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Drilling To Reach Trapped Utah Miners; CNN Exclusive Tour Of The Mine As Rescue Operation Press Forward; Dow Drops after Paris Bank Closes Funds; Bush to Hold Press Conference; Tips for Runners in Their 30s, 40s, 50s
Aired August 09, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Thursday morning, It is August 9th. Here's what's on the run down.
A drill just 200 feet from six trapped Utah miners. If all goes as planned, crews could contact the men today.
HARRIS: Also, execution-style killings in Newark. Young people lined up, shot in the head. Police may issue an arrest warrant today.
COLLINS: And an angry monkey in a diaper goes wild in Madison, Wisconsin. Urban jungle in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Let's get you started this morning with a bit of breaking news. Let's take you to Hollywood, Maryland. That's in Saint Mary's County. And we understand one person has been injured after a small plane made a hard landing there in Saint Mary's county. Emergency officials say three people were on board when it landed --
Boy, look at the scene. Man, that is a tough scene.
When it landed in a field next to the airport. A woman on board the plane is being flown to a trauma center. The extent of her injuries not known but that is a difficult, difficult scene there.
Tough to imagine that anyone made it out of that scene OK, but we are at least hearing that one person is injured. That is the reporting on the story so far. A man and a child on the plane were not injured. How amazing is that?
Unclear -- it's certainly unclear from the picture the type of plane that was involved -- clearly small plane. The cause of the accident, obviously, under investigation. We'll continue to follow this story and get you some additional information.
COLLINS: Meanwhile, now, this morning, the mine rescue effort and now some progress. Crews inching closer to the collapsed shaft. First, some perspective. CNN's Gary Tuchman the only network reporter taken inside the mine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): We entered the Crandall Canyon Mine through the same tunnel the six trapped workers went through.
A three-mile journey, in a small truck, that would take about half-hour in utter darkness. We passed rescue workers in their vehicle, on the way to our ultimate destination.
BOB MURRAY, PRES., CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: Right there is where the rescue effort is going on.
TUCHMAN: This is as far as we could go. This is where the mine collapsed. The six trapped miners are believed to be tantalizing close, but with tons of coal separating them from us -- this was an unusual opportunity to see how much work rescue workers still have.
You are looking at the effort to drill into the coal and rock to rescue the six men. The machine is called a continuing mining vehicle. It has a spinning drum on the front of it, with blades. It cuts into the coal, rock, and other debris that is mixed in from the mine collapse, and then deposits it on the back of what's known as a shuttle car, which can transport 12 tons of coal at a time. The coal is sent on a conveyer belt outside the mine and the process continues over and over and over again. Far below the surface of the earth.
MURRAY: Where the damage is, we're about 2,000 feet deep.
TUCHMAN: But the process had to stop for almost two days because of seismic activity that has shaken up the mine and made it too dangerous for rescue workers. The work to get to the miners originally began in a different point of the mine.
MURRAY: We had this cleaned up 310 feet, the machinery is in there.
TUCHMAN: But another shift in the earth caused another partial collapse and the cleared area filled with coal again.
(on camera): Frankly, it's very eerie standing here, knowing that 2,000 feet behind me and maybe less are the six trapped miners. It is cold, it's dark, it's foreboding, a claustrophobic could never cut it here. There's a steady wind blowing. The ceilings are low. We're 30 minutes away from the nearest exit.
In normal time it's stressful, but right now there's tension. Nevertheless, the workers, the rescue workers, people that normally work in the mine are calm, because they have a job to do.
(Voice over): Take a look at what happens to our camera shot while we're in the mine. We hear a boom that shakes the mine and startles the workers, and especially us. The owner says it's another seismic event. One more and we evacuate.
MURRAY: Where the coal breaks away from the rib and just kind of lays there, we call that sloughage. TUCHMAN: But there are no more. We do see other damage to the mine walls cause by the initial collapse, but it's the feverish work to rescue six men, dead or alive, that stays in our minds.
MURRAY: This rubble could extend -- well, we know it goes 300 feet because we were up there, but it may go another 100 feet and stop and we can just walk up to the men, or they may be right there.
TUCHMAN: Wishful thinking, perhaps, but keeping these rescue workers going. Gary Tuchman, CNN, in the Crandall Canyon Mine, Utah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: After Gary's report now, we want to get some more information to you that we are just learning here this morning. Regarding those execution-style killings in Newark, New Jersey. We are just now learning from the affiliate there WABC that apparently police arrested a juvenile. This happened last night in connection with this horrible crime.
We are talking about it here for several days now. It happened in a Newark school yard. We know that the one surviving victim, Natasha Aerial, has actually been going through, I'm sure, painstaking questioning, and really trying very hard to remember as many details as possible.
According to these reports, she is the one that identified a potential suspect. Once again, WABC is reporting that the police have arrested a juvenile. Just last night in connection with this. I'm sure that you remember the other three who were killed, one was Aerial's brother, a 18-year-old Terrence, and then 20-year-old Deshon Harvey and 20-year-old Iofemi Hightower. They were forced to kneel against a wall and shot in the back of the head.
