Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Drillers Reach Trapped Miners; Countdown to Election Day

Aired October 09, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.

We're going to start with this news that we are on the verge of a breakthrough in Chile. We are told now, rescuers are just about seven feet or less away from getting to those trapped miners, miners who have been trapped since August the 5th, a couple of months now some 2,300 feet below the surface. They have been down there all this time.

We were told that possibly it was going to be until December when they got them out. But, we've gotten better news here in the past several weeks, even that the drill has been drilling this hole is going to pull these men out. Now, we're told is only a matter of feet away.

Now, what is going to happen now? You've got 33 men down there. There are still, even though they're very close to getting to where these men are, that doesn't mean the men are coming out immediately.

Very important to note that fact they're still going to be until Tuesday at the earliest before they possibly bring the first man up. But it could be another week or 10 days past that because they're trying to make sure, even though, yes, this is a big deal and a milestone that they're going to be able to breakthrough finally to where these miners are.

Still, this is a very dangerous procedure. They have to put these men in a capsule one-by-one and bring them up some 2,300 feet. That is just an historic feat they have not attempted before. Now you're looking at a live picture. I have that right. This is a live picture now, yes a live picture.

This is what's called Camp Hope, right outside of where all this work is being done. You have family members, well wishers, journalists have been collecting here for the past several months. They call it Camp Hope now. We're told by our reporter that, in fact, the anticipation, the excitement has been building because even though they know, that the rescue -- they're not going to see a man come out of this hole today. We know that.

But still, it's a milestone, it's a breakthrough that in fact they drilled this hole deep enough and they get to where these men are. This hole is about 21 inches across. This tunnel essentially that they had been drilling for some time, we're told they're going to breakthrough. This is essentially imminent at this point, a milestone, good news that these people have been waiting for.

Now the condition of these miners, 33 of these guys have been down there. Again, can you imagine being a half a mile underground for the past two months? And to give you an idea of that, that's about two Empire State buildings.

We see this guy celebrating with the arms up in the air. We can only imagine what that means. We'll wait for the official word. But folks we're seeing this live on the air just like you're seeing it right now. You see a bit of a celebration going on. The construction workers, the rescuers who have been at this for months trying to get these men out.

We were told they were just feet away. We got that word just a matter of minutes ago. But it looks like possibly just judging by the reaction there, they have something to celebrate. They're possibly celebrating a milestone in this rescue effort, which means they have drilled a 21-inch across hole, the hole, the tunnel that is going to be wide enough to bring these men up. We see this live picture now. We were told it's imminent, just minutes away.

You're seeing on the right side of the screen there how this process works. They've had to drill this hole. They had three different drills going, essentially. Plan A, plan B, plan C. Plan B was the one that was working best, got there first. But you see kind of an idea of how the men have been trapped down there in this particular shaft. And they've been essentially just hanging tight in that area for the past several months.

They've gotten food, they've gotten even cigarettes, they've gotten medical supplies, they've gotten everything they've needed. They've been able to be in touch with their family members via video hook-up that was set up for them, as well. So they thought they had the men stable health wise. They were also looking after their mental capacity, trying to keep the men up, you know, keeping them mentally sharp, as well. Because can you imagine being that far down for two months at a time?

They were told possibly they weren't going to come out until December, but they were able to expedite this process a little better. It went ahead of schedule. So it looks now -- is this another live picture I'm looking at here guys? This is another live picture. You see scramble, you see activity going on.

Family members have been holding vigil here for the past several months and you see all this activity. This is what's called Camp Hope. The whole nation of Chile has really been supporting these men, supporting these families for all this time. You see these flags. It really has been a national story that everyone thought might end up in a national tragedy, but it has shown in some ways to be a triumph for the people of Chile who have all surrounded this family, who have all come here around these men, as well.

Now the other live picture we saw a moment ago, we saw workers celebrating. Now, I'm looking at several live pictures here, as well. You see the one on your right there as well. But there's movement activity you can only imagine.

We haven't gotten the official word. We do have several of our reporters and crews, they're live at Camp Hope. But we haven't gotten the official word, but we can only make the -- the best educated guess we can by seeing the construction workers who are standing there throwing their arms in the air in celebration and it appears that maybe what was imminent has finally taken place and what that is is that this drill has finally made it through to the shaft to where these men are.

So the drill has now reached the men. The tunnel is dug that will be able to bring these men up. We're also getting help in the coverage of this story from our sister network CNN International. I want to dip over to them for just a second.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN ALL PLATFORM JOURNALIST: What they'll do next probably today is -- as early as today possibly tomorrow is put a camera down that hole and really take a long, hard look at the hole they just drilled.

