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The Situation Room
Sharon Clings to Life; Legal Battle Over Jesus
Aired January 05, 2006 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time, happening now.
Seven p.m. in West Virginia, where for the first time we're hearing from a miner who escaped the blast. How was he able to cheat death when 12 others died?
Here in Jerusalem, the Israeli prime minister clinging to life after a stroke. But back in the United States, the religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggesting he brought it on himself.
And in Italy, there's now a lawsuit to determine if Jesus really existed. One man suggests the Roman Catholic Church has wrongly pushed people into believing in Jesus for 2,000 years.
I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
I'm in Jerusalem tonight, where the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is on life support, and doctors are not sure if he'll ever fully recover. This after Sharon underwent nine hours of surgery following a severe stroke. Already, people here are pondering a time without their leader.
We'll have much more on Mr. Sharon's condition, what it means for the peace process, for U.S. interests in this part of the world.
First, though, tonight we're hearing what it was like for the first time in that West Virginia coal mine at the time of the explosion. It led to the deaths of a dozen men, but more made it out alive, including one whose brother was among the victims.
CNN's Brian Todd is live for us tonight from the scene in Upshur County, West Virginia, with an extremely compelling story -- Brian?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, as the families of those miners wait for results of the investigation, one family is dealing with an incredible emotional contrast tonight.
Earlier today, I spoke with a miner who survived that explosion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Owen Jones looks out over these hills and thinks about what he lost and what he could have lost. Jones was deep inside the Sago Mine early Monday morning, not far behind his older brother Jessie.
OWEN JONES, MINE BLAST SURVIVOR: There was no warning, no nothing, just an incredible amount of air, more than what you can possibly imagine, and dust and you could not see. It absolutely blew me -- I got up on the man trip to try to get off and get out of it somewhere, somehow, and it blew me off of it.
TODD: In the darkened chaos, Jones says he collected himself and was able to walk out of the mine with the rest of his crew. They all knew with carbon monoxide swirling around how dangerous it was inside.
JONES: They begged me to go, but I said, I got a brother in here. I want to see if -- I got to stay. I want to see if there's anything I can do.
TODD: Jones says he and some others pushed back inside slowly, but the air was too poisonous to breathe and he couldn't get close enough to save Jessie.
(on camera): Forgive me for asking this, do you feel any sense of guilt that you got out and your brother didn't?
JONES: You always feel that. It's going through my mind like a tape recorder just over and over. I should have tried this, wish that I could have done that. Yes. It hurts you.
TODD (voice-over): Jones says he's worked these mines for 16 years, his two older brothers even longer. He does not believe Jessie died instantly.
(on camera): What do you think he was doing in his last moments?
JONES: Probably thinking of his family, his daughter and all -- he was a good dad. He loved his little girl very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Owen Jones told me neither he nor his brother ever expressed any doubt about the safety of this mine before this accident occurred. Owen Jones does not blame the mining company for the accident or the response to it. And he says that they are just waiting for results of that investigation as everybody else is tonight -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting.
Thank you, Brian.
Tonight, some of the families of the men who died say they're taking some comfort from the contents of a note written by one of the victims before he died.
CNN's Kimberly Osias is also in Upshur County, West Virginia. She has details -- Kimberly?
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, obviously details are still coming in.
But what I can tell you is at least one miner wrote one hand- written note, a last minute missive from deep down below.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OSIAS (voice-over): We may never know exactly what happened during the more than 40 hours that passed before rescue crews reached the miners.
But now, there are clues.
Relatives say one of the 12 men who died in the Sago Mine left behind a note to his loved ones.
While no details have been released, the note apparently sought to reassure the family that the men weren't suffering.
Bill Rogers, whose brother-in-law died in the mine, says the note seems to indicate the men were, quote, "going to sleep." He tells me that their only comfort would be that there was no suffering.
The victims were found more than two miles into the mine, behind a plastic barrier they put up to keep out carbon monoxide gas which rescuers found elsewhere in the mine to be at very high levels.
People overcome by carbon monoxide fall unconscious before dying from lack of oxygen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Kimberly Osias reporting for us.
Thank you, Kimberly.
The sole survivor of that disaster is being moved from Morgantown, West Virginia, to a hospital in Pittsburgh, where doctors hope treatment with a hyperbaric oxygen chamber will help his very serious condition.
Our senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us live near the scene of the disaster.