We'll continue to watch it for you as any other developments come in. Again, the headline here, local media in New York reporting police have arrested a juvenile in connection with this case.
HARRIS: And we're just learning, Heidi that the president will hold a news conference this morning, 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Wasn't previously scheduled, but it is now on the president's schedule. A 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time news conference.
Let's see: Iraq, economic issues, the president talking about the economy yesterday. The upcoming report on Iraq progress, with General David Petraeus likely to be items to be discussed in the news conference this morning, 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Meantime, searchers may be within hours of making contact with the trapped miners, assuming they're alive. Live now to the scene and CNN's Dan Simon.
Dan, good morning to you. What are mine officials saying this morning?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Tony.
It is quite possible we could know the fate of these miners as early as this afternoon. Let me tell you why: Bob Murray, the owner of the mining company, says that the drilling into the mountain -- and we are talking about two drills here -- he says it is progressing very well. He says at least one of them, the smaller one, could penetrate the cavity where the miners are thought to be, sometime this afternoon.
Let me tell you why that drill hole is so important. First, it will tell rescuers if, in fact, the miners are still alive. Second, it literally provides an opening to provide life-saving material, air, water, food.
Listen now to what Murray had to say a bit earlier this morning.
BOB MURRAY, PRES., CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: It is not a life threatening situation. If they are alive and we're not killed with the initial percussion of the event, we can keep them alive indefinitely through the bore holes until we're able to access them underground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: Now, there is one question mark here. Murray isn't entirely confident that that smaller drill, two and a half inch drill, will actually reach the cavity where the miners are. It might go into the wrong spot, however, as sort of a backup, there's a second drill, a larger one. He is confident that will reach the correct cavity. He says that one should go into that cavity sometime tomorrow.
Either way, Tony, we're looking at either today or tomorrow and we should know the fate of these miners.
HARRIS: Yeah. Hey, Dan, we not only need them alive, we need them alive conscious to be able to signal that they are OK, given their injuries, of course. Is part of the plan to drop some kind of a camera through one of those openings so that rescuers can take a look around?
SIMON: That's absolutely right. As soon as they have that bore hole completed, and again, we are expecting to have that smaller one completed this afternoon, the plan is to stick a camera down that hole. Remember, it has to go down 1500 feet so hopefully that camera will give us a glimpse as to whether or not the miners are in there, Tony.
HARRIS: CNN's Dan Simon for us this morning. Dan, appreciate it. Thank you.
COLLINS: Mine officials are not identifying the six trapped miners just yet. CNN though, has confirmed the names of two; 58-year- old Kerry Allred (ph), a 30-year veteran of mining and 41-year-old Manual Sanchez, he is a father of four. Three of his brothers are also coal miners.
HARRIS: No one hurt, but a little rattling in Los Angeles overnight. A 4.5 earthquake jolted folks awake just before 1:00. The quake was centered near the suburb of Chatsworth. That's a little bit more than 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. Dishes rattled and pictures fell off walls, but fortunately here, no reports of significant damage.
COLLINS: A massive cleanup job today in New York. The National Weather Service says a tornado hop scotched around Brooklyn and Staten Island yesterday. It downed trees, damaged homes. Tornadoes are so rare in that part of the country, weather experts call it a once in a lifetime event. The storms flooded roads and subway tracks and left one person dead in all of that.
HARRIS: Hot, muggy, miserable. No let up this morning. Another sweltering day in store for many in the United States. And in the steamy South, folks seeking relief from record heat. Much of South Carolina in the 100s yesterday. And that's not factoring in the humidity. Man, several deaths across the U.S. are blamed on the heat wave this week. Yikes.
COLLINS: Boy, I don't know, Bonnie. Every time we look at the maps, I mean, the red is matching your tank top underneath your jacket there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Also want to give more information to you about the story we are learning about here at CNN now. CNN has confirmed, indeed, more information on those killings in Newark, New Jersey. We have learned and confirmed here that police indeed arrested a juvenile. Happened last night in connection with these execution-style killings.
Three college students in a Newark school yard. You see the sign there. Mt. Vernon School is where it all happened. The victims, you now see the their pictures on the screen. That is 20-year old Deshon Harvey. There's Iofemi Hightower, also 20 years old. And 18-year-old Terrance Aeriel.
Natasha Aeriel is the lone survivor of this horrible event. A 19-year-old gal who has been talking with police and trying to remember everything she can about the incident and our understanding is that she is the one who was able to identify some potential suspects here.
And now, in fact, CNN confirmed that police arrested a juvenile in connection with this. We are going to follow it for you. In fact, we are learning a couple of hours from now there will be a news conference, 11:00. We'll monitor that and certainly bring it to you should important information come out of it.
An Ohio woman now facing the murder charges for a shooting death of a panhandler. Police say Geraldine Beasley pulled out a gun and shot a man who asked her for a quarter. Her bond set at $500,000.
Homeless advocates say the shooting is evidence of increasing violence aimed at the homeless. Beasley's attorney denies that he told the judge his client has mental issues.
