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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Miners Trapped; America Votes 2008; New Jersey Killings: Search for Answers; Home Invasion; Bonds Hits Home Run No. 756
Aired August 07, 2007 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And the mine operator keeps blaming it all on earthquakes.
We'll have a seismic expert on to help sort the facts from the claims.
Also tonight, Clinton and Obama, working hard for the union label. But she waffled on trade and he thinks Canada has a president. We'll take a look at the fallout from all of that.
And later on, a crime that is rocking the mean streets of a big American city and what a crusading mayor is or isn't doing to stop the killing.
ROBERTS: We begin tonight, though, with new and discouraging developments in the search for six miners trapped or buried 1,500 feet underground, somewhere in central Utah in a coal mine.
A short time ago in a remarkable news conference, the mining company's CEO gave reporters the bad news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MURRAY, PRESIDENT, CEO, MURRAY ENERGY GROUP: But unfortunately, all the work that we have done since yesterday morning and you being here with me, was wiped out by this seismic and tectonic activity underground. We are back to square one underground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Bob Murray said it would take a week to reach the miners and several days just to drill a set of holes into the space where it's believed that they are hiding out.
Throughout it all, Murray kept on blaming an earthquake, and aftershocks for the collapse and the slow rescue.
CNN's Gary Tuchman is at the scene for us. Also with us tonight Mine Safety Expert Kim McCarter. He's in Salt Lake City. And on the phone with us, Walter Arabasz. He is the director of the University of Utah's Seismographic Station.
Gary, let's start with you. Some extraordinary news tonight. Just as they thought that they were making progress, a big setback, more collapses in that mine and it may take a week to reach these miners if they're still alive? GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, John. It was a stunning news conference. It was the last thing we expected to here.
But basically, Bob Murray, the owner of this mine, is blaming earthquake aftershocks for stopping most of the work going on.
He's contended since this began yesterday morning that an earthquake caused the mine collapse and now there are aftershocks from that earthquake.
However, the USGS, the United States Geological Survey, says there is still no evidence that an earthquake caused the mine collapse.
They are saying there was a 3.9 reading on the Richter scale, but they believe that it was the mine collapse that caused that seismic reading.
They do acknowledge there have been 10 minor aftershocks between 1.6 and 2.2 on the Richter scale -- one in the last 17 hours. But they say those aftershocks, too, could be caused by a shifting of the earth from the mine collapse.
Either way, the owner is adamant about it. He says it was an earthquake. He says it will now take at least one week to get to the miners, if they're alive. But he does say that within two to three days we may know if they're alive because two small holes are being drilled into the top of the mine and it will take two to three days for those holes to be completed. One is two and a half inches in diameter. The other is eight and five-eighths inches in diameter. They will lower a camera and microphone into each of those holes and then they expect they will unequivocally know if these six men are dead or alive.
ROBERTS: Gary, I want to get into this idea whether it was an earthquake or whether it was the collapse that was actually picked up on the seismographs in just a second.
But let's go to Kim McCarter first of all. And Kim, this idea that there was something that registered 4.0 on the Richter scale and then subsequently either collapses or aftershocks. The rescuers got -- the closest they could get was 2,000 feet away from the miners. Is there a possibility that they may never be able to reach them?
KIM MCCARTER, CHAIR, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH MINING DEPARTMENT: I suppose that's always a possibility, but we certainly hope that's not the case.
ROBERTS: So what are your thoughts about all this? You've read up about this on this mine. You necessarily haven't been there, but what are your thoughts about the rescue? Is it plausible that they may be able to actually successfully complete this operation?
MCCARTER: Well, certainly that has to be foremost in their mind. They wouldn't be trying it if it wasn't possible. It sounds like there's been some setbacks in terms of seismic activity that would be reasonable, and the case where there's been a major event, as we've seen.
ROBERTS: I want to bring in Walter Arabasz now. And Walter, before I ask you about this, let me just play something from the press conference that occurred within the last hour and a half.
Bob Murray, who is one of the owners of the mine, seemed very adamant that this collapse was caused by an earthquake. Let's take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: This is the entrance to the Crandall Canyon Mine -- 17,400 feet back here is where the trapped miners are located, right there.
The earthquake epicenter is right there. The U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Geological Survey, says the earthquake was down five miles. These miners are at 1,500 feet. That's the U.S. Geological Survey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So Walter Arabasz, Bob Murray there saying that in fact the U.S. Geological Survey has confirmed -- and he's very certain about this, that this collapse was caused by an earthquake. What do you say?
WALTER ARABASZ, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SEISMOGRAPH STATIONS: Let's see, there's an AT wire release with quotations from the U.S. Geological Survey plainly weighing in on the idea that the seismic event was caused by the mine. It was seismic energy release. The seismic waves radiated and registered of the magnitude 3.9 earthquake.
The best evidence in hand is more consistent with the idea that a mine collapse was the source of the seismic wave, recorded as the quote, "earthquake," which would be the vibrations or seismic wave.
