chou say that was that great skydiving training that allowed hi to get his body into control. >> we watched his descent speed rise all the way to what i think -- i saw 724, somewhere in there. then when the descent started to slow, that's when his body was hitting air molecules in the atmosphe atmosphere. that's when there started to be air there and that's when the tumbling took place. in the first 20 seconds, there was nothing for him to deflect. there was no way for him really to turn over, to flip over, to dive because even if he used all of his hand surfaces and his legs, there is nothing there. there are no molecules up there for him to deflect. but when he started to slow down, that's when the tumble started to occur and that's when i got very concerned, and obviously he could use his hands, he could use his legs, use his body. all the things he learned, that saved his life.

that experience saved him because he knew what to do. >> it really did. there's a chute opening there. he was able to make the pulls on that chute and make the rest of his descent there. extraordinary. chad meyers, thanks so much. we're going to bring people up to speed now on all the news, including this take place. leo chou, a former astronaut. thank you very much. we're going to talk to you again in a matter of minutes. you're now looking at images that were taken less than 30 minutes ago of felix baumgartner as he was making his descent from 23 miles above the earth in a free fall fashion before he was able to hit the right place in the atmosphere and have the wherewithall to open his chute, and there is the descent there on the horizon before he was able to finally land on his feet just about 45 miles away from roswell, new mexico where this mission began for him early this

morning. incredible feat here. still unclear whether he was able to break that record and become the first human to break that sound barrier. we do know that he has already set a record being the first human to go the highest one has ever gone in a manned balloon. that we know, and there is his picture of his mom right there. earlier she was in tears during his ascent into space, and now much relief for mom ava there, the first time she's actually left europe and there in roswell, new mexico to eyewitness this flight in history. this was not a nasa project, this was a commercial project, but many people who were part of this mission form he wierly wor with nasa. pretty incredible stuff we've been watching this afternoon. we want to bring you up to date on two very important stories we continue to follow. this, the felix baumgartner

place in history, and we also want to report to you this very sad news, the death of one of the most prominent politicians to serve in the u.s. senate, arlen specter. the veteran pennsylvania lawmaker died today in his home in philadelphia from complications of non-hodgkin's lymphoma. he is 82 years old. a memorial service is planned for tuesday in pennsylvania. specter was the longest serving senator from the state of pennsylvania, and during his three decades in office, he was both a republican and a democrat. lisa sylvester takes a look at specter's high-profile career and the legacy he leaves behind. >> in his 30 years in the u.s. senate, arlen specter survived a loss. a benign brain tumor, bruising partisan battles. and a health care town hall. >> wait a minute! >> in 2005, we all watched

senator specter's first bout of cancer play out in public. >> hodgkin's is about the best of the bad things to get. >> he had just won a tough battle for the job he coveted, chairman of the judiciary committee. then in 2008, his hodgkin's disease cancer came back. dr. sanjay gupta spent a morning with specter at the time. >> you're probably going to lose more of your hair. >> i'm going to lose all of my hair. i'm going to be as bald as a billiard ball. >> how are you going to feel? >> i am answer that question categorically. i'm going to notind at all. >> in fact, we watched as the chemo made him balder and paler and weaker and sicker. what we did not know at the time was the worst specter looked, the better he was getting. he said he planned to be in politics a long time. >> if i run in 2010 and win and again in 2016, win and go again

in the year 2022, and if i'm up for election in 2028, i'll be younger than strom thurman was. >> serving as a republican in the 2010 primary, specter did the unthinkable. >> as the republican party has moved farther and farther to the right, i have found myself increasingly at odds with the republican philosophy. >> he switched parties, becoming a democrat. he won president obama's endorsement. >> i'm thrilled to have arlen in the democratic caucus. >> incurring the wrath of many home state voters. >> i consider senator specter a traitor, quite honestly. >> the senator tried to explain, taking crowds back to his childhood.

