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Karl Rove to Leave White House; Search Continues For Missing Utah Miners

Aired August 13, 2007 - 15:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, painstaking and precarious. Rescue workers in Utah inch their way towards six missing miners amid ominous shifts that might mean their own safety is in jeopardy. We're moments from an update in Huntington, Utah.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

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

We're waiting for a briefing out of Utah in the efforts to find those six trapped miners. At last report, rescues had not yet begun to bore a planned third hole toward a chamber where the miners might have fled.

CNN's Brian Todd live there for us with the very latest.

Good afternoon to you there.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, T.J.

Yes, that's right. They have not begun drilling the third hole. At least, the latest we know is they have not begun drilling that third hole to try to reach a chamber where they believe the miners might have retreated to, if they -- if they survived that initial collapse.

Now, essentially, the rescue effort is working along two tracks. They are drilling holes at the top of the mountain to try to get a camera lens down, to try to get air down, food, anything they can into any chamber that they might be able to hit. That's what they're doing right now at the top of the mountain.

At the same time, rescue teams are digging through the main mine shaft. That's a very, very slow process, and has been complicated by what they call bounces or bumps, essentially shifting of the earth inside the mine.

Because each of those tracks is going very, very slowly, the families of these trapped miners say they can only cling to faith at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody's wearing something, whether it be jewelry. So, faith is always strong for all of us. And all we can do is just pray.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Doing a lot of that these days as they get drips and drabs of information on the fate of these miners.

We should know more in about 30 minutes, when the owner of the mine, Bob Murray, and officials from the Mining Safety and Health Administration should be holding a briefing to update us on the progress of that third hole.

But, as of at least an hour or two ago, they had not begun drilling that hole yet. We don't know whether they have at this hour, but it's starting to get complicated by rain, too, T.J., that is moving into the area. So, that may slow things down even more.

HOLMES: All right, Brian Todd, it seems like there hasn't been a bit of good news out of there the past week.

Brian Todd for us there in Huntington, Utah, thank you so much.

Also, the agony of waiting continue there of course for three families. A Mexican priest is now the major source of comfort and news about the missing miners -- that story ahead here in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Well, for decades, they seemed inseparable. Now President Bush's top strategist is mapping out a new strategy.

Karl Rove is leaving the White House. He's been at George W. Bush's side all the way back to when he first ran for Texas governor. And he remains a fierce loyalist to the end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL ROVE, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BUSH: Today, I submitted my resignation as deputy chief of staff and senior adviser, effective the end of the month.

Mr. President, I'm grateful for the opportunity you gave me to serve our nation and you. I'm grateful for being able to work with the extraordinary men and women that you have 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Rove says that he was not forced out. He says he wants to spend more time with his family, maybe write a book.

White House spokesman Tony Snow says that Rove does not intend to join a 2008 Republican presidential campaign, but that's not stopping the speculation that he may help unofficially.

Now, to his critics, Karl Rove represented the worst of the Bush presidency, especially to former Ambassador Joe Wilson. It was Wilson who accused the administration of revealing his CIA operative wife's identity as revenge for his criticism of Iraq war intelligence.

Wilson says the president should have fired Karl Rove, but instead he says Rove -- quote -- "has been allowed to leave on his own terms, to praise from the president. A sordid tale of compromising national security cover-up and distract from the false rationale for the invasion of Iraq will forever remain in history a black mark on the Bush presidency."

Now, President Bush and Karl Rove headed down to the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas, just after the announcement of Rove's departure.

CNN's Brianna Keilar is in Crawford -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra.

And, as you just said, Karl Rove was revealed by investigators in the CIA leak case to have revealed the I.D. of a CIA operative. He was subpoenaed as well by Congress to talk about the controversy regarding the firing of U.S. attorneys, but today when Karl Rove spoke with reporters off camera on Air Force One, he said subpoenas, investigations played no role in his decision to leave the White House.

He also said he expects subpoenas to keep flying, and he said that when he leaves the White House on August 31 that he will still have executive privilege even though he's departed.