HARRIS: Barry Bonds, the new home run king, America. Sending fans into yet another frenzy. Take a look at this, just one day after topping the Hank Aaron's all-time home run record. Full extension. Got it. McCovey (ph) Cove, gone. Make that number 757.
Landing in San Francisco Bay last night, Bonds says, you know what? I'm pretty locked in right now.
COLLINS: Quickly want to get you out to our Allan Chernoff. He's been following the story of Newark, that we're reporting to you now. We have learned here at CNN there has been an arrests in connection with the three execution-style killings in Newark, New Jersey. Allan Chernoff is joining us now.
Allan, what are you hearing from where you are?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
What I heard is that one person has been arrested, this according to a source familiar with the investigation. And according to that person, the person arrested is a juvenile believed to be either 15 or 14 years old.
Remember this is the triple homicide that occurred Saturday night, three college students lined up, on their knees and shot in the back of the head. Apparently, according to the police, the one survivor, Natasha Aeriel, who is in a hospital right now, has been cooperating with the police and has been able to pick out this individual from a group of photos.
So that is the source of where all of this has come from. And police sweeping in this morning, apparently, to make that one arrest. The investigation, of course, is continuing.
COLLINS: Yeah, Allan, we had been hearing, I believe it was yesterday, where I heard reporting that it could be as many as five possible attackers. Any information on whether or not they will be continuing and there could possibly be more arrests in this case?
CHERNOFF: The police are certainly looking to make more arrests in this case. There's no doubt about that. The word among the law enforcement officials in Newark is a group of Hispanic young men, approached the four friends, who were in the school yard. Remember, they were in a school yard behind an elementary school. And was part of what's so shocking here, an elementary school where children as young as four years of age attend pre-kindergarten.
COLLINS: All right. Just the whole story is just absolutely devastating. We are going to continue to follow this. I know you are, as well. Allan Chernoff, thank you for that. Let us know if you learn anymore information. Thank you.
They once targeted each other.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are Sunnis, former Baathists and yes some have fought the Americans. But now, they break bread with the U.S. Cavalry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: An alliance of convenience.
REYNOLDS WOLF: Hi, coming to you live from Charleston, South Carolina, where it is already into the 90s. We are not into the midday hours just yet. Coming up, I'll let you know how both man and beast have been battling this extreme heat.
HARRIS: And how about this? An odd sight on the streets of downtown Madison, Wisconsin. A monkey on the loose.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I go outside and look and lo and behold, there's the monkey down Broom Street, in a diaper.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A little monkeying around the urban jungle, coming up for you in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to continue to update you on this story that we are learning a little more about. Out of Newark, we have been telling you about it for a couple of days. Horrible situation there. Three execution-style killings; now there was a fourth person involved. Natasha Aerial, she is a survivor. She has been able to help police in identifying possible suspects in this attack.
And we are now confirming here at CNN that a juvenile has been arrested in connection with this incident in Newark, New Jersey. That suspect, 14 or 15 years old, according to our Allan Chernoff, who is working this story for us today.
Once again, you remember the attack took place against Natasha Aerial's brother, 18-year-old Terrance was killed, 20-year-old Deshon Harvey, and 20-year-old Iofemi Hightower. We'll continue to follow this. There is a press conference coming up at the top of the hour at 11:00. We'll bring that to you and continue to watch those developments.
HARRIS: And President Bush calling a news conference for 10:30 Eastern this morning before he gets away for a long weekend in Maine, and a visit with France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy. Live coverage of the Q&A with reporters coming up 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: To the weather now. No break in the deadly heat wave. Records set across the South. CNN Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf live from Charleston, South Carolina. One of that city's favorite tourist attractions could be affected by the heat.
You think, Reynolds? Good morning, sir.
REYNOLDS WOLF, METEOROLOGIST: I would definitely say so, Tony. It is going to be blazing hot day today. And right now, I am in downtown Charleston. Right near Waterfront Park and you see this great fountain that we have behind me.
This has been one very popular destination for many people over the last couple of days because of the heat we are experiencing. Certainly, a great place to be. No question with high temperatures today expected to rise back up into the mid-90s coupled with the high humidity, you will have a lot of people coming here and drinking plenty of water and just avoiding a lot of the peak heating of the day.
However, in a city like Charleston, you have to remember that tourism is a tremendous industry. The streets behind me are going to be flooded with a lot of people. You're going to have people making trips out to Fort Sumter. And you will have a lot of people in carriages pulled by horses, and this kind of extreme heat that is dangerous for the people in the carriages, and for the animals pulling them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM DOYLE, PALMETTO CARRIAGE WORKS: The animals are very closely monitored, beginning at 90 degrees, we take each one's temperature. At 98 degrees, we stop operations. But the thermometer, I'm holding in my hand is the real key. No animal leaves the barn that's overheated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: So that could happen again today. If they get up to about 98 degrees, they pull all the horses off the streets, and that is it for business. Now, that's only happened three times so far this year, so the owner of that particular livery company actually considers that pretty good news.
However, knowing that we are in early August and we have a lot of August to go and a lot of September to go, he considers himself pretty lucky.
