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Utah Mine Press Briefing; Who Is Bob Murray?
Aired August 08, 2007 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello again, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed. I'm Tony Harris.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Heidi Collins on assignment. Normally we'd bring you "YOUR WORLD TODAY" at this time, but instead an extended edition of the CNN NEWSROOM. Live events this hour, here's what's on the rundown this August 8th.
A search for trapped miners on hold in Utah. We're standing by live for a briefing expected to happen any moment now. What happens next?
HARRIS: President Bush focusing on money matters this hour. He updates the American people on the state of the economy. See it live in the NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: The Utah mine rescue on hold. President Bush weighs in and company officials speak out this hour. CNN's Dan Simon following the developments near Huntington.
And Dan, this press conference to take place any moment now?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it looks like it's going to be delayed a bit. We are sold that Bob Murray, if you've been following this story, you're well aware of this guy's name now, Bob Murray, the president of the mining company, we're told he is meeting with relatives of the miners in the town of Huntington, which is about 20 minutes away from here, presumably the news conference won't begin until he gets here.
But let me give you a sense in terms of the kinds of things that we're expected to hear today. We want to find out in terms of how things are going here on the ground. We know that the search was halted yesterday, in Mr. Murray's words, because of some seismic activity. Obviously there's some dispute about whether or not an earthquake caused the collapse. The scientists we've talked to seem to think that the seismic activity that was registered was the result of the cave-in.
But nonetheless, that's one of the things we want to be hearing from Mr. Murray about, when this press conference gets under way. Also, this drilling rig that was brought in from a helicopter yesterday, it needs to go 1,500 feet below surface into the coal mine. The goal is to get a two-inch hole so rescuers can take a look inside, perhaps hear inside to see if, in fact the miners are still alive. We want to try to get a sense in terms of what kind of progress is being made with that drilling rig. Again, this news conference going to get under way shortly. We're just waiting for Mr. Murray to arrive -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Simon, thanks so much.
HARRIS: Life in the coal mines and the ever-present risk of death. Earlier in CNN's NEWSROOM, we spoke with a miner that knows two of the men trapped in the Utah mine.
Here is the interview Robert Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Robby, I know this is a difficult time for you. Not only do you have a distant cousin in that Crandall Canyon Mine, but you also have a good friend in that mine as well. Give me a sense -- take me back to when you learned of the collapse and what it has been like for you. I can imagine just a roller coaster of emotions.
ROBERT ROBERTSON, COUSIN OF TRAPPED MINER: Well, when you first hear of a mine accident, no matter where it is or who it is, all you can hope for is everybody is OK. I talked to my mother. She told me a couple of people who it was that she knew. It was pretty tough.
HARRIS: I understand a distant cousin. But before I get to some questions about your cousin, this is a mine that you know pretty well. Did you work in that mine at one point?
ROBERTSON: Yes. I worked there for a little while. I quit there in 2004.
HARRIS: Do you know the area that we're discussing? Did you work at the depth that these miners were working at, at the time of this collapse? We understand they're about 1,500 feet down now.
ROBERTSON: I have been out in there, yes. It was all developed while I was there -- not while I was there, but previous to when I was there. And we actually went back in there a little bit. Not a lot.
HARRIS: So you've walked and worked this area where it is believed these miners are.
ROBERTSON: Yes.
HARRIS: OK. So put us in that environment and what are you thinking now might be the conditions that they're having to try to survive in, having walked those grounds? And what you know about the details of this event that took place that now has them trapped?
ROBERTSON: Like I said, I was there about three-and-a-half years ago, you know. Back then, it was -- there were good conditions in there. I didn't, you know, notice any problems. Everything changes underground. I mean, overnight. So, you know, you never know what the conditions are in there. Only the people in there know what the conditions are.
HARRIS: You consider this a safe mine, a safe mining operation?
ROBERTSON: Yes. The people who run it, the management that's there every day with these miners, are safe people. They are smart people. They know what's going on. And they ain't going to let you go in there if it's unsafe.
HARRIS: What do you think about the prospects -- a tough question, but I have to ask it. What do you think about the prospects that your cousin and your friend are OK? And what are your thoughts about the fact that it will probably take at least a week to reach them?
ROBERTSON: I think they are -- I think they're alive. You know, I'm sure there are some injuries that way. It's going to take a while to get to them. There's no doubt about that. But everybody is doing everything they can. There's no more the people can do. You can't send rescue teams in to a dangerous environment and lose more people.
