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CNN Live Today

Randy McCloy Jr. Fights to Live; Questions Being Asked About Whether Federal Regulators Could Have Done More to Prevent Deadly Explosion

Aired January 05, 2006 - 11:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go back now to the tragedy at the Sago mine, Randy McCloy Jr., the lone survivor of the explosion that killed 12 miners, is surrounded by his family as he fights to live today. A short time ago, his mother explained how she felt upon learning her son had lived and the others had not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAMBRA FLINT, RANDY MCCLOY'S MOTHER: We feel very, you know, very bad about that. We were there when all that happened. And we just were walking out of there saying that, we just don't understand it, this can't be right. You know, it was wrong for them to have to wait like that and think that their loved ones, you know, were OK and to find out that they weren't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: CNN's Jonathan Freed joins us live. He's at the hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia, where McCloy is being treated.

Hello.

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, we are less than half an hour away from a news conference expected here at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia. We're waiting to hear from doctors on the status of Randy McCloy Jr., the miner trapped who was for 41 hours down at that Sago mine. And when he arrived here more than 24 hours ago, it was about 3:00 in the morning yesterday, he had severe dehydration, he had a collapsed lung. There was no evidence of head injury, but doctors remain concerned about whether or not he had an adequate supply of oxygen to his brain during the time that he was trapped.

Now there has been back some back and forth on the nature of his condition. Earlier today, the doctors were talking about additional apparent injuries, including heart, liver and kidneys.

And part of his medical team spoke to CNN earlier, and let's listen to the update they gave us at that time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOHN PRESCOTT, DEAN, W. VA. SCHOOL OF MED.: We're not certain that he is hearing anything at this point. He is not responding with purposeful movement at this moment. There was responses yesterday to his wife. We, at this time, again, we are not seeing those kind of responses. But that doesn't mean things have changed one way or another. It's -- again, we saw something for a moment yesterday. We hope to see, again, some signs of that again today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREED: And again, we are expecting an update in less than 30 minutes from now, from the medical team here at the hospital working on Randy McCloy Jr. -- Daryn.

And you'll see that live here on CNN. Jonathan Freed, live in Morgantown, West Virginia.

So get this, ironically, the agency that's in charge of mine safety is hearing a hearing that morning on a proposal that would scale back some protections for underground miners. In the aftermath of the Sago mine tragedy, questions are being asked about whether federal regulators could have done more to prevent the deadly explosion.

Our chief national correspondent John King has that story

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The federal agency investigating the Sago mine tragedy is the same agency that allowed the mine to remain open, despite dozens of serious safety violations in recent years.

ELLEN SMITH, MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH NEWS: You kind of wonder, where did the system break down? They were issuing citations, but the question is, why is it that a mine that had an accident rate three times the national average was allowed to keep functioning the way it was?

KING: The Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration says the citations were not serious enough to shut down the mine, an explanation that rings hollow to critics of Bush administration worker safety enforcement.

DAN KANE, UNITED MINE WORKERS: They have, and they need to use, the power to shutdown mines that are unsafe.

KING: An outside review of the inspections program two years ago questioned the government's effectiveness in identifying systemic mine safety problems. We were repeatedly told about inconsistencies among the inspectors, the ICF consulting group said in its report to the Labor Department.

Both MSHA and mining safety personnel raised concerns about the experience level and skillset on inspectors. The reports suggested inspections were too predictable, and said the performance evaluation review process is designed more towards rewarding inspectors for completion of the required number of inspections, rather then the quality of the inspections they conduct. The Mine Safety Agency's Web site allows easy access to information about inspections of specific mines. This is the Sago mine's list of citations, but under the Bush administration, the agency has significantly restricted access to internal documents detailing, among other things, investigations into the conduct of mine inspectors.

SMITH: MSHA's own role in these accidents is not being shared anymore. What are you hiding? We pay them. And I think that we have a right to know how decisions are made.

KING: Bush administration critics have long complained the White House is too cozy with energy interests and eased regulations and oversight on coal mining.

KANE: Look at the fines that are levied for many of these citations. Some of them are so small that you and I would get a bigger fine if we got caught speeding out on the beltway.

KING: President Bush was the single biggest recipient of coal industry contributions in 2000 and 2004. The industry has given more than $16 million to federal campaigns since 1990, 81 percent of that money to Republicans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Now, the White House rejects any suggestion it does special favors for the coal industry. It also says and promises a very vigorous investigation. But Daryn, inevitably, perhaps, some political arguments being made in the wake of this tragedy. Democrats see all those generous contributions to majority Republicans and they say maybe that's one reason MSHA has lost 170 positions since 2001. Perhaps, also, a reason they say there has not been a congressional hearing on mine safety in more than four years.

KAGAN: Well, what about this hearing today that we mentioned this morning? What kind of federal protections are they looking at scaling back?

KING: Well, there has been a debate for a number of years about the dust levels. One of the questions in this mine, how much coal dust was there on the ground? There has been a proposal under review to allow more dust build-up in mines.

There are a number of proposals to change and some of them are inevitable because of improvements in technology. And you have to be very careful in these debates because there's a debate about union versus non-union mines. There's a debate about free-market economy and whether the government is trying to regulate this business too much.

But there have been, since the Bush administration came to power, a number of hotly-contested proposals to ease regulations in coal mines, both underground mines -- and even more contested have been regulations to ease some of the restrictions on surface mining.

KAGAN: John King, live in Washington, D.C. John, thank you.

