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tv   Parker Spitzer  CNN  October 14, 2010 4:00am-5:00am EDT

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so did others. esteban rojas, trapped with two cousins, asked his wife to renew their wedding vows while trapped while below. she said yes. edison pena led sing alongs underground. his wife had a baby while he was below. victor za mora and his wife are expecting one. i hope this new life ahead of you is happy the chilean president told him. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com
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>> so it went around the clock. and finally the last man, the leader for all the trapped miners, luis urzua. you have been an inspiration, he was told. the country is not the same because of this. then they sang the chilean national anthem, a song of hope, unity, and strength to people who have shown so much of all three. ♪ tom foreman, cnn. >> thanks for watching, everyone. last night we witnessed history as the first of 33 miners removed from the dark dungeon they had been living in for at that point 68 days. today, the 69th day, still under
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way. history continues. operation under way. five rescuers still underground waiting to make it to safety. that's what it looked like from the top moments ago. there you have one of the last people coming out of the mine. this is the first rescuer arrives on the surface moments ago. we're going to be covering this over the next two hours as we follow the action on the ground, plus some of the most dramatic emotion. take a look at the images from deep underground. just a few moments ago. six rescue workers before one of them made it to the surface, holding a sign, "mission accomplished." we want to make sure they're out alive. the mission is not over until we get all of the men on the surface. they got 33 miners out. they are now heading home. it is not over yesterday. as you saw, one came up. we're going to bring you the
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surface as it happens. we're live overnight. a short time ago, those rescuers, the six men underground, happened the last of the 33 miners into the pod. this is the moment we saw down below. luis urzua, the foreman of the group leaving. let's listen. he chose to be the last of the miners to leave the underground dungeon that they had been living in. he arrived to cheers. sirens and hugs just a short time later. let's watch. [ sirens blaring ] [ speaking spanish ] >> a report to the president
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that all of the 33 miners were out, hugging the president. lifting faster than it had at first. the entire operation quicker than they expected. being viewed from all over. live pictures from above ground, below ground, and even in the rescue pod. a remarkable show. when it was over luis urzua has spoken to the president. take a look. >> translator: we have done what the entire world was waiting for. these 70 days that we fought so hard were not in vain. i think the first several days were -- i can't even explain it, but we had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight. we wanted to fight for our
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families. that was the greatest thing. these workers, i didn't know them much, but i learned how to -- i began to know them. what was the most difficult moment? the most difficult moment was a very difficult moment was -- but -- when -- when the air cleared, and we saw the rock. when i saw the rock, it just made me -- i just thought i was in a movie. and many thought it was going to be a day or two days as always, but then when i saw the rock, i
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just knew. and we knew how to manage the situation the first couple of days. then, you know, some things happened that weren't the best, but we learned how to keep our composure. i'm happy that there weren't any big problems. you have no idea how many -- all of the chileans shared the anguish, the hope, and the happiness. i think the first five days we were sure there was work being done on the mine, but we thought it was just going to be difficult. in my experience i knew it was going to be difficult the way
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things were. at the beginning we didn't know where you were. we didn't know if you were dead or alive until -- until this arrived. we cried. in all the homes in chile we cried with happiness, with emotion. we'll never forget this. the anguish and the anxiety and then the happiness, the happiness when the last one came out. the captain, the boss. >> that was luis urzua talking to the chilean president, the president showing him the note that was put on a drill when the first drill after 17 days when these men had been trapped for 17 days down below, a drill finally put through. they put a note on that drill, and that drill went up and that's how the people on the surface -- that's how chill --
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chi chilean's president knew. here you see another rescuer leaving the mine headed toward freedom. just a few rescuers underground. we're going to bring you each of their sense alive. each breathing fresh air. the rest making their way back up. all of this work, attributed to a lot of hard work, daring expertise from around the world. even we're going to talk to barrett grill ares from the discovery network in "man versus wild." we're going focus on him on the first 17 days. they had a little light on their helmets. they were rationing tuna that was down in the mine.
