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West Virginia Coal Mine Disasters; Shift in Nuclear Strategy; Danger Down Below; Chinese Mine Disaster; Iraq's Refreshing Surge of Vanity; President Obama at Easter Prayer Breakfast

Aired April 06, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks so much. It's 9:00 a.m. in the east, 6:00 in the west. We continue our coverage of the nation's worst mining disaster in 25 years.

A tough and deadly way to make a living. Agony and anger for many of the families.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't know where dad's body is at. We want some answers and we want them today. We want answers. We're very upset.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And we're investigating the safety or lack of it in this mine and others.

Gay, want to be straight? One guy says he's been there, changed that and can set you straight, too. We're talking to him.

Nose jobs, tummy tucks. This isn't Beverly Hills, it's Baghdad. Could a little bit of vanity be proof that life in Iraq is getting closer to normal?

We begin this morning, though, with praying for a miracle. That's what families, friends and colleagues are doing right now as rescue crews in southern West Virginia are racing to find four coalminers who are still missing.

Here is what we know about the mine explosion so far. Twenty- five miners have been killed. Seven of them have been removed from that mine and identified. And we're just getting word that three of them are family members.

More than a dozen of the deceased are still down below. Why? Because rising gas levels within the mine were so dangerous that rescue crews had to call off the recovery efforts. The immediate plan now is to try to ventilate the mine and resume the rescue operation.

This explosion is the deadliest mining disaster in the United States in a quarter of a century. And sadly, these disasters are nothing new to West Virginians. Many of whom make their living in the mines. A tough living it is. West Virginia governor Joe Manchin hails from one of those coalmining families. And he knows two of the most important things that he can deliver right now is information and a lot of hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: The most horrible thing that I am involved with right now that I haven't -- with explosions with my own family, not knowing that we have 18 people that we have still there. Fourteen we know that have perished.

Four, there is a shred of hope. There might be a shred and we still believe in that miracle and our prayers and the strength of our prayers. With that, all 18 don't know if one of theirs may be one of the four.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

MANCHIN: That little miracle. So you can imagine the anxiety. And I'm just hoping the Good Lord gives me the words to give them some comfort. I -- you know, we're working against long odds here. And I've told them that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That was Governor Manchin speaking to one of our own.

"AMERICAN MORNING"'s John Roberts is live in Naoma, West Virginia this morning.

And, John, I think that's the question right now that so many people are asking, is how is it -- if indeed it was a buildup of methane in the mine, how is it that it could build up to such a large amount with just no accountability?

ROBERTS: That's the big question that people are trying to answer, is where did the methane gas come from? How did it build up so quickly? And how is it that a mining company that had so many violations filed against it -- 122 so far this year, 53 during the month of March, more than 400 in all of last year.

Why was it still mining in the way that it was? These are the questions that people are asking.

Now I talked about an expert, the fellow who was the lead investigator on the Sago mining disaster in 2006. He suggested that perhaps the methane gas have come from areas of the mine that were mined out, that had been sealed off.

Methane gas had built up in those areas and perhaps a seal popped somehow and some of that methane gas came rushing out. But there's no question, Kyra, that the strength of that explosion was so forceful that all of the safety measures that have been put in place to keep miners alive after a mining accident were basically rendered ineffective.

You know they have these self-contained breathing apparatuses, the self-contained self rescue units, which are sort of like the mask that a firefighter would wear into a burning building. They had these rescue chambers that were full of enough supplies to last for four days.

But because this explosion was so big, that none of that worked. In fact, I talked to Kevin Stricklin who's with the Mining Safety and Health Administration. He believed that the force of that explosion was so strong that the miners never had a chance to even go for that emergency equipment.

It would be sort of like if you were the mayor of a city, and you were preparing for some sort of attack on the city, a conventional attack, and then someone dropped a nuclear bomb on you. There's no way to prepare for that size of explosion.

But the big question again, as you pointed out, Kiran, is how did that much gas or a combination of gas and a combination of gas and coal dust build up in that particular part of the mine.

PHILLIPS: You -- and you talk about the strength of the explosion. Let's talk about the strength of these families. There are four miners that rescue crews are trying to find and trying to locate.

