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Two Miners Trapped in West Virginia; American Hostage in Iraq; Bush vs. Bin Laden; Insurance Woes for Katrina Victims

Aired January 20, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Friday the 13th was last week, but you wouldn't know it from Wall Street today. Yesterday's gains are being wiped out, and then some, by a huge round of selling.
Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: We want to talk now about a painful and now familiar scene. A fire underground, coal miners trapped, anxious families gathered in church while rescue teams race the clock. Ten miners got out safely yesterday when fire erupted at another West Virginia coal mine. Two others didn't.

CNN's Bob Franken following the story for us now in Melville. He joins us with an update -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the Aracoma Mine. It is near Logan, West Virginia. It's way on the other side of the state from the Sago Mine, which had just a tragic ending.

Since yesterday, about 5:30 in the evening Eastern, these two miners have been missing. They were not able to get out when smoke was detected, a fire on a conveyer belt.

We're expecting another briefing in about a half-hour, where we'll get an update on rescue efforts. We did hear at the last briefing by rescue officials that they had decided rather than try and go around the fire, which was not an explosion, as I mentioned, they would have to put it out because the smoke was so dense that some of the five rescue cruising that are searching were not able to see anything.

So they brought in some foam. They have not, at least of last report, brought in what they call the geophones. That's the kind of audio device that might pick up any signs of life down there.

This is a massive mine. It is one much larger than the Sago Mine, which works both in favor and against because you have such a large area to search, but at the same time, you have so much more opportunity for air pockets which might sustain those two missing miners and perhaps have a happier ending, Kyra, than the one we had three weeks ago.

PHILLIPS: Bob, do we know anything about those two missing miners? And also, do we know what kind of rescue equipment they had with them? Oxygen, other things?

FRANKEN: Well, they carry respirators. And one of the concerns is that perhaps they had some difficulty in putting them on. It's apparently a very intricate operation.

As for the rescue equipment, there is just a massive amount that's been brought in. As for who the miners are, officials here have been very spare with information, including the identities or anything about the two who are missing. Out of consideration they say for the families, but I think it's fair to say that the governor who is here and everybody else is being extremely, extremely careful about putting out any information because of all -- all the hard feelings and difficult feelings that occurred after the Sago Mine disaster.

PHILLIPS: No doubt. Bob Franken live from Melville.

Thanks so much.

Well, last-minute efforts to save an American hostage. Jill Carroll's captors demand the U.S. release of its female Iraqi prisoners and quickly, but the White House says, as always, it won't negotiate with terrorists.

CNN's Michael Holmes is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There has been almost unprecedented support in Iraq and in the Mideast in general for Jill Carroll and her predicament. As we know, her father, Jim Carroll, addressing her captors on Al-Jazeera television, saying in part that he wanted to speak directly to the men holding his daughter because, as he put it, "They may be fathers, like me."

He said, "My daughter does not have the ability to free anyone. She is a reporter and an innocent person."

Now, as I say, Iraqis united about this. Prominent Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi (ph), who Jill was going to meet the day she was kidnapped, held a news conference calling for her release, saying that she was a woman who defended Iraqis and condemned the war in Iraq.

We have been out speaking to Iraqis in the street, including a Sunni imam at a mosque. Everyone saying that the taking of Jill Carroll was a mistake and she should be released.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Two leaders, two men of conviction, two bitter enemies. President Bush, Osama bin Laden locking horns again as the al Qaeda leader breaks a year of public silence.

CNN White House Correspondent Dana Bash has our report. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Bush would not respond to questions about Osama bin Laden's reemergence, leaving that to his spokesman.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We do not negotiate with terrorists.

OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): The majority of people want him to pull troops out of our land.

BASH: But bin Laden's direct references to Mr. Bush and his political situation is just the latest in a long distance debate running more than four years now.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: They both are very involved in this ongoing discussion with each other even when there are six and 12-month delays in the back and forth.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, Wanted: Dead or Alive."

BASH: Days after September 11, cowboy talked to challenge bin Laden. Too blunt, Mr. Bush later admitted.

BUSH: The war against terror is bigger than any single individual.

BASH: Then, as months went by without capturing enemy number one, the president stopped talking about him and downplayed his importance.

BUSH: Oh, I know the news media likes to say where is Osama bin Laden? He's not the issue.

