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Relatives and Friends Gather at Sago Baptist Church to Begin Mourning Process; Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Gravely Ill

Aired January 05, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
I'm Miles O'Brien reporting live from the Sago coal mine in West Virginia.

Relatives and friends of those who have died here gather once again at the Sago Baptist Church to begin the mourning process. This as a pair of investigations begin. Was the mine company in some way responsible for a dozen deaths here?

And the sole survivor, 26-year-old Randy McCloy, still in very critical condition this morning. Doctors say he is by no means out of the woods. We'll give you an update on his condition -- Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gravely ill this morning. He suffered a massive stroke. Now, Israel's political future is very much in doubt. We'll be live in Jerusalem.

And breaking news for you out of Iraq. Nearly 100 people are dead following a pair of suicide bomb attacks. It is the bloodiest day since last month's elections.

All the details on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Welcome back, everybody.

We're going to get right back to Miles with developments out of West Virginia in just a few moments.

First, though, this developing story on the condition of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, still very serious condition. A massive stroke, in fact, put Sharon in the hospital last night. His grave illness is now raising questions about Israel's future and the possibility of peace with the Palestinians.

Let's get right to Guy Raz.

He's monitoring things at the hospital in Jerusalem -- Guy, good morning.

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

After rumors were circulating outside this hospital about the condition of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the director general of Hadassah Hospital came out in the past hour to announce to reporters that the prime minister remains in serious condition. He's receiving breathing aid with the help of a respirator and he is still clinging to life.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

RAZ (voice-over): As the hours tick on, doctors say the prognosis doesn't look good. Israel's legendary survivor, Ariel Sharon, may finally have met his match.

Early Thursday, the prime minister underwent a second surgery to drain blood from his brain at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. Neurologists say the likelihood he'll emerge the same is low. His chances of dying are high.

But though deeply infirm, the 77-year-old man clings to life, his doctors say.

DR. SHLOMO MOR-YOSEF, HADASSAH MEDICAL CENTER: All the vital signs and other measurements are according to what is expected after such a long surgery and after hemorrhagic stroke. As part of the treatment, Prime Minister Sharon is under anesthesia and he is ventilated, at least for the next 24 hours.

RAZ: Elsewhere in Jerusalem, the machinery of government continues to function. At least that's the impression Mr. Sharon's leaderless cabinet wants to give. The man in charge now, Ehud Olmert, Israel's deputy prime minister and Sharon's close confidante.

"This is a difficult situation," Olmert conceded. "But the country will withstand the upheaval."

(on camera): It's not just a national upheaval, but a regional one. Palestinian leaders are monitoring the ailing prime minister's condition, as well, knowing that Sharon's demise may complicate efforts to resolve the conflict.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For us, the Palestinians, what concerns us, first, for we hope that he will recover. And, second, we are looking all the time for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of an Israeli to be in favor of peace, who are to be ready to sit with the Palestinians to start a very serious and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) negotiation.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

RAZ: No one is publicly talking about life without Sharon yet. But everyone is thinking about it.

And, Soledad, everyone in this country is now watching this hospital ward behind me, waiting, some praying that their prime minister, really, the last living historical leader in this region, pulls through -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Guy Raz reporting for us from Jerusalem this morning.

Guy, thank you.

We'll continue to check in with him throughout the morning.

Let's get right back to Miles, though, first.

He's in Sago, West Virginia with an update this morning -- good morning, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Hello, again, Soledad.

Still a jumble of emotions here right in the heart of West Virginia coal mining country. Sure a tremendous amount of sadness, but also quite a bit of anger, a residual on the way this whole situation was handled the other night -- the miscommunication when the mine company inadvertently allowed people to believe, for quite some time, that their loved ones were alive.

At this vigil last night, they gathered together and sang hymns and continued that process of grieving which, of course, will last for many months to come.

Also on the horizon for many months to come, a couple of investigations looking into what happened here, what caused it, as flags fly at half staff all throughout this state and people wear black ribbons. What happened here?

There was a very powerful thunderstorm which rolled through this area right at the time of the explosion Monday morning.

Was that what triggered, perhaps, methane inside the mine, which had, perhaps, been building up during the holiday season when it was closed? Did that, in fact, trigger the explosion?