They know the top 100 meters need to be reinforced. The rock there is too jagged, too unstable. It could hang up that rescue capsule and be very dangerous. How much more do they need to put into this heavy steel reinforcement casing? (INAUDIBLE).

So even with all the excitement today, this rescue operation is entering its most dangerous phase and officials have always said here, John, that if they don't get every miner out safe and uninjured, it will not be a success.

So today, obviously, you can see the initial celebrations breaking out, but some serious work up ahead of these miners. And the ordeal is not over yet, but soon.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Patrick, you've been at this so long, can you explain the relief that these people are feeling right now? They've broken through. They're not even actually getting to the point where they're getting these miners out. This is obviously a significant moment for the families and the relatives and the friends who have been waiting on the surface.

OPPMANN: It's easy to say that this one is one of the happiest days of the lives of all the family members of the 33 trapped miners. They have been waiting. They have been told initially that they didn't know if the technology existed. That it could be months, it might not be until Christmas until the breakthrough.

But that breakthrough has taken place, taken place much earlier than they thought. And there were so many setbacks. Now we're hearing the louder sirens from inside the mine go off, some of those heavier sirens.

It certainly appears, John, that what we thought was going to happen any moment and (INAUDIBLE) told us about a half an hour ago that it would take place in a half an hour or so, certainly seems that what we were told would happen has happened, loud sirens ringing in the distance.

But getting back to your point, John. What family members here feel -- it's been such a roller coaster ride. They've had days where incredible progress was made and then days where drills break. Things that were supposed to be sure fixes have broken.

It's been such an up and down experience, but people have never lost hope. Some people sleeping on the ground here night after night, putting up with incredible discomfort to be as close to their family members as possible.

And very soon, they'll be with them. They'll be able to hug them and hold them. What an incredible moment for these people, what an incredible moment frankly for us to be near and be able to cover.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Stay with us, Patrick, because for our viewers in the United States who are joining us now, we'd like to recap exactly what has been happening at Camp Hope in Chile in Capiapo, Chile.

We have just had word, we have heard the sirens that there's been a breakthrough in the rescue tunnel which is being dug to reach those 33 miners who are trapped 600 meters below the ground. This is 66 days since their mine collapsed above them. They've been trapped under there for more than two months.

Three plans, three rescue efforts have been going in tandem. Plan B, Tom, Dick and Harry if you like from the great escape, but plan B is now the one which has broken through and there are scenes of joy and excitement and jubilation as that siren sent off a national outpouring of joy as they breakthrough and have finally reached the 33 miners who are trapped below.

We are speaking with our Patrick Oppmann who has been here pretty much since the beginning of this ordeal and he's describing to us, the joy, the outpouring of joy for those people who have been waiting patiently with a great deal of anxiety and uncertainty aboveground for 66 days now.

Patrick, you were saying to us earlier, though, that this is now a breakthrough, but the most dangerous part of this rescue is yet to come.

OPPMANN: It's really a transition. These men have spent the last two months really where they've been. And they've been helping out with the rescue attempt. They've been very -- there hasn't been any change in their status ever since they were found 17 days after this mine collapse. And now we were entering to a very different phase. Now this completed rescue hole, a rescue capsule has to be sent down and these men will have --

HOLMES: Again, we've been listening in to CNN International and a couple of our reporters there. We're sharing those reporters right now, but I can continue to share these pictures with you.

You heard a little bit about the excitement that's taking place there now. But this is still a long road ahead for these miners and still a lot of danger. You see their pictures kind of scrolling through we have on the bottom right of your screen. But the live pictures are of the activity that's taking place right now in Chile.

To catch our viewers up on what's happening. And we're waiting to get our Karl Penhaul on the line. He's been covering this story for some time for us but he's there at Camp Hope, as well. You see people sharing hugs even. You see all this in the pictures and activity, yes.

This is a big deal that they were finally able to make this breakthrough. The breakthrough being that they were able to finally get this tunnel down to the men. They've been able to breakthrough. So the tunnel that's going to put the capsule into that the men are going to get into and bring up to the surface, the tunnel has been dug, they broke through to where the men are. That is a big deal.

As you continue to see a live picture of the hugs and the activity. But I need to remind you, as well, that this is still a very dangerous situation. And we're treading on some territory that we haven't ever had to deal with before. Because a lot can still go wrong. Even after this hole has been dug, they're going to send down a medical person.

They're also going to send down a rescuer to check out the men and then they'll start bringing them up one-by-one. When they put them in this capsule, they'll have a phone with them. They can call if there's some kind of problem.

