Could Latest West Virginia Mine Disaster Have Been Prevented?; Deadly Ford Vehicle Fire Danger
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. And thank you all for being us. Tonight, some new information about the latest underground disaster that cost lives and devastated families. Could tragedy have been prevented?</s>ZAHN (voice-over): Into the darkness -- after another tragic mine disaster, after more lives lost, could more have been done to save them?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We realized we didn't have the proper equipment on us, that we could not chance going back.</s>ZAHN: Tonight, straight talk from a disaster survivor -- a PAULA ZAHN NOW exclusive. Tonight's "Eye Opener": Does this sound like a school near you? Too many kids with too many serious health problems, and not enough nurses.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When a child has a terrible allergic reaction....</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... or when a child has an asthma attack...</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... who is there to take care of them?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our secretaries.</s>ZAHN: Is a nationwide shortage of nurses creating a health hazard in your child's school? And porn again -- this former stripper and porn star is on a new mission, taking on a billion-dollar business.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you could come and start going to church and have a relationship with God.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No way.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. That's what we do.</s>ZAHN: Tonight, trading sex, drugs and money for salvation.</s>ZAHN: Also ahead tonight, the startling videos -- after a series of fiery rear-end collisions in Ford Crown Victoria police cruisers, steps were taken to make them safer. So, why haven't owners of civilian models been told about a fix that could save their lives? It is a story you don't want to miss just ahead. But we begin tonight in West Virginia, where, only about an hour ago, lawmakers scrambled to approve new mine safety standards, including emergency location devices and emergency oxygen. Now, that comes after the fire at a Melville, West Virginia, coal mine that claimed two lives late last week. A survivor of that accident has agreed to tell his harrowing story and what he is telling us tonight might save lives down the road. Chris Huntington has been working on this exclusive story. And he just filed this report for us.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: Throughout my years...</s>CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This West Virginia miner is still trying to come to grips with the tragedy in the Aracoma Mine, the fire that he escaped, but that killed his friends, Don Bragg and Elvis Hatfield. He has asked us not to reveal his identity out of respect for them and their families. Shortly after 5:30 this last Thursday afternoon, his group of 12 miners learned that a conveyor belt had caught fire. They immediately began their escape. But it was more than two miles to the nearest mine exit.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: We started just smelling -- smelling the fire a little bit. And then we started running into some light smoke. And, at that time, nobody had their apparatuses on. We was all just kind of covering our faces and covering our mouths with our jacket.</s>HUNTINGTON: Were you scared?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: Definitely. I faced -- I faced death right now. I really did. I thought -- I didn't think I was coming home to see my family.</s>HUNTINGTON: But then the smoke turned black and choking, and they had to put on their emergency breathing gear.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: We was trying to put the apparatus on. And the smoke was so bad that I was -- myself -- and I can vouch that others around me was gagging, gasping for air, suffocating, and throwing up. I was throwing up. And I know a couple -- couple of my buddies was throwing up as well.</s>HUNTINGTON: This miner dropped his goggles. And he said others did, too. The smoke was so thick, they couldn't even see their miner lights. Moving single file, with each man holding on to the man in front, they felt their way blindly along a coal shaft for nearly the length of a football field, searching for an escape door they believed would lead to fresh air.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: As we worked our way, you know, to the door, the guy in the back, which was the boss, you know, he assumed that they was 11 miners in front of him. And the guy in the front assumed that 11 miners was behind him. As soon as we got through the door, we realized two was missing. And we didn't know, couldn't figure out how they got separated from us. And we finally realized we couldn't not find them. So, all of the 10 that made it out got together and...</s>HUNTINGTON (on camera): At that point, did you know it was Don and Elvis?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: We -- we knew who was missing, yes. We didn't know who was -- we knew exactly when we got through the door who was missing.