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American Morning
Desperate Rescue; Dow Rebounds; They're Lovin' It!; Airport Security; See The 'Holy Land'
Aired August 07, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Desperate search. Unanswered questions. The effort begins anew to free six trapped coal miners after disappointing setbacks overnight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MURRAY, PRES./CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: Our efforts have not been fruitful. They ran into impassable conditions here and here. And actually were driven out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The helicopter and high-tech equipment that could turn things around today.
Plus, this mine has hundreds of safety violations on the books. Who makes sure that miners around the country aren't working in death traps. The debate about one of the most dangerous jobs you can have, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome. It is Tuesday, August 7th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And, again, a second search is underway. A search and rescue operation. It's 4:00 a.m. Utah time right now and they're working as hard as they can right now to try to save six trapped miners.
It's been 25 hours since the mine caved in. There's been no contact with the missing men. And there are questions this morning about the risks of so-called retreat mining and whether or not the collapse was caused by an earthquake.
The Crandall Canyon Mine, about 140 miles south of Salt Lake City. CNN's Dan Simon is near the command center. That's near Huntington, Utah.
And, Dan, as we understand it, the search is underway right now. Where do things stand this morning?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, it's 4:00 in the morning here. So if these miners are still alive, one can only imagine what they're going through. You're talking about pitch black conditions. All they have are their flashlights. And, of course, they have to conserve the batteries. Also, they have no ability to communicate with the outside world. So if that's your loved one down there, it is agonizing.
Let me tell you where we are. We're about two miles from the mine. This is a very remote area, about 140 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
Crews, unfortunately, have not been able to make good progress. They thought they might be able to go in by going through an old dormant mine shaft, but they couldn't. It was just to dangerous, to much debris.
So what they're having to do is having to go in the old fashioned way. They're having to drill. And, boy, that is very tough. These miners are 1,500 feet below surface, about three and a half miles from the entrance of the mine. So the owner of this mine says it could take a few days to reach them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MURRAY, PRES./CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: We will be here on our feet until we get these men out, one way or the other. But I've got to tell you, it could be two or three days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: One encouraging piece of news is, if the miners are still alive, it's believed that they would have enough air and water to last several days.
Kiran.
CHETRY: And so they have not heard anything from them at this time?
SIMON: They haven't heard anything from the climbers. You know, and one interesting element to this is, nobody knows how this happened. They're not sure if an earthquake caused the collapse or if the collapse caused some seismic activity to be registered. Scientists seem to be going toward the latter. They say it's not uncommon in situations like this.
CHETRY: Right. And, obviously, the focus right now is on the rescue effort, but according to the website of this Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, since 2004, this particular mine has had more than 300 violations, 116 of them were deemed "significant and substantial." Do they know whether or not any of those safety infractions played a role into what happened?
SIMON: Of course, Kiran, this company is going to be under the microscope. CNN is reporting that in 2007 alone this mine had 30 citations, 10 of which resulted in fines. We don't know the severity of the citations. But one thing we can tell you is that the owner says he's never experienced anything of this magnitude with one of his mines and he says this particular mine is safe.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Dan Simon reporting for us in Utah. We're going to be checking in with you throughout the three hours of AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks, Dan.
ROBERTS: We're coming up to three minutes after hour. Dennis O'Dell is a safety administrator for the United Mine Workers of America. He joins us now live from Washington.
Dennis, you've been talking with your folks on the ground. Do they have anything new to report this morning?
DENNIS O'DELL, SAFETY ADMINISTRATOR, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA: No, sir. Pretty much what you've already heard from your reporter on the ground is the same thing we're getting. They're going to continue to drill to try to go in that way. And, of course, underground, where they're trying to remove the rock and debris where the actual fall is, that's a long, tedious and it can be very unsafe to do that, as well. You have to remove the rock and debris, support the top and protect the miners that are doing the rescue work as well.
ROBERTS: This idea of using this old mine shaft, is that totally out now?
O'DELL: The last word I got before I came to the studio, I think they pretty much have decided that that's a no-go.
ROBERTS: So they're going to put a drilling rig on the top of the mountain. If we look back to the Quecreek Mine back to 2002, it just had its fifth anniversary where nine miners were trapped, got out alive, it took 77 hours to drill down 240 feet and get them out. These miners are said to be 1,500 feet beneath the surface. How long would that take to reach them?
O'DELL: Well, it's speculation at this case. We don't know what we'll run in to. You know, Quecreek we had some problems with the drilling rig breaking down, having to bring in different parts to repair. You really never know what you're going to run into when you start drilling because of the geological aspects you have to deal with, the rock you have to go through, those kind of things. So you don't know.