For the first time, we saw with you family members of these four miners that are still missing. It was so powerful.

Just for a moment, let's take a listen to part of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: What is it like to live in this life knowing that every day, loved ones like your grandfather go down so deep under the ground and every day, to some degree, is a roll of the dice?

TIFFANY, BENNY WILLINGHAM'S GRANDDAUGHTER: It's really scary. It's really, really scary. My stepdad also does that. And this is just a wakeup call to me. I seen it happened before but I never imagined I would be here today telling my story about it.

ROBERTS: Jean, how long has he been a miner? Was his the typical story?

JEANNIE, BENNY WILLINGHAM'S SISTER: More than 30 years.

ROBERTS: So, was it right out of high school or when did he go down into the mines?

JEANNIE: Not long after high school. Not long after high school. And he loved it. And he was a very, very hard worker. And he loved the Lord and he said in church the other day, he said, the Lord -- he thanked the Lord for saving his soul and he thanked him for watching over him in the mines for over 30 years and he said, if he takes me tomorrow, I've had a good life.

ROBERTS: Michelle, what is it that you want to know today from the mining company?

MICHELLE, BENNY WILLINGHAM'S DAUGHTER: We want to know -- excuse me -- why we have not been contacted. No one from Massey has called my mother or any of us children or his mother. He still has a mother that is home grieving. We don't know where my dad's body is at. We want some answers and we want them today. We want answers. We are very upset.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Wow, I mean, you hear these interviews. And how many times have we covered these explosions? And these family members are so faithful and they're so strong and they never give up hope to that very last minute.

And at the same time, we always hear about all these citations, safety citations, that haven't been taken care of. And you just wonder why aren't these families respected more?

ROBERTS: And you know, here is another thing about the citations. There have been so many that have been filed against this mining company.

Don't forget, violations can either be very serious or fairly minor. You can have a violation for improper or tools which is pretty much one of the worst. Down to a violation for tools that aren't put away properly, which would seem to be a fairly minor violation.

And all of those are compiled together. So when you hear a mine has got this many violations against it, only a handful may be serious, then again maybe dozens of them are serious.

But you talk about the respect to families. And as a result of the Sago mining disaster, the Miner Act, companies had to have a family liaison put in place who would -- when there's a tragedy like this -- reach out to the families, tell them what happened, bring them to a rallying point if necessary, offer them counseling, if they wanted it.

Give them information because in the Sago mining disaster, families were just sort of wondering around aimlessly, not getting any information, not getting any kind of idea of what was happening with their loved ones or what was happening with the rescue operations.

So, you know, the Miner Act did put in place certain rules that these mining companies had to follow. And it would appear that at least one of those rules wasn't followed in this particular case.

PHILLIPS: Which is an absolute shame. We'll continue to follow up with you throughout the morning. John Roberts, thank you so much.

And the Upper Big Branch mine has a safety record that's pretty spotty at best. Let's go ahead and bring in Bruce Watzman. He's the National Mining Association's senior vice president for Regulatory Affairs. He's joining us live from Washington, D.C. this morning.

We appreciate you being with us. You've been on the air since yesterday when this happened and I guess -- let me ask you. Your -- I guess as you hear about the possibilities of what happened and we hear about this buildup of methane gas, how is it that it could build up to such a high level?

BRUCE WATZMAN, VP, NATIONAL MINING ASSOCIATION: Well, there are several factors that can come into play. You have barometric pressure swings that can cause gas to build up rapidly.

You know this will all be studied through an exhaustive investigation that will be undertaken by federal investigators, state investigators and outside parties to get to the root cause of this to present -- prevent a recurrence at another operation in the future.

But I think at this point, it's speculation at best as to what caused this.

PHILLIPS: 2008 to 2009, the citations doubled. Why wasn't that addressed? And how is it that a mine can keep operating like this when there are so many citations?

WATZMAN: Well, I think you have to understand that there are different levels of significance for citations as previous people have spoken to. You can have serious violations and you can have those that are far less serious.

