Soviet cosmonauts who were stealing all the thunder, the attention, and one successful or bittal mission after another. Yuri gregoire want was the first man in space but john glenn was see menned in history as our first man to ore built the earth orbit the earth. At the time it was stunning, catchup that had is far back in space race but a mission whose success later had john kennedy, my dream is on. Clayton anderson joining us on the phone. Not enough can be said of the significance of the mission, let alone what john glenn did later on in his 70s on the Space Shuttle. But how important the success of that mission was and how i turned everything around. Absolutely. I would like to think that all of my colleagues would agree with me when we say that john glenn was the astronauts astronaut. That he did it the right way. He did it with courage and grace and skill, and the fact he was the First American to orbit the earth no one can ever take that away from him, and i think thats significant. There was so much pressure on him, too. Cliff we suborbital flight we saw, we went up, went back down, didnt orbit the earth. It was impressive what Alan Shepherd and Virgil Grissom had done, but we hadnt done what the russians werem are almost routinely doing, putting men around the earth again and again and embarrassing up on the global stage. He turn that around, didnt he . He did, absolutely. One the of the key things we had no idea how it would affect the human body and the nice result we could survive and operate and do those things in space. He was a trendsetter for us, and gave us a lot of great information that did allow to us go to the mon moon evenly. We take it as a given now but were looking for pictures when he was running for president one of the few things he did not succeed but a classy race he ran. But one thing i remember that in having an orbital flight, its the return and the firey return that we were not prepared to hear that. Yet he told people what was going on and just the flaming activity around him, that you heard on paper discussed and it wasnt as if the russians were sharing that information, but that was scary stuff. I remember i didnt hear it live but as ive heard it in recordings, what always struck me about john glenn was his calm demeanor and his very matter of fact delivery, as the described all the things he was going through. Zero g and i feel fine and the fact that he wasnt fazed by any of it, and im getting, having done it much after him, that he was just as in awe as i was when he was able to see those things that, at his time, only a few people had ever seen. You know, clayton, when we talk about the mission and youre reentering the earth you have experienced that but you were wellprepared and knew it was coming the whole capsule seems to be an incinerator there and he was explaining it with his pulse and heart rate barely moving up. For the mercury 7 astronauts which is he is the final one have to this earth, they were a unique bunch in handling all of that. Definitely. They all had what i what everyone calls and knows as the right stuff, and the fact that i flew in space, it was a heck of lot safer for me, a lot less free and trepidation on my behalf because of the bravery of the mercury 7 and guys like john glenn. So i tell people when i speak quite often that they were the true astronauts. They were the ones that defied death and were able to come home. Do you remember that was such a different time. Many will argue you have reremind me much each the mission to do well in space was born of competitive fears that the soviets at the time were getting the better of us and that was one area we were not to be embarrassed so we forked over money. Nowrod when john kennedy gave his famous speech in may of the year before the freedom 7 mission in 61 were going to land man on the moon before the decade was out. At the time the young president wases a are advised this minding might not be a good idea. We aint doing too pel and john kennedy said, we will, we will, and it was cinched for him with the successful orbital mention for john glenn. Imagine if that failed. Oh, yeah, and that is the good part about this, it didnt fail. We succeeded and it put america in a position to be the leader in the world, and we are still in that position because of the efforts of those folks. So, as people look to the stars tonight, they should say a little prayer for annie glen and the glenn family but a they should dwellnijz the contributions that he helped us provide as a nation. Clayton, you said it best. Thank you for taking the time and thank you for your service and inspiring a lot of people who look toward the sky. This fellow did the same, former astronaut tom jones, and, tom, i was thinking of you and clayton when i thought of those days when we were conquering the heavens and now, no insult to anyone, were hitching rides into space to get to the space station. What happened . Well, i think we lost some of that Pioneering Spirit that the mercury 7 astronauts were blessed with and the president was blessed with and setting a goal in the space that had to happen in between years so were marking time right now. John glenns example of Pioneering Space along with al land sheperd, gus grissom and the rest of the mercury 7, thats the bravery and cando attitude and cutting through the edges of the final frontier. Im looking for that revival. Tom, if my producers will indulge me, im going to devote this entire hour to this subject but i think this is significant. If you want to know the latest musings in the political world or what is happenings with stocked hitting a record, which they did, this harkens back to a time of greatness in the country when we aimed to the heavens and tom, i thought of that time, and reading a lot of the speeches and hearing about from john kennedy with these ridiculous goals we take sort of