So, why now? Why not sooner? Why later? He said he's actually been talking with President Bush about leaving the White House now for about a year, but it never seemed to be the right time until now. And at this point, in terms of a replacement for Karl Rove, White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said there are no immediate announcements for his replacement. But at this point, the administration is actually considering dispersing his duties and not necessarily having a one-to-one replacement.

Now, keep in mind of course this is President Bush's political strategist, very close confidant for some time. And Karl Rove said, aboard Air Force One, "He knows my number; I know his," indicating that while he's leaving the White House he's not leaving the president's sphere of influence -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, what's next for Rove?

KEILAR: Well, immediately at this point, the plan is he's talking about writing a book, with President Bush's encouragement, probably about the history of this president.

And he said -- this was kind of interesting -- that he hasn't kept a diary. Now, eventually, he has talked about teaching politics at a university, though -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We will continue to follow it, of course, as this all goes down.

Brianna Keilar, thanks so much. HOLMES: Well, within the last hour in Missouri, the man accused of shattering the quiet of a church service pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Eiken Saimon is accused of fatally targeting a deacon and two elders.

We learn more now about Simon from CNN's Sean Callebs in Neosho.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fifty-two-year-old charged Eiken Elam Saimon has been charged with three counts of murder and five charges of assault, a number that could go up.

Authorities say, on Sunday, Saimon burst into the First Congregational Church in downtown Neosho and began firing, killing three people, wounding five others. He held a number of hostages until authorities were able to arrive on the scene and talk Saimon into putting down his weapons.

Authorities say yesterday they saw the best in this community and also the very worst.

SCOTT WATSON, NEWTON COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Yesterday, truly Neosho experienced the worst and the best in the human spirit. In a continuing testament to our civilization's decay of civility, a lone gunman entered the church sanctuary and opened fire, clearly the worst in human behavior.

However, just moments later, officers of the Neosho Police Department and the Newton County Sheriff's Department entered that same sanctuary and ended the stand-off with no additional loss of human life.

CALLEBS: If authorities have a motive in the case, they aren't saying.

We do know that a 14-year-old girl filed a sexual assault charge on Saturday night just before the shooting. And authorities wanted to talk to Saimon in connection with that allegation, but they were unable to reach him. Police also say when Saimon burst into the church, he was saying, liars, liars, you're all liars.

At this point, there's no indication if those two could be connected.

Sean Callebs, CNN, Neosho, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER UPDATE)

HOLMES: Well, just how close will Flossie get? The Category 4 hurricane is expected to brush south of Hawaii some time tomorrow, but then it may have weakened considerably, but it could still bring a lot of wind, a lot of rain, certainly heavy surf. It's been 15 years now since a hurricane has hit the islands. The last hurricane killed six people on Kauai and caused $2.5 billion in damage.

PHILLIPS: Well, a humanitarian crisis is looming across Southeast Asia. More than 300 million are homeless, more than 500 dead after some of the worst flooding in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Tens of thousands are sick from the stagnant waters, and in Bangladesh, the army is helping relief agencies distribute emergency supplies. Making matters even worse, more monsoon rains are on the way.

HOLMES: Well, the agony of waiting continues in Huntington, Utah, for three families. A Mexican priest is now the major source of comfort and news about the missing miners. That story is straight ahead.

PHILLIPS: And a critical decision. NASA trying to determine whether to fix a gouge on Endeavour's belly. Our space expert, Miles O'Brien, has the latest coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's about 3:15, and here are three of the stories we're working on here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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

Also, 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.

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

PHILLIPS: Well, at this hour, we are awaiting that briefing on the effort to rescue six miners trapped deep within a fountain in Utah -- mountain, rather, in Utah.

