Its Highstakes Journey Back To Earth. Final goahead. So if all goes well, well see it land back on solid ground in New Mexico within the very hour. Ill be your pilot for live coverage here. Cnn has it all happens before us. Now remember, the capsule is coming back empty, uncrewed and nasa speak. And yes, remembering it correctly, this is the same capsule that wasnt supposed to be uncrewed. It was supposed to have two astronauts coming back home in it, Sonny Williams and butch wilmore. And they are staying put on the international Space Station, as you know, in fact, therell be there until february. Nasa made the decision to keep him there for their safety after lingering issues popped up with the capsule, nasa simply couldnt risk a disaster remember, the astronauts got to space on Starliner Back in june and was supposed to be quick, eight days or so. But now its going to be more like eight months in space. Return, though, is still a high Pressure Moment for both nasa and boeing with frankly billions of dollars its on the line as go right to Cnns Space and defense correspondent, Kristin Fisher, who is at Johnson Space Center In Houston. Kristen, good evening. Take us what were going to do. Were going to see as the starliner returns to earth tonight laura, this is really The Moment Of Truth for Boeing Starliner. Were now just about 17 minutes away from the moment that nasa was so worried about from the moment that really was at the center of Nassirs Reason to keep watch and sunny on the Space Station . Not send them home on starliner in the moment that im talking about is the Deorbit Burn and reentering the Earths Atmosphere the Deorbit Burn is going to happen at 11 17 Eastern Time. Essentially, this is a braking maneuver. Youre going to have for big rocket engines fire, slowing the spacecraft down from orbital Velocity City at about 17,000 miles per hour. Its going to slow it down by about 300 miles per hour. And then what youre going to see once it slows down enough to drop out of orbit essentially, youre going to see the Crew Module and the Service Module separate, two separate things. The Service Module is where all the problems have been with starliner. Thats where the faulty thrusters are. Thats where the Helium Leaks have been. Its going to fall away, burn up in the Earths Atmosphere. And that leaves the Crew Module, which is where butch and sunny would have been had nasa allowed them to come back on starliner and so then at 11 45 p. M. Youll see reentry of the Crew Module. This is when the Heat Shield is really going to be tested as this Spacecraft Endures temperatures of about 3,000 Degrees Fahrenheit. We may also get a Communication Blackout with starliner as the plasma builds up around the Heat Shield that could last for about four minutes. Then at 11 56 p. M. We should see the parachutes deploy and slowly bringing Starliner Back down to earth. If all goes according to plan, it should touch down in white sands, New Mexico, just a few moments after midnight going from what had been 17,000 miles per hour, laura, to just four miles per hour. And that is really going to be the big test that moment. If starliner survives this really critical period, then boeing can look at nasa and say see, we told you so because boeing has believed that spacecraft was safe enough for butch and sunny. But if by some chance, heaven forbid something does go wrong here, that nasa of course will know that it did make the right decision. But even then, laura, i should just caution by saying, you know, nasa says without a doubt, there is more risk here than they would like. More uncertainty surrounding this spacecraft. And so when youre dealing with Nasa Astronauts, nasa just says, hey, there was uncertainty, there was risk. Why risk it when we have another spacecraft, spacexs crew dragon, thats tried and true very tested at this point, we could put, put butch and sunny on even if its many, many months away, laura, i mean, a Poster Child for erring on the side of caution to see what works, the precision of all of this as you describe it, is so fast and im going to watch and see what happens here. Kristin fisher stand by for us. Were going to check back in with you in a few minutes. When may get ready to start moving towards that Reentry Phase that you just described . Well, in political news tonight, New York judge, juan merchan, postponing Donald Trumps sentencing for his hush money criminal conviction. Minds you its been rescheduled not once, but twice. In fact, this time, trump and frankly, the rest of us are going to have to wait until after the November Election to know what that sentence it may be. Judge merchan seemed eager to avoid any partisan backlash in the final stretch of this unprecedented president Ial Campaign and stressing in his decision saying, quote, the Publics Confidence in the integrity of our judicial system demands a Sentencing Hearing that is entirely focused on the verdict the jury, and the wearing of aggravating and mitigating factors free from Distraction Or Distortion want to bring