 Excuse me. Please. I'm sure we all realize there's been a change in procedures that look forward to coming in here. We have a little session with you as the briefing, all very carefully sequestered until 9 o'clock tonight. State of the Union, but in view of the tragedy that's before this, I don't think we'll do that. We're interested in keeping up with this as I am, so to find out the extent of it, what has taken place. So I just wanted to say hello, and appreciate you coming here, and maybe we can do the other thing another time. Mr. President, can you give us your comments on the tragedies so that we can tell the American people? Can you say, take place, and rid myself of the thought of the sacrifice of the families that have been watching this or so, the families of those people on board? Mr. President, what is the latest word you've gotten? Have you gotten any definitive word on the condition? No more information. Mr. President, do you want to see all systems hauled until we find out explicitly what happened in this tragedy? I'm not a scientist, I do have confidence in the people, other than this is the first in what is it, 56, in some place, or something of this kind. I certainly want everything done that can be done to find out how this could have happened to ensure it against us happening again, but there again I have to say I'm sure that the people that had to do this program are determined to do that right now, and I'm quite sure also when you look at the safety measures that sometimes those I was looking on had gotten a little impatient with when the flights have been ordered and it hasn't seemed as if the situation seems that they were taking things too seriously, now we know they weren't. So I'm confident that there will be no flight until they are absolutely a certain this human being can be that it is safe. Mr. President, do you think it raises questions about having citizens in court of suspicion? There are all citizens, and I don't think anyone's ever been on the right of this in the volunteer. I know I've heard many times from other people that have tried to give you reasons why they or someone like them should be included in flights of this kind. So no, that is the last frontier, the most important frontier. We have to say that the space program is most successful, most effective. I guess we've been so confident out of it that it brings us such a tremendous shock when something of this kind happens. Will you go ahead, sir, with your message tonight? Will you go ahead with your message tonight? Yes, sir. Mr. President, are you afraid of any public backlash against the space program because of this tragedy? I shouldn't think so, and I'm certainly worried that I couldn't express my opinion the other way. You know, we don't have accidents in every line of transportation. We don't do away with those things. They've probably got a better safety record than we have out of the highways. Mr. President, would you tell us if you were on board? Do you think it was a mistake for the people on board? No, again, this is what the whole space program is leading to. The news. Mr. President, would you tell us exactly who brought you the news and exactly what you thought said that we were all sitting in there preparing myself for your questions on the State of the Union address when the last president, John Pointexter, came into the room and all they could say at the time was that they had received the thoughts that the space shuttle had exploded. He immediately went into the adjoining room when I had the TV set to get on this because there was no direct word except that the TV made public also. There we saw the replaying and saw the thing act. It just was, I don't know how to say it, a very traumatic experience. Mr. President, I want to thank your State of the Union speech tonight. I mean, we were told you were going to give an upbeat the State of the Union is good, you know, optimistic speech. This has got to cast a call on it, doesn't it? Yes, I'm sure it does. Certainly we won't speak without mentioning this, but we can't stop governing the nation because of the tragedy of this kind. So, I guess we'll continue. Mr. President, philosophically, do you take some solace in the fact that over the years the American Space Program has been remarkably saying that we've not lost as many people as we've been led to believe have been lost in the Soviet Union? Well, I think we've only had a great pride in that and it is a kind of, at least something to cling to right now although it doesn't lessen our grief at what is just taking place. Mr. President, sending a civilian in space was basically something that it was routine to go into space that was now safe, even a teacher we could send out. Do you think that notion has now gone? Well, what could you say other than here was a program that had a 100% safety record. The only other fatality did not take place in space shuttles it took place in a type of capsule. Mr. President, so many children have been part of this particular space shuttle because of the teacher and they're doing classrooms. You do something to help them, say something to help them to understand. I think people closer to the rigidest they've got to be doing that because I say that the world is the hazardous place or it's has been. Pioneers, they've always known that there are pioneers that give their lives out there on the frontier and now this has happened. It probably is more of a shock too because of the fact that we see it happen just here in Providence if something happened miles away. I think those that have to be with them at the same time make a claim to them that life does go on and that you don't back up and quit something they wanted never because of trade. Do you have any special thoughts in your life? Sir, do you have any special thoughts about Crystal McAuliffe? I think it was in this room was named as the first teacher. Who are your thoughts about her today? I can't get out of my mind. Her husband and her children, but then that's true of the families of the others. There's probably more so because the families of the others have been a part of this whole program. I know that they were the hazardous side of the patient but I'm sure that they were there watching.