BASH: But knowing his symbolic power, bin Laden made sure he was the issue, popping up right before election day.

BIN LADEN (through translator): Bush is confusing you.

BUSH: Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country.

BASH: Last year, the president shifted again, talking unprompted about bin Laden to help justify the Iraq war...

BUSH: Here are the words of Osama bin Laden, "This third world war is raging in Iraq."

BASH: ... even mocking him as a hypocritical son of privilege, duping the less fortunate into becoming suicide bombers.

BUSH: He assures them that his -- that this is the road to paradise, though he never offers to go along for the ride.

BASH: But much to Mr. Bush's s chagrin, every word for bin Laden sends a message on a raw subject for Americans.

O'HANLON: He's taunting the president and reminding the world that he's gotten away for four and a half years now.

BASH (on camera): While that taunting may sting a bit here, bin Laden's reemergence could give the administration new ammunition for their case that the terror threat is still very real and their controversial spying program should continue.

Dana Bash, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A father's plea for mercy for John Walker Lindh. An emotional speech yesterday in San Francisco.

Frank Lindh broke his public silence over the plight of his American-born son and one-time Taliban soldier now serving 20 years in prison. The elder Lindh says he believes the events of 9/11 brought undeserved consequences for a son he calls a decent and honorable young man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK LINDH, JOHN WALKER LINDH'S FATHER: But for those attacks, John's activities, which I will describe, would have been treated with indifference or perhaps curiosity here in the United States. But viewed through the prism of the September 11 attacks, John's very same activities caused this young man to be vilified as a traitor and a terrorist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Lindh says that he's asking President Bush for clemency.

More now on John Walker Lindh and the strange odyssey from America to Afghanistan to prison.

Here's CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a path which took him from a wealthy California community to terrorist training camps and ultimately to the front lines as a soldier for the Taliban. John Walker Lindh told FBI interrogators he became interested in Islam when he saw the movie "Malcolm X" at age 12.

By 16, he had become a Muslim. And a year later, he went to Yemen to study. Still a teenager, he moved on to Pakistan.

JOHN WALKER LINDH, CONVICTED TALIBAN FIGHTER: I was a student in Pakistan studying Islam. And I came into contact with many people who were connected with Taliban. BLITZER: This video was obtained by CNN immediately after Lindh was found by U.S. forces following a bloody revolt at a prison holding captured Taliban fighters where a CIA officer was killed.

In interviews with U.S. interrogators and with CNN, Lindh said he first joined a radical group training to fight Indian forces in Kashmir, then moved onto an Al Qaeda camp, where he even met Osama bin Laden.

Lindh was on the Taliban front lines when the U.S. bombing began after 9/11. He told CNN he fled and was taken prisoner. By his own account, Lindh seems to have shied away from combat.

In the end, the government dropped most charges, including one of conspiring with Al Qaeda to kill Americans. In a plea deal, Lindh confessed to illegally helping the Taliban in carrying explosives. In October of 2002, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with credit for time in custody reducing that to a possible 17 years.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Still cleaning up after Katrina? If you suffered hurricane damage and you're having problems with your insurance company, send us your questions or concerns.

Our e-mail address is LIVEFROM@CNN.com. An insurance expert will join us later in the hour to answer your questions.

She's obviously a Republican, and her poll numbers are much better than the president's. So when is Laura Bush going to run for office? That's what one woman asked President Bush yesterday.

We'll tell you what he said ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now the war on terror and Americans' privacy rights. The White House is launching an all-points defense on that controversial eavesdropping program.

Standing by for us now, White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano.

Today the White House announced a new push to counter critics of the NSA's domestic surveillance program. What can you tell us about the effort, and why now?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this, Kyra, basically is coming ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings set to take place on February 6. President Bush himself is going to be travelling to the National Security Agency, and there are also going to be some other top administration officials out there next week as well.

We know the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, who, by the way, is said to testify at that hearing on February 6, he is going to be making some remarks here in Washington next week.

We also know that General Michael Hayden, who was basically the head of the National Security Agency when President Bush first authorized the program shortly after the 9/11 attacks, he is going to be making a speech on Monday and perhaps answering some questions on the program as well.

But as you mentioned, this really is part of the stepped-up efforts by the White House ahead of that hearing -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Elaine. Let's talk about the members of Congress that were at the White House today to discuss this program.

