there on top of the rocket in the capsule. we will see how the weather progresses here, dana. >> dana: as long as you are still safe, the amount of human ingenuity that has to go into something like this is an incredible undertaking. it's not out of reach in the future that you would have regular citizens that would be able to take a private space flight. even in these young child's lifetime, that might be something that's possible and, the administrator wants it to

happen. that's part of nasa to get its astronauts as customers on private commercial space bearing vehicles. but these space companies like boeing and blue origin, they could also not just take naps astronauts, they could take american citizens. that's faster and faster into the future, and more possibilities out there. even possibly going out to a space station for the average joe. >> let's bring in jose hernand hernandez. jose, tell me what you think might be going through bob and doug's minds right now as they

seem super calm, ready and doing their final checks? >> watching them brings back very fond memories and basically at this point what you are feeling is, you have trained all these months for this mission and, the best i could describe is when you are in college and you are studying for a final and you are ready for the final, and yet it's not one or two more days, it's kind of like you feel you are peaking and you wanted to happen and you want to wait a couple hours before you go off. >> obviously everyone wants them to be very safe but interestingly in this launch, nasa will be there at the weather but the control is being handled by the private company, spacex.

and that's a first. >> that is correct, but there is certain, say there is lightning within a 20-mile radius, you can't launch, significant amount of participation, can't launch. all these restrictions are probably different for the foci dragon capsule than they were for the space shuttle, but i'm sure that spacex and nasa got together and agreed upon what those flight rules and what they are. it's very black-and-white. >> dana: jose, we might be able to hear some of these checks. just stay right there and let's listen in. >> dragon md, dragon to ground, come check. >> loud and clear.

>> md, loud and clear. standby for contracts with ld >> dragon launch director, come check. >> mike, we got you loud and clear, good afternoon. >> good afternoon gentlemen, let me try dragon to ground one. >> dragon speak launch director, come check. >> loud and clear. >> that would be the same. >> dragon spacex wants configuration contacts are complete, report when ready for seat rotation per section 2 o 2 of 4.14. >> spacex dragon, we are ready for seat rotation. >> copy. ready for seat rotation, we will report when initiating.

>> dana: all right, jose hernandez, he wrote something to those checks with me. tell me a little bit about what you are doing, these are air to ground checks? >> exactly. there's different ways to commit gate with the ground, and you heard them do a comp check with ld is the launch director, and the command center, and they knew, they could always switch to the next one. >> i'm interested in that, because of course in the space shuttle we did not have seat

rotation so what i think is going to happen is the seats are going to rotate a little bit into a more optimum position, where they can have access to the touchscreen, and also they will be facing during launch. >> and i understand that's what they are doing now, the seat rotation checks. for doug and bob, these two men are actually long-term friends as well. what is the camaraderie like amongst astronauts at a time like this when we are just less than two hours now from the scheduled launch? >> it's great because you know, bob and doug are also very good friends of mine. when we were launching the space shuttle, it was a group of four astronauts called faster not support personnel and we would

go two weeks before each launch to track th prep the vehicle for launch and, doug and bob were part of our team, all four of us that did that. so i know pretty well. and they are also married by the way, to other astronauts. so those two couples are astronauts, so it's a pretty interesting dynamic there as well. >> dana: it's definitely a family affair and it's a very exciting day, and exceedingly ambitious day for america. jose hernandez, if you will stick around with us for the hour, they are working on the air to ground checks and seat rotation checks now as we get ready to watch this live event at cape canaveral florida. we will have a quick break, we will be right back. (announcer) carvana's had a lot of firsts.

