to get in was between 10:00 and 2:00. it's not that? >> no. we were hoping between the 10:00 and the 2:00 we would have more information that would allow making decisions. so once they get the readings, and the readings look they could be good enough for what time period, they would be able to plan around that. that was the time we're still hoping between now and 2:00 if the fan gets up, getting readings, we can start telling what type of air they are dealing with, methane co, then you can start doing the math about how long it will take to get that out where they can get back in. >> the hope is the rescue team will get in today? >> we're always hopeful but we're going to reserve judgment. we're going to have a meeting at 11:30 this morning. we're going to try to calculate the amount of area we have to ventilate, see where we're at with the boreholes going in. probably the next news conference that is held we'll

have a better idea in my opinion of being able to forecast when this may occur. at any hour, push back to late night, they will be prepared to go in at any hour. >> we have rescue teams on site right now. they could go in immediately if we needed them to do so. >> kevin, you are saying they got to the point they were able to ascertain there were six of the nine dead at the scene. does that mean the rescue team was that close to the rescue chamber before they had to come back? were they very, very close before they came back? >> they were within, i think, approximately 5 to 600 feet. now, the rescue team works in a finite distance. i mean, they are tied in with a life line. they can only go at 1,000 foot increments. we would not ask a rescue team to go off a life line. they were in dense smoke. they could have got turned around. it's bakely just mine rescue procedure and common sense that we would not let anybody advance

beyond holding that life line and in that much dense smoke. >> how were they able to identify the bodies to figure out -- >> as we talked about earlier, we did not identify who any of the individuals were, we just know this were six persons and they confirmed that when they came out with all of us. >> can you describe the interior, big rocks falling off the ceiling. can you give us a picture of what these guys were going through to get up there. >> well, it's a lot of darkness. there's a lot of coal dust that turned surfaces black. if you shined your light, it's difficult to see. in addition there's dust covering anything you would come across in the coal mine. in addition we've also talked about the damage from the stoppings. they have concrete blocks, material in them. cross cuts have it.

when an explosion occurs, it has the ability to lift that material up and move it to an area and cause a lot of destruction. it doesn't deposit in one area. it's displaced through the entire area. based where people are normally walking and traveling, there may be material debris, concrete block, rails that has come up off the ground that makes people have to be very careful when they cross over. it's not a clear walkway like you and i have in this room here. >> from the time the rescue crews get the all clear, how long do you estimate for them to get back to that rescue chamber area. >> our hope, again, a caveat they find no problems on the way in and no additional gas, i would expect somewhere less than two hours from them when they start in the mine to actually be able to get in there under oxygen and start advancing in front of them.

>> is there -- assuming they are in a chamber, they have enough stuff to go for several days or even longer now since there are few, where they might decide to put on self-rescuers and try to walk out themselves? >> let me just say, that's the only chamber that has not been checked. everything else has been. when they returned back from that chamber. so as a family member, you can imagine the sliver of hope that we have, is that the four would be there, three, two, one. that's the sliver of hope we have. they know the odds are not in our favor because of the horrificness and horrendous blast we have. with that, that's what we're still holding onto. again, you have 18 -- we know we have 18 miners in there. we know 14 have perished. we don't know the conditions of the other four or the status of the other four. everyone is holding onto the hope that that's their dad or

that's their brother or that's their son, it's one of those, and we might find them right there. that's the sliver of hope that we have. so as kevin said, these chambers -- and joe, you can talk about a chamber if you will -- what's in the chamber. this is something that because of the laws passed in 2006 and 2007, federal laws, state and federal, they made all these changes happen. >> yeah, i want to do two things. one is explain a little more about what's going to happen to drill holes first. the process is going to be to draw the air back through the mine and clear the contaminated air. at the same time there's going to be sampling tubes tied to those to give us the ability to draw samples, give us indicators of when the next decisions will be made on mine rescue, let us know as that progresses when that air gets to a safe point of as far as rescue chambers i think that's been discussed here at different times. i think these rescue chambers

we're looking at designed to hold 15 miners, 96 hours worth of air, oxygen, water, enough to sustain life during that period of time. if miners could reach that, that's what they are designed to do, be able to sustain life over that period of time until rescue teams -- >> given any guidance like saying we're getting close to the 96 hours that they should try to strike out on their own and walk out of the mine? >> to answer the first question, the 96 hours is sort of a standard design to in this case accommodate this particular chamber with 15 people. so if you're looking at a smaller number, you know, the food -- >> might want to just comment on what they are -- just one very brief comment. miners in west virginia, and i