We're also getting word from the Associated Press that a third camera drop has failed to spot the miners at this point. It's been a week, and there's no guarantee that they're alive.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports on how the families are coping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Time has stopped in Huntington, Utah. People here look toward the mountainous horizon and wonder about the fate of six trapped miners. Words of comfort are draped all over town. Inside this school, six families are living through what seems to be an endless ordeal. And the waiting is taking its toll. Terry Erickson, the brother of trapped miner Don Erickson, left irritated after a meeting with mine officials.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you a family?

TERRY ERICKSON, SON OF TRAPPED MINER: Just what you're hearing.

LAVANDERA: What exactly, though?

ERICKSON: Just the same stuff that's on TV.

LAVANDERA: Same stuff over and over?

ERICKSON: Yes.

LAVANDERA: What about...

ERICKSON: Same stuff. I'm getting tired of hearing it.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Mine officials have acknowledged that rescue efforts have not moved fast enough and that these families have endured without much positive information. The only question they want answered is whether their loved ones are dead or alive.

(voice-over): About 50 family members attend the briefings on the rescue efforts but when the meetings are over, you can sense that the uncertainty looms heavily over these families.

(on camera): No good news?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no good news.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): No good news because the progress is slow and definitive answers are elusive. Thomas Hernandez is the uncle of trapped miner Luis Hernandez. He says we're very sad. As more time passes, we're losing hope. We have very little hope.

RICHARD STICKLER, ASST. SEC. OF LABOR, MSHA: The families are under a lot of stress and concern. It's been a long, drawn-out process. But they are supporting each other. And we're doing everything we can support them. And I think they are remarkably strong.

LAVANDERA: Even if the six miners survive the collapse, their families know that time is no longer on their side. Hoping and believing in a miracle isn't easy anymore.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Huntington, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, joining us now from Salt Lake City, Father Omar Ontiveros. He has counseled some of the families of the six missing miners and plans to return to the scene later today.

Father, great to have you with us.

I know that three of the miners' families are Mexican, and you are of Mexican descent. So, how did you connect with these family members? Were they reaching out, wanting to be able to confide and talk with a priest?

REV. OMAR ONTIVEROS, COUNSELING MINERS' FAMILIES: Hello, Kyra.

Yes, I'm from Mexico, as you said. And I have been there with the families to support them spiritually, especially because two of the families who are from Mexico are basically Spanish-speaking.

PHILLIPS: And I know that your prayer service tonight is going to be dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Educate us on the significance of Lady of Guadalupe to the Mexican people, specifically those that are very committed to their Catholic faith.

ONTIVEROS: Yes.

You know, Our Lady of Guadalupe is a strong image for us Mexicans because she appeared in Mexico. That's what we Catholics believe. And he made a strong connection with Mexicans because of the way she appeared. She is brown. If you look at an image of her, she's brown and she has a tender look.

So, in a sense, she represents a divine image of the mother of Jesus, where, when we are in trouble or in pain, going through difficult situations, it's a lot of relief when we go to her and pray to her for her intercession to our lord Jesus.

PHILLIPS: Are you able not only to feel a connection of faith with these three Mexican families, but also a cultural connection, because you have been here, I think, five years, correct? So tell me about that sort of soul connection you have been able to make with them.

ONTIVEROS: Yes. You know, in a sense, I know what a person who comes from a different culture feels because I have been through that, too. It's difficult for them to be in a different culture maybe when they don't speak the language very well.

But, you know, what I have been telling the families is that at this moment of difficulty, they need to be closer to God to put their faith and hope in God, especially in these very painful moments that they're going through.

PHILLIPS: Have families been able to get humanitarian visas from Mexico to come be with you and the families?

ONTIVEROS: You know, I don't know that. The only -- the last thing I knew about it was that the Mexican Consul and the governor from Utah were helping them to get these humanitarian visas.

PHILLIPS: Yes, because we know the family is everything in times like these. What else have they been asking you and what have you been able to tell them? And do you feel you are reaching them and that you have been able to add a sense of peace to what they're dealing with right now?

ONTIVEROS: You know, last week I was with them, last Thursday, and after the evening prayer, I talked to them. And they asked me to tell others through the media that they're very thankful for all the prayers that others are doing for them and for the miners and for the rescuers. And they are very thankful for that. They told me that from the bottom of their hearts, they thank all of the people for their prayers.