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so we and welcome back. let's bring in tim murtaugh, the communications director for president trump's 2020 with reelection campaign. we've been reporting on the exciting news down there in cape canaveral as spacex and nasa have this amazing, courageous innovation, they will attempt to launch this into space today for the first time since 2011. let's talk about some of the politics of the day. >> is just fantastic. these two american heroes, bob bank and end up doug hurley, i think every kid in america boy or girl at one point in their young lives at dreams of being an astronaut. to see this happening on american soil and american astronauts and an american rocket, it's a great day to be

an american. it couldn't be better. >> dana: we are seeing them, they are about to close that door and i will obviously be a big next step as we get ready to see, we are two hours 15 minutes away. there was a little bit of disturbing weather down there at cape canaveral and i think doug and bob and there have been friends for so long, their wives are both astronauts and their sons are there watching. and that is this idea of about the future of possible space travel and a combination of perhaps private sector funding and ingenuity. are the possibilities endless after that? >> i think so.

i think the conquering space flight is clearly one of those. it's very important, president trump is very serious about america grabbing and maintaining the lead in outer space. today we are no longer depending on russia for a ride to the space station and that is very, very significant. that also sends a message to the main economic adversary and that is china saying that we will not take us back seat to outer spa space. should they wanted china to be a full partner in space exploration and we just know that under president trump the united states is not going to take a backseat to anybody and i certainly will not be bring china along for the ride. >> dana: and perhaps feelings might have changed on all of this after coronavirus as well. so back here on earth, let me ask you a couple of political questions. i don't think there could be more news in one day and i'm trying to absorb all of it, and

i'm grateful for your time. earlier today the president was tweeting about social media companies and very frustrated obviously with what twitter had decided to do last night when it did its first back check ever. went a step further today when they were tweeting about the possibility of regulating or shutting down social media sites. but the president benefits from these sites, he utilizes them very well in order to communicate directly with people. what's the thinking behind this? >> there's no question that twitter is a specific example is a specific way that the president connects directly with americans. he has over 70 million followers. that said, that's a standard for pretty much everyone else including joe biden. they won't be fact-checking any of the obvious lies that joe biden has told about president trump and, the chinese communist party will get away.

we've known for a long time that silicon valley has it in for conservatives in general and for president trump specifically and so we just have to make sure, they absolutely have to. if they have rules they have to apply them. the office of the corner saying she had a heart defect. i wonder from your perspective with the campaign, how does this help the president win the election in november. >> i think that the president is well known, he's got a

long-standing feud we hear all the time from supporters that we like the way that the president excesses expresses himself on twitter because to this day, these things are what i'm thinking myself. president trump is his own guy and he is who he is and i don't think that there are too many americans who are not familiar with the way that he uses twitter. so i think all of that is already calculated in when americans will choose their president this coming november. >> dana: does it give you any paws about the widower of the young woman who was asking the president to stop because he says that sullying her memory unnecessarunnecessarily? >> we certainly grieve for the family and it's something that

families hope and pray they never have to go to. but i'm not going to get out ahead of the president, and i think it's plain to see for everybody. >> dana: tim murtaugh at the trump campaign, thanks for joining us today as we wait for the space launch down in cape canaveral. >> think you, appreciate your time. >> dana: we continue to wait to see if there's any other new information here. i understand that brian kilmeade is possibly here with us -- there you are, cohost of fox & friends. imagine what sam houston with think today if he could see the space launch down there. what a day for america. >> he is going to go through this whole thing and we would have to do a lot of explaining to them. i was just down there and they talked about how spacex is not

only cutting edge but they needed nasa, they needed the $3 billion, they needed the hanger and they did space launch site. they had this great idea, whereafter the capsule goes in the sky, why are they letting it go in the ocean. it actually lands on the platform, and they were going to send a woman to the moon. i'm fascinated with this program and where we need data's administration to administration to continue the space program. we don't need that, we don't need to find x, y, and z, and i hope the president keeps his eye on the ball. i think we needed and we get a lot of innovation from this. >> dana: you are a student of history and you maybe talk a little bit about america's

dominance, and now we see this amazing human ingenuity right now. >> it's amazing looking back at the book that douglas brinkley wrote. it was almost as if his personal campaign, and they were thinking about leading the russians to the moon because of the soviets to the moon. and the innovation behind it and how when they did something we had to do something, and pressure on people like john glenn and armstrong and others, and buzz aldrin, literally were no man has gone before and a rocket test that would get in