And then there's a process to review each of those citations. So it is a lengthy process but during the course of that process, there is continuous oversight. MSHA inspectors are at the mines virtually every shift that the mine is running. There are state inspectors who have a presence there as well.

PHILLIPS: You know, Bruce, there's critics out there now, too, that are saying, once again, we're seeing another company that let the miners down. It's profits over human life.

WATZMAN: I don't think that's the case. And I would challenge anyone who said that. There is no one we care more dearly about than the miners. They're family members. These are tight-knit communities. And I can tell you that every effort is under way to reach those four trapped miners and to provide whatever need and support the families need at this trying moment.

PHILLIPS: Yes. And we've heard from family members. And it's heart wrenching.

Bruce Watzman, appreciate your time.

WATZMAN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: You bet. We also told you earlier how this is the deadliest mining accident in more than 25 years. But we've seen far worse in terms of loss of life. Remember there's October 22nd, 1913, an explosion killed 263 people at the Stag Cannon coal mine in Dawson, New Mexico.

And then November 13th, 1909, 215 miners died in a fire at a mine in Cherry, Illinois. And the worst coalmine disaster in U.S. history, 362 miners were killed in an explosion at Dual mines in Monongah, West Virginia back in December of 1907.

Stay with us. We're going to bring you the latest development as we get them.

President Obama, the mining accident -- he's going to talk about it in just about 30 minutes. And later this hour, we're going to have more with Tom Foreman who gives us a great explainer on the dangers involved with coal mining and the type of methodology that were apparently -- that they were apparently using at this facility.

That will be in about 20 minutes.

So who are those nukes aimed at? The U.S. is set to challenge course on nuclear weapons setting new rules for building and blasting.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Severe Weather Center.

Record heat to the east and more snow out west. In between. More severe weather today. Weather is coming up when the CNN NEWSROOM -- excuse me -- returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A high stakes game of follow the leader. President Obama wants to reduce stockpiles of nuclear weapons, even quit making them.

But will other nuclear nations follow?

It's a gamble just two days before the president signs a treaty with Russia.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining us live with more perspective.

Barbara, tell us what it means to us.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kyra, the whole idea is that -- having no nuclear weapons, making nuclear weapons obsolete, makes the world safer. That remains to be seen, of course. Because there's plenty of countries out there still trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Number one, of course, Iran.

The president is today unveiling a new nuclear strategy for the United States in advance of signing that treaty with the Russians as you say. Let's get to the key points and you'll see what we're talking about.

First of all, the nuclear review that is about to be unveiled calls for a halt to the development of new nuclear weapons. It calls for instead extending the life of existing nuclear warheads and commits the U.S. to not use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states.

Now this is also to sort of ratchet back in, sort of dial back any U.S. policy about the use of nuclear weapons. But there's a critical exception here. That the U.S. still might reserve the option of attacking states which are nuclear but do not adhere to the nonproliferation treaty.

What does that mean? Iran, Iran, Iran. The U.S. keeping an exception on the table just signaling Iran that don't take this all that nuclear weapons are over and done with, that the U.S. is still keeping its eye on Iran, and very much wanting Iran to give up its nuclear program.

That's the real bottom line here. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: And we'll follow it. Barbara Starr, thanks so much.

Nerves on edge, aftershocks under foot. The Baja earthquake and the tremors still rattling the southwest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The aftershocks are not over from Sunday's Baja earthquake. Seismologists say they'll probably continue for another week. The 7.2 magnitude quake was felt by at least 20 million people in Mexico, California and Arizona.

It was one of the strongest earthquakes in decades. The only two deaths and most of the damage were in and around Mexicali, just south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

In Alaska, all eyes on a volcano that could be stirring to life. A series of small earthquakes actually began rumbling yesterday about 100 miles south of Anchorage. Scientists aren't sure if the quakes are building up to the volcano being more explosives but they say it's increasingly possible.

Last year, the volcano was active for months. It even spewed huge ash plumes and mud flows.

All right, well, you have to think that there'll be some busy body shops in Topeka. This hail storm dinged up the area on Monday. One of those days that where you're pretty glad you have covered parking or wish you had.