as plan place and with a curious nod. How these were herculean,er in Impossible Tasks, yet we aimed for big things wimp were spudder on we were spudder on by the competition from the soviets but had it not been for daring guys like glenn and those other mercury astronauts, gemini astronauts, the apollo astronauts, none of this would have happened. They are larger than life personalities and i have been to Cape Canaveral and you go there the Parking Spaces for the mercury astronauts are still marked with their name at the launch pad. Really . Thats right. And they were out there looking at a rocket that had a failure rate of about 25 . On any given launch and yet they were willing to step aboard to get the nation moving forward for this brand flu brand new goal of going to the moon by 1970 and it was important that the nation succeed in the cold war comp is to, even though the odds were a lot longer back then than we face with the Space Shuttle astronauts so he as a larger than life hero of mine. When i had a chance to talk to john glenn i cant believe it, its been 12 years now we talked about big plans and big undertake examination the other planes. John glenn a dozen years ago. To send satellites and vehicles and chips way beyond earth, to land on mars, to visit the moons of jupiter to go way beyond the solar system, do you need men and women to do it . I think whatever information we can get with robots, we should do it. But then i think there comes a time to get more information you need a human on he spot. If you had a laboratory here on earth and said, okay, but were going to deresearch your but all by robotics, i think most scientists would say that wasnt being realistic, there comes a time when you have done all the exploring you can do with robotics and thats the time for man to go and be out there on mars. Id like to see a mars program. Its a little more in the future than we had indicated today. But i think its good to plan like this, but im still concerned we not lose support in all this, lose support for the International Space station, its very valuable to everybody on earth. That is from january 2004. Just a kid back then. 83 years young and i still had the horrible toupee, but back to what he was saying that, you can send unmanned capsules gene cernan told me but theres something about a man or woman doing that means so much, that changes what this is all about. Man literally touching the stars. In glens day it was so parent to have a human aboard the capsule to pilot and it that was the differs between our program and the soviets we had our astronauts fly and the russians rode an automatic capsule on auto pilot. They were there to step in, in an emergency. Thats true today. We need the human skill and flexibility out there to solve tough problems, either repair a space station or build an outpost on the moon or look for Police Officer on the surface of mar. That will take human skills and robots where necessary and adequate but humans are still the real key to getting those answers, and glenn was a big advocate for continuing to push humans into the solar system. Tom, if you can hang around you have been hit bay lot of requests today and i know this is tougher day for you, just to take this news, but i do want to come back and explore this and harken back to a time when anything was possible in this country. A bit of a space nut and myself and i always joked i wanted to be an astronaut until my parents took me to Cape Canaveral, showed me the capsules. I realized i couldnt fit in them and moved on to tv anchoring, i was no john glenn. Turns out nobody else was, either. More after this. So, mr. Harris, we have your fingerprints on the safe. A photo of you opening the safe. A post using the hashtag justrobbedthesafe so, what are we supposed to think . Switching to geico could save you a bunch of money on Car Insurance. Excellent point. 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But for a young kennedy, he also saved a dream that kennedy had expressed some nine months earlier before that freedom 7 flight. The goal of landing a man on the moon when we couldnt even get up into space on a consistent basis. Take a listen. I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. It was a remarkable period. Think at the time, president kennedy outlined the goal, we couldnt even get the suborbital flight thing right. The russians were grabbing the headlines time and time again. We were months away from an Orbital Mission, the one that would make john glenn famous and restart a Space Program that had not gotten off the ground, almost literally. To larry sabato now. Professor you think about it, so much of that kennedy half century was resting early on, if you think about it. On the shoulders of john glenn. Absolutely. Absolutely, neil. We were so far behind, as you noticed. I still remember after a fiveyearold, my father taking me into the backyard of our home and we watched sputnik go by overhead. That was in october of 1957, and of course it was the first manmade satellite, and we were in awe but we were also a little bit afraid, because the russians were so far ahead of us in space, and that had military implications obviously in the heat of the cold war, if you can combine the two. And whenus go to the moon, it was a different era, neil. We actually believed it when a president said Something Like that. We said, that great. Im delighted well do it. We believed we could do it. And then john glenn made us believers in 1962 when he undertook a mission that could have resulted in his very early demise. But instead, he became a National Hero and he set the standard for the other astronauts. He was kind of the boy scout of the mercury astronauts. Yeah. And certainly a Different Group as we learned from tom wolf and others who wrote of the mercury seven astronauts. When you look back at the dispute how scary