Shuttle Launch Delayed; Arrest in Couples Killings
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Oh, boy. I'm just getting some guidance from our producer. John, you are on the air. We can hear you, John Zarrella. OK, maybe John can't hear us. John, you are on the air. Listen, I'm getting some guidance from our producer on the ground and also from our Jacqui Jeras. I'm looking at the note. John, I'm going to go to you first. Jacqui, you can nod your head. I'm hearing there could be trouble with the weather. So, I'm going to go to John Zarrella first. John, what is going on?</s>JOHN ZARELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, if you look behind me, it is beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky. It's crystal clear. But if you look in front of me, due west, lightning and thunderstorms well within 20 miles of the landing site. That is problematic because if, in fact, the shuttle had to make an emergency return to the landing strip here, something goes wrong on liftoff and they had to try to get back here, they don't want any of this bad weather near the runway where they would have to land. They are no-go, unfortunately, right now. They are getting close to the 7:13 launch time.</s>LEMON: John, is it an official scrub yet? We don't know yet, right? Is it official?</s>ZARRELLA: No. Not an official scrub yet.</s>LEMON: Stand by, John. Don't go anywhere. I want to bring in Jacqui Jeras. Jacqui, what is going on?</s>JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Thunderstorms, Don. That is what is going on. These have developed and moving in the area. I put a little distancer on here. This is the launch pad area. You can see the thunderstorms are well within the 20-mile mark. They are kind of moving towards the south/southeast. They are nudging closer and moving to the south. At this time, I don't see this moving out of here in the next 14 minutes, unfortunately. What happens this time of the year is called sea breeze fronts thunderstorms. I want to show you because it is an interesting phenomenon. What happens is the land, during the day, heats up and the water temperatures are much cooler. We get the winds blowing off the water on to the land forcing that warm air up and getting thunderstorms developing. See how these have been moving across the peninsula all day long, and unfortunately, it looks like they will make it potentially all the way over to the east coast.</s>LEMON: OK, Jacqui, thanks. I want to real quickly go to John. John, what is the window of opportunity here? John Zarrella, can you hear me?</s>ZARELLA: Yeah, Don.</s>LEMON: What is the window of opportunity for launch?</s>ZARELLA: Right now, they can go from about 7:13. They can stretch it a few more minutes if they thought the weather would clear. It's about a 10-minute wind gust. They can go to about 7:18 or so. But this weather is moving so, so slowly that, right now, although they have not official scrubbed, they are saying that they are no go because of the weather at -- for return to launch site, if they had to do that. If they have to wait and go tomorrow; 6:51 p.m. Eastern time.</s>LEMON: OK John, stand by, and Jacqui, both of you stand by. I'm going to reset here. But we're not going to go anywhere. You're looking at inside of the central command zone there. Our John Zarrella, he is at Kennedy; our Jacqui Jeras following the weather as well. We appreciate you joining us, I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Lots of breaking news this hour to tell you about, and we will get it all in for you. But first, we are just a few minutes away from tonight's scheduled launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, and you saw the breaking news we had -- it might not happen. That was about until ten minutes ago when NASA put the brakes on a 7:13 lift time. As our John Zarrella has been reporting, not officially scrubbed yet, but it looks like it's leaning in that direction. This is all due to showers and inclement weather around the Florida space coast. Our John Zarrella, as we've said, he's at the Kennedy Space Center along with the NASA astronaut, Cady Coleman, is joining us. Do you have Cady there with you? John? No, OK, we're going to talk to them in just a little bit. And we're going to see again how long the window of opportunity will last here. And they are in a holding pattern of sorts due to this weather. We're going to keep you updated on that. Again, everyone is standing by. Let's get back to our other breaking news here on CNN. An arrest tonight, in last week's double killing of a Florida couple. They lived near Pensacola with 16 children, many of them with special needs. Tonight, police say, Leonard Patrick Gonzalez was arrested for allegedly tampering with a van that was seen in surveillance video at the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings.</s>SHERIFF DAVID MORGAN, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: I will tell you this, we are very anxious to share this story with the citizens of Escambia County and with the nation, if you will. It's going to be a humdinger, I'll tell you that.</s>LEMON: Boy, he said it. Our David Mattingly is there. David, there are a lot of details at this news conference just minutes ago. I thought it was particularly interesting when the sheriff said this is going to go much further beyond the borders of Escambia than we have thought and as I understand you have the sheriff with you.</s>DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He called this a humdinger that prompted all sorts of questions. Does that mean and the scope and complexity, the money involved, the people involved. And he said yes to everything. Saying, that this is a case that with the complexity that they have not seen here in at least the last five years. Sheriff, what can you tell me when you call this a humdinger? Was this murder and this break in at this one particular home, was this part of something bigger going on that you hadn't anticipated?</s>MORGAN: Well, again, we can't release specifics, but the answer to that question is yes. Because as I explained in the initial press conference what we have discovered is this case is multifaceted. Meaning, again, as I explained a home invasion early on in this case, a home invasion can be a simple burglary, it can be a burglary for drugs, it can be an armed robbery. But it's a home invasion. But it covers all those different areas and we're finding in this investigation that its complexity and the avenues that you're going to. Like you're trying to establish a motive, we have multiple motives at this point. And so we cannot come up with one motive for this or two motives for this. And when we run that one motive, we find that it branches off to several others and so the complexity of this is growing exponentially.