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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Mark Schweiker

Aired July 28, 2002 - 07:00   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: After three gut-wrenching days of not knowing, the word everyone wanted to hear. All nine are alive. Early today, one by one, the Quecreek miners were hauled to safety from a flooded coal shaft in southwestern Pennsylvania. Their first question, what took you guys so long?

Good morning, everyone. From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Catherine Callaway, and, boy, do we have great news for you this morning.

THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes we certainly do, especially if you're just waking up. What a Sunday. I'm Thomas Roberts. Thanks so much for being here and welcome to CNN SPECIAL REPORT on the miners' rescue in Somerset, Pennsylvania.

Now it all really came together last night about 10:00 when the drill from the first shaft finally broke through. Then they were able to lower this phone down. About 11:00 they got their first communication and they did, they said, what took you guys so long?

Our Jeff Flock, though, has been there all night, throughout the evening, to bring us the latest from there. And Jeff, really, the excitement from there was I mean beyond belief this morning at 1:00 when we saw the first miner come topside.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was incredible. I think reporters typically are competing each other were sort of smiling at each other at what took place last night. It was really an extraordinary night. It took place right here in this abandoned grocery store that has become the briefing center.

I want to show you guys the headlines. This is "The Post- Gazette" this morning and it's the headline, Catherine that you read there, the governor's words, "All Nine Are Alive". That's "The Post- Gazette" and then the local paper from Johnstown. That's "The Tribune Democrat." This, of course, is where the hospital is that a member of the miners was taken to.

Again, they're alive and those pictures, dramatic pictures that we watched live on CNN and you know that was the thing. The evening began without live coverage down there because I think in the back of everybody's mind was the notion that perhaps this would not end well. But incredibly, almost, all of our cynical opinions about the thing were shot to heck because miners started coming up out of the ground, and they came up almost so fast that we couldn't keep track of them.

All of it live on CNN. So let's take you back through last night and talk about how it unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. MIKE SCHWEIKER, PENNSYLVANIA: All nine are alive.

FLOCK: Confirmation from Governor Mike Schweiker of his wildest of dreams.

SCHWEIKER: All nine are alive, and we believe that all nine are in pretty good shape, and the families now know that. So, incredible.

FLOCK: Minutes earlier drillers punched through the last of 239 feet of rock into what they hoped was a pressurized refuge. Down the former air hole goes a two-way. Miraculously someone on the other end is there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is an undying faith there that these guys were coming out. I mean I never lost faith. I knew they were coming out.

FLOCK: At 1:00 a.m., 43-year-old Randy Fogle, complaining of chest pains, becomes the first miner out of the hole. Minutes later he is airlifted to the trauma center in Johnstown where we talked to his doctor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some patients in this kind of situation when they lay on one part of their body for a day or two they get breakdown out of their muscle and that can injure their kidneys. So we need to do a lot of -- a large work-up still on him before we give him a clean bill of health.

FLOCK: Not long after a live hookup is established with the drill site, and the families, America and the world watched them emerge one by one every 15 minutes or so, coal soaked and wet. One man amazingly even had some juice left in his headlamp. As they come up in a cage-like cylinder last successfully in a mine rescue in 1972, their names are read to reporters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Number two miner at 1:15 a.m., Harry Mayhugh. That's M-A-Y-H-U-G-H. Name Tom Foy, F like Frank, O-Y.

FLOCK: The rescuers plagued by broken bits and other setbacks along the way say they won't celebrate until all nine are lifted up. And with 41-year-old Mark Popernack, who apparently helped organize the group below, the last man does emerge.

SCHWEIKER: For the world to see, to be accomplished in such magnificent style makes it a beautiful ending.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLOCK: Indeed, a beautiful ending and it is one, sad to say, that a lot of us did not foresee and will now all begin to start unfolding last night. It was as if people couldn't even believe it. We're going to talk to the governor. He's pulling up in his car out there in the parking lot as we speak. We want to get his thoughts this morning.

It is -- it seems, Catherine, Thomas, that everything they did, the team that they put together here worked, from driving that first shaft down, which they put the air through, the heated air, which the doctors said was essential to their survival to drilling the big holes in the right place. It's amazing they found them. It's amazing they were able to get down there despite all the problems they had.

Amazing is the only word I think and extraordinary that really describes it all. So ...

CALLAWAY: You know, Jeff ...

FLOCK: ... there you go.

CALLAWAY: ... you put it so correctly when you said that we cynical reporters sometimes we're thinking the worst throughout this ordeal. I can't imagine that you saw anyone with more faith and that this was going to turn out well than the governor. He was incredibly optimistic throughout this entire ordeal.

FLOCK: You know I was talking with my colleague Brian Palmer on the way here about the governor's optimism, and we were kind of joking about that it was almost this foolish optimism, we thought because we knew that that wasn't the case. But you know it's funny I was making this comment last night to somebody, a man from "Coal Reader" (ph) newspaper, and I was making the point that well nobody thought that you know they'd be able to do this, and he brought me over a copy of his newspaper where they had The National Mine Rescue Contest coverage and you know, we practice this. We know what we're doing. And you know what? Here's a man who knew what he was doing when nobody else thought they did.

