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New Orleans Councilman Pleads Guilty to Bribery; Karl Rove Resigns; Third Hole to Be Drilled in Search Efforts for Trapped Miners; Gunman Shoots Three in Church; NASA Ponders Action on Damaged Tile

Aired August 13, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL ROVE, BUSH POLITICAL STRATEGIST: I'm grateful to have been a witness to history. It has been the joy and the honor of a lifetime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: The president's top political strategist leaving White House. Will he be the chief architect of another presidential campaign?

T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: Also, waiting and praying. Families of trapped miners desperate for any sign of life. We're live from Utah.

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Don Lemon.

PHILLIPS: And we're getting word now that we are expecting a news conference. Another scandal striking the city of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

Popular New Orleans city council member, Oliver Thomas, actually -- he was a likely candidate for mayor in 2010. He has pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges.

We're told that Thomas entered the plea before the U.S. district judge today. Bond was set for $25,000.

Apparently, Oliver Thomas was accused of taking $15,000 in bribes from a businessman who was seeking to maintain a city parking lot contract. That businessman under a much bigger investigation.

We are waiting for a news conference live out of New Orleans. I'm told it's just starting. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... ground rules for this press conference, and we ask that you respect them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Councilman Thomas will give you a brief statement. He will not answer questions. We ask you to respect his privacy, his family's privacy, and we ask you not to turn this into a circus for the people of this city.

Councilman Thomas.

OLIVER THOMAS, NEW ORLEANS COUNCILMAN: Good afternoon, everyone. First to my family, then to my friends and colleagues, and finally, to all of my fellow New Orleanians. I stand here today before you humbled, disappointed in myself, and seeking your forgiveness for what I'm about to say.

Approximately five years ago, I accepted an inappropriate gift from a local businessman, intended -- intending to influence me and gain my favor as an elected official. It was wrong, and I accept full responsibility for this action and for using incredibly poor judgment. I acknowledge my guilt today, and I stand prepared to pay the consequences for my mistakes.

To my family, I have placed you in a very difficult position, one that you do not deserve. Please forgive me.

To my friends, and colleagues, who I've been through so much with, before Katrina, during Katrina, and the rebuilding of this city, I'm sorry that I didn't live up to the faith that you had placed in me, and I apologize for that.

And finally, to the wonderful people of the city, people I call neighbor, people I call friends, and fellow New Orleanians. I cannot begin to describe to you the disappointment and the anguish that I deal with internally, day and night. You trusted me, and I placed that trust in question.

You have every right to be angry and suspicious. And I'm deeply sorry, and I ask you for your forgiveness.

Because of this situation, and because I love this city so much and they deserve better, I am immediately announcing my resignation to the city council of New Orleans, effective immediately.

As I leave you, my greatest hope is that I would not become a distraction to the thousands of lives and to the thousands of people that are trying to recover their lives, their families and their homes.

And I want nothing more than for the city of New Orleans to return to its rightful place as a jewel of south, a better place, the most beautiful, cultural adviser, dynamic city in the world.

And I also hope that, in time, you can judge me by the totality of my works, and not by just this moment.

All of you, please note that, whatever happens to me and wherever I may be, I will be praying for and working towards the rebuilding of this city. In spite of my current situation or what may be following me in the future, I will continue to work for the city I love. And I have made peace with my God, and I will continue to love my city and all of you.

I want to thank Clarence Robey (ph). I want to thank our friends at the U.S. attorney's office. If for not for their counsel and care, I don't know if I would be standing here right now.

So I want all of you to know this city needs to be a better place. This city needs to be cleaned up. And I'm going to do my best to be a better person because of the mistakes that I have made. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Taking full responsibility for his actions and resigning from the city council. You just heard it straight from the horse's mouth. Oliver Thomas confessing to taking -- he put it -- as a gift from a businessman to influence his political decisions.

What he was accused of taking was thousands of dollars in bribes from a businessman seeking to maintain a city parking lot contract. That businessman wrapped up in a much bigger investigation of corruption.

