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Utah Mine Rescue Effort; Former NBA Referee Tim Donaghy Released on $250,000 Bond; Another Spacewalk to Fix Damaged Shuttle?

Aired August 15, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: A whole lot happening weather-wise in the Atlantic.
Also, in the meantime, nearly a dozen deaths are blamed on sizzling temperatures across the South and Midwest. Where are the dangers the greatest?

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kyra Phillips.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Some contact, some sign of life. For nine-plus days, rescuers at the collapsed Utah mine have been desperately hoping for it, and today they may finally get some answers. We are expecting an update from mining company officials, but now we are hearing that's been postponed indefinitely.

Let's get straight to Brian Todd. He's in Emery County, Utah.

Brian, of course, that's making a lot of us really nervous, hearing this is postponed indefinitely. What are you hearing?.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we are getting some indications that some new information is going to come soon. As you mentioned, this has been postponed, it was scheduled for an hour ago.

We also just heard that the families may be getting a briefing soon. So there may be a development coming.

The latest that we know is that progress on both tracks of this rescue operation was moving at a faster pace than before, as of last night and this morning. The third drill hole going down to a chamber where rescue officials believe these miners might have retreated to if they survived the initial collapse. That was almost at its destination point. It may even be there now as we speak, but it was getting very close the last time we heard.

I spoke with Bob Murray, the CEO of Murray Energy Corporation, late last night, and he told me that they were optimistic about the progress that they were making, that they were moving faster both in drilling that third hole, but also in pushing down the main mine tunnel. He said because of the lack of seismic activity in recent days, that's really helped them. But still, progress is going very methodically. But you get a sense from everything that's going on here, the postponements and kind of the rumblings that you hear, that maybe some new information is coming soon.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, you let us know and we'll get right back to you. Brian Todd, thanks so much.

LEMON: We will continue to update that. We are waiting for that press conference. As soon as it starts, Brian Todd will update you on that, and we'll bring it to you live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Digging, drilling and hoping, rescue crews in Utah have been doing it for more than nine days now, and it's taking a physical and emotional toll as well, especially on the families.

Here's CNN's national correspondent, Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four miners survived the cave-in. One of them is Jameson Ward, who continues to work inside the mine as part of the rescue team. Julie Ward is his mother and knew her son was in the mine when she first heard about the disaster.

(on camera): When you heard it was a mine disaster, you must have been panicked.

JULIE WARD, MOTHER OF MINER: You don't even know panic until you almost lose one of your kids.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): We saw Jameson in the mine this past Wednesday, when we were permitted to go 2,000 feet down and observe the rescue work. Family members of he and other miners say they have been told by the mine not to talk publicly for now.

(on camera): Does he feel like it could get him in trouble if he talks?

WARD: I have no comment to that.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): But Julie says she can talk about what her son told her, including the fact that he had left the six trapped miners just three minutes before the cave-in, his small truck banging into a mine wall when the commotion began.

WARD: He was just barely -- just barely pulling out. And it's just a really good thing. And God bless the rest of the families. And I feel really, real bad, but thank God I got mine.

TUCHMAN: So, what does Jameson think caused the cave-in?

WARD: He told me it was a bounce.

TUCHMAN: A bounce or a mountain bump is what happens when enormous pressure from the weight above makes the coal pillars that support the mine collapse.

Catastrophic bounces are rare, but regular bounces are not. We experienced one when we were in the mine. The mine shakes. It's startling. And repeated bumps since this disaster have caused considerable rescue delays. For days now, people have wondered whether a controversial procedure known as retreat mining, in which coal pillars are pulled down as miners exit an area, could have caused the bounce.

The mine owner says no.

MURRAY: Retreat mining had absolutely nothing to do with the disaster that happened here.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Could the retreat mining have anything to do with this, does Jameson think?

WARD: I don't even know. I don't even know. James just said it was a bounce.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): James is continuing his work as a rescuer, but 12 other miners have asked to leave the front lines because the work is so dangerous and so emotionally difficult.