ROBERTS: Hey, tell us a little bit about this retreat mining. I know that when you were a miner, you were actually working on some retreat mining in one particular location. How much more dangerous than this normal room and pillar where they sort of calve out a checkerboard of coal from the seam is.
O'DELL: Well, I think most miners will agree that a retreat mine is probably about the most dangerous mining you can be involved in. Because what you're actually doing is you've already mined the coal up in the area, that you've already removed the long wall sections of the mine. So what you're doing is you're coming back out of the mine. Actually, the mine is probably getting ready for shut down to close the mine.
ROBERTS: And the roof of the mine is actually collapsing behind you as you retreat, correct?
O'DELL: Yes, sir, that's true. So as you cut the pillars down, you reduce the size of the production you have to protect the top and the roof does fall in behind you.
ROBERTS: You probably heard Kiran talking about violations at this mine. More than 300 since January of 2004. This year a couple regarding lack of escape ways. Is this a particularly notable record that this mine has in terms of violations?
O'DELL: You know, I looked at the violation history on them last night and this morning before I came down. I saw they had a couple of violations on the books, one where the escape ways weren't marked. So, I mean, those kind of things, when you look -- any citation is serious in a coal mine, but when you look at those type of citations, it makes you wonder. They had one citation they were issued on examinations. So, I mean, we have to look at it further to find out for sure what, you know, what exactly is going on with the history of that mine.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, Dennis, thanks very much for being with us. We'll get back to you as developments warrant. Dennis O'Dell from the Mine Workers of America joining us this from Washington this morning.
We're going to be talking with the mayor of Huntington, Utah. That's coming up in our next half hour about all of this.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Some other headlines this morning.
There's a new report out about the bridge collapse in Minneapolis and the warnings that consultants had given the state about that bridge. This morning's "Minneapolis Star Tribune" reports that the most vulnerable parts of the bridge were also the toughest places for inspectors to see. The state highway department faced two choices, reinforce the bridge or keep inspecting the cracks. The state choose to inspect rather than repair. We're going to be talking to the reporters who broke this story for the "Star Tribune" in our next hour.
A potential international incident brewing this morning in the country of Georgia. The Georgian government is accusing Russia of flying jets into its territory and firing a missile. The Kremlin denies it this morning.
There are worries this morning that Madeleine McCann was murdered. A newspaper is reporting that Portuguese police found blood on the wall of the apartment from which the four-year-old was taken. Tests will be -- still have to be taken on the blood, but in the past three months that she's been missing, police have become more convinced that she was killed, not kidnapped.
Police investigating the execution-style murders of three college students in Newark, New Jersey, have no suspects still. As the outrage continues to grow in that community, they're getting some information from the loan survivor of that attack. She is heavily sedated, though. Her brother and two friends were lined up and shot in a school yard Saturday night. There's a $52,000 reward for any information.
ROBERTS: On to politics now. Hillary Clinton is increasing her lead over the rest of the Democrats running for president. This morning's "USA Today"/Gallup Poll has Clinton leading nationwide with 48 percent. Barack Obama dropped a couple of points. He's down to 26 percent. John Edwards trails way back at 12 percent.
On the republican side, Rudy Giuliani leads with 33 percent. Fred Thompson, who's not yet a declared candidate, 21 percent. And John McCain back at 16 percent. Mitt Romney's got 8 percent. Though it should be pointed out, in some polls Romney leading in both Iowa and New Hampshire. The first two primary states.
Is Giuliani's 17-year-old daughter a Barack Obama supporter? Caroline Giuliani's Facebook profile has been locked now, but it had described her as liberal and belonging to the group, One Million Strong for Barack. Asked to comment, her dad took the high road.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My daughter, I love very much. I have great respect for her. And I'm really proud of her. And I don't comment on children because I want to give them the maximum degree of privacy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Giuliani stabbed in the Barack is how one New York tabloid put it this morning. We're going to talk with the writer who discovered Caroline Giuliani's Facebook profile, coming up in our next hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
And a new study out of the University of Texas shows that women who were obese before becoming pregnant were more likely to have babies born were birth defects. Maternal obesity was associated with an increased risk of spina bifida, heart defects and hernias. Fifteen thousand women across eight states were studied.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, we want to check right now on some of the other stories new this morning with our AMERICAN MORNING team.
Extreme heat the story across much of the country. And our Rob Marciano is in St. Louis this morning. That city is expected to get up into the triple digits. And, boy, people are going to have to do what they can to stay cool.