Right now, according to this thermometer, we are into the mid-90s and expecting a high of 96. The record high on this date is 96. And considering, Tony the sunset isn't until 8:11, we could break that easily.
HARRIS: Wow. Easily. OK, Reynolds do me a favor, put your left hand about shoulder height please. Right there, we have a box there. You can take it down now. It looks a little weird. In that box the number you will see the number to your left, that is the actual air temperature. And help me here, the second number is the higher number and that is the heat index, and what factors into the heat index, Reynolds? REYNOLDS: Absolutely. Exactly the heat index is a combination of what it feels like when you have a surface temperature of whatever it may be. Let's say for this example, it's going to be in the mid-90s, then when you pile on that humidity, your heat index is what it feels like to the exposed skin. When you have the warm temperatures and the high conditions.
HARRIS: OK, and that's what it feels like, piling on. Reynolds Wolf for us this morning.
REYNOLDS: Yes, it's oppressive.
HARRIS: Thanks, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS: See you again.
COLLINS: I can feel it in here already.
Heading back to school. A new study finds millions of children are not getting basic vaccinations. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Doctor Sanjay Gupta is here now to talk a little bit more about this.
There has been quite a bit of controversy about this. I can see where people might be a little confused as to what to do.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is confusing even for young children. I'm a new parent and it's confusing to know exactly what vaccines are needed when, exactly when they should get them in terms of timing and all that sort of stuff.
What the CDC is trying to do for National Immunization Awareness Month is to create a sort of schedule for pre-teens. This is 11 and 12-year-olds, looking to vaccines they might need. These are recommended for the most part and not mandatory. An important point.
Meningitis, tetanus, diphtheria, if some of those sound familiar they should. But as you get to 11 or 12 years old, you may need a booster for. That goes for whooping cough as well.
The controversial one that you're probably referring to really has to do with cervical cancer, the HPV vaccine. Again, this is a recommended vaccine for preteens, 11 and 12-year-olds, brand new. It's not everyone agrees with this. There's a lot of controversy around the HPV vaccine.
And one of the important points here, Heidi, is that a lot of these vaccines are done not only for an individual's health, but the public health, as well, because they can be contagious. With HPV in particular, it is really done just for an individual's health. Cervical cancer, obviously, is not contagious but the virus, HPV, is one of the most commonly sexually transmitted diseases in the country. So that is something that a lot of people are paying attention to.
COLLINS: Yes, that seems like it should be an individual choice. With young children, it is pretty clear. There's a mandatory list of what vaccinations they have to have to go to school, because of the public health reasons.
GUPTA: That's right.
COLLINS: But for older kids, are there certain vaccines they have to have going into middle school or high school?
GUPTA: This is an interesting point. Because it actually is very school district dependent, which actually kind of surprised me. And one of the problems that people cite is there's not a national sort of plan or regulation as far as these preteen kids. In terms of what absolutes at a national level. So certain school districts might call you, I don't think your son's old enough yet.
COLLINS: No, he's just in first grade.
GUPTA: But you might get that call sometime soon, saying he needs the following vaccines, as well, before fifth grade or fourth grade or whatever the age might be. So that may change. But right now it is very school district dependent.
Still a lot of controversy surrounding some of these vaccines. The HPV one, we mentioned. But even with the MMR, the measles, mumps, rubella, there's a lot of people still concerned is there an association with autism. The CDC says, no. No association, but still a lot of controversy out there.
COLLINS: A lot of talk, for sure. Any downsides to the vaccines?
GUPTA: Well, you know, I mean, with the HPV there's been about four and a half years of clinical data. So people are concerned about it. There is not a particular downsides to the vaccines that we can find scientifically.
The upsides are with the meningitis, for example, that was something that we now see in college dorms a lot more, because people actually in close quarters. But even seeing it in people younger now. Just close quarters of grade school or high school.
COLLINS: What about problems that you could have if you don't get vaccinated?
GUPTA: You know, simple problems like -- well, meningitis, for example, can a serious problem, obviously. And it can affect your central nervous system and it is also very contagious. You can take a problem may have been localized to one individual and suddenly spread it through a large number of people.
Tetanus is something that is easily, easily preventable with the tetanus shot. But if you don't get that, you can get significant problems like lockjaw, or muscle cramping, from just stepping on a rusty nail or getting some sort of cut with metal.
COLLINS: All those college parties. High school parties sometimes, too.
GUPTA: Grade school parties it turns out now.
COLLINS: Grade school parties. Small little rooms. All right.
Sanjay, thanks so much for that.
GUPTA: All right.
HARRIS: And once again, just want to remind you President Bush calling a news conference this morning, 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. As you know, Iraq is always a hot topic whenever the president meets the press.
We're just weeks away from the report, the progress report on Iraq from General Petraeus, Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq in Tehran this week; Afghanistan's president calling Iran a help in his country. The president will certainly want to reassert his view of Iran in that news conference. Again, 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll bring it to you right here, live, in the CNN NEWSROOM.