ROBERTS: Now, can you be absolutely certain about that at this point?
ARABASZ: No. This is a work in progress. Pieces of information have to be brought to bear from the mine settings, somehow determining as best as possible the exact time of the collapse of the mine, the location of the mine, the area of the collapse, the pieces of the information and the other pieces of information will come from the seismology side.
Now, one of the key issues seems to be this apparent discrepancy of a location and space of the main event with respect to the presumed area of mine collapse.
And I just have to caution all listeners, viewers, that earthquake locations, particularly with a regional seismic network such as ours, involve inherent uncertainties in location, map location, uncertainties of the record of a mile, perhaps more, in depth with our nearest station, 12 miles away, just large uncertainty in the -- our ability to locate the depth of the event.
ROBERTS: So it's possible that there is a margin for error here.
Kim McCarter, is it possible that Bob Murray then is correct or do you believe from what you have read about this, from what you know of this, that in fact the seismological event was caused by the mine collapse?
MCCARTER: I think that certainly the idea of an earthquake cannot be totally discounted, but the preponderance of the evidence at this point -- and I'm speaking now as information from my colleagues, who are experts in this area, the seismic signatures certainly suggest that it was caused by a mine collapse.
ROBERTS: Gary, you spent the last couple of days there. You've been talking to folks. You've been getting a lot more information about this. What have you found out in the course of the last day?
TUCHMAN: Well, John, we spent part of the day today with a former employee of this mine who had some interesting things to say. But the real newsmaker is the owner of this mine who during this news conference was absolutely adamant. When I asked him a follow-up question if it's a possibility it wasn't an earthquake, he didn't even want to answer the question. But he is a key player in this story right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The boss of the six trapped miners, speaking with the cadence of a preacher, and delivering words suited to a preacher.
MURRAY: I don't know whether these miners are alive or dead. Only the Lord knows that.
TUCHMAN: Of course, if they're alive, the miners know that, too, but would have no way of letting the rest of the world know, because of the tons of rock between them and rescuers.
MURRAY: They are 1,500 feet underground. They are 2,000 feet from the closest access to them.
TUCHMAN: And rescuers have not gotten that much closer since this all began, according to Murray who owns mines in five states.
(on camera): In your opinion, do you think these guys are still alive?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I really do.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Mike Garcia used to work in the same non- union mine and has been in the exact same part of the mine where the six trapped men are now believed to be.
He says not only should they have plenty of oxygen and water, but he believes they have a good deal of food with them too.
MIKE GARCIA, FORMER MINER: Everybody goes down and they pack a big lunch. They got a big, big lunch box and they'd always pack (UNINTELLIGIBLE) sweets and you know, extra food because sometimes we -- if one of the guys in another crew don't show up, we can work the extra hours, you know. And that's why we always pack a big lunch.
TUCHMAN: The Crandall Canyon Mine has received more than 300 safety citations since 2004, including one recently for not adequately providing at least two exit routes in the mine.
But in this risky industry, government figures indicate those numbers are relatively low compared to other similar mines.
Garcia is now on long-term disability after he says a high voltage cable struck him while he was in the mine.
GARCIA: It hit me right in the back of the neck and knocked me down on top of the toolbox and I got L4 and L5 discs on my back messed up.
TUCHMAN: He's also had arguments with lower-level mine managers. Nevertheless, he believes Crandall Canyon is a safe place to work.
GARCIA: We had safety meetings, and they also said in the safety meetings if there's anything that we could think of that would make anything safer for the workers, you know, they didn't have a problem with us speaking out. They'd ask us.
TUCHMAN: The mine owner, during a rambling preamble to his news conference, criticized some of the news coverage of the story.
This past June he had a testy exchange on Capitol Hill during a hearing on power plants and global warming before a Senate committee.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: We read here in the "Columbus Dispatch" of Ohio, you own the two largest mines which recorded injury rates about a fourth higher than the national average. So, you know, let's not have a double standard about how much you care about people. And -- and that's all I'll say on the point. But if you...
MURRAY: Madam Chairman, I'm going to respond to that. You are flat out wrong.
BOXER: Fine.
MURRAY: That...
BOXER. Fine.
MURRAY: ... that information came from your friends at the United Mine Workers and the unions. It is not fair. (CROSSTALK)
MURRAY: Today, my safety record at my coal mines -- and I take it to bed with me every night. And I resent you bringing this in.
TUCHMAN: And he continues to defend his safety record, saying he's sure an earthquake caused the collapse. Whether that's true or whether the collapse caused the seismic reading, still has not been determined.
MURRAY: We are focused at remaining at the Crandall Canyon site until these miners are recovered, dead or alive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: This fellow, Bob Murray, seems to be very defensive about a lot of things.
Kim McCarter, one of the things that he was disputing were reports that the mine was engaging in so-called retreat mining, where they take the remaining coal out of it and let the ceiling collapse behind those operations.
From what you know, was that mine engaged in retreat mining?