in former u. S. Attorney and deputy assistant attorney general, Harry Litman and former Miamidade County Court judge, jeff swartz. So glad to have both of you on tonight. But judge but begin with, you judges normally concerned with what they call hints of impropriety, a conflict of interest. They might know somebody, a litigant or otherwise. Now, it seems that youve got to worry about perceptions of political bias should they be thinking about this . Do you agree with his decision to factor that in . I dont agree with the decision to be very honest with you a judge is only has one constituency and thats the law he does not represent people. It doesnt have a part. They dont have parties. There. There to enforce the law and the rules against everybody. The same and my feeling is that his position should have been the delays in this sentencing the delays in this case are by u. S. Sir they havent been by the government. They havent been by the state and you put yourself in this position and now youre going to have to listen to the sentence. And if there are consequences, there are consequences that you created. Ive been in that position before where i had to make a decision against in this particular case, a very powerful insurance company, you didnt like what i was doing, but i followed the law in The End, it cost me my seat on the bench, but i left the bench with my head held high and i didnt really care that much because i was that proud of what i he had done. And i got treated by my colleagues completely differently than i really anticipated. I would be in a good way well, i find that i can say what they know, right. Have no sympathy for him. And i think that he should call trump out, not because hes trump, but because he cant let anybody but he tell him how to run his courtroom because theres politics involved thats my feeling. I mean, harry, just thinking about what the judge has described in the analogy that he brought up. I mean, look at this split screen, youve got Judge Chutkan in the January 6 case saying to the core, i think it was just yesterday that the Court Quote is not concerned with the electoral schedule, unquote. Can you reconcile why these are obviously different judges, different jurisdictions, different cases . All that is quite apparent but can you reconcile the way of thinking for him or sean versus say chutkan here . Well, look, chutkan as shes done the entire time said no, im not thinking about the Election Merchan had the same stance through the trial in the judge actually sat close to one another during it. And this came as something of a surprise. And you could almost feel mertens kind of loneliness and going back and forth one thing that he pointed out that really hit home to me and maybe to you, laura, as a former prosecutor, is that the da did not make any recommendations almost in a winking way, said yes, Go Ahead and postpone it. It was a lonely decision on his part, of course, as the judge says, these things can be lonely, but it obviously got to him. And in a sense, it was both the safe route. But to my mind also a little bit surprising. I thought the North Star that he has set his sights by throughout the trial. As same with Judge Chutkan is just just do it normally as you would for any defendant, let the chips fall where they may ignore the election what do you mean in a kind of a winking way obviously, the idea of a prosecutor not opposing a delay anytime the prosecution and the defense are on the same page about a scheduling issue, it does make it harder for a judge to go rogan away from that, judge swartz, but i do wonder about that impact that harry speaking about had the prosecution been pushing for an immediate sentencing and not suggesting that delay may be appropriate for whatever reason do you think that that may enforce the hand of judge short of Judge Merchan it should have actually worked in the opposite. I think the fact that the prosecution stayed out of it did not they did not want to be accused of creating a political issue for Judge Merchan have to deal with or be he used of using politics in this particular case. They left it up to him. They gave him the ghaidan faith. They believed in him, in everything he had said during the course of the trial. And basically said we trust you with this decision. And i think to a certain extent, Judge Merchan let them down he has to be above the politics thats the way i look at it. Im just going to say, excuse me, your honor, the idea that i often time in trial and harry, of course, you can read this. The trial in the case belongs the problem thats occasion until there is a conviction, then its in the hands of the jury and then sentencing. The case belongs to the judge at that point, right. To decide all these factors. And so the waning influence as that goes down. But let me just pull up on the screen for you guys. I think that the actual timeline of this case is particularly fascinating where we are because it was moved not just once, but now twice when youve got in there, of course, the Supreme Court