think throughout the country, are taught to escape first. they are taught to try to get out of the mine the way they came in first. they retreat to a chamber or rescue shelter as a last resort. when they have made the determination, if their training has taken, if they have made the determination that they need to go to a shelter, that that's the last place that they would go. a shelter is a sophisticated barricade, in my opinion. >> is there any evidence at this point that these -- to believe anyone is alive down there, any actual evidence of that? >> we don't have any at this point. we just have hope. >> how far is that refuge chamber for the portal. >> do you know? >> one inch equals 500 foot map. i guesstimated a few days ago about 8,000 feet.

>> so rescuer will have to go in about two miles. >> they would ride in a certain distance. they won't walk in from the outside. we'll get them in there as quickly as possible for them to get in as far as we can. >> you said there is not significant debris between the way out and the way in there? >> the debris starts where the nine miners were on their way out. up to that point, we can have access to there pretty quickly. naturally your debris will be in the explosion field. the area would be clear for travel up to that point. >> if they are alive, if they were capable, is it possible they could have gotten out? >> as ron mentioned, everybody is trained, the first thing you want to do is get out of the cole mine. as a last resort you go into a chamber.

i don't know what would go through my mind if i was trapped in a situation like that. if i started out and i saw that there had been an explosion and i was crossing over debris, we've got to get these miners, i guess, the opportunity to go somewhere else if they did not feel they could make it out of the mine. they could have made it to that refuge chamber. that's our -- as ron mentioned, that's our hope. i mean, that's what we've got left to go after right now. we know they didn't come out. the next option would be for them to go to that refuge chamber. >> just to be clear, you're talking about six out of nine. so we're talking about maybe three unaccounted for miners right now. what about the fourth? i know you think is in a different place, is there debris where you expect that miner might be. characterize the area you want to check on there. >> well, we have investigated that area one time previously. that would be considered the long wall face.

we found what we considered to be eight of the nine crew members that would be working in that area. i mentioned that the conditions that the rescue teams are in when they are under there is very quick. they are moving very quickly. they may have passed over someone who was there or that individual, for whatever reason may have left that area and went somewhere else. we don't know and that's up to now, when the rescue teams go back in, to find that individual. >> is that area equally as accessible, debris in the way, anticipated two hours from the time you get the all clear to get to where that miner might be? >> all the answers to your questions is yes of there is debris in the area. it is accessible. we don't know we can find him naturally until we go underground and look for him. >> are those scsrs designed to give adequate air to the miners to walk out of that mine? >> scsrs is to make its own

oxygen in a situation where you might be in high concentrations of co that would normally kill you. it gives the ability to walk at a less than normal pace. you have to slow down a little bit, because there is some resistance to the breathing. they would be able to make it out to another area where another cache of scsrs would be and continue coming out, if that were the case. >> governor, there is a report they might have been evacuated -- [ inaudible ] if that's the case, i'm told -- [ inaudible ] >> we've said this before. something went horribly wrong, and something caused this tremendous buildup. i haven't seen those reports. if there's a report they were getting high readings and stopped production because of high readings, you would have thought that would have happened here. for something to spike as high as this spiked and cause that

problem, how did that happen? what caused it? if they stopped three other times because they were getting unusually high readings, that would have been the safety valve and the way i'm sure emsa and the state intended that to happen to protect the men. those are things we don't know. but i can assure you and i know you've heard congressman, both federal and state will move quickly. we're in full rescue operation right now, then we will go with recovery. we know we have 14 of our miners to recover. we're hoping we have four to rescue. whatever the outcome is, that's what we'll do first. they will move immediately, then, i can tell you both sides. we will move from there to determine how we can prevent this. were there telltale signs something should have been done differently. >> let me jump in there just for a moment because the question is very similar to what we've been hearing from family members, not only about past allegations,

