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American Morning
Mine Chamber Reached; Summer Of Terror?; Dems Debate; 'Minding Your Business'
Aired August 10, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May or may not work.
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JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking developments as they happen on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning to you. Welcome back. Thanks very much for joining us. It's Friday, the 10th of August. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
We have breaking news out of Utah. The first possible chance to contact the six trapped miners at the Crandall Canyon Mine. Early this morning, rescuers were able to drill a two and a half inch hole into the cavity where they think the men are trapped. Crews dropped a microphone down into that hole. So far, though, they have not been able to hear any sounds. Engineers were also able to take air quality samples and the tests showed that the air is breathable. There is enough oxygen, so that if they survived that initial collapse, they do have good air to breathe as they wait to be rescued.
The mine's CEO, Bob Murray, updated reporters overnight about the latest in this rescue attempt. Let's listen.
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BOB MURRAY, CEO, MURRAY ENERGY CORP.: Two good things have happened. One, our engineers hit right on target off of the steep mountain side to where we wanted them to go. And, number two, the atmosphere in the mine is perfect to sustain human life, 20.5 percent oxygen, no methane and a moderate amount of carbon dioxide. That means if they're alive, they're going to stay alive in that atmosphere.
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CHETRY: Well, right now crews are continuing to drill on a second, bigger hole to get a camera to look inside that chamber. It will be big enough, as well, to drop food and water to the miners. When will they expect that one? Well, they say that that hole should be opened up either tonight or early tomorrow.
ROBERTS: Our John Zarrella is at the command center at the entrance of the mine. It's just coming on 5:00 in the morning now there in Utah.
John, it was about four hours ago that we heard from Bob Murray. Has there been any other word -- because I would assume that rescue workers are still listening down that two and a half inch hole for any sign of life?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. It's interesting you note that that listening continues as we speak in case they can pick anything up. But at that same news conference, Richard Stickler, with the Department of Labor, who is here also, he said that he painted a picture of what they did immediately after they lowered that microphone.
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RICHARD STICKLER, ASST. SEC. DEPT. OF LABOR, MINE SAFETY: So everything was shut down in the mine for a quiet period. We also idled the large hole, the eight and five eighth inch hole and spent a period of listening on the microphone. Unfortunately, we were not able to gain any communication from the miners underground.
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ZARRELLA: And again, it's important to note that that's not indicative of anything because of the fact that where that microphone was dropped in. It's possible that it is at a considerable distance from where the miners may be. The microphone may not be powerful enough to pick up any sounds from the miners. They may not know that the microphone is actually in that shaft. So there are other possibilities. It doesn't necessarily portend the worse just because they did not hear anything.
Now the families were briefed before we were briefed here, briefed by Bob Murray. And he said that their reaction was subdued. Certainly, John, not the kind of news that they wanted, but not the worst news either.
ROBERTS: I'm sure that they were hoping against hope that they would have heard something when that drill bit punched through the ceiling of that mine there.
We're hearing a lot of detail about the holes that they're drilling down, but what about the operation actually inside the mine. And Gary Tuchman was following yesterday, John, in terms of trying to clear through that rubble to get to the point of the mine where they believe those miners are trapped.
ZARRELLA: Right. That's that horizontal operation that going on in through that horizontal shaft, where the collapse took place. And, of course, that's all loose coal, but it's still a tedious, tedious process. Originally they had said about seven days it would take them to get into that cavity where they believe the miners are. Now they are saying about four to five days. So there, again, a little bit of good news and some better hope.
John. ROBERTS: Well, you can use any good news in this particular incident. John Zarrella for us at the command center there near the Crandall Canyon Mine.
John, thanks.
While the mining company has not released the miners names yet, family and friends have now confirmed to CNN the identities of four of them. They are 58-year-old Kerry Allred. He's been a miner for 30 years. Friends say that he's a musician on the side. He plays the guitar. Forty-one-year-old Manuel Sanchez, a 17-year veteran of coal mines in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. He's got three daughters, a son and a brother who's also a miners. Carlos Payan, a newcomer to the mine, in his early 20s. He was reportedly planning to soon return to Mexico. And not pictured here, Brandon Phillips, who was also reportedly new to the job.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, we've heard from mine owner Bob Murray this morning. And one point he made was that not hearing any sound from the miners should not be taken either as a bad or good sign at this point. Dennis O'Dell is with the United Mine Workers of America. He joins us from Washington with some more perspective and context this morning on what we're learning.
Good morning. Good to see you again, Dennis.
DENNIS O'DELL, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA: Good morning.
CHETRY: Why is that that we can't really read too much into the fact that they haven't heard anything through this microphone?