And then, this whole issue of the communication. It was a series of relays using portable radios from the people at the -- underground who were doing the rescue operation all the way up to the command post. Through that sort of game of operator, the message was mixed up and by the time it got to the surface and a loudspeaker, the indications were that 12 were alive.

That started the cell phones flying and that started the information to get out and the rumor.

The question is why did it take the company so long to stop that rumor?

Let's listen to the president of the company.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BEN HATFIELD, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COAL GROUP: We made what we believed to be the best decisions based on the information available, while working under extreme stress and physical exhaustion.

M. O'BRIEN (voice-over): Mine company President Ben Hatfield at a loss to explain what went so horribly wrong, why families had to wait three hours to learn 12 miners were, in fact, dead, not alive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's not even right.

M. O'BRIEN: Hatfield says it started when information was relayed by rescue teams from underground to the surface. By the time the information got to a speaker in the command center, it was clearly wrong.

HATFIELD: And you have a desperate group of people that have been on their feet for anywhere from 30 to 40 hours trying to save lives. They were looking desperately for good information.

M. O'BRIEN: The false information quickly spread by cell phone to relatives at the Sago Baptist Church despite what the mining officials say were explicit instructions to keep it under wraps.

GENE KITTS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COAL GROUP: My management went to everyone, every office, every place and said this is something that we cannot release until we are certain of facts.

M. O'BRIEN: The first contradictory and accurate report arrived 45 minutes later at the command post. But the company waited two hours before confirming the death toll and delivering the grim news to the stunned families.

HATFIELD: In the process of being cautious, we allowed the jubilation to go on longer than it should have.

M. O'BRIEN: Federal mine safety officials are now investigating not only the cause of the mine disaster, but also the tragic miscommunication.

HATFIELD: In hindsight, all I could do -- have done differently is personally have gone to the church and say there is conflicting information. Please, let's just hold where we are and we'll give you more information when we have it.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: The biggest glimmer of hope through all of this, the survival of 26-year-old Randy McCloy. He remains in a hospital this morning in Morgantown, about an hour-and-a-half from here. He's still in very critical condition and it's unclear -- well, he's certainly by no means out of the woods, according to his doctors.

For more on that, we turn to CNN's Jonathan Freed, who's at the hospital -- good morning, Jonathan.

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

Randy McCloy has been here for more than 24 hours. And when he was brought here, he was in a state of severe dehydration. He had a collapsed lung. But they were saying that there was no evidence of head injury.

Now, the word that we've had, a couple of hours ago, from the hospital is that he still remains in very critical condition. And, Miles, you had a chance to talk to one of the doctors treating him a little while ago and he gave us some more detail about that.

Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOHN PRESCOTT, DEAN, WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Yes, we have seen some improvement in his heart function, some improvement in his liver function, some improvement in his kidney function and also some improvement in his lung function or breathing functions.

But he -- these are small improvements. He remains in a very critical state at this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREED: And, Miles, yesterday we understood that Randy McCloy was able to actually squeeze his wife's hand in response, and that was giving people a lot of hope at the time. And as the sun comes up here in Morgantown, West Virginia, there is still definite hope in the air today that his condition is going to improve.

We are expecting a news conference around midday, around noon, from the doctors here at the hospital, where we hope to hear that he -- that his health will have improved. But, again, people are being very cautious at this point -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: CNN's Jonathan Freed in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Thank you very much.

And we will get right now to some other headlines.

Kelly Wallace joining us from new year -- good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

And we are following a developing story out of Iraq this morning.

Heightened security in parts of that country on what's being called the bloodiest day there since last month's parliamentary elections. Nearly 100 people killed in a pair of suicide bombings. The first attack just about six hours ago in a shopping center in Karbala, south of Baghdad. Hours later in Ramadi, a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest detonated near a police recruitment center.

The future of Iraq is expected to top the agenda at a rare White House meeting this morning. In about an hour, President Bush is set to meet with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and their predecessors. Guests include Madeleine Albright, secretary of state in the Clinton administration, and Colin Powell, the president's first top diplomat.

The president got a briefing on Iraq during a stop at the Pentagon on Wednesday. We're awaiting more details on another developing story, this one out of Virginia. Within the past half hour, we learned that a train derailed in Dumfries, Virginia. That's a Washington, D.C. suburb. Three of the train's cars slipped off the tracks during rush hour in Prince William County. No word on any injuries. The train is a popular way for people who work in Washington to commute in to work.