Oliver Thomas coming forward, tied to that businessman and, basically, taking full responsibility for those bribes, saying that he will try and deal with those troubles, just one part of a series of scandals that hit that city since Hurricane Katrina. We'll follow the investigation.

HOLMES: The architect leaving the House he helped win. Senior White House adviser Karl Rove has turned in his resignation with a hug.

He's been a tough strategist, a right-hand man, also, a frequent target. We've heard from an emotional Rove and his boss just a short time ago. We're going to head now to the White House and CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.

Suzanne, we're not used to seeing Karl Rove like this.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, we're not, T.J. I cannot overstate the significance of this moment and really what this means. This is a major, major transition for the White House, a transition time, a new phase here.

Karl Rove and President Bush, they have been together for some 34 years. It was Rove that came up with a strategy that got George W. Bush as the governor of Texas, in that campaign, brought him to Washington to win two terms of the White House.

We saw them today on their way to Crawford, Texas, a very emotional moment.

Karl Rove is the person, essentially, everything that you see coming from this administration, from this White House, well, his fingerprints are all over it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROVE: We're grateful for the opportunity you gave me to serve our nation. I'm grateful for being able to work with the extraordinary men and women that you've drawn into this administration. And I'm grateful to have been a witness to history. It has been the joy and the honor of a lifetime.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've been friends for a long time. We're still going to be friends. I would call Karl Rove a dear friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And T.J., there's a lot of questions, a lot of skepticism, as you can imagine, about the timing of this announcement and of this decision, whether or not he essential was trying to run away or avoid some of the numerous investigations that he's at the center. Many Democratic congressional leaders calling for him to go before them, to testify, to answer questions about various controversies, including the firings of the eight U.S. attorneys.

Well, I have been in contact with Karl Rove throughout the morning. We're exchanging e-mail on BlackBerry. And I asked him that very question. Now, what does he say to those who simply say that he's being run out of town?

And Karl Rove responded and said -- said it this way. And I'm quoting here. He says, "That sounds like the rooster claiming to have called up the sun." Simply meaning that he says that this is his call, that he decided this was the right time.

We know that chief of staff, Josh Bolten, reached out to numerous senior aides in recent days and said, "Look, if you 'e going to stay here for Labor Day, you're going to stay here for the end of the term. So you need to make some decisions and decide whether or not you are going to be here." Karl Rove deciding that this was the right time to bow out.

He really -- he's been called the genius, boy genius, the architect. He takes credit for much of what has been accomplished here.

But he also takes credit for the failures, as well. He was found to be one of the leakers in the CIA leak investigation, although no charges, legal charges were ever pressed or any criminal wrongdoing found.

He was in charge of immigration reforms, Social Security reform. Both of those failed, as well.

So clearly, he has a mixed record. But it is a record that this administration and this president, will carry with him through the legacy -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us from the White House. Suzanne, thank you so much. Of course, President Bush, Karl Rove go way, way back. The two first met in '73 when they both of them were in their 20s. Rove is considered the architect of President Bush's gubernatorial campaigns in Texas, as well as his presidential campaigns.

Rove testified five times before the grand jury in that CIA leak case, but he was never charged. Also, he refused to testify about the controversial firings of eight U.S. attorneys, citing executive privilege.

PHILLIPS: We're still awaiting word out of Utah about a new attempt to locate six trapped miners. At last report, rescue workers were planning to bore a third hole into the coal mine, this one toward a chamber where the miners might have fled.

Separate teams are digging toward the miners around the clock but making little apparent headway. Live with the latest from Huntington, Utah, CNN's Brian Todd.

Brian, let me ask you first, giving all the latest, rather frustrating, discouraging news. How are the families and other people holding up right now in Huntington?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're holding up pretty well, Kyra. They do say that they're clinging to some hope, but they're doing it with a bit of reservation, because clearly, the progress has been very slow here. And you get a sense from some of these families that, while they are clinging to some hope here, that they really have no choice.

Some of them have told local media and others that, you know, they're kind of tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. It's frustrating for the families, frustrating for the rescue teams and for the officials here, as well, who have to brief them on a daily basis on the slow progress that's being made.