PHILLIPS: Father Omar Ontiveros, we appreciate your time. And you are doing probably far greater things for those families than you even realize. Thanks for sharing it with us.

ONTIVEROS: Thank you so much.

HOLMES: Searching for a way out of poverty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Reporter: Many say this diamond-rich soil is what funded Sierra Leone's civil war, but today efforts are being made to take the blood out of the diamonds found here, so that they're never used to fund future conflicts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Obsession with diamonds in Africa's Sierra Leone, that's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, NASA has got a dilemma. And we have got Miles O'Brien.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: The dilemma is whether they should fix the space shuttle Endeavour. There's a big divot in it, and the engineers are trying to go through that right now, while a couple of spacewalkers do their best to keep the space station flying straight and true -- details after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Bob Murray with an update on that rescue effort to find those six trapped miners.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bob has a map he wanted to get put on the wall here. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked him a minute ago to come on down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like most of the folks are prepared with rain gear. That's better than I have got.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what you were saying. Down in the mine, it's -- it's better. You don't have to experience the rain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right, same temperature year round. Your comments in there weren't totally wrong.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just realized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

PHILLIPS: All right.

As we monitor this live picture of Bob Murray -- he's the owner of Murray Energy, as you know, that owns that mine -- we're waiting for him to step to the mike and brief reporters on the conditions right now of that -- or the condition, rather, of the rescue effort going on for those six trapped miners.

This is what I can tell you so far. This is the latest wire with all the information, that the rescue teams are still searching for those six trapped miners. They're trying to drill a third hole through the mountain there in Utah of hopes of reaching them. As you know, they attempted one drilling to get a sound device down in there, didn't pick up any sound. Then they went for another hole, hopefully to get exactly to the point of those miners, put a camera down there, and see if they could see anything, any signs of life, and, if they did, to get food and water down to that area.

But, once again, that turned up with not much news at all. So, now a third hole is being drilled, trying to get to those trapped miners. The third hole started just after a camera was lowered through that second hole into a space where searchers would hope that those miners would be located. But there just were no signs of life.

So they're having to continually shift the drilling areas, hoping that they're going to get lucky and get to that point where those miners are.

Now, as a result of limited lighting, the camera was able to detect images no farther than about 15 feet away. So that made it really tough. They thought it was going to be much easier than that.

They do plan to increase the lighting and the use of that camera again. But the camera did spot a tool bag and a chain -- objects typically seen in mines, he said -- one of the members of the Safety and Health Administration had reported.

So that was just a bit of good news that they might be getting closer to where those trapped miners are. So at this point, the pictures have not revealed or offered any clues, really, to where those six miners are. But rescuers are continuing to work on that site, putting their lives at risk, as well, as they continue to feel the tremors working through that mine.

We're going to take this live as soon as Bob Murray steps up to the mike.

In the meantime, we're going to take a quick break.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures now from Huntington, Utah.

We're waiting for Bob Murray, the head of Murray Energy, which owns that mine in Utah -- the mine where six trapped miners still are, as rescue efforts continue.

We're waiting for him to step to the mike. We'll take that live once you do it.

But just to give you a little background, three holes have now been drilled into this mine, trying to find these six trapped miners.

That's actually one of our correspondents there, Gary Tuchman, talking to Bob Murray, getting information on the rescue effort there.

But here's a look at the three various holes that have already been drilled into that mine. That first one, it was the smallest one. They put a sound system in there. It didn't pick up any sounds at all. That was a little discouraging for rescue workers.

The second hole, as you can see there, that was drilled much wider than the first to get a microphone and a camera down there. Still, even with the camera, no signs of life.

Now building a third hole from a different direction, hoping to get some sort of picture or sound -- T.J. As they're trying just to get close to where they believe those miners are trapped.