MCCARTER: I think we need to define what retreat mining means.
Once the mine has progressed to its outer limits, then -- and all of the coal reserves have been recovered, then the mine has to retreat back towards the portal.
Now, whether they are taking pillars at the same time or simply taking coal out of existing pillars is not clear. I mean, I don't know that they were pulling pillars, that is, allowing the ceiling to collapse onto a pillar.
ROBERTS: And Gary, this adamant insistence that it was an earthquake and aftershocks that were responsible, do you think Murray really believes that or is he just trying to lay the groundwork here to avoid any kind of liability in this accident?
TUCHMAN: That's a really good question, John, and that's something we wanted to talk more about with him, but he had absolutely no interest in talking about that aspect.
One thing he did answer, I said to him, in your gut, do you feel these men are alive? And he said, I believe I have reasons to think they're alive. I believe I have reasons to think they're dead.
ROBERTS: Well, we can all hope they're still alive.
Gary Tuchman for us, as well as Kim McCarter from the University of Utah and Walter Arabasz from the University of Utah Seismological Station, thanks all for joining us.
Word that it may take a week to reach the miners must be a cruel blow to those who are waiting for word of their loved ones.
CNN's Ted Rowlands has been spending time with the people waiting and the people searching. He joins us now.
Hey, Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John.
This is a very tight-knit mining community. And the news late this evening that it would be another week before they would potentially see their loved ones hit these people very hard. They have been sequestered, basically, together at a high school, a local high school near the mine.
Now, they have -- they have to wait at least a week to find out if their relatives, their loved ones are dead or alive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE JONES, MOTHER OF RESCUE WORKER: I mean, I'm a mom. You know, I want him safe. And this is what he does.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): When she first heard that men were trapped, Julie Jones says she was told her 23-year-old son, Elam (ph), was in the mine.
JONES: There's been a mine cave-in. Elam's (ph) up there.
ROWLANDS: It turned out Elam (ph), who's worked in the Crandall Canyon Mine for two years, was fine, and now is part of the team desperately working around the clock trying to reach the six who are still trapped.
JONES: He says, Mom, we're digging with our hands at one time just to help get those guys out. We're doing whatever we can do to get the guys out.
ROWLANDS: While the desperate rescue operation goes on inside the mine, family members are gathered at a local school, going through what must be an excruciating wait to find out the fate of their loved ones.
JONES: They don't say much, and we just nod and, you know, tap our hearts, because our prayers are with them.
ROWLANDS: The trapped miners are all described as family men, ranging in age between their 20s and late 40s. Three of the six are Mexican nationals.
SALVADOR JIMENEZ, MEXICAN CONSULATE, SALT LAKE CITY: In Mexico, there is a great -- they are giving great importance to this news. We have a great sense of solidarity with our own people.
ROWLANDS: Everyone's prayer for all the miners is the same.
JONES: We want them home. We want them home. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS (on camera): And the sentiment of this community. They will be able to find out hopefully if their loved ones are dead or alive, John, in the next two days because of that drilling hole. They won't be able to see them and then hug them for at least seven days, if indeed they are alive.
ROBERTS: Ted, have you been able to talk to any family members, find out what they're saying about all this? Has anybody been able to talk to them?
ROWLANDS: Yes, we've been able to talk to them as they pass by and they really don't want to go into much. They've been told by the mine owner to please, not talk to the media. Most of them very reserved, but boy, I tell you what, when they came out today -- and there were a lot of people here. As time goes by, more and more relatives are coming, a lot of long faces and the ones we did talk to respectfully said they didn't want to comment on camera, but seemed to be pretty depressed from what they heard inside there today from the mine owner that there was such a setback and they were going to have to wait another week on this emotional roller coast are.
ROBERTS: Yes, you can only imagine what they're going through. Ted Rowlands, for us in Huntington.
Ted, thanks very much.
The U.S. has seen its share of coal mining disasters. Here's the "Raw Data" for you.
Back in 1984, a fire at the Wilburg (ph) mine in Utah killed 27 people; 78 died in a 1968 mine explosion in Farmington, West Virginia. And the deadliest mining disaster also occurred in West Virginia -- that one back in 1907, claimed 362 lives.
Straight ahead tonight, presidential politics and a Democratic throw down at Soldier Field in Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS (voice-over): The big three Democrats, looking for love from big labor.
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you to all the men and women of organized labor.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to have a source of new jobs.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Put a whole bunch of Illinois folks to work.
ROBERTS: Who scored points tonight with the people who can make or break a Democratic candidate? And is Hillary Clinton unstoppable?
Later, they've seen plenty of crime in Newark, New Jersey, but never quite like this.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police are telling us that three of the victims were killed right here, execution-style, against this wall.