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they rationed water, once every two days. they had no idea if people were were looking for them. we're going to talk to barrett how you get to a situation like that. let's go to gary tuchman who's at the mine. gary, it's been a remarkable 24-hour period. we're still watching these rescuers being brought to the surface. it's still not over. there are still folks deep underground who are still at risk. >> reporter: there is still risk involve. that's why we're keeping an eye on the spinning wheel as the rescue workers are coming up. once they're all up, they'll close the mine shaft for an eternity. this has been very inspirational. we didn't know what would happen when this all began. officials believe that this vehicle they were using, this rocket-like vehicle -- that's what's so interesting about it.
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when you see it in the bottom of the mine, the audio, when you see this beautiful scenery, it almost looks like an amusement park. it never carried a human being until the human being went down there yesterday, got to the bottom, we were all relieved, and the first miner hopped in. we waited for a few minutes but it felt like an hour and 15 minutes. we saw it, the rocket coming through the hole. everyone clapping. the family was watching. we couldn't get enough of it. i can't say that for all the journalists on the perch but i'm saying this to the viewers from all over the world. you can't get enough of these reunions. the first, the fourth, the tenth, the fifteenth, the twe y
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twentieth. but they kiss and they hug and they told their stories and it was absolutely wonderful. and then tonight after it all began, the 33rd, the sight supervisor came up. that's the end. all 33 survived. it would have meant absolutely squat if they weren't able to rescue all of the 33 men. >> and, gary, where are they now? >> reporter: most of them are at the hospital, a drive from here, a helicopter ride. >> you say most of them are in the hospital. in terms of their medical conditions, what have you heard? we're going to have a report from the hospital. but what are you hearing? >> reporter: this is the absolute good news. no major issues whatsoever. a few of them have a few issues,
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minor issues. miners with minor issues. some of these guys may be in better shape thanthy would be if they weren't in the mind because they were keeping a careful eye on them. this is a wonderful good news story. >> so we're still waiting now for that third rescue worker. you can see all his colleagues gathered around the shaft waiting for him to emerge. three rescue workers still down below. we first learned that they were alive on august 27. as i say, they had been down there for 27 days. that began the story of the international attention. of course, the story's going to continue long after the reunion. tonight karl penhaul has been with the families throughout this drama. he joins us now. karl, obviously this is the outcome the families have been dreaming of. how do they spend today? >> reporter: absolutely. it was an outcome that on many
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occasions they didn't dare dream of because when that mine first collapsed on august # 55th, the logical conclusion was that all 33 miners had been buried alive, but throughout the day we have seen the fenix capsule rise up that rescue shaft and deliver each miner one by one back into the arms of the people that they most love. there was, for example, a veteran miner, mario gomez, 63 years old, he stepped out of the capsule into the arms of his wife lila and then he got on his knee and prayed to marry. and he prayed for jessica yanez, the woman he has been with for many years. while he was underground he decided when he got out it was time to marry jessica yanez in a
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catholic church wedding and that is now what they plan to do. there was edison pena, a young man who was an electrician, part of the team that helped the 33 stay alive down there for so many days, a mad elvis presley fan. i just wonder what elvis presley song was going through his head as he rose back to the surface again. many stories like that. each of the 33 miners have a story to tell. >> karl, we're vng to -- it's getting difficult to hear you because of the background of the noise. we'll get back to you because there are so many incredible stories and these families are getting the chance -- as soon as each miner is brought up, they're allowed to be with with their loved ones, no more than three family members, just for a few seconds and then they're brought to a temporary triage hospital that was set up and then to a medical facility for more intense treatment.