Case in point, the third drill that you just mentioned, I just talked to a federal official who said that they haven't even started drilling that third hole yet. They have to move this massive piece of machinery over to a place where they believe that they can get to a chamber. They're going to go about 1,400 feet down or more to get to a chamber where they think these miners might have retreated to.

Again, it's a very slow process. Drilling has not started yet as of now. And they, you know -- the second hole that was drilled where they lowered a camera in, didn't bear much fruit. They got a little bit of an image, about 15 feet worth of a shot there, down in the mine, but it didn't reveal anything. No sign of the miners. Of course, no signals from the miners.

Every time these holes are drilled, the rescue teams pound on the drills, hoping for some signs from the miners. Nothing yet, Kyra. So this is what the families have to go on at this point.

PHILLIPS: Even rescue workers dealing with safety issues, as well. Brian Todd, we'll continue to talk to you throughout the day. Thanks.

HOLMES: Well, of all the president's men, Karl Rove has been the most influential. So what's it mean for the White House and the GOP now that he's leaving? Bill Schneider shares his thoughts.

PHILLIPS: Omega-3 is good, mercury bad, but how real are the risks? We've got the dish on what's in your fish.

HOLMES: Plus, NASA has got a dilemma. So you know what we've got? We've got Miles. Hello, sir.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've got the dish on what's going on in space, as well. That's a live picture. Not such a great one right now.

But they're about an hour and 45 minutes into a space walk. While they're up there installing a new gyro, engineers are trying to figure out whether they need to patch a pretty deep divot in the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

I'll bring you up to date after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It's 1:16 Eastern Time, and here are three of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

In a Louisiana court right now, the only people charged in connection with deaths from Hurricane Katrina, jury selection is starting in the trial of Salvador and Mabel Mangano, owners of a nursing home where floodwaters killed 35 people. That couple faces negligent homicide charges.

Karl Rove, pledging to remain a fierce advocate for President Bush from the outside. The top White House strategist is leaving his job at the end of the month. Rove says he was not forced out.

Cal Ripken, baseball great, special envoy. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made Ripken a goodwill ambassador. His first trip takes him to China, where he'll give baseball clinics to kids.

HOLMES: Bursting into a crowded church, an irate gunman deliberately picks off his targets: one, two, three. The victims, the church deacon, one elder, then another. The motive is still unclear, though we're hearing bits and pieces from police and witnesses.

We get more now from CNN's Sean Callebs, who's joining us now live from Neosho, Missouri.

Hello there, Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, T.J.

We know that the suspect, 52-year-old Eiken Elam Saimon, is expected to be in court within the hour. He's being held on $5 million bond, charged with three murders and a number of assaults. You're exactly right. Authorities say yesterday, Sunday, just before 2 p.m. Central Time, Saimon burst into the First Congregational Church, deliberately targeting the pastor and two elders in the church and then holding a number of other members of the congregation hostage.

Now the prosecutor involved in this case says yesterday brought out the very best in people and the very worst.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT WATSON, NEWTON COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Yesterday, truly, Neosho experienced the worst and the best in the human spirit.

In the continuing testament to our civilization's decay of civility, a lone gunman entered a church sanctuary and opened fire, clearly, the worst in human behavior.

However, just moments later, officers of Neosho Police Department and Newton County Sheriff's Department entered that same sanctuary and ended the stand-off with no additional loss of human life. So once again, our officers risked their lives in the line of duty to save others. Clearly, the best of human...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: The big question: why was this crime committed? Authorities would not reveal a motive. But we do know that when Saimon allegedly went into the church, he was saying, "Liar, lying, you're all lying."

And just the night before, the county authorities had been looking for Saimon in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. Authorities don't know if the two are connected in any way. But that certainly is one of many aspects they are looking at as this investigation moves on, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Sean Callebs for us in Neosho. Sean, thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: Well, a lot of attention today focused on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Two of the astronauts are now on a space walk to swap out a gyroscope on the International Space Station.