the moon. the president is 73 years old, and the more you think about it, they are aiming at our enemies to bring us to our knees. then they say the 73-year-old president has a vision of the 43-year-old kennedy on the need to get the space and get back to the moon and beyond. you see at least for the moment those two are together. >> dana: at one of the things this could portend for the future, private citizens could actually envision themselves saving up their money and their pennies, and i wonder about the

private sector being able to do that. >> the rabbit crafts of the world that have been ambition, to be able to go. that money is used to develop further space travel and more innovation. basically we are out the tax dollar and it's more of an investment. they want to get to the moon but they don't want to depend on deliveries from costco on earth. they want to create their own vision and of their own food and of their own equipment, and a lot of them believe it or not would explain to me was 3d printing. and to see all the stuff that's going on right now in the space coast. that's the innovation, and the manufacturers are on-site.

this is our plan, go make it. at least i hope. >> dana: it we have that historical perspective and we could also talk about the future as well. you are an amazing american, we appreciate your time. we are watching now as the hatch gets sealed it, they are about to do that. right there at the kennedy space center, cape canaveral florida as it needs and the spacex embark on this incredibly historic moment for america. you're not going to miss anything, we will take a quick break and be right back.

>> dana: welcome back to the "the daily briefing." we are watching down at kennedy space center, and the hatch is

now closed on the crude dragon demo, the hatch is closed. and we will see in just about two hours from now if this is a go. phil keating is live on the ground near the launch site in cape canaveral. there was a little bit of weather before and how is it working now? >> a lot better. if the tornado warning has now been lifted, including me standing out here on the hill. back inside the capsule area, that's the end of the crew access arm and you can see all those men and women in black suits, that's a flight assist teams that are out there. each one has a number on the back as you can see and what the reason for that is unlike any other mission i've ever covered, their faces are covered. obviously due to covid-19 concerns. the hours they've been working

up there with astronauts, buckling them in and stopping them down and making sure everything is as good as they can make it on behalf of bob and ken and doug hurley, the two astronauts about to make history. because other than that, the mission, everything is technically a go, everyone has signed off. several meetings last week, and they will be the typical round robin usually around ten or 12 minutes before the actual blast off moment which today is 4:33 p.m. eastern time. and, if weather is good enough to launch, they will do so. i got to say, because this is not a space shuttle flight with astronauts, it's a capsule flight with astronauts meaning it has to splashdown. back in the shuttle era if there was a problem and the shuttle dropped the booster rockets, and

it spanned in france, so the shuttle could glide in and safely land. that's not the situation for the capsule. and they also have to look all the way up the eastern seaboard east of canada through the north atlantic to see the wind speed because of the waves are too high they simply cannot land and it splashed down that capsule, it's not built for super monster waves. that zone of concern where they are assessing the weather patterns goes all the way east to ireland in the u.k. it's a big mission and that's why nasa managers were saying three weeks ago, the criteria for this launch, the capsule with crew is far more strict than the criteria to launch than simply a cargo ship. they were the weather would have

a likely higher chance of scuttling a mission. if it does get scrubbed today, i will tell you this that they will retry again saturday afternoon and do everything that we've been dramatically watching all day, it's so exciting. it really takes us back to the days of watching that last space shuttle flight and a whole afternoon of buildup until the big ignition and the huge rumbling of the engine and watching that bright light go into space. if you've never seen one, it's an amazing site. dana? >> dana: phil keating, thank you so much. let's bring in clayton. the launch i know you are watching along with me. the hatch is now closed, did they talk to one another?