In the meantime, the camera goes down again, scanning the dark, any sign of life, while families watch the days tick by and cling to their last bits of hope.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Huntington, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And if you're looking for a way to make a difference for the miners' families, you can. Impact your world by logging on to CNN.com/impact to learn how you can become part of the solution. And we posted information about the Crandall Canyon family support fund. Impacting your world now just a click away at CNN.com/impact.

PHILLIPS: Keeping watch on a pair of tropical storms, Chad Myers in the weather center watching it all for us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, he made a career of calling fouls on the basketball court, now former NBA ref Tim Donaghy pleads guilty to committing the most serious personal foul of his life.

Allan Chernoff outside a New York courthouse with more on the case that's raised questions about the integrity of that sport -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kyra.

A former referee of the NBA, Tim Donaghy, this morning pled guilty to participating in a gambling ring that was betting on NBA basketball games, including many games that Donaghy himself was refereeing. In court, he described exactly how it worked.

He would phone in his picks for the betters, and if his picks were accurate, if they were the winners, indeed he would get paid off. First, $2,000 a game, then $5,000 a game. He would collect, in cash, at various cities all over the country and in Toronto as well in cash payments when his picks were right on target.

Now, he did plead legally to two felonies. He pled guilty to two felonies. They are conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting wagering information. Together, they carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

All of this came to light as the U.S. attorney here in Brooklyn was investigating organized crime, specifically the Gambino family's involvement in gambling, and two co-conspirators came up during that investigation. They are James Battista, also known as "Baba" and also known as "Sheep," and Thomas Martino (ph).

The two of them right now are inside the courthouse. They are facing arraignment on charges that carry a maximum sentence in prison of 20 years.

We did talk to an attorney for Mr. Battista, but he said that Mr. Battista intends to fight those charges -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, what does this mean for the NBA now, Allan?

CHERNOFF: This is an absolutely devastating charge here against the NBA. The NBA has been saying that it is only one referee, to their knowledge, but there is an ongoing investigation, the federal government, the Department of Justice investigating.

Obviously, the NBA has to be in major damage control right now, and they are hoping that they can somehow contain the damage. But it certainly has shaken that sport to its very foundation, to actually have a referee admitting that he was involved in gambling on games that he himself was officiating.

PHILLIPS: Allan Chernoff, thank you.

LEMON: Making toys compared with making safe toys, what is the difference? Well, we'll talk with a business expert who specializes in toy company management.

PHILLIPS: Plus, they were persecuted in Iraq, (INAUDIBLE) on their journey to Mexico. Did they make it across the border into the U.S.?

LEMON: And this spacewalk was part of the original plan, but will NASA order another one to fix the shuttle's damaged belly?

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Fourteen past the hour. Three of the stories we are working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Right now, U.S. and Afghan forces are on the attack in the eastern region of Tora Bora. They're going after al Qaeda and Taliban militants with air and ground strikes. It is believed Osama bin Laden once hid out in the region and managed to escape.

A chilling new terrorism report is out. The New York Police Department says it's not just terrorists overseas that Americans have to worry about. It says more Muslim immigrants in the U.S. are getting together and getting more radical.

Jurors in Miami now deliberating the fate of Jose Padilla. He and two co-defendants are accused have of conspiring to support terrorists. Now, the defense says the evidence is flimsy. The three men could face live behind bars.

PHILLIPS: Right over your head somewhere up there, two astronauts from the shuttle Endeavour are floating in space outside the International Space Station. It's a routine but delicate job, preparing an array of solar panels to be relocated. Now, one of four planned spacewalks during the mission is part of this one, but it's those unplanned events that pop up and concern NASA today.

CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien staying on top of Endeavour's mission.

Where are we today, Miles?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Well, in space, doing well so far, Kyra. That spacewalk has gone off without a hitch. They were repositioning some antennas, a lot of kind of honey-dos, if you will, in space for future missions. We don't have to spend a lot of time on that because a lot of people are curious about this gouge in the base of the belly of the space shuttle Endeavour.

Take a look at the picture. This is a 3D image which was derived using some fancy laser beam technology and a high-resolution camera.

There you see some live pictures of what's going on in space. But let's look at the imagery first and take a look at that gouge and what has caught the attention of NASA managers as they try to decide whether to, in fact, make a repair.

