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American Morning

Ninth Miner Pulled to Freedom

Aired October 13, 2010 - 07:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We'll see you again in just a little while. Let's watch these pictures here as Mario Gomez rises to the surface because, you know, his wife Lila is going to jump right in there as soon as she can. Here we go. I bet it is all she can do to wait patiently there for them to open the capsule and let them out.

CHETRY: I can't imagine what it must be like, married for 30 years. They have children together. And she has waited there day and night in the cold saying "I'm not going home until I have you with me." When asked what she thinks will happen when they finally see each other, she said I think we'll hold each other and cry. And that moment is not far away as we see them opening up the capsule and giving a thumbs up for Mario Gomez.

ROBERTS: If you're just joining us, we're crossing the top of the hour here, and you're watching special coverage on AMERICAN MORNING of the mine rescue. Here he is. He's out.

(APPLAUSE)

CHETRY: The concerns about his health, he was the one that they felt was perhaps in the most danger physically, and we see him sit down there for a moment. We haven't seen the other miners do this.

ROBERTS: I suspect he's saying a prayer.

(APPLAUSE)

CHETRY: He was the spiritual leader of the group as they dubbed him, requesting a crucifix be sent down as well as statues of saints to make a makeshift shrine while they were down there.

ROBERTS: Together for 30 years, separated for 69, and now back together again, Mario Gomez and Lila Ramirez. She begged him not to go down in the mine that day. She said take the day off, please. I need you at home. And he said, no, I have to go down. It's my job. Now here he is back up again.

CHETRY: Back up again after 69 days shaking hands and thanking some of the rescuers. She also said that she thinks what they're going to do is get married in a church. She said they just had a civil wedding and she says she'll be inviting a lot of the people in the camp because she says they're part of our lives now. And she also says that god has given us the opportunity to restart life. She called it a miracle. ROBERTS: She wrote a letter about her ordeal here which has been published. And just to share a little bit of it with you. The day of the disaster she got a knock on the door. It was the head of operations of the mine.

Here's what she says. "He told me there had been an accident at the mine. He insisted it wasn't a big deal, only a few rocks blocking the entrance, but his face told a different story. In the first two weeks people told me to prepare myself to bad news. Half of the mountain had come down and it was unlikely that anyone would get out alive.

But I knew in my heart that Mario was alive and I prayed that they would be found. There he is, found. Now back home.

CHETRY: And there we see him being put on the gurney, supplemental oxygen being fed to him. He's breathing that in right now. Let's check in with Gary Tuchman who has watched all of this drama unfold live at the mine for us this morning. And again, remarkable. This was the miner they were most worried about out of the nine that have emerged so far. He looked fantastic, Gary.

(APPLAUSE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This has been such a day of emotion. It's hard to describe. Now for seven and a half hours we've watched nine miners come out of that capsule and be rescued and met by people who loved them.

And each story is a little bit different. Some people as young as 18, this man as old as 63, could be his grandfather. The emotions are the same. Watching them meet with their family members in the reunion center they set up specifically for this occasion and watching them hug each other and kiss each other.

And these are people who probably didn't think they would ever see each other again two different ways. You have the spouses who thought they perished. You did just tell the story how this wife thought her husband was alive, but deep down in the back of their mind they were alert to the possibility they did not survive.

And then you have the men underground who for 17 days nobody knew if they were alive. Only the 33 men knew they were alive, but above ground nobody knew. And you've got to wonder here it is in the days to come of some of the men who thought they were forgotten about and would die down there.

And now you see this happy conclusion to the story. Right now we have nine who have been rescued. We still have 24 to rescue. Nothing is for sure because you are dealing with a situation no one has ever survived for this long underground ever in the history of the world. This is an absolute. This isn't just a mine ministry. This is in civilization no one has survived this long.

So that's why it's a great story in Chile where the men are heroes but also a great international story all over the world. People have been watching this, a common purpose, wanting these men to survive, and so far only happy stories to tell. John and Kiran?

ROBERTS: Gary, we are just struck by the emotion of it as we're watching it here from so far away. And when you see a reunion like the one between Mario and Lila you can't help but have a tear come to your eye. What's it like being there watching these rescues in person?