But they need to make sure that this 2,300-foot tunnel essentially they've dug is secure. They need to make sure that there's not fear of another type of collapse. They need to make sure that there's not rocks or dirt or anything else falling on to it that could leave the person they're trying to bring up, could leave them trapped in that capsule.

So there's so many other things that can still go wrong. This is still a very dangerous procedure that has to take place. So they are, yes, this is a time to celebrate the breakthrough. But still, a lot of these folks know right now that this is not over just yet.

We have our Karl Penhaul, like I said who was there for us in Chile at Camp Hope. And Karl, I know you're on the line with me here now. First of all, we can get into the details about what's going to be coming later with this rescue. But if you can, if you can -- when we check in with Penhaul in just a second. We had him on the line, we'll get him back, as well.

But I do have Paul I'm told -- who do I have on the line? Vic. Forgive me, Vic Pakalnis, who is on the line with us who is a mining professor at Queens University in Ontario.

We appreciate you hopping on the line with us as this is happening. We have him live with us. I appreciate you, but we're going to continue to watch these live pictures. I'm going to talk to you about what this process has meant, quite frankly. Is this going to kind of set the standard, if you will, or help us rewrite some of the books when it comes to rescuing people when it comes to a lot of these mine accidents we see happen around the world?

VIC PAKALNIS, PROFESSOR OF MINING, QUEENS UNIVERSITY (via telephone): Well, it was a very happy day. We're all looking at this intently. As you said, it's not -- we're not out of the woods yet. This is a seismically active area. A lot can go wrong.

The particular rescue that you see is pretty unique. We rarely have to drill this depth. And frankly, the fact that there are 33 miners that survived the original rock failure and the technology that's gone into getting them out is quite unique. So we're all looking at it. And it certainly is going to be helpful in terms of any similar situations around the world.

HOLMES: Sir, how dangerous of a process is it, as well? And I'll tell our viewers this, that they are going to have to have the miners participate in their rescue in that they're sending down explosives. They still have to trigger a particular type of explosive down there that's going to help open up the hole a little bit.

How tricky of a procedure? To all of us lay people who are not used to this process, used to mining. Of course these guys are trained in using explosives. That sounds like a pretty dangerous and pretty testy procedure.

PAKALNIS: No, for the miners are quite experienced and certainly they'll be able to widen out the area where the -- where the shaft enters into the mine workings. They have to create proper entry points so that they're able to do the extrication efficiently. They'll blast out and scale down all of the loose rock around that drill hole opening and then they'll shore it up to make sure it's stable and then they'll start the operation and probably get one an hour up that escape shaft.

HOLMES: All right. Well, Vic, standby with me.

Again we're talking to Vic Pakalnis, who is a mining expert coming to us from Queens University, Ontario. We also have our Karl Penhaul on the line with me now.

Karl, again, we certainly have been talking about the procedure and the process and how they're going to get these guys out and how delicate it is. What I'd like you to do for me now is set the scene at Camp Hope. You got me Karl Penhaul on the line with me I believe.

Karl, can you hear me all right? This is T.J. back in Atlanta?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): T.J., I can hear you fine. What we've got here at Camp Hope is that we can hear the bells ringing, the blast of car horns was ringing out a few moments ago. And a siren from the drill site was also blaring out.

But just seconds before even that started, the family members got word that breakthrough had occurred. That a 624-meter -- about a 2,000-foot rescue shaft had been completed down to the tunnel where the miners are. And what this means is that the final countdown has begun. The final countdown now to the minute, to the day, when the miners will finally be hoisted back to the surface, T.J..

HOLMES: Karl. Tell us, there, as well we continue to look at these live pictures. I know this is a momentous occasion to breakthrough and it's a milestone, as well. But do they have -- are they also keeping in mind and have a bit of a reality check that it's still a dangerous process and it's still going to be several days before they even attempt to bring up the first miner?

PENHAUL: It could still be dangerous process, it certainly is not an immediate process to bring them back to the surface. But what this really shows to the families and also and I guess, in a sense to the whole country of Chile is that the engineers that have been working so hard for the last 65 days know what they're doing.

They have confidence they can bring these miners home safely but yes, of course, it's not an immediate process because what they're going to have to do now over the next 24 hours is put a camera down that rescue shaft and check its integrity, check how solid it is to see maybe they're going to need to put steel casing down the whole length of the rescue shaft. And that is a process that could take several days and could mean that bringing the miners back to the surface takes as much as 10 days.

