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Doctor Prevented From Reaching West Virginia Miners?; Interview With Texas Gubernatorial Candidate Kinky Friedman; Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Undergoes Third Operation; Sole Survivor of Mining Tragedy Fights to Live
Aired January 06, 2006 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN now has the recordings of the 911 calls that initially alerted authorities that something had gone horribly wrong at Sago coal mine. It was before dawn on Monday when dispatchers in West Virginia received this telephone call.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 DISPATCHER: Nine-one-one. Do you have an emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
911 DISPATCHER: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a guy here at mine. He needs -- looked at, checked out.
911 DISPATCHER: OK. I'm going to connect you to EMS. Stay on the line, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Emergency Squad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am. We need an ambulance at the Sago Mine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. It's the one up on the Sago Road?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. What's going on?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something happened inside the mine.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, that caller seems very calm, but keep in mind, that's Tallmansville, West Virginia, and it's mining country, where workers in dangerous conditions, well, it's the rule, not the exception.
It was only a very short time before dispatchers realized the horrible scope of what they were dealing and with.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. I need 10 medic units. I need you to HealthNet. Get me any available aircraft that can fly.
I need you to call Webster County. Find out how far the critical care truck is out.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And it would be more than 40 hours from that moment until rescuers reached the 13 men.
They had retreated to the deepest part of that coal mine.
Just back from the scene of the Sago Mine tragedy, where he met the doctor who actually treated the sole survivor, Randy McCloy, at scene of the mine disaster, CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Tell me how you connected with this doctor.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
PHILLIPS: And, my gosh, he must have had an amazing story to tell you.
GUPTA: It was -- it was really unbelievable. I had no idea what to expect when I was over there, talking to him.
He's the only doctor that actually went down into the mine to try and assess Randy McCloy as he was on his way out, really remarkable. He actually decided to go into the mine, because he needed every minute he could possibly get with Randy to possibly try and save his life.
Now, this is some of how he put it to me
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROBERT BLAKE, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN: I ran over and saw him laying on the one of the -- the floors of the bus. And he was working to breathe, using accessory muscles. He was not moving.
He had a pulse. And I -- I asked him if they -- they had a -- a breather on him, one of the rescue personnel had the breather on him. And I asked him, was it high-flow or what -- what he had. And he said that was oxygen. I said, can you give him high-flow oxygen and -- and push air into his lungs? And they said, yes.
So, they switched the switch and gave that. I was under the assumption that he had carbon monoxide poisoning. I touched his leg. And -- and it felt semi-cold, but, at that point, but we were very close to the surface.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: You know, he went on to say that, we had no idea how sick Randy McCloy was at that point. You remember this, Kyra.
But he went on to say that he went into the mine because he literally thought, at the time that he saw Randy, Randy just had a few more minutes maybe, even, to live. And he switched him over to high- flow oxygen. And he believes that may have saved his life on his trip up to the surface of the either -- just -- just remarkable.
PHILLIPS: Did he say -- I'm going to ask you about the other miners in a minute, but did the doctor say to you -- I was kind of confused by that part of the interview. Did Randy McCloy have his emergency apparatus on?
GUPTA: He had it on, but they switched him over to what is known as high-flow oxygen.
PHILLIPS: Got it.
GUPTA: So, 100 percent oxygen, high flow...
PHILLIPS: Right.
GUPTA: ... forcing the air into his lungs.
PHILLIPS: So, the one that he had on initially, I'm assuming, was already out of air, right, because that only lasted, what, an hour, or two hours?
GUPTA: An hour, right. It -- it didn't seem like it was actually -- it was still operating, but wasn't blowing oxygen anymore.
PHILLIPS: OK.
So, then, I'm sure you asked him, what about the other miners? Did he go back in to look at...
GUPTA: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... you know, check to see if anybody else was breathing?
GUPTA: Yes.
What's so remarkable, to me, about the story is, he went into the mine fully believing, as so many other people did, that all the miners were alive.
PHILLIPS: Wow.
GUPTA: So, he sent Randy McCloy back up to the surface and then came back and then was heading back down, further down, to find the other 11 miners. And he literally crossed another bus that was coming out. And -- and they said, well, what are you doing? And he said, I'm going to check on the other 11 miners.
And he said -- and the guy literally said, why? They didn't survive. And it was remarkable to me -- this is how he put it when -- when I was talking to him.
PHILLIPS: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAKE: We took the word of the -- or the care workers that were in there, the rescuers. You can't be 100 percent sure unless you -- unless you have a physician, ideally, looking at them and -- and know.
But one thing I didn't say earlier is, when we were at -- at that second -- the last bus coming out, he said that the director said, everybody out of the mine now. So, I couldn't have proceeded any further to check them, anyway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: I don't know if you quite get the nuance of what he's saying there.
PHILLIPS: No. Who declared the miners dead?
GUPTA: Right. And...
PHILLIPS: I mean, that has to be a coroner, right, or...
GUPTA: Well, or a medical professional of some sort.
PHILLIPS: OK.
GUPTA: And this is an important point. You hit right on it.