O'DELL: Well, it depends on depends on exactly where the microphone came under -- you know, where it entered into the mine underground. And there's areas away from that if the pillars that were left intact, there could be places where the miners could be away from that where they didn't have heard that.
It's unfortunate. People have asked us all along, since the Sago event and the new miner act legislation came into play, one of the key revisions of this regulation is tracking devices that is supposed to be implemented and put with miners because they use these in other countries. We haven't got that yet. If we would have tracking devices on these miners, like the miner act requires to have, we'd know their exact location and it would a lot easier for us to pick them up.
What we're doing now with a camera and with a microphone is just kind of, unfortunately, hit and miss. And some luck, with the grace of God, that we'll be in an area where we can see them or hear them.
CHETRY: So you talk about the tracking devices. Clearly they're not on here. What about the use of any type of ability to have wireless cameras down there where, you know, there are cameras set up in various points throughout the mine that they could be accessed without having to drill, but they're just always there?
O'DELL: Well, that's also a key revisions that is in the new legislation that came about as a result of Sago. Wireless communications. We're trying to get to the point where we can have wireless communications to reach from the underground to the surface. The tracking device would be a key thing because you could pinpoint exactly where they are. And, also, other countries use what they call a PED (ph), where they can actually send or receive messages from the miners' cap lights to the outside.
This is technology that's available. This is technology that the miner act has touched on requirements for the operators to have now. But they haven't been implemented like they should be.
Hopefully, we'll get there. I mean, we were asked by Congress, we were asked by miners, if Sago were to happen today, and here we are over a year later, would we be any better off than we were then? And I think this is proof that we're not much better off as far as protection for miners go. Hopefully they can drop the camera in and maybe we can get lucky and see something and identify the area. They may have to take another attempt at dropping it in another place. We just don't know until they do it.
CHETRY: And I do have a question about that as well. We're talking about the drilling continuing on a wider hole, that this can be expected. Hopefully they can be expected to punch through the cavity either tonight or into the morning. Why does that one take so much longer to be -- does drilling start at the same time? It takes longer because it's a wider hole or why are we looking at such a time gap between the two?
O'DELL: That's what it is. It's a larger hole that they have to drill. And they try to case it to protect the inside as they go in to keep it from collapsing when they do drop the camera. So it takes a little longer to do that.
CHETRY: And then, meanwhile, as all of that is going on, there still is the work continuing, the borrowing that the rescue workers are attempting horizontally. That is also taking place. They say one of the updates that we got from one of our reporters on the scene, John Zarrella, was that if all goes well and there's no more seismic activity, there's no more cave-ins, they're going to be able to reach that in four to five days. Is that OK? Can we expect to see if they survive this initial collapse to have four or five days from now, which would put them at more than a week and a half, for them to have survived?
O'DELL: You know, if the miners were able to get to an area where they could be protected from the fall, if the fall didn't -- if they weren't caught in the fall, and if they were able to get to an area of the mine to where they could barricade. You know, miners are taught to barricade in the event that they have to be rescued, if they have water and food -- we're taught as miners that when we're put in situations like this, that we try to pound on the roof and make a noise so that they can hear us on the surface. We do that. We take turns with each other, depending on how many miners are trapped to try to establish communicate from the underground to the surface.
We also are taught to rest and wait and try to conserve our energy. And so, you know, people have survived a lot longer than this and made it. So if they have water and they're in a location to where they can be protected from the fall, we still have a chance that they'll be fine.
CHETRY: Well, we're all hoping that that's the case and the outcome is the best possible. Dennis O'Dell, thanks for being with us again.
O'DELL: Thank you.
CHETRY: We're also going to be heading back to Utah throughout the morning for updates as crews listen for any sound that the miners are alive.
ROBERTS: Kiran, another important story that we're following this morning. A sell-off around the world today after the Dow's second worst day of the year. Japan's Nikkei index closed at a five month low this morning. European stocks are trading lower right now. Australia suffered its biggest daily drop since the 9/11 attacks, down 3.7 percent.
Here in the United States right now, stock futures are down, making it look like the markets could fall again. But who knows with all the volatility these days. The Dow Industrials had its second worst session of the year yesterday, off 387 points to close at 13,270. We're going to hear the full story from Ali Velshi coming up in just a few minutes time. And how the sub prime mortgage market touched off this big drop.
CHETRY: And some other headlines this morning. A U.S. military chopper, forced to make an emergency landing overnight in Iraq. It happened during a raid in Yusifiyah, 10 miles south of Baghdad. Two American soldiers on board were hurt. The military is investigating now why that chopper went down.
