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Paula Zahn Now

Rescuers Near Possible Location of Trapped West Virginia Miners

Aired January 03, 2006 - 20:00   ET

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

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening, everyone. Glad to have you with us tonight.
As we speak, the race to find the trapped miners in West Virginia is just about over. And mine officials say we are clearly in a situation where we need a miracle. That's what the miners' families have been praying for. Right now, they are inside a church at the end of this road.

We understand from one family member that the families were called to a meeting just about half-an-hour ago. We don't know what they're being told. Family members say they simply don't know what to expect.

While we wait, let's recap the very latest for you. At last report, a rescue crew inside the mine was no more than 2,000 feet from where they believe the trapped miners are located. At their last news briefing, just a short time ago, mine officials said rescuers could reach that point during this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN HATFIELD, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COAL GROUP: It is our goal to keep hope alive while there is hope. And we -- and we don't want to discourage anyone that -- that believes we can get there. We believe we can get there if the crew has managed to barricade themselves and kept themselves protected from the toxic fumes.

Certainly, with each hour that passes, the likelihood of a successful outcome diminishes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Meanwhile, outside the mine, two separate drills have been boring small holes down to the approximate location of those trapped miners. Those holes are within 20 feet of the mine's roof.

But drilling has been stopped for the safety of the rescue crew that is now underground. Officials say, if the miners are found alive, they will be able to bring them out the mine's main entrance. But the biggest problem -- and we have known about that since early this morning -- is the lethal concentration of carbon monoxide gas inside the mine.

Officials say what we need at this point are prayers.

Now let's go live to the church where the families have been waiting and praying.

Kimberly Osias has been there all day long and joins us now with an update -- Kimberly.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, as you can well imagine, the tenor has certainly shifted here at Sago Baptist Church.

These families have really been through a roller-coaster ride of emotions. They have gone through everything from sadness and heartache and some anger, some hopefulness, some anger again. And now these families are actually feeling hopeful once again. They are breaking bread together. I have been told that they just broke out into a chorus of "Amazing Grace," and they are praying for a miracle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OSIAS (voice-over): This is Sago Baptist Church. On a good Sunday, it usually seats about 300. But, these days, the pews are packed. Huddled in blankets, they stick together. They are family members. They are friends. And they all feel connected to these 13 men, if not by blood, by a shared history.

Terry Goff knew fire boss Terry Helms for years -- he's one of the men trapped -- even bought his first motorcycle from him. They used to laugh together, hoists some beers. Today, Goff can't hold back the tears.

TERRY GOFF, FRIEND OF TRAPPED MINER: I want him to come out. He was a good friend. He don't deserve this. All of them are.

OSIAS: Twenty-seven-year-old Randal McCloy, father of two, knew the risk of going down deep. He even talked about ditching his job and starting something new.

ANNA MCCLOY, WIFE OF TRAPPED MINER: He just wanted to get into another career and just to let the mines go. It was just too dangerous and it wasn't worth it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OSIAS: You know, these families, Paula, have been in the coal industry for decades, multi-generations, in fact. They knew the inherent risks. They knew what could happen, but they just never wanted to believe it could happen here.

ZAHN: And, Kimberly, you have walked us through this horrible roller coaster of emotions they have been through today. And when you talked about this wall of anger that surfaces, is -- is that directly related to these very public records of previous safety violations at this mine?

OSIAS: It's twofold, Paula.

I mean, these families say, they want the truth, they want answers, and it wasn't coming in. The information wasn't filtering in to them fast enough. To some degree, there were undercurrents of the safety issues. But, as people got heated and emotions rose, they were told to leave, not to talk about it in the house of God, to get outside and to vent outside.

ZAHN: And one can only manage what is going on inside this Baptist church at this hour. But, as you saw people heading in there, what did their state of mind seem to be?

OSIAS: Well, I have spoken on and off to people that are actually in there.

And, you know, as I said, I mean, as you can well imagine, I mean, it is truly just the whole spectrum of emotions. And they -- you know, they're -- they're very labile, some of these families, their emotions very fresh and raw and on the surface.

You know, I would talk to -- to one wife. She didn't want me to bring her name up. But she started laughing, because she certainly could recall some wonderful moments, and, you know, saying that she wanted just to touch her husband again. And then she would break out into tears, and thinking it was all despair.