HOLMES: And the thing is, they're trying -- they're trying all of this and still, at the end of the day, they are not sure even if these men are in that cavity. They were able to see at least what they call survivable space down there. They do believe if the men were in there and they had enough space to move around, they could survive.

However, we don't have a good reading -- a good oxygen reading from that cavity to know if there is enough breathable air in there. So we are keeping an eye on this live picture, expecting this press conference to start at any moment. And as soon as it happens, you are not going to miss a moment of it. We will bring it right too you. But we wanted to let you know that we are monitoring it. We are all on top of it, so we will bring it to you. They're hoping to get an update and possibly some good news from that. Meanwhile, we'll move on here to talk about one of the gizmos that keeps the International Space Station in proper orbit. Right now, shuttle astronauts replacing a faulty gyroscope with a new one.

And here on Earth, NASA engineers studying a tear on Endeavour's heat shield to determine what to do next.

Our chief technology correspondent, Miles O'Brien, joins us now with the latest -- what's happening?

MILES O'BRIEN, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J. First of all, let's talk about that spinning gyro. If you ever played with a top as a child, you know what I'm talking about. A spinning gyro makes it easy for aircraft to sort of orient themselves properly.

There are four of them on the outside of the in International Space Station. One went kaput last fall.

The spacewalkers, now four hours into their spacewalk, have done a successful job so far as to swapping this 600-pound spinning disk out. Of course, it doesn't weigh anything in space. It has mass but -- you see in the foreground there, the camera view of Rick Mastracchio. And off in the distance there is Dave Williams. You can see, he's got the Canadian flag on there. He's with the Canadian Space Agency. Everything going very well there.

The question is will they have to do another spacewalk or incorporate in one of the planned spacewalks -- there are two more left here -- to try to fix something that happened to the shuttle about 58 seconds after launch?

Take a look at these pictures. We've got this on a loop for you. And I want you to watch very closely right along here.

See that kind of spray that comes across there?

That is what has happened when a softball-sized piece of foam struck a strut, ricocheted and then hit the bottom underbelly of the space shuttle Endeavour.

Look over here on the right side, right along here, and you'll see that little piece. If you look very carefully in some of those things that NASA has highlighted there, as it makes its way down.

It gets down in here and bounces around and causes no less than four damage points.

Now, take a look. This is from the solid rocket boosters, as well, a little different view. Yesterday the astronauts went out there with a laser range finder, a high resolution camera, and got a better look at it. Now they have to decide whether it needs to be fixed.

We'll get more on this later. We'll keep you posted as the engineers decide -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Miles, we know you will.

Thanks so much, buddy.

PHILLIPS: And we're continuing to monitor that news conference. We're expected to begin -- are we -- OK, we do want to listen in.

This is one of the representatives there on the rescue efforts for those trapped miners in Utah.

Let's listen in.

RICHARD STICKLER, MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION: ...with the families this morning and that same video is going to be shown here on the screen at the end of this briefing.

I wanted to take the time to clarify a little bit on the planning of these bore holes and review the location and why we put them in where we did.

The first bore hole was a two 2-1/2 inch diameter hole. And the strategy on that was to get a hole in as quick as possible. And the smaller diameter's hole allowed us to put a hole in much quicker than a larger diameter hole.

This was a hole that we didn't have control over directionally. So we didn't have a high degree of confidence in putting this hole in, but we were very lucky.

Where we planned to put the hole in on the surface, it cross-cut 138. It actually came into the mine south of that location by about 87 feet.

I said we were lucky because that hole could have been varied to the east or the west and end up heading into a solid pillar instead of hitting the intersection.

So we were fortunate. We got that hole in as quick as possible. That gave us an opportunity to put down a listening device to listen to see if miners were in that area. We had a microphone into the mine. It was a two-way microphone. And we were also able to use that hole for drawing air analysis, which gave us an idea of the atmosphere in the mine. So that was critical and that was the reason that hole went in.