allegations only, but we're also hearing today concerns, why are they working back to work the next day next door when we know conditions under ground are unsafe right now. all these are speculative questions. what if-type scenarios. sure, that's got us to where we are now. our prayers, attention, everything is directed at those still missing. that's what we have to address first and foremost. investigations are followed as required by law at every level, including a congressional investigation, but right now our concern is on these miners that are missing. and our prayers go out to them. i might say as well, we've had numerous calls, the governor mentioned president and vice president, isd calls from every leadership level in the house of representatives, speakers, my colleagues around the country called expressing their support and prayers. all of us, including families

appreciate this outpouring of support and prayers around the country. >> we have time for one more question. >> the miners claim once they do decide they need to go to these chambers, are they trained to then leave or wait for an all clear? what's the next step? >> miners are trained once they go to the shelters, as i mentioned, that's a last resort. as kevin pointed out, none of us here know what we would do in a similar situation. probably if they get to the point where they are losing hope, they have a sense that no one is going to rescue them, they would probably don their self-rescuers and try to make it out. however, miners are also taught and trained that these rescue shelters are locatable. we know where they are. we can reach them. if they are trapped, we will reach them. that's exactly what's going on

right now. >> let me say as we finish up. our next -- i'm told our next update will be at 3:30. we'll have a lot more information. we'll hopefully have some readings. we'll be able to determine and have timetables for you. we think that, i don't know how that fits in y'all's schedule but basically with joe and ron and everybody telling me 3:30 will be a much better time to have more information for you. if i can just say one thing in leaving, the families are very private people. they are very prayerful people. at this point in time, they ask for your respecting their privacy. they know to reach out to you if they want to talk to you. they know that. if that happens, we'll bring them here to you at any appropriate time they want to reach out. all they are asking for is to respect their desire for the privacy right now during these very difficult times. we'll see you at 3:30 and thank

you. we've been watching a news conference from montcoal, west virginia, with governor joe manchin and a number of officials giving us the latest in the effort to rescue what they believe to be four miners who could still be alive trapped in that mine. now more than 24 hours. officials have decided to drill a third hole in an attempt to save the four miners. we also got an update on the two who were pulled from the mine injured. one survivor is doing well, according to the governor. the other is in intensive care. we also heard officials say at this point, they just are holding onto hope. there is one chamber, a rescue chamber that they have not been able to reach. and possibly the miners were able to make it there. there's food, water and even oxygen in these so-called rescue shelters or chambers as they are called. let me go and bring in nbc's norah o'donnell. she's live near the mine in

naoma, west virginia. we heard the governor also mention possibly a seismic test somewhere around 11:30. what do you know about that test and what are they going to do? >> on the surface of the mine they will set off three shots or three small explosions. it is called a seismic test. the idea is it will send a signal deep into the mine. if those four missing miners are alive, they are trained to tap 10 times so they could hear them back up at the top of the mine. that would be a signal those miners are, in fact, still alive. we should note, they did not do a seismic test. but when they got that first bore hole through at 4:15 in the morning, got down 1,090 feet, better, faster than expected, they did not have any signs of life. officials say, look, there's still a sliver of hope we didn't hear or couldn't hear their banging or whatever it may be. they are hopeful, there's a sliver of hope they could find

those four missing miners alive, even though, of course, the governor admits it was a horrific blast that happened more than 24 hours ago and that the odds are not with us. let me just focus in on one other thing that came up in this particular press conference, tamron. that is the report in the "new york times" this morning. in the past two months this mine, the upper big branch mine, has been evacuated three times for these high methane levels. that was a question that was posed to the governor. if this mine has been evacuated three times in the past month, these high methane levels, should it have perhaps been evacuated on monday? shouldn't there perhaps have been some red flags? what was doing on? >> i've spoken to experts that say this was known as a quote, unquote, gassy mine. you heard the governor very clearly say, look, if they stopped three times, you would have thought they would have

stopped again. there's scepticism by the governor and congressional leaders that's why they are promising an investigation. >> interesting you bring that up, norah, we heard some about inspections, allegations. officials say obviously they want to rescue these miners. we know that's of the utmost importance but it is a big part of this situation how they got trapped in the first place and was there some type of negligence on behalf of this mine and the owners. >> reporter: absolutely. and according to the emsa administrator, kevin stricklin, who i pressed very hard yesterday about was this mine safe, he responded, all explosions are preventible. as lisa myers reported on "nightly news," these citations for safety had spiked in the last several years, 197 in 2008, 515 in 2009 and 154 already this year. there's a lot of focus on massey