I mean, he never went down to the mine himself. These miners were declared by someone who wasn't a medical professional. Now, some may say, what's the big deal, you know?
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: That's a huge deal.
GUPTA: I think it is. And I think Dr. Blake thought so, to some extent, as well. He never got down there, because they basically said, OK, everyone out. These miners have -- have died.
You're -- you're -- you're dealing with a situation where, obviously, Randy McCloy was close to death. The question becomes -- and it's -- and it's speculative. And no one really knows what to make of it, but were these other miners close to death or -- or -- or had they, in fact, already died?
Dr. Blake doesn't know. A medical professional doesn't know, because no one else was actually down there that deep in the mine at that point who had a medical background.
PHILLIPS: OK. So, who declared the other miners dead? Was it one of the rescue...
GUPTA: The rescue workers.
PHILLIPS: It was a rescue worker.
GUPTA: Right.
PHILLIPS: And did -- how -- do we -- and I don't know if we even know this or not. Sorry if I'm just throwing this out here, because I know you just got off an airplane after interviewing this doctor.
GUPTA: Yes.
PHILLIPS: But did the rescue workers, did they go through every -- I mean, what did they go through to have the ability to say, OK, they're dead?
GUPTA: They check a pulse, basically.
PHILLIPS: OK.
GUPTA: You're -- you're checking to see if the heart's still beating. That's -- that's most common way.
The tricky part is -- and you can just imagine the situation. You're in this dark mine. It's cold. And the cold is important, because, sometimes, in the cold, people's heart rates and their respirations just slow down automatically.
PHILLIPS: Slow down.
GUPTA: And, sometimes, it's just hard to tell. And that's why you want a medical professional doing this.
Now, no one is saying exactly what -- what might have happened in that mine, if it would have made a difference at all. But Dr. Blake made the point to me -- and I think it was an -- an important point -- that a medical professional didn't actually go down into the mine to declare them deceased. They were declared after -- actually, after they came back up to the surface.
PHILLIPS: So, this is probably just one more thing that's going to be added to the investigation of everything else that's being looked at.
GUPTA: It's -- it's confusing, and it's hard. And, you know, people will point fingers at this sort of thing. Dr. Blake, you know, he was trying to get down there to do this. But they said, basically, everyone out. It's -- it's over.
PHILLIPS: It's pretty amazing, though, he -- that he was there just to be with Randy and know that he had a pulse, and to say OK, he's -- he's alive.
GUPTA: Well, he's -- he's too humble to admit it, but he probably saved Randy's life. PHILLIPS: Wow.
GUPTA: Because if he hadn't got that high-flow oxygen in that hour time period, he may not have made it.
PHILLIPS: Pretty amazing. I can't wait to see the rest of the interview.
GUPTA: Yes. It's...
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: It's interesting.
PHILLIPS: And it's really hard to read how doctors in Pittsburgh could feel about the chances for Randy McCloy's recovery. McCloy is the sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia. He's now at a Pittsburgh hospital, still listed as critical, getting specialized oxygen treatment. And, against all odds, he's hanging in there.
CNN's Chris Huntington is at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.
And, Chris, I'm going to actually ask Dr. Sanjay Gupta to stay with us.
So, Sanjay, you can listen to this, too.
GUPTA: Yes.
PHILLIPS: You might have something to add.
Chris, what more do you know at this point?
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the doctors this morning gave us a pretty complete briefing of Randy McCloy's condition, as they see it right now.
Medically, as they put it, they're saying his general constitution is improving. His heart function, lung function, his kidney functions improved to point that they have taken him off dialysis. So, his general physical state is -- is quite stable, they're saying. And that's a very good sign.
Obviously, the main concern right now is the level of his brain function. What they have been able to measure, with CAT scans and MRIs, they can see some evidence of some brain damage. And the neurologist here at Allegheny General was very specific about the areas of the brain where they are seeing the damage.
Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. JAMES VALERIANO, ALLEGHENY GENERAL HOSPITAL: So -- so far, what we see are mostly posterior injury, so, the part of the brain that would have to do more with sensation and possibly even with vision would be a possibility.
The -- the more anterior parts of the brain, which you would think of more as your thinking abilities, those type of things, really, right now, look pretty well intact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTINGTON: Now, that's Dr. James Valeriano. He went on to say it's not clear yet whether this is an injury that we're seeing full extent of, whether this is an injury that is continuing to progress. He said they have continue monitoring it.
One positive sign, though, is seen -- being seen pretty consistently, apparently, by his family members, his wife and his mother in particular, who have been in to see him and are getting responses from Randy McCloy.
Here's what they had to say on "AMERICAN MORNING" this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN MORNING")
ANNA MCCLOY, WIFE OF RANDAL MCCLOY: I know he knows I'm there.
TAMBRA FLINT, MOTHER OF RANDAL MCCLOY: I get a big reaction. He moves around a lot. And you can just tell that, you know, he's -- he's sensing that I'm there and that I'm talking to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTINGTON: OK. So, the -- Anna McCloy and Tambra Flint, his mom, seeing some signs of response when they had to see that.