We're actually going to have Congresswoman Jane Harman, who had written a letter to President Bush saying, hey, you're breaking the law, we need to talk about this. Do we know anything about what happened in that meeting? Hopefully I'll get more from Jane Harman. But did you hear from Andrew Card or possibly Cheney's people?

QUIJANO: You know, they're really not saying a lot, Kyra. And what they are telling us over and over again is that because this is such a highly-classified, highly sensitive matter -- in fact, you'll remember when this program was first made public last month, President Bush himself, other administration officials, made clear that they thought just the very disclosure of this program was hurting national security efforts. And in fact, that was part of the reason why initially we saw the president push back somewhat on the idea of having hearings on the Hill.

Now, though, apparently some assurances that they will only be talking about the legal basis for the program, not necessarily operational kind of details. But they haven't said a lot.

What we do know from congressional sources, though, is that slated to be at that meeting are the vice president and also General Hayden, whom, as I mentioned, he is now the deputy director of National Intelligence, but he was the person in charge of the NSA when President Bush went ahead and gave the OK for this program.

Undoubtedly, there were some questions about what kind of legal authority. This is certainly something that's been made public since this debate began, what kind of legal authority the president had. The administration simply maintains under the Constitution -- also, they say that there was this congressional use of force measure, that President Bush was well within his power to authorize that program -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Elaine Quijano live from the White House.

Thanks, Elaine.

It worked for Hillary Clinton. Why not Laura Bush?

Yesterday in Virginia, a woman asked President Bush when his wife was going to make the move from first lady to elected office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just wondering when we'll see our lovely first lady run for Senate in the great state of Texas.

BUSH: Never.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, come on. Ask her, will you?

BUSH: No, I'm not going to ask her. She's -- she's -- never. She's -- you know, I think I'm pretty certain when I married her she didn't like politics or politicians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, while it's true Laura Bush has shown zero interest in running, she did recently tell CNN she'd like to see Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice run for the presidency.

Coming up on LIVE FROM, a complex case of alleged child abuse in Massachusetts. After a comatose girl is taken off life support, she starts breathing on her own. What does it mean for the stepfather accused of beating her?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A new twist in an already complex case. A Massachusetts man who was facing potential murder charges is now in legal limbo as the stepdaughter that he's accused of abusing is taken off life support and she started breathing on her own.

CNN's Boston bureau chief, Dan Lothian, has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): Doctors had concluded 11-year-old Haleigh Poutre was in a permanent vegetative state. But now it appears that may not be the case

ALLISON SUDYKA EVERETT, BIOLOGICAL MOTHER: Some changes. She is responding to some things.

LOTHIAN: The Department of Social Services, which has custody of the child, confirms there has been significant change in her condition and that she's breathing on her own.

Haleigh was hospitalized last September after authorities said her adoptive mother and stepfather abused her, allegedly kicking and beating her with a baseball bat and causing a clot in the brain. This case ended up in the state Supreme Court last year. Her stepfather, Jason Strickland, who is charged with assault, tried to block attempts by DSS to have Haleigh removed from life support. If she dies, he could be charged with murder.

His lawyers argued for parental rights, but this week the high court rejected that, paving the way for life support to be removed. Now new developments have put plans for that on hold. The girl's birth mother, who gave her up seven years ago after allegations of neglect and during a difficult time in her own life, is cautiously optimistic.

EVERETT: There's hope now. She's fighting.

LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Waveland, Mississippi, five months after the storm, you would almost believe Katrina had just blown through. And for one family fighting its insurance company for help, time and hope are running out. We're going to take you there when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Straight to the newsroom. Fredricka Whitfield working on a few stories for us -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Kyra, the nation's oldest living president is still being hospitalized in California.

Our Dan Simon is in Rancho Mirage with an update on Gerald Ford's condition -- Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it is status quo for the 92-year-old former president. We were just handed yet again another press release, and this one basically says the same thing as the others that we have been given, and that says that -- and it says that the former president is responding well to the treatments for pneumonia here at Eisenhower Medical Center.

According to his longtime press aide, he is receiving antibiotics intravenously. It says that he's been sitting in a chair, he's been getting food, he has a healthy appetite. That's what we were told yesterday.

The information has been very sporadic, to be quite honest with you. I'm not sure that's anything we could necessarily read into. But, you know, sometimes, you know, when you have pneumonia, it can be difficult to treat.

