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hello and welcome to cnn special rolling coverage of the incredible rescue operation underway right now in a collapsed mine in chile. >> we will be taking you live to the scene in just a moment but you can see the wheel is

turning. the wench is bringing a man up. gary is standing by live but let's bring you up to date with where things now stand. miners have been pulled to safety already. four of the miners are already on the surface. 28 of them are awaiting their turn. one is on his way up. when you see that wench, when you see that wheel turning in the direction, that means the capsule is coming up. what's waiting for them at the surface? moments like this were 68 days in the making and the reunions have been jubilant. miners seem to be in good health and better spirits. this is an unprecedented rescue effort. workers pulled the first miner up about four hours ago shortly after midnight local time. >> rescue workers are in the process of pulling out the fifth miner. i want to get the latest from gary who has been at the mine all night watching this unfold.

this is critical because this, as we keep saying this man is the youngest, jimmy, and he has had a few problems below ground so he is probably more happy than anybody to come up to the surface but he doesn't like confined spaces so he is probably not feeling too thrilled about his situation right now. >> reporter: i will tell you that all 33 are not too thrilled to have been down here this long and all happy to be up. but jimmy sanchez should be up in about eight minutes where you see all the people right down there. he has had emotional issues down there and it's certainly to be understand. it is his first job. he misses his mom's cooking and a father of a 4 month old daughter. he will be the fifth miner to be successfully rescued. at the rate we are going, about 45 to 55 minutes per trip.

we are expected that by early friday morning all 33 men will be rescued. it's going like clock work so far. it's going so well. we anticipated it would go well but until it began it was so touching. we cover a lot of emotional stories. but all the journalists are all in awe in how this played out. it is real life and it is so good. after covering horrible sforryes like the drug cartel and terrorists, seeing how hard the chileans have wormed to save the lives of the 33 men, how grateful the families are at camp hope. they named it that because they hoped their loved ones would be found alive and rescued and it's happening. this is a good news story. i get a lot of criticism from my

friends saying how come you don't ever cover good news this is good news. sit a wonderful story to cover. people worked hard to make it happen. we are watching history because something like this has never happened before. >> this is good news and you mentioned that it is going like clock work. when we see that wheel going in a clock wise direction then we know that we are about to see a man surface. we have been watching 18-year-old jimmy sanchez who will, in about six minutes come to the surface. gary, tell us about his family members. who is standing by to greet him? >> reporter: we're not exactly sure. we haven't been privy to the details of which family members will be standing by when each of the miners appears. they have been told that they can have three representatives come. they greet their loved ones when they come out of the cage. it is very interesting.

we call it a capsule which is a more dramatic term. but the translator keeps calling it a cage. the loved ones are there and then the miner is take on the a temporary hospital to make sure there is nothing seriously wrong and then they are drif on the a reunion house that has been built and there are their family members where they are talk and hug and kiss. you saw mario sepulveda, he decided to speak. we were not sure that anybody would speak for free. we have been told they want to get paid but mario sepulveda did speak and he spoke about how much he loved his wife and children. >> he was exceptional. this has been a rebirth. john and i talked about that he of all of them, he said i am just a miner.

i think it will be impossible for people to treat him just as a miner. this is an extraordinary man who has become a spokesman for all of the 33 miners trapped below the ground. >> i think mario is a major league miner. i think all 33 of these men will be slebcelebrities. i think 32 of them could run for the presidency of chile and one of them could run for the presidency of bolivia it will be in history and psychology books and maybe medical books and mining books. >> gary waiting there for jimy sanchez. he doesn't like confined spaces so it will be interesting to see

his reaction when he gets to the top there and they open up the capsule and he is at last released after 68 days. >> you can see that's his father waiting for him. everyone has got a loved one or two waiting for him. he has got his father. chile's president sebastian pinera has been at the site since this ordeal began. he has been encouraging the miners and praising them. >> he has. we are actually going hear what he has to say. let's have a quick listen. >> i hope that tonight is going be an explosion of happiness and joy. i know that tonight there are going be tears of happiness in all chilean homes and i also know as i have been able to see where w my own eyes that the whole world is going share this joy of these 33 miners and the 33 million chileans.

