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American Morning
Inside the Mine; After the Storm; Extreme Weather; Red Cross Sued; Bridge Collapse; Airport Security
Aired August 09, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the first pictures from inside of the collapsed Utah mine. CNN takes you to the front line of disaster. The all-night drilling to find six men still trapped. Their names and faces are just coming to light. We have the prayers of hope and a rescue effort renewed on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome. We're glad you're with us. It is Thursday, August 9th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
We begin this morning in Utah with a view from inside that mine where it's a race against time to find six trapped miners. A CNN crew has been allowed inside during the rescue operation where crews have been digging all through the night. While outside the mine, new pictures of a candlelight vigil. Families holding on to hope. CNN's Gary Tuchman just returned from three miles deep in the mine. The only network reporter in there. Gary joins us now live.
Gary, what was it like?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, I should tell you that even in the best of times, it's almost impossible for a reporter to get into the mine, any coal mine in the United States. That's why we were so surprised when the owner of this mine told us that he would allow us to go into the mine to get a look at what's going on and allow us to get as close as possible. Watching the workers do their job in there, John, was very impressive. It was also very depressing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN, (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 a half hour in utter darkness. We passed rescue workers in their vehicles on the way to our ultimate destination.
BOB MURRAY, MINE OWNER: 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 tantalizingly 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're 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 conveyor 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 here, 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 at a different point of the mine.
MURRAY: We had this cleaned up 310 feet. The machinery is still in there.
TUCHMAN: But another shift in the earth caused another partial collapse and the cleared area filled with coal again.
Frankly, it's very eerie standing here knowing that 2,000 feet behind me, and maybe less, are the six trapped miners. It's cold. It's dark. It's foreboding. A claustrophobic could never cut it here. There is stead wind blowing. The ceilings are low. We're 30 minutes away from the nearest exit. In normal times, it's very stressful. But right now there's a lot of tension. Nevertheless the workers here, the rescue workers, the people who normally work in the mine are calm because they have a job to do.
And 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: When the coal breaks away from the rib and just kind of lays there, we call that sluffage (ph).
TUCHMAN: But there are no more. We do see other damage to the mine walls caused 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 could just walk up to the men or they may be right there.
TUCHMAN: Wishful thinking, perhaps, but it's keeping these rescue workers going.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: We were in the mine for a little over two hours. Before we went in, we had to take a one-hour mine safety course to learn how to use the oxygen that was on my belt and learn how to evacuate in case of an emergency. But I will tell you, John, that when we heard that concussion and the mine shook, and I looked at some miners' faces and they looked startled, it was really a scary couple of moments for us.
ROBERTS: Is that what they call a mountain bump, Gary? And that's what drove those rescue workers out of there a couple of days ago?
TUCHMAN: That's exactly what the owner of the mine said. He said, this is a seismic event. It's a mountain bump, exactly.
ROBERTS: Now he has been getting challenged on this idea of seismic events. He has been saying that it was an earthquake that caused this collapse, where seismologists say the evidence points in the other direction. So he's been at odds with a lot of people. But what was your sense of why he took you down there? Why he showed this extraordinary sense of transparency with the rescue effort?
TUCHMAN: I think, frankly, he's getting to know a lot of us reporters who have been hanging out here a lot and we've been mentioning to him each day it would be nice to get close to the mine. Yesterday he let us on the grounds of the mine to look at it and then he surprised us, frankly, when during his news conference last night he said, I'd like to take some of you inside the mine.
John, I will tell you, as I said in the beginning, before we've tried to do stories in mines just to show what it's like in a mine. We can't get into these mines. These people do not want us. This guy letting us into the mine right up to the collapse is very unusual.
ROBERTS: I was watching that press conference last night, Gary, and when he issued the invitations, I knew that your hand would be the first one to go up. Just an extraordinary piece of journalism this morning.
Gary, I know it's been a long night. We'll let you get some sleep. And we'll get back to you just as soon as we can. Thanks very much.
CHETRY: CNN has also confirmed the names of two of the trapped Utah miners. 58-year-old Kerry Allred. He's been a miner for 30 years. Forty-one-year-old Manuel Sanchez, a 17-year-veteran of coal mines in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. Manuel Sanchez has three daughters, a son and a brother, who's also a miner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CESAR SANCHEZ, MINER'S BROTHER: If they even have a chance of staying alive, they'll make it. But if they got caved on, we already -- you know an experienced miner would tell you different.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, those families and friends, and the entire community really, still praying that they will come out alive. We're going to learn more about the other miners throughout the morning and we're going to share that with you as soon as we get it. We're also going to be talking to the mine's owner, who's become a familiar face and has made the news for the things that he said about caused the mines to cave in. Bob Murray will be joining us live at the top of our next hour.