There is another alternative. If that rescue shaft is solid down most of its length, they will simply put steel tubing on the first 100 meters. That's a process that could be completed within 10 hours. And then -- and then after that, the process of putting the rescue capsule the so-called phoenix capsule down into the earth and hoisting the miners back up one by one will begin sooner rather than later. And what these government ministers here are saying is that process of bringing the miners back to the surface could begin as early as Tuesday, T.J.. And certainly now with the bells here and the car horns ringing here at Camp Hope, what the families know from this is that the final countdown has begun, the final countdown to seeing their loved ones once again.

HOLMES: Karl Penhaul on the scene. Karl, thank you so much. We're going to keep Karl close by and also Vic Pakalnis, who's a mining professor of Queens University in Ontario standing by with us, as well as we have just a scene a lot of people have been waiting for but the wait is not over.

They have been able to breakthrough, the rescuers through to where those miners are at and where they have been trapped since August 5th.

They have been able to breakthrough, but still, more work needs to be done, but a milestone there. We have seen celebrations break out at what's called Camp Hope that has been set up there since this mining disaster took place. Families, friends, journalists gathered there.

But we just saw a celebration break out when word moved around that in fact, yes, they had broken through to where the miners are.

More details of this coming up. It's 20 past the hour here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. You're seeing a live picture here.

Welcome back first to the scene on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

This is a live press conference going on right now in Chile. We can only assume what they are talking about which is that there has been a breakthrough and they have been able to reach the miners who have been trapped for the past couple of months since August 5th in that mine collapse there in Chile.

Thirty-three men, all alive, apparently doing fairly well. They've been able to get supplies down to them, medical supplies, food, everything they've needed and keep them comfortable, if you will, for the past several months.

Now they've finally broken through and will be able to in a matter of days start bringing those men up. Again, even though they have broken through to the area where those miners are, which is 2,300 feet below the surface.

Even though they've been able to breakthrough still does not mean they're immediately going to start pulling up men. This is a picture here of the scene at Camp Hope, which is just outside of where all the work has been going on to bring these men up. Again, 2,300 feet down, that's about two Empire State buildings. So they are way down below the surface, and they're going to have to come up through a channel, a tunnel, I believe this is the picture we saw earlier.

This is tape now. Oh, we just lost that, but we saw the construction workers start celebrating, hands up in the air, jumping up and down waving the arms. Clearly they'd gotten to a point where they'd broken through. This is cause for celebration, yes. It's a momentous occasion, yes, in this whole rescue. But there is still some very delicate and dangerous work that needs to be done.

Vic Pakalnis is a mining professor at Queens University in Ontario. He is with me this morning.

Just how dangerous of a process are we talking about now, professor, to try to bring a man up at a time in a tiny capsule in a tiny tunnel some 2,300 feet up?

PAKALNIS: Well, essentially this is -- this is an area that's still seismically active. And so basically, you can have rock failure and vibration and you can -- you can imagine that it is -- it is still quite -- quite serious in terms of something happening while the rescues is ongoing. The rescue shaft essentially is likely to be lined all the way through to the bottom.

But that will take time, and the more time that goes by the likelihood of something else going wrong can be there. So basically they're going to try and work as quickly as possible to line that rescue shaft and then start -- start moving the people up.

The two people that are going down the two mine rescue workers that are going down, one will be assessing the medical condition of the miners and they'll decide who should go up first and second and et cetera.

The other mine rescue person will manage the strapping the miners into the capsule. They'll be strapped in so that even if they faint or something happens that they won't drop. You can imagine that escape capsule is only 21.5 inches in diameter. So it's -- they'll be crunched in with their shoulders in and then they'll be taken to the surface.

The actual ride up is not -- not that long, 15 to 20 minutes, but the preparation of strapping the miners in and then having them go up that rescue shaft -- they estimate about an hour per miner. And then, of course, the last two will be the two rescue workers.

HOLMES: Vic, how do you get one prepared for that ride? How do you get them prepared mentally to be in that enclosed space like that by yourself going up? That's a little freaky.

PAKALNIS: Well -- probably for most of your viewers that would be freaky. But if you're in the mining industry and if you're working underground, it isn't claustrophobic. Basically it's a natural -- it's not a problem. They're probably very anxious to get out. So they'll definitely be -- they'll be ready and they'll be getting into that capsule and taking that ride up to freedom very joyfully.

For people that work in the mining industry, you can't be claustrophobic and work in underground conditions. So that won't be a problem for those workers.

But as I said, the ground can shift, there can be other things happening so that still that anxiety that especially the miners, the 30 and 31st, 32nd and the last one, they'll probably be very nervous making sure that their turn will come, as well.

So it -- until all of them are out, we still have to -- we still have to be thinking and praying for them and making sure that all goes well.

HOLMES: All right, Vic, thank you.