Pea-sized ice pellets, by the way, about a half inch of rain, too, in that area. That part of the country could get another dose of nasty weather, right, Rob? MARCIANO: Yes, they could. Not only the auto body shops out but the roofers out, too. Hey, you want a free roof? I heard you had some hail damage.

(LAUGHTER)

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Make sure you've got enough Freon, right? Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right. See you.

PHILLIPS: Well, nose jobs, tummy tucks, ladies in Iraq are going under the knife to feel better about themselves. Never thought of vanity as a measure but you know what? Maybe it's a sign that life in Iraq is slowly getting back to normal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The case against accused bullies in Massachusetts takes another step forward today. You remember this story? Fifteen- year-old Phoebe Prince hung herself, prosecutors say, because of other kids harassing her and picking on her nonstop.

Three teen defendants were scheduled to appear in court. They won't be there in person. The two 17-year-olds and the 18-year-old took advantage of a law that lets them miss their arraignments. They're among nine students charged in the case.

Then there's Anthony Sowell and his house of horrors and bodies. You could fill a library with the charges against this guy. He showed up for his latest arraignment in Cleveland, 10 more charges of rape, kidnapping and assault. That's on top of 85 other charges including the rapes and murders of 11 other women.

Sowell has pleaded not guilty to killing them and hiding the remains around his house.

So what makes Tiger happy? Stop it. Tiger Woods at the mike talking about his wife, his swing and his stint at rehab, oh, yes, and what makes him smile.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tiger Woods says he's having fun again. On the golf course, that is. He was also happy to hear the cheers during his practice round at Augusta. Afterwards he sat down to a big old plate of humble pie, though, answering questions like this one about his time in rehab.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Tiger, you had said earlier that you were in some form of a rehab. Talk about -- are you still in rehab or what that rehab is for? TIGER WOODS, PLAYING IN THE MASTERS: You know I -- yes, I was in there for 45 days. And it was to take a hard look at myself. And I did. And I've come out better. Certainly a much better person forward than I was going in.

And does that mean I'm ever going to stop doing that? No. I will still continue with my treatment. And that's going forward. That's not going to continue -- not going to stop in the near future for sure.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What was it for?

WOODS: That's personal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, no matter how Tiger Woods does on the golf course, he's still an ace in the hole for late-night comedians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Tiger Woods, that's the big story. Tiger Woods returns to golf this week when he tees off at the Masters. So this will be his first legitimate threesome for, what, five months?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: David Letterman also got his swings in. He made it clear that Tiger Woods should appreciate his fans more. And that that's how he got into trouble in the first place.

The Dow hovering near 11,000. Opening bell in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: On Wall Street, the Dow inching closer and closer to the 11,000 mark. We're watching to see if it hits that milestone today.

Stephanie Elam is watching as well.

Hey, Steph.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. Yes, well, early indications not looking so positive right now.

Stocks are set for a lower opening, although we are very close. That's true. The Dow came within 12 points of 11,000 yesterday. But then it pulled back before the closing bell.

Of course, this is all really more of a psychological marker. We call it that. Some analysts think the longer it takes to climb above it, well, the harder it could be.

Now the Dow hasn't topped 11,000 in a year and a half. And the first time it did it was 11 years ago. Almost. So we'll be keeping our eyes on that.

Later today, we'll hear what Fed policymakers have to say about the economy. Minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting will be released this afternoon. The Fed has said interest rates will stay low for an extended period of time, but some officials are starting to worry about inflation.

So, we just heard the opening bell. Let's go ahead and take a look at our early numbers here. We got the Dow on the down side by 12 points, 10,961, and we have Nasdaq lower by nine points, so 24-20 in the early going.

Also, Kyra, we are keeping an eye on Massey Energy today. That's the company that owns mine where this tragic accident was Virginia happened. Right now, taking a look at the stock, it's down close to 11 percent. So, we'll be keeping our eyes on that as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Sounds good. Thanks, Steph.

Lots of prayers and searching for answers. Families of coal miners trying to make sense of the nation's worst mining disaster in 25 years. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: More now on the West Virginia mine disaster.