HARRIS: OK. This is your work. How long you would expect that the miners would be able to survive these conditions? And I know there are a lot of unknowns here. But as we get to three days, four days, what are you thinking?
ROBERTSON: They're tough people. They ain't going to give up. They'll go as long as they can. You know, it's hard to say. You don't know the conditions in there. You don't know what they're going through. You don't know all the details. But I think they're fine and I think they'll be OK for -- until we get to them.
HARRIS: So it has to be more than hope for you. I mean, give us a sense of the kind of equipment that your cousin and your friend and the other miners who are trapped there might have with them that would help them sustain themselves during the rescue effort.
ROBERTSON: They've got self-rescuers. They have to carry two with them. They each will last an hour, which, obviously, it has been a lot longer than that. But if they've got the air, they'll be OK. They won't have to use them right away. They've got barricade equipment. That's pretty much all -- I mean, they got water in there, I'm sure. They got what food they took. I don't know how long it will last. But they've got the equipment they need to stay alive.
HARRIS: And you're optimistic? You believe they can hold on as long as it takes?
ROBERTSON: I believe they can. You know, if they've got the air.
HARRIS: OK.
ROBERTSON: But I believe they probably do.
HARRIS: Robby Robertson, a miner himself, has a cousin and a good friend trapped in the Crandall Canyon Mine. Robby, thanks for your time this morning.
ROBERTSON: You bet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Let's talk weather. We know that it has been really hot in some parts, and really wet in others. Let's talk first about the wet stuff. Flight delays being caused as a result of flooded rail and subway lines, and right now, parts of New York and New Jersey dealing with the aftermath of torrential rain and strong storms. Some areas were under tornado and flood warnings. But severe weather caught many New Yorkers off guard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was sleeping, my car alarm was going off and it notified me through my key chain when I came out to see what was going on, I saw a mass of just leaves turning, and it was just dark, like a dark mass and I was afraid, and I saw the tree come down. I ran back inside. And you can hear the wind, it sounded like a freight train coming through at full speed. It was like whoom! And I was just like, I would never think this would happen here in New York, in Brooklyn at that, you know? Kansas maybe, but not here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: (INAUDIBLE) trying to clean up after those storms and the trees that were knocked over in New York, if you're trying to clean up today, be careful, a killer heat wave gripping several states. Temperatures from the Plains to the East Coast are heading toward the century mark again today. Right now, at least three deaths are blamed on the heat. Two of them in Arkansas, one in Oklahoma, and if you live in this wide area that we're deeming the danger zone, officials say the best thing to do is to stay indoors. You may be there for a while, though, in parts of the South and Midwest, it may be days before there is any relief -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And it is some severe stuff all across the board.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Well, new developments on a shocking crime. Three college students killed execution-style in Newark, New Jersey. Now law enforcement officials saying just a short time ago that they've identified one suspect in the case. They're working to apprehend that person. The mayor and police chief likely to be questioned about this, when they hold a press conference on a separate crime later on this hour.
Nineteen-year-old Natasha Aeriel is the only survivor of the attack. The mayor's offices says she is still in the hospital but her condition is improving. She has been telling investigators what she knows. Police also analyzing gang graffiti at the school. Funerals for the three victims are planned for this Saturday. Newark's mayor calls the young people his city's "success stories." Police and prosecutors are still urging anyone with information about this case to share it with them.
HARRIS: And once again, we are waiting for a press conference to begin. Let's show everyone that location there in Emery County, Utah. We're expecting to hear from Bob Murray of Murray Energy. That is the company operating the Crandall Canyon Mine, the site of that collapse. Six miners trapped right now. We're also expected to hear from Utah's governor, Jon Huntsman and also some officials from the Mine Safety and Health Administration as well. When that news conference gets under way, we'll of course bring it to you right here in the NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: And later on in the NEWSROOM, lots of folks have described him a few different ways, feisty, combative, among a few terms being used. You met this mining executive yesterday in the NEWSROOM. Well, he's going to have another presser, as Tony explained, but we'll also bring you a closer look at who Bob Murray is.
