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American Morning

Glimmer of Hope for Darfur Crisis in Sudan; Lessons From Sago Mine

Aired May 05, 2006 - 08:31   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us this morning.

Topping the news a this the half hour, perhaps a glimmer of hope for the Darfur crisis in Sudan. Sudan's government and the main rebel group have agreed on a peace plan. The other rebel groups, two of them, not yet signing on, however. Three years of fighting has left tens of thousands of dead in that Darfur region, forced millions from their homes.

Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joining us on the phone now from Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

Nic, tell us what is the stumbling block for those other two rebel groups, and haven't they passed a deadline?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: They have passed a deadline, Miles. In fact, the past several deadlines. The deadline was originally Sunday, extended for 48 hours, and then extended 48 hours again.

What the rebels are asking for is that there by a vice president in Sudan from the Darfur region. They're asking that there be a regional government for Darfur. There are three states in Darfur, and they want those united in a regional government, and they want the Janjaweeb, who are the armed Arab -- armed Muslim militia that has been perpetrating all the violence in the area, they want them disarmed.

Now we don't know what the change is to the proposed deals that have been on the table are. But it is clear that this main rebel group is now in a position that it will (INAUDIBLE) if certain changes are made.

And also the Sudanese government is now said to have accepted some movement on the deal. So at least (INAUDIBLE) things are moving forward a little.

M. O'BRIEN: Nic, how -- give us a sense of the situation on the ground there right now, as best you can tell. How desperate are things?

ROBERTSON: The situation is very desperate for the more -- almost two million people that have been displaced from their homes. They're forced in most cases to rely on aid agencies for their food. The World Food Program said it has to cut by half the food to give to the people from the Darfur region, and the violence still continues. And in that environment, it makes it very difficult for the aid agencies to safely give people the sustenance they need and repatriate them and get back to their homes where they can support them themselves, so it's very desperate. A peace deal could potentially turn things around. The question after the peace deal, who enforces it -- Miles.

Lots of big questions still, Nic Robertson in Khartoum, thank you.

(NEWSBREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Carol Costello.

Three emotional gut-wrenching days of hearings in West Virginia coal mining country. The focus, of course, the Sago mine tragedy, which happened first of the year.

Listen to some of the comments yesterday from some of the victims left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA BAILER, MINER'S DAUGHTER: Why was my mother widowed at age 51 after 32 years of marriage? And why will I have to explain to my future children their grandfather is gone?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Of course, these are question that don't have easy answers. Jerry Groves was one of the 12 miners who died in the Sago mine.

Joining us now from Westen, West Virginia is his brother John Groves, back on the program with us.

John, it must have been just awful going through these past three days. What was it like?

JOHN GROVES, BROTHER DIED IN SAGO MINE: Well, Miles, I think actually it was just like we relived everything all over again, the experiences of what we had at the Sago church.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, gosh. And that experience, I was there. That was truly an emotional roller coaster you would never want to wish upon anybody. To have to go through that again is awful.

Let's talk about just a few of the brass tacks here. The rescuers, the devices that were supposed to provide the miners air underground. Did you get a satisfactory answer as to whether they worked properly? As we know, Randy McCloy, the sole survivor, has indicated some malfunction. We also have some proof that some of them were not exhausted, which is hard to imagine, if they were under there waiting all this time. What are your thoughts? Do you have an answer in your mind?

GROVES: I think that the rescuers failed them, these -- the self-contained rescue units that they used and depended upon to save their lives failed them, and there's no way that I could be convinced or my family could be convinced that these rescuers worked properly. These were trained men. They're training shows by what they've done while they were in that mine. And the training absolutely was there.

And there's no way -- I had the opportunity to put one of those self-rescuers on myself. It's a little bit complicated, but I did it on my first try, as everyone else did that was with us. There's no way that they did not do that.