TUCHMAN: It's really interesting. They allowed us to come to this perch. We're the closest civilians to the rescue site. Nevertheless, you and Kiran and all our viewers are seeing the details much better than we are because we don't have monitors here. We weren't allowed to bring monitors to connect to the feed, so we are not seeing the close-up emotional shot that you're seeing.

What we're doing when we're not on the air is we are running to monitors that are a distance from here to watch.

But that being said, it's almost like an NFL football game or any other sporting event. You see NFL or NCAA much better on your TV set at home with digital television with instant replays and you can see the game better.

But being in the stadium and soaking it in and getting the atmosphere, there's nothing like that. That's an experience unfortunately you can't experience right now, that me and my 150 brothers and sisters from journalism who are here soaking it in.

CHETRY: And you bring up a good point. There have been some e- mails from our viewers saying that they were quite shocked at all of the production that they are seeing in regards to this rescue.

What was the decision process by the Chilean government to allow so many cameras to be there and inundated with press from around the world but also underground cameras as well? It's quite remarkable.

TUCHMAN: Right. What's important to point out is this camera showing me right now is our CNN camera. However, all of the cameras with amazing shots underground which are most incredible live shot I have ever seen, and the live cameras inside the reunion center, the live cameras right up in the faces of these men as they come out of the cage of the capsule, these are all Chilean government cameras. That's important to point out. We're not in control of these cameras.

They show what they want. They are great pictures, no question about it, but it's a government production. You may say to yourself that's amazing that they are so transparent, the Chilean government.

The question you do need to ask in all fairness is if we had known or presumed the outcome would be negative, would they have been so transparent and have so many cameras? And I think the answer to that question is no.

ROBERTS: Yes, this is certainly something that the Chilean government wants to broadcast around the world because, as you said this morning earlier, much earlier, Gary, it's breaking news story, and typically when we have breaking news it's a bad situation. But in this particular case it's a good situation.

Gary Tuchman watching the scene for us live in Chile as we continue to watch pictures unfold here as they prep the capsule. It looks like they're recharging the oxygen supply in the Fenix capsule to go down back underground for miner number ten.

Let's bring in our Dr. Sanjay Gupta who's live in Pasadena this morning. Sanjay, we are in part of the rescue now where the miners who the most acute medical problems are being brought up. We saw Mario Gomez brought up a little while ago suffering from black lung disease. Not in very good shape, but looking remarkably well considering what he's been through.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It is really remarkable. I think everyone here just watching and listening to you guys getting chills watching him come up.

And I think it's worth noting, I mean, people are seeing these miners coming up looking in very good condition, but just how remarkable that is, I know that you were interviewing some of the people affiliated with the Creek Mine disaster after just a few days and the type of condition they were in when they were rescued. This has obviously been 69 days since these miners were rescued and I think it's a real tribute to how much planning went into what you're seeing right now.

And beforehand as well, getting these miners adequate food, adequate nutrition, making sure they got their medications. With Mario in particular, the real concerns about this lung disease and having a de-saturation, meaning oxygen levels dropping during the rescue mission itself, making sure no contaminants and dust and additional particles come into his lungs causing problems like that during the rescue mission itself, being able to take care of him while he was down in the mine for so long.

Again, I think it's easy to forget just how good news this is from a medical perspective because the condition could have been very, very different, and you would be able to just tell on miners' faces and their condition when they came up.

So it's just remarkable from a medical standpoint to see these images. I know they'll go to the field office and subsequently to a larger hospital for the triage that you have been talking about for several hours now, and all of that will obviously be done. But it's amazing to see medically speaking.

CHETRY: Yes, and obviously there's a fair share of adrenaline that's also driving all of these miners as they come up. This is probably the most exuberant they've been since this happened.

But in the immediate time afterward, what are the biggest concerns? I know there was talk of infection down there because of the humidity and because of the dampness as well as some of the other concerns. Fungal infections that could in some cases, at least according to the Dr. Cuckle (ph), who we spoke to, could actually be systemic, meaning that it could be throughout the body. How do they assess that and treat it?

GUPTA: You know, the good news about medical triage is there's a consistent nature to it. So all of the miners when they get to this field hospital will have sort of an evaluation that's sort of sorts out the worst things first.