HARRIS: The Minneapolis bridge collapse, newly-released traffic cam tape shows a different angle of the disaster. We'll show it to you in the NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: And Barry Bonds smacks another one, becoming the new home run king. The best part of breaking the record? Well, we'll hear what Bonds has to say about all that in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: You see right here, in this live picture, everything is in place for a press conference to be conducted by the mining owner, Bob Murray. Yesterday you saw his press conference updating about the search efforts. Well, today, we understand that the search efforts are being suspended by about a week as they continue to try to get to the six trapped miners. Well, this press conference will be taking place momentarily with Bob Murray, and we will take that live.
HARRIS: The Utah mine rescue and the businessman overseeing those efforts. He is a giant in the industry. So who is Bob Murray?
CNN's Alina Cho takes a look.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right. Some have called him outspoken, some have called him flamboyant, Kiran. You know, Bob Murray has a lot at stake here and he is well aware of it. His company, Murray Energy, is one of the largest mine operators in the country. He likes to be called "Honest Bob," and as many of you saw yesterday, Murray is not afraid to speak his mind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Bob Murray is often called the king of coal. At a news conference Tuesday, when everyone wanted information about the fate of six trapped miners, Murray began by talking business.
BOB MURRAY, PRES. & CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: We produce a product that is essential to the standard of living of every American.
CHO: His company, Murray Energy, owns and operates the Utah mine that collapsed early Monday.
MURRAY: Let me tell you something else! This is the first major accident I've ever had in one of my coal mines!
CHO: Not true. In 1997 one miner died following an accident at the very same mine. Since 2004, the Labor Department has cited his Utah mine 324 times, 107 of the violations serious. But relative to similar mines, the government says the company has a better than average safety record.
Still, Murray Energy's citations were the subject of recent criticism on Capitol Hill.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALFORNIA: ... hear about you and the -- have the biggest fines against you of any other miner in Ohio.
MURRAY: Madam Chairman, I'm going to respond to that. You are flat out wrong.
CHO: The outspoken CEO has also argued for less government regulation, even though many scientists say coal emissions cause global warming. Murray calls it "global goofiness" and says energy saving measures will bankrupt the blue collar workforce.
MURRAY: Every bill that has been introduced to address it is going to destroy manufacturing jobs in America.
CHO: He is even more clear on what he believes caused this most recent accident.
MURRAY: It was a natural disaster! An earthquake!
CHO: Some seismologists beg to differ, saying the collapse simply registered as an earthquake. Either way, the fate of six miners hangs in the balance and Murray appears matter-of-fact about their chances.
MURRAY: I don't know whether these miners are alive or dead. Only the lord knows that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Murray himself once worked as a coal miner.
WHITFIELD: Remembering victims of the Minnesota bridge collapse, as the sun rose, flags were flying at half staff at the capital. The governor asking people across the state to do the same. Last night in Minneapolis, crowds observed a moment of silence at 6:05, that's the exact time the 35 West Bridge fell into the river a week ago today. Church bells also rang.
Newly-released, another dramatic video of moments after the collapse. Look at that, it shows some drivers actually trying to get off the bridge, making U-turns as the rising cloud of dust was apparent. Eight people are still missing. Navy divers are using sophisticated sonar to scan the wreckage in the Mississippi River. And you're looking at new images that we just got from FEMA. City, state and federal officials are now talking about a new bridge that would be wider and they hope it would be open by the end of next year.
HARRIS: And once again -- you know, maybe I should set it up this way. We are standing by obviously waiting for the press conference where we'll get an update on the efforts to rescue the trapped miners, an effort that has been delayed now, because the area still so unstable, but if you were with us yesterday, you know that Bob Murray had scheduled this news conference -- the first news conference at 9:30 and it was 90 minutes later before it actually began, so this could take awhile.
It was scheduled for noon. And we're still waiting. But once it begins there in Emery County, Utah, we will, of course, bring it to you right here in the NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: Also ahead, good rule of thumb when you are robbing a store, do not put your gun on the counter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAFIZ ALAM, STORE CLERK: I grabbed the gun, and I grabbed the gun and I put him back. I said "don't (expletive deleted) move."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh but wait, there's more. The confounded crook comes back, but with what? We'll tell you why, and what.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In Albany, New York, a robber puts down his gun, so who picked it up? Here's Kristin Lowman of our affiliate WXXA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIN LOWMAN, WXXA REPORTER (voice-over): 5:20 a.m., store clerk Hafiz Alam is behind the counter when a man walks in the door.