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ali Velshi in New York, you might want to stick around if you have investments. A bank in Paris just done some things that is are affecting European markets. They're down more than a couple percent across the board and it affects you because U.S. markets are about to open and they're going to be much lower, too. We'll have that, right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Tony Harris and Heidi Collins.
HEIDI COLLINS, CO-HOST: Good morning once again, everybody; 9:30 Eastern Time. I'm Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: And I'm Tony Harris. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.
Boy, we want to get the business day started. This could be quite a day for U.S. markets, because I'm going to tell you there's some things happening in the futures market earlier in the day that indicated that we might be in for a rocky ride.
Let's get you to Ali Velshi quickly. Of course, the Dow started the day at 13,657 after closing up 153 points yesterday. And Ali, evidence, when you look at the futures markets, what they do is they give us a bit of an indication of where the markets might go today.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And this is interesting. This is the markets at play. This is why it's important to watch this. We're looking at an opening that has now settled around the 70- point lower market.
The futures indicated a much, much deeper plunge at the beginning of markets. Why? Because over in Paris in France, a big bank has just shut down three funds that are in the risky mortgage business. They said, "We can't value them. So we're shutting them down. You can't take your money out of it."
That spooked the market. Europeans markets are down 2 and 3 percent across the board. Suddenly, the futures for the Dow decided to drop in the last 20 minutes.
But look at what's happening. Why are we only down 80 points? That's because the smart money is sitting there, saying this is...
HARRIS: Hang on, Ali. We're down -- we're down 90 now.
VELSHI: Let's see how far it goes.
HARRIS: Right.
VELSHI: This might be holding because they -- you can't sell stocks that fast right at the open. So what we want to see here is where does it go? A hundred. It's been one minute of trading. We're down 100 points.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: Now futures, we're talking about 200. That's very, very steep for the beginning of the market, and as we're talking, this is where it's going.
HARRIS: Whoa. Let's talk about this. Let's sort of drill down on this a little bit. Again, this is -- this is all returning us to this whole mortgage sector.
VELSHI: Sub prime.
HARRIS: Sub prime.
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: And talk us through that. What is going on here, because I'm hearing analysts lately over the last day or two suggesting that, oh, it sort bottomed out and all of the have deadbeats moved out of the business and now things will start to stabilize but...
VELSHI: The problem is the people -- some people have moved out of the business of getting sub prime mortgages, but the mortgages were sold. People who give you the mortgage don't hold onto that. They sell it to someone else, because it's a good investment.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
VELSHI: And all these banks who were buying these because they were fantastic investments are now saying, all right, we're caught holding the bag.
Someone has to be caught holding the bag. If you default on your mortgage and the bank sells the house to make up that money, but the house isn't worth that much, there's a difference. Someone gets caught holding that, and in many cases, it's the hedge funds and the investment banks.
It's the banks that have been showing this exposure and the mortgage companies, and that's what -- what triggers this market.
HARRIS: So we have seen a couple of these. I'm thinking of American Home Mortgage.
VELSHI: One of dozens that have shut down or declared bankruptcy or gone out of business. But that's OK, because they declare bankruptcy.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: And they get protection from their creditors. Someone actually lost the money. This isn't just a paper loss. Someone lost that money, and it's sometimes the ones at the end who are playing that. It's the big banks and the hedge funds. So if you're invested in those, that's what's been going up and down in the last few days.
If you're invested in corn or soybeans or oil, you're not seeing this problem. So this is not across the board. It's just -- and here we are. It's...
HARRIS: Whoa. Look at this.
VELSHI: ... three and a half minutes, and we're 172 points lower on the Dow. So it's volatile.
HARRIS: But we're still trying to understand how one sector can impact...
VELSHI: It's huge. It's such a big sector.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: It's the thing that makes you feel rich. As your house was...
HARRIS: That's a great point. Great point.
VELSHI: ... getting more and more valuable, you were going in and using it as an ATM. I've done it.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: You refinance and you get more money out. What do you do with that money? You spend it. You do something else with it. That money keeps the economy going. You can't go back and get rich. The ATM is out of money.
HARRIS: And yet...
VELSHI: And you can't go spend it, which means the retailer, the airlines, the hotels you stay at, everybody loses money. And we're going to cross that 200, looks like. We're four and a half minutes into trading, and we're 175 points lower. HARRIS: And yet, I'm sitting here, saying wait a minute. The Fed chief had an opportunity. He's been watching what's been going on here. The Fed chief had an opportunity the other day to do something about it, to send a signal to the mortgage sector, to the banks, by lowering the interest rates.
VELSHI: Yes. The interest rates. Right.
HARRIS: And didn't.
VELSHI: What happens when you lower interest rates? Money becomes cheaper. You and I will borrow more. Companies will borrow more.
HARRIS: It seems like a logical play.
VELSHI: They'll hire more people; more people will have jobs and more people will have money. They'll spend that money. Good for the economy, right?
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: But what's the risk?
HARRIS: Inflation, sure.
VELSHI: Inflation. Everything goes up in price. The Fed is much more worried about inflation than it is about the stock market or the housing market or one sector.