I want to dip over now. I told you the press conference to our viewers. The press conference is going on. We do have English translation now I'm told, just want to listen in for a second.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very curious that we are having 33 days of drilling for the rescue. It's very nice figure (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unbelievable. There's no word to explain. It's a pleasure to be here. I would never do anything that's more (INAUDIBLE) HOLMES: All right. Not English translation, actual English they started speaking there at the press conference, Copiapo in Chile. You hear the applause there in the back, as well. But this is some work they've been doing for several months.

Let me listen to this.

Oh, little chant breaking out like we're at a pep rally before a game, almost. But this is a big deal for these folks. They know how much this has been for -- they know how much has been going on. The work they have been putting in trying to get these men out for the past several months. And they have finally made a breakthrough.

That breakthrough is they have drilled the tunnel down 2,300 feet and they have broken through to the shaft where these men have been holed up for the past several months waiting to be rescued.

This means now that the next phase of the rescue can start. That next phase is getting a capsule down to those men who can actually get in that capsule and finally start being rescued.

Our Patrick Oppmann is there on the scene for us at Camp Hope. We can get into the details Patrick later about the process.

But if you can, we've been seeing the pictures, but set the stage and the scene you've been seeing there for the past 30 minutes.

OPPMANN: Hi, good morning.

As you can hear, just very loud here right now with all the ringing and bells behind us; people are incredibly excited. As you can imagine, they've been waiting now for two months for this to happen. Two months for this to happen and just an explosion, we've seen people running up this hill, waving flags, incredibly excited. And -- and a true outpouring of joy here.

They didn't always know if the relatives were going to get out. And frankly, there's still a lot coming up for these men to go through, but today easily the biggest breakthrough we've seen as the plan "B" drill drilled down, as you said over 2,200 feet down to these trapped men; 33 men, 32 Chileans, one Bolivian.

And for these men, it's just been an incredible ordeal. But they've stayed together, they stuck together. And have really gone through this and the families have done the same thing. The families have come together.

And a lot of these people did not know each other before this ordeal. But they supported each other, they backed each other, and they've done it in one of the most inhospitable places on earth. Chile's Atacama Desert -- they've lived off at this mine set, sometimes sleeping on the ground for days at a time.

So for them this is all validation of that effort, of the faith that rescuers would get their loved ones above ground and as you can imagine just pure, pure joy here. But we also have to keep in mind that in the days ahead rescuers are going to make some very difficult decisions. Will they be able to put a rescue capsule down without further encasing the -- the drill shaft, the hole that's been drilled today? How much casing will need to be put down? How long will that delay it?

And once they rescue -- put that rescue capsule down, how difficult will it be to hoist these men up one at a time? We're going to have a Chilean mine rescue experts along with a paramedic from Chile's -- from Chile's Special Forces, from the Naval Special Forces go down, begin this rescue operation, and then start sending these men up one at a time.

But even that process will probably take several days. So nothing has come easy here; still, some very difficult hurdles to jump ahead of us here. But they've done it, they've drilled through, they've broken through and no more drilling will need to take place here after many, many weeks of drilling, many contentious difficult weeks. They've pulled off something that frankly no one has ever done before. And they're going to rescue these men after a record number of days trapped underground.

HOLMES: Our Patrick Oppmann who is there on the scene for us. We will continue to keep an eye on what's happening there. But the -- the milestone moment has taken place, but now it still will be several days before we do see any of those miners come back up.

We're going to be checking in, I believe, with our Sanjay Gupta who is standing by to talk about the -- what kind of shape these men might be in. And still what the challenges might be for them when they finally do get out of there.

But 33 minutes past the hour, a milestone, breakthrough has taken place those miners trapped in Chile they have finally broken through to where the men are trapped. The shaft, the tunnel has been dug that's going to take them out of there and take them home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Thirty six minutes past the hour, here on the CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

You are seeing still the live pictures of Camp Hope. This is right in the area, right outside the area where the work has been going on for months to try to rescue 33 miners in Chile who have been there since August the 5th after the mine they were working in collapsed trapping them. We thought it could be until December, Christmas time before they got out.

But they were able to speed up the process, the rescue process and just minutes ago, they were able to breakthrough with the drill that they were drilling this tunnel, this shaft that's going to be able to bring these men up one-by-one. So, a momentous occasion in the whole rescue effort to actually breakthrough to where the men are.

But still it's going to be days before they actually bring up the first man. Still some work needs to be done. They want to make sure they dot all the I's, cross the T's and make sure there are no further complications, which there could be. But still a very dangerous process that needs to take place to get all of those men, 33 men up and out of there.

