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West Virginia Coal Mine Explosion; Fear Rising in Baghdad
Aired April 06, 2010 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Kyra. Have a great day. Here are the big stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM for Tuesday, April 6th.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a difficult situation. We're in a very difficult situation here, and, you know, there's hopes and prayers, and that's what we're clinging to right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Four miners trapped in a hellish world underneath the rolling West Virginia landscape. If they are still alive, it will take days to get them out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't know where my dad's body's at. We want some answers, and we want them today. We want answers. We're very upset.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Family members say the mine's owner is keeping them in the dark today. Questions about the company's spotty safety record.
And no new nukes. In one hour, President Obama's national security team announces changes in U.S. policy on making and using nuclear weapons.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Those stories and your comments, right here, right now, in the CNN NEWSROOM.
So we have family members hoping against the odds following the deadliest mining disaster in the United States in 25 years. Four miners are missing and at least 25 are dead in the explosion at the West Virginia coal mine.
We're expecting a news conference at the bottom of the hour, and we will, of course, bring that to you live.
Right now, here is the latest.
The search and rescue operation for the missing miners is on hold because of dangerous concentrations of methane gas and carbon monoxide. Safety officials say it could take up to two days to drill holes to ventilate the mine and collect air samples.
Eighteen workers are still inside the mine, 14 are known to be dead. But none of the 18 has been identified.
"All we have left is hope," the words of a mine safety official about the search for the four workers who are unaccounted for. Some family members have learned the tragic news that their loved ones are among those killed.
CNN's John Roberts has been talking with some of the families. He has been on location since the very small hours of this morning, joining us now from Raleigh County, West Virginia.
And John, we're expecting a news conference. We'll get an update in about 30 minutes or so.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Governor Joe Manchin is expected to give us another briefing at about 11:30 Eastern or so. But, you know, Tony, I don't know what there is new to learn at this point, because, as you said, the rescue operations have been suspended while they get the heavy equipment up on top of the hill, 1,200 feet above where those miners are believed to be trapped to drill those three boreholes.
And with all of this going on, Tony, there is just such a shroud of sorrow that has fallen over this whole area. Twenty-five miners trapped. It's the worst accident since 1984. If those four other miners don't make it, it will eclipse the 27 that were killed in Utah back in 1984.
And I had a chance to talk with the family members today of Benny Willingham (ph). He was a 30-year miner here in West Virginia, 61 years old. He was six weeks away from his 62nd birthday. And Tony, he had planned on retiring on his 62nd birthday.
He was just a few trips away from making it to retirement. In fact, he was on that manned trip, that rail sled that takes the miners in and out of the tunnels. And they were just a couple of minutes away from being back out in the fresh air when the explosion went off. And it was on that manned trip that a number of miners died.
But, you know, you talk to the family members and, yes, there is sadness. And yes, there is anger about some of their loved ones dying, and what they do, and some anger at the company as well. But for many of them, Tony, this is what they do.
Listen to what this family told me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIFFANY, GRANDDAUGHTER: It's really scary. It's really, really scary. My step dad also does it, and this is just the wake-up call to me. I've seen it happen 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?
JEAN, SISTER: More than 30 years, yes.
ROBERTS: So was it right out of high school, or when did he go down into the mines?
JEAN: 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 MCKENNEY, 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 in his home grieving.
We don't know where my dad's body's at. We want some answers and we want them today. We want answers. We're very upset.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And Tony, it's very unusual that that family hasn't been contacted, because in the wake of the Sago mining disaster of 2006, when family members were left completely in the dark, sort of wandering around, not knowing what was going on, reaching out to the media to find receive information -- and, of course, the bad information got out that all of the miners had survived, and then, no, we found out that they all died -- the Miner Act that fell out of that stipulated the company has to appoint a family liaison to bring people together, to give them information, to counsel them, to console them. And why Benny Willingham's (ph) family was not contacted is beyond me.
I don't have an answer at this point because we have reached out to the company a number of times for comment. We do get press releases from them every once in a while, but yet to get a human being on the other end of the line.