So they're saying, relax. If you're not heavily invested in one sector, you should be OK. If you're not a day trader...
HARRIS: As an investor, sure.
VELSHI: ... don't worry. So -- and that's the advice we have to pass on but, again, these numbers do worry people. We're almost 190 points now, and we're five minutes in.
HARRIS: We don't know -- do we know at this point who the French funds -- what loans they were buying from what companies and how it might trickle down? You know, maybe they...
VELSHI: It's not a transparent industry. This mortgage buying at the second level and third buying. It's BNP, which is a major, major world bank.
HARRIS: Two hundred thirty-one points, Ali.
VELSHI: That's -- I mean, that's a big drop at the beginning. I've got to say, this one of the bigger drops I've seen at the beginning of a market going back many years.
Now, the thing to remember is we have seen massive swings on the markets in these days. There are other investors, and you can imagine every single analyst on Wall Street right now is in front of their computer, making phone calls and seeing where the buying opportunities might be.
So who knows where this goes? I tend to think that in this high a market, until you get to 250 points, which we could be at any moment now, it's still within the range. We're seeing those kind of swings.
HARRIS: So, given where the Dow is now, 13,000, I mean, that's a huge number.
VELSHI: Very high.
HARRIS: That's a huge number.
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: Realistically, you know, you don't want it to drop another 500, 600 points, because that scares everybody.
VELSHI: Except those with the guts to get in at that point. A lot of people have said...
HARRIS: It's a buy opportunity.
VELSHI: ... you buy at that 13,000 level, because it's probably going to go up over the long term. There's very few analysts who don't think so.
And to your point about the Fed could have done something about this on Tuesday, 100 percent of the people I've been seeing talking this morning are saying, by September, we'll see a rate cut.
HARRIS: By September?
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: That might help me.
VELSHI: Remember, we have to invest for the long term, right?
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: We can't invest for whether the Dow goes down 500 points today. We have to invest for when we're retiring or what happens in the next ten years.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: So again, very good to keep an eye on this. Very bad to make rash decisions.
HARRIS: OK. Let me -- one more point here. So we may see some kind of a move with rates, say, September or so.
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: And I'm thinking about folks who have these adjustable mortgages that might reset. That potentially is good news. VELSHI: Yes. You know, if you have an adjustable mortgage right now, you should be thinking about what your options are today, if you haven't already done that. Because this market swing, one way or another, has got nothing to do with the fact that you're going to -- you're ending up paying more money.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: And you don't want to lose your house on that. So it's a priority for people. There we go. There's your 200.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: Back again. It's a priority for people to readjust their mortgages. If you need to get into a fixed mortgage, do it now, if you can't budget for it, if you can't risk it. You do not want to be gambling with interest rates.
HARRIS: And what is happening now? We were down over 200 points. Now we're bouncing back. Well, now it's going back to 200.
VELSHI: In technical jargon, these tend to be resistance levels. You're trying to see where the market -- where the trend is. The trend is actually more important than the number.
It goes down to 230, 240 points lower. Do people get in? Yes. So some people are buying in. They're thinking this is a buying opportunity.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: Does it start to go down again? That's -- you gauge how the market is going, not just by the number but what are people saying? If all of a sudden you see big drops again or big gains, that means smart money, investors are getting in and saying, "I've got an opportunity here."
Remember, the Dow is made up of 30 stocks. Some of those stocks are doing pretty well today.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: Are going to be doing pretty well, but the other ones are losing.
HARRIS: Look, I don't know this stuff and I'm pretty fired up. You have to be over the moon. I mean, this is -- I mean, this is your stuff. And this is as volatile as it gets right now.
All right, Ali. Appreciate it.
VELSHI: OK.
HARRIS: We'll talk to you in a couple of minutes.
VELSHI: Yes. HARRIS: And maybe you can keep us posted on how things are going.
VELSHI: OK, Tony.
HARRIS: All right, Ali.
COLLINS: We want to take a moment to go to our Susan Lisovicz, who is standing by for us. Now -- actually, she's not. She's going to be with us shortly to talk more about this.
We are covering what is happening with the markets for you all day long. In fact, now Susan's ready.
Susan, come on into this discussion with us. Boy oh boy, I think it was five minutes in and we were down at one point to -- down 238 points with the Dow.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We're down 215 points. Give or take, you know, 15 points. We're seeing a pronounced sell-off here, Heidi. And this is what volatility is all about.
You know, we're coming off the Dow's best three-day stretch since 2003. I wasn't able to hear Ali because I was doing another report, so I'm sorry if I'm repeating some of the things that Ali was saying but, you know, this market is very sensitive to news and even rumors.
We saw the Dow -- the Dow's triple digit gains yesterday evaporate at one point late in the session, only to rally back because of rumors about Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs refuted them, and the bulls came back in.
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: In this case, we have a French bank saying that its exposure to the U.S. sub prime mortgage market has forced it to suspend those funds temporarily.
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: And you know, we've been seeing the fallout for weeks now, if not months, and so the market, when it hears bad news, it reacts.