ROBERTS: A new alert to states and a new theory about what may have caused the bridge to collapse in Minneapolis a week ago. The National Transportation Safety Board is looking at a possible design flaw in the steel plates that connect the beams of the superstructure. They're called gusset plates. There's an illustration of one there. State inspectors aren't yet sure why the flaw would cause the collapse after 40 years of use, but the NTSB issued its first warning late last night asking states to be mindful of extra weight that construction crews can place on bridges across the country.
Other headlines new this morning.
An earthquake overnight in the Los Angeles area. Preliminary reports say it registered a 4.5, with the epicenter about 30 miles northwest of the L.A. Civic Center. So far no reports of anyone hurt or major damage.
There's a new tropical storm out in the Pacific. Forecasters say Tropical Storm Flossie is about halfway between Mexico and Hawaii. Flossie is the sixth named storm of the Pacific hurricane season.
CHETRY: A brazen attack on the government of Yemen today. Attackers with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades hit government and police buildings in northwestern Yemen. Al Qaeda operates in Yemen. That's where the attack on the USS Cole originated. They anchored there in 2000 and took their small boat up to the USS Cole, killing 17 sailors.
There are some conflicting reports right now about the possibility of Pakistan declaring a state of emergency. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf backed out of a summit in Afghanistan today. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called him overnight as talk swirled about Pakistan declaring a state of emergency. It would give the government extraordinary power and could delay elections that have been set for the end of this year.
President Bush traveling to Maine today to begin a long weekend. He'll be meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who's vacationing in New Hampshire.
And the White House has revealed that President Bush was diagnosed and treated for lyme disease last summer. A spokesman says that he had the tell tale bull's-eye rash on his lower left leg and that it's "not uncommon" for the president to get ticks bites during his bike rides.
And we have more now on a story that we first brought you earlier in the week. After months of debate, a federal panel of scientists concluding that a chemical in plastic could pose some risks to the brain development of babies and children, but not adults. Bisphenal A, a common chemical that's found in baby bottles, as well as most other plastics that we use every day. The findings could lead to regulations restricting the chemical's use.
John.
ROBERTS: Eight minutes after the hour. There are other stories new this morning that our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents are follow for us.
New York City trying to get moving again after a colossal storm this time yesterday morning. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is in our news room this morning.
And, Alina, what's the aftermath of this looking like?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it virtually shuts down the subway system, John, as you well know. And we are happy to report that for the millions of people who rely on New York's mass transit, that most of the subways are up and running this morning. And for those that aren't, there is bus service.
Now if there was any doubt as to what contributed to all of this, all you have to do is take a look at the New York City tabloids this morning. The headline is "Twister." Underneath you see Dorothy from "Wizard of Oz" saying, "this ain't Kansas."
What really happened was, there was a weather trifecta. A blast of rain that came through early in the morning that dumped three inches of rain in an hour on New York City, followed by that tornado in Brooklyn. And then finally, that heat and humidity, which really put a strain on the power grid. Add all of that together and it was simply too much for the nation's largest subway system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ELIOT SPITZER, NEW YORK: There was a system failure. Whenever there's a system failure, you're not satisfied. The question is, why was there a system failure. Can we address it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Well, New York's governor, Eliot Spitzer, is making sure that the Metropolitan Transit Authority addresses this problem. In fact, he is giving the MTA 30 days to come up with some sort of solution.
Now you may not know this, but something similar happened back in September of 2004, if you can believe it. It really virtually shut down the subway system. Bad weather did, that is. They were supposed to fix the problem, you know. A report found that they had not done routine maintenance on the drainage pipes. The MTA was supposed to fix it. Clearly what they did was not sufficient.
But what's interesting, John, is when something like this happens, it really illustrates just how much people rely on New York's mass transit. Consider this statistic. Thirty-eight percent of all commuters nationwide live in the New York metropolitan area. ROBERTS: You know, Alina, we had our own problem with a drainage system here in the Time Warner Center and this building's only three years old. So it's not confined to the subway system.