Here's what we know at this point, 25 miners have been killed, seven of them have been removed from the mine and identified; three of the seven, family members. More than a dozen of the deceased are still down below due to rising gas levels within the mine. It just got so dangerous that rescue crews had to call off the recovery efforts for those bodies. The immediate plan now is to try to ventilate the mine and resume the rescue operations for the four miners still missing. This explosion is the deadliest mining disaster in the U.S. in a quarter of a century.

The explosion is yet another reminder that coal mining is a brutal way to make a living, but it's one of the few good-paying jobs available to many West Virginians. Last hour, a Red Cross spokesperson characterized the local reaction to the mine blast this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERI MCGRAW, CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA RED CROSS: These folks are stoic, and they're strong, and I heard a mama tell her surviving son today who came out of the mine alive, I don't ever want you to go back in that mine again, and he says, but mama, this is what I do. This is what I do. So, chances are, they'll go back down in the mines at some point. The families will, the generations will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: They'll go down into those mines where it is tough, demanding and dangerous. CNN's Tom Foreman shows us some of the inherent risk involved while wall mining. The massive (ph) apparently being utilized at the upper big branch mine right there in Raleigh County, West Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a type of mining that was actually pioneered in England several hundred years ago, but has really caught on in the past 30 years here because of new technology, primarily because mine owners have believed that this new technology might allow them to automate further which would reduce the risk to miners and produce more coals.

So, let's check a little section of the land here. If we were to cut part of this out just like that and we were able to move this aside and say this is what it looks like underneath. This is from YouTube, a fellow put together a demonstration with what happens with long wall mining.

Notice this is a seam of coal, and you see other little rooms cutting on the sides over here. This is the beginning of long wall mining. You cut off an area like this. You create a field, and this may be enormous. It's like 800 feet across here. It can be as much as a mile or more, along this way, and then, this is what happens. They start cutting away at the face. It's about eight feet tall. They cut, cut, cut, cut, cut. You can see a tremendous amount of coal would come out of it cutting it this way.

But I do want to point out that this video is a little bit deceptive, because what you don't see here is as they're cutting all that coal out, you're not creating a big giant room here. What you're doing is you're allowing it to all collapse in behind you as you cut. So, you're actually filling in all of this area with the mountainside collapsing behind you. And the actual working area is actually only about 15 feet or so from the face right up in here. So, this is the area we're looking at when we're focusing on this idea of long wall mining.

I'm going to move this one aside, because I want you to look now a little bit closer of what this actually looks like. This is the machine that does it. It's a little hard to see here. This is from the government, but it's a video they had online. You can see, this is the type of cutter that moves along that face cutting at that face of coal. Here is the cutter over here, here are the workers over here.

Now, I want to stop this for a moment. You see the big wheel turning there. That may be cutting 3.5 feet of coal at a time deep into the wall. So, you can see a tremendous amount coming off. These over here are shields that are put in. They are hydraulically supported. There may be 100 of these in a row to give these workers and these machines a way to move back and forth across that face. You can see the shield comes up here and over the top. Tremendously powerful.

These shields could support the weight of an entire locomotive and all the cars with it, up to 600, 800 tons at a time of weight on the top, but again, only about 15 feet of space here.

Here is the other important part I really want you to think about as we go through here, Anderson. As we roll through, you have all of this space here. That grinding on the surface upfront produces an enormous amount of coal dust. That's what you're seeing right there and that's the issue of ventilation here.

What are the dangers if you have this kind of operation going on on the face of coal? You have this issue of coal dust building up. That's a potential threat because it is enormously explosive.

You also have the threat of methane building up if it's not vented enough. Also, enormously explosive, and because of all the weight here and the width of this, you always have the danger of some kind of structural collapse.

Again, many people believe this is less likely to produce a structural collapse than the other method of cutting out little rooms and leaving pillars, but nonetheless, when you put all these together, this is the danger.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: What heart wrenching irony.

From West Virginia to China, another mining disaster, another rescue in progress. And just like West Virginia, there were survivors, but hope is dimming for the others who remain underground where toxic gas is seeping into the mine. Our CNN's Emily Chang in Beijing.

EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, rescue efforts are continuing in a race against time to find those remaining miners. Rescue crews say they have mapped out the rough location, but it is a very dangerous situation. So, they're trying to figure out a plan to reach them without compromising the safety of rescue workers as well. Unfortunately, the gas levels in that area are still extremely high, and the area is still flooded.

Sadly, they did locate the bodies of those miners who died and brought them to the surface, but they have expressed hope that the remaining miners could be found alive. This after the miraculous rescue of more than 100 miners who were pulled out alive.

We are hearing some amazing stories about how they survived so long. Some of them ate coal and tree bark, they drank dirty water and urine to pass eight long days trapped under ground. And the Chinese government says that most of them are in stable condition, but some of them are in more serious condition. They're suffering from dehydration, malnutrition, and skin infections from being submerged in that water for so long.

This accident is, of course, heightening scrutiny of China's notoriously, deadly mining industry, while accidents like this in the United States, for example, are extremely rare. Here in China, they are sadly all too common. Just in the last week, there have been five separate coal mining accidents across the country. Last year, more than 2,600 people died in coal mining accidents in China. So, critics want to know why this keeps happening, who is responsible, and what China plans to do about it -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Emily Chang, thank you so much.

And in just a few minutes, President Obama is expected to comment on the West Virginia mine tragedy. We'll take his comments live when he steps up to the mike here as he hosts an Easter breakfast.

Then, at the top of the hour, CNN's John Roberts is on the scene with all the latest developments. We'll hear from the son of one of the missing miners.

Middle of the night, a door opens, an intruder creeps in, and a mother screams for her life. We'll tell you what this 11-year-old did that has people calling him an angel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now the latest on the mining disaster in West Virginia. Twenty-five miners have died, and there are still four unaccounted for. The search was suspended because of a dangerous gas buildup underground. Rescue crews are there waiting to get into that mine, though, and so are federal and state federal investigators who are looking to what triggered that explosion. We're keeping an eye on all of this for you.

A milestone for little Elian Gonzalez. Remember him as that scared little kid right there that was hiding in the closet and then taken from his home? He was just five years old, the center of an international tug of war between Cuba and the U.S. Here's Elian now. Today, he turns 16. So, how does a Cuba icon spend the week of his 16th birthday? At a young communist convention, of course.

It's been an incredibly violent morning in Iraq's capital. Seven separate bombings rocking Baghdad destroying several residential buildings, at least 34 people dead and 140 wounded. Most of those explosions took place in Shiite neighborhoods. There has not been a claim of responsibility.

And you know, violence like that over the years has kept plastic surgeons in Iraq very busy rebuilding bodies disfigured by that war, but now, they are seeing more patients on the operating table for a different reason, to look better. Sounds shockingly normal so to say, doesn't it? CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom has seen the proof in the operating room. He joins us live from Baghdad.

It's sort of strange to hear that people here are dying every day are actually going to doctors to get nose jobs and tummy tucks.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, usually, when you talk about the beautification efforts that are underway in Iraq, it's the cities that are being described, not the people.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JAMJOOM (voice-over): These days you hear a lot about the changing face of Iraq, but that's a phrase that was never meant to be taken literally.

When I'm quiet, I don't have a problem with my face, says Nur (ph), but when I smile, I feel like my face isn't pretty. So, that's how I decided.

The 26-year-old got her first nose job at 15. She thought that surgery was botched. So, she is going under the knife again. To her, this is nothing out of the ordinary even for an Iraqi.

The internet, video clips, television, we see that those who get surgeries done, they look prettier, says Nur, and that encourages and gives us an incentive to get cosmetic surgery.

(on-camera): Nur could have gone to a government run hospital here in Baghdad and gotten this procedure entirely for free, but Nur, like many other Iraqis who are elected to have cosmetic procedures decided to come o a private run hospital like this one. Even though it's more expensive, it ends up taking less time, and more importantly, they can choose the doctor they want.

(voice-over): Dr. Zacharia used to work primarily on the war wounded, but demand for plastic surgery has skyrocketed in the past few years. From tummy tucks to eye lifts, he gets more patients every month, and he has a good idea why.