COLLINS: Yes. There's no question about it. I'm looking at the report from yesterday. The close was up for the Dow Jones Industrial Averages, 153 points. And then boom, this morning, I mean, it is just an incredible sway that we've been watching.
LISOVICZ: It -- it's volatility, the likes of which have not been seen in a long time, Heidi. And not only that, it's coming in the summer. Typically there's something known as summer doldrums where we have light volume, we have a...
COLLINS: Boring. LISOVICZ: And that's just not happening. For instance, the breadth of the market, which is one way you can measure the conviction of the moves, is 15 to 1. That is the declining stocks are swamping advancing stocks by 15 to 1.
I'm just going to look back to see if I can get a glimpse of the volume. It's pretty early in trading. I'm not seeing huge volume yet. But the volume has been huge for weeks -- for weeks now and just shows that there's a lot of participation, both on the buy and sell. In fact, you know, in the last week, we saw five triple digit moves for the Dow back to back, and they were in both directions.
COLLINS: It's crazy. It's making my head hurt.
LISOVICZ: Well, here's what you need -- here's what you need to remember, though. The Dow Industrials are up 8 -- 9.6 percent year to date.
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: Yesterday, when they closed, they were -- they were less than 2.5 percent from the all-time high. So, if you're -- if you are invested in stocks, mutual funds, you may very well, probably, making money.
The NASDAQ is up 8.2 percent, year to date, as of yesterday's close. And the S&P 500, the broadest of the three of them, is up more than 5.5 percent.
But this is volatility, and the news that came out of Europe today was not good, and investors reacted. Sometimes, you know, it's like shoot first, ask questions later.
COLLINS: Sure. And you know what? You just really have to have a very strong stomach.
LISOVICZ: Don't watch it day-to-day.
COLLINS: No, no, no. You just...
LISOVICZ: If you're a long-term investor.
COLLINS: Once a week maybe.
LISOVICZ: That's what you should focus on. Unfortunately, I have to give you the hourly updates.
COLLINS: I know. I know. But we do appreciate it. You do a great job with it. We're going to check back with you throughout the show, I bet.
LISOVICZ: Fasten your seat belts, Heidi.
COLLINS: OK. We're doing it. Thanks so much, Susan Lisovicz.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome. COLLINS: We'll talk later.
And next hour, want to let you know, we are going to be hearing from President Bush. He has just scheduled a news conference before he heads off for a vacation.
CNN's Ed Henry is joining us now from the White House with a little bit more on that. Hopefully -- Ed, do we have an idea what the president plans to talk about?
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Heidi. As you know, this is typical for many presidents right before they head out August break -- he's going to Kennebunkport first and Crawford, Texas, for his ranch -- they try to set the table for what they think Congress should be doing when they return from work in September.
We know the president will be talking a lot about the economy. As you've been talking about for the last few minutes, the president talked about it yesterday. Despite the credit crunch, despite the volatility on Wall Street, he still sees good signs in the economy right now.
He's also talking about cutting corporate taxes, something that will likely spark a big fight with Democrats on Capitol Hill. You're going to hear him charging today, very likely, that he thinks Democrats will raise taxes. He's also likely to issue, once again, a veto threat for some of those spending bills that Democrats are working on.
But you can also expect a lot of questions about Iraq, of course. You've got that big mid-September progress report coming from the commander on the ground, General David Petraeus.
And also, some questions about Pakistan. Questions now about whether President Musharraf will declare a state of emergency strife there as -- coming at the same time that all of these questions about whether the U.S. might take some military action in Pakistan to deal with al Qaeda, which now has a safe harbor in Pakistan. So obviously, a lot of global hot spots.
And one little piece of information I'll pass on that you probably don't know, Heidi. As I was walking out here to the lawn, some staffers were actually pulling out the podium in the press briefing room that Tony Snow normally uses in that new briefing room, because the president now has his own podium, a special podium. Probably a little bigger, grander, a little different than Tony Snow's. Just made specially for the president.
As you know, pictures, symbols mean everything, especially for a president. And so that's one thing to look for at 10:30, Heidi.
COLLINS: Is it taller, wider?
HENRY: My colleague, Elaine Quijano, was at the last press conference, the very first one in the new press briefing room. She got an up close look at it. So I don't know. I assume it's bigger. I assume it's grander. And I assume Tony Snow will not be upset about that, because he realizes that the president's the commander in chief.
COLLINS: He's in charge.
HENRY: I'll get an up close look next hour, and I'll tell you all about it.
COLLINS: OK, Ed. You know, we look forward to that. Maybe we can get, like, a camera to just zoom right in on that.
HENRY: We'll do that. Let's do that next hour.
COLLINS: Excellent. All right. Ed Henry, thanks so much for that.
And just a quick reminder to everyone watching today, 10:30 is when that news conference will happen live with President Bush from the White House. We will bring it to you here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Volatility. Wow! The markets down 174 points. The futures market all a-flutter this morning, and that has really trickled over to U.S. markets, as well. We are watching the numbers. Down at one point -- what was it, Heidi?
COLLINS: Two thirty-eight, I think it was.
HARRIS: Two thirty-eight.