And, you know, it's -- it's just a touch-and-go situation -- Paula.

ZAHN: Well, we certainly are all hoping for the best.

Kimberly Osias, thanks so much for the update.

And one of the trapped miners is Terry Helms. His son, Nick Helms, traveled from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to see his family through this rescue.

And I spoke with him just a few minutes ago, as he was headed into the Baptist church.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: I know that you and other family members of trapped miners have been called into the Baptist church. What do you expect to hear?

NICK HELMS, SON OF TRAPPED MINER: Hopefully, good news.

You know, we are -- we haven't slept much, ate much, you know. Volunteers have been great. We're just wanting to -- I'm just wanting to see my dad again. I want some good news.

ZAHN: And do you think you have gotten some good news today, in terms of the pace at which this rescue operation is moving at?

HELMS: They -- they have moved very quickly. And, you know, everybody's wanting them to move a little bit -- a little bit faster but, you know, they did -- they did a heck of a job.

ZAHN: Besides this wrenching wait, what has been the toughest part of all of this for you?

HELMS: Ah, just the waiting game.

It's -- you know, you -- you kind of feel helpless. And, you know, I haven't seen my dad in around seven months. And -- and, you know, this -- this isn't how I wanted the homecoming to be. And I -- but I -- I will take it, if -- if that means that he walks out of there.

ZAHN: And you have that hope, don't you?

HELMS: Oh, I most certainly do.

I'm -- I'm trying to keep it together the best I can. I -- but we will see after this -- this next conference.

ZAHN: It's extraordinary to watch you and other family members and -- and hear the folks who are running the rescue operation saying that you must have hope, until all hope runs out.

What has kept you positive during these really long hours of limbo?

HELMS: Well, obviously, my family, but, you know, I always think back to everything that my dad taught me. And, you -- you know, he's a strong man and a great man, you know? Like I told everyone else, he's something -- something that you would read in a book, you know, that you just wouldn't believe that a person could be -- could be such a -- you know, give the shirt off his back, with no questions asked.

And for him to be in the coal mines for 34 years, and all the experience that he has, I -- I'm sure that he -- you know, if he was able to do anything in that mines to save anyone else, he would be thinking of them before his self, but, hopefully his self, too, to keep them safe.

ZAHN: Over the years, how much have you worried about your dad's very challenging work in the mines?

HELMS: You know, whenever I was little -- excuse me -- it never really dawned on me. As I got older, you know, I was worried, worried sick.

I had a friend's dad that was killed in a -- in the coal mines whenever I was in college. And -- and, you know, I drove two hours straight back home and -- just to make sure he was all right. You know, every day, every time that I talk to him, just recently -- the last time I talked to him, last Friday, you know, it's -- it's always, be careful at work, and, I love you.

And, you know, it was -- you know, ask him about work and make sure -- you know, try to give myself peace of mind.

ZAHN: The public, it seems, for the first time, is getting a clear picture of the multiple notices of safety violations at the Sago Mine. How troubled are you by that, and are you angry by the record there?

HELMS: You know, honestly, I haven't really thought about it.

You know, the only thing that -- that anyone here is thinking about is -- is getting -- getting my father and other miners out safe and back to their families. You know, I will worry about that stuff after I see my dad.

ZAHN: Well, he certainly has taught you some valuable lessons about courage and -- and generosity of spirit.

Nick Helms, thank you for your time, and our thoughts are with you and the rest of the family members, as you wait this all out.

HELMS: You're very welcome.

ZAHN: And good luck. Thanks again for your time.

HELMS: Thank you. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And, of course, as soon as we get some news from the Baptist church where Nick and the rest of the family members are meeting, we will go right back to Kimberly Osias for an update.

But, right now, let's get to the site of the Sago Mine, where the rescue work is now going on.

Brian Todd has been there all day long. He joins me now.

So, Brian, what is your understanding of just how far into this mine the rescue workers are at this hour? And how much further do they need to get?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, right now, we're told that the rescue teams are a little more than 11,000 feet into the mine.

That would be, according to the mining company officials, about 1,000 to 2,000 feet away from where they believe the miners are located.

Now, according to the timetable they gave -- and this was about three hours ago -- they were three to five hours away from possibly reaching the area where the miners were. That would put it at about two hours from now, according to their projections.