By the way, we're going to be talking with New York Senator Chuck Schumer about these infrastructure problems, coming up a little bit later on here on AMERICAN MORNING.
All the storms yesterday a result of the intense heat across much of the country. Take a look at this. The heat index in Charleston, South Carolina, hit 120 degrees. That's where Reynolds Wolf is this morning.
How hot is it there this morning at, what is it, 6:12?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. Right now, John, we've got temperatures that are into the 80s. But when you factor the humidity in, it feels like it gets well into the 90s. It is just an incredible day.
You know, as you mentioned, nearly a third of the nation has been experiencing this extreme heat, especially here in parts of South Carolina, where on Monday the heat index got up to 120. Now that's so extreme that they actually caused many, many things though cancel. In fact there was a high school football practice that was canceled due to the extreme heat and the high humidity.
And one of the trainers on the team, actually on this high school team actually knew that it was this bad because they used this nifty little device that you see right here in my hand. We're going to zoom in for this for you folks at home. This is actually called a Sky Scan Thermal Indicator. It's a heat index device.
Now what this thing does is it factors in your temperature, factors in your humidity, and then does the equation for you and gives you an idea of how it feels to the exposed skin. We're looking at 95 right now. That's how it feels.
But you've got to factor in something else. It's early in the morning, John. We're expecting the temperatures to rise even more. Sunset today is going to be right around 8:11 this evening. So temperatures could get much warmer.
In fact, you're looking at this map here which shows all of the heat, watches and warnings and advisories that we have not only in South Carolina, but all the way back into portions of the Central Plains and the Midwest. A very hot day, nonetheless. We're going to be checking out this great device throughout the morning and let you know how it is here in Charleston, South Carolina.
Back to you.
ROBERTS: Another cool tool for forecasting. Reynolds, thanks very much.
Johnson & Johnson is taking on the American Red Cross. Our Ali Velshi What is here to explain.
Good morning, Ali. What's this all about?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
Interesting story. For more than 100 years, Johnson & Johnson and the American Red Cross have both used the same symbol. The Greek red cross. The red cross on a white background. The agreement has been for a long time and, in fact, Congress backed this up back in 1900 that Johnson & Johnson controls that symbol, but the American Red Cross can use it for humanitarian efforts.
Now in the last few years, the American Red Cross has been licensing that to other organizations for products, like nail clippers and first aid kits and things like that. The Red Cross says it raises money for that which goes to humanitarian aid. Johnson & Johnson has said, you can't do that. That's not part of the deal. We make the money off of it for anything that's sold. You make the money off of it when you're raising money for humanitarian purposes.
They have not been able to come to an agreement. So yesterday Johnson & Johnson sued in Manhattan federal court to say that the Red Cross is using the symbol illegally. This, of course, has a number of people up in arms and it will play itself out. Unclear as to how much they're seeking from the Red Cross. The Red Cross says this is opportunistic and baseless. But we'll continue to follow this story.
John.
ROBERTS: Wow, suing the Red Cross.
Ali Velshi, thanks very much.
Kiran.
CHETRY: A chain reaction shakeup in primary voting topping your "Quick Hits" now. South Carolina is due to announce today that it will move its GOP primary to January 19, 2008. That could then prompt New Hampshire, as well as Iowa, typically the first ones, to move up their primary and caucuses.
A group of California voters is trying to get rid of the winner take all electoral system in that state. The proposed new system would award votes based on the candidate who wins each congressional district. Right now, whoever wins a majority of votes takes all of California's 55 electoral votes.
Well, there's a new way of making sure that a terrorist doesn't get on a plane, but the feds are going to need some personal information from you. How much? Well we're going to talk more about that in our terror watch next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. There is new information this morning about last week's deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis. A possible flaw that was identified in the I-35W design, when it was designed some 40 years ago. Dan Browning joins us with the "Minneapolis Star Tribune." He's a reporter that's been following this and breaking details each day.
Dan, thanks for being with us.
DAN BROWNING, "MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE": My pleasure.
CHETRY: The NTSB, it looks like they're saying that this design flaw they're speaking about is the design of steel connecting plates, known as gusset plates. What more do you know about that?
BROWNING: Well, all we know is they're saying they're focusing their attention now on the gusset plates. A gusset is any connection between girders or trusses. And we've been told by bridge experts around the country that failure of a critical one of these gusset plates could cause a catastrophic collapse.