Immunity Ruling being a part of this as well. And just look at the original date would have been july 11. You look at july 13. That was the day of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, followed by the rnc, that following monday, just looking at about this calendar all the way november, i think gives really interesting context for the people of the united states to see how this has been conducted so far but were still waiting on the big answer, harry, right. Do you i mean, do you think that there is a chance for a sentence that would include jail . And how would it be carried out especially . Given the complications of a secretory of protection . And of course, an election looming in november right. And as to that, lets just start with if trump is elected, even though he is, he cant pardon himself. I think the courts, the supreme court, if no other court would find a principal, you can not put the sitting President Of The United States in the pogey they Cant Meet with putin there, et cetera. But if hes not, i do think he in hot water and it does in some ways released this burden that was obviously heavy on merit can shoulders and this is the kind of its a judgment call. Many these convictions dont result in jail time, but trumps conduct, remember he violated the gag order. There are over ten times. He was generally obstreperous. Defendant. My best guess its you know, its up to maritime. I met my best guess is he will see a short Incarcitory Sentence for a couple of months months anyway, and then parole, you know, this as well as is does the judge thats thats no picnic either to be under the jurisdiction of the court for a period of years. Judge lakewood, we have a very limited yes. What do you think the sentence would be if i could jump in on one thing . It very simply as this is that if he were to be sentenced, hes not going to jail right away. The sentence would be over by the time his appeal was over. So hes going to get a supersedeas bond. Hes not going into jail right away the difference that The Public would see the system working. They would see that he is a convicted felon. They would see he that he is sentenced not because it hurts him, but because The Public has to know that the system is going to work against every one if thats what they deserve in this particular case, Judge Merchan had those options available to him Donald Trump is not going to go to jail the first day. That is not going to happen okay. So i dont think thats a concern for us right now. If he was sentenced right now, hed be out campaigning the next day, would not make a Difference Harry . Judge. Thank you both so much really fascinating conversation the politics of this also very fascinating to talk about that soon, but just ahead we are minutes away from The Moment Of Truth for Boeings Starliner as it appears to fire the thrusters for deorbit will go back to Johnson Space Center and see if houston has a problem. Plus former Vp Dick Cheney was a long time Punching Bag for democrats. While now he says that hes voting for a democrat. Her name, Kamala Harris. And tonight she is responding switch to shopify and sell smarter at every stage of your business. Take full control of your brand with your own Custom Store Scale faster with tools that let you manage every sale from every channel and sell more with the best converting checkout on the planning a lot more take your business to the next stage when you switch to shopify as Ryan Reynolds here for, i guess my hundreds meant to worship on an unknown no, no, no, no, no i mean, its unlimited Premium Wireless for 15 a month. Me honestly, when i started this, i thought only have to be like for our there still people paying two or three times that much. So i shouldnt be victim blaming here. It still 15 a month. 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Right for you at Row Dot Coast last sparks, a cnn special Event Abc News president ial Debate Kennedy at nine on cnn Closed Captioning is bronchi by Jucar Help maintain a healthy urinary tract with you, cora, having utis for ten years, you cora, we make uti relief products. We also make proactive urinary tract health product. You it is a lifestyle tried today at you core. Com now, if the uncrewed Boeing Starliner is going to make it Back To Earth safely right now, is critical starliners connecting a maneuver called a Deorbit Burn, which slows the craft down cnns Kristin Fisher is back and she is at Johnson Space Center In Houston. This is very exciting to think about this happening. How is it going now, kristen so so far, so good lord, the Deorbit Burn has started and all the thrusters are firing as of now. And so when you think about the Deorbit Burn, think of it as a braking maneuver. The Spacecraft Pumping on its brakes by firing four Big Up Thruster is called oh max, the order orbital Maneuvering And Attitude control rockets now, this is critical because it needs to slow the spacecraft down. Its been traveling at 17,000 miles per hour. Theyve got to slow it down enough so that it can drop out of th