[Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Thanks very much, Lou. And I'm in Jerusalem tonight, and to our viewers, you're in the SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Happening now, delayed reaction. It took nearly 90 minutes before anyone would learn 13 miners were trapped in that West Virginia coal mine. Could the time have made a difference? We'll have the emergency 911 tapes and a timeline. Misdiagnosis; there is also word it was not medical personnel that declared the miners dead. Could they have been alive when they were found where they were found? And emergency operating procedures; here in Jerusalem, doctors perform a third emergency surgery on the Israeli prime minister to stop the bleeding in his brain. How might a non-recovery threaten to destabilize the region? I'm Wolf Blitzer, in Jerusalem, and you're in the SITUATION ROOM. Here in Jerusalem the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is in critical but stable condition after undergoing brain surgery for the third time since suffering a stroke on Wednesday. During this latest four-hour operation, doctors say they stemmed bleeding in his brain and reduced pressure inside his skull. Mr. Sharon remains in a medically-induced coma. His personal surgeon spoke to CNN after the surgery.
[Dr. Felix Umansky, Sharon's Surgeon:] He's stable now. His intercranial pressure is normal and all of the other parameters, the blood pressure, respiration, everything is stable. He is under anesthesia because we want him to be sedated to control his blood pressure, to reduce his brain metabolism and to give him the best chances to recover.
[Blitzer:] We're going to have much more on Ariel Sharon's latest surgery, his condition here in Jerusalem. That's coming up this hour. First, though, there are new developments tonight in that West Virginia mine disaster that killed 12 men. Officials are now releasing those 911 tapes, other emergency calls. Let's head out to the scene. Our Brian Todd is there for us in Upshur County, West Virginia, along with CNN's Adaora Udoji, CNN's Chris Huntington, by the way, is in Pittsburgh with more on the condition of the survivor, Randy McCloy. First to you Brian Todd.
[Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] Wolf, these 911 tapes offer us a chilling account from some of the first responders on the scene, before the rest of us found out what happened that awful morning.
[Todd:] From the time of the explosion, nearly an hour-and-a-half passes before the world gets its first inkling of what's happened inside the Sago Mine. Monday, January 2, 7:55 a.m. A call from the mine to the Upshur County 911 Operator.
[Operator:] Upshur Emergency Squad.
[Unidentified Male:] Yes, ma'am. We need an ambulance to the Sago Mine.
[Operator:] OK. This is the one up on the Sago Road?
[Unidentified Male:] Yes, ma'am.
[Operator:] OK. What's going on?
[Unidentified Male:] Something happened inside the mine there.
[Todd:] Less than 15 minutes later, an emergency crew is on the scene with the first chilling account of what rescuers are facing.
[Unidentified Male:] Be advised, we're being informed we are on scene. We're being informed that there are several men trapped inside. We're going to need a lot of help.
[Unidentified Female:] Certainly, hearing that there were several men trapped inside came as quite a surprise, quite a shock, and then I think your adrenaline kicks in and you just start doing what you're trained to do.
[Todd:] Benny Nazelrod, fire chief in Adrian, West Virginia, says his station is less than five miles from the mine. His teams get their quickly. But by law, only specially trained mine rescue teams can go inside.
[Chief Benny Nazelrod, Adrian, W.v. Fire Dept:] You do feel helpless. You know there is only a certain amount you can do, and your normal instinct, when you're in any type of rescue, is to go help.
[Todd:] We know of no 911 calls between Monday morning and late Tuesday night. At 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, the first inaccurate reports have come from inside the mine and one emergency response team radios another.
[Operator:] Go ahead, man.
[Unidentified Male:] OK. You might as well stand still right where you're at, Gary. They did find them and they're all OK, I guess, so I think we might be transporting. I'm not exactly sure. But we're stuck out here.
[Operator:] 10-4, man.
[Todd:] Now, in the next two minutes another call comes in saying that the miners are alive, and there is one from an incident commander requesting any medical unit that can transport patients. The 911 supervisor tells CNN they never received any official call that the miners were dead. They found that out by watching the news Wolf.
[Blitzer:] Brian Todd reporting. Thank you very much. There's also new information tonight on the condition of the only man who survived that disaster, 27-year-old Randy McCloy. CNN's Chris Huntington is outside of the hospital in Pittsburgh where McCloy is in a medically-induced coma. What's the latest there?
[Chris Huntington, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, technically Randy McCloy is still in critical condition, but the doctors here at Allegheny General Hospital and McCloy's family members are much more optimistic now.
[Huntington:] For Randy McCloy's mother, it's the small things that give her hope.
[Unidentified Female:] He's fighting really hard to become completely, you know, awake and alert.
[Huntington:] Doctors are seeing slight improvements in his kidney, liver and lung function, but McCloy remains in a coma and the doctors say it appears he has suffered some brain damage.
[Unidentified Male:] We do believe that there has been some injury, that he is not waking up as quickly as we had hoped for him to do.
[Huntington:] So today, with his other vital signs strong enough to make the trip, an ambulance moved McCloy to a Pittsburgh hospital where he is undergoing treatment in a special pressurized oxygen chamber.
[Unidentified Male:] We are doing this because we want to leave no stone unturned, we want to offer him every possible benefit.
[Huntington:] The married father of a four-year-old son and a one- year-old daughter remains on dialysis and on a ventilator.