it was in the middle of the cold war, first with sputnik and the russians succeeding where the just didnt fathom the possibility someone else could, send a capsule into space and then top it off with a man and then another man and then a woman and then another man and then here we are trying to perfected a perfecting getting one guy up and lo and lo and becold kennedy says i think we can go to the moon before the decade is out. Were so conditioned to say, no, we cant, or theres an asterisk or this isnt possible. Think we were crazy then but crazy in a good way. And it proves that if you set great goals and youre led bay president who sets great goals, our country can surprise itself. We surprised ourselves by actually meeting the deadline. It was july 69 when we went to moon, just barely making it in time but we fulfilled kennedys objective and it was really while the 60s were a mixed time and there were lots of tragedies in the 60s it was also an uplifting time because as a country we did set great goals and we met most of them, and the one that i think history will always remember first and for most is the goal of landing a man on the moon, and the country did it. We did. We surpassed the russians if the russians had a tremendous lead on us, and yet we were able to do it thanks to the bravery of men like john glenn. Professor, thank you very much. Your sense of history. Its amazing looking back. A lot more. Just think of the possibilities here. We live in a time and age where heroes i dont know if we have them anymore but there was a time and a moment where it was routine to do great things. And it just seems odd, if not a little more than powerful, to think that as we remember the heroes of pearl harbor and what we committed to as a nation, 75 years ago, yesterday, and outlining that response 75 years ago today, that we remember the last of the seven mercury astronauts who dreamed even bigger, not only on this planet, far away from this planet. Stick around here. We have a lot more coming up, including hillary clinton, now speaking and remembering john glenn. Before i had the shooting, burning, pinsandneedles of diabetic nerve pain, these feet. Kicked off a lot of high school games. Built a life for my family. And liked to help others in need. But i couldnt bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. So i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. Nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica is fdaapproved to treat this pain, from moderate to even severe diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling or blurry vision. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. Now i have less diabetic nerve pain. And its great to help others get back on their feet. Ask your doctor about lyrica. Remember john glenn, today dead at 95. He was the First American to orbit the earth. I cannot stress enough how at the time he did it in february 1962 how desperately this nation needed that mission to succeed. It did. And how much we didnt realize went into orbiting the earth and the surprises that would come along, include the whole capsule lighting up and john glenn seeing and it sharing the experience late later with a spellbound earth audience who had no idea, including friends and colleagues tracking his every move at nasa. To put it mildly a loss of a Great American hero. And donald trump, the president elect today tweeting out, today we lost a great pioneer, of air and space, john glenn, hero and inspired generations of future explorers. He will be missed. Mitch mcconnell, the Senate Majority leader, saying today our nation bids farewell to one of the most most eyic figures of the 20th century. John glenn said his childhood was like a Norman Rockwell painting but he flew missions over the South Pacific so a post ore get splashdown in the atlantic. Came a long way from ohio. That would be an understatement. Back with us tom jones, a former astronaut. We talked about how everything was new back then. It goss to be so routine with space flight after a while we would be rivetted by the missions and succeeded, and even the face of tragedies, apollo 1 fire and the challenger disaster and the columbia Space Shuttle disaster, returning to earth and disintegrating, but throughout, we almost got used to it. This was a time where it was anyones guess how it could work out. True. These astronauts laid it on the line. They were quite informed of the risks of each flight and on johns fivehour flight they detected a loose heat shield and he did not know, as he reentered the atmosphere, whether his capsule would burn up or whether he would survive to see his family again. Glenn rode it down calmly, hoping the heat that he was feeling and the sweat he was feeling was not the heat coming through of the missing heat sealed on the back end of friendshipship. I was thinking of the great days, hinting on my age but remember just being amazed when one of the shuttles was being brought up here, eli to park itself on the uus entrip ped. But i remember so maybe are many new yorkers looking at the skies, as it was carrying this way you transport if they land on the west coast and brought its back to cape kennedy. But everyone was watching this vehicle that had conquered space, hitching a ride essentially and we were in awe of that. I said i can remember a time when vehicles like that were the ride, were our ticket into space and now tourist attractions. A documentary about the last man to walk on the moon, gene cernan thaton sells the sad decline when we once conquered the heavens and now hitching rides to the evenes. As an astronaut, someone who touched to the stars and been out there, thats got to mean mixed emotions for you. Well, certainly john glenns passing brings those emotions to the fore, we may have lost the talent and drive that got us into spaces somehow we have to fine that driver again, and