energy and violations. senator rockefeller said yesterday when i asked about this, they can lawyer these things out, it's very difficult to shut down a mine. i spoke with one miner, mr. clemens, who is a contract employee. i asked him and his wife, they have two young children. i asked, are you worried about going back in that mine because of these safety violations. they said to me, look, it's my job. massey energy supplies the head over my children's roof. it's the job in town. it's how they earn a living. he's planning to go back to work. tamron. >> thank you very much. the families of the four miners still missing are certainly holding out hope they are alive. one of those miners families -- one of the miners missing, his name is dean jones. he's worked there for more than 30 years of experience in mining. he's a foreman at the upper big branch mine. his sister spoke with matt lauer this morning on the "today" show. >> my hope is that my brother is

still safely tucked away in that safety tent and that he will come out when the three booms go off above, that's signal to the miners the air is clear and they can safely come out. >> i want to mention dean, your brother, has a 13-year-old son who has cystic fibrosis. is it true, you have not informed that young man as to the situation yet? >> we have not informed him, because we believe that his dad is coming out. so we're not going to give him any information until we conclusively know his dad is going to be there for his may 1st, 14th birthday, for which he was unable to have a birthday last year because he was so ill from his cystic fibrosis. so my brother is coming out to blow out the candles on the birthday cake this year. >> we'll talk more about the safety of this mine in particular with one of the best names in the business as far as investigating these situations. and there are some real and disturbing questions about whether the obama administration

can work with afghanistan's leader hamid karzai. in recent days karzai threatened to join the taliban, even though his spokesman denies the report. sources tells nbc news karzai has been behaving in an erratic unstable way in recent weeks. that prompted this question during tuesday's briefing. >> is karzai our ally. >> karzai is the democratically elected leader of afghanistan. >> that's not my question. is he our ally, an ally of the united states? >> there are times in which the actions he takes are constructive to governance. i would say the remarks he's made, i can't imagine that anybody in this country found them anything other than troubling. >> richard engel is nbc's chief foreign correspondent, he joins us live from kabul, afghanistan. a lot are wondering why these, as gibbs puts it, troubling

comments from karzai. >> reporter: it's an amazing change of tone if you listen to statements out of the white house, this obama administration towards karzai. no embrace. very different from what we heard from president bush who had a close relationship with president karzai. some people say the bush administration coddled him a little bit. what we're seeing from president karzai is a great deal of frustration. he feels he's not able to act. a lot of this has to do with reconciliation. karzai believes that the way out of this war is to have a peace conference. he scheduled this with members of the taliban, with other militant groups. he wants to sit down and reach some sort of negotiated settlement. u.s. officials, u.s. military in particular are much more skeptical of this approach and recently have been launching military offensives and announcing there will be a major offensive in kandahar early this summer.

so you have a position where the president wants to have a peace deal, president karzai, sitting down with the taliban, something he's already been doing while the u.s. military in increasing cooperation with pakistan has been hunting down, killing and arresting senior taliban leaders. so there's a real difference in approach here. >> all right. nbc's richard engel live in kabul, afghanistan. thanks, richard. two more staffers quit the republican national committee in the wake of that sex club scandal, one of them now calling on chairman michael steele to step down. hey! increase in 6 months. pete, back it up! ( marker squeaking ) when business travel leaves you drained, re-charge with comfort suites. spacious rooms, free hi-speed internet, and free hot breakfast. comfort suites. power up. now stay two separate times with comfort suites...

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welcome back to msnbc news live in west virginia, rescuers are drilling two more holes into the coal mine where an explosion kill at least 25 people on monday. they are trying to reach the four miners still missing. however, earlier when they bang on the drill pipe, they got no response from those trapped miners. crews are trying to vent poisonous gases from the mine once the air is clean enough. they hope to send rescuers into the mine for the first time since monday to search for those missing miners. it's hoped the four miners were able to reach an airtight safety chamber about 1,000 feet underground. that chamber is stocked with food, water and enough oxygen to last four days. meanwhile officials say two miners rescued shortly after monday's explosion remain hospitalized. one is in intensive care. the other is said to be in good condition.

