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American Morning

Sago Miner's Recovery; Minding Your Business; Long War On Terror

Aired January 19, 2006 - 07:30   ET

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

(NEWSBREAK)
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, exactly. All right, thank you, Carol.

Randy McCloy may be waking up from his nightmare. The sole survivor of the Sago Mine explosion showing some signs of consciousness in the hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia. What's his long-term outlook? Let's ask two of his doctors, Neurosurgeon Julian Bailes and Dr. Larry Roberts, his primary care physician.

Good to have you both with us, doctors.

Dr. Roberts, let's begin with you. When you say he's becoming responsive, if you could just describe what that means.

DR. LARRY ROBERTS, MCCLOY'S PRIMARY PHYSICIAN: Randy is looking around, his eyes are open more often than not. He appears to be more in an awake state. He's not speaking. He is moving his arms and legs somewhat to some commands, but somewhat randomly at times. He's breathing entirely on his own. He is more interactive with his family than perhaps some of the health care providers and there are other small signs of neurologic improvement.

MILES O'BRIEN: OK. And when you say that, you say some of it is random, some of it -- does it seem purposeful? Can you tell the difference?

ROBERTS: Some of it does seem purposeful? It's not consistent all the time, but some of the -- yesterday we observed our occupational therapist put an ice chip on his lips. He was able to pull it into his mouth, chew the ice chip and swallow. That's very purposeful. Now there are other things that are less purposeful. Some of the hand motions that he make seem a little less purposeful. But again, as we've said all along in the two weeks that he's been with us, there has been some steady improvement but we're, by no means, out of the woods and we have difficulty prognosticating but these are definite signs of improvement.

MILES O'BRIEN: Dr. Bailes, as a neurosurgeon, you've run into these cases. Maybe not quite specifically this kind of case, but cases along these lines in the past. Are you surprised to see this level of improvement at this point or is this sort of what you would expect?

DR. JULIAN BAILES, MCCLOY'S NEUROSURGEON: Well I think we've said before, this is probably unchartered territory to be 42 hours in the mine, subject to the carbon monoxide, methane gas and then the shock, the low blood pressure, the dehydration, the hypothermia. So we're maybe pleasantly surprised in a way, but we had hoped for this.

The nature of this injury, we think, is to the white matter of the brain, the fiber tracks, not the nerve cells themselves. And it's believed that the fatty insulation, the mylon, is injured and that is believed also to be potentially reversible.

So we are optimistic. And there have been cases, many cases, of carbon monoxide poisoning who have made a good recovery, a complete recovery. We just don't know at this time and certainly recovery -- or a great recovery is not guaranteed yet.

MILES O'BRIEN: I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how he, among all of them, Dr. Bailes, was able to survive. And I keep going back to something I heard from one of the other family members who said, they firmly believe that the other miners, the older miners, gave of their air to him. I guess the only way to find out is ask Randy eventually. What are your thoughts on it though?

BAILES: Well, we've had that discussion. We don't know the answer. We've heard different stories about whether the others gave their oxygen up or not. Their oxygen was believed to only last about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. And so if you do the math, there really wasn't enough time. Something in either where he was located initially, whether he was a bolter (ph). It's been said that he worked traditionally further in advance of the others. Whether he came back and joined them later on. We just don't know. His age certainly was in his favor, but that alone doesn't explain it. So we really don't have a full answer at this time.

MILES O'BRIEN: Doctors, I want you to listen to this. I was watching "Anderson Cooper 360" last night and he had an interview there with Catherine Mormile, who was in the Iditarod Dog Race years ago and turned on a propane heater in her tent and was exposed to carbon monoxide, ended up in a coma. Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE MORMILE, SURVIVED CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING: I do want to tell his family that, in my experience, when I was unconscious, when I was in the coma, I could hear everything. I was more -- almost more present in the moment with my hearing than anything. I could hear everything that was going on around me and I do believe that it's important for his family members to talk to him, you know, obviously, as he is there in the present and to encourage him to continue to fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN: Do you have the sense, Doctor Bailes, that -- or both of you, do you have the sense that he's hearing everything around him as she describes it?