ALAM: Somebody said, give me all the money. I see the big gun, and I said, OK. You want money, I'll give you money. Hold on one second, take it easy.
LOWMAN: Alam opens the register and hands the man the money. But while putting the cash away, the robber makes a mistake. He puts the gun on the counter and Alam makes his move.
ALAM: I grabbed the gun and I grabbed the gun and I put him back. I said, don't (expletive deleted) move.
LOWMAN: The robber then runs out the door. Alam calls for help but the robber comes back. The two go off screen and struggle. One gunshot goes off during the fight. The robber does make off with the gun and the money, but outside the store a city worker spots the man's license plate number, that's how police trace it back to this home at 71 Westerlow (ph) and catch up with their suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two one. Freeze, police!
LOWMAN: Streets were shut down and people were evacuated during the attempt to get the man to come out of the house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw the cops around, you know, more than 50 to 75 of them. They were dressed in their fatigues.
DET. JIM MILLER, ALBANY, NEW YORK, POLICE: They tried to make contact with him, they also tried to ascertain that there was nobody else inside no, no other weapons inside.
LOWMAN: When there was no answer, teargas went in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were some shots, about five to six shots, heavy bombs.
LOWMAN: Soon the suspect came out and was taken into custody. Police say he will face charges in the robbery. The man he robbed, meanwhile, is ready to get back to work.
(on camera): So will you be back tonight or do you have a couple of days off?
ALAM: No, I'm going to be back tonight, yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Gun or no gun.
HARRIS: Wow.
WHITFIELD: An update now. Alam did go back to work. And the suspect, Justin Walker (ph), has been charged with robbery. A not guilty plea entered this morning. He faces a preliminary hearing on Monday.
HARRIS: Barry Bonds all-time home run king. America, get used to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Bacsik deals. And Bonds hits one hard! Hits it deep! It is out of here!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: I can't even -- who served it up? I don't know the name of the pitcher who served it up. Bonds hit career home run number 756, because the pitcher, he goes in the record books as well.
Well, he passed Hank Aaron's 31-year-old mark last night. It took just two days to break the tie with "Hammerin'" Hank. After the game Bonds talked about the record, Commissioner Bud Selig, Bud, and what he was thinking as he rounded the bases. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARRY BONDS, GIANTS OUTFIELDER: My mom called me up, and she told me how proud she was of me, and she was just glad she got to live to see me just tie the record, and I think that's what I was thinking about. Because I know what my dad would have said, you know, truthfully my dad probably would have said something like, what the hell took you so long?
This record is not tainted at all, at all, period. But you guys can say whatever you want. Bud Selig called me after the game and we had an opportunity to talk. He congratulated me. I was very happy about that. I thanked him. He told me it was a great accomplishment, you've endured a lot and I have a lot of respect for you. And I also have a lot of respect for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So a message played in the ballpark from now former home run king Hank Aaron. Bonds said that message meant everything to him and was the best part of the moment.
WHITFIELD: Well, you know how earlier you said, get used to it?
HARRIS: Yes!
WHITFIELD: Well, apparently some folks who are e-mailing their message, they are saying the same thing.
HARRIS: Good!
WHITFIELD: This from Leonard Johnson out of Tokyo writes: "First and foremost, congratulations to Barry. America, get over it. Barry Bonds is the new home run king. Just accept it."
HARRIS: How about this, accept it, Bob Costas.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: And Mike from Ocean Pines, Maryland, writes: "Dear MLB," dear Major League Baseball, "Barry has the record, period. He did it under your rules and enforcement of them. If you had cracked down when you became aware of the problem, would Bonds be there today? No way to know.:
WHITFIELD: Mm-hmm. Kelly Lake says: "Barry Bonds is a cheater, period, no matter what he says. It's just too bad he hit his 756th in his home stadium where they cheer for a cheater. The man that caught the ball should have written 'cheater' on it and thrown it back on the field." Ow! Kelly!
HARRIS: And Pat writes: "How about changing Bonds' title from 'home run king' to 'home 'roid king'?"
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.
HARRIS: Hot, hot e-mails.
WHITFIELD: Gosh.
HARRIS: All morning long and now into the afternoon in the East Coast in the NEWSROOM. And maybe there will be a little bit of time for some more of your e-mails. But thank you for what you've written. So far it has been a lot of fun.
WHITFIELD: Brutally honest I'd say.