</s>HUNTINGTON (voice-over): They yelled back through the door, as a couple of them made two trips back into the smoke to search for Bragg and Hatfield. (on camera): What was your first feeling when you knew you were nine...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: You...</s>HUNTINGTON: Or you knew you were 10, not 12?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: You get a real sickening feeling to your stomach, just wondering where -- where could they have gone, you know, where they -- where could they be?</s>HUNTINGTON (voice-over): After 15 frightening minutes of trying to find the other two, the 10 had no choice, but to save themselves and pray.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: You hear a lot of stories about, you know, what -- people say what I would have done and what this one would have done. And, in a situation like that, I can honestly say now there is not much you can do.</s>HUNTINGTON (on camera): Do you think this could have been prevented?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: This was pure accident. I mean, this -- this -- the only way this could have been prevented is if you would have had five or six guys at that one area when the fire started.</s>HUNTINGTON (voice-over): But he is upset that there was not a mine rescue team on site familiar with the huge labyrinth of the Aracoma Mine.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: Most of the guys on the mine rescue teams have never been under that hill right there specifically.</s>HUNTINGTON (on camera): Given what you have been through, will you go back into the mines?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: Me personally, I -- I probably won't go back under the hill.</s>HUNTINGTON (voice-over): But while he was under that hill, he knew he would make every effort to get out. (on camera): What gave you the determination to keep your head together to get out of there?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MINER: Probably -- probably my kids. I mean, that's all that -- I mean, I have got, you know, two young kids. And I knew, you know -- that's all that kept going through my head. You know, I have got to I have got to -- I have got to see them, you know, and...</s>HUNTINGTON: Chris Huntington, CNN, Melville, West Virginia.</s>ZAHN: So, try to imagine the pain and frustration of knowing trapped miners are fighting for their lives, but you're not even allowed to help them. That's the situation Chief -- Fire Chief Scott Beckett and his fire crew found themselves in. Beckett's team, from Logan, West Virginia, was first on the scene after the explosion in the Melville mine. But federal rules kept them from taking a leading role in that rescue. It wasn't until more than three hours later that rescue teams actually went in to fight that fire. And the chief believes precious time may have been lost. Chief Beckett joins me now. Good of you to join us, sir. Thanks so much for being with us.</s>SCOTT BECKETT, LOGAN, WEST VIRGINIA, FIRE CHIEF: Thank you.</s>ZAHN: So, we understand, chief, you were on the scene within four minutes of getting the call. Who told you that you couldn't fight the fire?</s>BECKETT: One of the officials in the mine actually told us that the MSHA had issued some sort of federal regulation papers that prohibited us from actually going in and fighting the fire.</s>ZAHN: What was your reaction when you heard that? You were ready to go. You had all of the equipment in place to fight this fire.</s>BECKETT: Yes, ma'am. We had all of the equipment ready to go to fight the fire, especially when the mine rescue teams -- their equipment is designed strictly for rescue, not for firefighting. So, I knew that they didn't have the -- the necessary equipment to put the fire out.</s>ZAHN: You had this...</s>BECKETT: And it was just -- it was just a total shock.</s>ZAHN: You had to sit and wait for almost three-and-a-half-hours, until those mine rescue teams went in. What was it like to stand there, knowing that very precious time was being completely blown?</s>BECKETT: It was -- it was just a frustrating situation all the way around, to try to tell 20 men who are competent and well trained that -- that they're not being allowed to do their job. And it was just a tough situation.</s>ZAHN: What would have happened to you, if you had decided to go against the feds and used your instincts and said, you know what, we got -- we're here; we can't waste any more time; we're going in?</s>BECKETT: We were told of -- there were rumors and we were being told that we would be arrested. There was even talk of federal prison time if we violated these orders. So -- and that's a pretty stout punishment. And that's what we were looking at, as far as I -- as far as I know.</s>ZAHN: What do you think would have happened if you had been able to go in there as soon as you arrived on the scene?</s>BECKETT: Well, we would have definitely been able to do something with the fire. It would not have grown to the size that it had grown to, if we were allowed to go in and -- and initiate an aggressive initial attack, which is what needed to be done. Just like any -- any routine fire that we fight, if you don't hit it hard and fast, it is going to get out of control and grow larger, and, then, it becomes a -- you know, a lengthy process.