So looking at the airway, looking at the breathing and circulation, and that's going to be the same no matter whether you have a preexisting illness of some point or you were deemed perfectly healthy.

But you're absolutely right. What may seem like relatively minor problems, skin infections as a result of the humid setting that they've been in for so long leading to a fungal infection which can get into someone's lungs, that can be a serious problem.

So doing more advance tests like chest x-rays to see if there's any evidence of that, taking someone's temperature. And some of the miners are probably going to get inoculations prophylactically, protectively. They haven't been exposed to germs and viruses on the surface of the earth for over two months. So to suddenly expose them to everything that you and I and people living in Chile have been exposed to all at once, they want to make sure that doesn't lead to some catastrophe down the line as well.

But there's going to be, my guess, a real order to it, a real sequence to it. I noted that the gentleman with diabetes that came up, Jose, they said his blood sugar was a little bit high when it was checked. That's not that surprising to me. If they had to balance his blood sugar as he came up versus high versus low, they probably wanted to go on the high side a little bit again to make sure he didn't have some sort of hypo-glycemic episode as he was coming up during the rescue itself, that he didn't subsequently feel faint or lightheaded and pass out. That obviously would have been a much more difficult outcome as you bring someone out.

So the planning in this, again, from a medical and health perspective has been really just on the mark it seems. And over the next several days obviously evaluation may find out certain things about their health conditions. But I think that the immediate triage has gone perfectly well.

ROBERTS: Sanjay, what about the potential for lingering psychological problems? You have done a lot of stories on post- traumatic stress disorder and things that our troops suffer from when they come back from overseas serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Is there potential for something similar here because of the stress they've been living under for the past two-and-a-half months?

GUPTA: Yes, I talked to several people about this over the last several days and did exactly what you did, John, try to compare and contrast to what's happened here to other sorts of incidents and even compare it to some of what the troops have gone through.

You know, obviously, every situation is so different and it's fair to say what's unfolding right now is a very novel situation for so many reasons. The amount of time, the congregation of these men together, the intermittent contact with the outside world, and now, what is known as the heroic period. A lot of people refer to this period as the heroic period. There's so much media attention. There's so many -- there's so much support. There's so many resources.

You know, I know you've had other folks on talking about the fact that in the short-term these miners as close as they are probably are not going to want to really talk about mining or talk about the other miners. But after a period of time when the heroic period starts to diminish, attention starts to be diverted, people aren't talking as much about this particular story. They're finding a real source of comfort from the other miners I think is going to be really important.

As far the incident itself, what caused this mining collapse and whether or not it might lead to some post-traumatic stress disorder down the line, it's very hard to say. Every miner is probably going to be a little bit different in this particular sense, and so it's hard to predict. But that's certainly a possibility. We know from other mining accidents that miners have gotten back into the mines after that despite their worries or concerns and their fears about the accident itself.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: One quick medical question. We've been asking some of our viewers some of the things that they may be interested in as they all watch this unfold as well. People are asking how it is that they're able to bring them up in daylight. We've seen them wearing those sunglasses, the sunglasses as they come up. But concerns for their eyes as they try to adjust from near darkness to bright sunlight.

GUPTA: Yes. And you know, darkness, artificial light, significant amounts of artificial light problematic as well. And you think of the eyes and think about the pupils and what the pupils have been doing. I mean, they had some intermittent exposure to light down in the mine but now, all of a sudden, the bright light, it causes the pupillary muscles to constrict very fast, you know, just constrict as they always do any time.

Anyone is exposed to bright light. But in this case, the pupillary muscles have become quite accustomed to being in the more dilated position. So the concern is when you constrict it that quickly, could you cause some damage to the retina itself? It's, you know, more hypothetical than for sure, but I think those sunglasses that you've been seeing are basically to protect against that and then there will be a period of time where they'll simply acclimate someone to brighter and brighter light.

I talked to an ophthalmologist specifically about this. And, you know, it's very much in line with everything else that you've seen. Let's leave nothing to chance. Let's dot every "I" and cross every "T." Leave no stone unturned. This has sort have been the M.O. for this whole rescue mission. It's been very effective and I think the sunglasses are another reflection of that.

ROBERTS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning in Pasadena, California. Doc, thanks very much. And what you're looking at on the screen right now is after the ninth miner to come up, they're re-prepping the Phoenix capsule to go back down underground again, and pick up miner number 10.