ROBERTS: Three promising lives. A wakeup call for a city on the ropes. And our tough questions for the new mayor, who promised to stop the killing, 360 tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's highly responsible or irresponsible for people who are running for the presidency and seek that office to suggest we may be willing unilaterally to invade a nation here that we're trying to get to be more cooperative with us in Afghanistan and elsewhere. So my views -- and I say this respectfully to my friend from Illinois here -- I think it was wrong to say what he did in that matter.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I find it amusing that those who helped to authorize and engineer the biggest foreign policy disaster in our generation are now criticizing me for making sure that we are on the right battlefield and not the wrong battlefield in the war against terrorism.
And Chris, respectfully, you and I are close friends, but the fact is, you obviously didn't read my speech.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS (on camera): Senators Christopher Dodd and Barack Obama, mixing it up earlier tonight at a forum sponsored by the nation's largest labor federation, the AFL-CIO. All the major Democratic candidates were there at Soldier Field in Chicago, including frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
The New York Senator arrived in Chicago with a widening lead, according to three national polls.
Joining me to talk about all of this, Senior CNN Political Correspondent Candy Crowley, who was there at the debate tonight, and former Presidential Adviser David Gergen.
Candy, let's start with you because you were on the ground. Obama was on pretty friendly territory, judging by the response that he got to that throw-back to Christopher Dodd, but those candidates -- well, I mean, if you'll excuse the pun, doing their best to try to sack them there on Soldier Field's grounds.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, you know, there was a whole different atmosphere to this debate because there were, you know, 12,000 to 15,000 union members and their families in the arena, as much as the moderator tried to get them not to clap, as you heard, it was very unsuccessful.
So you know, this had the feel of a campaign rally, sort of for all of them, so they all played to the crowd and you're right, you know, Illinois is Barack Obama's home state. It's the state he represents, the state he's lived in, so it was definitely a hometown crowd for him.
ROBERTS: Yes, you put 15,000 union members in a football stadium, you can't expect them to sit on their hands.
David Gergen, you watched the debate. What did you think?
DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: Well, I thought that it was a very different kind of debate. And I thought it did not play as other debates have played to Mrs. Clinton's advantage. I thought it played more, because it was a rally-type event, I thought that Senator Dodd and Senator Edwards did better tonight, and they were particularly effective.
But it was interesting how Senator Dodd went after Barack Obama. I think that they sense that maybe Barack Obama with that last foreign policy exchange with Mrs. Clinton on the CNN debate, you know, lost some ground and if they can get him again behind the line of scrimmage and they can tackle him behind the line of scrimmage, maybe they can open this thing up and the people in the second tier can actually get into the game a little bit, you know. They've been sort of marginalized.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: There's going to be a lot of football metaphors in this, I can tell.
GERGEN: Yes, there sure are.
ROBERTS: John Edwards really came out swinging, took a whack at Hillary Clinton over her appearance in the cover of "Fortune" magazine, which prompted a very interesting back and forth between them. There's the cover of that magazine. Let's take a listen to what they said to each other.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The last thing I want to say -- and I want everyone here to hear my voice on this -- the one thing you can count on is you will never see a picture of me on the front of "Fortune" magazine saying I am the candidate that big corporate America is betting on. That will never happen. That's one thing you can take to the bank.
CLINTON: A lot of the other campaigns have been using my name a lot, but I'm here because I think we need to change America and it's not to get in fights with Democrats. I want the Democrats to win and I want a united Democratic Party that will stand against the Republicans and I will say that, for 15 years, I have stood up against the right wing machine and I've come out stronger, so if you want a winner who knows how to take them on, I'm your girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: I'm your girl. And there's a theme, Candy Crowley, that Hillary has pursued for the last couple of debates. Every time mud gets thrown her way, she sort of ducks it, tries to rise above it and presents herself as the inevitable candidate to say I'm the one who is going to unite the Democratic Party.
CROWLEY: Sure. It's the beauty of sitting on a 22-point lead nationwide is that you can stay above the fray because there's a lot of altitude there. But what is interesting to me about this particular exchange, is that both the Edwards camp and the Clinton camp think this was their finest moment.
What you saw was John Edwards trying to take the lobbyist exchange of a previous debate and trying to paint Hillary Clinton as just another Washington insider and it was Hillary Clinton saying, you know, I'm the frontrunner, I'm above the fray and not taking the bait.
ROBERTS: Although, when you look at the recent back and forth between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama over foreign policy, it looks like Barack Obama has come out on the losing end of that because Hillary in the latest polls has gained eight points, now with a 48 percent to 26 percent lead.
David Gergen, is she unstoppable?
GERGEN: No, absolutely not unstoppable. But I do think, as we've discussed in the past, that these debates have been an enormous help for her and she has broken this open.
She started out this campaign about six or seven points ahead of Barack Obama in many of the national polls. She's now over 20 in at least three polls.
And so she has -- and she's widened -- this has not been just in the last two weeks. She's been continually wide, and I think the debates have helped her -- tonight's debate, because it called upon her to speak in a different voice, you know, to almost, to raise a decibel level and it's not her best format. She's much better in a quieter living room-type format where she can be a little more gracious.