they are focused on their preflight checks and making sure they are doing everything they need to do within the capsule to prepare for launch. i think the next big milestone is when they begin to do propellant loading on the outside of the vehicle. they are very focused, very meticulous and making sure they are doing everything right. >> the longitude and the air has cooled off so we appreciate that as well. >> outstanding. let us know if you have any questions and we will keep you posted as the closeout team completes the check. >> dana: clayton as we worked all that out, what difference might there be as this is a

spacex machine, or capsule, not nassau. what might be different, what might be something that you would not have seen before when you were going up? >> i told somebody earlier today, seeing the inside of the capsule reminds me of climbing into my farm pickup truck in 1972 versus climbing into may be a 2020 tesla roadster right now. the slickness of the computer screens, is pretty amazing to me and it's easy to operate which is really cool. i think it lessens a probability for mistakes as well. how do you think it's important for the industry of space future in space travel and all the things that we are going to need

to do as we continue this march through the 21st century? >> i'm a huge believer of the united states being the preeminent spacefaring nation and the entire world always, and u.s. hardware from american soil, it's a big deal. i think the fact that we are using commercial partnerships to do it is also very important needs to be in space and see the earth from above and i think that will change our perspective is quite a bit. it remains to be seen how much the market will drive all this and what the cost will come down to and it's like wilbur and orville in 1903 looking at 777 flying to abu dhabi today.

that's really cool. >> let's listen in again. >> avionics dragon, we have you loud and clear. >> avionics loud and clear. stand by for come check with the engineer. >> ground segment come check. >> com check dragon, loud and clear. >> dragon, launch control and countdown one, com check. >> launch control loud and clear. standby for the com check with chief engineer. >> dragon, chief engineer com on ground check. >> dragon as you loud and clear.

>> chief engineer loud and clear. this respons completes the engig com checks. dragon to ground. i was just doing com on this loop. good luck guys and buckling. >> thank you, we really appreciate it. >> dana: clayton, those are obviously pretty special moments there at the launch where you get to hear from bob and doug. you think that every american -- maybe not everyone on earth but every american should be able to go up in space to see earth from

above, what do you think that would do or change? >> we see the fragility of the atmosphere and that the planet is their spaceship. the second thing that would behoove us to do is have everybody go to a third world country for a little bit of time to see how that life is. i think that would help us work together more effectively around the planet to make life better on earth. >> dana: if that's beautiful sentiment. we will have you watch this afternoon and we are less than two hours from the launch we will be right back.

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>> hey everyone, i'm bill hemmer, t-2 hours and counting of a significant event for america. it has taken years of work and billions of dollars to make it to this point in a moment, and i will speak to some of the best voices on what today is all about. buckle up, see you in 13 minutes. >> dana: all right. bill hemmer is excited and no doubt we all are as well, a very momentous day. someone who knows a lot about this is kristin fisher, following this from d.c. chris and of course is the daughter of the astronaut. i wonder how you feel about this today, it's obviously very exciting, and amazing ingenuity, lots of bravery and courage goes into this today.

>> som so many years in the mak. and hopefully this afternoon as weather holds. as soon as he lands, he's going to get it to her of crew quarters which is where nasa astronauts woke up this morning. they had breakfast of steak and eggs and this is also the same crew quarters with the apollo 11 astronaut stayed in their final days before taking off on that historic launch. this has been prioritizing space since the very early days of his administration. those efforts, that will be a

triumph that president trump is going to .2 on the campaign trail and will also inject rocket fuel into the artemis program. if it is a failure, i could really jeopardize the entire space industry and his administration's goal to renew american leadership in space. one thing to keep in mind here, one key difference between the dragon craft and the space shuttle is that the dragon is designed to be much safer. if something goes wrong these astronauts can eject away from the rocket. and, you have the nasa administrator saying he's very nervous. you have the coo of spacex saying, her throat, her heart will be in her throat until the at the moment, and she actually

got space ex-employees to put the pictures of the two nasa astronauts flying today. that's a reminder when this rocket lifts off hopefully and just a little bit. >> dana: we are less than an hour and 42 minutes away. one last question, we have children, two sons of the astronauts come in for young boys like that on this moment, what is that like? >> i have tears in my eyes at that moment, i was only a year and a half when my mom flew in space, and those two boys are old enough to know the risks. they were nervous today come nervous about their dad flying and to watch that moment i