However, the doctors here have heavily sedated Randy, put him back into what they're calling a medically induced coma, Kyra. They say they need to do that to rest him, to keep him resting. When they -- when he was coming up into lower levels of -- of sedative, he was biting on his breathing tube and so forth.
And they don't want him in any kind of an agitated state. So, he's still undergoing the hyperbaric, high-pressure oxygen treatments. He's due to have another treatment this evening. We're expecting to hear from the doctors again shortly, perhaps within about 15 or 20 minutes. So, we may have an update for you, but that's the latest from here at Allegheny General Hospital -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Chris, great. Thanks so much. Keep us updated, please.
And, Sanjay, a couple of things that Chris brought up, let me ask you about.
That was interesting, when they talked about the parts of the brain, the one part of the brain, that sensation, vision...
GUPTA: Right.
PHILLIPS: It looks like there's problems there. But the other part of the brain, where it's our thought process, the thinking process, looks good.
GUPTA: Yes.
You know, and I think it's probably just too early to tell that right now. You know, what -- what you can say, probably, is that is that he's had at least some degree of stroke. This is something that people talk about. When the carbon monoxide basically gets into the body, it's kicking the oxygen out. And that's a problem, because you need that oxygen to be flowing to your brain.
Instead, you have got carbon monoxide, which does the brain absolutely no good. What you know right now is that the posterior aspect of his brain, the back of his brain, may have been affected. But I -- I don't think you can say for sure that the front part of the brain has not been affected. That just might show up a little bit later.
And when we are saying later, we mean, you know, a few days, even, from now, in terms of showing up on an MRI scan or something like that.
PHILLIPS: And you're a neurosurgeon. And, so, as -- as you have been following every part of this case, just looking at where we are right now, and what the doctors are saying, are you hopeful?
GUPTA: It's a -- it's a -- it's a good question. I -- you know, we struggle with this so much, I think, as neurosurgeons, because, certainly, you see people make incredible recoveries, even in this sort of situation.
PHILLIPS: I have seen a lot of miracles.
GUPTA: You -- you see...
PHILLIPS: I mean, just look at the fact that he's still alive, is pretty amazing.
GUPTA: This guy is a fighter.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
GUPTA: Yes. There's no question about it.
PHILLIPS: Absolutely.
GUPTA: He -- he lived, when a lot of people didn't, as you -- as everyone knows now.
But it's hard to say. I think, you know, doctors also like their data. And what we're saying is that you got a young guy who is -- who is probably a very healthy guy, who has had a significant brain injury at this point.
How much his brain will recover on its own, how much he will do after the sedatives are all lifted, and he's able to actually open his eyes and things like that, it's hard to say. But I do think we are going to have an answer, probably within the next several days, on that.
PHILLIPS: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.
GUPTA: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: And, also, we want to remind you of the special that's going to be airing tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" at 11:00 Eastern time, "Hope and Heartbreak: Inside the Sago Mine Tragedy." You won't want to miss it, all kinds of pretty incredible pieces, just telling you about how it happened and where we are right now.
Well, it's 13 minutes after 10:00 in Jerusalem. The Sabbath is under way, so, we don't expect another routine update from Hadassah Hospital until sundown tomorrow. That would be the best-case scenario -- scenario.
As you know, if you have been watching CNN, the last update on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon followed his third operation to stem cranial bleeding in less than 48 hours. The bottom line, then, improvement, stable, still critical.
CNN's John Vause joins us with more -- John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra.
The prime minister right now is still in that medically induced coma. They don't plan to revive him. Best-case scenario will be some time on Sunday, not before midday, 12:00, we are told. That's 5:00 a.m. Eastern, when they try to slowly revive him.
They will monitor his brain activity. And that is when they say they should have a better idea of the full extent of the brain damage which he suffered, after that massive stroke on Wednesday night -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And -- John, I'm -- I'm sorry about that. We were -- I thought we were getting some developing news about Randy McCloy back here in the United States, the sole survive in that mine accident. I apologize.
So, as you update us on Ariel Sharon, I want to ask you a moment just about the politics. You know, we have been talking with Fionnuala Sweeney, Wolf Blitzer. Both of them have covered the Israeli side for years.
But you, I know, have spent a lot of time with Palestinians and getting the Arab side to the politics. I'm curious, have you had a chance to gauge the reaction, the feedback with regard to Ariel Sharon and his position right now? HUNTINGTON: Well, typical of Ariel Sharon, there have been very different reactions from very -- very different people who you speak to.
To the average Palestinian in the street, especially down in Gaza, they have been handing out candy and sweets. They have been quite overjoyed by all of this, handing out -- hand -- holding up signs saying, "Drop dead, Ariel Sharon."
It's fair to say that, to the average Palestinian, Ariel Sharon remains a war criminal, a man who recently gave up the Gaza Strip. But, to them, he gave it up only so he could hold on to larger parts of the West Bank.
Having said that, for the Palestinian Authority, there has been a great deal of concern expressed by the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud -- president, Mahmoud Abbas. But that's concern because, he says, he is worried that any political turmoil here in Israel will have fallout for the Palestinians.