How is this sole survivor doing based on the information the doctors are releasing, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, I've been gathering a lot of information about him.
Not as optimistic today as doctors were yesterday. A couple of things to think about.
Multiple organ systems, including his kidneys and his liver, perhaps his lungs as well, are not doing as well I think as doctors had hoped. That's what I'm hearing from some of the doctors I spoke to today, as well as what everyone heard at that press conference. Most concerning, though, is that he has actually been transferred to another hospital in Pittsburgh, Allegheny General Hospital. The purpose is to get him into a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, to actually take this chamber and force oxygen into his body.
That's the goal of the therapy over there. It's kind of late. It's been a couple of days now. And this is an effort to try and get some more oxygenated blood, if you will, Wolf, into his body.
BLITZER: So, the situation is obviously very, very critical right now.
But I assume that they have the kind of treatment in Pittsburgh that they didn't necessarily have in Morgantown, West Virginia.
GUPTA: Yes.
You know, it's interesting, Wolf, one of the therapies potentially for carbon monoxide poisoning is a hyperbaric chamber. And I know that it's sort of been tossed around since the time that Randy was actually brought out of the mine.
But now, a couple of days later, he's actually for the first time going to get some of this hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
It seems that it wasn't clear exactly how much the carbon monoxide had affected him. But over the day yesterday, over the day today, he still has not really woken up, despite the fact that the sedation medication is no longer being given.
So the hyperbaric oxygen is another attempt to try and -- hopefully, try and get him to wake up somewhat, Wolf.
BLITZER: Let's pray for the best.
Sanjay Gupta.
I spoke with his sister earlier in the week, on Monday, and he sounds like simply a great, young 27-year-old man.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta reporting for us.
Here in Jerusalem, the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is gravely ill. He's on life support right now. And Israelis and Palestinians are now beginning to contemplate a future without the man who's loomed so large over the Middle East for decades.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): With Ariel Sharon clinging to life, the country he leads is on the edge of the unknown.
In recent days, chaotic violence in Gaza and rocket fire from Lebanon into northern Israel.
It was Ariel Sharon, once nicknamed "The Bulldozer," who made the stunning decision to uproot Israeli settlements from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. That earned him hostility from Jewish settlers who once adored him.
When I met with him last April in Washington, he left me with this haunting remark.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: In Israel, I would say the atmosphere is an atmosphere that looks like on eve of a civil war. But I can tell you that I'm going to take every step in order that a thing like that will not happen.
BLITZER (on camera): When you say a civil war, you mean Israeli Jews fighting Israeli Jews. That would be almost unheard of in Israel.
SHARON: I suppose I would say during the last revolt (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER (voice-over): Ariel Sharon is not leading Israel right now. His powers have been transferred to his deputy, Ehud Olmert.
Sharon fell ill as Israel was in the middle of a political upheaval. He had left his conservative Likud Party to run for re- election as the head of a new centrist faction.
Should he pass, there will be a scramble to see who will lead Israel.
EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI ACTING PRIME MINISTER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This is a difficult situation to which we are not accustomed.
BLITZER: And what of the Palestinians?
Some cheer his illness. But their elected leadership fears Sharon's departure would derail peace efforts. They've sent wishes for a speedy recovery.
SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: The competition to replace Mr. Sharon may be through the escalation of more settlement activities, more walls, more (UNINTELLIGIBLE), more, you know, fait accompli policies of Israel. And we really have concerns about this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And later this hour, I'll speak live with the secretary -- the former secretary of state, Madeleine Albright. Get her sense of what Sharon's grave illness may mean for peace in the Middle East.
Let's go up to New York right now, Jack Cafferty, standing by with "The Cafferty File." Hi, Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, we are pleased this evening to bring you more mutterings from evangelist Pat Robertson. On his television show, the "700 Club," he suggested that Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. The founder of the Christian Coalition also called Sharon a, quote, "Delightful person to be with," unquote.
But he said he was basing his views on the Bible and the Book of Joel. Here are some of Robertson's previous greatest hits. He once called for the killing of Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez. He said that activist judges are probably a more serious threat to the United States than, quote, "A few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings," unquote. And he warned hurricanes would hit Orlando, Florida, because gays and lesbians were celebrating Gay Pride Month at Disney World.
These are all true, boys and girls. We don't make this stuff up. So here's the question. What kind of Christian is Pat Robertson? You can e-mail us at CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile. Wolf?