Hi, Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Well, a wild ride for the Dow rebounding Monday with its biggest jump in nearly five years. Ali Velshi is watching that.
So when we talked about the futures looking good yesterday, it proved to be the case.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It did. It's a miracle when it starts one way and ends one way on the Dow. You know, you wouldn't think, with all the news that we've had and all those concerns about mortgages and credit and things like that, that this would have happened on the Dow. But, fundamentally, long term investors are not worried about this market. While there might be a shakedown going on right now, a lot of investors took this opportunity to get in the market.
Take a look at what happened. By tend of the day, the Dow has had this massive gain, certainly the biggest this year, the biggest since October of 2002 on a point perspective. Two hundred and eight- six points higher.
The Nasdaq and the S&P were up as well. That takes the Dow up 8.1 percent for the year. Obviously not as high as it's been because it's at 13,468. It was at 14,000. But 8 percent by August is not a bad return on the Dow.
Now coupled with that, we also had a big drop in the price of oil. In fact, the sixth biggest drop in history. Oil prices dropped $3.42 to settled at $72.06 on Nasdaq.
The concern here is simply one of demand. That with mortgages tightening up, with people having less money to spend, the demand for oil and gasoline will actually drop back.
So we've got a lot of that to follow today. I'll be back to tell you more about what's in the nes today, as well as the fact that we've got our Federal Reserve meeting this afternoon.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Ali, thanks so much.
A new study on the power of McDonald's on our kids. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is looking into this. I know she's a Happy Meal fan herself. (INAUDIBLE) had an impression on you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I know you are, as well.
You know, Kiran, you know McDonald's slogan is "I'm lovin' it." Well, Madison Avenue is lovin' it. Listen to this. A new study says anything, even milk, juice and carrots, taste better to young children if it's wrapped in the famous packaging of the golden arches.
Now this Stanford University study, which appears in this month's "Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine involved 63 preschoolers, three to five years old, from San Mateo, California. Now the kids sampled hamburgers, chicken nuggets, french fries, even store-bought milk or juice and carrots. They got identical samples of each food on a tray. And the finding? The samples wrapped in McDonald's packaging were the clear favorite. Maybe no surprise that 77 percent prefer McDonald's french fries, since McDonald's is famous for its fries after all.
But listen to this. A majority also favored McDonald's wrapped carrots. The study's author said the kid's perception of taste was "physically altered by the branding." One doctor called it an amazing and sad study. And how about this for timing, Kiran. It comes less than a month after McDonald's and other food and drink companies announced new curbs on marketing to kids under 12.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Wow, that is very interesting. Alina Cho, we'll talk more about it a little later. Thank you.
John.
ROBERTS: Airport security is watching you, but is it catching terrorists? Results from a new survey coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Sixteen minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
History on the Korean border right now tops your "Quick Hits." Envoys from six nations are meeting in the town of Pan Mun Jong (ph) to talk about ending North Korea's nuclear program. Those talks will last two days.
A terror warning in the Middle East this morning. Israel citizens traveling in Egypt, Jordan and other Muslim countries should leave immediately according Israel's national security council. The council says there is a concrete and severe threat of being kidnapped by operatives from Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group.
CHETRY: Now to our terror watch and a controversial tactic being used by the Transportation Security Administration to help spot potential terrorists in the airports. The TSA says the method is working, but others say that the security measure is nothing more than racial profiling. Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve joins us live in Washington with more on exactly what practice we're talking about.
Hi, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.
When you go to the airport, the Transportation Security Administration isn't just looking at your bags and your I.D., it's looking at your behavior. And according to the head of the TSA, it's an effective screening tool. So-called behavior detection officers are trained to look for involuntary physical and physiological reactions that indicate people are afraid of being discovered. Facial ticks, for example. The so called BDOs and then refer travelers for additional screening.
Kip Hawley, the head of the TSA, has been a big advocate of this program and he says it's led to 228 arrests since January of 2006. And while none of the charges were terror related, Hawley says there have been some people with terror related connections. Just last week, he says, observations by a BDO led to the arrests at Baltimore Washington International Airport of a traveler carrying a loaded handgun and several loaded ammunition magazines.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, Jeanne, how come this is considered racial profiling?
MESERVE: Well, it isn't considered racial profiling by the TSA. Some critics have called it that. The TSA says, no, that's not what we're engaged in. That these cues that they pick up, these behavior cues, they say, are true across different ages, different ethnic groups, different genders. They say it's a way of picking out the person who doesn't look like a terrorist and a way to find problem people as opposed to problem objects.