NASA engineers, meanwhile, are trying to determine whether repairs are needed for a gash on the shuttle's thermal tiles.

Our resident space expert, chief technology correspondent Miles O'Brien, here with all the details.

Hey, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Hello, Kyra.

Yes, the space walk is going pretty well so far, about an hour and 45 minutes into it. Live pictures from space. This is what it looks like if you're a space walker. I believe that's Dave Williams' helmet cam and that's Rick Mastracchio, his space walking partner there. That's their fancy pistol grip tool. You might call it a Makita or a Dewalt. But they spend a little more money on these to go in space.

In any case, what they're doing is they're beginning the process of putting away a bulky gyroscope. That's the gyroscope right there. It weighs about 600 pounds. It's one of four bolted onto the International Space Station, designed to keep it flying just so without having to burn a lot of rocket fuel. It's run electrically off the solar panels. And that's a renewable source and is a better way for them to navigate over the long run.

Take a look at some of the pictures that we've been watching as they conducted the space walk. So far so good.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the engineers have their hands full, trying to figure out what to do about a rather significant divot in the lower underbelly of Endeavour.

Take a look at this shot. This is 58 seconds after launch on Wednesday. And I want to call your attention to this kind of spray there. We've got this on a loop. We're doing it over and over again. That's pieces of foam and tile after a softball-sized piece of foam fell off that external fuel tank. Foam is there to insulate it.

You can see it here. If you look right down the edge here, they've highlighted it for us. You can see that piece. It ricocheted off the strut and then hit right there in this realm, in that area. Caused about four scrapes and dents. And one of them is actually pretty significant.

Yesterday the astronauts used a laser range finding device, honed in on it, got a 3-D high resolution image. And there you can see it, Kyra. It's pretty deep. And that's the concern. It's about two inches by three inches. But they think that that probably is the aluminum skin of the space shuttle. Temperatures here during re-entry would reach 2,300 degrees potentially.

So what can they do about it? Well, they could decide nothing needs to be done, that it's OK. Or they have three possible repair scenarios in the tool kit, so to speak. And they've tried them out. They've tried the application of them. They've never actually used it, staked the safety of a crew on it.

One of the ideas is to use this -- well, it's kind of like shoe polish. You see, it's this kind of -- you slather it on there, and it improves the heat-shedding capability of a damaged tile.

Another way to do it is they have some sort of Bondo material which would kind of fill that all in. Or they can just cover over with a big steel plate. Those are the options.

Or they may decide to do nothing, because they have had experience in the past with bigger gashes and the space shuttle has been just fine.

Take a look at this picture from back in 1988. It is of -- as we look at live pictures there. But there you see back in 1988, this is Discovery right after the Challenger mission, first flight back. Same location. Also, you'll notice it went right down to the skin. And it came back safe and sound.

So that's what they'll be considering today. We'll know by the end of the day, probably, whether they will go for a repair, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll follow up with you. Thanks, Miles.

HOLMES: Well, political cynics call him Bush's brain. Now everybody is calling him short-timer. Karl Rove packing his bags. But is he really done with Washington? Bill Schneider weighs in next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, on Wall Street, stocks had been moving higher after last week's tumultuous rise. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with details.

And that sentence says stocks had been. That means they are no longer?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we had to -- we had to change that, put it in the past tense, just in the last couple of minutes, T.J.

HOLMES: Yes.

LISOVICZ: We were -- we were rooting for a very quiet session. That is typical of mid-August. And well, maybe things are changing now.

Stocks had been in the green for most of the session. They've quietly given up most of those gains. Trading activity has been fairly calm, which is quite a contrast to the wild price swings that dominated the action last week.

Helping the mood today, news that central banks, including the Federal Reserve, once again, dumped another dose of cash into the nation's banking systems.

Investors also upbeat about a better than expected report on retail sales.

Checking the numbers, the Dow, which had been up 99, just sank into the red a few minutes ago and back on terra firm, up 25 points. The NASDAQ composite, meanwhile, is up, oh, just about one point -- T.J.

HOLMES: We'll take it.