And again, we know this president is 92 years old. He's getting up there in age, but according to everything that we have heard, that he is doing well, and hopefully he'll be released from the hospital hopefully soon -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. The hope is there. Thanks so much.

Dan Simon in Rancho Mirage, California.

Now, clear across the country in central Florida, a bomb scare now has led to the temporary closing of a high school in the Orlando area. Police were called in after apparently a threatening note was found in the boys' restroom. A dog has been sent in, and apparently that dog is picking up something out of a locker. And now the bomb squad is working the scene.

All the students have been evacuated from this school in the Orlando area, in Winter Springs High School, specifically.

Bob Beck is with the fire rescue team there in Seminole County. He's on the line with us.

And Bob, what is the current situation there? We can see from this aerial shot that you've got the apparatus to send in some sort of robotic apparatus in order to detect whether there is indeed a bomb on the scene?

BOB BECK, SEMINOLE COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE: That is correct. All the students have been evacuated from the school for approximately two and a half hours now. Students are being allowed to go home if they are bus riders or if they are walkers. All of these students that drove are being kept at the school, either at the central (ph) park which is adjacent to the school, or the football stadium.

Right now the bomb squad is pulling in and -- to assess the situation and to see if there is a device present in the locker.

WHITFIELD: Now, what is it about that threatening note that provoked the bomb squad from coming there, authorities reacting the way they are?

BECK: Well, the authorities actually -- the law enforcement reacted to -- more so to the hit that the bomb dog found. When the bomb dog went through to search, the dog detected an explosive odor -- that's what he's trained to do -- and sat down. And that let the police officer with him know that there may be some explosive device present.

WHITFIELD: And that the dog sat down at that locker? Was that information that I reported earlier correct?

BECK: From what I understand, that is the situation that occurred.

WHITFIELD: And about where is that in this school? We're looking at an aerial view of the school, which is a pretty sizable high school. About what area are we talking about?

BECK: Well, the classrooms are at the rear of the school. If you are looking from the air, there should be a lot -- a big lot and a park that's at the rear of the school. State Road 434 runs to the front of the school. The front is all the administration buildings, gymnasium, and cafeteria.

WHITFIELD: We said that the students have evacuated. What about faculty? Still an awful lot of vehicles in the front of the school from this aerial view. You still have a significant number of people on the scene, correct?

BECK: That's correct. All of the faculty and students are out of the building. The only people that are in the building are fire rescue personnel and the emergency services units from law enforcement.

WHITFIELD: All right. And about how long before you think that robotic apparatus is able to make its way into the school to further detect what the dog has been able to pick up?

BECK: I'm not quite sure of a timeframe. Right now they're trying to make a determination of any device where the dog hit on in that locker area. But then after that they still have to clear the entire school.

WHITFIELD: All right, of the Seminole County Fire Rescue, Bob Beck. Thanks so much for being on the line with us.

And Kyra, we'll continue to watch the situation there at Winter Springs High School.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Fred.

Powerful story now. Still shattered; still waiting; still, many fear, overlooked. South Mississippi, the Biloxi, Gulfport, coastline. Tens of thousands of homes and buildings obliterated by Hurricane Katrina. The small community of Waveland is a heart-sending case in point -- heart-rending, rather, case in point.

CNN's Gary Tuchman looks at one family's quest to rebuild.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A cow bell rings to end the day at the damaged Bay High School on Mississippi's gulf coast. And 17-year-old Rebecca McIntosh makes her way back to her neighborhood in the town of Waveland. A neighborhood that looks like it's stuck in a time warp.

Four and a half months after Hurricane Katrina destroyed property and lives, Piny Ridge Road looks almost the same as it did in August, when we first met Rebecca.

(on camera): Do you know who used to live in this house we're standing on?

REBECCA MCINTOSH, 17-YEAR-OLD: I think this is the roof to the house that was right there that a friend of mine used to live in.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): It was two days after the hurricane, the first time she saw her house.

(on camera): Is that black thing over there, was that your roof?

MCINTOSH: That was our roof.

TUCHMAN: And it blew all they way down there.

(voice-over): Today, this is the view. Not much different.

(on camera): When we walk through your house, it looks exactly the same as it did the day after the hurricane.