CHETRY: The question then is, is how was it able to stand for 40 years without a problem if they're calling this is design flaw?
BROWNING: Well, there's also a coincidence, the NTSB is looking at the positioning of construction equipment on the bridge, the order of work that went on during the day and preceding days to try and determine whether any kind of undue stress, eccentric stress is what they call it, like you sit on the edge of a dining table or something and you fall over, that kind of thing that could cause the failure of one of the gussets to break apart.
CHETRY: You know, the NTSB's investigation is months away from being complete, yet they made this suspicion about the flaw public. Is this because there is safety concern for other bridges of gusset plates used in the construction of many bridges?
BROWNING: Well, we believe so because the Department of Transportation issued a warning to other construction companies to consider the placement of heavy equipment on bridges under reconstruction in reference to these kinds of gusset plates. The gusset plates on this bridge were largely welded in some cases, some cases they were bolted. We know there's been references in the inspection reports of the bridge inspectors over time complaining about loose bolts and cracked welds on gussets and heavy rust, as well.
CHETRY: All right. So some new details today about this possible design flaw that's been identified by the NTSB.
Dan Browning of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, thanks for being with us.
ROBERTS: To our terror watch now and how the government is trying to prevent another terrorist attack. This morning there are new guidelines about how air travelers will be screened. Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve breaks it down for us live from our Washington bureau.
And what does the plan include, Jeanne?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, you've seen it, the grandmothers, the young children, the prominent people stopped from boarding airplanes because someone says their name's on a terror watch list, even though they pretty, obviously, are not terrorists. Well, the Transportation Security Administration has blamed that problem on the fact that the airlines, not the government, have been checking passenger information against government watch lists. Officials say some of the airlines simply don't do a great job at this.
So today, sources say, Secretary Chertoff is going to announce plans to have TSA take over that function with the testing of the program to begin this fall. Now the government has spent millions of dollars trying to launch programs to do this in the past, but they've never gotten off the ground because of objections from privacy advocates. The government has taken a lot of heat for it. Homeland Security hoping this time it has it right.
John.
ROBERTS: And what about international travelers, Jeanne?
MESERVE: Well, they're looking at something different in regards to them. You remember those flights from Europe that were either turned around or diverted to places like Bangor, Maine, because after takeoff it was discovered that someone of concern was on board the flight? Well, DHS is hoping that those embarrassing and inconvenient events are soon to be a thing of the past.
According to sources, it's going to be requiring that air carriers provide manifest information about passengers either 30 minutes before departure or, alternatively, as each passenger checks in for international flights. Previously the government wasn't getting that information until the planes were in the air. The idea is to give customs and border protection more time to check out the names and prevent any plane from taking off with a potentially dangerous person on board.
John.
ROBERTS: Sounds good in theory. We'll see if it works in practice.
Jeanne Meserve for us this morning from Washington. Jeanne, thanks.
CHETRY: The crew of the shuttle Endeavour waking up in space and they're preparing to doc with the International Space Station. It was a picture perfect liftoff for Endeavour last night. There you see it, up into the air. And the crew includes a teacher, Barbara Morgan. She was Christa McAuliffe's backup before the Challenger disaster back in 1986. Morgan will be beaming down some lessons designed to get kids interested in space exploration. There's a shot from the outside. Incredible pictures f the picture-perfect liftoff of the Endeavour. Terror on the highway. The driver of a big rig passes out while hauling two huge trailers. The only other person in the truck? The man's nine-year-old son. How the little guy saved the day next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-five after the hour.
New pictures coming in this morning of deadly floods in Vietnam. At least 43 people have been killed. Thousands are stranded without food. The army is now using high speed boats to try to driver supplies to people who are stranded.
If you're looking to make a difference when disaster strikes, CNN wants to give you the power to help. Find out how you can impact your world. Go to cnn.com/impact.
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) a quick thinking nine-year-old saved his dad, probably himself and other drivers by jumping behind the wheel of a semi truck. Matthew Lovo Jr. was riding with his dad when his dad passed out behind the wheel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW LOVO JR., GOT BEHIND WHEEL OF TRUCK: He made a weird noise and fell down right here. And I'm like, dad, are you joking with me? And he wouldn't say anything. So I smacked him and like -- then he wasn't. But -- and then I just over here like -- and then I -- this guy on the radio said, just turn the key off.