we're going have an unforgettable night. for me it has been a tremendous satisfaction to have been able to form a team with people of different professional backgrounds. every member of this team has been rigorous in how we have been conducting ourselves. i just wanted to assure to your, mr. president that we will be successful. we are very well prepared. >> now the san jose copper and gold mine is located in northern chile as we have been telling you and here is a look at the time line of events. a lot of interest in this. the mine collapsed. trapping the 33 miners. roughly 700 meters underground.

you remember that, that the whole world does. the first confirmation for families and officials that the men were actually alive but the celebration was short lived when word came that it might actually take months to rescue the men. the miners were told that news on august 27, the same day a plan fwompb rescb to rescue the. remember they were told it wouldn't be until chris mast. this is jimmy sanchez. this is the youngest of the 33 miners. they are about to open the capsule. mining was not the profession for him and he certainly will not be going back to it. let's watch them as they open the capsule. his father is there to greet him. let's watch. [ applause ]

>> they are waiting as that door opens. 18-year-old jimmy sanchez, the youngest of the 33 miners about to emerge from that capsule. his father is waiting for him. very eager. it has been incredible. watching the emotions of these people. here comes jimmy sanchez. and see a smile there as he is about to emerge. there he is. on solid ground. he has stepped out of the capsule that took him 700 meters to the surface from that place he has been for 68 days. listen to them.

[ cheers and applause ] there is a very happy young man gary is standing by. gary, this is extraordinary as we watched the youngest miner step on solid ground and we heard the cheers. i think especially people feel interest this young man. he is just emerging into adulthood and he has been in the mine and he has struggled with a lot of things. talk to us about what we know about this young man. gary, are you there? all right. i can hear the buzz but we have not got gary but we will attempt to get him. watching the pictures, you can see this young man overcome with emotion as he hugs his loved ones and the rescuers.

let's not forget the rescuers. it's very important in in of the mining situations that those rescuers are told and given some form of closure because they have worked so hard towards this day to bring the miners to the surface. jimmy sanchez, 18 years of age. the youngest of the 33 miners. he will be taken now for a medical check-up to check all of his vitals. their eyes are the main concern and that's why they are covered. they want to make sure that they don't experience any eye damage as they come to the surface. and they all are going be take on the the hospital for a minimum of two days, in fact, so that they can be checked out to ensure that there are no problems. a lot of their organs they want to check that they are in working order. they have been confined in this space for so long, 67 days that they need to be checked over by

doctors to see that everything is in top working order there. the family members, his father, jimmy sanchez's father, very happy. big smiles, of course. his son now back home with him. extraordinary situation. all right. so the wheel is still now. but that capsule will go back down to collect the next miner. three miners aboveground now. 28 still waiting to be brought to the surface. don't go anywhere.

welcome back to our special coverage. here is a live picture at the scene. it has kept us all transfikted at the copper gold mine. >> the men who would sorve as guinea bigs for the process. the experiment worked brilliantly. the capsule has brought the men up without incident. jim nissan chez coming up. the young man who had some trouble underground. we are now moving into the

second phase of the rescue. we will see more men that may need medical assistance. that was forseen. there were hundreds of things they thought of and among them that some of the men would need to be evacuated urgently. and so the one road leading from the mine has been cleared of traffic and blocked off to make it aveil tobl rescue workers if they should need it. helicopters are ready to fly even at night to get these men to hospital if need be. the pilots equipped with night vision goggles. thinking of everything the rescue team said that cars would not be allowed to use their headlights so that the night vision goggles would be effective and pilots would be able to fly safely if need be. five miners are aboveground. the rest are still below with several workers helping them. so far the men appear

surprisingly hardy, surprisingly healthy and in remarkable spirits. five of the miners have been carried to the surface. going about one rescue an hour with people around the world intently watching their tv screens as that capsule is lowered and pulled up over and over again. we are live from cnn london. people are watching there, too, aren't they? >> that's right. people around the world have been watching this. they are just waking up here in london to the news and a lot of people will be reading it in the papers. the independent here in london has a big spread in their pap wer a big picture of the mine site with the headline, "the dawn of hope" the french newspaper has a picture of the capsule that is being lowered. a lot of people just waking up to this news now and finding out more of the details.