LISOVICZ: Yes, yes.

HOLMES: You had me going there for a second. Didn't know where you were going, how big that gain was going to be.

Also, relief for the folks out there on the roads, finally.

LISOVICZ: Yes. I mean, this is a nice trend, T.J. So we have stocks, looks like they're going up. And gas prices going down.

Gas prices sliding nearly 11 cents over the past two weeks. The latest Lundberg Survey puts the national average for self-serve regular at $2.78 a gallon. Prices at the pump now down more than 40 cents since peaking in late May.

But the survey's publisher says the drop may be over. Her position: lower prices could actually encourage people to drive more, increasing demand during the peak driving season and sending prices higher once again.

And you're already paying more to fuel your body. Milk prices surged to a record $3.80 a gallon last month, much more than gasoline. The Agriculture Department says that's half a dollar more than just six months ago.

Among the reasons: growing dairy demand in Asia, where these big U.S. chains like McDonald's and Starbucks are introducing the folks there to new things like cheeseburgers and lattes, which require dairy.

Animal feed is also getting more expensive.

In the next hour of NEWSROOM, hoping for a big raise next year? You may be in for a disappointment. I will explain.

For now, I'll throw it back to you, T.J.

HOLMES: I don't want to hear that, because I was hoping for the big raise next year, actually.

LISOVICZ: But there is a bonus. There's something called a bonus. So...

HOLMES: No. That's not possible. Doesn't work for me, Susan.

LISOVICZ: I think it's possible for high performers like you.

HOLMES: High performers.

LISOVICZ: Big performers.

HOLMES: That's no problem right there. Susan, thank you so much. We'll see you again here shortly.

LISOVICZ: You got it.

HOLMES: We're talking heat now, record-breaking and record baking. It's still on across much of this country. Chad Myers has the triple-digit roundup ahead, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hi, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live from the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Don Lemon.

He's leaving the White House. But could the ultimate GOP insider become an outsider anytime soon?

PHILLIPS: Our Bill Schneider has the reading on Karl Rove. Plus, some dish on the Democrats. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: Well, handshake and a hug. And with that, President Bush bids farewell to his architect. Top political adviser Karl Rove is leaving the White House at the end of this month. He has been fiercely loyal to his boss for decades and he maintained the loyalty today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL ROVE, DEP. WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Mr. President, the world has turned many times since our journey began. We have been at this a long time. It was over 14 years ago that you began your run for governor. And over 10 years ago that we started thinking and planning about a possible run for the presidency. And it has been an exhilarating and eventful time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Rove says he plans to spend time with his family, maybe write a book. But a lot of the pundits say his political career is far from over. Going to bring in now our senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

Good to see you, kind sir. Help people understand just how big of a brain drain this is for the White House.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Karl Rove has been described as Bush's brain. And Bush himself said after the 2004 reelection that Rove was the architect of his election victories. Early on, Bush won in Texas where Rove was his adviser as a fairly moderate Republican who could work well with Democrats, at least Texas Democrats.

And he ran in 2000 as a uniter, not a divider. Bu then the strategy shifted radically after 9/11 and Karl Rove signaled it when he said at the beginning of 2002, we can go to the country on the issue of 9/11 because people trust the Republicans to do a better job of protecting and strengthening America's military might and thereby protecting the country.

Well, that meant the fear factor to many Democrats. And Bush ran hard on the issue of terrorism and so did the Republicans in 2002. It worked. In 2004, it worked. It got Bush re-elected. But then it stopped working in 2006. So the Rove strategy, which the Democrats depict as the strategy of fear, came to a screeching halt just last year. And a lot of people thought it does not work anymore.

HOLMES: Well, Bill, of course, he still has a pretty good track record. And has been great for the president and he has been great for the GOP. Well, a lot of people are going to be begging for him to get back in the game in some way, form or fashion. Is there any way we could see him possibly being the architect of another run for the White House?

SCHNEIDER: We won't see him.

HOLMES: We won't see him.