But they're being very cautious about that. And any messages of progress during this rescue effort from these officials are clearly tempered.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Each time they come down from the mountain, the men who run this ill-fated mine give a picture of contrast. Rescue teams are working furiously, but the result hasn't changed.

HATFIELD: We believe we can get there, if the crew has managed to barricade themselves and kept themselves protected from the toxic fumes. Certainly, with each hour that passes, the -- the likelihood of a successful outcome diminishes. But our efforts move forward as quickly as we can, and we're fervently determined to do our very best to get to them.

TODD: Pushing into a mine that runs two miles in and 260 feet deep, rescue teams have been hampered by the presence of noxious gases and broken ventilation structures, supports inserted between tunnels to create air passages.

Drilling has been temporarily suspended while rescue teams work in nearby shafts. But there are encouraging signs.

HATFIELD: We are close enough now where we remain confident that, if they're there and -- and things are -- are in good shape, then we would certainly bring them out the mine portal. We are clearly in a situation where we need a miracle. But miracles happen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Indeed.

And one thing that these officials are not addressing so much in these news conferences is the safety record of this mine. In 2004, the injury rate at this Sago Mine was three times that of other similar-sized mines in this -- in the United States.

In the last six months of 2005, this mine reported 12 roof cave- ins. And 168 safety violations were cited in three different reviews between April and December of 2005 -- Paula.

ZAHN: Brian, we were hearing one of the men involved with the management company that operates this man -- mine -- talking about the possibility that these men are so experienced -- nine of these 13 miners with over 30 years of experience a piece in mining -- might have barricaded themselves in where there was good air.

Tell us a little bit more about how realistic those prospects might be, or unrealistic.

TODD: You get a sense, Paula, that, with each hour that passes, and each briefing we get, they are less and less optimistic about finding these men alive.

The time lapsed is simply too daunting at this point. They do say, however, that at the points where they drilled in and they found the presence of carbon monoxide, sometimes at very lethal levels, the positive sign is, they haven't found the miners there. That tells them that, possibly, they got to another section of the mine where they were able to find good air.

And, as you just mentioned, most of these guys are very experienced. One of them has at least 30 years experience in here. Maybe, by instinct, they moved to a place where they had good air. That's what they're clinging to right now. ZAHN: And I guess the other thing that is interesting, as this news has gone back and forth today, Brian, is the fact that they have told us that these rescue workers -- and you have just mentioned this now -- 1,000 feet away from where they believe the miners are, have traveled with their breathing apparatus on their backs, but haven't needed any air.

What exactly does that mean?

TODD: Well, what it means is that -- that, first of all, they have to go very, very slowly.

And what the president of the mine company, Ben Hatfield, told us a couple of hours ago was that they are just simply very cautious, because they don't know that whatever caused this explosion in the first place won't still be present in the mine.

Carbon monoxide is really something they're fearful of. Other noxious gases are still in there. It's almost an inch-by-inch process. They don't know, around the next corner, whether they're going to encounter some kind of pocket of gas.

They have everything they need, as you mentioned. They have gas masks. They have all sorts of other equipment to help them navigate their way through. But it is just a very tenuous procedure right now. And the gases are their main obstacle, they say.

ZAHN: And, Brian, before I let you go, has anybody had the opportunity to talk with any members of this rescue crew who have come out from the mine?

TODD: Not as of now. We hope to soon. Their experience is invaluable.

Their -- their training is incredible. They are much more highly trained than the average coal miner, much more specially trained than the average emergency responder. So, their perspective in this is going to be key.

And I think that, when we do get a chance to talk to them, we will know more about the causes of this explosion. Again, the mining company officials are saying they don't know what caused the explosion. The levels of methane gas in this mine were very low when they went in. The methane is often what triggers these things. And they are really at a loss to explain what caused this in the first place.

ZAHN: So many questions to be answered tonight.

Brian Todd, thanks so much.

Please, stand by, because we will be coming back to you throughout our hour tonight.

We have been telling you about the efforts to reach some of those 13 trapped miners, but we want to take a moment now to tell you about who some of these men are that they're looking for.

Randal McCloy, 27 years old, of Simpson West Virginia, you heard about him in Kimberly Osias' piece at the beginning of the hour. Also, Terry Helms, 50 years old, he's father of Nick Helms, with whom I just spoke to a couple of minutes ago.