It's about three-and-a-half-inches long, but most important, as you can see right there, it is deep. It's right down to the Nomex and felt liner which sits on top of the aluminum itself there, the base of the space shuttle Endeavour. The question is, should it be repaired?

Now, I just want to go back very quickly and remind folks how this happened. It was 58 seconds after launch. Once again, a piece of foam -- this hearkens back to the Columbia disaster -- of course, a much bigger piece of foam in that case, about the size of a briefcase. In this case, the size of a softball. It ricochets down, finds its way down into the lower part of the base of the belly of Endeavour, causing that significant gouge. Now, what they have been doing is a series of tests on the ground. They've actually been able to model that damage on some tiles -- these are tiles on the ground in Houston -- with the exact gouge in them, and they have put it into what they call an arc jet furnace, which is like a blast furnace which has some speed on it. So it gives it a sense of exactly what it would encounter as the space shuttle Endeavour returns home at Mach 25 and temperatures reaching in excess of 2,000 degrees.

And to the layperson's eye here, it looks like it did pretty well. That's what I'm told. As a matter of fact, if you look very closely in there at the lowest part there where the seam is, it appears that felt, that Nomex and felt liner, is still intact.

Now, this is all going to be put into the soup, along with some computer simulations and so forth. But at this juncture, the mission management team seems to be saying we don't necessarily need to repair this, and may not do that.

Now, if they decide to repair, they have some options. Post- Columbia, they came up with a series of ways of fixing tile on a shuttle. This is one of them.

This is called STA-54. Don't need to know that. Take that back. Just put that out of your mind. Goo. We'll call it goo, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: That's much easier.

O'BRIEN: It's this, the goo that goes in the -- and you just spackle it in. It's just like spackling a hole.

PHILLIPS: It's like a little bubble gum.

O'BRIEN: Yes, yes, only it gets very hard. Although, if you have ever gone to detention, you know how hard gum can get. Right?

PHILLIPS: Exactly. And you know what? I've been there.

O'BRIEN: We.

PHILLIPS: Remember we used to stick it under our desks in school.

O'BRIEN: Yes. I've been there. I've scraped many a piece of gum off of bottoms of desks.

So, anyway, it gets very hard and protects against the heat.

The other thing is the shoe polish-like device. They call it an emittance answer wash which actually helps shed heat as well. It buys them about six degrees.

They may do a combination of both, put the emittance wash on, then put the goo in, or they may, Kyra, decide to do nothing at all because they believe that the temperatures are not going to be a real problem there. So we're watching it closely. We should hear a decision by the end of the day.

PHILLIPS: All right. Goo report part two coming up next hour.

O'BRIEN: All right.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome.

LEMON: So it was you two with the gum.

PHILLIPS: Miles and I...

LEMON: You were the culprits.

PHILLIPS: You know, Miles and I have always been troublemakers, Don. It wasn't just in school, OK?

LEMON: All right. That's why they separated you two.

PHILLIPS: Exactly. That's true.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: See you later, Miles, and your goo and everything else.

Their homeland is at war. Safety and freedom is in the United States. This is not the typical immigrant story. It's just a desperate journey with everything at stake, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We have been talking about this, what, for about a year now? Another bad dose of bad news for the battered housing market. This time it concerns home prices.

Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with all the details on that.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, what you need to do today to make sure your kids' toys are safe. And what about the issue of quality control?

You know about the recall. We're going to tell you what to do next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. A developing story. They have been down in that mine for nine days now, and we're expecting a press conference to update us on the situation of those missing miners. Richard Stickler, who is the assistant secretary of U.S. Department of Labor expected to take part in that, also Bob Murray, who is the president and CEO of Murray Energy Corporation, the co- owner of that mine. We are expecting the press conference sometime within the next 20 minutes.

We're hearing these two people are on the way to this. As soon as it happens and they're going to bring us an update, we are being told by our correspondents and producers in the field, as soon as that happens, we will bring it to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

In the meantime, damage control is now the game of the game at Mattel, both on Wall Street and Main Street, USA, after two worldwide recalls in two weeks. The toy giant has taken out full-page ads in "The New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal" and its CEO has taped an online message to parents.