The next Pennsylvania governor could be a first. The new candidate is a Hall of Fame football player. Former Pittsburgh Steelers star Lynn Swann launched his bid Wednesday. He's planning to spend today and tomorrow crisscrossing the state. Swann is running on the Republican ticket. If elected, he would also become the state's first ever black governor.

And the Texas Longhorns enjoying their first national title since 1970. And it was down to the final play in last night's Rose Bowl. The top ranked USC Trojans upset by that man. Vince Young, with just 19 seconds left on the clock, he scrambled for an eight yard touchdown on fourth down. The final score, 41-38.

Chad, I'm really sorry I missed that game.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know.

WALLACE: But with our schedule, it's tough to stay up for it.

MYERS: You know, I taped it. It's on my machine. I'm going to watch it when I get home. But I knew there was no way that I could plug my ears for four hours and not hear the score. So...

WALLACE: I was going to say, we ruined the ending for you.

MYERS: Well, it was a good ending for Texas and a little bit sad. But, you know what? Hey, what did they -- what did USC have, 34 wins in a row? I guess, you know what I mean, that's a pretty good record right there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, much more on that tragedy at Sago mine. The mine had a history of safety violations.

Was anything being done to fix those problems?

We're going to talk with the owner, coming up.

And then later, remember those controversial Katrina bus tours we told you back -- told you about a while back? It began this week. What are the early impressions? We're going to take a closer look just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: As we look at live pictures of the Sago mine, the investigation is underway to find out just what happened there. Federal and local officials want to know not only what caused the explosion, but also what led the families to believe that there were 12 survivors when, in fact, there were 12 victims.

Joining us this morning is Wilbur Ross.

He is the chairman of the International Coal Group.

The International Coal Group owns that mine.

It's nice to see you.

Thanks for talking with us.

And our condolences. It's a huge loss for your company.

WILBUR ROSS, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, W.L. ROSS & COMPANY: Oh, it's horrible and it's not so much a loss for the company, but for the people, the families that were affected.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, absolutely. Certainly.

Were you kept abreast as this tragedy was really unfolding? I mean were you on the phone with the people in West Virginia?

ROSS: Oh, sure. Of course. But trying not to interfere, because they were the people on the ground. They were the people really at the scene trying to get the men out.

S. O'BRIEN: You, obviously, were aware when the mine was purchased about the history of violations, a number of violations at the Sago mine, even though you've really only owned it and started running it in the last couple of months.

ROSS: Right. Right. That's correct.

But every mine in the country has a history of violations. The real issue is was there any correlation at all between these violations and the disaster that occurred.

S. O'BRIEN: Miracle Ross, I'm going to stop you here, because apparently we're having some difficulties with your mike.

ROSS: Oh.

S. O'BRIEN: And so let's see if we can get someone in to fix this while I'll set up your next question for you.

Why don't you come on in, Dean, and just plop this next mike on him, because I know you can multi-task as we do this?

It's true, I think, that a massive violation would have just caused the mike to be shut down.

ROSS: Exactly. S. O'BRIEN: But there are many people who would say if you look at some of the violations, the last three inspections, there were 168 violations. In the last -- 91 of them were considered serious and substantial. And some of those violations came as recently as just two weeks ago.

ROSS: Yes. The mine safety people had been in, I think, for about 11 days, doing their regular quarterly review. They rendered their report something like the 22nd of December.

Once that report was in, the management obviously started dealing with whatever was found there.

I think it is significant, one, that there had just been a quarterly review. The mine safety people did not say that the mine should be shut down at all. They filed the report, but they have, as you know, the power to shut the mine down.

In addition, every mine has an inspector there every day that it operates. So it's not that anything is done under the cover of dark.

S. O'BRIEN: You have a new fund that's been set up and I believe there's $2 million in this fund that's going to go to the 12 victim families, essentially...

ROSS: Well, $2 million is the initial contribution that our company made. What we're trying to do is to solicit contributions from others, as well. And we got quite a good response to last night's announcement of the fund. We don't yet have tallies, but we're hoping that it will be a very substantial amount, not that any amount of money can make up for the loss of even one human life, let alone 12. But at least it can try to deal with some of the economic hardships that will result from this terrible tragedy.