HARRIS: Right. It goes without saying it's a horrible story. And we've watched that interview that you conducted a couple of times, John. It's a horrible story for that family to endure, and we hope they get the answers that they want soon.
Did you want to add something, John?
ROBERTS: I just wanted to add something, that the mantra around here is, "Sago never again," with one exception. And this is for the families of the four miners who are still missing. There was a miracle in Sago. While 12 of his colleagues died, Randal McCloy survived 41 hours of rising levels of methane, increasingly toxic gas surrounding him. And he made it out of the mine. And they hope against hope that if Randal McCloy could find his miracle deep beneath these West Virginia hill, perhaps their loved ones can, too.
HARRIS: Yes. Sad.
John Roberts for us.
John, appreciate it. Thank you.
I've got to tell you, the cause of the mine explosion is, as you would imagine, under investigation, and the safety record of the mining company is under scrutiny. Here's some background on Massey Energy.
It operates 44 underground and surface mines. It controls 2.2 billion tons of coal reserves in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee.
A division of the company was fined $2.4 million last year for a fire at another mine. Now, the company was fined more than $382,000 for violations at the Upper Big Branch mine, the site of yesterday's explosion.
Massey could not be reached for comment, as you heard John mention just a moment ago. Certainly couldn't be reached in its safety record.
In a statement last night, the company said, "Our top priority is the safety of our miners and the well-being of their families."
(NEWSBREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coal mining gets in your blood. And the camaraderie, it's just like a sports team. I mean, it's just -- there's no love like the love among workers in coal mines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: It's that camaraderie that helps coal mining communities heal after a tragedy like the one in West Virginia. And earlier today, CNN's John Roberts doing a terrific job of just listening to people talk about what they're going through.
John had a conversation with a Red Cross worker about how this particular community is dealing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: What does it do to this area?
SHERI MCGRAW, CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA RED CROSS CHAPTER: Well, you know, 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.
ROBERTS: It's kind of a deal that they make that this is what they do to make their living. This is what they do to earn their keep.
MCGRAW: They're tough people, and it's a tough job. And it's a good living for these folks. Long hours, but they do it for their families.
ROBERTS: Governor Joe Manchin passed along the story of three members of the same family who were killed, and it is -- it's one of those classic mining families. The father had been working the early day shift. He was coming out. His son was going in, along with his nephew and the father's brother, and just as he was taking off his shirt, that's when the blast happened, and it literally blew his shirt off and took the lives of his brother, his son and his nephew.
MCGRAW: And, you know, I spent a lot of time with that family last night, and this was before -- this was when the survivor had come out, that the three had not yet been pronounced dead. And the family was just exhausted. They wanted to have hope, they wanted to have faith, but they were just so tired at that point having so many family members in that mine, that they really just did not know what to think.
ROBERTS: We were thinking about this on the way up. If you're a mother in the family, and your husband and your sons are going off and they're working in the coal mines, and they're bringing home the bacon, basically, and they perish in a disaster like this, there's not much else around here to do.
What do those people do?
MCGRAW: That's right. Well, you know --
ROBERTS: The people left behind, what do they do?
MCGRAW: -- the mines will take care of them financially. But I heard another woman who, when she found out her husband had died, I watched her. And her friends are hugging her, and she said, "Who's going to take care of me now? Who's going to take care of me?"
And her friends were hugging here, saying, "We'll take care of you. We'll take care of you."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Oh, boy.
We are awaiting another news conference from West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin. He is expected to speak at bottom of the hour.
Plus, we will dig deeper into the Massey Energy Corporation with Ellen Smith of Mine Safety & Health News. She joins me in about 30 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BUSINESS REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Our top stories now.
In West Virginia, at least 25 coal miners killed in an explosion, and the search for four missing miners is on hold for now. Officials say the air inside is just too toxic. They're drilling holes into the mine to release poisonous gasses. It could be Thursday before the search resumes -- Thursday.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in India today. He is talking with leaders from that country about ways to strengthen economic ties and boost trade.
Well, Cinderella made it to the big dance and stayed until the end of the ball. Doggone. But no fairytale ending at the NCAA finals for Butler.