Both recalls targeted toys made in China centered on lead paint and magnet risks. Mattel says it stepped up monitoring of its Chinese manufacturers, but the company Chief Robert Eckert acknowledges, quote, "We could have additional issues." To find out which toys have been recalled, you can logon to CNN.com. We have pictures, lists and links, and an in-depth feature on the "Made in China" issue.

PHILLIPS: A giant question mark here, is the issue of quality control. Is there any in China? Who's looking out for us here in America? Joining us now with some insight, Professor Eric Johnson of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Eric, great to see you.

PROF. ERIC JOHNSON, DARTMOUTH, TUCK SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: Great to see you.

PHILLIPS: Have you ever had a chance to visit any of these factories in China?

JOHNSON: Yes, certainly, I've been studying toys for 10 years and had a chance to be in many plants throughout Southeast Asia.

PHILLIPS: So, tell me about them. Is there a good quality control system in these plants?

JOHNSON: Certainly Mattel, companies like Mattel have good quality control, but what the challenge we see is in the supplier base. What's happening to the supplier of the supplier. Are they controlling things? And that's where the weak link is.

PHILLIPS: Can you give me an idea how the process goes? For example, U.S. companies, they send certain parts to China, then what happens there in China, and then how does it come back? Where are the checks and balances, and is every single toy inspected?

JOHNSON: Well, certainly not every toy is inspected, when you think of the hundreds of millions of toys coming to our shore every year, not everyone can be inspected. But what has really changed is the fact that many of the materials that go into the toys now are coming from China. They used to come from multi-nationals around the world, come from the U.S. and Europe. Now many of those components, like paint or plastic, are coming from China and that's where some of the problems that we're seeing.

PHILLIPS: So when it comes down to it, it's up to U.S. companies to self-police?

JOHNSON: Absolutely. They are ultimately responsible and they need to put good quality management practices in place, not only in their first tier suppliers but in the supply base.

PHILLIPS: But obviously that's not happening, correct? Are there U.S. guidelines that are supposed to be followed, because you would think with such a big industry, especially involving our children, that this is the last thing that we would expect.

JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, certainly we've seen some mistakes. And I think, you know, Mattel being a company that I often look up to as -- when they're having some trouble, you can imagine that smaller firms are having even bigger problems, and I think we'll be hearing about this story all fall.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's hear what the Mattel CEO Bob Eckert said when asked about the inspection process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT ECKERT, CEO, MATTEL TOYS: Every batch of toys that's made is being tested before it's released, so we have rigorous testing.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: How could this happen then? Forgive me, but if you have some of the most rigorous testing in the business, how could there be millions and millions of toys recalled?

ECKERT: We changed our procedure because it appears there is a quantity of lead paint that has been used in toy making, so instead of releasing products and doing regular testing, we're now testing every batch of toys that's made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right, that's great that he's saying he's testing every batch now, but obviously that wasn't happening previously, so once again, we're kind of seeing the reaction versus the prevention. So, a lot of parents are wondering, what if I buy a Hasbro toy or Disney toy or some other toy, is this what could happen?

JOHNSON: Certainly mistakes can happen, and when you start talking about inspecting, even in those factories, you can't inspect everything. And there -- what really needs to happen is that those suppliers need to come up to the Western standards of quality control.

PHILLIPS: So, that when it comes down to it, China doesn't have Western standards, is that what you're saying? JOHNSON: In the top tier, they do. But as you go down through the supply base that's where you will start finding many cracks.

PHILLIPS: What happens now? Obviously, this is a huge international story. Everybody is concerned about something like this when it comes down to our kids, everybody buys hundreds of toys. What needs to happen now?

JOHNSON: Well, you know, the good news is we've been producing toys in China for 20 years, and a lot of safe toys in China. So, consumers shouldn't run out and stop buying Chinese toys. In fact, that would be a very hard thing to do. There would be very little under your tree at Christmastime, if you didn't buy something from China. But consumers should watch these recalls, look in their toys, and keep an eye on what's happening.