BLITZER: All right, Jack, thanks very much. Jack Cafferty in New York.
Coming up in THE SITUATION ROOM, rumors swirling around the Internet about whether journalists were wiretapped by the U.S. government. We're getting to the bottom of it. We'll have details.
Plus, did Jesus exist? The battle in Rome underway right now, over the basic foundation of Christianity. It's about to be in the hands of a court.
Also, what really caused the mine explosion in West Virginia? We may have some new answers. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem. We'll get back shortly with more on the very delicate situation surrounding the health of the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon. First though, let's go to Washington. CNN's John King is standing by with other important news. John?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Wolf. Back to you in just a moment. But get this. There are questions circling around the Internet whether chief CNN international correspondent Christiane Amanpour was wiretapped by the U.S. government.
Today we've been trying to get to the bottom of this. Our national security correspondent David Ensor will join us in just a moment with what he's been able to find out. But we begin with Internet reporter Jacki Schechner, who's been tracing this rumor online. Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: John, here's how this went down. NBC's Andrea Mitchell did an interview with James Risen, a "New York Times" reporter and author who's been talking about the NSA spying issue. Her entire interview, which never aired, by the way, that transcript was posted online.
Now, John Aravosis at AMERICAblog got a reader's -- a reader got his attention and said you should take a look at this. He did, and in particular, a portion that Andrea asked Risen if journalists had ever been spied on by the NSA and in particular, Christiane Amanpour.
Now two hours after John found that, that portion of the transcript was no longer online, the particular portion that talked about Christiane Amanpour. NBC officially issued a statement, which was posted online in this blog, TVNEWSER.
Let me read you that statement: "Unfortunately, this transcript was released prematurely. It was a topic on which we had not completed our reporting and it was not broadcast on "NBC Nightly News" nor on any other "NBC News" program. We removed that section of the transcript so that we may further continue our inquiry."
Now this was not enough for blogs who wanted to know more. It swirled around the Internet. They wanted to know was Christiane Amanpour ever spied on by the NSA, and more importantly the questions they are asking is why did Andrea Mitchell ask this question and what ramifications, if any, would this have on Christiane Amanpour. John?
KING: Very interesting, Jacki Schechner. And our national security correspondent David Ensor, as we noted, has been also looking into this story. He's here with more on what he's found. David?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, I'm told considerable man hours today when into making sure the answer to CNN would be accurate. A senior U.S. intelligence official tells us that our colleague Christiane Amanpour has never been targeted by the National Security Agency, and nor has any other CNN journalist.
Now the NSA, as you know, is the eavesdropping intelligence agency, the U.S. government's big ear. And from time-to-time, the official says wiretaps overseas or other intercepts turn out to include Americans or what they call U.S. persons, which includes people who work for U.S. companies and does so inadvertently.
But in the NSA finds it has tape and transcript of such a person, by law, it is required to be immediately erased, deleted, gotten rid of. U.S. intelligence officials rarely comment on who they may or not have collected information about. But because of all the Web blogosphere attention this was getting today, this senior official was willing to look into it for us. And to be quite clear in his denial, frankly I get the impression the NSA is as puzzled by Andrea Mitchell's question and by NBC's decision to put it out on the Web as we were. John?
KING: So David, quickly, just once more -- if they did pick up this conversation that it's part of this data mining, they're listening to all conversations. They mention certain subjects and a U.S.-based correspondent might come up, but then they would destroy it.
ENSOR: Those are the laws, and the laws are being followed, I'm told.
KING: David Ensor, reporting for us on this, shall we say, mysterious story.
And coming up, we'll have much more of the day's news. But now, let's turn it back over to Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem. Wolf?
BLITZER: Thanks very much, John.
Today, the president of the United States met with a circle of foreign policy advisers, but not the ones you may think of. The president met with former secretaries of state, former defense secretaries, Democrats and Republicans, even some who have been highly critical of his handling of the war in Iraq.