MATTHEW LOVO SR., PASSED OUT WHILE DRIVING: And he had the foresight to unlock his seat belt, slap me in the face, because he thought I was joking at first, noticed I wasn't going to wake up, then grabbed the CB and asked for help, then grabbed the steering wheel, then shut the truck off.
LOVO JR.: I just did the stuff. And I thought of it, too. I'm like, I should do what my dad does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Wow, what a smart little guy. That would have been quite a joke that his dad was playing if he did, because we're talking about a big rig. Mattie (ph), before he took the wheel, the truck had veered into oncoming traffic. It hit a light pole. Still, he remained calm and steered back into the correct lane. And another drive caught the truck, jumped in, hit the brakes and brought it to a complete stop without anybody getting hurt. But what a smart, industrious little boy.
ROBERTS: Wow. A whole bunch of heroism going on there.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Hey, here's a story coming up in our next half hour that you can't miss. It's a new way to keep your kids safe playing outdoor sports, particularly when we've got this heat wave going on across much of the country right now.
CHETRY: Yes, there it is. It's a device that allows you to check the heat index. That's when it takes into account the temperature, the heat and other things that can make the feels-like temperature super high. We're going to show you how it works. We're going to tell you where some of the heat indexes were off the charts yesterday and possibly some more of the same today when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Well, what a difference a day makes. The sun is coming up over New York City this morning. This time yesterday we were in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm that resulted in a tornado. The first one to hit Brooklyn, New York, since the 1800s. As we continue this summer of weird weather, really hot today in a lot of the country, but cooler today in New York. It will only be 83 degrees. Yesterday was absolutely like a pressure cooker here in this city, you know?
CHETRY: It really was. And the problems went on and on. The problems with the flooding and the rain in the afternoon and the heat, what a mess. Hopefully a better day today.
ROBERTS: Good morning to you. It's Thursday the 9th of August. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
New this morning, New York City is trying to get back on track after the storm of a century, a tornado in Brooklyn, reportedly the first in more than 100 years. The National Weather Service says an F- 2 tornado touched down in bay ridge Brooklyn around this time yesterday tearing up apartment building rooftops and ripping trees off city blocks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN PILLER, BROOKLYN REISDNET: Well, we were pretty shocked because that tree was huge and we thought, you know, it must have been a tornado because we've never seen damage like this before and we've had some awful storms here, but nothing like this.
CHETRY: Nothing like this is right. It was part of a quick but intense storm that literally brought the city to its knees, paralyzing the subway system, stranding millions of subway commuters. New York City transit says that subways still aren't moving in parts of Queens. New York's governor said the pumps that protect the funnel from flooding may need a serious overhaul. We're going to be speaking with Senator Chuck Schumer in the next hour.
An arrest warrant could be issued as soon as today in the execution of three college students. As many as five people may have been involved in these killings in Newark. Today's Newark Star Ledger says people have a fingerprint from the school yard. It matches someone with a criminal record. Coming up in our 8:00 hour, we're going to be hearing from three people who knew one of the victims.
Mitt Romney is attacking Giuliani on immigration. This is the strongest conflict so far between the Republican front runners.
Senator John McCain's campaign is getting a boost from former Secretary of State Colin Powell. He donated the maximum allowed by an individual, and that's $2,300.
A U.S. importer of Chinese tired recalled 255,000 tires. About twice that money could pose a risk because they lack the safety feature to prevent the tread from separating.
ROBERTS: To Utah now, new progress in the search for six trapped miners. Right now, an overhead drill is within 500 feet of the spot where the men are believed to be stuck. Once that's completed, rescuers can snake a camera deep down into the mine to look for signs of life.
The rescue efforts still continue and last night our Gary Tuchman was the only reporter allowed into the mine and right at the point of the collapse. 3 miles in. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): we entered the Crandall Canyon Mine. A three-mile journey in a small truck that would take about a half hour in utter darkness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right there is where the rescue efforts 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 tantalizingly close, but with the coal separating them from us, this was an unusual opportunity to see how much work rescue workers still have.
(on camera): Frankly, it's eerie standing here knowing the six miners may be on the other side of us. There's a steady wind blowing. We're 30 minutes away from the nearest exit. In normal times, it's stressful. Nevertheless, the rescue workers, the people who 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the coal breaks away and lays there, we call that sluffage.
