The Injured; Market Mayhem; Mine Rescue; Can He Come Back?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. Another cave-in at the mine in Utah. Three rescuers killed trying to reach the trapped miners.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every man that's on that mountain and in that mountain, they are all just -- they're heroes.</s>CHETRY: What went wrong? What now for the rescue?</s>JON HUNTSMAN, GOVERNOR OF UTAH: I, for one, as governor of the state, feel pretty strongly that we shouldn't let another person in the underground mine.</s>CHETRY: And for anguished families.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're worried about all those other people because of their families and what they're leaving behind. It's really hard to think about it.</s>CHETRY: The minute by minute developments live from the scene on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. And thanks for joining us. It's Friday, August 17th. I'm Kiran Chetry.</s>ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rob Marciano, in for John Roberts. It's 6:00 a.m. here on the East Coast, 4:00 a.m. in Huntington, Utah, where the drilling has stopped after the rescue operation at the Crandall Canyon Mine has turned deadly.</s>CHETRY: Now another tragedy on top of the already difficult situation there. Three rescue workers killed, six more injured. They were trying to save the trapped Utah miners. The men were trying to clear coal and debris from the only path out when, once again, the walls collapsed. The Mine Safety and Health Administration calling it a seismic bump. For now, the search for the six trapped miners is on hold. Although they are still drilling the vertical hole down into the shaft seeing. This would be the fourth hole they're trying to drill vertically to see if they can see any signs of life and assess what the situation is like. We talked with Utah's governor, Jon Huntsman, just a few moments ago.</s>JON HUNTSMAN, GOVERNOR OF UTAH: I, for one, as governor of the state, feel pretty strongly that we shouldn't let another person in the underground mine until we can guarantee their safety. We've seen too much over the last week and a half and we need to begin to learn from some of these lessons. So when I do meet with MSHA just in a couple of hours in the morning here, I'll want to get certain guarantees that there will be worker safety. And I know that the rescue effort is something that many had participated in and are very anxious to continue, but we need to make sure that safety is of paramount importance.</s>CHETRY: Well, the minor's owner is saying that rescuers are still over 1,000 feet from reaching the section where the trapped miners were believed to be working. Rob.</s>MARCIANO: Kiran, extreme sadness visible on the faces of families and friends in Utah. There is hope, though, for the six rescued there last night who did survive. We're covering the latest developments from every angle this morning. CNN's Brian Todd is at the mine, Kara Finnstrom is live at the hospital and Dr. Sanjay Gupta's in Atlanta. First to Brian Todd live at the command center. Brian, what can you tell us that's going on right now?</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rob, we are clearly at a very critical juncture in this whole operation. At a place where some very tough questions have to be put to the mine officials, the owners of this company and also to federal officials who approved the operation plan for this rescue effort, as to what has gone on up to this point and what the safety measures have been and what went wrong. But also a very critical juncture here. A critical decision has to be made going forward. When does the underground operation resume? Does it, in fact, resume? We are told by the governor that the drilling process is going to continue. Unclear when that will continue. You know, that could continue today. But clearly, the digging into the tunnel has stopped indefinitely and will stop. But federal officials from the Mine Safety and Health Administration are going to be under a considerable amount of pressure now as to when to give the go ahead to resume the search. And, also, they're going to have to answer some very tough questions. They were the ones who approved of the safety plan, of the rescue operation plan for this and they're going to have to face up to some of those questions. So right now we are waiting in the next couple of hours for a briefing from the mine owner, Robert Murray, who has been very, you know, forthcoming in this process. He's going to have to continue to answer some tough questions and from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. What we know now is what we've been reporting, six workers injured, three killed. Some of these workers that were injured were very critically injured and we're going to be getting some more information on their condition in the coming hours. But some very, very critical decisions have to be made in the coming hours. Rob.</s>MARCIANO: Brian Todd live for us near the entrance of that mine. Still very early in the morning there. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Right. And ambulances and helicopters rushed to the site, some as far as 140 miles away in Salt Lake City. Medics were seen doing chest compressions on the injured. Six surviving rescuers treated at hospitals overnight. At least three of them are still in serious condition this morning. CNN's Kara Finnstrom is at Castleview Hospital. That's the hospital that's closest to the mine. Kara, what's the latest that they're telling you about the conditions?