They talked about the road ahead in Iraq. Among others -- among those at the meeting, the former secretaries of state Colin Powell, of the president's first term and Madeleine Albright, from the Clinton administration. The president says he did not do all the talking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've also had a chance to listen to their concerns, their suggestions, about the way forward. Not everybody around this table agreed with my decision to go into Iraq, and I fully understand that. But these are good, solid Americans who understand that we've got to succeed now that we're there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Even as they were talking, there was more slaughter in the streets of Iraq today. At least 130 people are dead, including five American soldiers. CNN's Michael Holmes is in Baghdad. He's joining us now live with all the details. Michael?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hi to you, Wolf. Yes, the end to one of the worst days in fact since the start of this war, a devastating, bloody day. One condemned by the U.S. embassy and the Iraqi prime minister and others, and one yet endured again largely by ordinary Iraqis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): Panic, tears, and body bags. Hopes that political progress in Iraq would temper insurgent activities seemed forlorn on Thursday. More suicide bombings, more deaths, as a spike in attacks continues following a brief lull after last month's national election.
The targets, familiar: Iraqi security forces, U.S. troops and religious sites. Organized, focused attacks, designed to fracture a nascent democracy.
The highest death toll, in Ramadi, west of Baghdad -- hundreds of would be police officers lined up for screening. Officials say a suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body. At least 80 people dead, according to Iraqi hospital officials, and dozens wounded.
Further south, in Karbala, for the first time in more than a year, an attack at the site of one of Shia Islam's holiest places. Blood, chaos, body parts littering a pedestrian walkway, that runs between the Imam Hussein and Imam Abba (ph) shrines.
Police say a suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt amid crowds of the faithful. At least 45 of them died. Twice that number were wounded.
While the Iraqis bore the brunt of today's violence, coalition forces were targeted, too. Five U.S. soldiers on patrol were killed when their armored Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb. Including Wednesday's bombings and killings, the death toll in little more than 24 hours, more than 175.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Three car bombs here in Baghdad too, Wolf, no one killed, several injured. This spike in violence coming, of course, after the largely peaceful announcement, that many Sunnis feel was less than fair, and just days before we could see provisional results of that election announced.
The fear here, of course, is who wins what, and perhaps more importantly, who loses out could lead to more bloody attacks -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Michael Holmes in Baghdad, thank you very much.
Still to come here in THE SITUATION ROOM, an intriguing story out of Rome. Did Jesus actually exist? The question may be answered now in court.
And later, Brian Todd talks with a miner who narrowly escaped death when that West Virginia coal mine exploded. It's a dramatic story. You'll see it right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight from Jerusalem, where we are watching the grave condition of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. More on that coming up.
Meanwhile though, a very unusual and controversial lawsuit unfolding in Italy. A judge there has ordered a Roman Catholic priest to prove Jesus existed.
CNN faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher is joining us now live From Rome with more. Delia, what's going on in this case?
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, what's happened is an atheist is taking his case to court to prove that Jesus didn't exist. He claims that the Catholic Church in the early centuries tried to legitimize this new religion by making up the story of Jesus, inventing it.
And he says that this breaks an Italian law, which should protect people against being conned. So, he is suing a local parish priest, who wrote about the historical Jesus in his parish newsletter. And he says that it's this parish priest who is the representative of the Catholic Church who is breaking this law. This is the man he's taking the court.
The parish priest has hired a lawyer. He's prepared to defend his position, should the case go to trial. This case has been thrown out twice before. It's going back for a third time at the end of January. And, the atheist says if he's not successful, he's willing to take it to the Hague.
Now, I spoke to both men this evening. The parish priest told me, he's not sure why he's the one being singled out to defend this position, and he thinks that the atheist might be better taking it up with the pope -- Wolf.
BLITZER: What proof is out there, that potentially could be put forward in a courtroom?
GALLAGHER: Well, it's essentially an academic debate, Wolf. This atheist has gone and done his research. He claims that there are inconsistencies in the early documents, in the early writings of Jewish and Roman writers that were around at the time of Jesus. He says they don't mention Jesus. The gospel writers who do mention Jesus were not eyewitnesses to the events of Jesus' lifetime.
So he claims that these discrepancies in the early documents are the beginning, at least, of what he feels is a cover up by the church and the early writers in the church to create this myth of Jesus which he says is a composite character of earlier historical figures.
BLITZER: All right. We'll watch and see what happens in the courtroom. Delia, thank you very much. Delia Gallagher in Rome for us tonight here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
And just ahead, he escaped the mine disaster that claimed his brother's life. We'll hear more of Brian Todd's very emotional interview with a survivor sharing his story.
Plus, what religious broadcaster Pat Robertson has to say about the ailing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon here in Jerusalem that's raising so many eyebrows, not only here but around the world. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight from Jerusalem, where we are watching the grave condition of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Have more on that, that's coming up.