let's go back to west virginia. norah o'donnell is standing by live with governor joe manchin. norah. >> reporter: and thank you, tamron. we're joined by governor of western joe manchin who has been on top of this entire investigation. let me ask you my sense of everything you've briefed us on we're going to learn the fate of the miners today if everything goes well. >> my sense of timing is later today. we're hopeful for that, but there is a chance we might not. if the levels are high of methane and co and it's not safe to put our rescue teams in, we won't do that. they are ready to go. i mean, they are suited up and ready to go at a moment's notice. safety is the supreme thing we have to be careful for. >> you said the first bore hole went in better than expected, the third hole going in to suck out this bad air. when will we get a sense of when the air is safe for the rescuers to get in there and how long will that take. >> the decision to put the third

bore hole is because the first went so well, a high-speed hammer drill. the second went beside it. we'll have the third hole down at the same time as the second, so we'll have three. it will vent much quicker. the fans are going on. the fan that pulls the air out and you measure. it's purely math. if you know how much volume of methane or co you have, it will tell you how long it takes. if you have one six-inch hole, it takes longer than three six-inch holes. that will give us a timetable. by 3:30 this afternoon we should have a better idea of what should happen. >> let me ask about the safety and the families. i can only imagine my husband and brother waiting there with the other families that they -- it can't happen fast enough you can get down to those miners. how are they doing? >> i said this before, the families of west virginia and miners who traditionally understand there's a risk and a

danger involved but there's an opportunity and they know that. these people love it. they are the best at what they do. with that the families accept that the poem line is right now, everybody, it's a tremendous faithful, they have a lot of faith in god and also the family structure. what i've seen from the statement yesterday in the morning, the family were in family pods, this family consulting each other and this family. today it's not that way. all families have come together. one family may have accepted the fate the percentage and chances of bringing their loved one out is slim. they have been able to come to grips with that. another family member of another family might be having a harder time. they are working and helping that support. it's unbelievable to see that bonding and support within the families. that's the strength of a west virginia family. >> let's talk about safety. there's been a lot of questions about safety violations at this particular plant. "the new york times" reporting that in the past two months three times the plant has been

shut down, evacuated because of these my methane gas levels that cause these horrific explosions. if those red flags are being raised, why wasn't this mine shut down or was it unsafe? >> basically you cannot -- there's so many sensors in there, on the machine. supervisors are carrying sensors and measuring there all the time. i haven't seen the report. if that happens and there are levels higher than safe and worked like it's supposed to, shiite it down, get them out of there. >> it should have stopped. why didn't that happen monday? >> we don't know. something horrific happened that caused this rush of methane gas, one spark and it's gone. how that could have happened in such a small amount of time. i assure you that supervisor would have said, okay, boys, we're out of here and he would have gotten them all out. with that, some mines are more

gaseous, that takes more ventilation, rock dusting. i assure you of this, however it happened and we can find out, we will not put our miners in danger any way we know about it. we just don't know. >> thank you. our thoughts and prayers are with the family. i must also thank the people of west virginia have been very kind to the press, taking care and feeding us. they are very good. >> i want to say this, they are asking for respect for their privacy, a family time for them. it's private. they are private people. if there is a time they want to talk they will. >> we understand. you heard the latest from the governor at 3:30, an update whether those rescue teams can finally go inside the mine. >> all right, norah. thank you very much. the deadly mine explosion turned the spotlight on the questionable safety record of the owner massey energy. nbc investigative correspondent lisa myers has more on that from washington. >> reporter: hi, tamron. the ceo of massey energy which

owns the mine insists safety always comes first. but experts say the paper trail tells a different story. hundreds of citations for safety violations, some of them repeated and serious, which should have raised red flags. at the upper big branch mine, citations for safety violations spiked in the past couple of years, from 197 in 2008 to # 15 in 2009 and 124 already this year. experts say some of the violations are serious, even flagrant. it involved areas critical to preventing explosions, ventilation, excessive dust, and methane gas. the man that once over saw safety laws said the violations should have sounded alarms. >> the high levels of serious violations in the ventilation areas and concerns about

methane, all of those should be giving you this kind of, whoa, we better take a look at this. >> still, even in the wake of this tragedy, massey energy's website boasts of its commitment to safety of the company's ceo don blankenship is defending the mine safety record and his. >> i can assure you for the 20 some years i've been in charge of massey, it's been my foremost objective to make the mine safe. sometimes it seems humanly impossible. >> blankenship is colorful and controversial, does not believe in global warning, in the past has been against politicians that write safety laws. >> the very idea they care more about coal mining safety more than we do is as silly as global warning. >> took down $19 million in