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the chil chilean government consulting. they punched through in record time. a lot of people from a lot of places helped make this happen. let's talk with dennis o'dell of united mine workers. you watched this throughout the night and i'm sure throughout the day. we have never seen anything like this before, been underground for so long and survived. >> and, sadly, you know, when we've seen things like this happen in the past, anderson, you know as well as i do, the outcome has not been a happy ending like we witnessed in the scene here at this event. so it's just a joyous occasion to see that the end result is like it is and it's been successful and all the miners are out and they're out and healthy and with their families again. it's finally good to see
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something like this occur where the outcome isn't what we've seen in the past, where it's a major disaster and deaths are involved. >> as we enjoy the survival of these 33 men, often, as you say, we've seen too many cases where people don't survive. what can we learn from this incident? what can we take from this moving forward? >> well, that's something that we're going to have to talk about and talk about in the very near future. there should be an investigation that takes place to find out what occurred, what caused the to happen, where there were short cuts that were taken. did they take all the necessary precautions? were there some violations that occurred at this mine? i'm in the process right now in the middle of an investigation up in western branch where miners were killed here in west virginia. thank god that these guys are out and safe, but we need to
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find out what caused that so we can prevent it from happening again in the future. we need to look at the top conditions and find out what we could have done better, make better means of escape for minersing not just one escape but give them a couple of means of escape so they don't have to barricade themselves and wait for somebody to drill from the top like they have here. so there's a lot of things we can learn. >> are you surprised -- and, again, we're waiting for this third rescuer to come to the surface. are you surprised at the condition of these miners after 60 days? i mean a lot of them have been able to stand, able to talk, and, you know, kind of run around even. >> well, and i think that goes -- you know, you have to give credit to those who headed off this rescue and the resources that they brought from throughout the world because what we've seen is we knew they were going to be down there for an extended period of time, so
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they brought in resources. they knew they had to keep the miners occupied. they knew they had to give them games like dominos to keep them occupied, establish communication with loved ones on the outside, make sure they were getting right kind of nourishment. i'm not surprised because they planned this off properly so hats off to the people who planned this from the very beginning. i think they've done an excellent job in that respect. >> yeah. in terms of -- i mean how -- how difficult an operation has this been to drill through this material? i mean they were getting worst-case scenarios that this may not happen till december. we see the capsule coming close to the surface with the third rescuer. how tough has it been bringing -- you know what? let's just -- i'm sorry, dennis.
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let's just watch this unfold. let's listen. >> okay. sure. [ applause ] >> let me ask you another question about these rescue workers. they really -- everyone thinks this thing is over. there are still three men down below. they risk their lives every time they go into the earth. >> you know, sometimes we don't tell these guys how much we appreciate them. think about that for a minute. those guys who were trapped underground, they were there without choice. these guys made a choice to put their lives on the line to go underground to help rescue these guys and bring them out. so you can imagine rescue
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workers throughout this world do that every time there's a mine disaster. they put their lives at risk. so they have to be, you know, well commended on what they do. >> no doubt about that. you see the capsule now going back down. they're trying to get through this as quickly as possible. still three men down below. our coverage is going to continue. thanks, dennis. we'll talk with you throughout these t the night. we're watching this live. we're of course bringing this to you live. we're live until the midnight hour until the last rescuers has landed safely on the earth. a closer look at what it takes mentally to survive. what if you were in a situation trapped somewhere or in a survival situation. what does it take to get through? we're going to talk to "man versus wild" barrett grill. >> one of the hardest things of
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♪ chi-chi-chi-! le-le-le! los mineros de chile! >> that's minor jose ojeda waving the chilean flag.
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we're going to be bringing you the most incredible moments for the last 24 hours. no doubt you missed these as they were brought out, as you were at work, we'll bring you the most remarkable moments from around the world as we wait for the final rescuers. the miners are out, the rescuers are down below, three men still down below. that capsule has left. it is still descending now. it is going much faster. we anticipate these three rescue workers should be back up, certainly by the end of this next hour. we e have a much better idea right now of how the rescued miners are doing physically right now with the exception of one miner who is being treated for pneumonia. two need extensive dental surgery. patrick oppmann is at the hospital where the miners are being examined and treated. patrick, what's their condition? >> reporter: anderson, there's 17 miners in this hospital
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here behind us, and we're told today by the chilean health minister that they're in surprisingly good condition. none of the men will face any serious health problems as a result of their two-plus months in captivity, and you're talking a moment ago about remarkable moments, a remarkable moment a few hours ago when as we were watching the final rescues, anderson, you could hear shouting coming down from the windows above there. the men are on the second and fourth stories of this hospital, and they were watching the rescues of their colleagues, watching those rescues. the same rescue they'd experienced earlier in the day or late last night. and started chanting, chile, chile. their family members are down in the lobby. you can hear the chants. you talk to hospital workers, and they said every single patient in this hospital was watching the coverage, including the 17 most important patients in the hospital, the 17 miners. we're expecting to see more of those helicopters bringing the miners to this hospital. anderson? >> patrick oppmann, appreciate
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it. dr. kimberly manning joins me now. she is an assistant professor at emory university medical school. she was with us last night. dr. manning, it sounds like the conditions of these miners is not very serious. there is acute pneumonia, obviously serious for that one miner, and skin lesions on the eye. how would that have happened? >> well, they were in such a damp quarter. it was very dark in the area, and then you must remember, it was very, very hot down there. 85 to 90 degrees. and so some of those infections that have been reported are what we call fungal infections. any type of infection that's caused by a fungus really thrives in that type of an environment. think of things like yeast or athletes foot or even jock itch. those are things you'll see in the warm, moist, damp circumstances. >> were you surprised to see i mean, how well they all looked, walking around just fine, none visibly out of breath? they all looked like they were in pretty good condition.