HARRIS: Yes. And now to switch topics to something far more serious, we're waiting for the latest information on the rescue efforts to save the six trapped miners in Huntington, Utah. We're expecting a news conference any moment. When it happens we'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. But first a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK, bottom of the hour. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
The Utah mine rescue, President Bush is offering prayers and federal money, but rescue efforts are now on hold. Mine operators say dangerous conditions brought the search to a standstill. That means crews are at least a week away from reaching the trapped miners.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MURRAY, PRES., CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: All the work that we have done since yesterday morning, and you being here with me, was wiped out by this seismic and tectonic activity underground. We are back to square one underground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And Murray is due to hold a news conference this hour. You're looking at the live shot right there. When it gets under way we'll bring it to you live.
HARRIS: Searchers in Utah hoping to make contact with the six miners trapped underground. CNN's Gary Tuchman has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The boss of the six trapped miners, speaking with the cadence of a preacher, and delivering words suited to a preacher.
BOB MURRAY, PRES., CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: I don't know whether these miners are alive or dead, only the Lord knows that.
TUCHMAN: Of course, if they're alive, the miners know that, too, but would have no way of letting the rest of the world know, because of the tons of rock between them and rescuers. MURRAY: They are 1,500 feet underground. They are 2,000 feet from the closest access to them.
TUCHMAN: And rescuers have not gotten that much closer since this all began. According to Murray, who owns mines in five states.
(On camera): In your opinion, do you think these guys are still alive?
MIKE GARCIA, FMR. MINER: Yeah. I really do.
TUCHMAN: Mike Garcia used to work in the same non-union mine, and has been in the exact same part of the mine where the six trapped men are now believed to be. He says not only should they have plenty of oxygen and water but he believes they have a good deal of food with them, too.
GARCIA: Everybody goes down there, they pack a big lunch box. They got a big, big lunchbox and they're always packed with just sweets, you know, extra food. Because sometimes if one of the guys from another crew don't show up, we can work extra hours, you know. And that's why we always pack a big lunch.
TUCHMAN: The Crandall Canyon Mine has received more than 300 safety citations since 2004, including one recently for not adequately providing at least two exit routes in the mine. But in this risky industry, government figures indicate those numbers are relatively low compared to other similar mines.
Garcia is now on long-term disability, after he says a high voltage cable struck him while he was in the mine.
GARCIA: It hit me right in the back of the neck and knocked me down on top of a toolbox and I got L4 and L5 discs in my back messed up.
TUCHMAN: He's also had arguments with lower level mine managers. Nevertheless, he believes Crandall Canyon is a safe place to work.
GARCIA: We had safety meetings. And they asked us in the safety meetings if there's anything that we could think of that'd make anything safer for the workers, you know? They didn't have a problem with us speaking out. They'd ask us.
TUCHMAN: The mine owner, during a rambling preamble to his morning news conference, criticized some of the news coverage of the story. This past June we a testy exchange on Capitol Hill, during a hearing on power plants and global warming, before a Senate committee.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D) CALIFORNIA: We read here in "The Columbus Dispatch", of Ohio, you own the two largest mines which recorded injury rates about a fourth higher than the national average. So you know, let's not have a double standard about how much you care about people, and that's all I'll say on the point, but --
MURRAY: Madam Chairman, I'm going to respond to that. You are flat out wrong.
BOXER: Fine. Fine.
MURRAY: That information came from your friends at the United Mine Workers, and the unions. It is not fair. Today, my safety record at my coal mines -- and I take it to bed with me every night -- and I resent you bringing this in.
TUCHMAN: And he continues to defend his safety record, saying he's sure an earthquake caused the collapse. Whether that's true or whether the collapse caused a seismic reading, still has not been determined.
MURRAY: We are focused at remaining at the Crandall Canyon site until these miners are recovered, dead or alive.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Emery County, Utah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Hard to believe now, it was one week ago today, when, during the height of rush hour, people were driving along the 35W there in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when it simply gave way. The bridge just collapsed right into the Mississippi River. You're looking at new images that we're just now getting from FEMA, as they also gave instructions to people who own some of these vehicles that you're looking at right there.
Many of which have obviously had to be abandoned there at that disaster site. Now, folks have gotten instructions on how to retrieve some of their personal belongings, now one week after this disaster there in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
HARRIS: Fire lines holding for now, despite heat and wind in northwestern Montana. The blaze, one of several across the state, officials say could burn until conditions change in the fall. It is threatening 1,500 homes around the tourist town of Seeley Lake. A number of people evacuated.