BAILES: Yes, I think we do. In fact, we have some signs that he does hear. He appears that he's able to see, at least to some extent. And he reacts to his environment. We think he has smell. We think he has sensation and feeling in his mouth. If you put an ice chip in his mouth, he's able to work that around and chew it and swallow it. So, yes, there's a lot.

And I would totally agree with what she said. And as Dr. Roberts and I have pointed out before, the psychological aspect of this injury, we don't fully understand it. It may have a big additive effect. This had to be a horrific psychological trauma and we think that that is a component for a lot of people in accidents, especially such an extreme situation as this.

MILES O'BRIEN: Dr. Roberts, do you think he'll . . .

ROBERTS: I absolutely . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: Go ahead, finish up.

ROBERTS: I was going to say, I absolutely agree that he can hear and he can perceive. And so those comments are, I think, right on the money and I think we have encouraged, not only in Randy's case, but in all of our patients, strong family interaction because a lot of patients, even though they are in a coma seemingly unresponsive to us, I'm sure are much more aware than we give them credit.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Those are good words to remember for the family and I'm glad you're passing that along to them.

Dr. Larry Roberts, Dr. Julian Bailes, part of Randy McCloy's medical team there at Morgantown, West Virginia at West Virginia University Hospital. Thank you both for being with us this morning.

A fund set up to help Randy McCloy's wife and his two children through this terrible ordeal. Contributions to the fund should be sent to this address. And we're going to give this to you a little bit later, so don't worry if you don't have a pen handy right now. It's the Randal McCloy Jr. Fund care of Clear Mountain Bank, 1889 Earl Core Road. That's in Morgantown, West Virginia, 26505. Once again, we'll put that up a little bit later in the program.

Let's check the weather now. Chad with that.

Good morning, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MILES O'BRIEN: Andy "Minding Your Business" just ahead.

What you got?

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, have you considered going to business school? Well, you probably will after we tell you how much new MBAs are making. You won't believe it. Stay tuned to AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SERWER: I don't know what's worse, you or Jean Stapleton. That's tough to listen to in the morning.

MILES O'BRIEN: Pretty bad. Pretty bad stuff. I guess I've awakened you all. And now they're fleeing from the TV sets.

SERWER: Yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. If you want to do well, get an MBA, get hitched, right? Is that the moral of the story here today?

SERWER: Yes, that's it. A couple stories this morning about wealth building, making money. A hundred thousand people get MBAs in the United States every year and they're getting paid a lot of money. New numbers out show the average MBA gets first year out of school $106,000. That's topping the $100,000 for the first time.

MILES O'BRIEN: That's two years of tuition, which is . . .

SERWER: Well, yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: So basically you get your tuition back the first year if you don't have to eat or live.

SERWER: Right. Campbell soup. Raman noodles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Right, Campbell's soup. Live at home.

SERWER: Up 13 percent from the previous year. $88,000 of that is salary and 40k bonus. Tech is coming back. They're looking for MBAs. Also, demand for MBAs from non-profits and the government, but you best believe you're going to get paid less than $100,000 working there.

A new study out from Ohio State University says married people make more money.

MILES O'BRIEN: Because?

SERWER: Now they're not sure why, but Miles and I have our theories.

Here we go.

MILES O'BRIEN: Get to work! You get to work!

SERWER: That sound like Jean Stapleton again.

MILES O'BRIEN: That was my Jean Stapleton. She's back. Yes. Archie, I told you, get to work!

SERWER: OK.

MILES O'BRIEN: Excuse me.

SERWER: No, that's all right. MILES O'BRIEN: I digress.

SERWER: That's an unusual thing you're doing there.

So, here's how it works. So if you're a married couple and you're worth $1 million, that means that each person is worth $500,000. And say the average single person is worth . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, depending on how your arrangement is with your wife.

SERWER: Right. Well and it depends what state you live in.

MILES O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: Also in terms of wealth building, married people tend to accrue more wealth or accrue wealth at a faster pace. Sixteen percent per enum (ph) versus singles who only get about 8 percent. But, again, you know, you can just see that, a single guy, a single gal, you don't have to worry so much about . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: But the kid factor, is that in there? Is that because kids can drain on . . .

SERWER: It is in there, but you're saving money for college, right, and that would be part of the wealth building. And, of course, if they decide not to go to college, you get to keep it. Isn't that how it works?