Duke beat them last night 61-59. The Blue Devils survived when Butler missed that three-pointer at the final buzzer.
A wave of explosions rocked Baghdad today. Six bombs targeted residential areas. In some cases, the tremendous blast destroyed entire apartment buildings. A seventh bomb hit a restaurant.
All told, at least 34 people dead, 140 wounded. A government spokesman blames al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, saying, "We are in a state of war with the remains of that group."
Insurgents have struck Baghdad four of the last five days. The attacks raising fresh fears violence will again engulf the city following Iraq's inconclusive national elections.
CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom now in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A mother's instinct -- the bombs wouldn't keep her from her kids.
"The first explosion, I went quickly to the children. I started rocking the cradle," she says. "The second explosion was very strong. I didn't have time to react quickly."
"Shrapnel hit my head. I started bleeding and the blood covered me entirely. I saw Danya (ph) wounded in the face. The baby's forehead was covered with blood." Injuries sustained when coordinated suicide car bombings tore through Baghdad just a day earlier. Two of the three went off near embassies close to Shimaa's house.
(on camera): This is considered to be one of the safest neighborhoods in Baghdad, and to give you an idea of just how close one of the bombings was to Shimaa's house, this is Shimaa's house. Just about 80 meters down the road, beyond where that white car is, is where one of the blasts went off outside of the Egyptian Embassy.
(voice-over): Shimaa and her two children were rushed to the hospital. The wounds will heal, the questions will linger.
"I don't know how this could happen here," says Shimaa's father. "This area has protection, security forces. Wherever you go there are security forces and police."
(on camera): This is the children's room. This is where they play during the day.
As you can see, there's shards of broken glass, big shards of broken glass everywhere. And the fear is that had they been up here, their injuries would have been much more extensive.
(voice-over): Now, confronted again with the reality of life in Baghdad and the randomness of violence in Iraq, no one in Shimaa's family will be able to reassure her.
"I don't have hope," Nasr (ph) says. "I'm left with nothing. Look at my house. It's destroyed. We don't have electricity, we don't have water."
Shimaa used to be optimistic. She wanted her children to be raised in Iraq, to instill them with pride in their heritage. Now she'd like nothing more than to leave and join her husband who is studying in London.
"Yes, I wanted them to be raised in their country," Shimaa says. "No one wants to leave their country, but I see a bad future for them here. They will not be raised well here. That's if they survive. But who will guarantee that they will not die?"
All they'll be able to count on is a mother who will do everything she can to protect them.
Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: So, everyone in Montcoal, West Virginia, is focused on one thing right now -- rescuing four miners from deep underground. They are still unaccounted for after an explosion yesterday at the Upper Big Branch mine. At least 25 workers were killed.
Efforts to reach the miners are on hold because the air inside the mine is just so toxic right now. Rescuers plan to drill holes into it to release the dangerous gases, and that could take up to two days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIFFANY MCKENNEY, GRANDFATHER KILLED IN MINE EXPLOSION: My dad walked out on me and my mom. My brother and my papa stepped right up. I never thought of him once as a grandpa. He was my dad.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: What did your grand dad do with you that made him so special?
T. MCKENNEY: He spoiled me. Anything I want, his little girl got it.
ROBERTS: Did he teach you too? Did he teach you about life?
T. MCKENNEY: Oh, yes, he thought me everything from learning how to tie my shoes, to driving, to learning the game about boys. He was always there to listen to my problems whenever I had them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The granddaughter of one of the miners killed in West Virginia.
While some family members grieve, others wait with agony for word on their loved ones. Jenny Waycaster's brother and husband were miners, and her son recently survived a similar mining explosion. She talked about what the families are going through on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Do you expect him to stay in mining?
JENNY WAYCASTER, SON SURVIVED MINING EXPLOSION (via telephone): I do believe he will. I really believe he will. It's a -- this is a, you know, this is a good place up here and it's family. There are so many people hurting. They know each other. You know, step friends and, you know, he doesn't know about.
KING: You deal, Jenny, with this worry every day, don't you?
WAYCASTER: Yes. Every family has this worry, but you know, this is their life. This is what they, you know, live for. The way they make a living.