</s>ZAHN: Well, Scott Beckett, we really appreciate your time tonight. Thank you for sharing your story with us. And, as we mentioned, West Virginia lawmakers have just today approved new regulations designed to quickly locate trapped miners, good news for Governor Joe Manchin, who proposed the new law. He has seen first-hand the damage inflicted on mine families over just the last three weeks alone. He also lost a member of his family to a mine accident in 1968. And Governor Manchin joins us now. Thank you very much for being with us. I don't know whether you could hear Chief Beckett just now...</s>GOV. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Yes.</s>ZAHN: ... describe his shock about having his well-trained fire cruise on the scene within four minutes of getting the call and then being told by the feds, he couldn't fight the fire. Is there any excuse for that?</s>MANCHIN: Paula, I really don't know the procedures as far as the trained rescue teams, and how that coincides with the volunteer fire -- or, I mean, with the paid fire department there at Logan. I really don't. And I'm not here to say any of the things that could or could not have been done. I know we cannot bring back the 14 brave miners we have lost in 13 weeks. I know one thing, that we can keep the promise that I made to all of those families who lost these brave men. And we did that today, starting today, just a commonsense procedure. We're going to find out why we can't have a better response. And response, rapid response, is part of this legislation, along with electronic tracking and additional oxygen stations throughout the working mine.</s>ZAHN: But let me just ask you this. Do you think that -- that any well-trained fire team should face potential federal arrest, which was the rumor going around on the scene, if they have to sit around and -- and wait for crews to assemble for three hours, when they could be fighting the fire themselves?</s>MANCHIN: Well, you're talking about a mine. And a coal mine is much different than other types of fires, I'm told. And, in that coal mine, it is a whole different array of things they must go through and the training that they go through. I think the only people that can answer that is the people that are responsible for certifying mine rescue teams, and if they're able to -- to co-train, if you will, fire teams. This is the first time I have ever heard of a fire department that thought that they were trained or maybe have been trained and nobody else knew about it. I'm not doubting that they couldn't have done it. And I can't give you any reason or excuse where why, if they were well trained, were not allowed to proceed.</s>ZAHN: Governor...</s>MANCHIN: I don't know. But we are going to find out.</s>ZAHN: ... finally tonight, how much empathy do you have for the position of many family members, who are -- are saying to us in interviews over and over again, why did so many people have to die, and, if they hadn't died, maybe we never would have seen legislation like you got passed today? Do you understand that?</s>MANCHIN: Oh, I can't -- I can't -- I'm not here to -- to tell you why human nature works in the way it does or the timeliness of it. I was with those families for over 90 hours in both the Sago and the Aracoma Mine. I was with them praying, hugging, crying. The strength of these families, trying to pull people together, going through the ups and downs and going through the same scenario -- "Do you think they're alive? Do you think they had enough air?" I have been through this. There is nothing more gut-wrenching than what I have endured. And no family member of any miner should have to go through this. That's my promise. I can only tell you, there is no one that feels it any harder than I feel it. And there is no one that was more committed than I am to make the changes. We will have the safest mines in this country. The safest mines in the world will start right here in West Virginia. That's my commitment. Today was a start, historic start, passing major legislation in one day, suspending rules, bipartisan effort.</s>ZAHN: Governor Joe Manchin, we really appreciate your joining us, after this historic vote, a vote that happened...</s>MANCHIN: Thank you, Paula.</s>ZAHN: ... rather quickly, by legislative standards. Again, appreciate your time. Coming up next, defending the president's controversial domestic spying program.</s>GENERAL MICHAEL HAYDEN, DEPUTY NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR: Had this program been in effect prior to 9/11, it is my professional judgment that we would have detected some of the 9/11 al Qaeda operatives in the United States.</s>ZAHN: If that's true, why do most Americans say the president is wrong on this one?</s>KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I'm Kareen Wynter. She left the fast life in the strip clubs and bars of Las Vegas when one of her best friends died. But now she's going back. I will tell you why -- coming up on PAULA ZAHN NOW.</s>ZAHN: And, a little bit later on, an alarming trend in schools across the country, a huge shortage of school nurses, resulting in the death of one student. Could this put your child in danger? That's still ahead.