2008. he was photographed on the french riviera with a judge who had influence over his business dealings. >> he's a larger than life character in appalachia, a throw-back to coal barons of the 19th century. >> reporter: he's accused of putting profit before safety. they cite a memo to mine superintendents in which blankenship told them to ignore orders to do anything but run coal. we seem not to understand that coal pays the bills. blankenship said the memo was taken out of context. in 2006 two miners died at a fire at the massey mine. the company was hit with the largest financial settlement in the history of the coal industry for willfully violating safety standards. tamron. >> lisa, there are two more resignations in the aftermath of that spending scandal that involved a trip to a

bondage-themed nightclub. a high profile consultant and committee member have left the committee. that's putting added strains on the gop's political machine and its chairman michael steele after a spending scandal that erupted last week. politico.com writes on what to watch in the coming days, including are there any more drips to drop. meaning are others headed to the exit door. there seems to be a, quote, deafening silence from rnc members. could that change from an organization effort to -- or organized effort to push steele out. communications director for democratic national committee. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> i feel bad, you're a democrat, republicans will watch and say this isn't fair, let us explain. there are reports democrats are really happy about this and in a sense reveling in what is turning out to be a really bad situation for the rnc. what do you say to that? >> look, in a political situation, any time your opponent is shooting himself in

the foot, either you try to help them or you get out of the way. the truth here is there's a lot bigger issues than michael steele. this is a lot bigger issue than the republican national committee. this goes to their leadership in congress. it goes to their previous governance when president bush was in office, when they were running congress. tamron, they know how to oppose things like health care and the jobs bill and the recovery act but they can't run thins. they couldn't run the government when bush had it. they went from surplus to deficits. they can't run the republican national committee but they want to be entrusted with the leadership of the government and congress. >> they would argue when you look at some of the numbers out there, they are poised for something big in the midterm elections. even some of the best polsters out there said this could actually be their year despite the laundry list of things you've named and despite this so-called scandal with spending. >> i think historically you would expect the republicans to have gains. i think they have gone so far as to say they are going to take

the house and senate back. we don't agree with that. we think we'll hold the house and the senate. but history as a guide says they will do well, pick up some seats in the house and the senate. that's the tradition of midterm elections for a president in his first term. >> a website, the daily caller. it is reporting last year the rnc struck a deal with the michigan republican party that if the state party could raise what turned out to be half a million from the rnc from its donors, the committee would immediately give the money back. in a sense they would benefit because the rnc would appear to have a lot of fund-raising dollars coming in. they say there was no deal and called it patently false. what do you know about this? >> i don't know any more than what they reported. i do think this raises another distraction for the republican national committee. this has been -- it has been drip, drip, drip. i expect maybe there will be more. it's a distraction. it really shows there's a

dysfunctional leadership over there. i think it extends to the congressional leaders as well. >> well, like so many others, we've invited chairman michael steele to come on with me to talk about it. we hope he takes us up on the opportunity. >> i hope he does, too. thank you, tamron. tiger woods set to tee off at the masters for first time since his sex scandal surfaced four months ago. we'll head to augusta national for a report. new casey anthony jailhouse letters are released. there are reports that her family is even stunned by what is in these letters. we'll have the latest on the case in a live report. ♪

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welcome back. the young orlando mother accused of killing her daughter has been sharing secrets apparently with her fellow inmates. casey anthony wrote letters about her daughter caylee now in the hands of authorities. the 50 letters just released to the public. the content is shocking, even according to her own family. nbc's michelle kosinski has more

from orlando. michelle, what can you tell us about these letters? what did she say onto these other inmates? >> reporter: tamron, there won't supposed to be any notes passed between casey anthony and anybody else. a guard has been suspended since this happened. she established a friendship with a drug dealer. she wrote hundreds of pages here positively crammed with daughte whom she's accused of murdering, saying how much he misses her. she wishes she could have five more minutes with her. she'd give her life to do so.