MCINTOSH: Yes.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Except now, next to the rubble of the home, is the small FEMA trailer she is living in with her grandmother, Kathy Everard.

KATHY EVERARD, REBECCA'S GRANDMOTHER: Well, I can't go any place else. I have no place else to go. I have no money to go elsewhere.

TUCHMAN: Rebecca's grandmother initially thought she would have money to rebuild here or elsewhere. But she was in for a rude surprise.

EVERARD: I've got excellent insurance. And they say well, we can't help you because you don't have any wind damage.

TUCHMAN: Kathy Everard says the insurance company told her all this damage is from flood water. So while the government's flood insurance program has paid out money, it only covers a portion of the cost of what was a 3,000 square foot home. The grandmother refuses to have the rubble cleared, hoping to use it as evidence as she fights the insurance company over the phone.

EVERARD: Yes, and that's what hit my house, was a tornado. And I've got trees to prove it.

TUCHMAN: Throughout the Gulf region, many families from all walks of life are having similar battles with their insurance companies.

Granddaughter and grandmother do their best to cope in very tight conditions in their trailer. Rebecca, who was a National Honor Society student, says she tries to keep her mind off the troubles.

MCINTOSH: I try not to let anything affect my school because my school is pretty much all I have.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Here is -- what's this?

MCINTOSH: It's actually a Mardi Gras doll that I got when I was like 7.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Back in August, Rebecca told us how her lifelong doll collection had been destroyed. After our story aired, viewers and businesses sent her new dolls.

MCINTOSH: And Mattel sent me these right here.

TUCHMAN: Brightening her outlook, as well as that of her grandmother. But the insurance issue is becoming harder and harder for Kathy Everard to deal with.

EVERARD: I feel so alone. And I've never felt so desperate in my entire life.

TUCHMAN (on camera): You may notice we didn't identify the insurance company. That's because there are many insurance companies in the same dispute.

But we did talk with this insurance company and officials there now acknowledge there was wind damage here. They say they will come talk to Kathy Everard and anticipate a payout.

Garry Tuchman, CNN, Waveland, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Hurricane victims across the Gulf Coast have similar stories, similar nightmares about similar problems with their insurance companies. We're going to try and get some answers. I'm joined by two guests.

Cecile Tebo is in Metairie, Louisiana. She's one of the thousands of individuals who didn't get the coverage she expected in her hour of need. And Carolyn Gorman is in Washington. She's the vice president of the Insurance Information Institute. Great to have you both.

Cecile, you were watching that piece juts shaking your head

CECILE TEBO, NEW ORLEANS HOMEOWNER: Oh, I'm just -- you know, it's just amazing you have to keep going to these extremes to get something that's rightfully yours. We have a contract with our insurance companies and they're not honoring their contract. And I find it is amazing that this is still going on.

PHILLIPS: Well, you probably have a lot of questions for Carolyn.

TEBO: Yes!

PHILLIPS: And a lot of concerns. Lay out your first -- what's been the biggest beef to this day right now? What are you struggling with the most right now?

TEBO: Well, we still -- I believe if I didn't have the opportunity to have come on CNN in November, I am pretty certain we would still be struggling with our flood insurance company, which is Fidelity. And we were very fortunate to have been able to come on. I expressed the problems we were having, which was basically we had received nothing. We had not been hearing from our adjuster three months after we had started processing this claim.

And after coming on with CNN, the executive vice president called us immediately, and my insurance money arrived the next day. However, the point of my story really wasn't the Tebos, it was 300,000 people here that are struggling with this. Although I am very grateful. It's just given me more time and energy to focus on others.

PHILLIPS: Sure, you've become an advocate for so many other people.

Carolyn Gorman, you just -- I mean, time after time after time, we're coming across people with Cecile's story. The piece right there out of Waveland, it amazes me that someone is still living in a trailer and not getting any money.

CAROLYN GORMAN, INSURANCE INFORMATION INSTITUTE: Well, as I'm sure you know, the 2005 hurricane season was the worst one ever for the insurance industry. We have $46 billion dollars in losses, and $3 million claims. And it has certainly been a huge challenge for the insurance industry to go out and meet with every single policy-holder and adjust those claims, especially when you have the added factor of wind versus water.