we have had viewer reaction coming in from around the world sending in their videos. it was a very emotional scene for her. [ applause ] >> with we have had viewers sending in reports from mexico and ecuador. we had one sent in from chile he

says chileans have been very happy with the way the government has responded to the situation, being able to get the miners out. and he showed us a lot of video of what's happening in chile. in particular, the pride with which the chilean nation is viewing these events. the flag. he sent us a note saying there has been an eerie stillness but the flag has been known as the loan star and that the blue in the flag is supposed to represent the pacific ocean. they are very proud of their nation as this rescue continues. reaction is coming in from around the world. a lot of people glued to their screens. >> thanks very much. while she was talking, we received word that a helicopter has left the mine site with four of the newly rescued miners

aboard. no indication that that is underway. but that was a possibility that they were warned ability. we do know a helt helicopter has left the mine site and four of the five men who emerged were boarded. >> who can forget that mario, particularly the second miner rescued, he says his ordeal won't make him change jobs. let's listen. >> i want to be treated as mario sepulveda. a worker, a miner. that's what i want. i want to continue to work, because i think i was born to die tied to the anvil. i believe i was brought up in a

beautiful way. >> he had a lot of advise to tel tell. the next guest is an expert on the medical risks associated with mine rescues. that was four years ago. and he joins us live on the phone from it was man ya australia. thank you so much for talking with us. i very much remember every step of the way with that rescue and tell us what are you feeling as you watch this rescue unfold in chile? must be an extraordinary experience for you? >> yes. t it's quite a joyous occasion to see these people come out alive and well and be able to walk away as well as they are. >> how different or how similar

has this rescue operation been compared to what you dealt with in tasmania? >> the main difference really between the two is the miners with what they -- they were able to move around. the other miners were trapped in a smaller space and they were really compressed. they couldn't move around or stand up. so we had to manage them in the small space. the advantage we had, once we got them out of there, we were able to take them to a medical center that we set up underground so we knew exactly what their condition was. >> of course there was a lot they had to deal with in the 14 days they were underground. what was life like for them after the rescue? how difficult was it for them? >> they had to readjust. they had to get used to the fact

that they were public figures and the fact that they had been really confined. a pretty difficult time for them. >> i think, too. i know that you have made comments in the past about the need for the rescuers in situations like this to get closure. to meet with those miners that they have brought to the surface. why is that so important, do you think? >> the rescuers are on a pretty high adrenaline drive and they are really pushing themselveses to try to achieve the best outcome for the trapped miners. if you just allow it to finish, it just ends. it is nothing. you end up with a big void. what we did for all of our staff is we made sure they were all there in the morning that the miners came out. we made sure that they were able to see the conclusion so they were there for the whole event from start to finish and had some degree of closure.

and then all the events that were arranged for all the people involved by the australian government, by the local authorities which brought everyone together again. i had the the chance to talk about how it affected them. >> very important point. hopefully chile is listening and they follow that there could be some formal reunion between the miners and the rescuers who have been there for them along the whole journey. thank you so much for joining us and sharing your past experiences. appreciate it. >> fascinating stuff. five of the miners are aboveground. people talk about it all around the world. ro rosemary has been tweeting. we will have a look at social