Some of the other miners whose names we know, Alva Martin Bennett, 50 years old, Jim Bennett, 61, Jerry Groves, 57, George Hamner Jr., no age on him, David Lewis, 28, Martin Toler, 50, Fred Ware Jr., 59, Jack Weaver, 52, Marshall Winans, 49 years old.

Once again, we are told that nine of these 13 miners are very experienced. And you have heard one of the people who helps run this mine say they will continue to have hope, until there is no reason to have hope. So, everybody's praying tonight for what they are hoping will be a positive outcome.

Coming up, though, the question we're told many of the miners' families are asking tonight: Why did this coal mine safety record look so bad?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HATFIELD: This is a mine that has operated for some significant time before my company even had involvement with it. So, much of the bad history that you're talking about was beyond our reach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: So, the question tonight is, what does a close look at this mine's record reveal? Disturbing answers are coming up in a little -- little bit.

And we will be back with more on the trapped miners in just a moment. Please, stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HATFIELD: It is our goal to keep hope alive while there is hope. And we -- and we don't want to discourage anyone that -- that believes we can get there. We believe we can get there, if the crew has managed to barricade themselves and kept themselves protected from the toxic fumes.

Certainly, with each hour that passes, the likelihood of a successful outcome diminishes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told him that I appreciated the great outpouring of compassion from the West Virginia citizens toward those worried family members. I also assured him that the federal government will help the folks in West Virginia any way we can to bring those miners out of that mine, and, hopefully, in good condition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: President Bush earlier today, after he spoke by phone with West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin.

It has been more than 37 hours since 13 miners became trapped in the Sago coal mine West Virginia. And this drama may be very close to ending tonight, as rescue crews move deeper into the mine and closer to where those miners are believed to be.

This is the nightmare each person in a mining community lives with every day, and we know the family members of the miners have been called into the Baptist church in the -- in the town where this mine exists to talk. We talked with a couple family members going into that meeting. They weren't sure what to expect. And we are waiting to hear from those family members. When we have an idea of what they talked about, we will share that with you.

But it is a grim part of the mining culture.

And joining me now is Joe Johns to tell us more about life in a mining town.

Joe, it seems that these families, obviously, have to accept this risk day in and day out.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Paula, that's true.

There are people who have spent generations in these mines. Their fathers, their grandfathers, perhaps even their great grandfathers, went into the mines day after day, week after week, year after year. And, so, the question becomes, why? Why do they go into those mines? Why do they go, when they know that the ceilings can collapse?

Well, we talked today to a number of people down in this town in West Virginia -- among them, a man who spent 28 years in the mines in West Virginia, 28 years, until just about nine months ago. He decided to give it all up, retire. And now he's running a hot dog shop down in Buckhannon, West Virginia -- also, to a schoolteacher who just spent about the same amount of time teaching mostly young men who grew up and came down to the mines.

We talked to them about the economics of coal mining.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY HORNBECK, FORMER COAL MINER: Well, you get in a rut. And when you get into coal mining, you might think, well, I will try it for a while. And then the next thing you know, it's five years, 10 years. And the first thing you know, I'm too old to get out. And that's what happens to a lot of the guys. JOHN PATTERSON, SCHOOLTEACHER: Kids can, you know, leave school and get very high-paying jobs, you know, $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 a year, right out of -- right out of high school without too much education, just a lot of training. And it's just a -- you know, it's a good livelihood for these people. And they want to provide for their families. So, they -- they take chances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So, the story behind the story here is that there has always been, for years and years, a love/hate relationship between the miners and their families and the coal mines themselves.

Many, many people have said for years, they love the money, but they hate the risk -- Paula.

ZAHN: And, when we're talking about the money, we're talking about jobs in the mining industry that could pay twice the average state wage, right?

JOHNS: That's right, twice the average state wage.

But, at the same time, there are a lot of people in these mining communities who don't make as much. So, it's a little tricky. Some mining communities do very well, $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 a household. Of course, that's very good money here in West Virginia, when there's a lot of poverty -- Paula.

ZAHN: Joe Johns, thank you for giving us some insights into how these families live every day of the week.

We just wanted to remind you, we continue to wait for any new information from the rescue crews, who are now, we are told, within perhaps as close as 100 -- or -- excuse me -- 1,000 feet of where the trapped miners are.