Kiran.
CHETRY: So what are the critics clinging to as they say it's racial profiling? What are they pointing out about how this practice is done?
MESERVE: Well, what they say is that what these people are looking for is people that appear to be from a certain part of the world, may have a certain sort of complexion. That that's what they're looking for. The TSA, as I say, flatly denying that's the case.
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve on terror watch for us today. Thank you.
MESERVE: You bet.
ROBERTS: Former drug user? No problem. You can still qualify for the FBI. Your "Quick Hits" now. The FBI is easing its standards to attract more job applicants. If you haven't used marijuana in the past three years or harder illegal drugs for 10 years, you can apply for a job as an analyst, a programmer or even an FBI special agent.
Drugs for free. One major supermarket chain is offering seven prescription antibiotics for free as a promotion. The offer is good at pharmacies from Publics (Ph) stores. There are almost 700 of them in the southeastern United States.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, Disney's heavenly neighbor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've always wanted to come since it open up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a living biblical museum. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: We take you inside the theme park where actors play Jesus and there are no rides. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Twenty-two minutes past the hour right now as you see the sun coming up behind the clouds. New York City this morning. It's 75 right now. Boy, it's going to be a scorcher, 92 degrees, humidity at 87 percent. And there is actually a heat advisory in effect for our area. It's getting me choked up already just thinking about it.
ROBERTS: All that heat that was in the Midwest now moving east, so that's going to create a very steamy day here in the big city.
CHETRY: We have Rob Marciano in St. Louis actually talking about their situation. More than just a couple of days. They're looking at an extensive heat wave. So we're going to talk with him a little later.
Meanwhile, in the shadow of Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida, there's a theme park that's built for more than just amusement.
ROBERTS: The Holy Land experience gives tourists a day of fun and faith. Sean Callebs is live in Orlando for us with more on this religious destination.
Sounds pretty unique, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think it really is, John and Kiran. And really you're not going to get a look at Epcot Center or Space Mountain or Shamu or anything like that. What organizers really tried to develop is what Jerusalem looks like 2000 years ago.
This is supposed to be the garden tomb. This the sight that -- where Christians believe that Christ rose from the dead so long ago. And also, if you look up above, they also are trying to give tourists here a look at what a crucifixion looked like in the first century A.D.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS, (voice over): This could be described as a theme park that is truly out of this world. And the biggest attraction at Holy Land Experience is the crucifixion that you can see six days a week, as graphic and grim as possible.
LES CHEVELDAYLOFF, PORTRAYS JESUS: Why have you forsaken me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty much tell them it's a living biblical museum. CALLEBS: There are no rides here. And Holy Land really doesn't compete with the mega amusement parks in Orlando and elsewhere in central Florida. Hot summer months lure about 2,000 people a day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is, I'd say, a lot less commercial. It's not very crowded.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello. Good morning. Welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've always wanted to come since it opened up.
CALLEBS: Les Cheveldayloff has portrayed Jesus since Holy Land opened six years ago, and he's heard all the jokes.
LES CHEVELDAYLOFF, PORTRAYS JESUS: Oh, the Jesus coaster, you know, whatever. You run with the laughs and go with it because people identify. But, just, you may be able to sneak in a few bits of truth.
Give to Caesar what's Caesars. I give to God what is God's!
CALLEBS: Which they do in biblical dramas. But the performs, along with what's billed as the largest private collection of biblical artifacts outside the Vatican, haven't been enough to keep the park out of debt. Declining numbers of tourists almost closed Holy Land a number of times over the past couple of years.
TOM POWELL, CEO, HOLY LAND EXPERIENCE: There were times when we were so close, I would project our financial situation out for a couple of months and it would be razor thin.
CALLEBS: But Holy Land has been given some heavenly help. In June, the world's largest Christian television system, Trinity Broadcasting, purchased the part, instantly wiping out $8 million of debt and giving it the kind of marketing budget it could never afford. Now Les Cheveldayloff worry less about losing his job and more about his wardrobe.
CHEVELDAYLOFF: There's a right and a wrong way to put it on.
CALLEBS: And making sure the Holy Land faithful get a different kind of theme park experience.
CHEVELDAYLOFF: It's humbling. You know, I don't think anyone on this earth can portray what Christ did properly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: You know, staying in the black hasn't been the site's only concern. They've had an ongoing feud with the assessors office here in the country for some time over its tax exempt status. And despite Trinity's deep pockets and the fact that they do charge $35 per person to enter the site, Holy Land will keep that tax exempt status.