What he is concerned about, that, as politicians struggle to prove their security credentials in any lead-up to the -- to the election, that that could have impacts on the Palestinians, that they will come down hard on the Palestinians in the West Bank and also in Gaza, that there could be an increase in the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Also, what you can read into this that the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, is worried, in particular, that Benjamin Netanyahu, the hard-line conservative leader of -- of Ariel Sharon's old Likud conservative party, may, in fact, somehow do well at this election, coming up March 28, and be returned to the prime minister's office. That is one of their biggest concerns -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: John Vause, live from Jerusalem -- thanks so much, John.
Well, with Sharon's survival an open question, to say the very least, many assume that Kadima, his brand new self-styled centrist political party, would be on shaky ground as well -- but maybe not. Two new polls in Israeli newspapers show that Kadima, minus Sharon, remains in a dominant position, ahead of parliamentary elections in March.
Kadima reportedly stands to capture 36 to 42 seats, roughly a third of the Knesset, depending on the poll and who succeeds Sharon as party leader. That's far more than either of Kadima's long- established rivals, Likud, also founded by Sharon, and Labor. Now, pollsters note that respondents show an unmistakable wave of sympathy for and identification with Sharon. And that may change with time.
Wholly inappropriate and offensive, that's how the White House characterizes what evangelist Pat Robertson said about Mr. Sharon's condition. The Anti-Defamation League calls it un-Christian and a perversion of religion. On his television program, "The 700 Club," Robertson suggested that God was punishing the Israeli leader for giving land back to the Palestinians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE 700 CLUB")
PAT ROBERTSON, HOST: Now, Ariel Sharon, who is, again, a very likable person, a delightful person to be with -- I prayed with him personally -- but here he's at point of death. He was dividing God's land.
And I would say, woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the United Nations, or the United States of America. God says, this land belongs to me. You better leave it alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the Anti-Defamation League is urging other Christian lead to distance themselves from Robertson's comments.
More sorrow for a family in southeastern Turkey, as they lose a third child to a suspected case of bird flu. And there is more fear, with almost two dozen others, mostly children, hospitalized in the town of Van, Turkey, with symptoms of the lethal virus. The latest victim in the family, age 11, died last night in. And a fourth sibling remains in intensive care.
The family told a hospital officials -- or a hospital official, rather -- that some of their chickens had died and that they cooked and ate the remaining birds.
Health officials are awaiting tests to confirm whether the deaths were caused by the H5N1 bird flu, which has already been seen in birds in that region. It's not uncommon for people in this rural area to bring their poultry inside during winter. But it has also been reported that the children had played with the heads from the dead chickens, tossing them around like balls.
Several Turkish provinces have culling operations under way, as the agricultural minister urges people to bring their birds forward and not hide them, assuring them they will be compensated.
Well, he's been a country singer and a mystery novelist. Now he wants to be governor.
Straight ahead, a conversation with a most unusual candidate. Texas cowboy Kinky Friedman joins me live from Austin.
You're watching LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Ranking members of the House Intelligence Committee are exchanging shots over domestic surveillance. It starred when ranking Democratic Jane Harman wrote to President Bush, telling him the White House broke the law by limiting its briefings on the surveillance program to a small, limited group of top congressional leaders. The committee chairman, Republican Peter Hoekstra, responded to Harman, accusing her of switching her position. Hoekstra says that Harman had previously supported the limited briefing policy, and he calls her current position completely incongruent.
Jose Padilla is due back in court today. He's scheduled to enter a plea to charges he conspired to murder U.S. citizens and provide support to terrorists.
After years of being held in military custody as an alleged enemy combatant, Padilla was transferred to civilian custody yesterday.
CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti joins me now live from Miami, where today's hearing will take place -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Of course, Kyra, that designation as enemy combatant is no longer attached to Jose Padilla. That was dropped in November, when the Bush administration, the Justice Department, decided to finally charge him, drop that designation as enemy combatant and charge him in a civilian court.
So, this afternoon, along with him entering a plea, he will also have bond discussed. Of course, it's questionable as to whether he will be granted bond. There are five defendants in all in this particular case. And this man, Jose Padilla, as he prefers to be called, is one of those five defendants in an indictment that actually came out in 2004.
Now, only one other person is being held without bond. Another defendant was granted bond just the other day. Someone else is being held in custody in Egypt. And the last defendant is nowhere to be found at this time.
PHILLIPS: All right, Susan Candiotti, live from Miami, thank you so much.
Well, President Bush says the economy is in good shape, and it's getting better. In a speech to the Chicago Economic Club, he cited various government reports to back up administration policies. He also says the economy heads into the new year with a full head of steam.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We got some new numbers that show our economy added 108,000 jobs in December and has added more than 400,000 jobs in last two months.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: The unemployment rate is down to 4.9 percent. Americans are going to work. This economy is strong. And we intend to keep it that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Vice President Cheney and members of the Cabinet are also making the case for White House policies. Treasury Secretary John Snow is at the New York Stock Exchange. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is in Kentucky. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao is in Maryland. And Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is in Pennsylvania.