</s>MATTINGLY: You said it was something like a movie script; that the more you went the more plot twists that you were running into.</s>MORGAN: And players.</s>MATTINGLY: And players. So, you started off with three persons of interest that you were looking for. Can you tell us how many people you might be looking for now.</s>MORGAN: Again, upon consultation advice to the state attorney, we're just prepared to say that there are multiple involved.</s>MATTINGLY: Is there any indication that this was part of an ongoing operation where other residents may have been affected as well?</s>MORGAN: No, sir. This case started as a result sadly of this double murder and so the other areas that are being brought into this was not ongoing crimes, if you will, that we were aware of.</s>MATTINGLY: And we need to make very clear that Mr. Gonzalez is a resident of this area, and he is not charged in the home invasion or in the murders.</s>MORGAN: Exactly.</s>MATTINGLY: He is charged with tampering with evidence. What exactly is he accused of doing?</s>MORGAN: Mr. Gonzalez altered the van that we have identified as being used in the commission of the double murder. And so that's tampering with evidence in a murder case. And so again, the state attorney's office this time was comfortable with starting with, if you will, that charge with Mr. Gonzalez.</s>MATTINGLY: Well there you have it. Sheriff David Morgan of Escambia County, here in the Florida panhandle; a very big and complex case that started with a double murder and a home invasion -- Don.</s>LEMON: Hey David, real quickly, if you can ask the sheriff. He said that they were confident that more arrests will be made. Does he have any idea how soon that could happen if they're looking to do that pretty soon?</s>MATTINGLY: He wasn't able to tell us before, but since we have the camera on you and have you on the hot seat right now, can you tell us when we can expect more arrests in this case? I know, all day yesterday and today you were saying we're probably going to have something for you soon? Something for you soon...</s>MORGAN: Yes.</s>MATTINGLY: Has that changed? And what -- have you got anything more specific for us?</s>MARGAN: As Mr. Edmond (ph) said, we are now picking up speed in this investigation and I would say in the ensuing days -- I can't promise you an arrest every day -- but I will tell you that in the ensuing days we will have many more arrests that will be forthcoming.</s>MATTINGLY: Well, there you go, Don. This is apparently one very big and complicated mess that they are trying to untangle. This, beginning with just one arrest so far; this 52-year-old Leonard Patrick Gonzalez charge with tampering with evidence. So, we still have many more pages to go through here, many more plot twists to unfold apparently as we find out what truly was behind this double homicide and this tragic home invasion.</s>LEMON: David Mattingly, live on the scene, giving us breaking information and news that you won't get anywhere else but CNN. David, thank you and thank you to the sheriff as well. Also in Florida, more breaking news: we're hearing it is official. Our John Zarella joining us now from the Kennedy Space; you give the sad news, John. I'll let you have that part of it.</s>ZARRELLA: Yes, I'm actually joined by Cady Coleman, a veteran NASA astronaut, has flown on two space shuttle missions. She is preparing right now for a mission to the International Space Station in November of 2010. And we're not going to get to see one launch tonight, Cady. I guess, the weather Don, the bugaboo again today as it was yesterday. They just cannot fly...</s>LEMON: It is an official scrub, I want to make sure it's an official -- it's been scrubbed.</s>ZARRELLA: It is an official scrub. It is an official scrub. 6:51 tomorrow night. And Cady, did you have any scrubs for weather?</s>CATHERINE "CADY" COLEMAN, ASTRONAUT: You know, actually seven times over 30 days. So Mark's family and the rest of the crew -- they are probably still talking to him, but some people in my family still not talking to me. It is part of the business. I mean, we -- launching is part of the business. Scrubbing is part of it, too. We go when we're ready. This crew is disappointed. But I will tell you, it's harder on the families and the guests; than it is on the crew because their job is to be ready. And tomorrow night they'll be ready again.</s>ZARRELLA: But frustrating no less as a crew member. This is the closest that they've got to the launch pad.</s>COLEMAN: It's true. For me, I think after those scrubs you just say, well, tomorrow when I put that suit on I'm going to do everything I'm supposed to do, I'll be on the launch pad but I'm not getting excited about this because you know clearly it might not happen. And then you wake up launch morning, you put on that suit, you'll climb in on to that orbiter and you just cannot help but really realize you're in a special place and be excited.</s>ZARRELLA: And then Don, when Cady flies actually the shuttle program will have officially ended and she's actually going to go up on a Soyuz rocket...</s>COLEMAN: That's correct.</s>ZARRELLA: ... with the Russian rocket right, to the space station.</s>COLEMAN: That's correct.</s>ZARRELLA: And you have been doing a lot of training for that.</s>COLEMAN: I have.</s>ZARRELLA: It's different, I understand. It's a lot smaller than the space shuttle.</s>COLEMAN: I think the guys on my crew -- actually I think may be like me just a little bit because I'm like not huge.</s>ZARRELLA: Cady, I wish we could have been broadcasting a launch tonight from the Kennedy Space Center but those thunderstorms are ominous out there, Don. And give it a try again tomorrow night. But again, tonight, no go for launch. Tomorrow's attempt 6:51...</s>LEMON: Wow.</s>ZARRELLA: ... P.M. Eastern time -- Don.</s>LEMON: I was looking forward to seeing it as millions of others were. It's always very exciting and your heart jumps when you see it in a good way.</s>ZARRELLA: In a good way.</s>LEMON: It makes you proud.</s>ZARRELLA: Yes indeed.</s>LEMON: Ok, John Zarrella and Cady thank you both very much, we appreciate it.</s>ZARRELLA: Thanks Don.</s>LEMON: And Jacqui Jeras, let's not forget Jacqui. Jacqui thank you for filling us in on the weather. We're going to get back to Jacqui a little bit later on in our newscast. We have other news to tell you about. We told you about the breaking news in Florida. We told you about the space shuttle and now some other news. A champion boxer found dead in a hotel room. His wife is now a suspect. We'll tell you what a purse strap had to do with it. Also, there could be a new Michael Jackson tribute -- a tribute in the works. We'll tell you who's in the mix and when you might be able to see it.