PHILLIPS: Just real quickly, can you name a toy that's made in America? We were all racking our brains.

JOHNSON: There are very few toys. Hasbro makes some puzzles up in New England, so there's still a big puzzle factory there. And many specialty toys, you know, wooden toys, some specialty toys you'll find coming out of the U.S. But the mass market toys, the things you will find in the aisles of Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us are almost all coming from Southeast Asia.

PHILLIPS: Eric Johnson, we appreciate your time.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Toys are just part of the story. If you want to know it all, you can head to our website and that's where you can find our special report, "Made In China". Go to cnn.com/madeinChina, answers to all your questions, in-depth reports. You'll find it right there.

LEMON: All right, Kyra.

So we want we want to get you back to Emory County, Utah, the site of that press conference, expected to happen at any moment now. Just a second ago, Bob Murray, the owner of the mine there, stuck his head out and -- inside this trailer here, the command post, you see at the top of your screen there -- preparing for the press conference.

As soon as it gets under way, we will bring it to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. We are expecting to get some new developments here. We're hearing from our Brian Todd in the field, this press conference has been postponed for about an hour now, so we are wondering what that update is. As soon as we hear about it, we will bring it to you.

On now to news about Iraq, specifically Hilla, Iraq, about 60 miles south of Baghdad. Smoke, debris and shattered nerves after a car bomber detonated himself next to a convoy carrying an Iraqi judge. The judge was hurt, but he is alive. Two of his bodyguards were killed, six other people injured in that. Almost genocide, that's what an American general in Iraq calls string of attacks against a minority ethnic group in the country's remote north. Suicide bombers killed at least 250 people in villages near the Syrian border, mainly populated by Kurdish people belonging to the Yazidi religious sect. The U.S. commander in that area believes those people were targeted for a reason.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. BENJAMIN MIXON, CMDR., MULTINATIONAL DIV.-NORTH: This is an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will, almost genocide, when you consider the fact of the target they attacked in the fact that these Yazidis are really out in a remote part of Nineveh Province, where there is very little security, and really no security required up until this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: More than 300 people were hurt in what we're told were five separate truck bombings, four at a bus station, and one in a small border town. The U.S. military calls it a trademark Al Qaeda event.

Well, there's word today from the U.S. military a helicopter crash in Iraq that killed five U.S. service members does not appear to be the result of an attack. A Chinook helicopter, like this one, crashed yesterday near an airbase in Anbar Province. Officials say the chopper was on a routine post-maintenance check flight.

PHILLIPS: Straight to Utah now and an update on those trapped miners. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)

RICHARD STICKLER, ASST. SEC., DEPT. OF LABOR: ... overseeing the drilling operation and in the command center here on the surface. We continue to work together as a strong team, certainly, the family members in this rescue operation are part of that team. We have experienced miners and some mine safety professionals that are members of mine rescue teams that are family members. We've been working very closely with the families, and we consider them a part of this rescue operation team.

We just returned from a second meeting that we've had with the families here today. And we've updated them on all the information that we know about this rescue operation. And we're here to give that update to you also.

As far as the underground cleanup work, we've advanced roughly 90 feet since I met with you yesterday. The work continues to be slow and difficult. But we are moving forward. We had some backsets during the night. We had a small seismic bump that brought some rib material in against the machine, the continuous mining machine, where it's loading. This would be in by where we have the vertical supports with the chain link fence. It also did some damage to the continuous mining machine that resulted in a short downtime, until we were able to repair the continuous mining machine.

But I think we have the system in place to pick up the advanced rate on the rehabilitation and cleanup of No. 1 entry. We just need some luck and hope that things go well for us in that area.

In regard to the bore holes, the No. 1 bore hole, that's the 2 1/2-inch diameter bore hole, we continue to use that to monitor the atmosphere in that location in the mine. We've been finding just over 15 percent oxygen in that area, and fairly low levels of carbon monoxide.

The No. 2 bore hole that we've been using for two purposes, one is to run video cameras in to see if we can learn anything new. The additional views that we've got from the video cameras in No. 2 hole has not given us any more information than what we've already shared with you. So, when we're not doing video recording in that hole, we're using it to pump in approximately 9,000 cubic feet of fresh air into the mine in that location.