But be assured that agents will be coming to every house. Every claim will be paid, although it's going to take some time. And it is certainly very frustrating to think that someone has to go on CNN in order to get their claim paid. But I assure you, that will not be the case for the millions of people in Mississippi and Louisiana who are waiting for their insurance claims. And by the way, 70 to 85 percent of those claims have been settled and paid.

PHILLIPS: Cecile, do you have a specific question for Carolyn?

TEBO: Well, when the vice president of Fidelity called me, she said to me -- she said Ms. Tebo, you have to understand we have an industry problem here. And I thought that was kind of interesting because I thought insurance was set up to deal with emergencies, to deal with catastrophic situations.

And I can understand -- you know, one of the things she said is they couldn't get adjusters into our area for thirty days. OK, so you give a hall pass on that. But we're almost moving into our sixth month. I have over several hundred e-mails, recent e-mails of friends of mine, just simply friends of mine, who still have not received their claim. Many still haven't received, you know, living expenses. I can tell you...

PHILLIPS: Hold your thoughts, Cecile. Carolyn, stay with me. I apologize, ladies.

We just have to step away for a moment. We'll come back to you. We want to go to Melville, West Virginia, right now. Doug Conaway, West Virginia mine safety chief, also the governor, Joe Manchin, expected to brief us all on the condition of the search for those two miners stranded in the mine.

DOUG CONAWAY, W.VA. OFC. MINERS' SAFETY: The team members have to call out their oxygen levels and maintain their oxygen levels to come back. And that's based on the low man of the team, who has the low amount of oxygen. If one's low, they are all low. They all must come back. And because it was very smoke-filled and the situation that the one team member was low, the decision was made to pull back with that team.

So what we did is moved another team up. They switched. And at this time, when we had left, that team was in the process of going up and examining three and four entries on that section. And I don't have the results of that. They were in the process of doing that when we left.

So right now what's taking place is -- and you understand that as we travel up through here, we're traveling one entry. That's all we're travelling is one entry, and there are multiple entries in there. You travel one up and one back.

That means there's three or four entries that you are not in. And those entries right now -- Some of those are smoke filled and haven't been examined. So the simple fact that we have made it all the way up here doesn't mean that we've completely cleared and examined every square inch of this entire area.

We've just went up one entry and back another entry. So we have to go back and we have to reexamine and check back into areas that we've just passed, and so that's what we're doing right now. And it takes a lot of time to do that. We're continuing our efforts to secure this area here. Jess (ph), do you ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're also continuing to switch the teams out so we can advance into there with fresh teams, with oxygen supply and everything. They worked long periods of time advancing up in there, and since they run into smoke and the like, they have to advance under apparatus, so it's a risk whenever one gets low on oxygen, not to bring them out.

So that's a slight delay in that, but we have other teams moving underground, and they get to come out and rest anyway. So it's -- we are still monitoring the CO levels. They are gradually decreasing. It's only slightly, but they are decreasing, and we expect that because we are doing firefighting to control the areas of fire that we found up in there.

QUESTION: Sir, for those of us who are not familiar with this mine, can you just to a layman explain the complexity, the nature of this mine, and how would you explain to somebody sitting on the other side of the country what you are trying to accomplish here?

CONAWAY: Well, an example is this is two miles -- just to give you a scale, that's two miles. So these are over a mile entries. And, I mean, you can just see ...

QUESTION: How long would it take the rescue teams to go from the portal up to the area where they are searching?

CONAWAY: It's taken us close to an hour to get up here and to transfer out with the diesel equipment that we're using.

QUESTION: What about the geo (ph) phones, have they been brought? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The geo phone --, the area, the terrain is so rough, we're still evaluating what we can do with the geo phones. It's really extremely steep up in the area where we need to go, so that's very, very difficult to set them up in a situation like that. So that's still being evaluated.

CONAWAY: Well, one of the areas we were looking at was the section up in here. And that's -- we were up on the section and were in the process of examining that area right now.

QUESTION: How many miles -- I guess what I was trying to get at is how many miles and how many different possible entryways could they theoretically be in?

CONAWAY: I have no idea, but you can see each one of these -- these are 100 foot block squares, and it's -- I don't know the answer to that.

QUESTION: Are these halls they are going up and down and back and forth?

CONAWAY: Yes, they are entries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We call them entries, but they are like hallways in a building ...

CONAWAY: That criss-cross.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With passages back and forth between them.

