Power Plant Fire; Gerri's Top Tips
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And why did their fathers, sons, and brothers die? Relatives of the miners killed in Utah this summer speaking out this Wednesday, October 3rd. You are in the</s>CNN NEWSROOM. HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Trapped underground. A chemical fire at a power plant. Five workers dead this morning. Chris Lawrence is on the scene in Georgetown, Colorado, this morning. Chris, what does the investigation stand to gain this hour?</s>CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, Heidi, they're trying to still identify these men and figure out exactly what started that fire down about 1,000 feet deep into the tunnel. Now we know that this plant is run by a company called Xcel. That it was built about 40 years ago. But that these men actually were contractors from another company who were brought in to do routine maintenance. The plant itself was shut down yesterday for that maintenance and this team of men went into that tunnel basically to apply an epoxy that would prevent corrosion in the water tunnel. They were in a water tunnel probably no more than four feet in diameter. At about 2:00 in the afternoon, that fire broke out. Now, initially, some of the rescue crews had thought about going in from the top and repelling down to where the men were, but they decided against it because they would have had to climb back up about 1,000 feet with these men who may have been injured. So that was a reason. They had other reasons as well not to go in from the top.</s>TOM HENLEY, XCEL ENERGY SPOKESMAN: They made the determination pretty early on that because of the fire in the area and because of what they may not have known about the air quality, that they would go in from the ground. They had to determine, first of all, if the fire was out. So they spent in specialized crews from the Henderson Mine, which is up here, and we're very grateful for their participation as well, as all the other entities. And they went in there to see if the fire was out and they had determined at that point, I believe, that the fire extinguished itself. Determined the air quality was good. And we were going to be able to send people in from up top, but they weren't able to clear out the air quickly enough to get the crews in from the top. So they decided to go from the bottom.</s>LAWRENCE: Yes, and about 45 minutes after the fire, they started shooting the clean air straight down into the tunnel. And at that point they had still had radio contact with these five men. The men said no one was hurt at that time. Now the big question is, what happened from that point, 45 minutes after the fire, to the time overnight when the rescue teams found those five bodies inside the tunnel. Heidi.</s>COLLINS: Yes. All right. Still lots of questions, obviously. Chris Lawrence from Georgetown in Colorado this morning. Thanks, Chris.</s>HARRIS: Well, the president makes good on a promise. Moments ago he vetoed a bill to expand the children's health insurance program. Why did the president veto this legislation? What happens next? Let's take those questions to Capitol Hill and our congressional correspondent Dana Bash. Dana, good to see you.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You too.</s>HARRIS: The first question. Why did the president, for folks who are just joining us and catching up on the story, veto this legislation?</s>BASH: Well, the reason the president says that he vetoed it is because he sees what this legislation is. It's an expansion of the children's health care program. He sees it as the beginning of an expansion unnecessarily of government-run health care. And from the president's perspective, and the perspective of some Republicans here on Capitol Hill, they think that is best left to the private sector, not to the government, to give any American health care, but specifically to expand this children's health care program to more children even into those who may be perceived to be in the middle class. However, what the president is up against is a lot of members in his own party, Tony, who adamantly support the expansion of this health care bill. They have joined hands with Democrats. And so what you are going to see now is very intense lobbying efforts. It's actually already going on to try to get the votes to override the president's veto. So that bill is going to come back here to Congress. And what's going to happen is there's going to be a royal battle in the House of Representatives. Democrats trying to pick off enough Republicans to override the veto.</s>HARRIS: Yes. So, Dana, it's not over for this legislation?</s>BASH: Not even close. This is a galactic battle between Democrats in Congress and the president. And it is going to be potentially -- you know, every vote matters here, but what is going to be very interesting is to watch Democrats run as against some of these Republicans, pressure them behind the scenes in every way they can find. Because what they need here is just about 15 votes, Tony, to override the president's veto. They're hoping to get some -- a few Democrats who voted no last time to vote yes. But, you know, you talk to Republicans here, they admit full well, this is a very, very hard position to take, to oppose this kind of legislation. And Democrats are certainly not making it easy for them. We saw the lobbying push that they had publicly last week and it's going to continue on the air, in private. It's going to be certainly an interesting thing to watch. And also this vote is not going to happen until at least next week in order to give Democrats more time to have that lobbying.