WHITFIELD: Bridge safety, the Minneapolis tragedy raising new urgency for bridge repairs. Will the money to pay for it come out of your pocket?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Live pictures now out of Utah, we're awaiting a press conference. It will be led by the mining company owner, Bob Murray. We understand that the recovery rescue efforts are going to be suspended about a week, because of continued seismic activity. That's what Mr. Murray is saying. He's going to elaborate during the press conference, when it happens momentarily.
HARRIS: Road closed, not because of construction, but road rage. Some California motorists are so mad, you can believe this, Fred, they're actually attacking highway workers. More now from CNN's Chris Lawrence. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice over): You're rushing to work, or back home from the office. There it is. Construction! Blocking your way! Holding you up! Some commuters are so angry they're attacking the construction crews.
ROBERT BARTLETT, HIGHWAY 138 FLAGMAN: I've actually had somebody throw a socket at me. And actually hit my car.
LAWRENCE: You think that's bad? One worker was pelted with a burrito and this woman was shot with a BB gun!
MICHELLE HULTQUIST, HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION WORKER: I have no idea what is wrong with people. I have no idea. There was nothing I did to aggravate it.
LAWRENCE: Just her job. Michelle Hultquist is a flagger, directing traffic along a California highway partially closed for repairs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a couple of cars here waiting.
LAWRENCE: Highway 138 connects two areas outside Los Angeles, where the population has exploded, so have some drivers.
BARTLETT: Well, I've been called names I never even knew existed.
LAWRENCE: This highway had nearly 3,000 collisions in the years leading up to construction. The project was designed to make it safer. It didn't account for road rage.
JEFF PEREZ, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: Gentleman came up to the closure and disobeyed the flagman at the entrance, and ended up running over one of the workers on scene.
LAWRENCE: It got so bad, state officials said forget it. No more open lanes, no more escorts through construction.
HULTQUIST: They want to get through real bad, so we had to close the road down just because of the road rage.
LAWRENCE: So now commuters have to drive another half hour around the construction.
WAYNE MCKORKINDALE, MOTORIST: Totally sucks right now! I have to go through a long detour, I guess.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: That was Chris Lawrence reporting. Yikes! No more incidents have been reported since the highway was shut down. The contractor hopes to finish construction next month.
WHITFIELD: Baghdad's Sadr City, the scene of some intense action today. The military says a U.S.-led raid and air strike killed about 30 suspected insurgents. The military says the operation targeted militants accused of smuggling weapons and fighters from Iran. Casualty figures from Iraq's interior ministry differ. It says at least 11 people died. Meantime, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has arrived in Tehran. He is there for security talks.
HARRIS: The search for good federal agents, the FBI now making a change in its recruitment policies. CNN's Brian Todd takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They no longer have to fit J. Edgar Hoover's ideal of the straight-laced G-man with the pristine past. The FBI now relaxing its standards for past drug use among potential recruits.
JEFFREY BERKIN, FBI DEPUTY ASST. DIRECTOR: We came to realize that, for one thing, our standards were a little bit out of step with the rest of the intelligence community, and with most law enforcement organizations.
TODD: Under the old rules, FBI applicants could have used marijuana no more than 15 times in their lives, five times for harder drugs. Now the number of times isn't considered, but they still have to swear they haven't smoked pot in the past three years, or done harder drugs in the past 10. With the number of drug usages wiped out, is the bureau opening itself up to people who might have had addictions, even long ago?
BERKIN: A person who has a history of actual addiction is not going to meet our standards. The way we're looking at our drug policy is to permit the experimental use of drugs at a time when a person may have been less mature, less experienced, and still now have -- be a different person.
TODD: FBI officials won't say if they've lost good candidates because of a more rigid drug policy, just that it's always been a challenge to get the best agents. But a former FBI agent says this about the bureau's competition.
GEORGE BAURIES, FMR. FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Other agencies such as the CIA, NSA, DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, Secret Service -- all these agencies have progressed with very good programs, the career track, sometimes in the state police or local police agency with often just as good, and sometimes better benefits, makes it very competitive.
TODD: Even relaxed, the FBI's standard of no drug use within at least three years, is still tough, compared to other agencies.