CHETRY: That's right. And we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to be joined by CNN's Rafael Romo who's going to give us a live demonstration of just how small that Phoenix capsule is, what it is like to be in there. We're going to check out -- check in with him in just a moment. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-two minutes after the hour now. We continue with our special coverage of the rescue of the 33 miners.

The Phoenix capsule has just gone back down into the ground. The line momentarily stopped as it they put this block in place. That block designed to keep the line away from the edge of that pipe, stop it from chafing. What happens is they drop the capsule down about 25 feet or so. They put that block in place and they send down the rest of the way and then on the way back, we get an indication that the capsule is near because they remove that block. So far, nine miners up safely going for number 10. Alex Vega coming up in probably about 20 minutes or so.

CHETRY: That's right. Alex Vega, 31 years old, he's a mechanic. He's operating heavy machinery down there. And he also is a mining veteran from a mining family, I guess you could say. His father also a miner. His wife, Jessica Salgado, is, of course, talking about how she's nervous and she has been over the past few months giddy at the chance to finally get to see her husband after 69 agonizing days. So, again, we'll continue to follow the latest as these live pictures continue to be broadcast from Chile.

But right now, we want to get a closer look at that rescue cage, that Phoenix capsule as it's been called, lifting the men to the surface.

CNN's senior Latin America affairs editor, Rafael Romo, has a mock-up of the pod at the studio in Atlanta. And, you know, we've talked about, Rafael, about just how small it is just around two feet in diameter. And some of those men had to actually lose weight to be able to fit in it. What's it like?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICA AFFAIRS EDITOR: That's right, Kiran. What we really wanted to show our viewers and give them a really good idea of what it's like for the miners to go inside the capsule, and we created a replica. It's exactly the measurements of the capsule that the miners in Chile are using.

And let me just get inside of it to give you an idea of how tight the space is. It's about 21.5 inches from shoulder to shoulder so barely enough for a regular person to fit in. It's about 6'4" in height and also, it's just wide enough for them to be able to wear a belt that is going to monitor constantly their vital signs. This belt, once they get into the capsule, is connected to the surface so the rescue team on the surface may be able to check their vital signs, heart rate, blood pressure and the like.

Also, once they get inside, they wear a communications equipment so they can talk to people on the ground and also there's a video camera attached to the ceiling of the capsule so all of this makes for a very tight space. As you can see, my height about 5'10" and that's pretty much the way this is working for the miners.

Now, this is just the replica. It's made out of wood and plastic, but the actual capsule weighs about 924 pounds. Very, very heavy. But then, again, it's the one instrument that is helping save the lives of all these miners, Kiran.

CHETRY: Yes, that is amazing to just see -- I mean, as you said, you're about 5'10". Shoulder to shoulder is a tight fit in there.

Rafael Romo, thanks so much. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back as we await the rescue of miner number 10 now, Alex Vega, we're going to be talking to two members of the elite team of Americans who helped drill that escape shaft that's now being used to get the miners out.

It's 25 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Continue our live coverage now of the rescue of the 33 trapped Chilean miners. The left side of your screen is the San Jose mine and the wheel on top of that structure turning as it lowering the Phoenix capsule back down into the ground to pick up miner number 10, Alex Vega, 31 years old. He is a mechanic, a heavy machinery mechanic. He comes from a -- it's a family tradition, mining in his family. His father worked in the mines as well. And we're about five minutes into that capsule going down. Takes about 11 minutes for it to get down and then about 15 minutes underground as they prep the next miner to come up, and then another 11-minute trip to the surface. So we're looking probably about a half an hour away before Alex Vega emerges to see the sun for the first time in almost 70 days.

CHETRY: Yes. And to see his wife, Jessica Salgado, waiting for him as well when he gets up there.

You know, this kind of rescue in Chile is unprecedented as our Gary Tuchman has been pointing out to us. Never before has anyone survived being stuck in a mine for this long. And it's been a huge success so far, thanks in part to the efforts of our next guests.

ROBERTS: Joining us now from Santiago, Chile, is two members of the elite team of Americans who helped drill the escape shaft to get the miners out. James Stefanic was overseeing the operation when the drill broke through. Jeff Hart was actually at the controls the moment that the drill broke through into that chamber.