</s>HARRIS: OK. Our congressional correspondent Dana Bash for us. Dana, thank you.</s>BASH: Thank you.</s>HARRIS: Well, polls show popular support for expanding health insurance for children. Results from an ABC News/"Washington Post" poll conducted just a few days ago. Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said they favor an increase in spending on the program. Twenty-five percent said they were opposed.</s>COLLINS: Protests planned outside a Panama City, Florida, courthouse. Seven former boot camp guards and a camp nurse go on trial this hour. They are charged with aggravated manslaughter in the 2006 death of 14-year-old Martin Anderson. We're seeing some live pictures now inside the courtroom there on the left of your screen. Surveillance video on the right of your screen shows instructors kneeing and punching the teenager while the nurse looks on. The boy had collapsed earlier, but his drill instructors thought he was faking fatigue. Most of those instructors were white. Anderson was black. The NAACP protesting the selection of an all-white jury. The Michael Vick dogfighting case also back in court today. This time it's the state's turn. Lawyers for Vick expected at the hearing. Vick faces state charges of beating or killing a dog and endangering in or promoting dogfighting. He has already pleaded guilty to the federal charges. Vick is not expected in court today, but he did attend a recent class on preventing animal cruelty. It was taught by PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. A PETA spokesman says Vick was attentive, asked questions, and took notes during the eight-hour class.</s>HARRIS: Nuclear diplomacy apparently paying off this morning. Two top administration officials telling CNN, North Korea has agreed to disable a nuclear facility by the end of the year. The deal worked out late last month during six party talks in Beijing. The facility in Yongbyon (ph) was shut down and sealed over the summer. Now the U.S. will be in charge of making sure North Korea really does disabled its bomb-making abilities there as promised. A U.S. team is expected to head to North Korea next week.</s>COLLINS: Exclusive images for you this morning showing a brutal crackdown on protesters in Myanmar. A caution, some of these pictures might be disturbing to you. Witnesses risked their lives to smuggle these pictures out of the isolated country. They show soldiers attacking pro-democracy demonstrators in the streets. The video is at least two days old now. But today the acting U.S. ambassador reports military police are hunting protesters, pulling them from their homes and taking them away. Witnesses telling CNN, the military regime's campaign of intimidation is intensifying, but many say they will not back down. Want to tell you more now about the isolated country of Myanmar. The nation's leaders now call it Myanmar, but other countries and officials still refer to it as Burma. The military's been in control since 1962. The current regime came into power in 1988 after defeating a pro-democracy movement. That democratic push was crushed in a crackdown that left at least 3,000 people dead. In 1989, the National League for Democracy won the country's first free multiparty elections in 30 years. But the generals refused to give up power. Human rights activists Aung San Suu Kyi is the head of that party. She's been held in detention now for 12 of the 18 past years.</s>HARRIS: Well, a search for a registered sex offender intensifying this morning. Police say Bill Mitchell abducted a 15- year-old girl he met on the Internet. Alyssa Frank was found yesterday at a Wal-Mart. Police say Mitchell apparently took the girl to the store to "dump her." Mitchell is believed to be driving a 2000 model black Chevrolet Lumina, Florida tag number G025EL. At the bottom of the hour, are authorities getting any new tips or leads? We will talk with the Florida sheriff leading the investigation. An initial autopsy inconclusive. New information today about airline passenger Carol Anne Gotbaum. She died in police custody at a Phoenix Airport. Toxicology tests may tell more, but results are weeks away. Authorities say Gotbaum was not allowed to board her plane after arriving late at the gate. Police say she became angry and they handcuffed her. Police believe she lost consciousness while trying to get out of the handcuffs in her holding cell. A police officer says officers followed established policy in detaining the woman.</s>COLLINS: Convenience store combat caught on tape. A gas station attendant goes up against a robber. Authorities say the thief was armed with a broken pool cue and a knife. The clerk tried at first to fend off the robber with a broom. You can see it all here. At one point the two are going at it hand-to-hand. The robber eventually drops the pool cue and breaks out through a locked door. He got away with $165. The story attendant was not hurt.</s>HARRIS: And still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM this morning, after the storm, suspected tornadoes leave damaged buildings and downed trees in the heartland.</s>COLLINS: Also, federal bureaucrats flying in the lap of luxury? Most are supposed to travel coach, but many are upgrading on taxpayer dollars.</s>HARRIS: And walking in their shoes. Immigrant day laborers on the street corner. Uncovering America in the NEWSROOM.