In Minnesota, the medical examiner says that recovery teams may have found as many as three more bodies from the I-35W bridge collapse. That brings the number of dead to eight. Crews have been searching for at least five more people that are listed as missing and presumed dead.
ROBERTS: Well, we've had it a couple of days ago and again flood watches in New York City today. Rob Marciano joins us now from Atlanta with your extreme weather outlook.
How bad is it going to be today, Rob?
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CHETRY: And now to our terror watch and what's being done to protect us from any possible attack. Last month Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he had a gut feeling that there could be a terror attack this summer. So what is he feeling today? Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is in our Washington bureau.
And what are you hearing from counter terrorism officials now, Jeanne?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, those officials continue to say that there is no specific and credible intelligence indicated either that an attack on the U.S. is imminent or that there is a terror cell in the United States. But Secretary Michael Chertoff said again yesterday, there is a concern about this summer period.
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MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The frequency of statements recent publicly, the history of what we've seen. All of these things, I think, give us a sense that we're entering a period where the threat is perhaps somewhat heightened.
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MESERVE: U.S. government officials do tell CNN that the investigation into the car bombing plots in London and Glasgow this past June has led to e-mail addresses of individuals in the United States. But, they say, the FBI checked them out and found no evidence of a terror cell in the United States. One official described it this way. It's peaked our interest but only to the extent there were individuals with some of the same general views and philosophies.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Very interesting. Jeanne Meserve, thank you.
MESERVE: You bet.
ROBERTS: Hot off the presses. A new poll in the presidential race and a big bonus for one of the Republican candidates. We'll tell you who's gaining steam on the campaign trail, coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: If you're just joining us this morning, we have some important developments in the efforts to get to those trapped miners in Utah. Just before midnight Eastern Time, rescuers were able to drill a two-inch hole into the area where they think the miners are trapped. A microphone was dropped into the hole. They didn't hear any sounds, but they're saying that doesn't necessarily mean the miners are not alive. They say it's a large cavity and they could be in a different area. There still could be rubble or debris separating the microphone and the miners.
Another thing they were able to do, though, is test the air quality. And they say the air quality is good. Some 20 percent oxygen, enough to sustain life as they continue drilling a second hole, a larger one, where they'll be able to put in a camera, as well as food and water. We'll keep you posted on the latest developments out of Utah throughout the hour. ROBERTS: Seventeen minutes now after the hour.
Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani is still a top choice for Republicans. That's according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, released a little more than an hour ago. Twenty- nine percent of people surveyed said they would vote for the former New York City mayor. He was 7 percentage points ahead of his nearest contender, former Senator Fred Thompson, who's not even officially in the race for president. John McCain and Mitt Romney followed with 16 and 12 percent.
Our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, is joining us from Los Angeles this morning. She was there for the Democratic issues debate on gay and lesbian issues last night.
Candy, we'll talk about that. But, first of all, let's talk about this poll. I thought it was also interesting that Giuliani was found to be the most likable and the most electable.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And what's interesting is, obviously, Rudy Giuliani has this reputation of being gruff, somewhat acerbic and a little aggressive. And so that he comes out as the most likable, and probably more important the most electable, is good news for the Giuliani team.
ROBERTS: Now, of course, tomorrow, in Iowa, it's the Republican straw poll. Giuliani's not going to be taking part in that. Neither will John McCain. And Mitt Romney, I mean if he doesn't win, the guy spent about $2 million trying to win this thing. But does it really mean a whole lot?
CROWLEY: It does if you're in the second tier. This is beginning the windowing out process, John. What will happen is that Sam Brownback, Tommy Thompson, Mike Huckabee, those who are struggling in the second tier, are all trying to come in second or third. They need a good showing or else, even by their own accounts, they're going to have a tough time going on.
ROBERTS: But that straw poll has been described not so much as a king maker, as a peasant maker. Is that a good way to put it?
CROWLEY: That's a good way to put it. It's about windowing out, not about selecting a winner.
ROBERTS: Now last night the gay and lesbian forum there in Los Angeles, the candidates were really hammered on this issue of gay marriage and why they didn't support it. They all said that they supported civil unions. Do you think -- did that win over the crowd? Did they need to win over that crowd? I mean, where else are they going to go?
CROWLEY: Well, you know, it did not win over the crowd, which clearly wanted a blanket statement about supporting gay marriage. They did it not get that. Basically Barack Obama gave a typical response. Take a listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think homosexuality is a choice or is it biological?
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a choice. It's . . .
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know if you understand the question. Do you think -- do you think a homosexual is born that way or do you think that around seventh grade we go, oh, I want to be gay?
RICHARDSON: You know, I'm not a scientist. It's -- it's -- you know, I don't see this as an issue of science or definition.