And, Jeff, what was that moment like for you when you knew that you had finally reached them?

JEFF HART, FIELD SUPERVISOR, LAYNE CHRISTIANSEN CO.: Very, very exciting. And yet a big relief. We had a lot of stress come off of us at that moment because we knew we were there.

CHETRY: Just as you guys have been watching this unfold, what are your thoughts on how smoothly things seemed to be running so far?

JAMES STEFANIC, OPERATIONS MANAGER, GEOTEC BOYLES BROS.: Well, we did a trial run there right before we took the capsule down and the capsule went down very nice and smoothly. So we knew we had a good hole and we were expecting hopefully to have this capsule run without any major problems. It made us feel real good that the hole was in good shape.

ROBERTS: Right. You know, Jeff, this truly was an international effort to rescue these miners. How did it feel to be a part of this whole thing?

HART: It's incredible. Actually, it's very surreal. You still walk around every day and wonder why you're involved and is this really true. So it's very, very gratifying to be here and it's just been the best experience we've ever had.

CHETRY: It is just amazing to see the collaborative effort, the planning down to every detail as we've watched these rescues unfold throughout the night and into the morning now.

And, Jeff, let me ask you about the actual shaft itself.

A decision was made to actually reinforce it, right, with steel. It seems to have held up wonderfully. There were some concerns that maybe they would have to stop and start if they were worried about any of it breaking away. It doesn't seem to be the case.

HART: Yes, that was actually a decision that was made by somebody higher than us. We just had the rig over the hole so we were able to put that in. Yes, the portion of casing that's in there covered up the worst portion of the hole and it seems to be holding up very well. We're pleased with that.

ROBERTS: You know, James, this was described as being very, very difficult ground to drill in. Exactly, how tough was it? What were the logistical obstacles that you faced and had to overcome?

JAMES STEFANIC, OPERATIONS MANAGER, GEOTEC BOYLES BROS.: Well, that's very hard ground to begin with. Very abrasive rock with some fractures in between and there was many sections there where Jeff and I would be out there on the rig and you know, Jeff is a great operator, a great driller and we made it through a couple spots that we weren't sure we would make it through. The hammers would hang up a little bit.

But Jeff kept saying we're going to get down there and break through and get those miners out. During the break, right before we broke through, we were talking to the miners. We had communication with them. They were a lot of help. They were also guiding us, letting us know when we broke through. We didn't want to go any farther with the hammers than we had to. We didn't want get stuck down the hole which wouldn't help at all. So overall, just good team work. There's a lot of other people behind this from the Geotec and Layne that worked really hard and there were a lot of long nights and very little sleep but our adrenaline was going at 150 percent. So, you know, you kind of lose track of time when you are trying to save lives.

CHETRY: Yes, we can certainly understand that sentiment. Here are the fruits of your labor. I mean, you see this camera underground and you see that - well, right now, we are seeing the top of the shaft that you guys drilled but it's been working exactly as it was designed to do. We're now awaiting the rescue of Alex Vega. He would be miner number 10, under there.

Jeff, are there lessons learned? We've been saying all morning that this has never happened before. Meaning that no one has ever been under ground for that long. Are there any lessons to be used perhaps in future rescues. You know, disasters that might have proven deadly in the past that perhaps are survivable because of what you guys were able to accomplish?

HART: You know, it's a very difficult thing to do for sure whether there is lessons learned or not, I don't know. I'm certainly hoping that we never have to do this again. It was - it's a stroke of luck that we got everything to line up and get this hole where it needed to be so these guys can get out and I certainly hope that we never have to do it again.

ROBERTS: Well, Jeff, we know the level of personal commitment that you and James put into making sure that this got done when the president of Chile said "hey, it's not going fast enough. Bring in the A-team." And you guys did an amazing job.

Thanks so much for joining us this morning. Congratulations.

HART: Thank you.

STEFANIC: Thank you very much.