The No. 3 bore hole, holed in, cut in, dried into the mine just recently. After the drill entered into the mine, we attempted to lower a microphone down through the center of that drilled steel. We were not able to get the microphone all the way down to mine scene. For some reason, it will not go closer than approximately 20 feet above the roofline of the coal seam. This hole we had to do correctional drilling. The hole went down approximately 700 feet, we found it drifted approximately 20 feet. We brought that drill out of the hole, put a directional bit on; made a correction, so we have a bend in this hole.

So, as you have a 20-foot correction and a bend in the hole, that puts the drill steel against the raw hole, the outer area of the hole. And the only way to access that hole with a listening device is through the internal drill steel itself. And we haven't been able to get down to the drill steel.

As a result, we have no conclusive information whether or not there's any communication with the miners underground. The next step in this process is to withdraw the drill steel out of this hole, the No. 3 hole. After we bring the drill steel out, we will go back into the raw hole before installing casing. We've made some improvements to try to protect the camera from the water and debris in the hole, so we have a better chance to get a picture. We've also made improvements in the lighting so we hope to see more.

We feel that it's important to get into the raw hole rather than wait until we put a casing into that hole. But depending on what we view with this camera, the next step that you would anticipate would be to bring the camera out and install a steel casing, a liner that would line that hole all the way down to the coal seam.

So we continue to work together here as a team. We've had tremendous team spirit. The county, the sheriff, the state, Governor Huntsman, federal Mine Health & Safety Administration, the mine operator, we continue to plan. We have planning meetings twice a day. We've been meeting with the families twice a today. I anticipate today certainly we'll have a third meeting. We've already met with them twice today.

So, the families have provided a lot of support to me. They've provided information, and we consider them an important, a valuable player on this team, and we're doing everything to maintain that kind of participation and teamwork throughout this process.

With that, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Murray to make some comments.

BOB MURRAY, PRES., CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: Throughout the effort from the beginning, we've been on a plan that has been confirmed to be, by all experts in America that are familiar with this situation, the right plan. We continue to progress that plan, and this is relative to the underground mining and the driving towards the miners.

In the last 12 hours, I have flown in 14 of my top managers that have over 500 years of mining experience among them. As a second wave to support the already talented, experienced people we've had on-site since this tragic event occurred on August 6th.

We've had a minimum of 134, the last several days it's been closer to 200, to do outbuy work as well. We've had all the equipment and all the manpower that we could possibly use in the confined spaces in which we have to work. But these people have been here nine days now, steady, and they're tired. And so I have brought in 500 years of experience overnight, our top managers, to continue the effort in conjunction with them. We've left no stone unturned in this effort.

I am still very optimistic that we will find these miners alive. There is real reason to believe that, from what we have found. The roof is intact. There's been no falls, from the seismic activity. There's plenty of water. And depending on the air in the specific areas of the mine, and where these miners might have gone, there's plenty of void space to hold the air to keep them alive for weeks, not just the eight days that we've been at it.

So I still remain very, very hopeful. Some of you asked me, would you bring someone to the interview that has actually been engaged in the recovery besides myself? And as you know, I have been underground virtually every day myself, with regard to the underground effort.

It's my privilege to introduce to you Mr. Bodie Allred. Mr. Allred is the manager of safety at this mine, and he has relatives trapped in the mine. And Mr. Allred will, will speak to you after which we can answer your questions.

Bodie?

QUESTION: Can you spell his first name?

MURRAY: B-O-D-I-E.

BODIE ALLRED, DIRECTOR, MINE SAFETY: As Mr. Murray said, I'm the safety director of this operation, at the Crandall operation. I do have a cousin in there. As I mentioned before, I know that the gentleman in there knows that we're on our way. We're real close family, not only my cousin, but the rest of them men in there as well. Something that maybe you ought to realize is that when these men come and go from work on a day in, day out basis, I shake hands with these gentlemen. I look them in the eye.

I'm very proud of the fact that we do have a safe operation. And the current efforts that we're doing is done in a safe manner. As the men that have come to help us out in this effort, I have looked at every one of them, and I shook their hand, as they come, as they go, as we do the training. And right off the top, the best thing we can do right now is be safe in our efforts to get them.