TUCHMAN: But there are no more. We see other damage to the mine walls caused by the initial collapse, but it's the feverish work to rescue six men dead or alive that stays in our minds. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 it's keeping these rescue workers going.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Gary Tuchman reporting for us this morning.
Coming up in just about 25 minutes' time, we're going to be speaking with Bob Murray, the CEO of that mine about the rescue efforts.
CHETRY: When can rescue efforts get to the workers? Dan Simon joins us now. What are you hearing about the effort?
DAN SIMON, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. It's possible late tonight or sometime tomorrow we'll know the fate of these miners. Bob Murphy says the drilling is progressing well. He says it's possible that at least one of them could penetrate the cavity where the miners are sometime this evening. That is critical because it will allow rescuers to see if the miners are alive and if they are, it allows an opening to pass through life saving supplies.
The families here could know the answers soon, which brings us to the families. There's so much support for the families. Last night there was a vigil. More than 200 people showed up. They had candles, candles that spelled out the word hope.
CHETRY: Are they still concerned about the possibility of those mountain bumps, as they're calling it, or just the shifts in the earth that could delay or deter these rescuers?
SIMON: Well, that's happening underground and yes, they believe it's going to take about seven days to reach these miners underground. Today, the primary focus is getting these drills in place. Remember, these two drills have to go about 1,500 feet into the mountain, penetrate through the sand stone. At least one of them had gone about 1,000 feet as of last night. Not much farther to go. Again, we could know the fate of these miners as early as this evening, Kiran.
CHETRY: Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed that they are, indeed, in there alive. Dan Simon, thank you.
ROBERTS: We are learning brand new details this morning about the men trapped inside that mine, including who they are. Right now CNN can confirm the identities of two of them. The first, Kerry Allred. The next, Manuel Sanchez, he has spent the past 17 years working coal mines in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. He has three daughters and a son. His brother is in the business and we got that photo from a family member who wanted people to know about Manuel.
Nate Carlisle from the Salt Lake Tribute has been following every story with us. This morning, more new information on exactly who is trapped in the mine. Nate joins me now from outside the mine site.
Good morning to you, Nate. You have been able to identify all of the miners. In general, what are we learning about these people?
NATE CARLISLE, REPORTER, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Good morning. Like you said, first and foremost, we know their names, which is something that was not disclosed and officially still hasn't been disclosed. We're learning a little bit about their family life. Most of these men have children. They have some family in the area. We're also learning about who they are as people. A little bit about their specialties, their senses of humor and why people love them.
ROBERTS: One fellow who you have identified in your story as Don Erickson, tell us about him.
CARLISLE: Don Erickson is a long-time or life-long resident of this area. one person I talked to who worked with him years ago at an auto wrecker says that if Don Erickson is still alive, that the other miners are in good hands because Don Erickson will take care of them. He's been described a little differently than some of the other men. He's been described as a serious man, but one who takes charge.
ROBERTS: You also said that he became a miner because he thought he could get better health and retirement benefits than when he was working for the auto wrecker?
CARLISLE: That's something you hear a lot in this area, that's why the mine is attractive. Because of the high pay and the benefits that you can't find in our industries here.
ROBERTS: Another fellow who you have identified in your story is Brandon Phillips, comes from a family of miners?
CARLISLE: He does. He has a lot of families who, in this area, it's multi generational. And it's believed he lost a relative about 20 years ago in another mine disaster in Utah that killed 20 or more people.
ROBERTS: That was the fire in the Wilbur Mine, if I think I've got that correctly?
CARLISLE: That's correct.
ROBERTS: You've got pretty good back stories on three of the miners, but not the remaining three. Why was it difficult to get the back story on them? Did family members not want to talk or did they not have close family or friends there?
CARLISLE: Well, let's remember, the names officially haven't been disclosed. We've gotten these names through independent reporting. Family members have been discouraged from speaking with reporters. I've tried to approach immediate family members and they've declined interview requests. The people we've found have been extended family and friends and former or current coworkers of these men.
ROBERTS: What are you learning from those people about how the family members are coping through this ordeal?
CARLISLE: You hear a lot about prayer. You also hear a lot about how people, when they go to work in the coal mines, accept the risk. Everybody who works in this area knows that this sort of thing can happen. To some extent, that has helped prepare them for what has happened this week.