And a reminder of the tone of some of the remarks we continue to hear from folks in charge of the rescue, saying it is their goal to keep hope alive while there is hope -- and, just recently, the governor of West Virginia had this to say to reporters, that, of course, officials were very disappointed by some of the information they have received thus far today.

But they remain determined to continue the search as long as hope remains. And hope remains.

We continue to wait for word from the Baptist church, not too far from the Sago mine, where family members have been gathered to meet. We are not sure what they are being told. But when we have any idea of what they have learned, we will share it with you.

We will also get to our report on this particular mine's safety record. Why does it look so bad?

Stay right here. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: And welcome back.

We continue now with our reporting on the ongoing rescue operation to get to 13 of those trapped miners at the Sago mine in West Virginia.

And to get a better idea now of some of the stress the miners' families could be feeling right now, I'm joined by Kathleen Hall, president of The Stress Institute, author of "Life in Balance," someone who has been exposed to the coal mining industry through her own family.

Kathleen, thanks so much for joining us.

KATHLEEN HALL, PRESIDENT, THE STRESS INSTITUTE: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: We -- we heard Kimberly Osias' heartbreaking report at the top of this hour sort of describing this emotional roller coaster these families are on, where they get a glint of hope. Then, they feel tremendous anger. And, then, some feel what they think might be a false sense of hope.

How much stress are these families under, as they wait for any word on the fate of their loved ones?

HALL: Well, Paula, this is about the most stress that any human could ever face in their life, to tell you the truth.

These people deal with enormous chronic stress on a daily basis, these families do, every day, knowing that your father, your husband is going down into these mines. But this is one of the most horrible things that you try to repress. Something you never want to think about has happened to these people.

So, they are under incredible stress. And chronic stress is very, very, very serious. But we have to see -- again, we're holding out hope. So, we have to see what happens to these families.

ZAHN: You just used the word hope, which we have heard a number of people involved in the rescue operations, as well as family members continue to say. We hope, we're hoping for a miracle, we believe miracles can happen. How important is hope in all of this as these families endure now some 36-hour plus hours of waiting?

HALL: Hope is incredibly Powerful, Paula. It's incredibly powerful that they are there gathered together as a family, as a community, and as a team. And there's also a physiology. There's a biology to hope, literally.

We create 100,000 chemical reactions a second in our brain. Very powerful, what we think. The placebo effect, which is how you think or believe in something, is as much as 40 percent. So the hope that these people have is tremendously powerful right now. ZAHN: The hope may be powerful but the fear has got to be just as palpable. How realistic do you think these family members must be, each time they're called to this Baptist church to be told there might be more information on the fate of their loved ones?

HALL: Well, I think it's kind of like being in the ocean and having one little white life preserver and you hold on to that life preserver and you hold on to it and hold on to it, which is hope. Every time they're called back into the church I think they let go of it for a few moments and it may slide three to four feet away from them, but the minute they don't get news, they hold on to it again.

So right now it's every single thing they have. I know after working with critically ill people, Paula, in unbelievable dire circumstances for almost two decades, hope is a very powerful thing. Whatever happens, God forbid, whatever happens happens, at least they have this time of hope and power that they are drawing together on strength.

ZAHN: One can only imagine how these rescue workers are dealing with all this, just a final thought on what they endure as they try to save these 13 men.

HALL: Absolutely. They have got every single chemical in their body pumping for hope, trying through unbelievable odds against them. We'll see later, you know, depending on the circumstances afterwards, a lot of them will feel all kinds of guilt or anger or fear. But we know that right now hope is what is driving them past eating, past sleeping, and that tremendous community effort that they have together is very, very powerful right now.

ZAHN: The governor of West Virginia repeated some of what you just said, saying we will search - continue the search as long as hope remains, and hope does remain tonight. Kathleen Hall, thank you for joining us tonight. Really appreciate your insights.

HALL: Thank you.

ZAHN: Again, we are awaiting word tonight on the rescue team trying to reach the 13 trapped coal miners in West Virginia. We are told they are making progress that they could be as close to 1,000 feet away from where they believe these miners might be trapped.

We are going to break into our programming the moment there is something new to tell you. Please don't go away. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Once again, we are awaiting word from the Baptist church from Sago, West Virginia, where family members of the trapped miners have been gathered. We're not sure exactly what they're being told. As soon as we have information from them, as well as the latest on the rescue operations, we will bring that to you.