I know these men well. I know they would not appreciate us taking any chances. That they know, they know damn well, that we're doing what we can do to get to them and we're going to get there. There's no doubt about it.

Just like to thank everybody that's helped support this effort, and we're real excited for the extra help Mr. Murray has brought to us. Just keep -- keep that hope.

QUESTION: Do you think they're still alive?

ALLRED: Yes, I do. They're very tough men.

QUESTION: You described the condition of the ground as some of the worst he's ever seen it in his 50 (ph) years mining. Do you concur? What's it like under there? Do you feel shaking all the time?

MURRAY: I want to clarify his statement. I've said from day one the mining -- as we did the mining, is some of the best mining conditions we have ever seen. I never said they were always the worst. I said after the seismic events, and after the earthquakes, they're some of the worst that I've ever seen, so Bodie, I want to clarify to you what I've said so you can respond to it.

ALLRED: Yes, after that seismic activity, it is -- it is definitely something I've never seen before and it's probably the worst condition I've seen. The efforts that we're doing in order to protect them is right on track. Feel very good in there.

Make no mistake that it's definitely trying every time you're in there, and you got to be on your toes. You got to be alert. And that's what coal mining is. This is a lot of pressure in there. And we're taking the precautions in order to keep our men safe.

QUESTION: Some men have asked you to be relocated because they don't feel safe. Can you address that?

ALLRED: Yes. The men -- there have been some men, personally, come right to me and talk to me about this.

MURRAY: Again, I corrected that yesterday. No one ever said to us that they didn't feel safe. Some of them have family members in there. No one has ever said it wasn't safe. They've just been asked to be relocated, so let's, please -- when I correct it, please don't bait Mr. Bodie Allred with a false statement for him to respond to. QUESTION: But, sir, he's just someone who's actually in there day to day, if we can get a statement from him.

MURRAY: That's exactly what I'm trying to do here. OK?

QUESTION: Look at it this way. After a mine collapse, as a miner, what does it feel like? Is it safe to go into an area that's already collapsed? Is there any fear -- do you have any fear after such an event?

ALLRED: You're referring to a collapse, and this is where the ribs have come in, a collapse, I'm assuming you're saying the top, and that's not the case.

QUESTION: An accident of some sort, do you feel safe going into a mine after an accident?

ALLRED: Yes, I do. When you have something of this magnitude, the steps in place that you've put your supports in, those things that we're sticking in, we're protecting this rib, once you see what you're doing to protect it then, yes, you feel safe.

Now, these individuals that feel uncomfortable up there have certain reasons. Just ain't setting well with them. You know, that's understandable. This effort ain't all in the face. This effort starts on the surface, it starts from downtown, all the way up here. All this effort goes right in the chain of line. You ain't going to drop the end of this effort and expect to get anything done. Them men are needed just as much in the face area, as they are on the outside of this. That's where they're at and they're doing a hell of a job. There ain't none of these guys who aren't willing to do whatever they can.

QUESTION: Where you in the mine when this thing occurred, Sir?

MURRAY: To conclude the interview, I want to report on something that is extremely important. And that is the families; we've met together, prayed together, in the beginning last week it was every three hours. In the last four or five days, six days, it's been at least twice a day. And there have been two meetings with the families already this morning.

They're holding up extremely well. And it is their faith. It is their faith. These are amazingly strong people. They are wonderful, and I am so proud of them. I want to thank you all, and all of the Americans for the interest in following the event -- these tragic events. I have every hope that we will recover these miners alive, and there are many scenarios whereby that could be possible.

Mr. Stickler?

STICKLER: We're open for any questions you may have.

QUESTION: (OFF MIC) When you talk about how many possible locations you can drill, and how many places the miners could have got -- could have fled to actually, can you give us a sense of how big this area is? Give some rough dimension to this underground area, what's -- theoretically, how big is the area where they could be found?