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ROBERTS: Candy, that wasn't Barack Obama, obviously. That was Bill Richardson. It was something we wanted to highlight, though, because it looked like he really slipped on a banana peel with that answer last night.
CROWLEY: He did with this group, obviously. And, in fact, knew it almost immediately. They put out a press release saying, look, let me clarify what's going on here. I don't believe that homosexuality is a choice. Clearly that is the answer that this particular community is looking for.
ROBERTS: All right. Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. Thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it.
Kiran.
CHETRY: An offer you can't refuse topping your "Quick Hits" now. Want a piece of "The Sopranos"? Well, now that the hit show is over, the owner of the building that doubled for Satriallis (ph) Pork and Meats -- am I saying it wrong? OK, good. Is selling off the place brick by brick. See, I would have bought the sausage or, you know, the bacon. Who wants to buy a brick? Anyway, they're selling from $25 to $50 with a serial number and a certificate of authenticity. The building will be demolished next month to make way for a new condo complex, which will be called The Soprano. No lie. That's what they're telling me.
Roller coaster stock market. It's enough to drive you crazy. Well, there is some help for that. Some financial advisers are now teaming up with shrinks. Analysts say that money therapy can help people feel better about parting with their cash and it can help them deal with losing it, especially if they're already suffering from depression.
Speaking of depression, the Dow dropping nearly 400 points yesterday. So what's in store for investors when trading opens today? We're going to get that answer live from the New York Stock Exchange next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: It's 24 minutes past the hour now. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business."
Have you seen the shrink, Ali? They're say that, you know, when the Dow goes down that far, you may have to go talk to somebody.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I was hearing you talk about. And that might not be a bad idea. You certainly need two things to handle this market. One is, you've got to be sort of stable of mind on this one and you've got to have a tough stomach because this has been really volatile. It's been very fast-moving. And it changes from minute-to-minute.
Yesterday we saw a day that started off really badly. We were off more than 230 points in the first few minutes of trading. And then by the end of the day, it was the second biggest sell-off of the year, 380 points lower on the Dow. Now we're looking at futures that are pointing to 142 points lower at the open. You saw that's what the Dow looked like for the year so far.
The good news is the Dow is still up 6.5 percent on the year. And if you've had a diversified portfolio of investments, hopefully you are as well. But right now we have markets in London, in Paris and Hong Kong all off about 3 percent. Nikkei in Tokyo was also off as well. So we're looking at potentially another rough open today and this is all about the trickle up effect of sub prime mortgages, the people defaulting on their mortgage payment and how that has worked its way up through the mortgage companies and the investment banks that lent those mortgage companies money.
So, Kiran, we don't know when this ends. We haven't seen the end of it yet. Most people we've talked to don't suggest that there's a long-term bear market in our future, but there's going to be some choppy trading. So seek out the therapist and the Rolaids and, you know, see if you can make it through one more day.
CHETRY: You're right, it is Friday, after all, right, Ali? Things always have a chance of improving next week. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Well, here's a look now at some of the stories coming up in our next half hour that you can't miss. Remember yesterday we showed you the hero boy who saved his dad's life when his father passed out behind the wheel of a big rig truck? The little kid jumped over there and took that big wheel himself.
CHETRY: It really was a quick-thinking decision. And there they are. That's Matt Lovo and his nine-year-old son Matie (ph). They are live outside of our Time Warner studios in the big rig. What could have been a disaster, a tragedy, ended well because of the smart thinking of this nine-year-old. And we're going to meet him when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
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CHETRY: That was a pretty shot this morning. This is coming to us courtesy of WHAS in Louisville, Kentucky, this morning. ROBERTS: Can we go there?
CHETRY: Yes, it looks beautiful, right? Nice blue sky.
ROBERTS: It looks so much nicer than here.
CHETRY: Sunny today. It's already 79. Heading up to a high of 93. And they are going to be generally clear throughout the day and the next couple of days. So things are looking good if you're down in Kentucky.
ROBERTS: What a nice day. Picture perfect.
CHETRY: Very pretty.
And welcome, once again. Thanks for being with us on this Friday. It's August 10th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
Breaking news out of Utah this morning and the first possible chance for contact with six trapped miners at the Crandall Canyon Mine. Early this morning rescuers were able to drill a two and a half inch hole right near where they believe that the men may have been trapped since Monday. And the good news with that hole, it did enter an open space. It didn't end up in a coal seam, as some people were concerned that it might.
Crews were able to drop a microphone down that steel tube. So far they haven't been able to hear any sounds, though. Engineers were also able to take some air quality samples. Tests show that the air is breathable, no methane, low levels of carbon dioxide as well. So if they survived the initial collapse, the miners should have been able to survive.