But let's go back to West Virginia right now, and that probe into the Sago mine disaster that is now under way. And one thing investigators will be closely looking into is the possibility that lightning caused the explosion inside the mine. CNN's Tom Foreman is joining us tonight with more on this part of the story. What are you learning, Tom?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I've been looking at this all day long. This was one of the early suspicious about this. There was a very fierce lightning storm in that part of West Virginia at the time of the explosion. Investigators at the federal and state level have confirmed to me they are looking at this closely.
The issue seems to be, and one theory that is being kicked around is that lightning hit a gas well above the mine, and followed the metal pipe down into the mine, causing the explosion.
What we know is this: The official time of the explosion now, from federal investigators, is approximately 6:30 a.m. CNN has confirmed that there were two lightning strikes very close to the site of the explosion at 6:26:35, well within the window that could put them as the causes for this explosion.
It's just a theory. And we will have much more about it tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." I hope you will join us then.
BLITZER: We certainly will, Tom. Thank you very much.
Meanwhile, a memorial service is being planned for the 12 men who died in the mine disaster. It's tentatively set for January 15th.
CNN's Brian Todd talked to one man who came close to becoming another victim. Brian is joining us now live once again from Upshur County in West Virginia -- Brian.
TODD: Wolf, Owen Jones is a very conflicted man tonight. He's thinking a lot about what he lost and what he could have lost. Here's part of my conversation earlier today with Owen Jones.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Can you give your account of what happened in the mine on Monday morning when you and your brother went in?
OWEN JONES, MINER: Well, they go in first, because they're (INAUDIBLE), and I pulled up with the mantrip right behind him like we always do. But the mantrip I had I didn't realize was too small to haul all my crew in. So I went and took it back in the yard to switch out, hoping for a bigger mantrip. By that time, they then started in ahead of us and was not in our sight, even the whole time we got up to where the explosion has happened.
We got to the switch, to our section where we break off and go up to our section, and my miner operator, Roger Perry, got out to throw the switch. And when he sat back down, there was no warning, no nothing. Just like an incredible amount of air, more than what you can possibly imagine, and dust. And you could not see. It absolutely blew me -- I got up on the mantrip to try to get off and get out of it, somewhere, somehow, and it blew me off of it. It made me -- I was standing there and it made me walk four or five feet forward before it ever stopped blowing.
When I opened my eyes from all the -- you could not see nothing, just dust. It was so dark that you could -- with your light looking down at the ground, you couldn't even see the ground hardly.
TODD: Was there -- you say there was just air and dust and smoke.
JONES: There was a little bit of heat, but not very much.
TODD: Did you hear anything? Was there a big blast?
JONES: You couldn't hear nothing because of all the air, the force of the air. It just -- I don't know how to even describe it. Like you hear a freight train going by or how they talk about the hurricanes -- or tornadoes, just something like that.
TODD: What did you do then?
JONES: Just hollering. We were all hollering at each other, making sure everybody was all right. And everybody hollering, "We need to get to the intake."
Everybody -- because you couldn't see nothing. Everybody was just trying to get to the fresh air, is all I'm saying.
TODD: And then what did you do? Were you able to walk out?
JONES: Yes. I told my men, once we got to the fresh air, I told them to get outside, walk to the intake. I said, I'm going to stay.
They begged me to go, but I said, "I've got a brother in here. I'm going to see if there's -- I've got to stay. I'm going to see if there's anything I can do to see if I can get up there somehow, some way." And they begged me to go because we all knew it was carbon monoxide. My detector went off immediately after all that.
So I waited there in the fresh air, and back and forth the track. Plus, I called outside from a telephone and told them we have an explosion in here, get help in here right now.
TODD: Carbon monoxide was what was keeping you out.
JONES: Right.
TODD: There was no debris wall or anything like that, no collapsed roof or anything?
JONES: No roof fall, but it blew stoppings out, yes, it did.
TODD: Do you think you could have done anything else to try to get to them?
JONES: No, not without the -- no, you're just putting your own life in danger, and anybody else who goes in there.
TODD: Forgive me for asking this. Do you feel any sense of guilt that you got out and your brother didn't?
JONES: You always feel that. It's going through my mind like a tape recorder just over and over, wishing that I would have tried this, wishing I could have done that. Yes, it hurts you.
TODD: What do you think he was doing in his last moments?