COLLINS: The first five minutes.
HARRIS: Yikes! Strap in. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live breaking news, unfolding developments. See for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Look, I keep telling folks, and I want you to listen to me on this one. It is the best reality TV on TV right now.
COLLINS: Pretty good.
HARRIS: It's pretty good, isn't it? It is -- well, it's a little dicey if you're working in the sectors here, particularly in the mortgage sector, housing.
COLLINS: Yes.
HARRIS: Nutty right now. But take a look at this. The futures market indicated that there were going to be problems for the open of the New York Stock Exchange and, man, there you go. We're about, what? Thirty minutes into a trading day, and the Dow down 170 points.
OK, little bit of a bounce back there, but if it is that volatile throughout the day, we will really have a story to tell by the end of the day. So, we're watching it for you. Susan Lisovicz, Ali Velshi. We're following it all for you, the ups and downs, a roller coaster ride in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Also, want to remind you about a press conference that we are going to be bringing you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. President Bush just called it. It's going to be at 10:30 Eastern Time. So about 40 minutes from now or so.
And according to our Ed Henry, who covers the White House so beautifully for us, we are understanding he's going to probably be hitting on several topics, likely the economy, cutting corporate taxes. He's going to be talking about Democrats and his thoughts that they will likely raise taxes.
And then no question about it, that the topic of Iraq and certainly Pakistan, whether or not President Pervez Musharraf will actually declare a state of emergency. We've been talking about that story for quite some time, so we will bring it all to you coming up, 10:30 today.
HARRIS: Boy, are you handling all of this heat? Sweating it out. Baking. Dangerous heat. Deadly heat. Will today be more of the same?
Why are you doing that?
COLLINS: Hot tea.
HARRIS: No. No.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Inch by inch and hour by hour, crews in Utah say they are drilling closer to the trapped miners. In fact, they say by this afternoon, we may know whether the six men survived Monday's cave-in.
CNN's Gary Tuchman was the only network reporter allowed inside the mine to see the rescue efforts taking place underground. Earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING", the mine's owner updated that work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MURRAY, CEO/PRESIDENT, MURRAY ENERGY: The drilling and the mining underground that we just left has progressed about 180 feet in the last day. We're about 1,600 feet from the miners, and I estimate in my own judgment that it will take about a week to get to them.
But it's not a life threatening situation if they are alive and were not killed with the initial percussion of the event. We can keep them alive indefinitely through the bore holes until we're able to access them underground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A second hole, considerably wider, could be finished by tomorrow. That hole and more than eight inches wide, could deliver air and food to the men if they are still alive. All hoping for that.
So retreat mining. What is it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Retreat mining's the most dangerous type of mining there is. And that's because you're intentionally inducing a roof fall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: We'll tell you more about it and why people are concerned.
HARRIS: President Bush holding a news conference this morning, 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Live coverage of the Q&A with reporters right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Running can be healthy at any age but there are risks to side step. Medical correspondent Judy Fortin has some tips for running in your 30s, 40s and 50s.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY FORTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Patrick Avon is a man obsessed with fitness. A marathon runner and a triathlete, Avon works out daily to keep his body in shape.
PATRICK AVON, RUNNER: I like to approach it as simply I want to use any body as if I was 15 years old again.
FORTIN: But he's not 15, and after eight marathons and 17 triathlons, two of which were Ironmans, 44-year-old Avon had knee surgery. Yet, that didn't stop him. Five months later, he ran the Marine Corps marathon.
AVON: I recovered wicked fast.
FORTIN: According to the Road Runners' Club of America, running is no longer just a young person's sport. The largest age group from male race entrants in 2005 was 45 years and older.
But doctors warn running can put wear and tear on your joints and muscles as you age.
In your 30s, and 40s, you begin to lose bone and muscle mass.
DR. WIEMI DOUOGUIH, WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER: So all these things over time can gradually cause wearing away of the cartilage that protects the knee and allows smooth gliding. It can also cause inflammation of the tissues and eventually, it can reach a threshold where the person feels pain. And that's often what happens with runners. FORTIN: Strength training can help. And like with other sports, stretch before and after workouts. And if you're new at running, talk with your doctor.
DOUOGUIH: Over the age of 40, if you haven't worked out five or ten years before you start any kind of exercise program, you should consider consulting a physician to just get a general physical.
FORTIN: In your 50s, diet and cross training can keep your bones and bustles healthy, foods high in protein can keep you strong and, when running races, think carbs.
DOUOGUIH: The reason you want carbohydrates is that it's the most efficient energy producer for the body.
FORTIN: And vary your exercise program. Throw in some swimming, some cycling, so that you don't always work the same joints.
Patrick Avon says he'll continue to do a daily routine in order to keep on the road. And even though he may face a few setbacks, he hopes he'll be running when other men are using a cane to get around.
Judy Fortin, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown.
New this morning: word of an arrest in Newark. A suspect in an execution-style killing said to be just 14 or 15 years old.
COLLINS: Crews drilling closer and closer to the trapped Utah miners. Did the men survive the collapse? We may know today.
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