Bush's day: Dealing with tragedy (A Recap of his day)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The following is a recap of President Bush's day, as recounted to CNN by a senior administration official:

President Bush, at the Camp David retreat, receives his usual intelligence briefing.

White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, also at Camp David, is channel surfing, flipping through TV stations, and begins watching NASA Television, awaiting the landing. He sees that NASA has lost contact with the space shuttle Columbia.

Card calls the Situation Room and then NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe but could not reach him. Card tells Bush that NASA has lost contact with the shuttle.

Here is the complete article for the excerpted impaired:

Bush's day: Dealing with tragedy

WASHINGTON (CNN) --The following is a recap of President Bush's day, as recounted to CNN by a senior administration official:

8 a.m. EST

President Bush, at the Camp David retreat, receives his usual intelligence briefing.

9 a.m. EST

Card calls the Situation Room and then NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe but could not reach him. Card tells Bush that NASA has lost contact with the shuttle.

Bush's initial reaction is that he is deeply concerned for those on board, especially for the families. He tells Card to keep him updated as events unfold and to keep in close contact with O'Keefe.

9:15 a.m. EST

Card and O'Keefe speak. O'Keefe updates him on the situation.

Card notifies National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who is at Camp David, as well as Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers.

10:30 a.m. EST

Bush is briefed by O'Keefe by phone and decides to cut short his stay at Camp David.

12:15 p.m. EST

Bush returns to the White House via a speeding motorcade.

12:30 p.m. EST

The president has returned to the Oval Office. Soon after, he is briefed by O'Keefe by phone, who tells Bush that the families are "holding up exceptionally well ... they are a courageous group of people."

Bush tells O'Keefe that "this was a tough day for all."

12:40 p.m. EST

Bush holds a conference call with victims' families, who had assembled in a conference room at Kennedy Space Center. Bush is standing at his desk in the Oval Office.

In the conversation, which takes place over a speaker phone, Bush says, "I express my love and appreciation for all who died today. I want their loved ones to know there are millions of people praying for you.... I hope that brings some comfort to you. This was an incredibly tough day. May God Bless you all. I wish I was there to hug, cry and comfort you. God Bless you all. God Bless."

12:45 p.m. EST

Bush is briefed by advisers in the Roosevelt Room: Rice, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, and his science adviser, regarding fallen shuttle debris.

1:25 p.m. EST

Bush calls Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to offer condolences.

1:25 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. EST

Bush returns condolence calls from Mexican President Vicente Fox, French President Jacques Chirac, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Iraq is discussed in none of these calls. Between the calls, Bush prepares to address the nation.

2 p.m. EST

The president addresses the nation from the Cabinet Room at the White House. "Columbia is lost," he says, "there are no survivors."

High above the Earth, in the deep blue morning skies over Texas, tragedy struck Saturday. An anguished nation mourned another shuttle loss, streaks of smoldering debris streaming through the heavens an all-too-familiar sight, an eery flashback to the Challenger disaster 17 short years ago, almost to the day.
Like the Challenger, sadly, there were no survivors -- all seven brave heroes perished as their ship, The Columbia, barely 16 minutes before scheduled landing, disintegrated hundreds of thousands of feet over north-central Texas, while hurling at speeds of over 12,500 miles per hour.
"They dedicated their lives to pushing the scientific challenges for all of us here on Earth," said the President of the crewmen, which included the first Israeli astronaut, Air Force Colonel Ilan Ramon.
"A more courageous group of people you could not have hoped to know," he added.
The President, back from Camp David, spoke to the nation from the Cabinet Room at the White House 5 hours after learning of Columbia's fate. His tempered, subdued tone, somberness and solemnity seemed to captured the mood of the country -- again, reminiscent of the Challenger aftermath, when President Reagan, in words immortal, soothed the pain and anguish then.
To the families of the astronauts, Bush offered his deepest, heartfelt condolences.
"You're not alone," he said. "Our entire nation grieves with you, and those you loved will always have the respect and gratitude of this country." Bush spoke personally to many of the families by phone.
To the nation, he vowed defiantly to press ahead with the space program.
The astronauts, who were led by mission chief and Air Force Colonel Rick Husband, died for a cause, and that "cause in which they died will continue," he said. "Mankind is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery and the longing to understand. Our journey into space will go on."
Bush's words echoed those of the Gipper's after the Challenger explosion, when he promised to "continue our quest of space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space." Two short years later, the shuttle was back up and running.
Bush movingly recited the names of each of the Columbia astronauts. In addition to Col. Husband and Col. Ramon, there was "Lt. Colonel Michael Anderson; Commander Laurel Clark; Captain David Brown; Commander William McCool; [and] Dr. Kalpana Chawla."
As a mark of respect for the lost crew, the President ordered American flags lowered to half-staff till next Wednesday.
A deeply devout man, the President reached for Scripture, quoting verbatim a soaring passage from the Old Testament book of Isaiah:
"Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts, one by one and calls each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

President Bush: "The same creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth, yet we can pray that all are safely home.
"May God bless the grieving families, and may God continue to bless American."
To which I have but one word to add: 'Amen.'
My two cents...
"JohnHuang2"

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