QUESTION: Can I get a handle on what it is searching? I mean, that is a massive, massive area. Do you eliminate an awful lot of it as a possibility, or is it possible as you are able to specifically eliminate an area, do you operate on the theory that they may have moved to another safe area?

CONAWAY: What we are doing right now and -- at least that was our effort, we wanted to go to the area where they were last seen. That's a known for us, but that's why we're concentrating this area, but that doesn't prevent the fact that they have may have traveled quite a great distance in this mine.

QUESTION: Can you point again specifically to the area of the mantrip where you believe they last were?

(CROSSTALK)

CONAWAY: The mantrip was I believe in this area somewhere in here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In by there.

CONAWAY: Yes, in by there.

QUESTION: And then can you elaborate on the carbon monoxide? You have talked about it stabilizing, even coming down a bit. But at how dangerous a level is the carbon monoxide that you are recording right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the carbon monoxide that you can work in, 50 parts per million for eight hours. And as it escalates up, you get shorter and shorter time, up to 1,200 parts per million, which is imminent harm to a person's life and limb.

QUESTION: What are you recording, approximately, now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are -- our we are using trillions (ph) to see whether they are coming down or up. So we've got different instruments like the infrared equipment and so forth. So we are watching it come down.

QUESTION: It gives you a time limit. It doesn't tell you parts per million.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, yes, we'll learn parts per million but because you are using different instruments, we take those and average those out to look for the trend lines.

QUESTION: But -- I'm sorry to keep pressing. Is this at a level that you think is sustainable for someone for a few hours?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you've got to remember that where we're taking these levels are at the fans and at the bore hole and not at areas as you can sample, so it would be anybody's guess as to what you'd find in the different areas of the mine, only as we explore.

QUESTION: What are you getting at the fan or the bore hole?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's where we talked about at this fan down here we've got 400 some parts per million.

CONAWAY: Just about 400.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's down about 400 parts per million now. And this one up here is down below a thousand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a couple of more questions ...

QUESTION: What's the visibility like in there, according to ...

CONAWAY: Well, it depends on which entry they are traveling. Some of the entries are smoke-filled and has very poor visibility. Then some of the areas we are trying to travel has intake air which means they are taking air with them.

You know, it is flowing with them as they go in, and some of those are pretty clear and to answer your question about carbon monoxide, some of the areas we're traveling, there's low levels of carbon monoxide.

In some of the areas where they are smoke-filled, they are high. So just -- you know, it is hard to say what the level is in the mine. It depends on where you are at and at what point in time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more question.

QUESTION: Doug, at your current speed, and the way you are searching this area, what's your rough estimate of how long it would take to cover that area with the teams you have and the obstacles you are facing.

CONAWAY: Well, the thing of it is, I don't think we fully know all of the obstacles that we're facing. When you start in an entry, how much smoke is there? How -- you know, what are the difficulties that's traversing through that? I mean, it's just hard to say. It will take a certain length of time to get through an entry.

QUESTION: Sir, you have -- you have been -- don't want to identify the miners. But I'm asking you how to characterize them. Are they young, inexperience -- the ones who are missing. Are they more experienced? Is there anything you can tell us along those lines?

CONAWAY: I was told they are experienced miners. That's -- I think that's all we are going to say.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Did they have masks? Did they have rescue breathers with them -- personal rescue breathers?

CONAWAY: They had them on their belts.

QUESTION: Have you had evidence that they have used them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know that.

QUESTION: Are they contracted miners?

QUESTION: Or are they staffed?

CONAWAY: I don't know.

PHILLIPS: Doug Conaway, West Virginia mine safety chief, along with other members of his team talking about the fire at the Aracoma Alma Number One. Apparently it began on a mechanical belt.

Now rescue teams are combing through that West Virginia coal mine for two miners, believed trapped inside after they were separated from their crew trying to escape an underground fire. You saw the map right there that they have been charting the mine with and trying to figure out where those two remaining miners could be.

Five mine rescue teams are working underground right now in an effort to try and reach those two miners. We will stay on this developing story. We are going to take a quick break, and we are going to continue our discussion out of New Orleans with your insurance questions. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Hurricane victims and their nightmare stories about dealing with insurance companies. We are going to continue our discussion now, as we try to stay on top of just the thousands and thousands of people that still feel they are not getting what they need from their insurance companies.