</s>KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are still waiting for an update. But as you mentioned, three being treated here. Those three, we were told, had serious injuries. One person who was transported here overnight did die shortly after they arrived. That is one of the three that we have been reporting has died. And one person was transported to another hospital that has better facilities for treating these type of injuries. This is a small, local hospital which can treat things like broken bones and some minor head injuries, but not a trauma one level center. And some of these injuries very serious. Just about a block away from here, some of the families set up an impromptu vigil overnight, holding candles, holding out hope. Up until now they have been setting up these vigils for the six miners that have been trapped inside. Well now they have another additional six, the rescuers who were hurt in this accident overnight. And, of course, as we've been mentioning, another three who were killed initially or very shortly after that impact. We have been here throughout the night and actually just a couple hours ago the governor of Utah stopped by. I know he spoke with you as well earlier in this hour. Echoed some of the same feelings that he did with you live this morning, saying that he really feels that this rescue operation needs to be put on hold until the safety of these rescues workers can be guaranteed. Let's listen to what he had to say.</s>GOV. JON HUNTSMAN, UTAH: It is from tragedy and adversity that we expect to become stronger and better. And I don't think anyone wants the lives of these heroes tonight to be lost in vein. It is from their lives and their experiences, indeed the experiences of the past week and a half, that we're going to become better and smarter and safer.</s>FINNSTROM: And this community here really just getting word in some instances because it happened overnight of what took place here this morning. There were a number of families that came here to the hospital trying to figure out if it was their loved one that was hurt in the mine and what the extent of these injuries were. So it's going to be a very difficult day ahead for this mining community.</s>CHETRY: No doubt. Kara Finnstrom outside of the hospital there. Thank you. We want to bring you now CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's in Atlanta this morning. We're hearing about these injured, six of them that are injured. Some of the witnesses at the scene said that they could see medics doing chest depressions on some of the people. What do you think would be the extent of their injuries and how are they being treated this morning, Dr. Gupta?</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's several things to think about when you have a cave-in or whatever happened there exactly. There's primary injuries from the cave-in itself. If it was some sort of blast or just some physical injuries from things falling on them, debris, things like that. You can have problems as well with, you know, airway breathing and circulation. So if someone's lost an airway, for example, their breathing has not been stabilized. Their circulation. That may have been the need for the chest compressions at the scene. But, Kiran, the way to really think about this is there's constantly surveys going on. There's primary surveys at the time. Decisions as to whether to transport the patient to the hospital, the local hospital or the big trauma facility that's I think about 50 miles away. Do they need to go by chopper. All these things are sort of going on. Do they have crush injuries to the chest? Are there crush injuries to the abdomen? Are there head injuries? Do people need to be in the operating room? Do they need transfusions? Do they need special scanners to find out the extent of their injuries? It's an evolving process. And some of that is probably still going on now. We first started talking about this last night around 7:30, 8:00, I believe. And so however many hours later it is now, people are still probably making decisions on behalf of these patients, making sure their blood pressures are stabilized and they will continue to improve as opposed to go the other way.</s>CHETRY: All right, Sanjay, we'll be checking in with you throughout the morning as we find out more. Hopefully, maybe, they're going to be giving us an update on those conditions, which we haven't heard, so far this morning. Thanks, Sanjay.</s>GUPTA: Thank you.</s>MARCIANO: Kiran, last night's tragedy is yet another blow to the community around the mine. Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon is with us now live on the phone. Mayor Gordon, our hearts go out to you and your community. Describe for us the reaction of your town last night when all this came down.</s>MAYOR HILARY GORDON, HUNTINGTON, UTAH: Truthfully, it was a great shock. I, myself, was not actually in Huntington. I was at another meeting at Milltown (ph) about 10 miles away and doing other things. We had already been with the family. The original -- the six miners, their families. We had spent some time visiting with them last night and then went to the meeting and then it was later on that I actually knew about the tragedy. And just a great, great shock and great sorrow. It just feels like a really hard blow to swallow after all we've been through the last week and a half. And everyone trying to hope in their own individual way.