John and Kiran. ROBERTS: $35 per person, pretty heavy entry fee, Sean. Are the crowds beginning to increase at all?
CALLEBS: Yes, they crowds are, according to Holy Land. They are beginning to increase. For example, last year during July, they brought in about 14,000 tourists for the month. This year, they brought in 19,000. So they are optimistic that with Trinity's broadcasting and the fact that they can reach so many people with the television empire, they're going to lure more people here. ROBERTS: Sean Callebs in Orlando this morning. Sean, thanks very much.
Stories coming up that you can't miss. You've got to take a look at this one. A courtroom erupts into chaos. Check out this video.
CHETRY: Yes, it was crazy what happened there. The victim's father, someone whose son was shot, was to stand up and read a victim's impact statement and instead he lunged across the table. We're going to tell you how that all ended in the courtroom, coming up when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: And there's the sunrise over Biscayne Bay this morning. Thanks to our friends at WSBN in Miami for that shot. It will be a typical south Florida day, high of 92 degrees, 5,000 percent humidity.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Or 81 percent.
ROBERTS: And a chance of thunderstorms later on in the afternoon. I've lived there, it's 5,000.
CHETRY: It feels it, but it's going to be more humid in New York and up and down the mid-Atlantic than in Miami.
ROBERTS: It will feel more humid in Miami thanks to the salt in the air. Welcome to "AMERICAN MORNING." It's Tuesday, the 7th of August. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for being with us.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We're following our top story this morning. That is the efforts underway right now to rescue these miners in Utah.
ROBERTS: New effort overnight to try and find six trapped coal miners. Here is the latest. In the next several hours, a helicopter will position a drill on top of the mountain in Utah. That will try and chip down through 1,500 feet to reach the men. That process could take several days. But officials tell us the miners have enough water to survive, several days.
Also new this morning, new safety records since June 2004. It has racked up about 300 safety violations, including some recently for unmarked escape routes.
Coming up, we'll be talking with the mayor of Huntington, Utah, who has helped families cope with this reaction.
CHETRY: To Minneapolis where a team of divers, the Navy and the FBI are searching for eight people still missing in the I-35W Bridge collapse.
CNN's Susan Roesgen is in Minneapolis this morning with the very latest on the recovery operations.
Good morning, Susan.
SUSAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. We're about 25 yards, that's about all from the bridge right now. You can see the wrecked cars on top of the bridge. Today at first light, the divers will be out working with this new piece of equipment that the FBI has brought in. It is a remote-controlled submersible, a mini unmanned sub-marine, and it has very powerful lights. Visibility has been the big problem for the divers all along. They've been groping along by hand trying to hand search the vehicles under water. Now they've got the powerful lights on this submersible. And this submersible has super sophisticated sonar that can map what's on the bottom of the river, what the objects there are. And it has, as well, a mechanical arm that can grab things and possibly retrieve bodies -- Kiran?
CHETRY: Up to this point, what was preventing the divers from getting into the water and search?
ROESGEN: Probably because the bodies of the eight people that we believe are missing are trapped under big pieces of debris and the divers have no way of seeing or getting to. Sheriff's deputies have been walking the riverbanks checking for, perhaps, bodies that might have floated downstream.
Instead, now, what they really believe is that these eight people are probably pinned under the worst of the wreckage and this FBI sub- marine can get to them, can get in there and can hopefully retrieve these bodies. They'll be out there today. We may see some of that later today.
CHETRY: Susan Roesgen in Minneapolis, thanks.
ROBERTS: Other headlines new this morning, Israel police are evicting squatters in the West Bank city of Hebron. Early this morning, police stormed apartments where two families were living illegally. Hundreds of protesters surrounded the area. Hebron is often the scene of clashes between a group of Jewish settlers in the middle of a Palestinian majority.
A second outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has been confirmed in England. The infected animals were set up in a two-mile protection zone. Now the European Union has banned the importation of all live animals, fresh meat and milk from most of the U.K.
The new administration in Britain is already standing up to the White House. About at least one thing, five British residents are being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The British government wants them released. They are not British nationals but had lived in the U.K. before being retained at terrorism suspects.
A 15-year-old boy is dead and one person in critical condition from a camper van crash on I-95 in Maine. Eleven boys and two counselors were headed to the Penobscot River Monday morning when that van flipped over.
Federal investigators have issued a report on the deadly collision between two news helicopters in Phoenix last month. The NTSB makes no conclusion about the cause of the accident but says one choppers was stationary and the other maneuvering when they collided. All four people on both helicopters died.