The mine's owner, CEO Bob Murray updated reporters overnight, it was around 2:30 Eastern Time. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MURRAY, PRES., CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: Two good things have happened. One, our engineers hit right on target off of this steep mountainside to where we wanted them to go. And, number two, the atmosphere in the mine is perfect to sustain human life; 20.5 percent oxygen, no methane. And a moderate amount of carbon dioxide. That means if they're alive, they're going to stay alive in that atmosphere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Right now crews are drilling a bigger hole about nine inches across to fit a camera down to get a look inside the chamber, also drop food and water to the miners, if there is any signs of life down there. They expect to have that hole opened up either late tonight or early tomorrow. Of course, the efforts continue inside the mine as well, to clear away the rubble to try to get the rescue workers back into the area where the miners are believed to be.
CHETRY: Following the latest from the scene now is John Zarrella. He is just outside of the mine command center, not far from the mine.
What's the latest, John?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, you know, when they did get that microphone down inside there one of the things they did do is they shut down the operation on that 8 1/2-inch hole. And everyone was quiet and still for a period of time. So that they could listen carefully.
And there's no real indication why they did not hear from the miners. It's certainly possible that they weren't close enough to the microphone to where they would have been picked up from the microphone. So, at that news conference, Bob Murray said that the fact that they didn't hear from them is not really an indication of anything one way or another.
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MURRAY: The fact that we have not picked up any sound, I believe, should not be interpreted as bad news. I would not make that decision and that conclusion yet.
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ZARRELLA: Now, it's going to take them about another 24 hours or so, give or take, to get that larger 8 5/8ths inch-hole drilled and put a camera down inside there that can rotate and see 360-degrees; give them a much better idea. Hopefully they'll be able to spot the miners then. And at the same time parallel work going on in the parallel tunnel where the collapse actually took place digging out the debris.
They now say four to five days -- it will still take them before they can get the collapsed coal out and actually into that cavity where they believe the miners are -- Kiran.
CHETRY: You know, the families still just clinging to any type of information they can get. Did we know what -- what we may learn when these video cameras finally get down there?
ZARRELLA: Well, the real hope, obviously, is that when they get that camera down there, they will actually be able to see the miners. That would be the greatest of all hopes that they have. If they don't see the miners, again, they say that's still not an indication of anything, but then it will really mean that we won't really know anything until they dig the hole out which be another four to five days, Kiran.
CHETRY: John Zarrella in Utah for us, thanks. We will be heading back to Utah for updates as crews continue to listen for any sign that the miners are alive. ROBERTS: We have a CNN exclusive for you now, one-on-one with Hillary Clinton. In the new CNN poll just out, Senator Clinton is showing a commanding lead, 44 percent of Democrats are backing her for president. That's nearly twice as many as those for her nearest competitor, Senator Barack Obama.
Is she unstoppable? Suzanne Malveaux talked exclusively with Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas at the National Association of Black Journalists. Suzanne moderated a discussion with Senator Clinton and caught up with her afterwards.
Hey, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John.
Actually, Senator Clinton performs about 22 points ahead of Barack Obama, pretty consistently. But Barack Obama is faced with a question that no other candidate is faced with. It is one that some consider offensive, irrelevant, significant, it means different things to different people. But I decided to pose the question to Hillary Clinton.
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MALVEAUX (on camera): Are you black enough to sustain --
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: -- to sustain the kind of support that you got from your husband? And what makes you the better candidate over a black man in representing the issues regarding African-American community?
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, Suzanne, I'm going to stand because I can see better this way, if that's all right with you.
MALVEAUX: Go for it.
CLINTON: I am really thrilled to be running at a time in our history when, on a stage, you can see an African-American man, a Hispanic man and a woman. You don't see that on the other side of the aisle when they have their debates.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: John, I had a chance to catch up with her back stage for a few moments to get a couple of questions in with her, on subjects ranging from the latest comments by Elizabeth Edwards to the controversy by "The Washington Post" columnist who wrote about the senator's cleavage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Elizabeth Edwards recently said, about her husband, complained that she could not get the kind of media attention as the other candidates, because, in her words, she said we can't make him black, and we can't make him a woman. What do you make of her remarks?
CLINTON: Well, I'm just going to speak for myself. I'm running as hard as I can to try to talk about the issues that I think are important to Americans. And we have a great group of candidates running. It's a wonderful group and I think you don't have to be against anyone. We have the luxury of deciding who we want to be for. And, obviously, I'm hoping I can convince people to be for me.
MALVEAUX: A "Washington Post" columnist recently took issue with your dress on the Senate floor. Your campaign slammed her. Do you think that she crossed the line?