And I mean it's Randall shared his rescuer with my brother, I'm sure Randall tried to get my brother's to work. So there's no way that -- I don't think their self-rescuers worked properly.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's listen to what Cecil Roberts had to say. He is president of United Mine Workers. This was not a union mine, but he was still testifying. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CECIL ROBERTS, PRES. UMW OF AMERICA: There ought to be enough oxygen in a coal mine for survival if you're a coal miner. Give these miners the best chance possible to be alive after something like this happens. Pray to God it doesn't. But if it does, they ought to be able to go and get all the oxygen that they need to live, and that's not asking our government or anybody else too much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: You know, it is hard to say that that's too much to ask for. Doesn't seem like it costs that much in the grand scheme of things. Do you have the sense that something concrete will come out of this and there will be adequate supplies of air?

GROVES: Well, you know, we're hoping that something's going to come out of this. In 1995, Mr. McAteer (ph) -- he's the one that shared the meetings with us. He was involved with the government trying to get the things taken care of, and it kind of got pushed under the rug. And it's our hope that the politicians that are involved with this, that has the opportunity to be able to change this will make the changes. Because if they don't make the changes, the next time a disaster happens like this, they're the ones that's going to have to go to sleep at night and be able to live with themselves knowing that they could have made the change and they didn't.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll certainly keep on that story and not let them get by with it. Let's talk...

GROVES: That's our Hope, miles. That's our hope, Miles, that you will not let them by with this.

M. O'BRIEN: We won't. Now lightning as the source cause. You and some others have been reluctant to accept that as the cause of this. What is the concern about accepting lightning as what triggered all of this?

GROVES: We want to make for sure that there's no other alternative that could have caused it. We want to eliminate all the other processes. And the reason why is if there's something else that caused it other than lightning, we need to be able to prevent it happening, we need to be able to make for sure that there's nothing else there. And if it was lightning, so be it. But if not, then we need to find out what caused it to try to make for sure that it doesn't happen again.

M. O'BRIEN: Is the concern that if they blame lightning it might paper over some safety issues, which might have been in existence in the mine at the time?

GROVES: If it was lightning, I don't think that we're going to allow them to be able to, as you said, paper over, because we're going to be there to make for sure that the other -- there's other ways to prevent this from happening. And Mr. Hatfield told us yesterday there was ways to prevent it from happening, and that's what we're going to rely on is prevention. And you know, if it was lightning, then there's no way to prevent it, but there's other ways to prevent the methane from building up back there. Mr. Hatfield does it in his other mines out west, so maybe we need to address that and get it done in all the mines.

M. O'BRIEN: John Groves, thank you very much for being with us. And we will stay on top of this one. We appreciate it.

GROVES: Miles, we thank you so much. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Take care. Good luck.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Andy's "Minding Your Business" just ahead. you got?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Soledad, I'm going to explain to you why I'll be flying to Omaha later this afternoon. And no, it's not about the beef, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay tuned.

M. O'BRIEN: Where's the beef, Andy?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Gauging gas this morning. Live pictures, 4.13 is what's being charged.

M. O'BRIEN: Ouch.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.

M. O'BRIEN: That's the national average.

S. O'BRIEN: No. It's so not the national average.

SERWER: One gas station in Brooklyn, right? S. O'BRIEN: That is Full Serve regular gas, one gas station in Brooklyn, New York. And here's the good thing, I guess, for him, kind of the sad thing, though, is that he is the only game in town, so he says people are forced to pay these prices. He lowered the prices around 6:00 this morning by a penny.

M. O'BRIEN: What a guy! What a guy.

S. O'BRIEN: CNN gas gauge, national average $2.92 a gallon for regular unleaded. A month ago, $2.59. Last year, $2.21.

(MARKET REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get a short break. We're be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: It's going to take a lot to rebuild the city of New Orleans. Along with all the volunteers down there is U2's number two, the guy they call The Edge.

CNN's Sean Callebs had an opportunity to sit down with him, and it is an interview you will see only here on CNN.

And Sean, where's your guitar?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: It's at home. It's at home. That's a great place for it this time in the day. We're on stage here at the House of Blues, one of the many venues here in this city for musicians. But, you know, so many got displaced, so many lost instruments in and after the storm. And arguably, the one person who has done more to help those people than anyone else, U2's guitarist.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THE EDGE, U2 GUITARIST: No. I thought I was watching shots from Sierra Leone or Rwanda. It was just...