KING: Do you know anyone who has passed, who has died in this event or no one has been informed yet?
WAYCASTER: I have heard of a few. It's --
KING: Do you know them?
WAYCASTER: Yes, I do.
KING: So you know their wives?
WAYCASTER: Yes. I know families, yes, I do.
KING: Do these people all tend to gather together after something like this?
WAYCASTER: Yes, they do. They really stick together. They're -- you know, it's sad. I was in that group of hundreds of people down there tonight and my heart breaks for them. My heart breaks for them because at the time, I don't even know if they now that, you know, whether theirs had survived or not.
KING: That's a horrible thing, that waiting.
WAYCASTER: Yes, it is. That's the most, I guess -- it's horrible. It really is, but you know, the people bind and bond together, you know? We had prayer, you know? That's what helps the most, you know? Is knowing you know we have someone that helps us through these.
KING: Are you a West Virginian by birth?
WAYCASTER: Yes, I am.
KING: Are you married?
(CROSSTALK)
WAYCASTER: No, I'm not. I'm a widow.
KING: Was your husband a miner?
WAYCASTER: Yes, my husband was. My children's dad, he was a coal miner, and my dad was a coal miner.
KING: It's been part of your life from your birth.
WAYCASTER: Yes, it has.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: We are still awaiting the latest developments from West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin. He is expected to hold a news conference any minute now. We will dig deeper into the Massey Energy Corporation story with Ellen Smith of "Mine Safety and Health News." She joins me in about 15 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: At the top of the hour, the president's national security team unveils a new U.S. policy on nuclear weapons. The changes are a significant departure from Mr. Obama's predecessors. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining me.
And, Barbara, it's true, it is a significant departure from Mr. Obama's predecessors, but it is, of course, the president has been pursuing for about a year now.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Tony. President Obama laying the groundwork a year ago almost for a program, a policy to make nuclear weapons obsolete. Whether he can achieve that remains to be seen. He goes on Europe next week to sign a nuclear arms reduction treaty with the Russians, but here at the Pentagon in just about 25 minutes Secretary of Defense Gates, Secretary of State Clinton and others will appear before the press to announce this new policy.
The key point, halt the development of new nuclear weapons. That's something that the military may be a little squishy about. They had wanted to look at the possibility, at least, of a new nuclear warhead, but the policy will commit the U.S. to not using nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states. There will be some exceptions, namely for states, for countries that are not in accordance, that are not obeying the non-proliferation treaty.
What's the bottom line of all that mumbo jumbo? Basically, this policy still is sending a very strong signal to Iran which the U.S. says is trying to develop a nuclear capability that it could someday be in the U.S. crosshairs that the U.S. won't take that possibility off the table -- Tony.
HARRIS: I can't wait for this announcement scheduled for the top of the hour.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us. Barbara, appreciate it.
And once again, the revised U.S. nuclear strategy will be announced at the top of the hour and you can see Secretaries Gates and Clinton, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen live at noon Eastern, that is 9:00 Pacific.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on your top stories now this hour.
President Obama says the government will help the town of Montcoal, West Virginia any way it can after a deadly mine explosion. At least 25 miners were killed, four more unaccounted holes. Holes have to be drilled into the mine to release toxics gasses before rescuers can go inside. Should take a couple of days.
An entire generation is in danger of forgetting this. The Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City torn apart by a bomb in 1995. It killed 168 people and injured more than 500. This afternoon, the Oklahoma governor will sign a law making it a required learning in state history classes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KARI WATKINS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OKLAHOMA CITY MEMORIAL: This is a generation away from forgetting. So it's something we can't forget here in the state.
As I looked up to 250 or so high school students, I could just see this blank stare. Like I was almost speaking a foreign language. They had no idea what I was talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Boy, pretty crazy, huh?
And the healing process takes another step forward in Haiti. Schools officially reopened yesterday for the first time since the massive January earthquake, but only a few hundred schools are ready to function properly, thousands were destroyed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Signs of support line the streets around Whitesville, West Virginia. The entire community has come together after yesterday's deadly coal mine explosion. At least 25 miners were killed, four others are missing.