DR. ZACHARIA, PLASTIC SURGEON: I think because they are watching TV too much. Now, the international, you know, the -- the satellite has brought up such a culture, a new culture to our society.

JAMJOOM: And it's not just plastic surgery that's on the rise. Beauty centers like this one are also opening up with greater frequency across Iraq.

At Ahmed Salon, his customers are loyal and his business is booming. Hair is styled and brows are tweezed.

"You know the Iraqi woman has to take care of herself", says Nada, "she's known throughout the Arab world and throughout the rest of the world for her style, for her look, for her design."

JAMJOOM: And Nada like Nour (ph) doesn't have to go far for inspiration.

"We search the Internet", says Nada "And watch the satellite channels, always looking for something special." Inspiring for some, disturbing for others.

YANAR MOHAMMED, ACTIVIST: In a society where you are bombarded by messages from the media that you need to look like a model. Your nose may need to be small. And your eyebrows do not look good, you need to replace them by synthetic eyebrows and your lips are not big enough. You cannot live in peace with yourself as a woman. JAMJOOM: A different kind of bombardment than Baghdad has been known for. But more and more billboards like this will go up, promising procedures that will erase the scars of normal Iraqis, standing in stark contrast to a city still pockmarked by years of war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JAMJOOM: And as you know, Kyra because family is so important in Iraq, we asked everybody that we spoke with in the story, how their parents and siblings reacted to these procedures, if they objected to them in any way? They all said no -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Is it even, I mean, just thinking about the safety on the streets, I mean, that's another factor. Do they feel safe going to the salon? Do they feel safe going to see these doctors for long periods of time and getting these operations in a hospital? I mean, before, you couldn't spend that much time in a place like this.

JAMJOOM: Well, that was the most amazing thing about doing this story, is being able to go out and go to these salons and go to these clinics, spend a lot of time there and not pick up on any feeling of nerves by any of these people, any feelings of crisis or worry.

You know, we talked to a lot of people that are in their 20s, this generation they want to lead a normal life. They are still dealing with the reality here on the ground. They are still dealing with daily violence like the kind you mentioned earlier.

But they want to be able to get these things. They see it on line. They see it on the satellite TV channels and the demand is growing. But we should mention that, you know, this is still very expensive by Iraqi standards. So it's really more of an elite group that's able to afford this right now, although, demand is growing -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, I see some of those women. I think they are so beautiful. Why do they need to change anything? Mohammed Jamjoom, definitely an interesting story. Thanks Mohammed.

More from CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

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PHILLIPS: Live pictures from the White House, the president is actually hosting an Easter prayer breakfast there at the White House with Christian leaders from across the country.

But we're also expecting just before that begins that he will make comments about the coal mine disaster in West Virginia. So when he steps out and steps up to the mike, we'll take it live.

While waiting for that, Rob Marciano, what are you tracking today?

MARCIANO: You know it was toasty here in Atlanta yesterday as you know. PHILLIPS: And D.C.

MARCIANO: D.C. saw a record high.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

MARCIANO: Baltimore saw a record high. And/or in the weekend places like Syracuse saw high temperatures that they've never seen this early in the season. So unusually warm to say the least and that trend is going to continue for the next day or two.

Although, it's trying -- it's starting to cool off or trying to cool off from Syracuse to New York. A little pulse of moisture that scooting across the I-95 corridor. But this isn't going to amount to much and once these moves through I think we're going to get it to more in the wave -- in the wave of heat.

As far as what we're looking at on a larger scope, obviously the heat across the eastern third of the country and real cold behind this thing, we're going to see probably over a foot of snow in the Colorado Rockies and the Wasatch of Utah today.

So April continues to be a month although last year was a little dry. April they can get dumped on pretty good.

And when you get that clash of warm and cold obviously in between, that's where we get the severe weather. And that's going to be the case again today. We did have one report of tornado yesterday. A number of reports of hail and damaging wind across the Central Plains and the western Great Lakes and that's again they're going to be the spot today.