ROBERTS: Nate Carlyle has been able to come up with six of the names. CNN has been able to confirm two of those. Nate, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate you getting up early.
CARLISLE: Thank you.
CHETRY: It's a steamy day and it's shaping up to be that way across the east coast. We have a live picture right now from Charleston, South Carolina. The heat index, that's the combination of the actual temperature, as well as the humidity and the temperature factored in, as high at 120.
We'll be checking in with Reynolds Wolf in a couple of minutes to show you the gadget that can help identity what the heat index is. There it is. He's going to show you how it works.
How about this? This is no ordinary umbrella, either. This is another high tech gadget umbrella. Apparently, it can predict the weather. How does it work? We'll show you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: There's a live look of much, much better conditions here in New York City than we saw yesterday morning at this time. Boy, they got two to three inches of rain this time and basically shut down the public transportation system in the nation's largest city.
Maybe we could have used something like what John is holding right now. This is a new high tech umbrella. This is -- it's connected to a wireless device that's actually linked with accuweather.com and apparently it's supposed to be able to tell you whether or not it's raining or what the weather will be like based on some blinking lights here. Is it working?
ROBERTS: I don't seem to be able to turn the darn thing on.
CHETRY: It says when it's rapidly blinking, a thunderstorm is on its way. First...
ROBERTS: I think I broke this.
CHETRY: It was working. All I know is this was in our executive office yesterday and it was blinking like crazy.
ROBERTS: It was like the robot from lost in space -- warning, warning, warning.
CHETRY: You keep this outside your tall closet and if it's blinking you remember to take it with you? ROBERTS: Ahh, there we go.
CHETRY: Would this replace a Reynolds Wolf?
ROBERTS: No, you could never replace Reynolds Wolf. And this is actually hooked up to...
CHETRY: To accuweather.com and it's $140, by the way, from this company, ambient devices. Let's check it out, even though this is really bad luck, right?
ROBERTS: That's what they say. There you go.
CHETRY: There you go.
ROBERTS: So this will protect you from the rain or predict the rain, as well. Another big problem, particularly with the heat we've got across the country these days, what about young kids who are out there? Football practice starts up this month, as well.
Reynolds Wolf has an inventive new device that can help coaches tell them -- you know, help them decide when kids should be out and how long they should be out.
What is this device, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's called the Sky Scan Thermal Indicator. It factors in your temperature and humidity and gives you an idea of the heat index. I can tell you right now on the Reynolds Wolf indicator, you don't need an umbrella for this. In Charleston this morning, it feels like there's a giant wet towel all over the city and it is just brutal out here.
I can tell you that this is something that they've been dealing with in Charleston, not just today, not just yesterday, but for much of the week. On Monday, people were dealing with this as they made their way to work and to school. Many kids making their way out to football practice were dealing with this, as well.
Carri Coke (ph) is a trainer. She's with us now and she's a trainer with Hannahan High School here in Charleston.
CARRI COKE (ph), TRAINER: Yes.
WOLF: Right now your school is experiencing two-a-day practices, right?
COKE (ph): Yes. We were registering between 115 and 120 on the monitor.
WOLF: So they're out of the field and you were able to pick this up?
COKE (ph): Before we started practice, it was the second practice of the day, we usually go out and monitor the conditions beforehand, and it was a bit too hot. We postponed practice for about 30 minutes. the kids went into the weight room, did some activity in there and then we scaled down, just shoulder pads and shorts and went out and took it step by step, just monitored the conditions the entire time.
WOLF: Do you have to look for signs with the kids, too? I know you have this device, but kids, when they're in football practice, they're fighting for positions, they want to impress their coach, and no 17-year-old guy wants to look weak in front of his coach. You have the kind of analyze them yourself, don't you?
COKE (ph): Sure, absolutely.
WOLF: What do you look for?
COKE (ph): I like to walk around and look every kid in the eye, look for signs that they might be ready to pass out, profuse sweating. If they're not sweating at all, that's a big problem. Things like that.
WOLF: I see. Thanks for your time. And you said water is the number one way to fight this off, correct?
COKE (ph): Water is good and sports drinks are good, as well.
WOLF: We're going to send it back to New York where I'm sure it is nice and comfortable in the studio and much cooler than with a 97 degree heat index.
CHETRY: Yeah, but you look great in that hat, Reynolds. I have to ask you a question. This is not blinking like it was yesterday. So according to this umbrella, it's not going to rain in New York. Is that correct?