SCHNEIDER: I think that if Republicans want to consult with Karl Rove, they will do so very quietly behind the scenes. They there may be discreet telephone calls. But I think right now he's too explosive, he's too poisonous really because of his association with a very unpopular president.

You are going to see Republicans running to the nomination and whoever gets the nomination, keep a certain distance between themselves and President Bush and also Karl Rove. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few late night phone call conversations that they very, very vigorously try to keep from becoming public, because Karl Rove still has a pretty good brain.

HOLMES: Still has a pretty good -- he's not leaving it at the White House. Take it with him. All right.

SCHNEIDER: No.

HOLMES: Let's turn to the Democrats for a moment and a new poll -- new CNN poll here asking voters who they think can win the White House, which Democrat.

SCHNEIDER: Well, supposedly Democrats are worried about Hillary Clinton's electability. But look, when they are asked who has the best chance of winning in November, Clinton wins hands down over Obama, Edwards and all the other Democrats. Majority says Hillary Clinton is the most electable Democrat.

That's not the big problem that Democrats are worried about. Look at this, which do Democrats feel is the most likable? And here Clinton is slightly behind Barack Obama. Her likeability may be her most serious problem among her fellow Democrats. Not the concern that she may not be an easy candidate to elect.

HOLMES: In the past, right quick, Bill, how does that usually play out? The person -- oftentimes you see that, maybe you want to go hang out with this person, have a beer with this guy. But you might think this one is a better leader. Which way do people end up going historically?

SCHNEIDER: Likeability matters. Americans want to vote for a president -- after all, this is someone who is going to be their living rooms for about -- for at least four years. They want to vote for someone that they like. Now you might make a counter-argument, did they really like Richard Nixon? He wasn't the most likeable fellow. So it may not be a universal rule, but typically likeability does matter.

HOLMES: All right. Bill Schneider for us. Thank you so much, as always, sir.

PHILLIPS: And we are still waiting word from Utah right now on the plan to try to contact six missing miners by drilling a third hole into the Crandall Canyon coal mine. Rescue workers failed to either see or hear the miners after drilling two holes from the top of the mountain and lowering in a microphone and camera. It has been a week now. But as of yesterday, the mine's owner was hopeful that his men have survived.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MURRAY, PRES. & CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: I have said from the beginning that if the initial earthquake or seismic activity did not kill them with a concussion outright immediately, there are numerous scenarios by which they can still be alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now owner Bob Murray has said it time and time again, and he says he takes his miners' safety to bed every night with him. But as Ted Rowlands reports, some of Murray's miners wish he would spend his waking hours making his projects more secure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trapped miner Manuel Sanchez said he was concerned about safety inside one section of the Crandall Canyon Mine in the weeks leading up to the collapse. That's what a family member has told the local newspaper. And now a source with intimate knowledge of the conditions of the mine tell CNN Sanchez was not alone, that other miners were also apprehensive about working in the area of the collapse.

The source, who won't go on camera, says the six trapped miners were working in an area called "7 Belt," the deepest part of the mine. And he tells CNN that for weeks before the collapse, the floors in that part of the mine were heaving or buckling up from intense pressure. He says supervisors knew of the problem. And the source says several miners, including Manuel Sanchez, were getting very concerned.

(on camera): Why this miner would have been nervous going into that particular section?

MURRAY: No. I have no idea. I have never heard that. I have no idea. It is probably a rumor. And I'm not going to respond to rumors. I can tell you that if any of my management or any worker here had ever said that to me, I would say yes, I was told that. No, I don't know a thing about that, sir. And that's the truth.

ROWLANDS (voice-over): If the miners were so afraid, why didn't they complain? Several miners we have talked to in the area say complaining means you lose your job.

MURRAY: If you are getting that from the community, it is coming from other mines, because I don't operate that way.

PAUL RIDDLE, FORMER MINER: Always profits before safety. That's my opinion, my feeling, and my experience.

ROWLANDS: Paul Riddle used to work in one of Bob Murray's mines. Riddle says miners who work for Murray are sometimes forced to push the envelope when it comes to safety and are afraid to speak up for fear of losing their high-paying jobs.