At a Missouri Harley-Davidson plant, Vice President David -- or Dick Cheney said that Congress should make the Bush tax cuts permanent. And he says they deserve credit for spurring the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some in Washington said these tax cuts would not work. But, with over 4.6 million new jobs created since May of '03, in less than three years, we have added more than 4.6 million new jobs. And jobless claims hit an all-time five-year low, unemployment rate today down to 4.9 percent. It's getting pretty hard for the critics to make the case that, somehow, these tax cuts weren't good for the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Not surprisingly, Democrats, like Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, have a different view.
After welcoming Mr. Bush to his home state, Durbin held a Chicago news conference last hour, where he criticized the president's handling of the economy.
Coming up, first, we thought we had gotten exclusive footage of Tom Cruise filming "Mission: Impossible 3." It turns out it's a crook caught in mid-caper. Wait until you find out what he's after -- a real case of sticky fingers.
Chew on this one. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A guy named Kinky is running for governor of Texas. Never heard of him? Well, he's a self-styled Jewish cowboy, country singer, and mystery novelist. And he needs to collect or than 45,000 voter signatures just to get his name on the November ballot.
Sound farfetched? Don't count him out just yet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): In the 1970s, he was a country singer with a cult following, front man for the Texas Jewboys, singing tunes with titles like "They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore."
Later, he turned to writing mystery novels, the star detective, himself, of course. But if Minnesota voters can elect a former pro wrestler, and if Californians can elect a bodybuilder-turned-movie- star, maybe -- just maybe -- Texas is ready for another experiment with independence.
KINKY FRIEDMAN (I), TEXAS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: You're talking to the next governor of Texas.
HUNTINGTON: Meet Kinky Friedman, a cowboy with a flair for the one-liner, who says he's serious about winning this year's race for Lone Star governor.
And he defies all political labels -- school prayer, he's for it. Gay marriage, that's OK, too. After all, he says, why shouldn't gays be just as miserable as rest of us?
And he has an unorthodox plan to solve the problem of illegal immigration. It involves five Mexican generals, a million dollars in each of five escrow accounts, and a dose of what he calls cowboy logic. He's never held political office but he has friends in high places.
He's been to the White House as a guest of the current occupant, a fellow Texan, and before that, to see Bill Clinton. But Kinky says a lack of political experience is an asset, not a liability, or in his words, I'm not a politician. I haven't seen been indicted yet.
KINKY FRIEDMAN, TEXAS GOV. CANDIDATE: Well, here's some campaign posters. How hard could it be.
PHILLIPS: Beyond the one-liners, Friedman insists his campaign is not a joke. He recently hired Jesse Ventura's former campaign manager, and country legend Willie Nelson hosted a fund-raiser last fall. And just last month, a glimmer of hope in a statewide poll. Thirteen percent said they support him, 46 percent support his effort to get his name on the ballot.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: More on the next chapter in the Kinky Friedman story. Kinky Friedman joins me live from Austin with what else? A Cuban cigar. Hey, Kinky.
FRIEDMAN: Hey, how are you doing, Kyra? How's it going?
PHILLIPS: Very good to see you.
FRIEDMAN: Nice to be here.
PHILLIPS: OK, so let me ask you there, cowboy, 45,000 voter signatures just to get your name on the November ballot. How are you going do it?
FRIEDMAN: Well, I think it's going to be pretty easy to do. I think we already have a grassroots network all through Texas, and we are just telling people not to vote in the primaries. If they vote in the primaries they can't sign our petition. So save yourself for Kinky. Don't vote in primaries. We're the only state that has that crazy law. PHILLIPS: All right. You talk about how you're going to deal with illegal immigration. You say it's through something called cowboy logic. Tell me about this cowboy logic. Where does this come from?
FRIEDMAN: Well, the main problem with the border is that the governor, with respect, is ignoring it. And we need to shine a light into the darkness there, the way Bill Richardson's doing in New Mexico. The border is a big problem. I mean, when you start finding dead bodies in the backs of cargo container trucks on Texas soil, you've got a problem.
And one suggestion was the five Mexican generals plan which is to appoint a general to divide the border into five sections and put a general in charge of each, give them each a million bucks, hold it in a bank for them, and withdraw $5,000 every time you catch an illegal alien coming through his jurisdiction.
Now that's -- that would stop the flow, I think. We've got to play hardball with the Mexican government, because they're very corrupt.
PHILLIPS: You have got a lot of interesting publicity out there as well. As a matter of fact, checking out your Web site, I was quite fascinated by your little action figure. Let's roll a little bit of this and then talk about your commercial.
FRIEDMAN: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who were your heroes growing up?
FRIEDMAN: My heroes are teachers, firefighters, cops and cowboys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need 45,000 registered voters to sign a petition to get you on the ballot. Can you do it, sir?
FRIEDMAN: I don't know how many supporters I have but they all carry guns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Kinky Friedman talking action figure has 25 different saying and comes with an action agenda ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So how many guns do you own, Kinky?
FRIEDMAN: How many guns do I own? One.
PHILLIPS: Just one?
FRIEDMAN: One shotgun, yes.