(On camera): Agencies like the CIA, which tells its potential recruits, no drug use over the past 12 months. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: And momentarily we're going to hear from President Bush. Here's the vice president stepping in, right there. The president will be stepping in momentarily to talk about the economy, the U.S. economy, as well as making some comments about the Utah mining disaster. Kathleen Koch is at the White House.
What is the expectation, Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, as you mentioned, first of all, the president will, at the top of his remarks, talk about the desperate search under way in Utah for the six miners. He called Utah's Governor John Huntsman this morning and offered him federal help.
We'll go to the president.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This morning I spoke with the Governor Huntsman of Utah. He gave me the update on the efforts to rescue the trapped miners. I told him our nation's thoughts and prayers are with the miners and their families. And that the federal government will help in any way we can.
Just finished a productive meeting with the members of my economic team. We discussed our thriving economy, and what we need to do to keep it that way. We care a lot about whether our fellow citizens are working, whether or not they've got money in their pockets to save, spend, or invest, as they see fit.
We talked about America's role in the global economy. My administration follows a simple philosophy, our economy prospers when we trust the American people with their own paychecks. When I came to office in 2001, our nation was headed toward a recession, and so we acted. We acted on the philosophy I just described, and we cut the taxes across the board. And the American people have used this money to fuel an economic resurgence.
Since 2003, our economy's added more than 8.3 million new jobs in almost four years of uninterrupted growth. Our economy continues to grow at a steady pace and during the most recent quarter, it grew at an annual rate of 3.4 percent. Unemployment's low. Real after-tax income is increased by an average of more than $3,400 per person since I took office.
Tax cuts let Americans keep their own money. It stimulates entrepreneurship. And we have a debate here in Washington over tax cuts. Democrats in Congress want to increase taxes. And turn them into additional government programs, and I strongly oppose that approach. We want the people to keep more of their own money, because we understand that the American economy, entrepreneurs, and small business owners are the ones who create jobs.
The genius of our free market economy is that it grows from the bottom up, through the college student who starts up a business in a parents' garage or stay-at-home mom who works out of a home office, or the small business owner who dreams of growing his or her enterprise in a big business. The entrepreneurial spirit has helped our economy keep pace with new technologies and America is the leader in innovation.
Twelve years ago, eBay did not exist. Today, eBay is a global business that reported nearly $6 billion in net revenues last year. Hundreds of thousands of Americans now make part of their living by selling products on that website. eBay is an entrepreneurial success story that has helped thousands of Americans become entrepreneurs themselves.
Recently in Nashville, I met a woman who runs a bun company. She cooks bread. Her name was Cordelia Harrington. She carved out a foothold in the industry, and has built five small businesses. Her businesses employ 260 people. She makes a good product. My point is, this is the enterprising spirit that we must support and encourage here in Washington, D.C.
I appreciate the fact that Hank Paulison agreed to join my administration, after a long career as one of the world's most successful investment bankers. Here's how he puts it. He said, "This is far and away the strongest global economy I've seen in my business lifetime." In other words, not only is our economy strong, but so is the economies around the world.
You know, when you grow your economy, and it's good news for the treasury, and good news for the deficit, when people earn money, tax revenues go up. This year, tax revenues are expected to be $167 billion higher than last year's. It's because the economy is growing.
Growing tax revenues, combined with spending restraint has helped us drive down the federal deficit, and we're able to do so without raising the taxes on the people who work, or without raising taxes on small business owners, or farmers. The estimates show the deficit would drop to $205 billion this year. That is well below the average of the past 40 years, as a percentage of our economy.
Earlier this year, I proposed a budget that will completely eliminate the federal deficit within the next five years and produce surplus by 2012. We can achieve this, but it's going to require spending restraint. And it's going to require keeping taxes low to keep this economy growing.
Listen (ph), not everybody agrees with this approach. There's been a heated debate so far in Congress and I suspect there will be a lot of heat when they come back. Because Democrats in Congress have got a significant appetite for more federal spending. They passed a budget resolution that includes an extra $205 billion in discretionary spending over the next five years that averages out to about $112 million per day, $4.7 million per hour, $78,000 per minute.
Put another way, that's about $1,003 in higher spending every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day, of every year, for the next five years. Now, somebody's going to have to pay for it. And that of course will be the hard working American people will have to pay for that excessive spending.