But what I do think -- the big question tonight is did John Edwards make a lot of headway with the labor unions? He was there tonight to try to get labor union endorsements in the next few weeks. That's one of the great hopes of his campaign. If can he pull that off, he's still got some real life in a couple of these early states. And it's not clear to me tonight he pulled that off.
ROBERTS: Yes. Another big question is, can Hillary Clinton ever overcome NAFTA? She seemed to try to distance herself from it a little bit tonight, but union members still not very happy about that. And that, of course, came during her husband's administration.
David Gergen, Candy Crowley, good to see you as always. Thanks.
CROWLEY: Thanks, John.
GERGEN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," right here on CNN, road rage outrage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have actually had somebody throw a socket at me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had to close the road down just because of the road rage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: We take you to a stretch of highway where some angry commuters actually attack construction crews. It became so bad that the state had to shut the highway down.
Extreme road rage, tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING." Join Kiran Chetry and me for the most news in the morning. That's beginning at 6:00 a.m., Eastern, right here on CNN.
Just ahead tonight, while the Democrats duke it out in Chicago, the Republican frontrunner takes some heat on the campaign trail. "Raw Politics."
Plus, newly released video of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis and what it reveals.
As always, we want to hear from you. Send us a v-mail, that's video mail and it's easy. Just go to CNN.com/360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: While the Democrats were fielding questions from workers in Illinois, the Republican frontrunner was getting grilled next door in Iowa. That's where "Raw Politics" starts tonight.
And here's CNN's Tom Foreman.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Rudy Giuliani is plowing the back roads of Iowa, hoping to show that he can dominate the Republican field the same way that Hillary appears to be dominating the Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (voice-over): Going to the barn dance. Rudy believes he'll harvest a bumper crop of early votes in Hawk Island, but there are rocks in those fields, especially for city slickers. Like the voter who asked Rudy how he squares his Catholic belief with his support of abortion rights? Time for a little move called the side step.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My religious affiliation, my religious practices and the degree to which I am a good or not so good Catholic, I refer it to the priest, if you don't mind.
FOREMAN: In terms of practical politics, Giuliani is pushing a plan for more adoptions, fewer abortions.
Voters are changing their tune about the war, even as President Bush meets with his war council. The latest "USA Today"/Gallup poll shows one in three Americans now thinks the troop surge is making things better in Iraq, compared to one in five only a month ago.
The poll shows overall opposition to the war is still strong, but weakening.
Check out the doctor's bill. Democrat Bill Richardson is unveiling his plan for universal health care. Wants to lower the age for Medicare to 55 and encourage preventative health; says no new taxes.
And it may yet be the economy, stupid. Stagnant home sales, high gas prices and health care costs are causing a growing rumble on the trail about economic help for middle class families.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): The "Raw Politics" read -- unless there is a real improvement in the real estate market, probably by this fall, you can expect all of the candidates to be talking a lot more about these pocketbook issues, and that is something you can take to the bank -- John.
ROBERTS: Bread and butter. Tom Foreman, thanks very much.
And don't miss "Raw Politics" and the day's headlines with the 360 daily podcast. You don't need an iPod. You can watch it on your computer at CNN.com/AC360Podcast or get it from the iTunes store, where it's always a top download.
In Mississippi, a family wants justice. A young man's death at a county jail has turned a town inside out, revealing allegations of beatings, torture and attempts to hush it all up.
It's a story that we've been following here on 360. You might remember the young man's grandmother had a disturbing dream.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUCY WILLIAMS, LEE SMITH'S GRANDMOTHER: He said, Mama, I was murdered. They killed me. And it just ran chills all through my body. I just woke up instantly.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: What happened to Lee Demond Smith? And will the sheriff lose his job over allegations of abuse at the jail? The voters went to the polls today. We'll update you on that case and the fallout. We're "Keeping them Honest," tomorrow on 360.
Erica Hill joins us now with a "360 News Bulletin."
Hey, Erica.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, a new surveillance video released today shows the chaos just moments after last week's massive bridge collapse in Minneapolis. A traffic camera recorded the images.
Five people died, nearly 100 were injured when that heavily traveled I-35 West bridge fell apart. Eight people are still missing and are presumed dead.
Elite Navy and FBI dive teams have joined the search, though, for bodies in the Mississippi River, and they brought along with them sophisticated equipment, including powerful sonar and an unmanned submarine.
One car was pulled from the water today to help clear the way for searchers, but no bodies were found in it.
A dangerous combination of heat and humidity torturing much of the country, triggering emergency measures in some cities. In Atlanta, the heat index as high as 106. Cincinnati is going to feel like 105. And central Indiana was bracing for a heat index of 110. Forecasters say that heat wave, by the way, is going to last through at least Friday.
And if you're thinking of maybe cooling off at your local beach, well, you may want to keep this in mind before you head out. A new study by an environmental group says a record number of beaches across the country may pose serious health threats because of contaminated water.
The study blames inadequate federal water standards and an aging water and sewage infrastructure.