PHILLIPS: One shotgun. And the purpose of that is? FRIEDMAN: That's for protection out on the ranch. Just -- you know, you never know when you're going to need something like that.
PHILLIPS: So I take it I'll know your view on gun control?
FRIEDMAN: Yes. I don't think -- I think the big issues facing Texas are not gun control or gay marriage. They're education, and the border. The fact that our government is a government of the money, by the money and for the money ...
PHILLIPS: Kinky Friedman, stay with me. Don't go away. Another important story we want to talk about. That's the condition of Randal McCloy, the one survivor in that mine accident, his doctors speaking right now from Pennsylvania.
DR. RICHARD SHANNON, CHMN., DEPT. OF MEDICINE: ... stable. We have made progress on several fronts and are working on several others. Let me try and detail them for you.
Over the course of the afternoon, there has been considerable improvement in the blood tests we are monitoring with regard to the injury to his muscles, indicating that we may have seen the worst of the injury to the muscles and that the process of removing those proteins that are damaging is occurring very rapidly. That's very encouraging news.
We have also seen considerable progress with respect to his heart function with now total resolution of any evidence of injury, and very normal cardiac function at the present time. These are two very, very important milestones as we progress in what is a long, complicated course of care.
The major activities of the afternoon have focused on performing hemodialysis. We undertook the hemodialysis this afternoon largely to help remove some excess volume fluid that was beginning to accumulate in Mr. McCloy's lungs. And we thought this was the most efficient way to get the volume off in a short period of time and have been able to achieve this successfully.
I want to point out, just in the interest of clarification, this is the second dialysis that Mr. McCloy has undergone in three days. The first dialysis occurred in West Virginia and was an emergent dialysis related to a very high potassium level. We have seen no further evidence of that since he has been with us, and are simply using dialysis right now to help remove excess fluid from his lungs.
Again, on a positive front, there has been complete resolution of the problem with his blood being too thin, the issue that the Dr. Zikos referred to this morning as DIC. His platelet count is rising and his coagulation studies are now are normal and he's required no additional therapy for that, another very positive development.
This afternoon we have been working to try and stabilize his pulmonary function. As you know, ever since the -- he was first rescued from the mine shaft, there have been issues about his left lung. Sometimes you've heard it referred to as a lung collapse. Sometimes you've heard the word atelectasis. You heard this morning about fluid and collapse and a blood clot in the left upper lobe. It now appears pretty clear that the cause of all of this is inflammation in the airways of his lungs, likely a result of him inhaling the gases and all of the dust as his reflexes became diminished and he could no longer protect his airway.
So, probably in last hour or so in the mine, he was unable to really control his airway, lost his ability to sneeze and to cough and began to accumulate a lot of dust and gases, lying principally on his left side. Most of that inflammation is now in his left lung.
That does constitute a serious issue, although we are able to control his breathing and his oxygenation very well with ventilator. But obviously, it's an ongoing concern, since good pulmonary function will be essential to eventually being able to bring him off the respirator.
So we are working very diligently this afternoon with keeping that -- those airways open, and with using the ventilator very carefully to control the pressure with which his lungs are being ventilated. So that, I think, begins to pull together several piece of information.
You've heard over the course of the last several days about this left lung. It now appears that most of the issues there involve inflammation and inhalation of dust that is simply irritating the airways and causing inflammation.
With respect to his brain, we have repeated a CAT scan which shows that the small areas of hemorrhage that we reported this morning and the small lesions in the white matter, that the Dr. Valeriano discussed in detail, are stable. There has been no evidence of further bleeding, no evidence of enlargement of the areas of hemorrhage and by all accounts clinically stable with respect to those images.
But again, for the better part of the last four hours, we have kept Mr. McCloy heavily sedated in what we now are terming and hopefully we all understand is a medically-induced coma. And we have not attempted to wake him up, so I can't assess for you his underlying neurological status.
What I can tell you is that these lesions, which we reported to you this morning, are stable. They're not enlarging, and there are no new lesions. So, again, I think the best I can say that is the neurological status from an imaging point of view appears to be stable.
I think that's about it. Much of the time this afternoon, Mr. McCloy has been surrounded by his family, and today have had a chance to visit with him extensively, his wife, Anna, for a prolonged period of time. His mom, his mother-in-law, Anna's brothers and sisters, lots of family have had an opportunity to spend time with him, and I think that's been refreshing for all of us. And right now, Anna is at Wal-Mart buying a Hank Williams CD, which she intends to play in his room since that was his favorite artist. And Anna deeply believes that making that room home will help Randall. Apparently he's a great country music buff. So that's where Anna is right now.
I'll stop there and answer any questions--Ralph.
(INAUDIBLE)
SHANNON: Let me take the last part first, Ralph. I don't see any indication at the present time for surgery of any kind. I think the discussion this morning about the possibility of measuring the pressure in the brain has been ruled out right now. And upon reexamination there's no reason to consider it right now.
I think the concern I have right now is with this persistent problem with the left lung. As you know, you guys have been following this through two states and three days now, the left lung has been an issue since the start. And it continues to be an issue.