Governor, you look tremendously well. You got a shave. You're looking wonderful ...

SCHWEIKER: Yes ...

FLOCK: ... this morning.

SCHWEIKER: ... a couple of hours sleep and a shower ...

FLOCK: Did you actually get some sleep?

SCHWEIKER: I just said to the troopers on the way up here, I think I fell asleep. So ...

FLOCK: How are you feeling about what you accomplished out here?

SCHWEIKER: Oh, I feel it's going to take a little bit, but the thrill of our success and bringing up those nine guys far outweighs the shortcomings that relate to physical energy of myself. FLOCK: We were just chatting, those of us in Atlanta, about us cynical reporters and you know you heard it from a lot of circles. You know, this isn't really going to fly. You know you're making a good effort and you're letting the families know that you gave it the best shot. But you know what? There's very little chance these guys are -- we haven't heard from them since middle of the day Thursday. What made you have what, you know, we kind of called, us know it all reporters, called foolish optimism on your part?

SCHWEIKER: Sure, I had reasons to be confident. I mean ...

FLOCK: Did you know something we didn't know?

SCHWEIKER: No, no, not at all. We tried to impart very quickly and dependably to media and to family all that we knew. But I would tell you that I saw this growing assembly of the right equipment, the right insights and the right people in order to pull off the rescue, was a chance, you bet, there was always a chance there was some danger. But seeing that left me confident.

And I'll tell you the other thing that kind of fueled me through this, you know, the, you know, the folks from (UNINTELLIGIBLE), you know especially their top dog, Dave that worked with me right through this, said to me in a conversation that there was a 9-year-old who was found five days later and had subsisted. So in my mind it was done there successfully, it could be done right here in Somerset successfully. So because of that insight, that historical reference and the technical expertise that we had assembled and the game plan, it left me confident.

FLOCK: Everything you did was right. Everything that you did -- I mean you wrote a textbook out here, not to put too (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SCHWEIKER: Well I don't know if it will amount to a textbook, but I do feel that the decision to sink that six-foot pipe to -- accomplished a couple of things. One to allow the miners to be in a position to tapping on the pipe to say we're here; come get us.

FLOCK: That gave you some extra juice too. I mean ...

SCHWEIKER: Well ...

FLOCK: ... it was like we know you're here.

SCHWEIKER: That's right. It left us encouraged and certainly left them encouraged.

FLOCK: Now we're looking at the pictures that we watched, and you know the families watched these pictures. People across American watched these pictures. People across the world watched them as we simulcast them on our international networks.

SCHWEIKER: Yes.

FLOCK: You know when you look at this, what had to be going through your mind? SCHWEIKER: Nine for nine and it's coming true. A motto of sorts among the rescuers, especially the deep mine rescue team who may well had been facing the prospect of going ...

FLOCK: Going down there ...

(CROSSTALK)

FLOCK: You had guys ready to go into that hole.

SCHWEIKER: That's right and we had a lot of things at the ready, but you know their commitment, there are volunteers to go and do this and a host of others believe that it could be done, and so with that proper confidence that I mentioned a moment ago, the outlook was nine for nine. We're going down to bring up nine, and so as we bring them up, it's just a wonderful exemplar of and proof positive that we made good on the commitment, the nine for nine.

FLOCK: And they just kept coming. I mean they almost came so fast, we couldn't keep track of them.

SCHWEIKER: Well, it -- yes it did work, you know, remarkably smoothly at rescue shaft one and I mean you know I, we called it the round-trip time. What was the round trip to send down the rescue capsule and bring them back up and the round trip time seemed to average around four to five minutes, and you know I think that's an example of the -- what had been chancy made systematic. We worked hard and we had that 26-inch circumvent and even though we were concerned about ledges and holding up the rescue capsule, it ...

FLOCK: It never did ...

SCHWEIKER: ... was chancy. It worked out. It became systematic and had that five-minute round time, round-trip time.

FLOCK: Well they were watching in Atlanta, Kathleen (ph), Thomas I know -- or Catherine and Thomas, I know you were watching it as well.

CALLAWAY: Yes ...

FLOCK: I'm sure they have some questions they'd like to ask you too.

CALLAWAY: Yes we do. I think -- we're all just moved to tears about this Governor.

ROBERTS: Sir, I guess can you explain to us was there a point in all this where you actually thought about shifting something to a recovery mission as opposed to a rescue mission because the gentleman there who works so tirelessly on this crew never gave up hope. So you had -- you had to know something. As you said, you gave that example that you knew of the little girl that stayed in the mine shaft for five days and she was able to survive. So you knew that, and you were able to move forward.

CALLAWAY: I ...

FLOCK: You're not hearing that, are you?

SCHWEIKER: Not at all.