The majority in Congress gets its way, American families and small businesses will face a massive tax hike. It would amount to the largest tax increase in American history. Now, look, I recognize the Democrats control the Congress, and with it, the power of the purse. I also have some power and it's called the veto. And I have the votes in Congress to sustain vetoes. And therefore, I will use the veto to keep your taxes low, to keep federal spending under control.
When members of Congress return from their August recess they'll have less than a month to pass the 12 spending bills needed to keep the federal government running before the end of the fiscal year of September 30th. They need to pass these spending bills, one at a time, before the deadline. In the time of war, I asked them to start by sending me the spending bill for the Department of Defense, so I can sign that into law.
There's some long-term challenges to our economy and we need to work together to address those challenges. One way to address the challenge is to continue opening up markets for America's goods and services. And the best way to do that is to expand free trade. We negotiated new free trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and Korea, and now the Congress needs to carry out its responsibilities, and approve these agreements.
We're going to work hard to conclude the Doha round of trade negotiations, all aiming to open up new opportunities for U.S. producers in aiming to fulfill a great calling, that is to help to eliminate poverty around the world.
We need to reform our health care system by making private health insurance more affordable and available. We need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by promoting alternative fuels. We need to confront front the rising cost of entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. I look forward to working with Republicans and Democrats to come up with sensible solutions to solve these problems, so that we could say we solved the problems and not pass them on to future generations.
I'm an optimistic person, particularly when it comes to the ability of Americans to create and dream and work hard. I'll be less optimistic if congress has its way and raises taxes on the American people. That's why we're going to work hard not to let them do so. We'll keep good policies in place. We want this to be the land of dreamers and doers.
I love the stories of the small business owner in Nashville, or the idea that eBay didn't exist 12 years ago, and now, it's a booming, thriving enterprise. The purpose of a government is to make it more possible for people to realize dreams, and to enhance the entrepreneurial spirit, that has been the policies of this administration and it will continue to be the policies of this administration.
(END LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)
HARRIS: OK, and there you have the president making comments, wrapping those up on the economy, perfect timing and also at the beginning of his remarks, making some comments about the ongoing rescue efforts in Utah, segues us perfectly to Bob Murray right now in Utah.
(BEGIN LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)
BOB MURRAY, PRES., CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: ... the welfare of the families, in that regard, I'm late in starting this press conference, because I took extra time with the families this morning, and I hope you understand that. That is where we have been. And I felt that they need a little bit more of us this morning, and have spent the time for them, and with them.
There are only two concerns to me, in all of this, only two. One is the welfare of those trapped miners underground, the six of them, and two, the welfare of the families in getting them through this traumatic situation as best we can. That's where I am focused.
I appreciate the many of you asking about how I'm doing this morning. I'm losing my voice. I did get a little rest last night. And I will be going underground today myself, as soon as the tectonic forces allow it to be safe for me to do so.
I've also invited the son of one of the trapped miners, who has four and a half years' mining experience, and is of Eastern European descent, and have also invited a brother of one of the trapped miners, who is of Hispanic descent, to join me in my trip underground.
This second individual is a member of the mine rescue team, and his mine, and he will know exactly what he's looking at, as will the miner with five years of experience. Again the one miner is the son of one of the trapped miners. The other is the brother of another. Unfortunately, they are not going to report to you, because I am going to maintain their anonymity, and protect their privacy throughout this disastrous event.
And I've asked you to understand that, and give them their privacy. And I'm going to continue, for my part, to attempt to maintain that. But the two miners, experienced miners, will be giving their report to their families, not me, at 5 o'clock this evening.
I will be there to answer questions. Otherwise, they will give the entire report. I am taking them this morning to the mountains, where we are drilling into the trapped miners, and then I will take them underground, when it's safe to do so. And they will report to their families tonight, if I'm able to get underground before the report to them, at 5:00. If not, they'll report to them tomorrow morning, at 8:30.
Remember, there are only two concerns here. The welfare of the families in getting the trapped miners out as quickly as possible.
Now, you've come here now for three days, and all I have done is tell you, this is what we're doing, and it's not going quite as fast as I want it to, and here are the efforts that we've undertaken. This morning, I'm going to give you good news. This morning, we can give you good news. And give you some progress in the report of our activities, both on the surface, and the activities of Murray Energy Corporation, and Utah American Energy, underground in the mine. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