leadership makes a big difference in the white house, an outward looking vision. We have the machines coming in, the new orion deep spacecraft and the big boozer that will power it. Itself takes a white house and a president with vision to use the hardware and put crews on it and send it back to the moon and maybe join our partners to go back to the surface of the moon, visit an an asteroid and thats the kind of pioneering we need to get on the mars. So recapturing the space between the earth and moon and making is an economic backyard of the United States. We have to have machines that have to fly them now. Well put. Tom jones, thank you very much for your patience. Its half past the hour, for those just tuning in, john glenn, the first man to orbit the earth, the soviets were kick ought uno what and it you know what and it was embarrassing, and john kennedy lined out a plan to lan man on the moon before the deck decade was out and aware it would cost tens of billions of dollars, adjusted for inflation today but later would say of john glenns successful mention, now were ready. And many president s since then. Reporter this is one of those situations where any kid who grew up in the 60s and and 70s, this was just tremendous stuff, and all around the white house grounds today you get things sense, the weight of history i work with so many outstanding professionals, photographers who have been here, ten, 20, 30 years, plus, they remember all the great memorieses of john glenn and theyre childhood. Do as well. That goes to the president of the United States and the president said with johns pacing our nation has lost an icon, michelle and i have lost a friend, and i think that really underscores a feeling here at the white house because john glenn was so much more tn a politician and a statesman. He was the true embodiment of an American Hero. Thats the feeling here, and not just those who will be gather heeder tonight but those in and around wafers and the world for many days to come. Neil . All right, kevin cork, thank you very much. A reminder what was so unusual back then as we continue to reflect on the Police Officer of to on the life of the hero, joining his colleagues in the heavens. John glenn knew it was dangerous, and in the worstcase scenario he laid out to me, i thought the worst i could do is die. He didnt. Knowing where you stand. Its never been easier. Except when it comes to your retirement plan. But at fidelity, were making Retirement Planning clearer. 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Get the best deals and the best network, only on verizon. Whats the best way to get v8 or a fancy juice store . S . Ready, go hi, juice universe . One large rutabaga, with eggplant. Done thats not fair. Glad i had a v8. The original way to fuel your day. John glenn is dead at 95,5, o say hes historic is an underestimate. To say that waiting 36 years between flights is unprecedented. Is true. At 6 03 he opened the hatch of friendship 7. It is a tight fit. This is the culmination of three years training. Astronaut glenn has gone through simulated flights. The technicians wish him good luck. 81,000 miles. Three times he will pass from day into night. Now a critical moment as he begins his descent into earth. His plunging c in the atlantic ocean. The world feels the new triumph in space. After a physical checkup and debriefing session he relaxes with the crew. 40 years old and the father of two children he is a man with a ready smile. Indeed. Friendship 7. See how small the capsule was and he was not a big guy, and they had to squeeze him in there i look back at that and just absolutely amazed. We are continuing our nonstop coverage here, the death of American Hero, and you cant pick and choose these type of historic weeks. If you think about it, the we remember pearl harbor, 5 years ago 75 years ago and then fast forward to 1962 when this country was finally getting its space act together but almost didnt have, had he nod had the success of john glenn if want to posit a keep of other things going on, as in right now today, so were not losing tight. The market hit a record. And campaign bath anding for over the donald trump cabinet. Mulling back and forth whether liberals are still angry and conservatives getting too cocky, again. These concerns have not gone anywhere but for this and this hour, remembering a time when we seemed to be literally above it all. Im talking like way above it all. With me now republican senator rob portman and holds john glenns old senate seat, close friend of john glenn, very good of you to stop by. Thank you for having me on. Ive really enjoyed listening to your program this afternoon. You mentioned pearl harbor and the 75th anniversary. Some sense without pearl harbor we hey not have had john glenn as a National Hero because they say that motivated him to decide he was going to join the effort. He was a pilot. Thats right thats right had 59 missions in world war ii, is a recall. People forget he is a world war ii veteran, and win on to to 59 Different Missions where he served our country along before he became an astronaut. So, what a story, and what a life, and what an amazing man. You brilliantly connected the two events in a way i could not, senator, that one provided the opportunity for the other. What i had read you know more about him than i do, outside of marveling as a kid what he was doing but that he as a Fighter Pilot i believe five of the other other astronauts were that they were the real deal, the real mccoy. Tom wolf and others have written about that unique group, but they really were the rock star of their time. They were the right stuff, and of all of them, john glenn stands out because at a time when we were not a space contest with the soviets and prestige around the world, john glenn climbed into the little capsule its over at the air and space museum. I