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>> you know, i'll tell you, anderson, many people were so surprised after 17 days that these gentlemen were alive and in such high spirits. what i learned from that is anything is possible with this group of gentlemen. so i have to say i can't say that i'm completely surprised they're doing better than what we anticipated. like we've said all evening long, we've never, ever seen anything like this. and for us health care professionals, we have nothing to go by. what we can do is speculate and make assumptions of what could have happened, but we're all learning so much as this unfolds. and it's exciting to see that folks are doing so well. but as we mentioned before, this has been so, so traumatic, that i just will be very surprised if the miners can escape some of those psychological effects. >> you know, so much of the studies that i've read on people in these kinds of conditions basically are astronauts or people, you know, health workers
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in antarctica, researchers there, people that have been in isolation. but what makes this different is that darkness these men experienced for these past 69 days. talk a little bit about how that can affect somebody, not just in the short term, but also long-term, what it does to the body and one's mental health to be living in complete darkness and how they worked to have a light area and a dark area, a light area using lamps and some l.e.d. lights that might trick their body into being in some sort of a rhythm. >> right. so this is specifically what we refer to as the cirkadian rhythm, it's a 24-hour clock that regulates all the physiological processes of the body. so things like how you -- how active you are, how your muscles move, how alert you are. those things are tied to the sar cadian rhythm and follow a light and dark cycle. so it was very, very tough, very likely for those gentlemen in the first 17 days, but once they
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established that light/dark area, that may have helped some at night. they did have a red light to sort of mimic moonlight, if you will. and i think what we've also learned is that things aren't exactly what we thought. some of the gentlemen were moving around a lot more. they had more free rein and roam of the mine than we once realized. so some of what we imagined wasn't quite exactly what the miners are telling us once they came up. so i think that they've just been doing a lot better than we expected, and perhaps that light/dark cycle they were able to mimic did, in fact, keep them on some type of cycle. >> yeah. we knew the area, the room that they were in was about 600 square feet or so. but because there were tunnels in this mine, they did have access in areas they could walk in and go to and perhaps most importantly from a health standpoint, another small area, another area that they actually used as a toilet area, just for health reasons, sanitation reasons, and sort of reasons of personal dignity, that would
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make a big difference having a separate area where they could go relieve themselves. dr. kimberly manning, appreciate your expertise. >> ahead tonight, what it takes to survive an ordeal as grueling as a mine collapse. bear grylls joins me ahead. >> it's the spirit that i'm never, ever, no matter what happens, i'm never going to get up. that really is the heart of a survivor.