ROBERTS: All right. Our Karl Penhaul is just outside the mine. He is one of more than 1,000 journalists from around the world who are covering this unprecedented rescue. He's been in place there for more than six weeks now. And Karl joins us from the mine site with some more information about miner number 10, Alex Vega, and what it's going to mean for him to be back on the surface. Good morning, Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Yes, Richard Alex Vega, he's in his early 30s. 31, I believe. He was a mechanic, driving heavy machinery down in the San Jose Golden Copper Mine and again, I spent many hours with his father, Jose Vega. Jose Vega is 79 years old. And he has been a miner all his life. And so really his son, Richard Alex, was taking up that mining tradition from his father.

His father is a small, wiry man and in fact, over the last few days with all this stress and anxiety, he's had a recurrence of an intestinal problem that he's had for many years and has been hospitalized. But yesterday, once again, I saw Jose Vega, Alex Vega's father, back here at the mine saying that he was ready to welcome his son home but in fact, the story there, Richard Alex, he knew that that mine was going to collapse several days before.

In fact, several months before, he said to his father, Jose, he said, "Dad, I can hear the ground creaking. It's creaking and groaning at different times of day." Now, his father, Jose, being a veteran miner says "son, you better get out of that mine. You got to go and find a job at another mine because that mine is going to collapse."

And Richard Alex said, "Dad, I'm close to paying off my house. You know, I've got to look after my family." He's married to a young woman, Jessica, who stood by him all this time and Alex said to his dad, "I've got to do right by my family. I've got to pay off that house and so he went back into that mine and obviously, we know the consequences. August 5th that mine collapsed but the story doesn't stop there.

Because Jose Vega is 79 years old who has been a wildcat miner. In fact, all his life digging holes in the ground and going in himself. Well, he and five other family members including one of his other sons said "we're going to take this on our shoulders. I am not going let my son die underground." Jose Vega said to me, "I'm not a man to sit there and cry." He got his pick. He got his shovel and he got his hard hat and he and four family members went up to that mine and they got inside that mine and went right down to where the cave in had occurred and in his words, Jose Vega said to me, he said "I stood back there" and he said "there was a shower of rocks." He said "it's one of the most frightening things I had seen in my life. Rocks were falling." He said, "but I just took a sidestep and hid while those rocks fell."

A 79-year-old man so desperate that he was determined to go in after his own son. He couldn't make it down. It would have been suicide to get down there. So he had to come out. He resigned himself. But all throughout this rescue attempt, Jose Vega, has been looking for the back door into that mine even at one stage was contemplating the possibility of dynamiting his way through into the tunnel where his son and the other 32 were (INAUDIBLE) that didn't happen either.

But today, Richard Alex Vega is coming home. He's just a few moments now from getting into the Phoenix 2 capsule. It will be like all the other reunions, an emotional reunion with his young wife, Jessica, but with his 79-year-old veteran wildcat miner dad, who was prepared to risk his own life to save his son, John.

CHETRY: The love of a parent. The lengths that you will go. That's pretty amazing to hear, Karl. Thanks so much for the update.

Again, the live pictures showing the capsule being prepped now to bring Alex Vega to the surface. When they're ready and he enters the capsule, it will be about another 11 to 15 minutes until we see him get to the top.

ROBERTS: Wow, you can imagine what's going through his mind, too. And it's interesting that his father had a premonition about a problem here. Because we ran into the same sentiment in the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in West Virginia earlier this year where some of the miners had told family members "I don't think things are quite right with that mine. I am a little worried about it."

CHETRY: And they are still trying to find the cause of the collapse of this one as well. Some of the structural engineers and experts believe it may have been seismic activity that caused it to happen. Obviously, that's going to be the subject of a major investigation right now though the focus is bringing all of these 33 men plus the rescuers out alive.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Dr. George Bonanno, he's joining us again on the physical and psychological issues that the miners will face now that they're out. PTSD, a very real reality for many of these people. We're going to take a quick break as we see the rescue shaft now moving up to the surface.

It's 39 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is "CNN Breaking News."

ROBERTS: At 42 minutes after the hour, we continue to follow the breaking news coming to us from Copiapo, Chile, high in the Atacama Desert. And there is the scene of the San Jose Mine and what you're looking at now is the wheel slowly turns to the right is number 10, Alex Vega, coming back up to the surface after being underground for 69 days.

We've been watching the extraordinary pictures from both above ground and underground as Chilean officials effort this rescue of these 33 men who as you can imagine have been living just under extraordinary circumstances for nearly 2 1/2 months now.