>> i became a jfk democrat. >> it sounded as if he wanted us to believe he had never really been a republican. >> i probably voted more often on the big issues with the democrats than with the republicans. >> do u regret ever having become a republican? >> i did my best for a long time to moderate the republican party. and the great day when they refused to talk about the stimulus which was necessary to avoid a depression. >> he, nonetheless, had president obama and the democratic establishment, but it wasn't enough. specter lost the 2010 primary to then-congressman joe sestak, effectively ending his political career. he will be remembered as a tough interrogator of supreme court nominees, as judicial political chairman, a supporter of cancer research and a staunch supporter of women's rights, especially a

woman's right to choose to an abortion. >> many who knew him well and actually covered him on capitol hill, cnn reporter candy crowley. i asked candy why he was known as snarlin arlen. >> he could be cranky. he was a very smart guy, very smart guy. a lawyer, he had been a prosecuting attorney. he has been -- the history that he covered in his career, not just the senate, and i think he was there for like 30 years, but he was on the warren commission, he was one of the attorneys for the warren commission which looked into the jfk assassination. is to just the time spent with all the supreme court nominees because he loved the law. he was on the judiciary committee. he played such a pivotal role in selecting some of the supreme court justices that now sit on that bench and approving them.

so he had such a span of history. he was also really got battered by politics. he started out a regular democrat but ran as a republican, got elected to the senate as a republican, and at the end of his career, when he was getting ready to run for reelection in the 2010 race, or close to it. i'm going to have to go back and actually check that. in 2010, he switched parties and became a democrat because he felt that the republican party elected him. he was a moderate from pennsylvania and was about to get a huge challenge from the conservative side and thought he might lose that. he switched to the democratic party, but in the end he lost the democratic primary and that was the end, certainly, of his public career. but just a fascinating, smart guy who contributed so much to history and lived so much of it. >> candy crowley, thank you so much for that perspective. and all the best this week. we'll be watching you tuesday

night. >> thanks, fred. >> again, arlen specter died at the age of 82 this morning, and of course candy crowley will be moderating the presidential debate in new york as this tuesday night our live coverage beginning at 7:00 eastern time. candy crowley is moderating, and coming up in the 4:00 eastern time today candy will give us an idea of what to expect. back to that extraordinary moment of history of a sky diver from 128,000 feet descending to make a successful land on earth. ♪ ♪ we're lucky,

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he landed safely a short time ago near roswell, new mexico. you saw that here on cnn. brian todd is watching this closely. it was riveting, those moments, and i think everyone's hearts were in their throats. you spent a lot of time with the crew and with baumgartner a week ago when they attempted the first mission. it was scrapped for this day. what are your impressions?

>> it is extraordinary, fredricka. my heart was pounding just like everyone's was when we saw felix step off that platform, the cab sewell, the platform the size of a skateboard. he took a little bunny hop and there he went. you could almost feel the speed even from this distance away, just looking at it in these monitors. it was incredible to watch the rate of speed at which he was falling. at one point he did go into a spin. some spin was expected. what they were really concerned about was if he would go into an uncontrollable flat spin. not clear that that ever happened, really. he did go into somewhat of a spin but he stabilized very, very quickly, and when he stabilized, i was watching it live at the time, you could hear cheers from mission control go up. that was one thing they were watching for. could he spin? is he going to be unconscious? he stabilized very quickly and you could hear the cheers go up from mission control. the other question here, did he

surpass the speed of sound? if you look at what you're seeing on your screen is there and you look at the miles per hour, by that reading, he did. we have to confirm that he actually did that, but if you look at that reading, 729 miles an hour you're seeing there, that's past the speed of sound. it would appear from that reading that he did break that record as well, but we would have to confirm that. you see an image of him spinning. if you can see him tumbling there, that's where all of us here, chad meyers and others were concerned, but he stabilized quickly after that and it became a successful mission. >> brian todd, thanks so much. of those three records i mentioned, we know one is confirmed. he had gone the highest any human thaz gone has gone in a m balloon. the other two have to be confirmed. straight ahead, i'll help you get away from it all. that probably helped you get away from it all right there, but instead rear goiwe're going