CHETRY: There was a victory for the video game industry. A federal judge in California striking down a new state law that would have prohibited the sale of violent video games to children. Other states have blocked that same kind of law. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he will appeal the decision.
Stuck on 755, Barry Bonds remains one away from soul ownership of baseball's all-time home run record. He failed to hit one last night in San Francisco and remains tied with Hank Aaron at 755 home runs.
ROBERTS: The mercury is rising in cities all across America right now. Heat alerts are up from New York to Kansas and all the way down to Dallas, but the Midwest is expected to bear the brunt of the extreme heat. Temperatures could top the triple digit mark in several cities, including St. Louis.
That's where our Rob Marciano is standing by for us this morning.
Rob, how hot is it going to be there?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, yesterday we hit 9 degrees, John, and that temperature, keep in mind, is measured in the shade and it doesn't include humidity. So you can just imagine what it feels like when you're out and in the sun. And the folks who are out in the sun all day long are folks like construction workers, mailmen, that kind of thing. In heat like this, they are earning their paycheck.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (voice-over): Extreme heat and suffocating dust. The job doesn't stop for construction workers in St. Louis when temperatures climb to 100 degrees.
(on camera): How are you staying cool out here?
UNIDENTIFIED CONSTRUCTION WORKER: Drinking plenty of water. At lunchtime, we have a roach coach that comes around. He usually sells fruit on his truck, so I get a tray of fruit, watermelon, cantaloupe. That helps me stay hydrated.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Here, they say if you don't feel great, rehydrate. Words to live by while rebuilding a hotel. And it's not going away. All this week, dangerous heat is building across the Midwest. Forecast highs in St. Louis will reach triple digits.
(on camera): Which jobs on the site are the worst when it comes to having to deal with heat?
BOB HERR, CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGER: It would be on the exterior of the building when you're doing the exterior elevation work because that's where you get the heat reflecting off the building.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Aside from the Mississippi River, St. Louis is a land-locked city with lots of brick buildings. Like an oven, this city bakes.
Matt Gray has been driving a UPS truck for 26 years. On a typical day, he lifts and delivers over 500 packages.
MATT GRAY, UPS TRUCK DRIVER: It's a free workout.
MARCIANO: Beside his workout, what can Brown do for you? Apparently not air-conditioning.
(on camera): Mother Nature's air-conditioning.
GRAY: You've got the doors open.
MARCIANO: Driving with the doors open is one more way to try to stay cool.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Matt did point out that they have just installed those little fans about four years ago to help him keep cool when he's driving around that UPS truck.
We often talk about the heat index. That's what the temperature feels like when you couple in the humidity, but what is not including is the sunshine. Temperatures out on this construction site can easily feel like 110 or higher when you're out in the blazing sun. That is dangerous heat.
Keep in mind that extreme heat like this is the number one weather-related killer. Year after year, over 600 people die. This is something we're concerned about not only here, but across much of the country. You see the reds -- those are the advisories and heat warnings.
Cooling centers are open here along St. Louis, 89 of them, elderly and most vulnerable. Look after your neighbor. Oftentimes elderly will just sit in their home and swelter and that is a dangerous scenario, no doubt about that.
Today, temperatures will get to 100 degrees easily. It will be warmer today, for sure -- John?
ROBERTS: Rob, how long is all of this expected to last?
MARCIANO: Excessive heat warnings in St. Louis in effect until Friday, I think in Tulsa through Sunday. So this will be an extended period of heat and overnight temperatures don't fall much below 80 degrees. So there's not much time to cool off during the nighttime hours.
ROBERTS: Rob Marciano for us. John, thanks in the Gateway City. Appreciate it.
He sat in court and watched as a man pleaded guilty to murdering his son. Then he lost it. Take a look at this.
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ROBERTS: It all went down in an Ohio courtroom as the victim's father got up to read a statement during sentencing. Instead, the father dove across the defense table and tried to choke him. Police said the 20-year-old killer shot his son in the back of the head during a drug deal last year. The judge gave him 33 years to life in prison.
CHETRY: The caffeine buzz and your brain topping your "Quick Hits" now. French researchers say that drinking more than three cups of coffee per day could help women remember longer. The study says caffeine could slow down age-related memory loss in older women. The same, however, did not go for guys.