CLINTON: Well, people get to write about whatever they want to write about and we get to respond however we wish to respond. That is part of our great tradition of the First Amendment. And I'm going to keep saying what I think and let other people do what they want to do.
MALVEAUX: Caroline Giuliani made some news because she became the next Barack Obama girl, if you will, supporting Barack Obama, instead of her father. Have you checked in with Chelsea lately?
(LAUGHTER)
CLINTON: Yeah, I'm pretty confident about that.
MALVEAUX: She's on your side?
CLINTON: I'm pretty sure of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: John, today, we get to hear from Senator Barack Obama at the convention as well -- John.
ROBERTS: As we said, Suzanne, our poll shows her with a lead more than twice that of her closest competitor. There seems to be a growing sense of inevitability about her candidacy here. Do you get that sense from her campaign?
MALVEAUX: What you get the sense is that really her experience is beginning to pay off and beginning to show, particularly in the debates and some of the comments that recently Barack Obama has made. And that is something you're even seeing in the polls within the African-American community she has a great deal of support.
ROBERTS: Suzanne Malveaux for us live this morning from Las Vegas.
Suzanne, good to see you, thanks.
MALVEAUX: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, when we come back, we're going to meet an amazing little boy, a nine-year-old who was riding behind the wheel of a big rig with his dad when suddenly an emergency happened. He knew exactly what to do not only to save his life but his dad's.
They're here with us now and we're going to talk to both of them when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 40 minutes after the hour.
Check out these pictures of a warehouse fire in Miami. Firefighters say a worker inside using a torch when the flame ignited the insulation in the wall. It quickly spread up to the roof; gases, then, in the building's refrigeration units caused several explosions, sending chunks of concrete and other debris into the street. Several cars and buildings were damaged in that fire and explosion.
In India, doctors are rushing food, water, and medicine to millions of people cut off by flooding in India and Bangladesh; 2,000 people are dead from the worst monsoons to hit South Asia in decades. The rain has stopped, but now there's a major concern about the spread of disease.
Back in this country, parts of Cleveland are cleaning up this morning after a wave of brutal storms; including at least three tornadoes. One of the twisters flattened four barns and killed a cow in a farming community outside the city. Another tore the roofs off of buildings and threw cars around. So far, though, no reports of injuries.
Rob Marciano is watching the extreme weather from our Weather Center down there in Atlanta.
It looks like the New York in the crosshairs again today, Rob?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Listen to this incredible story. A truck driver and his son, they were on a highway heading home, when dad passed out behind the wheel. The truck was hauling 100,000 pounds of lumber. It all could of easily ended in tragedy, but it didn't thanks to Matt Lovo's nine-year-old son, Mattie. They both join us this morning.
Thank you for both being with us. I know you took the red eye from Oregon this morning.
Mattie, tell us what happened.
MATT LOVO, JR., SAVED HIS FATHER: I was sitting down beside my dad, and he fell over beside me, and I thought he was faking it, and he wasn't.
So then we were -- there was a power pole and we hit it. So I then -- we got on the road, almost hit a car, and I turned off the key and moved it to the sidewalk. And a guy jumped in and put the brake on.
CHETRY: Wow. So how did you know, first of all, when your dad passed out -- at first you thought he was joking, so you hit him. And nothing happens. How did you know that you needed to turn off the ignition and steer the truck?
LOVO, JR.: I don't really know.
CHETRY: His instinct kicked?
MATT LOVO, SR., SAVIED BY NINE-YEAR-OLD SON: He just reacted, exactly.
CHETRY: He rides with you a lot?
LOVO, SR.: Yeah, quite a bit. At least every other day in the summer and all days off of school.
CHETRY: So he's riding with you in the summer. You don't even know at this point what happened to you?
LOVO, SR.: Exactly.
CHETRY: You lost conscious sentence.
LOVO, SR.: Yeah. The whole ride is a blank to me. I could of easily just not been there.
CHETRY: They're checking it out now. You possibly may have had a seizure? Nothing like this has ever happened to you before?
LOVO, SR.: No.
CHETRY: Thank God your son was there and you knew what to do. What it they tell you later, on the rescue crews, about what happened in the minutes you were out cold?
LOVO, SR.: As we were sitting there, they said you're not going to believe what your boy did. You guys were coming into oncoming traffic and he steered the truck and got it all back within your own lanes. And shut the truck off, and got it slow enough for someone who else was able to jump on, and get the truck the rest of the way stopped. Which I can't say I'm totally surprised because, you know, he's a smart little guy.