That's uplifting, isn't it, John?
ROBERTS: It's all part of that same old story. It's the same thing with the bridge.
HILL: It is.
ROBERTS: And the city pipe explosion in New York. Aging infrastructure, it's causing problems across the country.
HILL: It's not sexy, but it sure is important.
ROBERTS: That's for sure.
HILL: See if it gets a little more attention now. I want to move on to tonight's "What Were They Thinking?" It sounds like a setup for a punch line. Ready? Here, a guy gets on a plane with a small monkey under his hat. But it really happened.
A monkey, this little guy you're about to see. There he is -- Who had plenty of hair himself, stashed this little friend -- the guy stashed his little friend in his ponytail underneath the hat.
During the flight, though, from Florida to New York, the monkey crawled out of the hiding spot, spotted by other passengers and crew members. And as you can imagine, when the plane landed at La Guardia, officials were waiting for the owner and the monkey at the gate.
Officials say both man and monkey will be turned over to the appropriate authorities.
ROBERTS: Erica, I've seen some men with what looked like a dead animal on top of their head, but never a live monkey.
HILL: No, it's quite impressive, is it not?
ROBERTS: That is unique. See you in a few minutes.
HILL: See you later.
ROBERTS: And still to come tonight, an update on the missing miners.
Also this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS (voice-over): Their first day in court. It won't be their last.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to see justice on this. This is just horrible.
ROBERTS: The two men charged in a grisly home invasion triple murder face the legal system with snipers to protect them from a rougher kind of justice. Ahead, on 360.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS (on camera): Just a few minutes past the bottom of the hour now. John Roberts from "AMERICAN MORNING" here, in for Anderson tonight. At the top of the program we reported the discouraging news on six miners trapped 1,500 feet underground in central Utah. That news, it could now take a week to reach them.
360's Gary Tuchman is there and joins us again with a quick update.
You know, the mine's owner, Gary, said he had bad news tonight. He certainly wasn't kidding.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was very discouraging news, John. And Bob Murray says it may take a week, at least a week, to reach the miners if they're alive. He blames that on the fact that there are continuing aftershocks, he says, from an earthquake that caused the event to beginning with.
However, the USGS, the U.S. Geological Survey, tells us there is no evidence an earthquake caused the initial collapse. They say they did have seismic activity, but they believe it's from the collapse. The USGS says there's been 10 aftershocks, very small, something you would never feel, but they feel those 10 aftershocks are also from the collapse of the mine.
Either way, the owner of the mine is unequivocally saying there was an earthquake that caused this. He's saying it will take a week to get to them because the workers had to stop because of the aftershocks. So that's what's so discouraging.
He does say, though, they are drilling two small holes in the top of the mine. The two small holes will have a little camera, a little microphone that will go through the holes. Those holes will be finished a minimum of two days, a maximum of three days, and by then we should know if the six men are indeed alive.
ROBERTS: And the prayers of a nation are with those men tonight.
Gary Tuchman for us from just outside of the Crandall Canyon Mine.
Gary, thanks.
To another story that we're following tonight. They were good friends, all of them college students, one an ordained minister, all of them enjoying a summer night in a school yard.
But in just minutes, three of them would be dead, shot execution- style, just steps away from where children play.
This is a crime that has shaken the city of Newark, New Jersey, and turned up the heat on a mayor who pledged to make the neighborhoods there safer.
To solve the crime, authorities are turning to the victim who survived and the words of those who did not.
More now from CNN's Rick Sanchez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is one of those crimes, the kind that baffles and angers a community and pretty much anyone else who hears about it.
MAYOR CORY BOOKER, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: This is obviously a very difficult time for our city. Three of our young people who were the pride of Newark were grievously, heinously murdered.
SANCHEZ: Four friends gathered in a Newark, New Jersey, schoolyard Saturday night to hang out and listen to music, but just before midnight police say somebody -- they don't know who, or how many there were -- gunned them down in cold blood.
(on camera): Police are telling us that three of the victims were shot right here, against this wall, execution-style. In fact, the medical examiner's gloves were left right there on the floor.
Now, a fourth victim was found right where you see those balloons, which is a makeshift memorial that's been set up.
(voice-over): What makes these murders even more impossible to comprehend, the victims themselves, four young students, with bright futures, no history of trouble with the law.
BOOKER: These are people that had incredible lives ahead of them, were on their way or going, or in college.
SANCHEZ: Twenty-year-old Deshawn Harvey was about to start his junior year as a psych major at Delaware State University. On his MySpace page, he wrote that he was a part-time runway model.
Iofemi Hightower was also 20. She was a student at Essex Community College, but was planning to enter Delaware State in the fall.
Terrance Aeriel was just 18. He was reenrolling at Delaware State after missing his spring semester. He spent his spare time preaching at a nearby ministry and working with kids at a community center.
His sister, 19-year-old Natasha Aeriel, was the lone survivor of this slaughter. She's a junior at Delaware State, studying biology. She's now under police protection, and she may provide them with the vital clues they need.