You know, there is no doubt coal mining can be extremely dangerous, but is it ever safe? Ellen Smith is the owner and managing editor of "Mine Safety and Health" magazine, she is joining me from Rochester, New York.
Ellen, good to see you. I know you covered the 2006 Sago Mine disaster, and as you know, safety measures were put into place since then that were supposed to guard against an accident like this one at the Upper Big Branch mine. Was I and anyone else who felt that the days of big disasters like this one were behind us, was that just naive?
ELLEN SMITH, MANAGING EDITOR, "MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH" MAGAZINE: No, we thought it was behind us.
We were all in Washington, D.C., two weeks ago, celebrating the 40th anniversary of when the provisions went into effect for the Coal Mine Act and it really was a celebration. Last year, there was a record low number of fatalities in the mining industry. Mines have been hypervigilant about safety. Mine inspectors have been hypervigilant about citing mine operators for violations that they found, and we were all genuinely happy. We genuinely thought that we would never, ever see a disaster like this ever again.
HARRIS: Boy, tell me something about the history of Massey, the company that owns this particular mine. I understand the number of citations for this company had gone way up from 2008, 2009. Do we know if anything was being done to address those problems?
SMITH: Well, you know, Massey as a whole has really improved its safety record. There's no doubt. Last year, three of its mines won safety awards. It was the one mining company to have three mines win safety awards.
But something went terribly wrong with this mine. Now, we don't know what. What we learned from Sago is that a mine can have a lot of violations and at Sago you had a lightning strike, it really had nothing to do with those violations.
That said, this mine did, in fact, have over 450 violations last year and if you look back to 2005 when it was actually producing more coal than it produced last year it had, you know, 100-and-so violations. I mean, just compare. Something's gone or something went wrong at this mine and we don't know what.
I mean, investigators will look at this and quite honestly, the government will look at its own action of its inspectors as well.
HARRIS: So, Ellen, how do companies with multiple safety citations actually stay in business? Are mines like the one run by Massey ever shut down until the problems are fixed?
SMITH: You can't just shut a mine down. You can shut down sections of a mine where unsafe conditions are found. If something affects the entire mine, you can withdraw the miners and then the mine has to make these corrections. But it's difficult to shut an entire mine down, it's rarely done.
HARRIS: How long will it take to figure out what went wrong here? We're talking about maybe a year?
SMITH: On average, when you're looking at a mine accident this size, yes. I think it's going to be a year. It could be longer. They'll certainly look into if anything went wrong criminally, what kind of negligence was there. They're going to look into a lot of stuff.
And again, I'm sure it will look into its own actions. What went wrong with the inspection process? What did they miss? There will be no stone left unturned on this.
HARRIS: And, Ellen, one last one. Moving forward, at least 25 people are dead in this incident. Is coal mining -- what do you think? Is it generally safe and will an incident like this in any way, do you believe change the industry?
SMITH: You know, we always say that the industry will change and, in fact, it does. Every mine accident gives us new lessons on how to prevent accidents in the future and hopefully, you know, we'll learn from this one. We always say that we learn.
But, you know, coal is part of the world's future. Even if we decide as a country that we don't want to use coal, China will still use coal, India will still use coal. We're importing China to coal. Coal isn't leaving this country. Coal mining is not going to stop.
So, you know, and again, we had records last year. It can be done safely and it is not the most dangerous industry. That would be farming. HARRIS: All right, Ellen Smith with us. Ellen, we appreciate your time.
SMITH: Thank you.
HARRIS: Thank you.
And once again, we are awaiting the latest information out of West Virginia on the mine explosion disaster. A news conference is scheduled to begin with Governor Manchin any moment now. We will bring you that news conference right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: I need you to reach out to the program, talk to me directly. A couple ways to do it. First of all, CNN.com/Tony takes you directly to this -- bam -- our blog page. To send us your thoughts on Facebook, here's what you do. Tony Harris, CNN. Here's my Twitter address, TonyharrisCNN. Call us. Pick up the phone. 877- 742-5760. Let's have more of your thoughts on the program. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Time to check your mailbox. You may have already received your tax refund. That's if you have filed your taxes, of course. So what do most people plan to do with the money? Stephanie Elam is in New York with details.