thought how did any human being spray pam all over them to get them in there . What did they do . Theres some photographs of him cramming himself in there and it malfunctioned and and itd had to go to Manual Control and a layer peeled back and he must have seen his life flash before his eyes but when he splashed down and spoke to a joint session of congress, unbelievable. Guess hi was 40 years old then. Unbelievable. What a history. And then i got to know him better when he was in the United States senate. Was in the house. We did a lot together. He was a Good Government guy and one thing he fought against, which you also fight against, is unfunded federal mandates, and he was the leader over here in the senate among democrats the issue, which was not necessarily a popular issue for democrats, and i worked with him as the republican lead to try to stop the federal mandates. That was his legacy also. He was a legislator and he was serious about that mission as well. I was remembering, too, senator, his class, and i know we always say, everybody speaks glowing hi of the dead, but the fact of the matter was, even in his president ial run, many of his in his Campaign Staff got to go for the jugular against mon deal and have to do this and that, and he would just, im not going to do that. Im going to lose on my own terms when shay they say, your charisma disappointed his. Said id been inspiration space, but would not be nuts. Its interesting. What he would not tolerate and compromise in running for the highest office in the land. He was a lowkey ohio guy and that campaign will be one where he was too centrist for the matter at that time. So not just his style, also his politics. I then worked with him after his time in senate because the started this Little School in ohio state, called the glenn school for Public Affairs and now the glenn college. I thought there for a few years as they coteacher before i ran for the senate and got to know him through that and was on his Advisory Board there we had a meeting last month and he showed up in good humor, as always, engaged, wanting to help. We want teed set up a Leadership Institute to help other young ohioans to be motivated to get into public service. He are so his time in space is bracketed by his other accomplishingments but added together equal his amazing legacy. All right. Senator, thank you very much for taking the time. You hold a precious seat and you have made history yourself. Thank you, sir. Thanks, neil. Talk about the right stuff, as tom wolfe said, the last one dying, john glenn. What to remember about the right stuff is how the wrong things happened to them again and again and again. A heart condition kept john glenn sidelines after that initial Orbital Mission into space. But he would play key roles in the Space Program after horrific disasters of the Space Program, including the apollo 1 fire that claimed the lives of three astronauts. Glenn who said if we give up on this or lose heart because of this, they will have died in vain. I will not tolerate it. Its turned out the nation did not. You saw the first man to orbit the earth. Up next, the last man to walk on the moon. Test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test. You know, its remarkable too encapsulate the tenyear period in 1962 when john glenn put is back on the space map and in the space race, as the First American to ore orbit the earth, following the russian and the bat tool get to the moon first, and then in 1972 when the last man walked on the moon in padres of ten years we went from Impossible Task to completed task, and an Apollo Program that was supposed to go on for at least another few missions stopped at 17 and stopped at this man, whose footprints remain on the surface of the moon. The last man to walk on the moon. Hipty, hopty, over the hill. A hero, not a singer but a hero. Gene cernan. Commander ol apollo 17. Jean e gene, very good to have you. How are you. Im fine. Its always great to talk to you. I just wish the circumstances were a little different. I larry you, my friend. When i hear you, my friend. When you look at this and the remarkable tenyear gap, only ten years between the first man to ore built the earth and the last one to walk on the moon, thats an incredible ten years. We never quit and john was a champion for all of us who followed help made it possible. He opened the door. We walked through. And he is the real hero. Its not those who ended up just following in his footsteps. He is the guy who made it happen, and were going to miss him. And i remember those days when i watched john and you probably do, too you may not be old enough but i certainly am. Id get up the middle of the night, wait for them to launch. Wouldnt launch. Get up to days later. Try it again. But he had what it took. He truly did. Talk about the right stuff. I dont know how you define the right stuff but if you define john glenn, youll find it. I was thinking you had once said we were talking about our own Space Special we were doing here and before your bestselling book, now a great documentary, just cleaned up on the awards, but one of the things you just said is you have too be a little crazy, and you were talking about whether whether or not you were afraid of what you were doing but you just did it. It was an adventure, and the tragedies along the way for you, even apollo 13, and we got the guys back, the apollo 1 fire, the challenger disaster, the columbiadisaster. The appetite for that today, i dont know if it exists. I hope it does. I would like to think i think its there. Let me encourage you. We got a whole roster of young kids in the country today who are excited and thrilled and theyre ready to go, i can tell you. I can promise you that. Theres not one that would turn down the opportunity. We had our ticker tape parades. But we did, indeed, pay for them. Indeed we did. And you