RIDDLE: I'm not the only one. There are many, many, many people that feel this way and are afraid to speak out.

ROWLANDS: The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration plans to conduct an investigation into exactly what happened and the conditions at the mine leading up to the collapse. The mine's owner is confident his company will not be blamed.

MURRAY: There will be nothing in the investigation that will show that Murray Energy or Utah American or the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration did a thing wrong. It was a natural disaster.

ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Huntington, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Well, how close will Flossie get? A Category 4 hurricane expected to brush south of Hawaii sometime tomorrow. And by then, it may have weakened considerably. But it could still bring lots of wind, rain and heavy surf. It has been 15 years since a hurricane hit the islands. That hurricane killed six people in Kauai and caused $2.5 billion in damage.

PHILLIPS: Well, mercury and the fish you eat. How much is too much? And what can you do to find out if you are at risk? Details straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, eat now, pay later. A new study in the journal Pediatrics shows that overweight kids with high cholesterol, blood pressure, and sugar levels are much more likely to have heart disease or strokes as adults. Researchers say about one in five kids with risk factors have heart disease or strokes by their 30s or 40s. And that is compared to one in 67 for kids in the normal range. Researchers say that the study shows the value of prevention.

Well, fish lovers, listen up. Do you have too much mercury in your system? CNN's Greg Hunter tells us how to find out and how to avoid it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before getting pregnant with baby Alexa (ph), Miami mom Laura Pugliese got her hair tested for mercury. The results startled her.

(on camera): You had high levels of mercury?

LAURA PUGLIESE, TESTED HAIR FOR MECURTY: Right. Above the recommended levels from the EPA.

HUNTER (voice-over): Mercury is a toxic element that can be found in pollution released by coal-fired plants and other sources. It makes its way into oceans, lakes, streams, and the fish that live there. At high levels, it can damage the brain and immune system in fetuses of young children.

After the test, Pugliese put off her pregnancy for more than six months.

PUGLIESE: I was not about to even have a doubt in my mind that I could do something to potentially harm an unborn child. I was just not going to risk it.

HUNTER: She stopped eating albacore tuna and says her mercury levels went down. Pugliese received her $25 home test kit from Greenpeace and the Sierra Club. Samples were sent to the University North Carolina at Asheville as part of a study that tested 12,000 people and found one in five had more than the EPA's recommended limit of mercury in their bodies.

STEVE PATCH, U. OF N. CAROLINA ASHEVILLE: Now we know with lead very well at what levels we start to harm. And they are much, much lower than we used to think. The same may happen for mercury.

HUNTER: But some doctors are concerned pregnant women worried about mercury will stop eating fish altogether and that's not recommended, because fish is rich in protein and other nutrients. But pregnant women should avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish, and cut down on albacore tuna.

DR. LAURA RILEY, OB-GYN: Those fish have the highest mercury content. And so we suggest that pregnant women stay away from those for the nine months of pregnancy.

HUNTER: A seafood industry leader says advocacy groups like Greenpeace are trying to change environmental policy by calling into question the health benefits of fish.

JOHN CONNELLY, NATIONAL FISHERIES INSTITUTE: To try to get people scared about a healthy product like seafood in order to achieve a means to scare them about mercury is irresponsible.

HUNTER (on camera): So here's the take away. No matter who you are, how old you are, you should eat fish a couple of times a week. Here are some examples of low mercury fish: cod; wild king salmon; we have snapper; trout; we have pompano; fluke; clams, all low in mercury; and my favorite, yes, Mr. four-pound lobster, low in mercury.

Greg Hunter, CNN, at the Chelsea fish market in New York.

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HOLMES: Well, he made stars, he made shows and he made a ton of cash. The astonishing legacy of Merv Griffin, that is next here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HOLMES: Tributes are pouring in for Merv Griffin. The legendary entertainer passed away over the weekend after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 82 years old. Griffin began his career as a big band singer but is remembered most for his long-running TV talk show and for the hit game shows he created, "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!". Today the TV icon is being remembered.