We did have a severe thunderstorm watch that was posted earlier for parts of Chicago as this line drives off to the east, I'm not sure why these other watches are not posting yet, but right in through here there's a severe thunderstorm watch as well and that's in effect I think until 3:00 o'clock this afternoon.

And then highlighting what we've seen out west. Again, winter storm warnings 8 to 18 inches of snow along the I-70 Corridor and that's going to be nice, fresh powder for you folks.

Severe weather, the other ingredient obviously is the heat and the moisture. Humidity continues to build south of this front. So it's going to feel a little bit more like June and in some cases July.

89 degrees is the expected high temperature in Atlanta, 78 degrees is expected in New York City; 88 degrees in D.C. and then out to the west we're look at cooler temperatures, 40 in Salt Lake and upper 50s in places like San Francisco and Seattle where the rain showers continue to roll in there.

As far as the forecast weather map for tomorrow it shows a slow progression of this storm system rolling off towards the east. So it's not really going to make a whole lot of movement, maybe a couple hundred miles. The focus for severe weather tomorrow will be across the mid-Mississippi River Valley stretching into east into the Ohio River Valley, but again, another slice of warm, late spring early summer type of weather.

PHILLIPS: Rob thanks.

Let's get to the President of the United States now. He's actually hosting an Easter prayer breakfast there at the White House with Christian leaders from across the country. We're going to follow that for you, of course.

But first as he steps up tonight -- there's Joel Osteen and his wife, well-known Christian pastor. But we're expecting him to make comments about the West Virginia mine explosion.

Let's listen in.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning, everybody. Thank you. Please have a seat. Have a seat.

What a great honor and pleasure it is to have all of you here today.

Before I begin I want to just acknowledge two members of my cabinet who I believe are here. Secretary Gary Locke. Is that correct? Where is Gary? There he is -- our commerce secretary. And Secretary Janet Napolitano, who is keeping us safe each and every day.

I also want to acknowledge the Mount Eden Quentin Children's Chorus for being here. They're going to be giving us a medley there they are. They're looking very serious.

Before I begin, I want to send my deepest condolences, our thoughts and prayers to the families and the friends of the workers who lost their lives after an explosion took place in a West Virginia mine yesterday. At this moment there are still people missing. There are rescue teams that are searching tirelessly and courageously to find them.

I spoke with Governor Manchin of West Virginia last night and told him that the federal government stands ready to offer whatever assistance is need in this rescue effort.

So I would ask that the faithful who gathered here this morning pray for the safe return of the missing, the men and women who put their lives on the line to save them and the souls of those who have been lost in this tragic accident. May they rest in peace and may their families find comfort in the hard days ahead.

You know, one of my hopes upon taking this office was to make the White House a place where all people would feel welcome. To that end, we held a Seder here to mark the first Passover. We held an Iftar here with Muslim-Americans to break the daily fast during Ramadan. And today I'm particularly blessed to welcome you, my brothers and sisters in Christ for this Easter breakfast.

With us are Christian leaders from all across America, men and women who lead small town churches and big-city congregations and major organizations in service of others; folks whose sermons are heard and whose examples are followed by millions all across the country.

I wanted to join you for a brief moment today to continue the Easter celebration of our Risen Savior and reflect on the work to which his promise calls all of us.

I can't tell any of you anything about Easter that you don't already know. I can't shed light on centuries of scriptural interpretation or bring any new understandings to those of you who reflect on Easter's meaning each and every year and each and every day.

But what I can do is tell you what draws me to this holy day and what lesson I take from Christ's sacrifice and what inspires me about the story of the resurrection for even after the passage of 2,000 years we can still picture the moment in our mind's eye.

PHILLIPS: Well, what a perfect place for the president to ask for prayer for rescue crews and for the families in West Virginia as the search continues still for four miners believed to possibly still be alive in the coal mine there in West Virginia.

We are expecting a news conference any moment now live out of West Virginia. The governor is expected to speak in addition to the head of West Virginia's emergency management, but the President there is hosting an Easter prayer breakfast at the White House with Christian leaders all across the country. And they also will be joining force and praying for those that are still trapped in that mine.

That's going to top our next hour. We'll be having more from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

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