Simultaneously, at the same time, the number two hole, which is an 8-5/8" diameter hole, was started at cross-cut 137. Now, it was planned for the belt conveyor entry, which is the same entry that the number one hole ended up drilling into. This was an 8-5/8 inch diameter hole. The advantage of this hole was that we could do directional drilling. We could control -- as the drill bit goes down through the Earth we can survey -- know where it's at in relationship to the underground workings and modify the course of direction that the drill bit is going down, so that we can hit precisely where we aimed. And we came within two feet of where we had planned to enter the drill into the mine. This larger diameter hole gave us an opportunity to drop a video recording camera in. And we have made three trips into this hole. First, the raw hole. And, as you recall, we had some difficulty with the horizontal view because of the water and the debris, the cuttings from the drill cuttings hazing over the horizontal lens.

We inserted a casing from the surface down to the mine roof. That's a steel liner inside that hole that protects the camera.

We went in a second time. We got better quality pictures. We were able to see items associated with mining activity. But, again, no indication of any miners.

We found that the second trip in, we needed more light. We were able to get good detail, but only of a distance of approximately 10, 15 feet. The camera has a range of up to 100 feet. So we've rigged up sort of a homemade engineering approach to providing more light.

We went in a third time. We, indeed, did get more detailed pictures and more information. And that's what we shared with the families this morning.

That number two hole has also been used -- when we're not using it for video monitoring, we're using it for pumping air into the mine. The air is free flowing when we're taking the pictures, about 340 cubic feet per minute. It is going in just free flow as the pictures are being taken.

When we withdraw the camera, we use that hole to pump in pressurized air, about 2,000 cubic feet per minute. So that's the current use of the number two hole.

We're currently working on a third hole. And a little bit about the thinking that went into the location of these holes.

First of all, when we put the number two hole in, we anticipated that that was the general area of the mining section where all of the day to day activity goes in for the number two hole.

When we didn't find anyone there, we asked the question, well, where would the miners most likely go?

And the answer is we knew that they couldn't escape out of the mine. That's the most likely thing to do. And since we knew that that was blocked, we decided to go in by the number four entry, in what is referred to as a bleeder entry, and place a hole there.

That work is well underway. They built the road into that location. They've constructed the drill pad. They've got the drill machine in place and we would hope to be drilling very shortly.

One of the things that -- to keep in mind about the location of this third hole -- you know, we've talked to you about the concern that we have with the inrush of oxygen-deficient air that occurred when this mountain bounce happened. And that inrush was forced in under pressure by the mountain bump itself. And we know that the first night, early on in the event, we had approximately 18 percent oxygen down here at cross-cut 120. And since then, when we put the number one hole in, we have found 7.5 percent oxygen.

So between here -- you know, normal oxygen is over 20 percent. So there's oxygen deficiency to varying degrees throughout this entire area. So we know a large amount of oxygen-deficient air was forced into the active area under pressure. And we believe that came from either the sealed area to the north -- this sealed area to the north -- or the sealed area to the south.

We have not yet been able to identify specifically which sealed area it came out of. We had talked about -- with you -- about putting tracer gas in. We sent mine rescue teams in last night under oxygen to put in sampling tubes, monitoring tubes, into the sealed area. They went in through this number one seal on the north sealed area so that they could set up monitoring devices to measure the atmosphere oxygen, carbon monoxide, flow of air and so on.

And we anticipated that we would find air coming out of the sealed area when we opened it up. But, in fact, when we opened it up, we have air flowing into the sealed area. So now we have some doubts whether or not this oxygen-deficient air that came into the active area came out of the north side.

We're currently looking at setting up a way to evaluate the south sealed area to see whether or not we can determine anything about that. We need to know that information ahead of time because as we advance in the cleanup work in number one entry, sooner or later, we're going to have a large amount of oxygen-deficient air that we're going to have to deal with, dilute, so that it's safe for the rescue workers, plus be able to deal with where it's coming from.

We don't want it coming into the active area where we're doing the rescue work. So we'll want to be able to change the pressures, to turn that air flow around and get it going away from where the rescue activity is going on.