watched the two astronauts wives say goodbye, they are also nasa astronauts. one current and one former. bob bank and said it's a far more difficult to watch your spouse launch into space than yourself because you have absolutely zero control of what's happening in the cockpit. that's about how that family is going to be feeling, when they watch this rocket take off. >> kristin fisher, thank you so much, we will be in touch. >> you can see it looks a little hazy down there and there was a tornado warning at the top of this hour. how do things look now? >> just to the north, there is a lot of humidity in the air and it's hot and sticky so we are

seeing a lot of thunderstorms pop up. if you can take a look at the weather map, there's a lot of moisture in the area and part of this is from what became tropical storm bertha earlier in the day. you can see the line of storms continues to get very close to it and there's more storms behind it and that's what's more concerning for us. the storm is behind us because we are talking in this time now, just over an hour. you see all of those lightning strikes just to the south of cape canaveral which is bad news. 81 degrees, the showers in the area. back behind it we got more showers that will continue to form behind us and that is why this is just going to be kind of a very, very rough decision. the forecast officially at 3:30 p.m., 78 degrees still with some of the showers in the area. it is as i said was all part of what became tropical storm bertha earlier today and made

landfall very quickly, bringing a lot of moisture up across the carolinas. back behind it, still because of that counterclockwise circulation, you see all of that moisture in the air. florida has been incredibly dry for the entire winter, and all of that change this week as a ton of moisture moved on into the area brought some record-breaking rain especially in south florida. the air is primed with lots of humidity and it's hot, those thunderstorms will continue to be a threat all the way through lunch time unfortunately it's possible, but hopefully they will be able to get it launched but it's going to be a very, very close one. >> dana: all right, let's hope the skies cleared. thank you, we proceeded. we are just waiting here as we look at kennedy space center there at cape canaveral florida. i believe we have to take a back.

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>> dana: welcome back to "the daily briefing." we have walter cunningham joining us, former nasa astronaut. these couple of minutes, i want to ask you, walter, as we look upon kennedy space center in cape think about what rick reichmuth just told us, the weather forecast might not be very good. what's it like to sit inside waiting for the weather call? >> well, that depends on your attitude. our attitude was, i can remember our crew. we got a little ticked off because there was something that held us up for a minute and a half late at liftoff and that's what bothered us, being late. when you're in aviator, you learn the ins and outs of weather. we were all fighter pilots. for us, it wasn't that big of a deal. >> dana: did you always want

to be an astronaut, even when you were a little one? >> they didn't even invent astronauts until about five years before i became one. yes, i wanted to become one because it was an opportunity to fly the latest, greatest machine and spend a whole lot of time helping develop that machine. >> dana: how excited are you about this new venture, private sector, public sector coming together? >> [laughs] well, you're going to get some different answers from us guys, as ancient astronauts. we grew up and lived with the equipment. in this case here, all of that stuff was not as difficult to develop is what it is. we were excited for the opportunity, excited for this crew to be the first mission in it.

>> dana: it's a great opportunity indeed. walter, i'm going to have to jump off to the next show. walter cunningham, former astronaut, thank you so much. thank you for joining us. see you on "the five." i have a zuckerberg interview tomorrow. >> bill: nice to see you. we are getting ready. good afternoon, everyone. i am bill hemmer. we are t-90 minutes from a new era in space flight and the dawn of a new day for the country leading the way. with some luck from mother nature, will watch this history together. let's set the stage. for the first time in nearly a decade, americans are set to launch an orbit from u.s. soil. for the first time ever, a rocket built by a private company will carry that crew into orbit. you are looking live at the launch pad 39a, kennedy space center, cape canaveral florida. the same pad used is on the first american to the moon some 50 years ago.