But, you know, he took care of us. He saved our company. He saved both of our butts and made sure nobody else got hurt, most importantly.
CHETRY: He also knew to pick up the CB radio. What did you say into the radio, Mattie?
LOVO, JR.: I said help and right when I was done saying help, the guy jumped in. And he put the brake on. But then we got out, and then the paramedics came. Cops and these U.S. Navy people were helping out, but then they left.
CHETRY: Were you scared?
LOVO, JR.: Yeah. I was really scared.
CHETRY: Were you more scared about what happened to your dad or about whether or not you were going to be able to steer the truck?
LOVO, JR.: About my dad.
CHETRY: Yeah. And what did your wife say when you told her what happened?
LOVO, SR.: Well, of course, she was quite upset when she finally got a hold of us at the hospital, because she had been playing tag around to get a hold of us. But she -- she was very impressed with her son, and thanked him a lot. As did my mother -- my mother also called him up, and said she wanted to thank him for saving her son's life, and so.
CHETRY: And we were talking before the show, what does he want? You said that he's been getting so much attention and he's been talking to the local TV stations, but what is the one thing he wants?
LOVO, SR.: Well, rather than, you know, most anything else, he just wants to PlayStation 3 for in the truck, he says!
CHETRY: He has priorities.
LOVO, SR.: Well, yeah. They asked him if he wanted to be a truck driver like dad, he bagged out on that, too. He just wants to be a chef.
CHETRY: Really? You want to be a chef?
LOVO, JR.: Yeah.
CHETRY: That's pretty cool as well. Are you going to think twice before you get in the truck again, or are you ready to go back?
LOVO, JR.: I don't know. I think I might think twice.
LOVO, SR.: You're going to think twice, huh?
LOVO, JR.: I mean, yeah, I'll go.
CHETRY: I think this is all dependent on whether the PlayStation 3 makes its way into the truck or not.
LOVO, SR.: It could be.
CHETRY: Well, maybe he'll get some sort of a award from your company as well because he really did -- not only think on his feet, but saved a lot of lives.
LOVO, SR.: I am the company. So I guess you just committed me to local Toys "R" Us. Yeah, he actually is the son of Lovo & Son Trucking.
CHETRY: You're really the heir to this? You were actually protecting your future without knowing it.
We did line up -- we did say to you guys the fun places that he would love to go in New York. We'll give you the map. You can find Toys "R" Us, and a bunch of other cool places.
And you certainly deserve it, Mattie. Congratulations and thanks for coming.
LOVO, JR.: Thanks.
LOVO, SR.: Thank you.
CHETRY: You, too. I hope everything gets sorted out and you figure out what happened.
LOVO, SR.: Me, too, so we can get back to driving.
CHETRY: Thanks for being with us, both of you.
LOVO, SR.: Thank you.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: I love the way you boxed dad in like that.
Still ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, work continues at the site of that collapsed Utah mine. An update on all of the overnight breaking developments.
Also, ahead, the mortgage mess, hits the biggest mortgage lender in the United States. Our Gerri Willis has the news are from Countrywide and what consumers need to know next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. If you're just joining us, we have important new developments in the effort to get those trapped miners in Utah out.
Right now, rescuers are continuing to drill a larger hole, 8 1/2 or 8 5/8ths inches trying to get down there in a camera as well as food and water. They were able to drill into a smaller hole. Down into the cavity where they believe the miners are. They have heard no sounds, so far, through the microphone, but they say they cannot make any conclusions from that because it could be that it's so large that they're just not able to be in the exact area where the miners indeed are.
They hope to find out more details, though, by this evening when the drilling will finally puncture through, and they can get the camera down there. They also say that they were able to take some air quality readings and things good look in that area. About 20 percent oxygen, no methane.
And again, they are continuing to drill on the wider hole as they continue to bore through horizontally as well, eventually, to get to the trapped miners. They say if all goes well that will be four to five days from today -- John.
ROBERTS: Could be another shaky day on Wall Street. Overseas markets trading sharply lower. And the nation's biggest home mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial also seeing trouble ahead. Gerri Willis joins us now.
What is going on with Countrywide?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Countrywide, one of the largest lenders in country, in fact, the largest in terms of sales volume having terrible problems in a filing last night, really exposing itself. What is going on with its loans. Subprime loans, we've talked so much about that before. They have 800 million in subprime loans and 20 percent of those they're having problems with.
And this is a really complicated field now. That means they have to hang on to this stuff in their own portfolios and can't tell them and make money on them. The other problem for Countrywide, of course, they're having problems with loans to people with good credit. This is not what bankers expected, John.
ROBERTS: So, what is this going to mean for consumers, then? Other than the fact that they're seeing their investments starting to go down, because of the fact the Dow is losing. What does it mean for them in terms of their mortgages?