Now, when you think about a large amount of oxygen-deficient air coming in -- whether it came in from the north or the south and displaced the air that was in the active area -- a lot of that air got displaced out by it. And it was displaced with enough pressure that it destroyed the ventilation controls, the vertical walls, the stoppings that are constructed to separate the intake air from the return air. Those controls were blown out all the way out to cross-cut number 95. So we know there was a lot of force associated with that.

So why it would have is forced the air out by, if it came into this area, it would have also forced air in by up toward where we're putting this number three hole in. Since that area is closed -- show the sealed area -- there's no place there for the air to get out. So it would be trapped. So the fresh air would be trapped in that area. It would be initially compressed by the concussion of the mountain bump. But it would have formed a pocket, we believe, up in that corner, and that would be a likely place for the miners to go. So that's why, on our priority list, that's hole number three, because it was the third priority as far as the location.

Now we're also doing the planning work. The company -- the mining company is doing the survey and engineering work and the preparation to plan a fourth hole, depending on what we learn from the third hole and when we can get the fourth hole started. And we haven't pinned down the exact location. We've talked about various locations down in this area and we're still discussing that at this time.

So that's about as much as I know to tell you about the drilling activity on the surface.

Underground work has been very slow. We're 125 feet in by cross- cut 124. So we have advanced that cleanup work and ground support work a total of 645 feet.

But we continue to work very hard. The crews are enthusiastic. Morale is high. We continue to work here as a team -- the mine operator, the federal Mine Health and Safety Administration, the county, the sheriff, the state government, the governor. And we've got tremendous support. We have people offsite in the Mine Health and Safety Administration offices, in our technical support office in Pittsburgh, back in our headquarters in Arlington and across the country in district offices. We call up for information and support work and, also, the National Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH, has been engaged with us. NIOSH is the primary health and safety research for the federal government and we've been in contact with them and getting information and help in that area.

So with that, we're going to show a presentation of the video camera going into the mine and Mr. Moore is going to make some comments and narrate that for you.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Are you going to show the video?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not qualified to do that.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to bring it up this way?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there room?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that good?

PHILLIPS: Just to give you a little brief while we're waiting for them to set up this video, we're about to see the camera that was lowered into the holes.

Here you go right here. He's going to describe it for us.

Let's listen in.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a tourist.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More to the right.

STICKLER: Can we move forward right here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, you must move out of the rows, please. We've asked you three or four times.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

STICKLER: Thank you.

We appreciate that.

ROBERT MOORE, VICE PRESIDENT, MURRAY ENERGY: What we're going to show you here this afternoon are the video results from the down hole camera. And this would have been the second camera that we put down through the 8-5/8 inch bore hole last night. This had the supplemental light on it, yes, sir.

That's correct.

Do you want to go ahead and play?

This is the camera advancing down through the hole.

QUESTION: Is that the depth (INAUDIBLE)?

MOORE: Yes, this is the depth. But you're going to see that it's off because the pipe, the casing actually sticks up above the surface. So that's why the footage on there won't be consistent with the footages that we've provided.

This is a wire mesh that we use to add roof support. It keeps the small material from falling down. Here we're just simply trying to get a vantage point of the damage, if any, to the roof. And this is not atypical, what you see here. A lot of this could have been created by the drilling.

And what you'll see as we get further down with the horizontal camera is that the roof is actually very competent, which means that it's holding.

I'm going to allow it to play out, so I'm not going to narrate every second, because a lot of it is just -- you'll see the same view over and over. QUESTION: So Rob, that's in the shaft?

MOORE: This is in the entryway. This is the roof of the entryway. Right here you see a roof bolt. Again, this is the wire mesh that you're seeing here. That's used as supplemental support to keep up the small pieces of rock that typically fall.

You'll see that we have a 360 degree horizontal view here and the camera rotates around, at times focusing on certain things. In this case here, you have belt hangers. That's the chain that you see here. And here in the back, you actually see the belt.

On the ground, this is the water line -- the water pipe. It supplies water to the mine.