Look, you know what, time was when you got yourself a nice little refund check there, Stephanie, you would spend it on things like maybe a shopping spree, a vacation. I'm paying bills.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people are doing that. The days of going out and just going willy-nilly and getting something fun may be long gone for a lot of people out there. We are coming out of one of the longest and deepest recessions in U.S. history, so most people, in fact, more than 50 percent plan to use their tax refund to pay bills. Not a surprise there.
Another big chunk of people, more than a third, plan to put their refunds into their savings account. And a few people will fix up their house, go on vacation, or do the right thing and pay back people that they owe, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. How much money are we talking about here, Stephanie?
ELAM: Well, you know what? The average tax refund is actually more than $3,000.
HARRIS: Wow.
ELAM: And in normal times, nice surprise, right? Having $3,000 coming your way. But now most people are living paycheck to paycheck. Because of that, tax refunds are being used to supplement people's incomes. The money is going towards everyday expenses and that's really a problem. Some workers even had to reduce their 401(k) contributions this past year because they just need that extra money.
For those who are invested, though, things are looking up. The Dow is approaching 11,000. Although the index is pulling back, we are off of our lows of the session right now, though. There's really no news happening. So now the Nasdaq and S&P are in positive territory even if just barely, but the Dow is off nine points at 10,963.
We'll keep your eyes on it. Also, Tony, I imagine the people who had refunds have probably they probably already filed to make sure they got their money back quickly.
HARRIS: Yes, that makes sense. I don't know if you've got the -- I don't know what the ticker symbol is for Massey Energy. Can you pull that up?
ELAM: Yes, I can. It's actually right here on my screen. It is off just shy of 10 percent. So it's lost about a little more than $5 right now. So trading about $49.
We've been watching it today, but the stock has been taking a hit because of the news. And we will talk about this more at 12:30 to get an idea there. But its competitors are trading higher on this very tragic story.
HARRIS: Yes, it is.
All right, Stephanie, see you next hour. Thank you.
ELAM: Sounds good.
HARRIS: And here's what's coming up in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
The U.S. sets a new nuclear strategy. We're awaiting a news conference from the top U.S. officials on this subject. When that happens, we will bring it to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And our coverage of the tragedy in West Virginia continues. CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at what it's like to be a miner, the dangers and the risks associated with the job.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, it's decision time for Toyota. Fight a record government penalty for concealing a safety defect or let the fine stand. Either move prolongs the damage to the company's image.
Debra Feyerick is on the story now in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a the maximum final allowed, $16.4 million. That is more than 15 times any previous penalty against a carmaker. And the reason, of course, sticky gas pedals. Documents show that Toyota waited four months to notify the government about the problem.
In issuing the fine, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made clear they should have warned the government within five days as is required. LaHood saying, quote, "We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations. Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families."
Now as part of the investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reviewed internal company documents that showed the Japanese automaker knew about pedal problems as far back as September but did not issue a recall until January.
A former attorney for that agency told CNN there was a sense Toyota felt it had gotten away with something.
ALLAN KAM, FORMER NHTSA ATTORNEY: I would say their response was lethargic at best. And at worst, sort of jerking the agency around.
They seemed to be cheering that they hadn't -- didn't have to conduct a recall, that they had in some way snookered the agency into thinking they didn't have to do anything or didn't have to do as large a recall that they did.
FEYERICK: Toyota released a statement saying only, quote, "We have already taken a number of important steps to improve our communications with regulators and customers on safety-related matters as part of our strength and overall commitment to quality assurance. These include the appointment of a new chief quality office for North America and a greater role for the region in making safety-related decisions."
Of course, $16 million is a drop in the bucket for a company with revenue that topped $200 billion last year, but the real price is expected to be lost business and ongoing federal investigations.
Toyota has two weeks to decide whether to fight this penalty. The language used really does set the stage for more than 100 class- action lawsuits filed against Toyota.
Debra Feyerick, CNN, New York.
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