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welcome back. a special welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world watching. the scene at camp hope where you can see the wench is stationary after bringing five miners up from underground they are now taking a second look at the capsule, machinery and maintaining it and making sure they are ready to go for the 28 miners. >> yes, 28. it has been interesting how they have phased this out. the first five were considered the strongest. the first is the most strong of the group. he had to be able to deal with any technical problems in the first trip to the surface. now we are moving into the phase where there is a group of men who have had problems and the very last group will be the strongest as well. sit interesting the second group we are dealing with. for the family members of the

trapped miners it has been a difficult ordeal. they have been waiting from the very beginning, of course. listen. >> when i arrived at the mine, it was terrible. you could feel the pain here at the mine and i promise never to leave until the last miner came out. my promise still stands. then i would say mission accomplished. we are praying to god that everything works well. >> people around the world are praying. the miners have captured the attention of basically everyone on the planet who is close to a

newspaper or television set kris any has been watching all of this on the social network. >> here in hong kong i am paying special attention to the voices in china where these are a regular occurrence. so far this is prompting chinese citizens to voice their anger. here are a pew examples from china's equivalent of twitter. if this mine accident happens in china can those trapped miners survive until now? another user writes this, the daily report of chile rescue reminds me of the unanimous dead

miners in a land of china. every report of a chile rescue is a cloud slap in the face. and then this is written. the effort made so far is very scientific and humane, very different than what we see in china. the show rescue work without basic rescue equipment support. let's take a broader look at the social media conversation around the story. almost 4% of the conversation on social media is about the mine rescue. more approximate more people are talking about it as the rescues continue. we have teamed up with a company to track what's being said about the story on twitter in the last 24 hours. you can see the biggest subjects are the rescue time line and the drilling effort. people are discussing the miners' families, their mental

state and how they have survived so long underground and people are tweeting their personal expressions of support for the rescue effort. that is totally about 18% of the conversation. you are welcome to send me your thoughts. be sure to follow the entire team. you can find it right hire at cnn/mine. i will be back in an hour. let's send it back to cnn center. >> thanks very much. if you are watching you can see they have been working on the capsule that has been bringing the miners up. it's been stationary and on the ground. the journey up and down has been on hold for the time being as they lubricate and maintain the wheels. we will try to find out more. we will be back right after this. fifty-eight different individuals are using,

absolutely using my old social security number.

back to continuing coverage. >> you are looking at live pictures of the scene at copiapo in chile. an amazing ordeal is coming to an end with the successful rescue of five of the 33 miners who have been trapped for 68 up to 9 days. just a 15 minute ride to

fresh air. the five who have made the trip have been greeted by hugs and cheers. extraordinary thing is that the miners appear in such good spirits but each of them is being whisked away to undergo medical checks. the capsule itself is being prepared and maintained so that it can pick up miner number six. >> that's critical. i want to go straight to the scene in northern chile. joining us live is gary tuckman. this has come to a sudden standstill. they seem to be paying all inin attention to one of the wheels what is going on? do you know?

>> reporter: pit stop is a good analogy. i will call it a tune-up. after 68 days, they want to make sure that this fenix capsule is in good shape. so far it has done the job. five miners have come up. there are still 28 left. the next person will be coming up, a 30-year-old man by the name of osman araya. he has four children and a wife who will be very eager to see him. that's where they get an

extended chance to talk to their families. they are give an couple of hours to do that. they are mandated to take a helicopter ride to do that. what they are doing, they are turning off all the lights in the area. it is a safety measure for the pilots and they are flying the miners to a hospital about a half an hour away from here. sit mandated that they get treatment. very happy with how things are going. >> gary tuckman there at the mine. clearly we are having some audio issues there. we will attempt to correct those so that things are a little easier to hear when we go back

to gary. but you certainly get the idea that that wheel, they are making sure that it's running smoothly. clearly five men aboveground and they want to make sure the rest of this runs as smoothly as it has already. they are taking a little time-out to make sure that the wheel runs smoothly and the whole tracking system is set in line for the sixth miner to come to the surface. >> it is a complicated technical operation. chile consulted with nasa with the u.s. space agency. we spoke with two members of that team, nasa's chief of space medicine and that cease psychologist. >> that were trapped in there for 17 days they tried to extract themselves tried to signal the rescuers and finally