CHETRY: Yes, it just has been amazing to watch this unfold throughout the night and into the early hours of the morning now. It's 7:43 Eastern time and we're ready to witness the 10th miner being brought to the surface. Still a long way to go but in fact now five of the miners have actually been moved of the site and taken to a local hospital by helicopter.

Two of them are being treated right now and CNN's Patrick Oppman is in the middle of it all. He's at the Copiapo Regional Hospital. Any word on the condition? We saw them, you know, just almost seem to leap out of there once they finally got the OK to get out of the capsule. But how about now? How is everybody doing?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They certainly seem very healthy last night and early this morning but doctors have said all along they're not taking any chances and behind me here this is going to be the miners' next stop, at least for the next two days. They'll be staying on the second and fourth floor of this hospital. There's an intensive care unit. Some of the men were moved there immediately and they will get, as you can imagine, a full checkup. You know, it's really incredible. This hospital was put on alert August 5th when the mine collapse happened, they were told to be ready for injured miners, perhaps miners dealing with critical injuries. That never happened. But in the last two months to prepare, to upgrade this hospital and really plan on this being the ground zero center for triage of these men.

They have ophthalmologists here. They have psychologists here. They have any number of heart machines. They also want to keep these men in seclusion because for the last two months they haven't had any exposure to the outside world. They have no exposure to germs, the common cold, the common flu and doctors have told us they are very concerned about the miners going forward. They know that they have staying fairly healthy in the mine, working the mine and exercising the mine and some had to lose weight, as you know, to get out of the mine.

Interestingly as well they get a full psychological evaluation here. I talked to one of the medical teams last week and he said one of the horrors of post-traumatic stress is you continue reliving the events of the ordeal that you experienced, to continue to replay in your mind. So, for the five men who are in this hospital right now, they may be free from the mine, but it may be some time, Kiran and John, before they're free of the mine.

ROBERTS: Patrick, just want to explain to folks at home what we're seeing here on the screen, as you're on the left side of the screen. On the right side of the screen is Jessica Vega, the young wife of Alex Vega, who is miner number 10, on his way back up.

It's just been an extraordinary scene to watch mine officials march these family members forward to have their reunion with the miners as they come up. And just some incredibly emotional moments as that reunion takes place; hugs, kisses, tears, it's really quite extraordinary to watch.

You mentioned just a second ago, Patrick, that some of the miners may have to stay in the hospital for a little while as they're assessed. But the condition that we have seen most of these men in as they come to the surface, might a medical check just be a matter of formality for them?

OPPMANN: I think that's absolutely correct. These men have been in touch with doctors every day. They had a trainer working with them. They were doing very intensive work in the mines.

Remember, John, they had to clear tons of rock. Some of them in their off time -- not that they really had off time -- were jogging in the mine steps, not only to stay fit, but also to stay fit mentally and give themselves something to do. So doctors have not only been monitoring them, talking with them, they actually had equipment down there that in the last week or two monitored all their biometrics. They know about as much about these men as any doctor know about their patients.

One thing they haven't been able to touch them, talk to them, take certain tests. Now they'll get to do that. Doctors, though, out of an abundance of caution want to have a very thorough checkup of these men. And also give them a little bit of stability. As you noted, thousands of members of the media here, hundreds of the media here, all angling for that first interview with the miners. This is going to give them a little bit of grounding, give the families a place to come and see them, give the men a chance to reconnect. They'll all be brought here and at least be here for several days, John, before finally being released into this community, the community of Copiapo, where so many of the miners live.

CHETRY: All right. Well, we're again awaiting the return to the surface of Alex Vega. We saw his wife Jessica Salgado (ph) waiting by patiently, anxiously to get a chance to see her husband.

We're going to take a quick break so that we can come back and make sure that we see it live. 47 minutes past the hour.

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ROBERTS: Ten minutes now, until the top of the hour, as we watch very closely here for Alex Vega, miner number 10 to return to the surface after being underground for 69 days now. We'll get an indication that he's very close when the wheel on the top will stop and then the rescue workers will remove a block that the line is passing through in order to get that capsule up. So we'll be watching for that.