FLOCK: Unfortunately, he is not hearing that and ...

CALLAWAY: Well Jeff ...

FLOCK: ... I apologize for that.

CALLAWAY: ... maybe you can ask ...

FLOCK: But I will -- let me ...

CALLAWAY: Yes.

FLOCK: ... let me go ahead and repeat that question and that is I mean did you ever not think about saying, you know, we almost need to think about what we do if we shift to a recovery mission. I mean you were asked at one point, what if you go down in that hole and there's nobody there.

You said I'm not going to go there, but rest assured I have thought about it. Can you tell me now what you were thinking about that?

SCHWEIKER: Well, I thought it important as the lead dog, so to speak, to lay it down. This was going to be a rescue mission, and every remark, and every choice, and every expectation and every action was about being consistent with the rescue effort.

FLOCK: But if you ...

SCHWEIKER: Admittedly, with -- in confidential ways with the right people, we did contemplate what had to be done if it had shifted over to a recovery.

FLOCK: Right, and if you'd gotten to the bottom of that hole and there hadn't been anybody there?

SCHWEIKER: Well, it didn't project that far, but it, you know, we'd still be here lamenting likely the loss of nine good Pennsylvania miners, and that would hurt us all.

FLOCK: Go ahead, Catherine. I know you had something that you wanted to ask ...

CALLAWAY: Yes, I just want ...

FLOCK: ... as well and I'll go ahead and repeat that. Are you hearing now by the way?

SCHWEIKER: No volume.

FLOCK: Still not hearing, OK. Well, Catherine, I'll repeat it then, by golly.

CALLAWAY: Well, just please tell the governor that he has indeed set an incredible example of leadership for everyone. I'm wondering if he's heard from family members.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHWEIKER: Now I just need it turned up.

FLOCK: Turned up, I'll turn it up for you by golly. You know we did this all last night. We were sort of on the fly and Catherine, go ahead and talk, and I'll bet you he'll hear you.

CALLAWAY: Governor, can you hear me now? Governor? Well Jeff, just go ahead and ask him if he has been able to speak with any of the family members of ...

(CROSSTALK)

CALLAWAY: ... those who were rescued.

FLOCK: Catherine's asking about the family members. You had tremendous contact with them. You really stayed in touch and last night when we were doing our darnest to break the news that you'd punched through, you said by golly we're going to make sure those family members hear first. And I'm sure they're tremendously grateful for all of that, but give me a sense for where their heads are now.

SCHWEIKER: Well, I have not had a chance to be with them for a number of hours. I'm sure that it's just a wonderful feeling, being reconnected with loved ones, and you know I remember one of the guys coming up last night and I said yes, I met your dad. He said to me, make sure when you start that rescue work, you bring my son up and you bring him home. You know, I'm certainly not going to forget that kind of remark, and so, I'm hopeful that they are together right now.

And we had a chance in making that preference come true. But I can say this about the families' first principle. The idea there was to respond to the things that they had requested. You know they were not difficult folks. You know they were, they understood completely as to what was at stake and the associated dangers, but they said ...

FLOCK: They were prepared -- they were prepared for it to go ...

SCHWEIKER: They were prepared for the best and prepared for the worst. They said please keep us informed. Give us preference, and I'd like to think we held to that family first standard and gave them the preference.

FLOCK: Governor, boy I sure appreciate it, and I know everybody appreciates ...

SCHWEIKER: Thank you.

FLOCK: ... the leadership that you displayed here in putting this all together, because as I said, you guys wrote a textbook, and you were at the head of the class directing the guys writing the words.

SCHWEIKER: Well, if we made any history, and did the right things that may end up in a textbook it's because a lot of fine people using American ingenuity did their best and actuated those things and we succeeded, and that's an historical achievement, it may well represent.

FLOCK: I hear that. Sir, thanks ...

SCHWEIKER: Thank you.

FLOCK: ... and thanks for coming out when you're just about a wreck and dead on your feet.

SCHWEIKER: Thank you.

FLOCK: Thank you. Thanks.

CALLAWAY: Yes and Jeff ...

FLOCK: All right ...

CALLAWAY: ... we ...

FLOCK: ... that is the latest from here.

CALLAWAY: Jeff, we very seldom ...

FLOCK: Go ahead, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: ... get to report a happy ending to a story like this. I can't stop smiling, and I'm sure although you're tired, you've been there all night long, that you feel the same way.

FLOCK: Indeed. You know, we were talking because this community, Somerset County, was you know Shanksville. That was September 11. That was one of the plane crashes and this is what this community went through a very short time ago. So in some sense, they've had the other bookend, this incredible, wonderful success and so we just want to amplify on it. My colleague, Brian Palmer, is standing by, getting ready to talk to another one of the heroes here. Dave Hess, who is the secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and they've got quite a team here that did something that everybody needs to really be proud of ...

CALLAWAY: That's right.

ROBERTS: Well Jeff ...

CALLAWAY: Thank you.

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