[Blitzer:] Well, we're all praying for him. Thank you very much, Chris Huntington, reporting from Pittsburgh. Despite the disaster, some are already preparing to go back to work at that Sago Mine. CNN's Adaora Udoji is there for us. She picks up this part of the story Adaora.
[Adaora Udoji, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi there, Wolf. Indeed, we've heard a lot of people this week talking about coal mining as a way of life, a way of life that they are very proud of here in West Virginia. So proud that even one of the men who escaped the blast on Monday says he has every intention of going back into the tunnels.
[Udoji:] Ron Grall was in the Sago Mine, felt the enormous blast, and just barely escaped the explosion. After living through the painful hours of rescue efforts, he intends to go back, back to the mineshafts where his 12 friends died.
[Ron Grall, Sago Miner:] That's what I love to do, and I don't know anything else.
[Udoji:] The people who anxiously waited and prayed at the nearby Baptist Church hour after hour either worked with the men, knew them or know someone who mines. West Virginia is coal country, the nation's second largest coal producer, a state where mining isn't just a job, it's a proud profession.
[Homar Hickman, Author:] These are not pick and shovel guys. These are guys that are very technically proficient, they're very well trained.
[Rev. Howard Swicks, Haven Hope Worship Ctr:] It's a very respected way of making a living, it's a very respected occupation in this region. And, you know, I think that's where the almost it's almost like a brotherhood, if you will.
[Udoji:] A brotherhood of generations, sons following their fathers. Today jobs start at around $30,000 a year, alluring money for someone without a college degree. For roughly 100,000 miners around the country, living with danger is part of their
[Dna. Grall:] I just like to do it.
[Udoji:] Even now after the deaths of his friends, many like Grall want need to get back to work. It's what they do and it's how they earn a paycheck.
[Blitzer:] All right, Adaora, thank you very much. Adaora Udoji reporting for us from West Virginia. Let's get a quick update on some other important stories making news. CNN's John King is joining us from Washington. Hi John.
[John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] Hello to you, Wolf, and back to you in just a minute, but as you noted, some other headlines. And we begin with a major political drama here in Washington. Embattled Congressman Tom DeLay, of Texas, faces what could be a major challenge to his combat hopes. Some moderate and conservative Republicans are circulating a petition calling for elections next month to permanently replace DeLay as House majority leader. Fifty signatures are needed to trigger an election and GOP sources tell CNN they're about halfway there. DeLay temporarily stepped down in September after he was convicted on money laundering indicted, excuse me, on money laundering and conspiracy charges. He's denied any wrongdoing and his spokesman says tonight he still believes Mr. DeLay has the majority of support in the Republican caucus. Residents of some hard-hit New Orleans communities have succeeded in blocking the demolition of their homes, at least temporarily. Yesterday angry residents took to the streets to try to keep wrecking crews out of their neighborhoods. Tonight the city agreed to halt the demolitions for two weeks to allow a federal judge to hear arguments from community groups. He was renown for his smooth baritone voice and his big heart when it came to fundraising for charities; 72-year-old Lou Rawls died in Los Angeles this morning. He had been undergoing treatment for lung and brain cancer. Rawls' hit, "You'll never find another love like mine," topped the R&B; charts back in 1976, but he may have been best known for the "Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon," which raised millions of dollars for the United Negro College Fund. Martha Stewart's hopes of clearing her criminal record appeared to fade today. A federal appeals court upheld her conviction for lying to investigators about a stock sale. Stewart served five months in prison and five months of house arrest just last year but had appealed her conviction anyway. And fire has destroyed a landmark church on Chicago's South Side. That church played a key role in the development of gospel music. The cause of today's massive blaze at the Pilgrim Baptist Church is under investigation. Fire officials, though, say work was being done on the church's roof just before that blaze broke out. The church was originally built as a synagogue in 1890. Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson is said to have performed there. Those are the headlines here in the states for now. Back to Wolf in Jerusalem.
[Blitzer:] All right, John, thanks very much, and we'll get back to you for some other news later this hour. In the meantime, let's go to New York right now, CNN's Jack Cafferty standing by with the "Cafferty File." Hi, Jack.
[Jack Cafferty, Cnn Anchor:] How you doing, Wolf? Good evening, from New York City. If you're having problems at home, you might be able to blame some of them on the cell phone. A new study shows people who consistently use cell phones are more likely to be less satisfied with their family life and they may have more stressful communication within their families. The study from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, shows that things like cell phones and pagers allow for more spillover between work and home, something most of us have probably figured out when the office calls during dinner or over the weekends. This may be especially true, according to the study, for working women who let their work cut into home time and vice versa. Here is the question this hour: how do cell phones affect your family life? You can email us at CaffertyFile@cnn.com, or you can go to CNN.comCaffertyFile. Not a problem I've ever had to concern myself with, Wolf. I've never owned one, never intend to.
[Blitzer:] And I take it you don't have a Blackberry either, is that right?
[Cafferty:] That's absolutely correct, and a myriad of other technological gizmos that have simply passed me by.
[Blitzer:] All right, Jack. We'll get back to you very soon. Still to come here in the SITUATION ROOM, Pat Robertson blaming Ariel Sharon's stroke on the wrath of God. Now the White House has some tough words for Robertson. We have that story. Plus, trapped at the bottom of a mine. Were all 12 workers really dead when they were found? Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a closer look. You'll want to stick around for this part of the story. Also, the sole survivor, the only man who made it out of that mine alive. We'll hear from his wife in her own words. You're in the SITUATION ROOM.