Our Sanjay Gupta is on the line with me, because another part of this story is the condition of these men. They've been down there and let me tell you what you're looking at here. This was the moment we saw live here just a few minutes ago.

But I was watching this live with our viewers, this live picture, and we saw this break out, we saw men start jumping up. These are grown men, construction workers now rescue workers that are just started celebrating here.

And I hear you there, as well, Sanjay, you're probably watching this picture.

But this was something to see here. This was the moment. They didn't have to tell us what happened, we knew what happened when we saw these construction workers start celebrating spontaneously there around the area where the hole was being dug.

But Sanjay to you here.

(CROSSTALK)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): A great moment, yes.

HOLMES: It was a great moment. But my goodness man what kind of condition are these guys in down there? They tried their best to keep them in pretty good shape. But what -- what can you imagine, what kind of shape physically are these guys in?

GUPTA: Well, you know, T.J., it's one of these things where you could say they are literally writing the book on this sort of thing. And the reason that's important is because so much of what is happening right now and what will happen over the next couple of days is -- is unprecedented stuff.

So I think you -- you can have a lot of guesses as to exactly what the condition of these miners are going to be, but my sense is from -- from hearing from a lot of the people who are planning this that they're taking a chance. And as you point out that's part of the reason that it's going to be still a couple of days, at least, before they -- before they start to bring miners up.

What are some of the conditions? You know, you think about the -- the obvious things first. With regard to the oxygen, for example, that was down there. They were pumping in, for example, 22 percent oxygen, not 100 percent oxygen because the air that we're breathing in right now, T.J., is about 22 percent oxygen.

So they're trying to approximate conditions that these miners are going to get when they're -- when they're on the ground, when they come back up out of the shaft. They look at obviously the food, the water supply; they tried to make sure all those things were available in a way that would allow them to be more easily rescued.

And again, approximate what they were going to see when they get back on the ground, that's something that wouldn't shock their bodies.

Could they have skin infections for being in that sort of humid condition for some time? That may sound like a minor issue, but it could be a major issue depending on exactly how severe those skin infections are.

And then, you know, things like exposure to sunlight, obviously. That's something that it just -- the -- the effect on the eyes, but also the -- the amount of vitamin D production in their bodies. The -- how brittle their bones might be as a result of not having had that vitamin D. Again, these are all things that maybe people wouldn't think of intuitively but become very important in a situation like this.

HOLMES: And Sanjay, just to remind our viewers what they are seeing here on the left that is a live picture. You see those Chilean flags there. This is at Camp Hope. People are still celebrating the news -- celebrating the news that in fact they had broken through to where these 33 miners are.

Sanjay, you've been talking about and rightly so all of the physical conditions and ailments these men might have but their minds, as well.

GUPTA: Yes, yes sure.

HOLMES: How do they keep their minds strong down there? And what do we know from past cases? Not just mining cases, but other disasters and -- and of people being trapped before. How long can people -- I mean, stay underground like this or trapped like this before they start to go a little, you know, just a little batty?

GUPTA: That's right. Well, you know, it -- it varies on a lot of different things. Certainly being by yourself versus being in a group of people; having some sort of contact with the outside world, as you know, T.J., can make a huge difference.

A lot of the data on this sort of thing comes from -- from data on deep sea diving for example. You know people who are under -- under the water for a long time for like construction of bridges, for example. You know, they -- they -- they look at these issues as -- as -- as models from other situations.

But it's -- it's -- it's going to be tough to say. I think that there are some misconceptions, for example, that -- that there'll be this idea that these miners are going to want to connect with the other miners a lot after they have been rescued. Not necessarily. They -- they may want to simply just get away from this whole situation altogether and immerse themselves in something that has nothing to do with either the miners or the mining for a period of time. This -- this idea that you suppress the psychological trauma that they've clearly been through; you know, the number of days they've been underground in the dark. That sort of puts you in survival mode so to speak. You're just worried about surviving every single day. And once you get out, now you have an opportunity to not have to worry about am I going to get the basic stuff that I need to live from one day to the next?

And that's -- that's going to be something they have to deal with in terms of being able to shift out of pure survival mode. But just the euphoria that they -- you know, you get from the fresh air, the sunlight, the light blowing, I mean the fresh air blowing on your face. All of that, I think, is going to give an immediate sense of euphoria to -- to these miners.

So -- but again, you know, a lot of this is just -- this is an unprecedented thing that we're seeing, T.J., as you said as well.

HOLMES: Could there possibly Sanjay, be -- be -- I mean, issues readjusting with family, relationships, down the road?

GUPTA: I -- I think there's -- there is no question. And -- and what -- what a lot of people talk about in situations like this is that you have sort of a lot of -- you see the enthusiasm on -- on the TV. A lot of people gathering around, a lot of support, obviously the media coverage.