Energy drinks may sound healthy, but drinkers may get more than they bargained for. The caffeine and calorie content of dozens of popular energy drinks aren't always listed on the label. They can top 200 milligrams per bottle or can and the calorie count can reach up to 260 Calories. Researchers say a big problem has to do with the serving size because it's 8-ounce servings but the bottles or cans are sold in larger quantities. Researchers say the bottom line, an occasional energy drink is fine, but do the math and avoid overindulging.
They're praying for a miracle, the families of six men trapped in a Utah coal mine. We'll be talking to the mayor who met with those families, coming up next on "AMERICAN MORNING".
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to "AMERICAN MORNING," the most news in the morning here on CNN.
A construction accident in Las Vegas to tell you about. Part of a parking structure for The Fountain Blue Las Vegas collapsed. There were no injuries, but last week at the same construction site, a worker died when he fell from a wall.
A story of survival out of El Paso, Texas. The 71-year-old woman is in good condition this morning after she tumbled 150 feet off a mountain in her pickup truck. She was stuck there for 11 hours before being rescued. The woman told police that her shoe got stuck under the truck's brake. She tried to pull off the road but couldn't slow down. Somebody finally spotted a reflection off the truck and called 911. No word on how her shoe got stuck under the brake. This river of lava is oozing out of Hawaii's Kailua Volcano. The latest lava burst began three weeks, but the volcano's been erupting off and on for more than two decades.
CHETRY: Forty-four minutes past the hour now. Ali Velshi, "Minding your Business," today, the all-important fed meeting is taking place. A lot of people are wondering what they're going to do.
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL ANALYST: What do you want them to do?
CHETRY: Lower interest rates, of course.
VELSHI: But they're not going to. Sorry. The fed doesn't affect your mortgage or your -- a lot of your home-related loans. Those loans are set in the bond market. So your rates on your fixed mortgages and some of your adjustable mortgages are set in the bond market.
The fed deals with the fed funds rate which is 5.25 percent which is directly tied to the prime rate. If you're a customer that has a loan that's tied to prime, that's what you're looking at the fed. Business borrowers are concerned with what the fed does.
Nobody thinks the fed move on interest rates today. While some people think the feds should cut interest rates, cutting interest rates makes money cheaper, makes companies borrow more or if your loan is tied to prime, you might continue to borrow more money. That stimulates the economy and makes prices go up. Inflation is a bigger concern for the fed than the housing market is.
CHETRY: Then I change my mind.
VELSHI: They're going to do nothing. The thing we're looking for from the fed today is the guidance about what is going on. The fed is not worried about whether you bought a house, had to sell your house or get refinanced. They're taking a bigger view of the country and say, this is what's going on. We should be concerned about this and not about that. It's guidance. Because people think for the long-term this market is not a problem, you started to see that rally as the Dow got lower yesterday.
Did you finally decide that this was a good time to get into this market?
ROBERTS: Last Friday.
CHETRY: He timed it. I'm not timing.
ROBERTS: I'm not timing. I'm not going to throw money in the market when it was 14,000.
VELSHI: It was the biggest gain, but you're going to see this kind of fluctuations. This is the way the market will be right now. It will be up and down. Oil prices are lower. We have the mortgage crisis going on. It's one of those things we'll pay attention to and report back to you on what the fed decides to do, but they won't move on interest rates today.
CHETRY: Ali, thank you. We'll check in with you later.
VELSHI: Appreciate it.
ROBERTS: The families of six men trapped in a Utah coal mine anxiously await a new rescue mission this morning. We'll talk to the mayor next on "AMERICAN MORNING."
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ROBERTS: A typo sends a woman to the slammer for nine days. Your "Quick Hits" now. Amy Sellers was picked up in Florida on a warrant issued for a different woman with the same Name. It took her boyfriend nine days to convince the sheriff's office that they made a mistake. They eventually agreed, apologized and said they will reimburse her lost pay and other expenses she incurred while in jail.
A Maryland grandmother is feeling pretty good these days considering she's been dead for four months. An apparent clerical error killed off Florence Orr. She spent the time trying to resurrect herself and get her social security and credit cards reinstated.
CHETRY: A brave girl chases a robber -- not recommended -- but this 7-year-old did it. She was in a convenience store in Reidsville, North Carolina, where her mom works when a man with a gun tried to rob the place. Alisha jumped over-the-counter and chased after him, as you can see. Jumping over-the-counter, the 7-year-old, let's hear what she said.
ALISHA, CHASED ROBBER: I got out there and under and pushing on him, telling him to back away, like back away, man, like that. I didn't want I am to hurt mommy.
CHETRY: Wow, what a brave 7-year-old. Alisha didn't catch the robber and police haven't, either. Police don't advise anyone to do what she did. The thief only made off with a little bit of cash and three packs of cigarettes.