JONES: Probably thinking of his family, his daughter, and all -- I mean, just -- I don't know, just everything. Everything that you possibly could think you would think.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Owen Jones says he does not blame the mine company for the accident. He says the company, International Coal Group, did the best it could to respond to it, and he doesn't believe they could have gotten to the miners any sooner than they did.
Now, we want to give you an update on the condition of the lone survivor of this disaster, Randal McCoy -- Randal McCloy, excuse me. There's a news conference going on in Pittsburgh right now to update his condition there at the Allegheny Medical Center where he was transferred earlier today. Doctors there at Allegheny say that Randal McCloy is stable, but he is in critical condition. He's just undergone his first treatment in a hyperbaric chamber -- that is for his neurological condition. They say that he will undergo two of those treatments per day -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, we wish him only the best. Thanks very much, Brian Todd reporting. Good work, as usual.
Coming up, I'll speak live with the former secretary of state, Madeleine Albright. I'll ask her about the possibility of what happens next in Israel without the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Also about her meeting today with President Bush over at the White House.
Also, Pat Robertson suggesting that Ariel Sharon brought his illness on himself. We'll tell you what the religious broadcaster is saying.
And will it be California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's finest hour? In about 30 minutes, he will tell Californians about the state of their state. We'll have a preview. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem, where we're watching the grave condition of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after he suffered a sever stroke.
Meanwhile, we are also closely watching the outrage some are expressing at religious broadcaster Pat Robertson. Today he suggested Ariel Sharon may have brought his illness on himself. Our Mary Snow is in New York. She's got more on this story -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Pat Robertson's made the comments earlier today. As you said, they are being met with outrage. We've taken excerpts from the Internet where his show broadcast can be found, which explains why it might look a little different.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): With Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gravely ill, televangelist Pat Robertson suggested Sharon's stroke was brought on by God's wrath. On the Christian Broadcasting Network program "The 700 Club," Robertson said the man was dividing God's land.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAT ROBERTSON, RELIGIOUS BROADCASTER: I'm sad to see him in this condition, but I think we need to look at the Bible, and the Book of Joel. The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who, quote, "divide my land."
SNOW: While he didn't say it directly, some say Robertson was referring to Sharon's peace deal to withdraw Israeli troops and settlers from Gaza. Robertson didn't stop there. He also said it was, quote, "the same thing in the case of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated for his peace efforts.
ROBERTSON: I had a wonderful meeting with Yitzhak Rabin in 1974. He was tragically assassinated. It was a terrible thing to happen, but nevertheless, he was dead. And now Ariel Sharon, who is, again, a very likable person, a delightful to be with -- I prayed with him personally, but here, he's at the point of death.
He was dividing God's land. And I would say woe onto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the United Nations, or the United States of America. God says this land belongs to me. You'd better leave it alone.
SNOW: A representative for Robertson said the Christian televangelist did not direct any personal antagonism toward Ariel Sharon whom he says he likes. He says he was simply referring to what is in the Old Testament's Book of Joel.
Earlier, on THE SITUATION ROOM, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., expressed outrage and compared Robertson's words to the type of rhetoric one would expect to hear from the Iranian president.
DANIEL AYALON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Such things are very outrageous, and while I would expect this only from people like Ahmadinejad in Iran, who is so outrageous and irresponsible, and I think that there were some comments like this from him. I wouldn't expect it from any of our friends.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: Back in August, Robertson caused an uproar when he called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He later apologized but compared him to Hitler and Saddam Hussein -- Wolf. BLITZER: Mary Snow reporting for us. Mary, thank you very much.
As we reported earlier, President Bush today welcomed to the White House some foreign policy experts outside his usual inner circle. They discussed Iraq's future. One person who attended the meeting was the former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She's joining us now live from Washington. Madam Secretary, how did the meeting go?
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I think it was a very interesting meeting, Wolf, and I was very glad to be invited. President Bush welcomed us, and then, we were briefed by our ambassador to Iraq, and by General Casey, on the political situation, and the military situation. And I'm glad that this kind of a meeting took place. I just hope it's not the only one, because it took a long time to have this kind of a meeting.
BLITZER: The president was clearly reaching out for some outside advice, including some from critics. You've been critical of some of his policies. What did you tell him?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I believe, Wolf, that it would have been dishonest of me to be on television and criticize the president, and the administration's policies and then to be in a room with him and not say what I thought.