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if you're looking for a new

spot to relax on your next vacation, we're about to show you some of the best hotels of the year in travel and leisure magazine. the place we have to go is next. >> we have a hotel called secret bay. it's close to puerto rico. you take an hour flight from san juan but you really are off the grid. this hotel gives a lot of luxury to this island that previously has been a beautiful place that you can go and relax. there is volcanic terrain, there are these coves everywhere. the hotel itself has a beautiful secluded beach. you can lay on a hammock, go to the beach, and you can have a cook come to your room, prepare lob stesters for you and clean when she's done.

>> that sounds like a vacation. the food is fantastic? >> one of our crew thought it was the best food he's ever had. that's a big deal. >> that's a very big deal. now we're going to go further south to chile, and we're going to a nice little island after the chilean coast. >> this is a place that feels like a castaway fantasy. if you're really looking to get off the grid, the place to go is the cristo island lodge. this hotel only has 16 rooms and it's thought to be the place where robinson crusoe was actually marooned. you can go visit the cave where he's said to have spent some time, you can go to the bayou where there's said to be hidden treasure, and of course there's latin food so you can get a little culture and a great experience. >> so you're going to relax but at the same time you'll be a little exploratory, too. >> this is definitely a trip for

someone to go on who wants to be active. there is a lot of outdoorsy stuff to do, which if you're into it, it isn't on a lot of people's list and it should be on yours. >> what about the destination south beach? >> the sls south beach. this has a lot of megawattage, if you will. it has everyone's favorite chef all coming together, and lenny kravitz actually designed their penthouse suite. this is where you'll go to see and be seen. there is a pool scene. there is a giant rubber ducky statue presiding over this pool scene. it's a gorgeous art deco property that has been redone for the kind of hip with aesthetics. >> so this is an adult program. you're not bringing the kids there. >> i would not bring the kids there. there are plenty of places to

bring the kids in south beach. maybe this won't be it. but if you have older kids, they might enjoy that rubber duckie. >> you mentioned lenny kravitz. with any luck he's there. >> that's what we could all hope for. >> if not, at least you'll get the penthouse suite and check out his style. thank you so much. always good to see you. >> thank you, fredricka. >> you can find out more about great escapes d others in this month's issue of travel and leisure. sky diver felix baumgartner has just gone down in the record books with his unbelievable jump in space. we'll talk about an astronaut about this accomplishment.

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just a short time ago, you watched it here on cnn, record-breaking felix baumgartner landed on his feet in a record-breaking free fall jumping 23 miles to earth. he broke three records, one for the highest free fall, one for breaking the sound barrier and one for the highest from a manned boo loon.

so leo, what dooup you think ise legacy of this drop? >> it wasn't like they just went out and tried, it was planned for many years and did other jumps before this one, around 80,000 and 100,000, so it was a build-up. they finally got to the point where they were going to try for the record today and they broke three of them. con grat lagratulations to the . the things they developed, the pressure suit they used, i think you'll see this pressure suit in spacecraft. >> what makes this pressure suit so significant or a few steps above what nasa has been using for a long time now? >> the suits that nasa used aboard the shuttle and the suits used right now, they're

basically the same design with some improvements over the years but basically the same designs that have existed for a long time. decades, actually. this suit here appears to be a pretty new adaptation. we've taken a lot of lessons learned from these older suits and you've improved upon them. it looks like the flexibility might have been a little better in this suit. certainly the telemetry packages, the sensors and the way they were able to clollect data and record, those were big advances. like i said, i think this will drive the technology of newer suits as they're developed. >> leo chou, former astronaut, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon and taking us through that live coverage. good to see you from houston. >> nice to see you. thanks. it started out as a day at a football game for this family, and then it turned into raw emotion on the field. ♪ reach one customer at a time?

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