WOLF: You see, the thing is, you always have to trust humans. You can't trust a darn machine. You have to trust a good weather person.
CHETRY: So what are you telling us about New York today?
ROBERTS: What are you telling us about New York today then?
WOLF: What I'm telling you about New York is that today should be a much better day. You're not expecting much in terms of certainly the tornado we had in Brooklyn, we're not expecting much in terms of heavy rainfall. Maybe a few scattered clouds but...
CHETRY: So our umbrella is right. How about it.
ROBERTS: Worth every penny.
CHETRY: But we'll take Reynolds over the umbrella any day. Thanks so much, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
CHETREY: Still ahead, would you buy a smaller car if that was the only way to buy gas? Ford's boss says you wouldn't. Ali Velshi with the fuel standards, next on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, we've had monkeys that have learned their colors and monkeys that have hidden under a hat on an airplane. Now, a three-pound monkey bit a woman and led police on a chase in Madison, Wisconsin. The monkey got away from his handler who was allowed to have him. The monkey was named Suri.
CHETRY: That obviously wasn't the lady that the monkey bit, but its handler.
ROBERTS: And I don't see a diaper on that monkey, either.
A zoo in Taiwan is delighting visitors with its crocodile hygiene habits. The 225 crock sits still everytime handlers stop to brush his teeth and scrub him down. Laying in wait is probably the way I would put that.
CHETRY: Sit still.
ROBERTS: Waiting for that one mistake. Look at the size of that thing. He uses the same brush for his body as he does his teeth? That's hygiene if I've ever seen it.
CHETRY: Ali Velshi is "Minding your Business" today.
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCE CORRESPONDENT: Can we work out stories where we don't have those stories right before mine? People see that and they're like, oh, there's Ali and the monkey, I'm going to go and get my coffee.
Cars -- Ford's boss says small, fuel economy, better fuel standard cars don't save gas that other things will save gas. They said these government standards that are being proposed are bad for the U.S. economy because Americans don't want to buy the cars that result from that. He didn't suggest it. He came short of saying why don't you do what they do in Europe. Gas is expensive, the taxes are high and our behavior changes as a result of that. Let the market dictate what the fuel economy standards are.
There's a proposal right now to increase fuel economy standards on cars for the first time in 20 years, by 2020, 35 miles per gallon across a company's entire fleet.
ROBERTS: The problem with that theory is in Europe, 100 miles is a long way.
VELSHI: Yeah, that's right. So it's probably a compromise between the two. But he's saying to the government, don't force us and trying to get people to use less feel. We'll see what happens.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.
Still to come this morning, the young woman who is lucky to be alive. She hopped into the ocean and didn't realize there was a shark circling nearby. We'll tell you how she survived that attack.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A shark attack off of Florida and a surgery today for the swimmer who was bitten. 19-year-old Ashley Sillerman says she was on a boat off the Florida Keys yesterday when she decided to jump in the water to cool off. She says she then felt something bite her arm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASHLEY SILLERMAN, SHARK VICTIM: I didn't know what to think. I was...
REPORTER: Did you panic?
SILLERMAN: I was freaking out. I was yelling for everybody to help, call 911.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: People did come to help. Her boyfriend was finally able to pull her back on to the boat. Doctors say it could have been a bull shark.
Here is a look at one story coming up that you can't miss. Do you love steak?
ROBERTS: Yeah, a nice steak grilled on the barbecue is terrific or at a steakhouse or something like that, but apparently it's getting more difficult to find in some areas.
CHETRY: A steak shortage.
The prime cuts of beef are harder to come by, but it has to do with corn, not the animal.
ROBERTS: We'll tell you what the price of corn has to do with the availability of beef.
The next hour of "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
CHETRY: This morning, the first pictures inside the collapse Utah mine. CNN takes you to the front line of disaster, the all-night drilling to find six trapped men. Their names and faces just coming to light.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this is what this is all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
The prayers of hope and a rescue effort renewed on this "AMERICAN MORNING."
Welcome. It's Thursday, August 9th. I'm Kiran Chetry. ROBERTS: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: We start off with the Utah mine. The latest developments and new pictures from inside of the mine where crews are working round the clock to make contact with six trapped miners.
Gary Tuchman went three miles deep into that mine. He was the only network reporter allowed inside during the rescue operation.
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