know, you start looking at what john accomplished. Not just for himself but for the country. He was a leader of the band. He took us where we as a country needed to go back in those terrible 60s. We needed a hero so bad. And he was one of those original seven outstanding heros who came to the rescue. As did you, my friend. As did you. I want to thank you, gene, for coming on. I know you have had your own Health Issues and all. Please be well. Thank you for what you have done. Well, thank you. Be well. Gene cernan, last man to walk on the moon, blessedly the last man to sing in space as well. John glenn never tried that. Thank the lord. We will have more, representing an American Hero, today dead at 95. You totanobodys hurt, new car. But there will still be pain. It comes when your Insurance Company says theyll only pay threequarters of what it takes to replace it. What are you supposed to do . Drive threequarters of a car . Now if you had Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, youd get your whole car back. I guess they dont want you driving around on three wheels. Smart. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement™, well replace the full value of your car. Liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Yeahashtag stuffy nose. Old. Hashtag no sleep. I got it. Hashtag mouthbreather. Yep. Weve got a mouthbreather. Well, just put on a breathe right strip and. Pow it instantly opens your nose up to 38 more than Cold Medicine alone. So you can breathe. And sleep. Shut your mouth and say goodnight mouthbreathers. Breathe right. Senator who was also an astronaut. Bill nelson joins us from florida. Very good to have you. Thanks a lot. When you look back at your friend and colleague john glenn, we always say i was saying this as well, senator, that it ha harkens back to a time we were crazy optimistic and anything was possible. We just did it because we just wanted to do it. And what a role model he was. Remember the original seven, all of them gone now. John the last to go. I mean, they were on the lips of every american as we were in this great space race against the soviet union. They beat us into space with sputnik. Then they beat us into orbit. And ten months later, we fly john glenn and they knew they had a 20 chance of the atlas rocket not working. John was on orbit for seven orbits. And then they got an indication that his heat shield was loose. They decided to bring him back after the third orbit. Of course, not knowing if the heat shield was going to fall off on reentry and he would burn up. The last transmission as he went into the blackout period of the fiery heat of reentry, they could hear john humming the battle hymn of the republic. Amazing. I think it was john glenn i hope i got the words right. I probably didnt. So indulge me. Asked about death or those who died in space were in the wrong place at the wrong time and the wrong space, he said, there by the grace of god go i. I was thinking of you. I know you were a pay load specialist in the 80s on columbia itself, a vehicle that would years later explode in space returning to earth. Did you think the same . Its the fickle nature of technology, fate. Well, for those of us with a spiritual dimension, which included john glenn, you have a different approach to it. Our flight early in the Space Shuttle Program Ended up being the most delayed and four scrubs on the pad. I remember again and again and again. A lot of folks worried. And then ten days after we landed on earth, challenger launches and blows up. Thats right. But the real pioneers, the real adventurers were the early guys. We didnt even know what was going to happen to the human body. We had sent up a chimpanzee. But we didnt really know what it was going to be. Glenn was the first to orbit. And then all of that drama on reentry. Of course, he became the instant hero so much that president kennedy would not fly again. Because he did not want to take a chance that this authentic American Hero who was such a role model, that he would be lost. Of course, as it turned out, it was years later under president clinton that john then went and joined the Space Shuttle program and flew in that time. He had many, many orbits of the earth so that he could finally enjoy what he had blazed the trail for everybody else. That is well put, senator. I know this has to be tough on you, a colleague and a friend. You had a great example as well. I want to thank you for taking the time. Thanks. That will do it here. I want to reflect back on this for a time and a moment when we are all fighting and griping with ourselves and saying cant and wont and but this and but that to an age and time on this week we remember 75 years ago when a generation was committed to doing and reversing in the face of unquestionable horror and incredible odds, we did it. Part of that generation was john glenn. A world war ii Fighter Pilot who flew low so he could see the enemy. He would later say, so he could aim better. It was his modest ohio upbringing. Never seeing himself as a hero. Only reaching for the stars and saying even if he couldnt do it, sidelined for 36 years before he would get his shot for the heavens again, to remember as he always reminded those who doubted, we are a great species. Keep trying. Keep flying. Hello, everyone. Its 5 00 in new york city. And this is the five. Were waiting for president elect trump to deliver remarks after meeting with the victims and First Responders of last weeks attack at ohio state university. We will bring you his statement as soon as we have it. First, on the topic of terror, a stunning admission by president obama claiming he never knew about the isis threat during the groups early days. The rise of the Islamic State surprised you, it took you by surprise, it took the administration by surprise. The ability of
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