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>> chi-le! [speaking in a foreign language] >> chi-le! chi-chi-chi-! le-le-le! los mineros de chile! [ applause ]
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>> unbelievable. that was mario sepulveda, the second miner pulled to safety. he's the guy who had been narrating a lot of the videos we've been watching over the last 69 days there, leading the cheer. no mistake, he was pumped. i don't know, watching it sends chills through you. hard to believe he'd spent more than two months underground. we've seen over and over, the miners were pulled out, how resilient they seemed after all they've been through. how strong they are. few of us will come close to experiencing what they've survived. not even bear grylls, host of "man versus wild." he's obviously made a career of testing his own limits. we want to talk about how these men survived, how all of us could survive in any dangerous situation. i was interested in the first 17 days, which is when these miners had no idea if people were
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looking for them, if people just assumed they were dead, had no "if they were ever going to be rescued. i talked to bear grylls via skype. from a survival standpoint, what really stands out to you about this story? >> it's such a long period of time, you know? it's hard to kind of get a grasp of, just what it must be like to be underground for that amount of time. i've kind of endured storms on mountains, being stuck in snow holes for long periods of time, but we're always talking kind of days, rather than weeks and months. and, you know, i think just the reality of what these guys have gone through is going to take a long time to recover. and i think what would happen is that there would be a mass euphoria initially of those outpouring of emotion, but it's actually kind -- that's a honeymoon period. the hard time i think people find, for the survivors, would actually be a month or two down the line when your body and your mind start to process your emotions that you've kept a lid
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on all that time underground. >> the other thing that stands out to me, especially those first, 16 or 17 days after they've realized they were trapped, when they weren't sure if rescue was coming, they weren't sure if anyone was going to be able to find them. they're in pitch-black conditions, in a room about 600 or so square feet, there's 33 of them. that's got to be the toughest time, even for guys who are used to being underground, just not knowing if anyone is going to actually find them. >> really terrifying. and i think one of the hardest emotions to deal with for the survivor is the not knowing. not knowing what rescue will ever be able to reach you. not knowing if anyone's looking for you. you know, those are really hard emotions to deal with. you know, once they realized there was a glimmer of hope, however small that fwlimer was, then you can start to set into that routine. but that initial not knowing must be very frightening. i think also the fact that your senses become deprives of everything we take for granted, like light, warmth, sleep, rest, you know, even things like family, love, children. you know, you start taking all
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of that away from people, and, you know, stuff happens. and i think all emotions get very heightened. so, you know, the good emotions, the bad emotions, things get blown out of proportion, and i think for these guys, they pulled this off and they survived this is something they should be so, so proud of, and what an amazing experience for them to go through. >> and for those first 16 or 17 days before the drill got to them, they were basically surviving on little pieces of fish. i read mackerel and tuna that were already in the mine, and also obviously water. how long can someone go just on that kind of a diet? >> well, you're into survival food, then, you know, but your body can last, you know, up to like 40 days without food, you know. they're on very limited rations. they can survive a while. but again, it's measured in weeks. the important thing for them was water, which they did have. but again, you know, you're really reduced to basic levels
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in life. and, you know, you've got to just admire that fortitude and that courage and the way they must have worked together. and it just shows that as human beings when we're really put up against it, actually we're all survivors underneath it, regardless of how we see ourselves, and we struggle with this or struggle with that. but actually when we're squeezed, we're like grapes, you see what we're made of, and these guys should be really, really proud. wow, what an amazing journey. >> what is your advice for people who find themselves in a survival situation where they don't know if rescue is coming? i mean, what's the key? >> i think three things. one is keeping positive. you know? and it's kind of easy to roll off the tongue, but out of everything, just seeing things always as half full and everything has hope is so important. the other thing i think is being inventive, keep thinking of clever little ways that, you know, inventing and improvising things. and the final one, really, the
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most important one, is just the spirit of saying i'm never, ever -- whatever happens, i'm never going to give up. and actually that really is the heart of the survivor. and that's what these guys have shown in such spades. >> is this an experiment you would want to try on your show, being underground for this long? >> no. three months, that's -- no. that's long. i'm -- you know, we tend to take five or six days to film "man versus wild" and at the end of that, i'm well, well ready to get out thereof and get home. so i admire these guys so much, and i've been praying for them, and i'm so glad to see them on their safety. i once went 3 1/2 months without a shower, and it took me about a month to smell normal again. so i don't know what these guys are going to smell like at the end, but what a journey and i'm so glad they're on their way out. >> bear grylls, appreciate your time. thank you. >> take care. >> amazing. just ahead, more coverage from chile. an incredible and historic night continues. not over. all the miners may be safely above ground, but the rescuers who descended into the chamber
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have not yet surfaced. we're following them every step of the way.