she also professes her innocence, though, saand says s was a great mom. she tells her inmate friend she was sexually abused by her brother as a young teenager and she thinks her dad did the same thing to her when she was younger. these are allegations her family, though, adamantly denies. police say that she actually said things to other inmates that are more surprising. but they're not reflected in the letters or in transcripts that police provided. they say she told inmates that there was no nanny whom she has claimed kidnapped her daughter and also that she sometimes used chloroform to knock out caylee so she could go out at night. tiger woods on the course at augusta caught on his cell phone. people talking about it. we've got the details ahead. ♪

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well, the anticipation is building at the augusta national

golf club in georgia where tiger woods tees off tomorrow in the masters tournament. he's returning to golf as you know for the first time since that sex scandal erupted four months ago. nbc's kerry sanders joins us live now from the fan entrance at augusta. so, kerry, i understand you're going to give us a little bit of a tour since we have to live vicariously through you. we'd never get media credentials. at least i wouldn't. >> >> reporter: it's exciting to be here. inside, amazing. outside, a lot of energy. what's interesting, at this hour, there are fans you'll see, a lot of fans are walking in, fans are also walking out. the reason they're walking out is because tiger woods is done for the day. so many people here are drawn to see tiger woods on the links. yesterday there was this picture. take a look at this. this is maybe a little bit odd because, first of all, nobody's supposed to have cell phones, including the players. but there he was texting away. if you think about the history of his marital or extramarital

affairs and all the texting and texts that have been released, it seemed a little odd. he later said he was there with mark o mare ra, the other player, and they were shooting video with the cell phone. bottom line, certainly an odd moment. there is the par three competition today. it's unclear whether tiger woods is going to join in that par three competition or not. that's on another course which is part of this whole complex here. tomorrow is when the real competition begins, and a lot of attention is going to be focused on tiger woods' ability coming back to play golf. you know, a lot of this is -- well, you know. i'm going to use this joke again on you, tamron. because i liked it. this is the masters. thus far it's been all about the misstresses. now it's finally going to get around to the golf game. i think the attention is going to be on his golf from about here on out. you liked it. okay. we're going to see how he does performing on the golf course. one thing that most of the golfers here say, the ones he's

going to be competing with, they say, look, he may have had this break of four or five months of actually daily practice, but he's been playing since he was a kid and they do not underestimate his ability as he returns out here. we'll see it when it actually gets down to competition on thursday. >> it'll be something to see, kerry. thank you. speaking of kids, a lot of the kids in the background. curious how they see all of this from their young eyes. we'll talk more about them later. that does it for me on this hour. i'm tamron hall. i'll see you back here at 2:00 p.m. eastern time with a controversy over confederate history month in virginia. contessa brewer picks up the things at the top of the hour we're following for you now. >> ahead next hour, brand-new, a husband giving a tearful news conference saying he doesn't know where his missing wife is. the tale of the tape. that tape tells a very different story. a florida investigator joins us to describe how this surveillance video led them to the suspected killer. the president's heading to prague to make a deal with russia on nukes. will his plans really reduce the

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good wednesday, everyone. 9:00 in the west and noon here on the east coast. i'm contessa brewer kicking off this hour with a desperate situation in west virginia. crews have now drilled the first hole to ventilate the upper big branch mine. when rescuers banged on the drill pipe, no one responded. still, family members are hopeful the miners found their way into survival shelters, but time is running out. federal safety officials just updated the situation. >> we know we have 18 miners in there. we know 14 have perished. and we don't know the conditions of the other four. the status of the other four. and everyone is holding on to the hope that that's their dad or that's their brother or that's their son. >> nbc's brian mooar is in

naoma, west virginia. where are they at in going into find these four missing miners? >> reporter: at this point it's a story about math and faith. the math is they're trying to dig these three holes 1,000 feet into the ground. they've gotten one down. they're about halfway on the other. they're making progress on the third. this is so they can pull out this deadly methane gas, read the air inside. as soon as they get the all clear there are about 30 rescue workers standing by, champing a t the bit, ready to go in and look for these four unaccounted for miners. at this point they think they're in two different areas. they might be near a rescue chamber. that's where the faith comes in. families are gathered nearby praying, hope against hope, that one of their family members might be in there, might somehow survive. but state officials say that at this point it is very slim. their hopes of getting anyone out alive are dwindling by the hour.