But investigators are also looking for other evidence -- surveillance cameras that may have captured the crime, text messages found on the students' phones.
The murders have taken an emotional toll on the people of Newark, especially the young, many of whom have to deal with the dangers of gun violence in their city every day.
But it's also sparked protests against the city's mayor, Cory Booker, who was elected just 13 months ago on the promise of making the city safer. There were 105 murders in Newark last year. There have been 60 so far in 2007, many resulting from growing gang activity.
But police point out that shootings have decreased by 30 percent, and violent crimes are down 16 percent.
The mayor says he has much more to do, and job number one is bringing these killers to justice.
BOOKER: We're going to hold everyone accountable. We're going to find the people that are responsible for this. We're going to stop this crime and this violence in our city. And we're going to stand up and do something about it.
SANCHEZ: Today Deshawn Harvey's grieving father said, there is plenty of blame to go around.
JAMES HARVEY, DESHAWN HARVEY'S FATHER: Now you're calling for Mayor Booker's resignation. It don't even start with him. OK? It's you guys. I blame you guys, the parents of America. If you raised your kids better, this world would be a better place to live.
SANCHEZ: A place where promising young men and women could live long enough to realize their dreams.
Rick Sanchez, CNN, Newark, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Such a tragedy.
Up next, another triple murder case, that deadly home invasion in Connecticut. The suspects head to court under tight security as new details emerge about the killings.
Plus the "Shot of the Day." It's a medical marvel. You ever get a song stuck in your head? Well, you'll meet a woman who had something stuck in her head that you could use to write a song, and it was there for a half a century. We'll show you when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: While we keep watching the rescue attempts in Utah, we're following other stories for you tonight, including one that shocked the nation -- the deadly home invasion robbery in Connecticut.
Under heavy police guard, the two defendants were brought to a New Haven courthouse today, where they were arraigned on capital murder charges.
Tonight, there are new details of that crime, the investigation and the victim's final hours.
CNN's Randi Kaye reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sunday, July 22, another hot summer day in Cheshire, and for Dr. William Petit, a leading expert on diabetes, it would begin with a round of golf with his dad.
Also that Sunday, Dr. Petit's wife of 22 years, Jennifer, and their 11-year-old daughter, Michaela, drove to a local supermarket. They left in a Mercedes. Police say they had company.
Watching them, they say, were two career burglars, paroled only weeks before.
Stephen Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky seemed like odd partners in crime.
At 44, Hayes was a drifter from a broken blue-collar home who had spent most of his life behind bars for stealing.
Twenty-six-year-old Komisarjevsky lived about a mile and a half from the Petits. Adopted, his great-grandfather was a Russian opera singer who married a princess. Komisarjevsky began breaking into homes at 14.
They met in 2006 at a halfway house in Hartford, and on that Sunday they were allegedly together again, stalking the family.
Dr. Petit said Michaela loved to cook. The "New York Times" reports she was in the kitchen Sunday making tomato sauce and salad. Also home, 17-year-old Hayley Petit. A recent high school graduate, she was daddy's little girl, heading to his alma mater, Dartmouth, in the fall with plans of being a doctor.
That night, authorities say Dr. Petit was sleeping on a chair on the first floor. Mrs. Petit and the girls were upstairs. Down the road, police say, two predators sat in their car.
At 3 a.m., they allegedly entered through an open door, and attacked Dr. Petit first, beating him with a baseball bat, throwing him in the basement. About an hour later, one of the men allegedly left to buy four canisters of gasoline.
By 9 a.m. Monday, police believe Hayes took Mrs. Petit to her bank to withdraw $15,000. While he waited outside, she told a teller she needed the money because her family was being held hostage. The bank notified police.
Fifteen minutes later, police say, officers and SWAT team members had surrounded the house. Newspaper reports say after the police arrived, Dr. Petit appeared from a basement door, bloodied, beaten, asking for help.
The suspects allegedly heard his pleas and started to set fire to the house, before crashing the family's SUV into patrol cars.
When authorities went inside, there was no one to save. Mrs. Petit was found on the first floor. Police say she had been raped and strangled.
Upstairs, tied to their beds, the couples' daughters. Both died from smoke. We may never know why three lives were taken. We do know nothing in Cheshire may ever be the same.
Randi Kaye, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And coming up next on 360, helping gorillas in danger. Meet our latest CNN hero when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOREMAN: Breaking news in major league baseball.
I'm Tom Foreman.
San Francisco Giant Slugger Barry Bonds has just set a new career home run record. Just moments ago he crushed his 756th homer, surpassing the record he tied with Hall of Famer Hank Aaron on Saturday night. He did it against the Washington Nationals at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a (UNINTELLIGIBLE)! It is (UNINTELLIGIBLE)! Seven fifty-six! Bonds stands alone! He is on top of the all-time home run list. What a special moment for Barry Bonds. And what a special moment for these fans here in San Francisco. There it is!
