dennis o'dell watching with us. dennis, that steam rising from the hole, that's entirely natural.s just because of the temperature differential, correct? >> yeah, that's all that is, because it's so much hotter underground than it is -- yeah. >> you're watching the lower left-hand side of your screen, people in the nearby town of copiapo, watching, just silently, waiting for that capsule to leave the underground chamber. they will no doubt, as they have before, erupt in applause before it happens. >> translator: okay. okay, whenever you're ready. >> see the second rescuer, roberto rios segal on the right of your screen. >> translator: we're beginning the ascent. >> and it has begun. >> translator: please ask them to clear, clear the camera. >> and mario sepulveda is on his way to freedom. some 16 minutes for florencio avalos. karl penhaul son tis on the gro. the crowd no doubt watching this more intently. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. i mean, they're here at camp hope, there are a mixture of areas where family members are, they're all glued to tv screens to see those amazing live

let's talk to dennis o'dell from the united mine workers of america. you and i have been watching this throughout the day. we have never seen something like this before. never before have people been underground so long and survived. >> no. you know, 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've witnessed and seen 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 healthy and with their families again. and you know, it's finally good to see something like this occur where the outcome isn't what we've seen in the past, and that's a major disaster, where there's deaths involved. >> you know, as we rejoice in the survival of these 33 men, often as you said, we've seen too many cases where people don't survive. what do we need to learn from this incident? what can we take from this moving forward? >> well, you know, that's something we're go

joining us live with the challenges facing these men after the crisis is over, is dennis o'dell. charleston, west virginia for us. dennis, great to see you. these miners have been in terrific spirits for 69 days, particularly considering their ordeal. but you have some concerns for them? >> yeah, i do. you know, there's going to be a lot of things that the miners have to go through. initially what you're going to have to worry about is the immediate health effects that you have to watch as they bring them out through the capsules. that capsule is so enclosed, it's like 28 inches and it'll sp spin. so those are the things you have to worry about immediately as far as the health issues go. and then there's the mental part of it. you know, there's going to be separation anxiety because it's going to be the first time they're actually away from the rest of their group that they're with. and they have to contend with that. and then, of course, we all know once they get outside, you know, that's when the big changes start. the big worries start. >> that's an interesting aspect. they've

if you have a question that you want to ask dennis o'dell he is the manage over the health and occupationalke to ask dennis, go ahead. i am sure you have a question or two, you would like to ask. >> dennis, the single most important question, and people here are cautious and not guaranteeing anything and we assume it is a safe ending, but how much real risk is there bringing 33 men who are seeming good shape and bringing them to top and surviving well? >> well, there is always a risk and any time you are into a recovery and rescue mode like this, you err on the side of caution on anything that you do. i mean, so many things can go perfect, but so many things can go wrong as well. the rope can get twisted up. there could be a shift in the hole, itself, as they are bringing them out. i mean, so many things, because they are going up and down numerous times. there is a stress factor that takes place. so there is so many things that can go wrong, but it sounds like they took the extra precautions and extra steps when they cased it with the metal casing inside to prevent a lot of the rock fall a

. >> dennis o'dell, we just heard the last rescuer, manuel gonzalez, saying to the president of chilei want to make sure this doesn't happen again. we have to make sure mining is done right in this country and that workers are protected. obviously there are protections in the united states, though clearly we've seen a number of instances where -- repeated instances where it hasn't been enough. but in chile, in a mine like this in a very remote region, how much oversight is there, really? >> well, you know, it's unclear, anderson. you heard, not only the last rescue worker come out that said that, but you heard some of the miners say that we want to make sure this doesn't happen again in the future. so it makes you believe that the regulations probably aren't as strict as they are in places like we have here in the united states and canada and australia and some other places like that. so -- but i did hear the president say that that's something they were going to look at, is better worker protections not only for miners, but for all workers throughout the entire country. so hopefully

. >> dennis o'dell, we just heard the last rescuer, manuel gonzalez, saying to the president of chilent to make sure this doesn't happen again, we have to make sure mining is done right in this country and that workers are protected. obviously there are protections in the united states, though clearly we've seen a number of instances where -- repeated instances where it hasn't been enough. but in chile, in a mine like this, you know, is in a very remote region, how much oversight is there really? >> well, you know, it's unclear, anderson. you heard not only the last rescue worker come out who said that, but you heard some of the miners say that we want to make sure that this doesn't happen again in the future. so it makes you believe that the regulations probably aren't as strict as they are in places like we have here in the united states and canada and australia and some other places like that. so -- but i did hear the president say that that's something they were going to look at, is better worker protections not only for miners, but for all workers throughout the entire country. s

let's talk with dennis o'dell of united mine workers.ou 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 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

on cnn's "american morning" john roberts discussed the difficult transition with dennis o'dell who isty and health administrator for the united mine workers of america. >> they have become immediate heroes throughout the world and so that's something they'll have to deal with and be tough to reunite with families and all this notoriety and attention they'll get is sometimes it's tough to deal with. s that a going to be tough for them to blend back in then you got to think about, too, you know, weeks from now they got to figure out, this is how i provided for my family. this is what i did for, you know, and do i really want to go back in a mine? they don't want to go back underground, a lot of them. >> there's not a whole lot of employment around other than the mine, way up high in the desert. not a whole lot else around. unless they want to move to a bigger town or maybe, you know, santiago or something like that, they would have to go back in the mine if they wanted to continue to poi for their family that would have to be a tough decision. >> it will be a tough decision and some of