And this type of inflammation where there's particulate matter that accumulates in the lung is really irritating to the airways. And I think the continuous problem we're having with aerating that lung reflects this process.
We intend to simply continue to use supportive measures and to carefully adjust the ventilator to accommodate for that. But I would say right now that's my biggest concern. I think, again, many of the metabolic disturbances are better.
PHILLIPS: Dr. Richard Shannon, chairman of the Department of Medicine there at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, with the sole survivor of that mine accident, Randy McCloy, continues to, boy, deal with all kinds of physical problems.
But at the same time, doctors coming forward saying, even though they're having challenge after challenge, he's showing considerable improvement in other areas.
Two things that stood out--we're going to bring in Dr. Sanjay Gupta once again.
Sanjay, he's saying, the doctor, this persistent problem with his left lung, that his airways continue to be irritated. He had been brought in with a collapsed lung. We thought that was OK but hemodialysis is helping to, I guess, remove some of that extra fluid.
What's happening with his lung?
GUPTA: Several things are happening. One is, as you mentioned, he had actual trauma to the lung initially. The lung was collapsed as a result of that.
He probably also had some inhalation of particulate matter just small things that actually get into the lungs and cause inflammation. And that can be very serious to deal with. And that's something that we'll probably hear about for some time.
The hemodialysis, interestingly, when your kidneys fail, when they are not working well, you just start to build up fluid everywhere in your body. Most critically it's in your lungs because that interferes with your ability to breathe.
So when you are actually dialyzing somebody what you are doing is taking fluid out of the body now. They gave a lot of fluid because he was dehydrated. Now he's got too much. They're taking some of it off. Critically taking some of that out of the lungs. That's the important thing.
PHILLIPS: And the other concern -- well, actually here's where he talked about considerable improvement and that was the CAT scan images. He said the neurological status, if you were to look at the images, looks pretty good because the lesions and the white matter are stable. There are no new lesions. And the ones that are there are not enlarging.
Tell me what that means. Tell me about the lesions and the white matter.
GUPTA: Yes, you know, so there's -- the brain is referred to as gray matter, but you actually have gray matter and white mater. The gray's on the outside. The white is in the middle.
The white sort of connects the brain from one side to the other and from front to back. It's the connection part of the brain. And there's some lesions in that part of the brain.
And, you know, Kyra, I think it's just still too early, and I don't mean to sound neither pessimistic nor optimistic. When you have some lesions in the white matter all that really tells somebody is that he's had some damage to his brain. How he's going to recover from that damage is the much more critical, important issue here.
There are some people who have damage to their brain and they recover just fine even though they have significant lesions in the brain. And there are others who have very small lesions and they just never seem to wake up.
And so, after all is said and done, after you take all these numbers that the doctors are going to throw at you, all the results of all the scans, the only thing that matters is what happens to Randy McCloy when they take that medication off and see how he wakes up.
Does he wake up? Does he listen to Hank Williams or not? Does he do these sorts of things? Or not? That's what's going to matter.
PHILLIPS: Yes. The best little tidbit there that his wife went to Wal-Mart to get his Hank Williams CD. And, you know, as a doctor and how important it is to make that room feel like home. You want someone, because whether you're -- well, all of that talk about when you're in a coma you still can hear things, feel things...
GUPTA: Absolutely. PHILLIPS: ...and that gives you this sort of spiritual, emotional strength that many times...
GUPTA: We really don't know how much he's hearing or observing or able to interact right now because he's under the sedation medication. But when he does wake up, you want that place to look as much like home as possible.
You don't want him to be so confused. You want his wife and his mother there perhaps and Hank Williams playing. Whatever it takes to sort of make that...
PHILLIPS: I believe in that music therapy, that's for sure.
GUPTA: You believe in Hank Williams.
PHILLIPS: That's right. Hank Williams too.
GUPTA: I think it make's difference. It does.
PHILLIPS: Absolutely. Yes, Anna's a strong woman. She's making a smart move. All right. Well, if you want to watch this -- Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: If you want to watch the rest of the news conference that is taking place right now you can go to CNN.com/pipeline and you can see Dr. Richard Shannon there, chairman of the Department of Medicine there at the Pennsylvania Hospital, continuing to brief reporters.
We're going to take a quick break and continue our interview with that unique character, Kinky Friedman, running for governor in Texas if he gets his name on the ballot.
Isn't that right, Kinky.
That's right. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Bet you recognized a couple of those faces. And we are talking to one of them, Kinky Friedman. He's running for governor in Texas. He just needs, oh, a little more than 45,000 voter signatures to get his name on that November ballot. We are going to continue our conversation with him.
Kinky, thanks for holding on with us. As you know, we've been following -- I'm going to ask you this, as I look at this picture of you and Willie Nelson and Jesse Ventura, and hey, you're a true Texan.
This miner, Randy McCloy, holding on for his life, boy, quite a fighter. His wife out at Wal-Mart now buying that Hank Williams CD so he can hear it hope hopefully in his room. I'm seeing an opportunity here for you to talk Willie Nelson into paying a visit to Randy McCloy.