WILLIS: I got to tell you, if you want to go out and get a loan today, get ready. You're going to pay more for it. You are going to have to have better credit. It's going to cost you more money. The terms will not be as good. None of this loosey-goosey interest only kind of stuff. The loan situation has changed and changed dramatically so get ready. You are going to have to have a better credit score.
ROBERTS: At least one big mortgage bank, American Home Mortgage actually went bankrupt. What should a person do if their mortgage company, or their bank or whatever, goes bankrupt?
WILLIS: We've had scores of company go out of business. And guess, what? You have to keep paying your mortgage if your lender does out of business, because that loan is going to be sold to somebody else. So you're not off the hook.
ROBERTS: These just keep transferring around, right? Mortgages get sold all the time?
WILLIS: That's absolutely right. The terms of your loan -- here is the good news -- will not change. So if you have a great locked in, you will continue to have that. But your payment due date, and address, that you send your mortgage payment to can change. But you have to get notified by that. You have some time to get the payment to the right place. There are some safeguards in place for you.
But I have got to tell you, John, this credit crunch is not pretty. It's not just affecting individuals, it's affecting companies. Lenders don't know what to do so they're being really, really stingy. ROBERTS: It certainly shocked the stock markets overseas. Ali Velshi was suggesting that you can still get a pretty good rate on fixed mortgage, and if you have one of those ARMs that looks like it is going to adjust up, is it a idea to lock in on a fixed?
WILLIS: It's always a great idea to lock in a fix, if rates are good, and they are right now.
But I have to tell you, you know, what is interesting about this market right now, professional investors, flight to quality, they're buying Treasuries. They will drive down interest rates. So keep an eye on those interest rates. It will be interesting to see where they are by the end of the year, but the forecast, you know, pretty good.
ROBERTS: Some people expecting the Fed to drop interest rates in September some.
WILLIS: To cut rates, absolutely.
ROBERTS: Gerri, thanks very much.
Be sure to catch Gerri, by the way, on "Open House" this weekend. She will more on the mortgage meltdown, plus financial aid scams to watch out for, new rules in the workplace etiquette , and how to choose a good home contractor. Saturday morning, 9:30 Eastern, "Open House" right here on CNN.
We're back in a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY (voice over): Coming up on "American Morning." raging wildfires. So intense they're expected to burn until snow falls. Firefighters fight fatigue and sweltering conditions in a raging battle against Mother Nature. An exclusive look at is next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. We want to let you know about a couple of stories coming up that you don't want to miss -- you can't miss. One of them is this ongoing investigation into a triple murder that took place in Newark, New Jersey.
Police have been searching for suspects. Yesterday, oddly enough, one man turned himself in to the mayor. Let's listen to what Cory Booker said about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR CORY BOOKER, NEWARK, N.J.: Immediately, I turned around. And turned to a detective, who put the individual handcuffs. We then walked up and took him into the homicide offices. I had absolutely nothing to say to this individual. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Really weird that a suspect would want to turn himself into the mayor, and only the mayor. In the meantime, Cory Booker himself under heat because he campaigned, and won election, on a pledge to reduce violence in the City of Newark and the murder rate -- I mean, it has gone down just a little bit -- but what happened over the weekend with those execution-style murders have people up in arms. Saying Booker doesn't deserve another day in office. We will be talking to him, coming up in our next hour.
CHETRY: We've also been following this story out of the West. There are dozens of wildfires that are burning. The latest situation right now is that it does not look good. And Sean Callebs got exclusive access to the fire line of one particularly devastating fire in Idaho. He's going to take us there when AMERICAN MORNING continues now.
ROBERTS: Next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS (voice over): Breaking news: A microphone reaches the spot in the collapsed mine where six men are believed to be trapped, but, so far, it hears nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, we were not able to gain any communication from the miners underground.
ROBERTS: This morning, the next step for rescuers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully, they can drop the camera in, and maybe we can get lucky.
ROBERTS: And signs of hope for the families.
BOB MURRAY, PRES., CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: We just got the air reading. It's very, very good. That means if they're alive, they're going to stay alive.
ROBERTS: We're live from Utah with the late-breaking developments on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you. Welcome back. Thanks for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. It is Friday, the 10th of August. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry.
If you are just waking up, we've been following developing breaking news out of Utah this morning. As the rescuers make another push and a breakthrough overnight punching through a two-inch hole, where they think that the six miners are trapped.
They were able to drop a microphone down into that hole. So far, they have not been able to hear any sounds. They say that's not necessarily an indication of whether the miners are alive or dead. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