This is the bottom camera, which is looking down at the floor. Again, look here. You can see the roof is intact and competent. Again, it's holding.

What we have here is a view of the cross-cut between the number two and number three entryway. It's difficult to see on here, but there is some rubble in this area. Here we have just a typical tool bag. And that's likely holding belt splicing tools so that the men can work on the belt -- the belt line that I just pointed out.

Again, the roof is competent here. It's difficult to see here, but there is some rubble. The void that we're looking at is approximately five to five-and-a-half feet.

QUESTION: Again, that's looking into the cross-cut?

MOORE: As it pans around, you'll get a view of the cross-cut and also the entryway itself, the number two entry. That's panning away from the cross-cut and it will move over to the entryway here.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MOORE: And what we're going to do is we're going to actually supply this video to you. We just keep -- the remainder of the film and video is just a repeat of what you're seeing here. Again, here's your belt hangers. This chain that you see here, your water line, your aqua line, your belt. And you'll notice that the belt is twisted.

It could have been from the concussion of the seismic activity.

QUESTION: It's a conveyer belt?

QUESTION: How close is this to where you believe the miners are?

MOORE: Approximately two cross-cuts out by. This, again, this is at cross-cut 137. We had...

QUESTION: So about 260 feet?

MOORE: We had one at 138. The men -- the mining activity was around 139. QUESTION: and entry number one?

MOORE: And entry number one. That's correct.

QUESTION: And the footage (INAUDIBLE)?

MOORE: So again, we'll pass this out. We're going to hold off on questions until Mr. Murray has had an opportunity to talk.

I just want to point out that our focus remains on this rescue effort. And I want to repeat, it's a rescue effort.

Our primary concern is for the well-being of the trapped miners, their families and the rescue workers. Those men are doing an absolutely outstanding job. The conditions are extremely difficult and it is very is difficult work.

Now I just want to point out that that remain our focus and will remain our focus until this rescue effort is complete.

Mr. Murray?

Can we raise that up for him, please?

(CROSSTALK)

BOB MURRAY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MURRAY ENERGY CORPORATION: Ladies and gentlemen, we are now into our eighth day of the rescue efforts of the six trapped miners at the Crandall Canyon Mine.

And I want to thank those of you who have been here these eight days for your diligence in attempting to report to everyone in America what has and is transpiring here.

I'm very disappointed to be telling you on the eighth day that we have not found six alive miners. It has been the hope and prayer of all of us.

And as I have said before, the initial concussion of the seismic activity could have killed these miners outright and they would not have suffered.

However, I want to emphasize that there are many, many reasons to have hope still. There are many reasons why one would believe that they still may be alive.

First, as you have seen in all the photographs that we've shown you, the roof is competent. The wire mesh is there. The roof is supported. Nowhere has the roof caved in. The roof is supported and in place.

Secondly, as we've shown you in every photograph, there is a great deal of air space -- void, if you will -- between that supported roof and the rubble that has come out from the rib outbursts. There is much volume for the trapping of air to support their lives.

Thirdly, there is much water underground, as you have seen, and that water is potable.

Now we started out initially right here at cross 120. And after driving 310 feet, we were set back twice with seismic activity that brought us back, if you remember, to square one. And we had to start all over. And we're up in this area now.

We're on the same plan that we started with and it's working very well. But I've got to tell you, these are the worst mining conditions that I have ever seen in my 50 years of mining. And the progress is slow, way too slow. But we must not risk the lives of these rescue teams, who are all my employees.

On the drilling, we drilled first, as Mr. Stickler said, where we thought the miners would be, to try to establish communication and to see if they were alive. Then, the second large hole was put down in the same area, for pretty much the same reasons.

As you have seen, we have found no signs of life. So now we have calculated where we think, with their training, our employees might have gone next. And that is why we're drilling at that location.

We're also doing the engineering for a fourth location back here.

In other words, the underground rescue effort has been on the same plan with slight variations from the beginning. It was the right plan. The drilling has been by trial and error, as it must be.

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