After the miners are rescued, that sort of support, a lot of that tends -- will go away over time. Not right away, but over days and weeks. And that can be a real let-down for the miners, as well. They -- there's been this -- this anticipation, this enthusiasm after a period of time, you know, attention will start to shift elsewhere. It's just the natural history of things, and that can be extremely difficult for miners in terms of their own personal relationships and the way that they conduct their lives.

HOLMES: All right. Sanjay, we appreciate you hopping on the line with us this morning. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta giving us an idea of what these men have as challenges when they come out. Sanjay we appreciate you this morning buddy.

GUPTA: Thank you.

HOLMES: All right, we are not going to go too far away from this story. But again, we have gotten what we thought we're going to get today. But still, we got several more days of rescue to be done. But the -- the breakthrough took place just about 40 so minutes ago when finally the rescuers were able to drill down through to where the men have been trapped since August 5th, some 2,300 feet below the surface. They were able to breakthrough with the drill.

So now the tunnel has been dug, the tunnel that will bring these men up one-by-one. That process, though, that part of the rescue won't start until at least Tuesday but it could be up to seven to ten days after that before they start bringing up the first man. But certainly a milestone, a breakthrough today, and this -- a mining disaster in Chile.

We will continue to monitor that story for you. But we are going to get back to politics and other news of the day after we take a quick break here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, 45 past the hour and always getting updated numbers, polls during the election season. Well, the latest are in. And let's see which way folks are leaning out there. You voters, this is what you say.

Our new CNN Opinion Research Poll of likely voters' choice, 52 percent say their choice is Republican; 45 percent say their choice is Democrat. Deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joins us now from Pennsylvania this morning.

Paul, good morning to you kind sir. What are we supposed to make of these numbers?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, T.J., so you've got a seven-point advantage right now. The numbers you gave for the Republicans in what we call the generic (INAUDIBLE) and we ask people would you vote for the generic Democrat or Republican in your Congressional district? So that's seven-point advantage for the Republicans, down slightly from nine points about two weeks ago.

But let's break those numbers down a little bit and let's talk first of all about independent voters because they are so crucial. And among indies, a two to one advantage for the Republicans, T.J., and that is a problem for Democrats because independent voters went for Democrats in 2006 and 2008, looks like they're going for Republicans this year.

Check this out, as well. We asked about enthusiasm and you can see right here according to these numbers, Republican voters are a lot more enthusiastic by about 20 points than Democrats. More enthusiastic to go out and actually vote on Election Day -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, well, I guess when you get a chance, ask that guy back there mowing the yard if he's going to vote Republican or Democrat, as well.

Another question for you, though, about the president. How is he playing into the election one way or another? Is he helping? Is he hurting some of his fellow Democrats?

STEINHAUSER: Oh, yes, he is such a crucial factor in this election because T.J., of course, Republicans are trying to make this election a referendum about Barack Obama and what he's done in the White House. And they're trying to basically tie Barack Obama, the president to Democrats running for re-election.

Check out these numbers from our same poll and we asked, who do you think is a better president? Who's done a better job in the White House? Right now looks like Americans are divided; that's what our polls suggest -- 47 percent saying Barack Obama, 45 percent saying George W. Bush, his predecessor. But look at a year ago on the right- hand side of the screen there. A lot more people a year ago thought Barack Obama was a much better president than George W. Bush -- T.J.

HOLMES: Why are you in Pennsylvania?

STEINHAUSER: Yes, good question. Why am I here with the CNN Election Express right behind me? Listen, we're here today because first of all, tomorrow, you've got the president coming to Pennsylvania to try to rally Democrats. Also this state is a good representation of what's going on here.

Here's a state, T.J., where the Republicans may win back the governor's office. They may win back the Senate seat that's up for grabs this year. And they could take about four or five House seats. If the Republicans win back control of Congress, one of the places they're going to have to do it and may do it is right here in Pennsylvania -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Paul Steinhauser for us this morning; Paul, we appreciate you as always, buddy. And to our viewers, you always know where to go to get the latest political news, cnnpolitics.com.

Quick break; we're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: (INAUDIBLE) It's a really good start.

HOLMES: What was that?

WOLF: I guess we're on, aren't we?

HOLMES: Yes.

WOLF: Yes, I mean the light on the camera basically tells us that we're broadcasting.

HOLMES: We were just discussing, folks, where we wanted to start with weather.

WOLF: It's not worst.

HOLMES: Let's just do it now. Where do you want to start with weather?