MILES O'BRIEN: That's brilliant. I like that idea. I like that idea a lot.

SERWER: You save the money for college and tell them not to go to school.

MILES O'BRIEN: I think trade school sounds better all the time.

SERWER: Indeed.

MILES O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Andy Serwer.

SERWER: You're welcome.

MILES O'BRIEN: Coming up, Osama bin Laden dead or alive. Is that still job one in the war on terror? We'll ask some of the brass in charge of the campaign. It's a story you'll see only on CNN. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: As the war on terror continues, the U.S. military has to stay nimble, ready to respond to new threats like Iran all the time, while still hunting down Osama bin Laden and his henchman. CNN's Barbara Starr has just met one on one with the top U.S. military strategist in the region. She joins us now from Bahrain. A story you're only going to see here on CNN. Barbara, hello.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

While meeting with U.S. commanders in this region, we found plenty of old concerns and a lot of fresh worries.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR, (voice over): Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, best known as the former military spokesman in Baghdad, is back in the desert of Bahrain on this morning. The headlines again are about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

I thought it was interesting that, you know, even here.

BRIGADIER GENERAL MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: Even here. I'll get Osama. That's exactly right.

STARR: I mean it's still big news in this region every day.

The wind howls at this early hour. Kimmitt, now central demand deputy for plans and strategy, says Osama bin Laden and Ayman al- Zawahiri now may be icons in the radical fundamentalist movement, but capturing or killing them remains a top priority.

KIMMITT: If this was simply an organization that was a bunch of crazies that were tossing hand grenades, it could be easily controlled. But this is an organization that seeks to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

STARR: The U.S. believes al Qaeda remains committed to that goal.

KIMMITT: That's why it must be countered and that's why it must be destroyed.

STARR: But even if the top leaders were eliminated, the military still would find itself fighting what it calls the long war. A war against jihadist ideology where the battleground may be an al Qaeda recruiting center in cyberspace.

As long as there is the Internet, as long as there are chat rooms, can you win the long war?

KIMMITT: It is remarkable that organizations such as al Qaeda, which are seeking to bringing a caliphate (ph) back, to take these caliphates back 15 centuries, is so facile in its use of modern technology.

STARR: In this sensitive region, the long war suddenly is getting even more dangerous as worries grow in these desert kingdoms about Iran. Kimmitt says it's becoming a major topic with his Arab military counterparts.

KIMMITT: It has been over the past six months that it seems to be a growing concern among these nations and their militaries, what are Iran's intentions, what are its nuclear ambitions, what is it really seeking in the long run? And it gives them a reason for concern and it gives us reason for concern, as well.

STARR: Kind of a new wrinkle in the neighborhood.

KIMMITT: A growing wrinkle in the neighborhood.

STARR: A quiet morning in the desert of a region that remains anything but that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: But, Miles, General Kimmitt and others making it very clear that while Iran remains an issue for the diplomat, here in this region, it is becoming topic number one with many of the Arab militaries that the U.S. deals with.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Barbara, tell us a little bit else about your trip and what else you're going to be hearing from as you continue in that region.

STARR: We're going to spend several days out here. What we plan to do is move over to the horn of Africa, off the eastern coast of Africa, and go visit -- there are about 1,400 U.S. troops in East Africa. A lot of people don't realize it. They are permanently based there at the moment, 24/7. They engage in a lot of humanitarian relief projects. Our expectation is that we're going to go to Ethiopia, to Yemen and to the former french nation of Djibouti, visit some of those U.S. troops, look at the projects they're working on. And one of the real goals out there, it is part of the war on terrorism. They want to engage in a lot of interaction with the communities and towns out there and make sure that that region does not become a new safe haven for al Qaeda.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr continuing her trip to the Middle East. Thank you very much.

Coming up, an AMERICAN MORNING exclusive. Soledad talks to the mother of kidnaped journalist Jill Carroll. With the grim deadline growing near, her mother appeals directly to the kidnappers. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien. Soledad will be joining me from Washington in just a few moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY BETH CARROLL, MOTHER OF IRAQI HOSTAGE JILL CARROLL: Her passion was so important. She is a young woman of convictions and a very strong young woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN: That's the mother of the kidnaped journalist speaking with Soledad earlier. We'll hear more of that exclusive interview in just a moment.

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