FRIEDMAN: Well, Willie is very much like old Hank was in that he is a healer with his music. I mean, his music can heal actually. And that's kind of what, sort of what, I'm shooting for too. A musician can be more than a musician sometimes. He can be a truth teller.
Whereas -- in other words, my heroes are probably people like Will Rogers or Mark Twain more than they would be Tom DeLay or Jack Abramoff or whatever his name is you know. And, you know, these guys are playing Texas like a cheap violin.
And that's why I think this is -- this is no joke, this campaign. It's about the fact that we haven't had an independent on the ballot in 147 years, and that was Sam Houston. And Sam Houston fought for this, fought for independence. I mean, Davey Crockett died for it. So the soul of Texas is riding on this campaign.
PHILLIPS: Well, Kinky, you -- you know, so many of us look for politicians that are down-home, true-blue, real people. And you even look at this situation like what happened to the miners. And as we cover that story, we're finding out that mining legislation in many instances hasn't been taken seriously, and they really haven't had an advocate. And we're talking about people that don't necessarily make a lot of money, haven't had the opportunity to have the kind of education like a Harvard graduate that's, you know, running a state or working up there in Washington.
And do you think that's one of the main, I guess, airs about you that's attracting people? Hey, here's someone that's coming across like no B.S., a bit of a rebel, and he's going to listen to me?
FRIEDMAN: Well, I think that people are just so disgusted the lobbyists, the special interest groups, this sort of thing. Texas, for instance -- Texas is on eBay right now. It's just on eBay. It's been sold out. And I want to take Texas off eBay and give her back to the people.
And sure, those miners, they don't have the kind of lobbyists and special interest groups that these politicians have. Politics is the only field in which the more experience you have, the worse you get.
PHILLIPS: And you don't have a lot of experience in politics. What is it you have that you can bring to the table here to be the governor of Texas?
FRIEDMAN: I think I have a lot of human experience. I come from a family of teachers. I care about being governor. I care about the people. As an independent, I can appoint the very best people simply because they are the very best people and then I'll get the hell out of their way and let them work. Now, this has never been tried. This is a good idea.
PHILLIPS: Kinky Friedman, we're going to be following this campaign. I got one question for you. Give me a peace sign, real quickly. Can you give me a peace sign?
FRIEDMAN: A peace sign?
PHILLIPS: You know, like back in the '60s. There we go. Now, I'm just going to play a little music here for a minute. OK, let's see if we can get that music going.
FRIEDMAN: I've forgotten the first half of my life.
PHILLIPS: Here we go, can you hear the music?
FRIEDMAN: Yes.
PHILLIPS: What is that, Kinky Friedman? What do you hear there? That's the USC fight song, brother. I know you're from Texas, but USC is my alma matter. I just wanted to see your reaction!
FRIEDMAN: You know, I won bet with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I bet him a big hairy steak against a double decaf latte.
PHILLIPS: Kinky Friedman, we'll see you again.
FRIEDMAN: Chardonnay-sippin', politically correct southern California wussy.
PHILLIPS: Come on! Give me a little credit, pal. I'm still paying back all of those loans.
FRIEDMAN: May the God of your choice bless you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Fight on, my friend. Hook 'em horns.
Well, we're still on that note of music. We're talking now about a choir boy in the '40s, a gospel troubadour in the '50s, a blues sensation in the '60s, a jazz, soul, pop and R&B superstar in '70s, '80s and '90s and beyond. But he was always Lou Rawls and that voice was always that voice.
Lou Rawls died today in Los Angeles of lung and brain cancer. We first learned that he'd been stricken with it about a month ago. He was 72 years old.
CNN's Sibila Vargas reminds us now why we'll never find another man like him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His velvet voice was unforgettable, with songs "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine."
Musical legend Lou Rawls was unmistakably one of R&B's most gifted artists. Born in Chicago, Rawls started out as a gospel singer, later switching to soul music. He went on to a successful career that spanned four decades, winning three Grammys and selling over 40 million albums. LOU RAWLS, MUSICIAN: Actually, I've made some movies, some real, you know, feature films for the theaters.
VARGAS: The multi-talented musician had small parts in several big budget films, including "Blues Brothers 2000." He even lent his voice talents to "The Rugrats" movie in 1998.
RAWLS: I'm getting tired and irritated, but I love the extra leg room.
VARGAS: Rawls was also known for his tireless efforts to promote education. Instead of talking about it, he did something. In 1979, he began the annual telethon, the "Lou Rawls Parade of Stars," now called "An Evening of Stars." The event has raised over $200 million for the United Negro College Fund.
RAWLS: I say if they can get to go to school and get an education, they'll learn that standing on corner trying to think up things that are negative are obsolete because we're now living in a high technology society and knowledge is the key, education is the answer.
VARGAS: Rawls admitted being a smoker, but quit 35 years ago. Despite battling lung and brain cancer, Rawls remained upbeat, saying don't count me out, brother. Back in 1994, we asked him how he would like to be remberered.
RAWLS: Somebody that took the problem at hand and tried to deal with it. Somebody who tried to help somebody else help themselves because it helps me in return.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well that does it for us here on LIVE FROM. Have a great weekend. We'll see you Monday.
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