</s>MARCIANO: Obviously, emotions have gone through a roller coaster ride here the last week. Just how exhausted have people been in your community up until last night and then, of course, what happened last night is just a terrible blow for you.</s>GORDON: People are, you know, especially the rescuers have worked nonstop and had -- you know, they've had, obviously, some time and then gone back to doing more of the mining and more of the rescuing. But they spent long, long hours. Everyone's put in a lot of time. There's been candlelight vigils. There have been fund- raisers. So a lot of things going on in the community and around the community. People wanting to do something, anything they can, and the things they can think of help. It's been a wonderful outpouring of love and support from all of the -- all of the communities. Not just our little town of Huntington, but all of the other towns, everywhere you go. Life tries to carry on the same way as it normally does, but all the time you have this at the back of your mind wondering when we're going to get answers, when this is going to happen, when is that going to happen.</s>MARCIANO: I suppose if there is some good news outs of this, mayor, six of the nine involved in this tragic accident last night have survived. I suppose the question that's gong to be debated throughout the day today, we've already talked to the governor about this is, do we continue to go after these six trapped miners that may still be alive, risking even more accidents like this? What is the view from your end, being so close to these families? Is your instinct to continue to dig, to continue to go after the six trapped miners potentially still alive?</s>GORDON: You know, that's a really tricky question. Of course, it's what -- if you -- I have a loved one there. It's what you want. It's an</s>MARCIANO: Well, I certainly don't envy your position. Mayor Hilary Gordon of Huntington, Utah. Stay strong, mayor. Thank you for joining us.</s>GORDON: Thank you.</s>CHETRY: We want to checking in now with some of the other stories new this morning with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents. Hurricane Dean, we've been talking about this one in the Atlantic, it's gaining steam. Bonnie Schneider has been following all of the extreme weather for us. And we're seeing that grow in your radar picture from yesterday.</s>CHETRY: Now we're also watching the overseas markets. Many investors waking up with a severe case of whiplash, if you will, after the Dow's up and down day yesterday. Ali Velshi is here to tell us what is in store for the market today. And, boy, yesterday, as we have said, a wild ride with some major losses. And they recouped all of them.</s>ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, every time we talk about a wild ride, we think that we can't sort of do that again. And yesterday was unbelievable. The Dow was down more than 300 points at one point during the day. Around mid day, around 1:00, it hit its low point. And that was significant because at that low point it was down 344 points below 12,600. Twelve thousand six hundred is important because when the Dow hit its high on July 19th, it was at 14,000. So that's a 10 percent loss. In market terms, that's called a correction. Well, something happened around there and people started buying. And you can see that, you know, by about 2:15 or so, it was starting to come back very nicely. And then after 3:00, another big dip, down almost 300 points again. And then look what happened. In the last 45 minutes of trading, moment when the bell -- the bell actually rang at the Dow, it was aboveground. It was actually positive. In the end, the Dow closed just 15 points lower, making it the sixth straight day of losses. But then overnight in Japan, the worst day in six years. The Nikkei losing about 5 percent overnight. It's closed. And European markets are actually doing OK. Because it looks like what happened on the Nikkei was specific to the fact that the yen has become very strong, making Japanese exports very expensive. It's not a worldwide problem. So European markets are hovering around the break even mark. Right now we are looking at Dow futures down more than 100 points but still early going yet as we know. So we'll keep a track on that for the next couple hours and keep you posted about where you're investments are going today. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Sounds good. Ali, thank you. Rob.</s>MARCIANO: Kiran, the search for survivors after yesterday's deadly earthquake in Peru tops our "Quick Hits." The U.S. Geological Survey has upgraded the quake to a rare 8.0. More than 500 people were killed and more than 1,600 others were hurt. And NASA says it does not need to repair the hole in the shuttle Endeavour before it returns to earth. The space agency says that tests show the structure will hold up. Mission controllers were worried that the 3.5 inch gash in the thermal tiles could exposed the shuttle to serious damage during re-entry. Well, three workers killed at the Utah mine. Rescue operations may be called off for good because of the danger of more cave-ins. And there were safety concerns at the mine before. So how up-to-date is the emergency rescue plan at the Crandall Canyon Mine? That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.