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welcome back to our continuing coverage of the rescue operation still underway. you see there the large picture on your screen, mine officials waiting for the rescuer, the fourth rescuer to emerge from the shaft. two rescuers still down below. there are other stories we are following tonight. though, let's get a quick update on some of them. isha sesay has the bulletin for us. anderson, both the u.s. and mexico are continuing to search for an american reported missing despite the murder of the lead mexican investigator in the case. david hartley's wife, tiffany, says he was shot to death while
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they were jet skiing on the mexican side of falcon lake. she says david was murdered, but his body has not been found. the obama administration plans to file an imminent appeal of a judge's order banning the enforcement of "don't ask, don't tell." the pentagon's policy that bars openly guy service members. the white house says that while the president opposes the policy, the law should be changed by congress, not the courts. the senate candidates in delaware faced off tonight in a debate as a new poll today shows democrat chris coons with a 19-point lead over republican christine o'donnell. and now that all those miners in chile have been rescued successfully, anderson, it looks like their lives are about to change financially. there's a report that each of them will receive $10,000 from a chilean business tycoon. other reports say each will receive $400,000 for exclusive
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television interviews. they've been invited to travel to europe. companies are apparently lining up to offer endorsement deals. those other free gifts such as ipods and apparently plenty of job offers, anderson. that's a lot of moolah they're looking at. >> yeah, well let's hope they handle it all pretty well. we'll continue with you as our coverage continues. live pictures now. the fourth rescuer has emerged from the capsule just seconds ago. here you see his colleagues hugging him, welcoming him home. and you'll see how quickly they try to get that capsule, the fenix capsule, back in the ground, going down to pick the two men still below. let's listen in just here. [ speaking spanish ]
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>> translator: how was the trip? >> translator: it was good. >> translator: did the cage behave? >> translator: yes. >> the rescuer being asked about -- >> translator: everything was fine. >> that's the voice of the translator describing what they're saying, that it's hot and humid. obviously we've known that, 85 to 90 degrees. that's what they've been living in. they've been having problems with that gate from the beginning. the operation was delayed a little bit last night if you recall in the early hours because of the gate on the fenix capsule. but one of the rescuers being asked whether or not there were any problems with it, he said
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there weren't. i want to show you some pictures from last night, that frankly i think took everyone's breath away. this is the first time we saw live video from 2,300 feet underground. the first -- this is the time the fenix capsule first made contact with the first rescuer in it, the first time these miners had had human contact from someone above. this is the first rescuers to go down there. we did not expect or prepare to be watching a shot from down below as it happened. we heard rumors it might happen. but we didn't know if it was going to happen. at first we didn't know what it was. we shouldn't have been surprised perhaps. what has made this so gripping is the extent to which we've been utterly connected to it. we've watched nearly every second of it from almost every angle thanks to the chilean government, which didn't forget that we live in a digital world. we also heard, as you're hearing now, the radio communication between miners underground and the officials above, who are watching this in realtime on that computer screen.
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this video image was taken off their computer screen. chad myers joins us now to talk about this technology and how it all happened. chad, it's incredible planning on chile's part. i mean this thing looked like a tv production, the way it was wired from just about every angle. >> no question about it. now, we do know that they used that technology so that they could see how far the capsule was coming down. and when it was going back up, as long as they knew it wasn't getting a little bit bent. let me show you how this was working here. let me show you what they did to make this different. this is your typical web cam. you can hook this up to any computer, and you can talk to your grandmother on the other side of the country if she has another one just like this. you see her, and she sees you. the problem is the cord length. about 25 feet. even with a very good usb cord, you can go about 25 feet away from your computer before you start losing data. you start losing some intensity of the camera itself.
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so how did they do it? how did they make this 2,000-foot drop? well, it's the same way i'm talking to you. a little bit less sophisticated, but we're talking, you and i, on fiberoptic. we're not going back and forth on the satellite. that's why you and i don't have a satellite delay like you might get in the desert. well, the # 2,000 feet that they dropped this fiberoptic cable down was attached to a video transmitter that transmitted the video on fiber optic, straight up one of those other holes that was drilled in the surface of the earth all the way down to the miners. they hooked up the video transmitter to a small little camera. it went up to the top, plugged into a laptop, and we were able to see the miners as that shaft, and the fenix 2 was coming down into their area. we could see it live, literally no delay whatsoever. and so could the people up above, pushing the -- letting the cable come down, to see how far that fenix capsule was going into the mine. they didn't want to crash you to
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the bottom. clearly they didn't want to damage it any time they went up and down. they made sure there was nobody standing in front of that camera every time that fenix capsule went up and down. >> they had also done this previously so that the miners could have contact with folks on the surface, not only family members, but also psychiatrists and counselors in case they were having emotional problems. >> no question about it. and, in fact, they had even -- if this was going to go on all the way until christmas, they were going to find a way for every miner to possibly have some type of internet connection as well. we know this happened a lot quicker than christmas, and every miner is very happy about that. >> yeah, we all are. chad, thanks. appreciate that. still ahead, more family stories as the men who rescued those men return to the surface. still two rescuers to come up. we're following all the action. we're live through midnight. we'll be right back.