Cecile Tebo in Metairie, Louisiana, she was one of thousands of individuals that had an extremely hard time getting the coverage she that expected, and also Carolyn Gorman, she joins us out of Washington, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute.

And let's just pick it up where we left off so we can get straight to the e-mails for you to answer, Carolyn.

But Cecile, you were talking about dealing with your insurance company, Fidelity. And you didn't get what you needed until you came on CNN and the world heard your story. What is your question specifically for Carolyn?

TEBO: Mine specifically is what are the regulations governing the insurance companies in terms of their timeliness in responding to their insurers?

GORMAN: Well, there are certainly standards that insurance companies are expected to meet, but you must also understand that this is the worst natural disaster that has ever hit the United States. And while it has certainly been the most difficult storm of all for insurance companies to handle, they are making steady progress.

And so insurance regulators in the Gulf Coast all understand the complexity of this problem, and they all have done everything they can to support the industry, as we go through this huge, huge disaster.

PHILLIPS: So Carolyn, how do you prioritize somebody who is literally going from paycheck to paycheck versus someone who has a savings account? I mean, obviously there are certain people that can't wait for that help. They need it immediately.

GORMAN: Well, of course, that is certainly true, and there are probably many insurance agents in the Gulf Coast who understand the plight of their policy holders. And they are doing everything they possibly can to help them.

But we have to really understand that this is a very difficult process. Insurers are working 24-seven to get this done. Many, many insurance agents in the Gulf Coast lost everything in this hurricane, and yet they are working 12 hours a day to help their neighbors settle their claims. So it's been a very difficult process.

PHILLIPS: Go ahead, Carolyn, you got one more -- or Cecile, I'm sorry.

TEBO: My question is because of the complexity of this, does that then wipe out all standards regulating?

GORMAN: Oh, certainly not because everyone is aware of the complexity of this situation because insurance companies have been dealing with this very same situation for years and years and years. After all there are floods and hurricanes that happen all the time, and everybody understands that storm surge is a part of many, many hurricanes.

But the fact that this is such a huge hurricane and that so many adjusters have been brought in from across the country, so certainly regulations do not get swept aside, but they do have latitude and understanding of this situation. And insurance companies are doing the best they can to settle all of these claims.

PHILLIPS: Let's get to the e-mails. Bill and Ann say, we live three blocks from the 17th street canal break and have gotten no answers on whether or not we will be able to rebuild our home on our land. Also, the banks want their money now and we have to pay rent as well, because we have no place to live.

What do we do when the city is preventing us from rebuilding, the insurance company is not paying on our "loss of use" clause in our homeowners policy because this was a flood event, and the bank is demanding that we pay--Carolyn?

GORMAN: It is a very difficult situation obviously. I was in New Orleans yesterday, and so I know what this woman is talking about. And there are disputes among city officials on whether or not they are going to even rebuild in certain areas of the city.

It is also true that flood insurance does not pay loss of use. Homeowners insurance does do that, but flood insurance does not. And that is a very, very difficult situation. I think that banks in many ways have extended their payment schedules for people in this situation. I think that this woman should go to her bank, explain what's going on, and see what they can do to work with her.

PHILLIPS: Rhonda wants to know, it's been five months since Katrina. My home was totally destroyed by wind damage, not flooding. The claims adjuster recommended that my house be torn down. I provided all information as requested. Yet, the insurance company has rejected the claim.

I can't get any results, information or money from my insurance company. I considered filing a complaint with the Louisiana insurance commissioner. How do I get the insurance company to pay the amount recommended by their claims adjuster?

GORMAN: Well, I certainly do not know the specifics of any of these e-mails. I do not know who this claims adjuster was. It could have been a public adjuster that came by and is not even associated with her insurance company. So I think that if you truly believe that you are being treated poorly, you should file a claim with the insurance department.

PHILLIPS: File a complaint.

Cecile Tebo, thank you so much. Carolyn Gorman, president of the Insurance Information Institute. Carolyn, no doubt we are going to be asking you to come back. I hope you don't mind. We got flooded with e-mails.

GORMAN: That's fine.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thank you, both. Cecile, thank you.

TEBO: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, the world is on edge. A family in torment over the uncertain fate of Jill Carroll. That's the U.S. journalist that's been a hostage in Iraq for 13 days. We are going to have the latest when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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