CALLEBS (voice-over): Like millions of others, U2's guitarist, The Edge, watched the drama unfold after Katrina. He was in Toronto, getting ready for the second leg of the group's tour.

THE EDGE: It was just unbelievable to think that this was continental American United States. So that was the first real shock for me. Quickly, my thoughts turned to my world, the music world.

CALLEBS: Celebrity has its rewards, and The Edge has thrown his considerable clout behind a charitable effort called Music Rising, to help musicians in the Gulf area.

THE EDGE: I really feel strongly that anyone who earns their living from rock n' roll ultimately has a stake in this city and this region, because this is where it all started.

CALLEBS: Jazz, blues, and the roots of rock n' roll can be traced to here, New Orleans. The Edge says that music has not only been missing since the storm, but is endangered. This is what happened to many instruments. Guitars, basses, violins, harps -- all but ruined. So far, Music Rising has helped 1,400 musicians with equipment, money for rent, food and medicine.

THE EDGE: We're now taking in a wider vision, which is to include the churches, the community centers.

CALLEBS: And that, he says, is because music permeates every corner of the culture here. The Edge reminds me that Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino and Pete Fountain were all from here, and others could follow.

THE EDGE: There's this young horn player, Trombone Shorty, Troy Andrews. He is one of the most talented musicians I've ever seen.

CALLEBS: Andrews is a skinny kid with a load of talent. He says music is vital to New Orleans' recovery.

TROY ANDREWS, NEW ORLEANS MUSICIAN: The music of New Orleans is one of the heartbeats of the city that makes it what it is, and I think it's very important that the musicians come back and try to keep it alive.

CALLEBS: Bob Ezrin is a music producer whose resumes includes bands like Kiss and Pink Floyd. He's collaborating with The Edge on music rising.

BOB EZRIN, MUSIC PRODUCER: He has a tremendous profile and, with that, an ability to move mountains.

CALLEBS: But in this case, the Edge just wants to help rebuild a city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And Trombone Shorty, the young man we profiled in that piece a bit, is going to be here on the House of Blues tonight. And guys, you may have noticed that guitar The Edge was playing at the end, it's a custom made Gibson, only 300 of them made. They're being sold and all the money goes to benefit the artists here in this area. And simply by getting a sharpie, scrawling his name on that guitar, it goes from about $3,000 to way above $10,000. So a lot of money raised -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: It's just like when your head shots, Sean. They just go up like that. The Edge, we've been talking about it all morning. How did he get that name?

CALLEBS: Well he got it, as near as I can tell, back in high school. It has nothing to do with the music. Apparently he had very kind of rigid features and it came out of that. He's also very thoughtful, thought-provoking guy, on the edge of thinking, as well. And I ask him at the end of the interview -- now when we font you, is it The Edge or Edge? And he said, for formal occasions, it's The Edge. But when it's just his buddies, Edge. M. O'BRIEN: Not Mr. Edge?

CALLEBS: Not Mr. Edge.

M. O'BRIEN: No, you don't do Mr. Edge. All right. Sean Callebs, who's on the edge of the stage there. Thank you very much for that excellent interview. Stay where you are. We don't want to get hurt here. Thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up in just a moment, top stories, including Congressman Patrick Kennedy's Capitol Hill car accident.

A shakeup in British Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet.

And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's response to hecklers upset about Iraq.

Tearful families pleading for answers at the Sago Mine hearings.

And she's got the right stuff. We'll tell you a story about that coming up in just a moment. This is a woman who's helping NASA. We'll tell you how, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash on Capitol Hill. Congressman Patrick Kennedy crashed his car. He blames prescription drugs, not alcohol. But did he get special treatment from the cops? That story, coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell the families what murdered our men? Nobody wants to respond to that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Apparently nobody does want to respond to that and the families of the Sago Mine victims are angry. They say they want answers.

M. O'BRIEN: A king-sized commitment to the final frontier. We'll talk with an intrepid explorer who is pushing the envelope by lying around in bed, now day 75.

And dog training gone awry. Television's dog whisperer is sued. A celebrity claims his pooch was seriously injured.

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