CHETRY: Yes. Looks like it's going to happen relatively soon because we start to see that wheel slow down a bit, as well.

With us in New York is Dr. George Bonano. He's a director of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University, focusing on how people cope with traumatic events.

One of the interesting things about Alex, is that he apparently told his dad that he felt some signs, some rumbling of the earth in the days before this. And then to know that he survived 69 days down there after this happened.

What may be the psychological issues he's dealing with as he comes up to the surface, is greeted by his family and his father?

DR. GEORGE BONANO, DIR. OF CLINICAL STUDIES, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: I think right at this moment he's probably going to be just overjoyed. Probably the dominant experience will be relief and you can see relief in your body. There's a complete letting go of all the stress and tension that's been there. That will be palpable, I think, for all of the men coming up.

ROBERTS: When we hear this story that Karl Penhaul told us of Alex's father, Jose, who himself is a veteran of working in the mines saying, you've got to get out of the mine. It's unsafe. You've got to find another job somewhere else. You know, there are very few jobs in this area of Chile, at least. He'd have to pack up the wife and move somewhere else if he wanted to get a different employment. And we heard the same thing in the upper big branch disaster, as well, from surviving family of some of the miners that who there saying, they had a sense that something was wrong with that mine.

When you think about some of these guys who won't leave mining, who will face going back down into the mine again, if this idea of maybe the mine's not safe, how's that going to affect them when they make the decision, should they make it, to go back down underground?

BONANO: It's hard to know what to make --

CHETRY: And there we see the rescue capsule making its way up there.

ROBERTS: Go ahead.

BONANO: It's hard to make of the stories of people saying the mine, they had a sense the mine wasn't safe because those are anecdotal stories and you can tell stories like that about lots of things. I think, you know, the reality is they do -- this is the job that they have and they have access to. And this is part of their identity. So it's -- you know, it's probably a job a lot will return to.

ROBERTS: Let's just pause a moment and let this scene unfold as Alex is coming out and his wife Jessica will greet him in just a second.

Just to let you know, the left side of the screen you're seeing Alex's brother-in-law and other family members here hugging each other, embracing because they're watching this on a television monitor, their loved one come to the surface here. Just incredible.

CHETRY: And there he is giving a thumbs up. He looks great. Looks in good health. As we've seen the miners, always been wearing those glasses.

Here's his wife Jessica. Let's watch this reunion.

CHETRY: You can tell all of them wearing the shirts with the Chilean flag, a real moment of national pride, as well as you hear them chanting, "Chile, Chile." And there he is giving a hug to some of the other rescuers as he looks great.

ROBERTS: And Karl Penhaul is with some of his other family members. We saw them in the picture. His brother-in-law wearing a jester's hat there.

What are the emotions there, Karl? Describe them for us.

Well, doesn't sound like we have established contact with Karl. Karl, can you hear us?

CHETRY: Karl was telling us a heartfelt story, though, about the father of Alex, Jose Vega, a lifelong miner, as well, who at the age of 79 years old, when he had learned about this collapse wanted to actually physically do something and actually went into that mine entrance, which he found covered with falling rocks, willing to risk his life because he could just not bear the thought of his son being trapped and perhaps dying in that mine. So I doubt he was there to see it today because Karl was telling us he had to be hospitalized, but I'm sure that that reunion will be an emotional one for father and son.

ROBERTS: Oh, yes. At one point -- and maybe they'll be reunited in the hospital together because each of these miners is being taken to the Copiapo Regional Medical Center for a quick check-up.

Karl Penhaul was telling us that his father Jose was so determined to try and get his son out, he wanted to take dynamite into the mine and try to blow his way in. Of course, that would have been impossible.

So, what we're seeing now is the Fenix capsule resting at the top of the pipe there, the top of the bore hole. They're just prepping it for return, recharging the oxygen canisters, making sure the wheels are all greased up because God forbid something should happen and get stuck halfway down and interrupt what is thus far been a flawless rescue. Almost a third of the way through now, with miner number 11 Jorge Galleguillos, 56-years-old, next to come up.

CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back we'll check back in with Karl Penhaul, who is with the family of Alex Vega, the 10th miners who was just brought up to the surface moments ago. Our special coverage continues. We're three minutes to the top of the hour. We'll be right back.

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