were found. but they really did an excellent job organizing themselves keeping their spirits up. >> and from a health perspective, what should doctors be looking out for immediately after the men are pulled out? >> well certainly one of the things they will guard against depending on the time of day is uva and uvb unlight exposure. they have been in darkness with some light for about the last two months. if you can imagine yourselves when we come out of a theater and are squinting after two hours in ta a theater. you want to avoid the eye pain from cornial spasm. and then they will do a primary survey. >> that is critical. all right. we do want to take a look at the

numbers we hind the story. 33 miners were trapped in the mine. rescuers were expecting the worst until a probe drill found the trapped men 17 days after their cave-in. all together they have been trapped underground for 68 days and they each have to be hoisted up through the escape shaft that is about 622 meters long. we have been saying 700 meters. and it will take each miner about 15 minutes to get to the surface in the capsule. about 55 centimeters in dimer the or 21 inches. let's put it that way, a very small confined space. the youngst miner is 18-year-old jimmy sanchez. we saw him just recently as the last one to come to the surface. mario gomez is 63, the oldest. and for carlos mamani, it was

his fifth day on the job when it collapsed. he is promised a job if he returns home. that may very well be an option for him. >> i believe we have live pictures of the hospital site where the miners are expected to be ferried. in fact, first reports suggested that four miners had left camp hope. the last report said that two of the miners were believed to be aboard the helicopter. this has been one of the possibilities that was foreseen by the rescue team in the planning that went into this operation. they knew from the outset that some of the men would need beyond the cursory initial examination that they were receiving immediately on the

surface. the word we have is in fact two of the men are being flown to that hospital. we are looking at live pictures as we wait to see them arrive. the weather was good for flying. nighttime is not the time of choice for pilots. traffic was dramatically cut back. the roads were blocked so the night vision goggles would president find ambient light distracting. the indication we have is that in fact two of the men are being choppered to the nearby hospital. we will have more details as soon as we get them. in hungary, trues are working to

build dams to hold back poisonous sludge. last week a flood from the same reservoir killed eight people. in lebanon, iran's president is scheduled to visit on wednesday. i believe he has arrived, we have pictures there. expected to stop in the southern part of the country which could mean that the leader could tour the israeli border. he will also meet with lebanese leaders. hezbollah a very close ally of the tehran gumt. only oil rig operators following newer tougher regulations will be allowed to resume their trilogy. in england the judge is expected to rule today on the

controversial sale of the liverpool football owners. a singapore based owner is offering to pay $570 million in cash for the club. >> let's get back to the late nest the mine rescue. a total of five miners have been pulled safely from the mine. this video of the third man coming out, medical personnel have been lowered down to help decide who is going up next. that includes getting them ready to go up. the miners will be evaluated before being take on the a hospital. two of them have been choppered out to the hospital now.

already. special coverage of the mine rescue in chile. there we have the second miner who was pulled out, mario sepulve sepulveda. we are getting word he was actually in an ambulance here? >> we are looking at what i believe are live pictures from a hospital scene where two of the miners have been taken. that is one of them.

that apparently has happened even as we are watching. as you can see on the left of your screen, the work has finally stopped. the capsule that apparently needed maintenance work. sit now preparing to descend to pick up what will be miner number six. the operation continues through the night into the morning in chile. let's have a look while they are looking at it. there are three of them in total. only one is designated as the primary rescue vehicle. all of them were designed by chilean navy engineers and by nasa to rescue the miners. inside they have an oxygen supply.