And so I did say that I believe that the war in Iraq was a war of choice, not of necessity, but getting it right is a necessity, and not a choice, and that I didn't know anybody that didn't want us to be able to succeed in Iraq, but that we had a long way to go.
And I made some suggestions about creating a contact group of the regional powers to help, and to make clear we didn't want to have permanent bases there. So I said what I thought.
And, additionally, Wolf, I took advantage of the time to say that I was very worried about the position of the United States internationally, that Iraq was taking so much energy, and that I was very worried about Iran, and North Korea, the situation in the Middle East and especially now with Prime Minister Sharon's illness, Latin America, our relations with Russia and China. So I did say what I thought, and the president listened to what I had to say.
And then, at the end, as you showed the clip, he did say there were people in the room who had disagreed with him. So, I think he was probably referring to me.
BLITZER: Speaking of Ariel Sharon, he's clearly gravely ill. Most people here don't think he's going to be able to return as prime minister of Israel. What does this mean for the peace process? You spent a lot of time working on it when you were secretary of state and earlier when you were U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
ALBRIGHT: Well, there wouldn't be a worse time for this to happen. I think Prime Minister Sharon has taken a very bold stand on trying to deal with a very complicated issue of the Middle East, and he took a great stand on the withdrawal from Gaza. He had done, really, a political miracle in terms of trying to keep a coalition government together.
There is a period that will be one, I'm afraid, of increased turmoil, and the question about the timing of the Palestinian elections now, so I think he has played a crucial role, and his absence, from the scene is a very, very serious setback.
BLITZER: Did this subject come up in some specific detail during your meeting with the president today?
ALBRIGHT: No, it did not, Wolf, which I must say surprised me. But I think that there was a desire to stay focused on Iraq. I was the one who mentioned that I saw problems, and not enough attention being paid, and the problem now with Prime Minister Sharon's illness.
BLITZER: Did you want to offer the U.S. government, the Bush administration, the president, some advice right now? What the U.S. should be doing in the days, weeks and months ahead with this situation in Israel -- the political situation, certainly, in some sort of flux?
ALBRIGHT: Well, I think it's very hard for us to interfere in the political process, because this is a time that the Israelis have to work it out themselves. But I hope very much that we would say that the road map is, and the process is very important, that the Palestinian elections are very important, and that people should not try to aggravate the situation in any way, and that it would be very important to try to develop coalition policies.
But it's not a good time for the United States to interfere in terms of Israeli domestic politics. I think that keeping track that goes on the peace process is what's very important, so that there's not a setback at this time. And Prime Minister Sharon's absence will be very much noted.
BLITZER: Madame Secretary, thanks, as usual, for joining us in THE SITUATION ROOM. Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of state.
Let's find out what's coming up right at the top of the hour. Paula Zahn standing by in New York -- Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf. Thanks so much. Just about 11 minutes from now, we will take a look at some of the aftermath of that mining tragedy out of West Virginia. We expect our Chris Huntington to be at the Pittsburgh area hospital where Randy McCloy, the lone survivor of the West Virginia coal mine explosion, is now being treated. We will have the very latest for you on his condition.
I will also be talking with West Virginia's governor, Joe Manchin. He was at the mine the night of the big communications breakdown, when people thought the miners, in fact, had been found alive. Please join me for that conversation. There are a lot of questions that needed to be answered, and the family members are demanding that. And we hope to get some of those for them tonight -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Heart wrenching story all around. Thanks very much, Paula. We'll see you at the top of the hour.
Up next, the California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger only moments away from delivering his State of the State message. The political subtext, the state of Arnold Schwarzenegger. We'll take a closer look. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
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KING: Just minutes from now at the top of the hour, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to deliver his state of the state address. It's his third, but the first he's delivering from shaky political ground. CNN's Chris Lawrence is live in Los Angeles for us now with a preview. Chris?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, in just a few minutes the governor is going to tell voters how he plans to rebuild the state's infrastructure, the highways and levees that make California go. But the bigger challenge is to rebuild his own image. To regain some of that popularity before he's up for reelection.
JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: The governor of the great state of California.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): He arrived in office as the hero from Hollywood. But the reviews since have not been good. From the voters, they're restless.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Schwarzenegger definitely will have a day of reckoning.
ARNOLD STEINBERG, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: There's an old joke that even the best star in Hollywood needs a good director. And this is the case of a guy who somewhere along the line hasn't had the right director for this administration.