WOLF: You know, I think the really the good, big bulls' eye in terms of rough weather around the nation would have to be the Pacific Northwest -- Seattle, Portland, heavy rains and strong winds; some really rough surf along the coast and possibly up to a foot of rain in some locations over the next several days. Not only in just one fell swoop today -- that's not a problem.

HOLMES: Now through Monday. WOLF: Let's hop on over and we'll show you what we got. Here's a look at the U.S. you see on the Eastern Seaboard. Things are relatively quiet, but when you get out west, that's where things begin to get a bit interesting.

Take a look up towards Seattle, even in towards parts of Portland, Oregon. This area is going to be the spot where we're going to be seeing some heavy showers and strong wind gusts. The reason why it's all going to happen is because we've had a couple of areas of low pressure that are going to be developing out into the Gulf of Alaska, swooping down. And as these come onshore, it's really going to generate a lot of rainfall.

What happens is that moisture -- Pacific moisture goes up into the Cascades. As it gets into higher elevation, you have what's referred to as aerographic (ph) lift where it's basically squeezing the moisture out of the atmosphere and the rain could really pile up for many people especially in the I-5 corridor, making a trip back to Lake (INAUDIBLE) today, maybe even going to Portland, Washington, for the Oregon/Washington State game.

Bring your rain slickers with you, you will definitely need them.

So you're also going to be seeing today, thankfully a bit of good news when it comes to the tropics. We're taking a sharp eye on Hurricane Otto. The storm -- it's still a fairly strong tropical -- or rather hurricane, Category 1 hurricane with winds sustained right at 75 miles an hour. The demarcation point is right when you go from 73 to 74. When you get to 74, it's soon classified as a hurricane. That's the situation with the storm.

Expected to maintain that strength but as we get into early Sunday and then into Monday, it should slowly begin to weaken. It will be moving into an area of cooler water; and as it does so, it's going to lose part of its primary power source, that warm ocean water possibly interacting with some shear loft that that could really cause it to die out. Thankfully, not expected to have any contact with land -- so that's the good news.

WOLF: Very quickly to wrap things up, your fall foliage, trees are looking great in parts of the central Rockies, in the northern Rockies; the aspen trees are going to look phenomenal. Same deal in the upper northwest, the Great Lakes is magnificent from the (INAUDIBLE) and northern Michigan too.

And for the central and northern Appalachians and back into the Catskills, it will be phenomenal. Get the cameras ready, get out there and have a great day.

That's a look at your forecast, we'll have more on what you can expect those warm temperatures in the southeast. Some places getting close to 90 degrees, T.J., today in the southeast. Thankfully you're here in Atlanta -- back to you.

HOLMES: But we're 80 something, right, today?

WOLF: I know, about 85.

HOLMES: It's a nice day.

All right. Reynolds, appreciate you, buddy. Thanks so much.

Quick break here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Again, if you haven't been watching, we are keeping an eye on what's happening in Chile. We just saw a short time ago; they finally broke through to where these miners are. They've been trapped since August the 5th.

Vic Pakalnis, the mining professor at Queens University -- he's been with us for the past hour, talking about some of the challenges these men have.

Sir, just to wrap it up here, you tell me what is the biggest threat now to this rescue operation?

PAKALNIS: Well, the biggest threat is, of course, rock movement. It's a seismically active area. And as more time goes by, there's likelihood that the ground will shift again.

But I think the biggest part of this story is how resilient those 33 miners are and the type of leadership that they had to be able to be so disciplined in a time of great stress is an amazing -- is an amazing thing. I mean, I think the rescue also will go very well because they have that discipline and that leadership down there. I think all of them will get up at least by next week and will have a good news story here.

HOLMES: All right. Last thing here, sir. Guys like yourself taking notes during this whole rescue operation?

PAKALNIS: Oh -- absolutely. This is going to be a case study I'm going to be using in my occupational health and safety mining practice course starting in January.

HOLMES: Vic Pakalnis, again, mining professor at Queens University in Ontario. Sir, we can't thank you enough for the time and expertise you've been able to lend to this. Thank you so much. Enjoy the rest of your day.

PAKALNIS: Thanks.

HOLMES: All right.

And to our viewers, just a reminder of what we saw a short time ago. They have broken through and drilled that hole, this tunnel that's going to be the one to bring out those miners.

So, a milestone in the whole rescue operation. We'll continue to keep a close eye on it. Still going to be some time Tuesday at the earliest when they finally start bringing those miners out who have been trapped since August the 5th.

Well, back in 1996, California was the first state to legalize marijuana for medicinal use. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia followed suit. Now California has a chance to set precedent once again when voters decide on legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Will other states follow suit?