STICKLER: Well, from the area where we're doing the rehabilitation in No. 1 entry is a little over 2,000 feet up to the active working section, where the miners were mining prior to this event occurring. So, you would have that working section, say, 2,000 feet. The width of that section, there are four entries, you have seen the map. Those entries are on 80-foot centers, so that would be 320 feet across, dimension-wise.

The bleeder entry, that we showed you where we just cut -- drilled the No. 3 hole in was approximately 1,300 feet; away from the active area where the miners were working. So, that gives you some dimensions on this.

QUESTION: (OFF MIC)

STICKLER: That's 1,300 feet.

QUESTION: Plus 2,000?

STICKLER: OK, so you would add the 2,000 to 1,300, from where we started the rehabilitation in No. 1 entry.

QUESTION: Are there other tunnels, where they could have fled to is my question, I guess?

STICKLER: There are a lot of possibilities, and we started with, you know, logical thinking. If I were in this situation, what would I do? And that has guided us in where we determined to look, and the sequence in which we're following that process is based on where we would best guess that the miners would have gone and what they would have done.

QUESTION: So you weren't -- just to verify, Sir -- you were able to dig the third hole, but you had problems as you were doing the digging, and that's why you were not able to put in the miners? Would that be correct?

STICKLER: The third hole, as I communicated to you previously, the third hole did cut into the mine. It drilled into the mine where it was planned to drill in. And does that answer your question?

QUESTION: Are you doing any air sampling?

STICKLER: We have not been able to do any air sampling in this hole yet. Because the downhole motor, the directional drill bit we put on, in order to correct the 20-foot drift in this hole, has a plate on the bottom. You cannot pull air from the mine up through the center of the drill steel.

We considered putting a, a tubing line down the annulus, that would be the area between the drill steel and the raw hole, the wall. But because of the curvature in this hole, and because of our experience of not being able to do that in the past, we've elected to wait until we pull drill steel out, put the camera in. When we do that, we will attempt to do air sampling.

QUESTION: You said you had a microphone, did you send that microphone in 20 feet of the opening of the chamber, is that correct? I take it you have heard no sounds? Wouldn't you expect that those men would have made some sounds if they were alive in there?

STICKLER: Well, this microphone is inside of a steel casing. The drill string that goes down and has the bit on the bottom, that's a steel casing, and the only place that we could put the microphone in is inside of the steel casing. So, that microphone would be limited as far as any kind of communication with the miners. And the fact that it's 20 feet up into the roof, so that's why we explained to you that the listening that we've done at this point is inconclusive.

QUESTION: When it drops -- when it cut through, wouldn't they have tapped on the drill? Aren't they trained to tap on the drill while it's still there?

STICKLER: Yes, but you have a steel string that's going down 1,400 feet and some places we know that steel string that has the bit on it is -- since it's curved, we know that steel string has to be hitting against the raw hole, the wall, the rock. So, any kind of noise would likely be dampened by the fact that it's in contact with the side of the hole, and the fact that it's so far down.

QUESTION: But did drill crews try to tap on the shaft then or not?

STICKLER: Yes, they did.

QUESTION: OK, no response?

STICKLER: I mentioned earlier we have no response from underground that would give us any indication that it was miners.

QUESTION: So, the camera, will that be able to make it all the way down, despite the bend? Or do you have to correct that bend before you put the camera down?

STICKLER: We're going to attempt to put it in the raw hole, and I can't tell you that it will or it won't, at this point. If it doesn't, then the next step will be to put the steel casing, the lining in that hole and put the camera down on the inside of the steel casing. --

QUESTION: You don't know if any fresh air is getting into that farthest part of the mine, at this point?

STICKLER: The holes that we've drilled in, previously, intake, that means air from the surface would free flow into the mine. I have not got a report on this hole yet. But it would be my anticipate that it would be similar results.

QUESTION: On the underground clean up, you indicated progressed about 90 feet from where you told us you were yesterday but there was some activity -- some seismic activity overnight. Does that mean that you are close to 800 feet in, or did the seismic activity set you back? Can you tell us exactly where you are in now?

STICKLER: The seismic activity occurred right in the area of where the continuous miner was doing to clean-up work, and it caused damage to the continuous miner. It took two or three hours to make those repairs.

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