LAWRENCE: Conservative political strategist Arnold Steinberg says the Republican governor's advisers had him cutting deals early on, while his popularity was at an all-time high.
STEINBERG: Then tried to negotiate tough when his numbers were going downhill and he had fewer chips to put on the table.
LAWRENCE: Schwarzenegger called legislators, quote, "Girlie men" and made enemies of the teacher's union. Voters resoundingly rejected all of his ballot measures in a recent special election.
GOV, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I take full responsibility for its failure. I take full responsibility for everything.
LAWRENCE: But Schwarzenegger is still, well, Arnold Schwarzenegger. And Steinberg says some California voters feel sorry for him. STEINBERG: It seems in Congress, here you have this giant of a guy, this Terminator, this macho guy, that he could get any empathy at all. And right now there's a little bit of it. And I think it's going to grow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Now, to do that, some analysts say he may have to open up his office a bit more. Schwarzenegger has been criticized for insulating himself with people who only tell him what he wants to hear. Analysts say while that may work in Hollywood, it won't when you're the minority party in a state like California. John?
KING: Chris Lawrence, live for us tonight, on a big night for California. Chris, thank you very much.
And Wolf will be back from Jerusalem in just a moment. But first, our Ali Velshi is live for us now in New York with tonight's "Bottom Line." Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, John. Coal mining, we've been talking a lot about that. It is a tough job, but someone's got to do it. America is the world's largest coal producer, and it's facing a serious shortage of coal miners.
Now here's why. Until recently, coal prices were in a slump for almost the last 20 years. We're actually going to do it this way so that you can actually hear what I'm saying. Coal has been in a slump for about 20 years. Back in 1978, American coal mines employed about a quarter of a million workers.
Now by 2003, that number had bottomed out to about 63,000. But dirty as it is, and I have got some of it here, bituminous coal. Coal is actually staging a comeback. It's employing nearly 80,000 workers now. It's a cheap fuel, and America has lots of it. Coal is burned to create half of America's electricity and with increased demand from China, the price of coal has been going up.
But the workforce hasn't. It's also aged. The median age of an American coal miner now is 46-years-old. They've let the baby boomers retire, and they've skipped an entire generation of workers.
Thousands of coal miners are going to be needed in the next decade, and this accident hasn't helped things. U.S. government has just granted Kentucky and West Virginia, the second and third-largest coal mining states $6 million to train and recruit new miners. Some of that money will fund state-of-the-art simulators, which are designed to make coal miners more productive and hopefully keep them safer. John?
KING: Ali Velshi, smooth as silk, putting that mike on. Thank you very much, Ali.
Jack Cafferty's question of the hour, and it's a controversial one, when we return.
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BLITZER: Let's go right to New York and Jack Cafferty for "The Cafferty File." Jack?
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Wolf. Pat Robertson suggested Ariel Sharon's stroke today was divine retribution for Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. So the question we're asking is: What kind of a Christian is Pat Robertson?
Cynthia writes from Lake Wales, Florida: An arrogant one. These people who tell us exactly what God wants or doesn't want, use the Bible to support their bigotry and ignore the teachings that don't, may be entertaining, but they really do keep hostility and discord alive. Enough people listen to him that he does a lot of harm.
Lanya in Vancouver, writes: Mr. Cafferty, your rude, disrespectful and disparaging remarks against a man of the Cloth, your senior, shows the ignorance and darkness of your own soul. You prove every time you speak against Pat Robertson and those with his views that you have no understanding of God, his Bible, the word of God, or his people. I suggest you be very careful what you say against a man of God, or against God's people. God will deal with you and you will wish that you had not done so.
Joseph in Stamford, writes: Witty comments aside, I am starting to wonder if Robertson is suffering from his age. His latest stream of hate seems extreme even for him. He has become the poster child for wing-nuts.
And finally, Gabriella in Brookline, Massachusetts: Robertson isn't a Christian, he's just pimpin' Jesus. If he didn't have a T.V. show, he'd be standing on a bench in the subway yelling these unintelligible things and people would just walk by and shake their heads.
Wolf?
BLITZER: All right, Jack, thanks very much. See you tomorrow. And that's it for us in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're on weekdays 4:00- to-6:00 p.m., 7:00-to-8:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll be back here tomorrow. Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem. Let's turn it over to Paula Zahn in New York -- Paula.
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