S. O'BRIEN: You must have considered the fact that early on the family members were saying lawsuit. They're going to sue.

ROSS: Well, whatever is going to happen on that score will happen. Our effort with the fund is a humanitarian effort. It has nothing to do with any lawsuits.

S. O'BRIEN: I want to ask you a question about the information that came down. I mean the circumstances were, in some ways, so emotional and so confusing, you could really understand how bad information could make its way to people who were really desperate to hear any news.

ROSS: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: But the question that a lot of people are focusing on now is the delay, whether it was a 20 minute delay or a 40 minute delay. People knew.

ROSS: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: Were you well aware early on that... ROSS: No. All I knew was what was on the television. And I was as elated as anyone when it appeared as though there would be the 12 survivors, and as disappointed as anyone when I found out that that information was incorrect.

S. O'BRIEN: Are you angry that people who essentially worked for you, while promising the family members they would keep them abreast, did not, come through?

ROSS: Well, remember, all the decisions were made in the command center, which is a joint activity of Ben Hatfield and others from our company, the state regulators, then the federal. So these -- this is not one person just making a decision. It was the collective view, apparently, of the people there.

I wasn't on the scene. I think Mr. Hatfield has described in extreme detail his understanding as to what went on. I really don't have anything I can add to that.

S. O'BRIEN: We should give out the number for the Sago mine fund, because I know you'd like to get some money in there.

ROSS: Oh, I would very much appreciate it because...

S. O'BRIEN: If you want to -- let's chuck it up there. There it is, 800-811-0441 for family members of the victims, because, obviously, they're going to need some financial help.

ROSS: Yes. And 100 percent of any monies that come in will go to the victims. We're absorbing all the costs of operating the fund and all of that. So it's 100 cent dollars that will go to these families to try, in some small way, to ease the burden of grief that they have.

S. O'BRIEN: As the investigation continues, I'm sure there'll be lots more to talk about in this story.

But thank you for coming in to discuss it with us.

We appreciate it.

ROSS: Thank you very much.

And, again, I extend my heartfelt sympathy to the families.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm sure they appreciate that.

A short break.

We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Flags at half staff all throughout the State of West Virginia, right in the heart of coal mining country. Twenty-six-year- old Randy McCloy is described by everybody as a healthy young man and a guy who would drink a glass of milk as opposed to a soda pop, for example. And maybe that's why he was able to survive.

CNN's Chris Huntington takes a look at the sole survivor.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a simple sound that led rescuers to Randy McCloy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was found by the sound of moans.

HUNTINGTON: A miner, the father of a 4-year-old son and a 1- year-old daughter, Randy McCloy married his childhood sweetheart. His brother says Randy is the ultimate family man.

RICK MCGEE, RANDAL MCCLOY'S BROTHER: He just wanted to provide for his family, you know? That way Anna could stay home with the kids.

HUNTINGTON: McCloy's wife said he was well aware of the dangers of working underground.

ANNA MCCLOY, RANDAL MCCLOY'S WIFE: He has mentioned it to me before about the mine safety. But there were a lot of things he didn't tell me because he did not want -- he didn't want me to worry.

HUNTINGTON: But for 41 hours, she did, spending a lot of time at the little white church that's become home to this tragedy. Finally, her prayers were answered as rescuers reached her husband.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They had to restore his breathing. They had to provide oxygen to him. They were focused entirely on saving Mr. McCloy.

HUNTINGTON: Emergency workers rushed McCloy to a local hospital then on to a larger regional trauma center. Doctors say McCloy suffered a collapsed lung, was severely dehydrated, causing kidney problems. He is under sedation, has a breathing tube in his mouth and therefore can't speak. But he is communicating through facial expressions and touch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We decreased the sedation and he was able to interact a little bit with us -- some appropriate movements, responded to his wife in an appropriate manner.

HUNTINGTON: Doctors say they are optimistic about his recovery. They say his youth and good physical condition may have saved his life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think good health and being young obviously contribute to being able to tolerate such insults.

MCGEE: If anybody survived, it will be my brother. You know, he's just -- he's strong.

HUNTINGTON: Chris Huntington, CNN, Morgantown, West Virginia.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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