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>> so many remarkable moments we have seen over the last 24 hours. that was our karl penhaul. this is who the family was waiting for, the moment they'd been hoping for. 33 miners now home safe. rescuers, two, still underground. we're watching it live on the right side of your screen. you see it there. the world transfixed by their stories. one has come home to a new daughter named esperanza, also obviously the translation of that name is hope. another returned to a soap opera and a mistress. one is going to graceland. i want to go back to karl penhaul now. karl, we had heard this story of the miner, i guess, who had a mistress and a wife on the scene. who was there to greet that miner? >> reporter: well, today johnny barrios probably hoped he could have left by the back door, if there had been such a thing. yes, he had gotten into hot
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water over who was really the rightful wife. but today the woman that was there to greet johnny barrios as he came back to the surface was his girlfriend, his mistress, if you like. the woman that he left his wife to go and live with. johnny barrios calls her chana and she calls him "my titanic." why is that? because the pair of them, they say, absolutely love the movie "titanic." she told me that when i talked to her about one month ago. and she said that when johnny barrios came out, they would likely lock themselves at home for many days and watch the movie "titanic" once again. but yonni barrios on a serious point, has played a serious role because it was him who was known to his colleagues as dr. house. it was he that was receiving instructions from the medical
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officers up above. it was he who carried out all the medical tests, the urine tests, blood pressure tests on those 33 miners to make sure that they stayed alive, to make sure that any infections were treated. so, yes, he is in hot water with his love partners, but that really gives us an example that these were before august 5th somewhat unremarkable men, and since august 5th, they've been called upon to do absolutely remarkable things, anderson. >> yeah, and we're watching, karl, just so you know, on the right side of our screen a live image from underground. the capsule arriving to take the fifth rescue worker up above ground. there's just two men left. you see both the men there. one of them is loading his stuff into that capsule. and then he will make the long journey up. and then there will just be one man still to be rescued. and then finally we can say everybody, everybody has been brought back alive.
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and that, of course, will be yet another joyous moment in the many we have witnessed over these last 24 hours. it's interesting that you talk about dr. house and the role he played, the medical role he played. each of these miners was assigned very specific tasks, and this was done prior to the world knowing they were alive. the miners organized themselves in those first 17 days to keep themselves busy. but afterward as the experts came in and nasa officials came in, their advice was to give them very specific tasks in order to keep people occupied, that it was important that people weren't just sitting around doing nothing. that everybody felt they had a role to play. correct, karl? >> reporter: that is absolutely true, anderson. but make no mistake, if it hadn't have been for the miners organizing themselves for the first 17 days, they would never have survived. they would never have lived to tell the tale. and i suspect it was the last man up, the shift foreman, luis urzua, who had a tremendous hand in organizing these men who had
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a tremendous hand in rationing out the food. there were just about 120 cans of tuna for the 33 men for those 17 days. work it out. it's a can of tuna every four days. not a lot to survive on, but each time we saw luis urzua subsequently in videos that the miners sent up, he was surrounded by plans and diagrams. never said a lot, but he was constantly planning. he was the last man up today. clearly a man who knows his responsibilities. clearly a man who knows his duties, like the captain on a sinking ship. he wanted to see all his men safely to the surface first. and when he was received by president sebastian pinera on the surface, the president simply looked at him and said, mr. urzua, your shift is over. that shift that began on august 5th, anderson, has now come to a close. all 33 miners are back on the surface safe and sound. >> yeah. and we just saw the pod leaving the -- that -- what had been a
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dark dungeon for 33 men for 69 days and now just the one rescue worker all alone by himself down there, waiting for the capsule to come down one last time. and as we watch now, everybody on the surface waiting for that fifth rescue worker to emerge. it will probably take ten minutes or so for him to make it to the surface. karl, we'll check in with you in the next hour, we're live all the way to the midnight hour. we'll be right back. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.
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