He strikes. The over shift is on and Bacsik deals and Bonds (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It's a (UNINTELLIGIBLE)! It Is (UNINTELLIGIBLE! Seven fifty-six! Bonds stands alone! He is on top of the all-time home run list. What a special moment for Barry Bonds. And what a special moment for these fans here in San Francisco. There it is!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: That was the call from Giants Announcer Duane Kuiper as Barry Bonds broke the record there.
With today's home run, he becomes number one on the list of baseball's all-time greats.
Here's the "Raw Data" on home run leaders. As we've said, Hank Aaron is now second on the career home run list. Babe Ruth is third at 714 home runs. Willie Mays is number four with 660 home runs. Sammy Sosa, 604; and Ken Griffey Jr. rounds out the list with 589. Bonds, Sosa and Griffey, of course, still adding to their totals.
This feat, though, comes with controversy, of course. There's been an awful lot of talk about whether or not Barry Bonds used steroids to get to this point.
Lance Williams joins us now. He knows a bit about that.
Lance, your reaction to the record tonight?
LANCE WILLIAMS, AUTHOR, "GAME OF SHADOWS" (on the phone): Inevitable. It's an achievement that it has to be viewed in the context in which it was achieved. He began using banned drugs (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in my book, "Game of Shadows," after the '98 season and used them straight through 2003 and set himself up for this moment tonight.
FOREMAN: You've heard all the speculation time and time again, and you certainly heard the people who have said over and over again, despite your book, despite all the work you put into it, that nobody every proved anything and it shouldn't taint this accomplishment. What do you say?
WILLIAMS: Well, there's ample proof in the book of the banned drug use. And if you don't believe the book, ask yourself why his trainer is sitting in prison tonight, rather than speaking to the grand jury about Bonds and drugs.
So, I don't know if that taints the moment or not, it puts it in proper context.
FOREMAN: Considering all the work you've done on this, Lance, and all the friction over this, how do you think the fans see this? Obviously, fans in San Francisco like Barry Bonds because he's playing for their team. But overall baseball fans, how do you think they're going to look at this night?
WILLIAMS: They're uncomfortable with it. Fans in general, accepting Giants fans are not comfortable with drug use in the game. And so it does disturb them. I mean, it's a complicated reaction. You go to the ballpark and watch games because of the excitement and fun and not to make moral judgments, but still I think it's a turnoff.
FOREMAN: Let me ask you this, Lance, all of that said and with all the research you said, when you watched him hit this ball just a moment ago, did you have an excitement? Did you have a letdown? What did you think?
WILLIAMS: Like I say, it's an inevitable moment. You knew it was going to happen really after the baseball and the federal prosecutors couldn't seem to do anything about the case in a timely manner. I, you know, if you let it go, he's a wonderful athlete. He's much better since the drugs than before, but it was going to happen and I assumed it would happen on this home stand, so watching something you knew was going to occur, I didn't have much more reaction than that.
FOREMAN: What do you think is going to happen to this story now? He's broken the record. Now he's sitting on top. Inevitably, it seems to me in journalism, that ends up taking the heat off of it a great deal. Do you think there will be another chapter to Barry Bonds' story here? Or will he simply now be the record holder who finishes out his career at some point and that's that?
WILLIAMS: You know, it depends what the federal prosecutors do with the perjury investigation and it depends what the Mitchell (ph) investigation for baseball does with the steroid investigation. I suppose those will be the things that will determine how he's looked on in the history of the game.
FOREMAN: And what do you think about baseball itself? Baseball's made a big show out of saying they're going to clean things up, make things better. Are they any better or worse with the Barry Bonds saga at this point?
WILLIAMS: They're worse I think. I mean, their best, most hallowed record is now held by a guy who used banned drugs and they've known it -- they've known that fact for years and have been unable to react in any way to head the event off so they've been stuck with it. I don't think it's a happy moment for people who care about the game. That's not to detract from his athleticism and so forth, but...
FOREMAN: One last quick question about this, Lance. What do you think will happen if another player comes along who clearly has not used drugs, has none of these allegations raised about them, and they reach this point. Will there be any celebration in sport over this?
WILLIAMS: Sure. Sure. Baseball would love a clean champion.
FOREMAN: All right. Well thanks for joining us, Lance Williams, the author of "Game of Shadows," an interesting book. And the man has looked into Barry Bonds an awful lot.
We're going to take one more look ourselves at what Barry Bonds did tonight. This is the home run. Take a listen and take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The over shift is on and Bacsik deals and Bonds (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It's a (UNINTELLIGIBLE)! It is (UNINTELLIGIBLE)! Seven fifty-six! Bonds stands alone! He is on top of the all-time home run list. What a special moment for Barry Bonds. And what a special moment for these fans...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: And there, whether you like it or not, is the new record holder. He thanked his father, his family and his teammates. Barry Bonds' new record.
That's it. Now we go and join "LARRY KING LIVE."
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