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MERV GRIFFIN, TV ENTERTAINER & PRODUCER (singing): I know it is raining but I'm not complaining, this kind of weather...

MICKEY ROONEY, ACTOR: Everybody is saddened. But what a wonderful man Merv Griffin.

STEVE GUTTENBERG, ACTOR: We have got to celebrate Merv's life, because he's one of the rare guys. He was a talent. He was a businessman. And he had a heart as big as the universe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I loved him. I watched his show all the time. And there's something about him. He had an energy, a gusto that no other talk show host had.

GRIFFIN: You seem a little shy about all of that applause.

They would say, how did you get them to do that, Merv? And the same thing you do, you lock eyes with them. And if they are comfortable with you, they will tell you anything.

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Merv was not only a great guest, he was a great friend. So you knew you could expect great stories, great sense of humor. A look back at show business history, unparalleled, because he saw it from all angles.

GRIFFIN (singing): The night we met there was magic abroad in the air...

ROONEY: He had a great eye for what the public needed. And he came through. You know, and it is just wonderful.

GRIFFIN: The "Jeopardy!" theme is amazing. I wrote it in about 15 minutes, just sat down at the piano, wrote this simple little folk song.

(MUSIC PLAYING, "JEOPARDY!" THEME) GRIFFIN: I just hope entertained the most people and they had fun with it and stuff. And my tombstone will read "I will not be right back after this message."

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PHILLIPS: Well, as Navy divers keep looking for victims and investigators look for answers, Minnesota moves the rebuild the I-35W Bridge. Twelve days after the bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River, the state's department of transportation has chosen a preliminary design for a new bridge, one with 10 lanes. If approved it could open by the end of next year. Now so far nine victims have been accounted for. The body of 20-year-old Richard Chit was recovered yesterday. And 44 vehicles, including the school bus, have been removed from the rubble. Four people are still missing.

Among the lives cut short by this bridge disaster, a mother and her little girl. The young woman came to this country in search of a better life, and in the process, touching many other lives.

Here's Jeff Flock on a life remembered.

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JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They came to America from their native war-torn Somalia to escape this very scene: funerals in the wake of inexplicable and senseless tragedy.

IMAN HAMDY EL-SAWAF, MASJID ALL-IKHLAS: Sometimes we think we're away from death. We think we will escape death. But all of a sudden, we find death in front of us. Not to die in Somalia, not to die somewhere else, but to die in the United States of America, in Minnesota, in that tragedy of the collapse of the bridge.

FLOCK: Traveling across the W35 Bridge, Sadia Sahal, her daughter Hannah, strapped into the back seat. Sadia was also five months pregnant.

"We believe in destiny," her father tells me. "We must accept. It's part of a test for everyone." He explains that Sadia's husband is too distraught to watch the burial of his wife and daughter.

(on camera): Is there any part of you, sir, that wishes you did not come to America?

AHMED SAHAL, VICTIM'S FATHER (through translator): I believe part of tradition and belief system that we have, this will happen wherever I would go, it was -- or it were part of my fate and destiny created by God.

FLOCK (voice-over): About 100 men gathered for a traditional Muslim funeral. Women kept at a distance, as is custom.

(on camera): Back in Somalia, she wouldn't even have been driving a car.

EL-SAWAF: Never, never, never, but here you see her driving the car by herself, being totally independent.

FLOCK (voice-over): The imams who knew her tell us Sadia was also training to be a nurse. She taught at an Islamic center and volunteered to help Muslim women integrate into U.S. culture. The last anyone heard from her was shortly before the bridge gave way.

EL-SAWAF: Around 5:15, she made a call at home to just tell them know that she got trapped in the traffic. It was heavy traffic. She was over the bridge and she might be able to make it as soon as she can. But, of course, she couldn't.

FLOCK: But in a way, Sadia Sahal did make it, managing to make a new life in her new adopted home.

EL-SAWAF: But she's a role model. She left a legacy behind her. We're so proud of her.

FLOCK: I'm Jeff Flock, CNN, Burnsville, Minnesota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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