But just a heads up as we move along now, tonight's "Eye Opener" deals with a very mature subject and very graphic content. You might want to send your kids out of the room for this one.

It's all about a growing and, many people think, alarming trend. When you check into a motel, you expect to see other travelers, but imagine the shock if you found you were next door to a convicted sex offender, maybe dozens of them in the same motel.

It's possibly, you may have, because right now paroled sex offenders are being assigned to live in motels and hotels across the country, the same places you might stay when you take your family on vacation. We asked our Thelma Gutierrez to look into this. This is what she found out in tonight's "Eye Opener."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ: When you check into a motel, do you know who's in the room next door? The answer may frighten you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any access to these individuals is potentially explosive.

GUTIERREZ: Redwood city, California, 2005. A motel guest asks a worker to bring clean towels to his room.

CAPT. SCOTT WARNER, REDWOOD CITY POLICE: She went to hand it to him and he tried to lure her into the room. At first she refused to come into the room. He actually grabbed and forcefully brought her into the room and shut the door behind them and blocked her exit to the room. She screamed. And told him to let her go.

GUTIERREZ: Instead, the man turns up the volume on the TV to drown out her cries.

WARNER: He was very forceful when he put the rag in her mouth. Actually caused some injury to her mouth.

GUTIERREZ: The motel worker was held against her will for four terrifying hours.

WARNER: He committed a number of sexual assaults with the victim, oral copulation, digital penetration, false imprisonment.

GUTIERREZ: It turns out the motel guest was well-known to law enforcement. He's 35-year-old Raymond Lewis, a high-risk registered sex offender. Prosecutors described him as a walking time bomb.

WARNER: His history has been to assault people that he knows.

GUTIERREZ: Lewis, a parolee, lived in the motel after serving a 14-year prison sentence for a brutal rape.

An isolated case? We found that Raymond Lewis is just one of hundreds, possibly thousands of registered sex offenders on parole who live in California motels. Motels that benefit from their business.

Take the city of Lancaster, for example. A suburb of Los Angeles. A quick check on California's Megan's Law Web site and we were able to pull up at least seven motel on a small stretch of the Sierra Highway that registered sex offenders call home.

Guests come and go and have no idea who's behind the door next to theirs. And no one, not law enforcement, not the motel's owner, is required to tell them.

On this half mile stretch of Motel Row in Lancaster, we found 14 convicted sex offenders who legally live in motels here. Like this convicted child molester.

Just down the street, another convicted child molester who also served time for child pornography. Not far away at this motel, a guest hangs his laundry on a wall near the swimming pool. He's on parole following a conviction for a violent rape.

We check into one room to follow the story. The maintenance man let's us in. We later find out that of 15 room in this motel, four of them, nearly 30 percent, are occupied by registered sex offenders.

CHARLES BOYER, MOTEL MAINTENANCE EMPLOYEE: We know the background of everybody that stays here, and we watch them. And because they're parolees, parole office is constantly here, if not every night, every other night, watching what's going on.

GUTIERREZ: That may be true, but chances are even if you check into one of these places, he would never expect a registered sex offender to be living next door.

Marty O'Neal is chief deputy of the Los Angeles County Department of Parole.

(on camera): Currently there is no requirement that either the parole department or that the business owner put any kind of a disclosure up in that place of business.

MARTY O'NEAL, DEPUTY CHIEF, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: That is correct.

SGT. DAN SCOTT, SHERIFF, LOS ANGELES: I'm not sure, you know, how successful it would be to put signs up, you know, at a hotel because the hotel owners have a right to run a business, too.

GUTIERREZ: Sergeant Dan Scott says disclosure is a sticky issue.

(on camera): What if they don't know and they just happen to stop off one of these small motels. Do they have the right to know?

SCOTT: Where do you put signs? Do you not allow them to go to a shopping center or to a mall or to an amusement park or to a water park? You know, they're out there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rape, sodomy.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Marty O'Neal says his probation staff has the tough job of monitoring the county's 2,600 parolees, including sexual predators on parole. They're subject to random checks like this high-risk offender who lives on motel row, convicted of the savage rape of a child.