A scam to get non-U.S. citizens into this country illegally. Wait until you hear of who is trying to pull it off. Phony visa and a possible diplomatic mess. That's coming up next on "AMERICAN MORNING."
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ROBERTS: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton appears to be widening her lead in the Democratic presidential race. The latest poll puts support for Clinton at 48 percent, up 8 percentage points from two weeks ago. Barack Obama is at 26 percent and John Edwards is at 12 percent.
With poll numbers like that, Clinton's opponents are not pulling any punches. And neither are Republicans, for that matter. This is certainly "Raw Politics." Here is CNN's Tom Foreman.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Republicans are just roaring into August after playing possum for a couple of weeks. They have good news about the war and they are smacking the Democrats up side the head with it.
(voice-over): The troop surge is producing positive headlines, so Republican presidential contenders are now slamming Democratic challengers as defeatists, weak on international terror.
And here is President Bush with a grateful Afghanistan president.
HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: I'm here today to once again thank you and the American people for all that you have done for Afghanistan.
FOREMAN: A red-faced for Rudy. His 17-year-old daughter's Facebook page suggests she likes Barack Obama for pres. At least it reportedly did until it was changed this morning. His honor? Playing it classy.
RUDY GIULIANI, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have great respect for her and I'm really proud of her. And I don't comment on children because I want to give them the maximum degree of privacy.
FOREMAN: Mitt Romney gets drilled on radio on abortion and being Mormon. He drills back.
MITT ROMNEY, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not running a Mormon and I get tired of coming on a show like yours and having it be all about Mormons.
RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I don't mind it being about that.
ROMNEY: I do.
FOREMAN: Tag-team attack. Barack Obama and John Edwards say they won't take Washington lobbyist money. But Hillary Clinton does, $400,000 so far. And she came up swinging.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think based on my 35 years of fighting for what I believe in anybody seriously believes I'm going to be influenced by a lobbyist or a particular interest group.
FOREMAN: Tough room. French President Nicholas Sarkozy vacationing in New Hampshire spots American photographers near his boat chases them down, yelling in French. The photogs say they have no idea what he wanted.
(on camera): We're Americans. We hardly speak French in France. We certainly don't do it in Nevada. That's just "Raw Politics." Later today, we're going to the city of Big Shoulder to see what big labor is doing about its big vote, so get out some wine and cheese and join us on "AC 360" tonight for "Raw Politics."
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ROBERTS: All right. Get out and get ready for "Raw Politics" tonight on "360". And all of the day's political news is available anymore day or night at cnn.com/ticker. Do you believe it?
CHETRY: No, I can't believe I tell at all, Mr. Pepy LaPue, this morning.
Here is a look at some of the stories coming up that you just can't miss. We're going over this and trying to figure it out. Who is the most profitable actor in Hollywood? Not the one who makes the most money, but the one who provides the best return on investment for a studio or a film?
ROBERTS: Here is a tip for you. For every dollar they receive in salary, they make $29 for the studio. Who do you think it could be?
CHETRY: One hint, it's not Brat Pitt.
ROBERTS: Might be somebody close to him. The next hour of "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
CHETRY: Underground emergency. A new effort to find six trapped coal miners takes flight this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A helicopter will site a major drilling right above where the men are entrapped.
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CHETRY: Families praying for a rescue. And the critical question, after hundreds of citations, should this mine have been operating? Could this disaster have been prevented?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any citation is serious in a coal mine. But when you look at those types of citations, it makes you wonder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Plus, baby's brain. More scrutiny of videos designed to stimulate your young baby. Parents spend millions but is it all going down the tubes? The new word from a new study on this "AMERICAN MORNING."
That's something every parent doesn't want to hear this morning, questions about whether those brainy Einstein and brainy baby videos are not really helping your kid.
Welcome back one again. It is Tuesday, August 7th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. The second rescue operation underway right now to save six trapped miners in Utah. It is now more than 25 hours since the mine caved in. There is no contact with the missing men.
We got reports from Dan Simon on the scene in Utah and Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us this morning from Atlanta.
We begin with Dan who is not far from the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah.
Dan, where do things stand this morning? I know it's at least an hour before the sun comes up, but where are they headed now?
DAN SIMON, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: John, if the climbers are still alive the conditions from both a mental and physical point of view would be challenging to say the least. You're talking about blackout conditions. All the miners have is their flashlights. So they really can't see. There's no communication with the outside world -- no cell phones, no walkie-talkies, nothing.
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