Still to come, a look at what hot gadgets are headed your way. It's the Consumer Electronics Show. Our resident techie, Daniel Sieberg, having a great time. He'll show us some of the cool stuff that he has his fingers on. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: OK, this just into CNN. This one's going to be a little hard to explain here for you. I'll tell what you we do know. This is just outside metro Atlanta in Jackson County, Georgia. There apparently is a man trapped inside of that water tower. Not on it, but in it. Now, how he got in there, what he's doing in there and exactly how rescue crews plan to get him out, we're not exactly sure right now. But rescue crews are on the scene in Jackson County, Georgia, trying to get a man out from out -- from inside of that water tower.

If you like live news, you're going to like CNN Pipeline. Let's go ahead and take a look at what's on Pipeline right now in the different pipes.

We have -- there is a live stream right now of the White House. Not a lot happening there, but there was a lot happening there earlier today. Also a live stream of entertainment news, if you're interested in constant entertainment news. And also weather graphics for you.

So this new CNN Pipeline could revolutionize the way you get news online. CNN's Melissa Long walks us through how you use Pipeline.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA LONG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): CNN Pipeline has arrived. And it's like having your own personal key to the CNN newsroom.

(voice-over): To start using CNN Pipeline, logon to CNN.com and click on the Pipeline link to start your free trial. Once it's installed, you're ready to go. The large window is the main live feed, or Pipe One. Below that, you'll be able to see what's happening on the other pipes.

If you see a feed you want to watch, just click right on the picture and the feed in the main window will change, as simple as changing your channel on the television. You can shrink it into a smaller window, which allows you to continue to work on another application on your computer.

Another great tool is the on-demand section, where you'll have access to over 40 new video clips a day, commercial-free. And you can browse and search for stories ranked either by time, section or most watched.

(on camera): The main advantage of CNN Pipeline is control. Now you can you get the news you want when you want it, commercial-free. To get started, logon to CNN.com/pipeline. Melissa Long, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: If you like Pipeline, you're going to like gadgets. So gadget geeks, you are going to love this next story. The newest high- tech toys are out at this year's Consumer Electronics Show.

Technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg gives us a sampling from Las Vegas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Here at CES, it's a bit like drinking water from a fire hose. There are so many gadgets to try and see. We've whittled it down to sort a high-tech garage sale here for you.

We're going to start with one that's getting a lot of buzz here at the show. It's from a company called Sling Media. It doesn't look that impressive. Sort of a silver brick here with some inputs on the back. That's been out for a little while, for $250.

What they're announcing here at the show is you plug this into your TiVo or your digital video recorder, and then you can watch any of your recorded shows on the go. On any sort of cell phone or portable media device, you can access any of those shows that you've prerecorded or some live programming while you're on the go. This is not out yet, but they're announcing it here at the show. That's from Sling Media.

Let's see what we can get to next. This is what they're touting as the world's smallest bluetooth headset. So it seems everyone has one of these days. If you put it up in your ear, you'll be able to talk using your cell phone and this bluetooth headset. It's from Nokia. It's not out yet. This is just a prototype, about $140, coming out in April.

This is a very interesting product for the amateur astronomer out there. It's from Celestron, called the Sky Scout. The idea is you can point it up anywhere in the sky, inside or outside -- with the press of a button, it will tell you exactly what you're looking at. In this case, part of the Hercules constellation, about 275 light years away. Tough to see with the naked eye. It will also guide you to look at certain planets like Venus or Mars if they're in a certain part of the sky. This goes for $399, coming out later this year.

We've also got something for the digital camera lovers out there. This is from Kodak. It's the ultra-wide angle camera. Lots of cameras out there. You've got a zoom and a wide angle. This is the ultra-wide angle. So in this case, you're getting a lot more perspective with the picture. I'm going to move my hand away from the lens.

And this is going to go for about $399. It's coming out this month. I'm going to turn it around so you can see the dual lenses on the front. That's what allows to you get this ultra-wide angle camera. It also makes panoramic pictures, as well.

So that's a sampling of some of the gadgets here at the Consumer Electronics Show, which continues through Sunday.

Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Thank you, Daniel. And we want to go back to our live pictures from Jackson County, Georgia. The rescue operations are underway. They're trying to get a man out of the water tower. Not off of it, but out. He's somewhere in that hole. Looks like rescuers are able to kind of get down there and talk with him. How he got in there, his status, we're not sure right now. But we're following it. That water tower placed just northeast of where we are here in Atlanta, Georgia.

We are going to check on weather and business, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And we're working on getting more information about this developing story in Jackson County, Georgia, northeast of Atlanta. Looks like they're getting a man out of a water tower. He was in the water tower. And we think that that's a rescue worker who climbed out of there. So we're not really sure on the status of the man who's in there, or how he ended in there. We're working on getting fire authorities from Jackson County on the phone, and we'll bring you more information as it becomes available.

Also looking for more information on Randy McCloy Jr. He is the one surviving miner. He is in hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia. We expect a news conference on his status at the top of the hour. You'll see that live here on CNN.

(MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: I want to share with viewers information on the miner miners that lost their lives in the mine this week. This is coming from Tallmansville, West Virginia, and from one of relatives of the miners who didn't make it.

Let's put down that picture for a second. We'll talk about Morgantown in just a moment.

This is from the Associated Press, saying that one of the relatives of one of the miners said that some of the miners left notes behind to their relatives. They assured family members that they weren't suffering in the mine, that they were just, quote, "going to sleep." So it appears that some of the miners that did not make it were able to leave final notes to the families they leave behind.

More on that story as we learn more. Also, the one surviving miner, Randy McCloy Jr., as we were mentioning, is in the hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia. There's the picture now. They have announced that they're going to have a news conference at the top of the hour talking about his status, and how he is doing and how is he fighting for his life. There you'll see that live right here on CNN.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Once again, we are standing by for the news conference set to take place at the top of the hour, Morgantown, West Virginia. This is the hospital where Randy McCloy Jr. is fighting for his life. We'll get The latest on his status. As soon as that begins, you'll see that live right here on CNN.

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