O'NEAL: My gut reaction is going to be the exact same as anybody. This is -- I wouldn't want to stay at this motel. I wouldn't want my wife or my daughters or my grandkids staying at this motel. I don't think anybody would.

GUTIERREZ: Remember the maintenance man with keys to our room? His name is Charles Boyer. We learned he's one of four registered sex offender whose lives in this motel. When somebody sees Charles Boyer's picture of the Internet and it says lewd and lascivious conduct with a child under 14, you can understand why they would have concerns about you having keys to their hotel room.

CHARLES BOYER, MOTEL MAINTENANCE EMPLOYEE: I do understand that.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): Do you feel that you deserve a second chance?

BOYER: Yes, yes. I committed a crime 20 years ago and I committed that crime. I haven't been in jail or done anything since.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Boyer's no longer on parole and says he makes an honest living.

(on camera): Do you think this person should hold a keys to all the rooms?

SCOTT: Definitely not.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Sergeant Dan Scott says living in a motel as an offender is one thing, but holding keys should be off limits.

SCOTT: You're putting a key, a pass key in the hands of a convicted child molester and trusting him to be alone and go into rooms where children may be sleeping alone, parents may go down to the pool? Very dangerous situation.

GUTIERREZ: But like it or not, O'Neal says the reality is, in Los Angeles County, some 300 convicted sex offenders are released on parole each month. The department's policy is to find those sex offenders some type of housing, even motels, no matter how awful their crimes.

O'NEAL: What I hear a lot is place them elsewhere and I have no place else to place them.

GUTIERREZ: And that's where small struggling motels come into the picture. O'Neal says if parolees have no other place to say, the Department of Parole will pick up the motel tab, up to $500 a month to help get them on their feet.

BOYER: These small hotels actually offer a service. When you get out of prison, you're given your time, you do your time, and you're supposed to be able to start a new life. And with all the new laws and stuff, it's hard to do. I am in full support of 90 percent of the stuff that they've done, but they make it extremely hard for people that are trying to change their lives.

GUTIERREZ: That's just what Boyer says many of these parolees on motel row are trying to do. But as we saw in the case of Raymond Lewis, who is now serving a life term for raping that motel worker, California corrections officials say more than half of all sex offenders will reoffend. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Lancaster, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: So here's the bottom line here tonight. If you want to know if there are registered sex offenders living in a motel, here's what law enforcement recommends. Go to the Megan's Law Web site in your own state and enter the motel's address before you check in.

In just a minute we're going to take you back to West Virginia. We're going to find out more about the status of rescue efforts underway there as we are told rescue workers could be within 1,000 feet of the trapped miners. What is happening now outside the coal mine as well with families who are now gathered at the Baptist church not far from that mine. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: And we turn back to our top story now, the rescue efforts underway to get to those 13 trapped miners who are now into some 37 hours of waiting since the initial explosion. And we're going to go back to Brian Todd, who is our man on the scene in just a moment.

But first, let's go to Rachel Day who is the daughter of the pastor of the church where many family members of those miners are gathered right now. Rachel, thank you so much for joining us. What's going on inside the church right now?

RACHEL DAY, DAUGHTER OF PASTOR: Well, right now folks are just holding on to the little bit of hope that they do have left. They're not going to give up until it's all said and done, I guarantee you. Around here, folks are very strong. And they're stubborn whenever it comes to this kind of thing. And they told strong to what they believe, and they believe there's still plenty of chance for a miracle. And I know there is, because until God says it's done, it's not going to be done.

ZAHN: So would you say for the most part, as stressed out as family members are and as tired as they are, that they're pretty positive about what the outcome might be here?

DAY: They're very positive. Even last night, even towards the -- almost towards bedtime, I went and played piano. We was just singing. And we was just doing traditional hymns. Anything just to find of soothe everybody.

And it just seemed for that bleak moment that we forgot what happened outside of the church because we were just enjoying each other's company, knowing we was there for moral support. And they are still very hopeful. ZAHN: Rachel, it was about three hours ago that a news conference was held, where we were given the latest information on rescue efforts and then family members were called a little over an hour ago into the church. Some of them expecting some kind of an announcement. Were they told anything new from that period of time since the news conference?