the uninterrumted trips were paused for long minutes as they maintained one of the wheels that seemed to be giving them trouble. there is also an escape hatch in case there is a problem there is no indication that that has been needed. instead they have wenched them up and down without any apparent problem. we have created a duplicate and it's pretty tight. t it must be the way obese people feel getting into a phone booth. it has been an entirely successful operation so far. we are waiting for the sixth of the 33 miners to be brought up. what are conditions like for the

trapped miners? our jennifer delgato has more on that. >> the temperatures down below are running 30 to 33 degrees and we have been dealing with that over the last several weeks. we have not seen any change across the region. running about 15 percent higher than sea level. you are going see the pressure dropping as well as the temperatures dropping. now with the capsule, it weigh about 450 kilograms. if you remember earlier, we have been talking about how the capsule has been going down quicker. when they are sending those down

there is actually a body in there so that adds another 100 kilograms so that is is is pushing it down faster. when it goes down important it moves at a pace of 20 to 25 minutes. when the miners get up to the surface they will see a dmimpbs the pressure. roughly around 25%. temperatures running 8 to 13 degrees. a lot cooler. that is why you are seeing the steam coming up. when you are on a plane you start to see and feel your ears popping, so you can relate to what the miners are enduring. as i said, as they are descending they are using the force of the gravity.

that is taking 20 to 30 minutes when we are looking at the capsule being importanted. it goes faster when you get more weight in there. that winch is pulling it up much faster. i also want to update you on the weather. that's important for the plains that are flying from the san jose mine site and then over to the hospital. that means the conditions are going be pretty good as we go through the evening. looks like the weather is going be nice for the next three days. >> perfect weather for a rescue, right? fantastic. thanks so much. and you know, as the drama surrounding the discovery and eventually rescue unfolded, we

wanted to share some of the countless images taken during their ordeal. many of them capturing the moods of everyone involved. in a show of solidarity, banners like this one telling the men to have strength as they await their rescue and flags planted for each of the miners rippling in the breeze. a school was set up for the trapped miners so they could attend classes cl es close to t miners. this is one child's art work so you get an idea of what was going on in that child's mind.

this young mand holds a flag reading we wait for you, your family. a sentiment shared by the family members waiting anxiously at that mine. a clown stops by to help entertain those children waiting for their fathers. and help them forget, if at least for a moment, why they are at the mine in the first place. john, some incredible pictures there. >> and more incredible pictures to share with you. let's look at the rescue capsule. five men have been brought up from underground in roughly five hours since the operation began. this is something we haven't seen before. the rescue capsule has not been rushed back into surface. it has been studies, lubricated and maintained but the winch is not moving. the capsule is sitting aboveground. we are not sure why. our extensive coverage will continue right after this.

welcome back to special coverage of the chile mine rescue. you are looking at live pictures. as we watched the rescue efforts, stalled for the time being. the passage of time on our minds. as the wait for this to happen turned from days into months, routine helped keep the miners sane. work shifts, smoking breaks, game time all part of daily life under ground. a look at a day inside the mine. >> a new dawn breaks. 33 miners trapped half a mile deep.

rsh the only thing they didn't know was what the weather was like. >> our underground day shift is starting. >> because they have access to about 2.5 kilometers of tunnels. >> males are sent down in metal tubes rescuers call carrier pigeons. >> we sen them breakfast, a milk shake, lunch, another milk shake and then their dinner.

>> first job of the day, check air quality. by midday, paramedic has checked all the miner's vital signs and sent the data to doctors. >> they have to do blood and urine tests and check for skin infections. >> miners help the rescue effort, clearing debris from drills now boring an escape shaft. at 4:00 p.m., day shift ends. miners play games. listen to music and work out on the orders of a personal trainer far above. >> usually the truck operators are quite fat because they are sitting down all day. they have a personal trainer to help them cut down their waistline so they can fit in the rescue capsule. >> miners spend their day wandering up and down between

the workshop, refuge or camp. for the 14 smokers, it's a long hike to light up. each has a ration of 11 cigarettes a day. >> there are people who don't smoke and they don't like to have people smoking close by so the smoking sector is well separated. >> each one of them have had a lot of time to think about what to do with the rest of their lives. >> but until the day one of the drills finally rescues them, those 33 lives must stay on hold.

>> the lives are not on hold any more but you can retrace all of the developments on the interactive time line. and the videos they made underground to details about the operations underway right now rescuing the men. all that and much more at cnn.com/miners. >> and we turn our live coverage over from here. we will continue to cover the story.