DAY: OK, honestly I would not know that, what they're doing is just letting the immediate family pretty much go to hear those conferences within the fellowship hall. So really everybody else, they either have to speak with the family members later to hear about that or just, you know, call family later, if they can even get signals. Signals are pretty much impossible out here. So they're just kind of going on blind faith right now hoping everything will turn out OK. Like I said, they're holding on with everything they've got.

ZAHN: We have seen so many portraits of strength among these family members. They certainly are strong. They've got to be so tired and we certainly seen this emotional wave that they've been feeling. Just a final thought on what these folks are collectively being put through here as they wait and wait and wait.

DAY: It's really -- I think part of it is the struggle of their faith. They're really sorting out what do I believe in. I know they believe in their family members or they still wouldn't be at the church, still praying for them, hoping and believing they will come out. I know whatever the verdict they're still going to know that everything happens for a purpose. And that it was going to be God's will, whatever it was.

ZAHN: Well, Rachel, I know you've been exposed to it all, particularly through the very difficult work that your father has to do, trying to keep hope alive and trying to keep people focused on the potential of a miracle here. We really thank you for your time and appreciate your sharing your thoughts with us tonight.

DAY: Just keep them in your thoughts about prayers. That's the biggest thing you folks can do.

ZAHN: The whole nation is doing that tonight as they were since the time we heard about this explosion there. Again, thank you, Rachel. Appreciate it.

ZAHN: Just ahead, we're going to move along to the disturbing questions about mine where this accident happened. What are some of the problems of this mine in the past and what's been done to fix them, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: We continue to watch and wait for any word on the fate of the 13 miners trapped in West Virginia's Sago coal mine. And just in from our own Brian Todd is word that from the West Virginia state police that there will be a news conference just about a half hour from now. We have no idea what might transpire at that news conference. As soon as that starts, we will go there live. Right now, the big question tonight, behind this disaster, is whether the Sago mine was safe in the first place.

Kathleen Koch has been looking into that question all day long.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HATFIELD: We have no interest in getting into the finger pointing or who's responsible for what or what went wrong a year ago.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): But the questions aren't going away. And as this tragedy plays out, executives who just bought the Sago mine in November find themselves increasingly on the defensive.

HATFIELD: So much of the bad history that you're talking about was beyond our reach and ability to control.

KOCH: Executives insist conditions at the mine are steadily improving. In a volatile work environment, hundreds of feet below the ground, federal and state inspectors make continuous safety checks. The record at the Sago Mine, 68 citations were orders for alleged safety violation in 2004. The number more than tripled to 205 in 2005, 96 were considered serious and substantial.

(on camera): Was this mine safe?

DAVID MCATEER, FRM. DIR. MINE SAFETY: Their injury rate is three times the national average. Again, it's another indication that the program we have in place isn't working and that you're having more accidents than you should.

KOCH (voice over): The Sago mine reported 11 accidental roof collapses in the last six months of the year. International Coal Group bought the mine in November and insists safety has improved significantly.

The government can close a mine if it's deemed unsafe. That's one major reason some miners are reluctant to complain even if they are aware of safety shortfalls. Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And coming up next, we're going to take you back to West Virginia as the rescue operation continues. What exactly is going on right now and what are the miners' families being told. That's coming up next. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: We go back now to the painstaking effort to rescue 13 West Virginia Coal miners even with officials acknowledging with every hour that passes the chances aren't looking very good. Let's go to Brian Todd for the very latest in Tallmansville, West Virginia. How far have they proceeded now, these rescue teams?

TODD: Paula, they've proceeded more that 11,000 feet into the mine. At last word they were within 2000 feet of where they believe the miners were. We just got word, as you reported five minutes ago, that there is going to be a news conference upcoming in the next few minutes, less than 20-25 minutes from now. So we do expect a break in the case sometime soon.

ZAHN: Tell us more about what these rescue workers have encountered as they've gone further and further into this mine.

TODD: They say the biggest obstacle they've encountered are the noxious gases that they've come across, carbon monoxide and other gases.

ZAHN: Brian, hate to interrupt you. We have breaking news confirmed by The Red Cross and Reuters News Agency. Is it not the news any of us wanted to hear, that one body has been found in the West Virginia mine. Some 36 hours after that initial explosion.

We have a woman named Tamilla Swigler (ph) said that the body has not been identified yet. The rescue workers have not yet located the other miners. Not what any of us wanted to hear. CNN will stay with the story throughout the night.

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