. >> reporter: massey's ceo, don blankenship, is a volatile, controversial figure in west virginia. >> if you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot. >> reporter: he has raised millions of dollars on behalf of local politicians and state supreme court justices and became upset when abc news tried to ask him about it in 2008. >> let go of my camera. >> my experience with don blankenship has been that he's an accountant, bottom-line guy and his emphasis is on the bottom line. when two miners were killed in another massey mine accident in 2006, the company pleaded guilty to ten counts of willfully ignoring safety laws and paid a then-record fine of $4.2 million. lawyers in the case say for blankenship, it was just a cost of doing business. diane? >> all right, brian, thanks. and still ahead from west virginia after this break, i will question massey mining boss don blankenship. what does he say about the questions raining down? >>> in other news, a new u.s. nuclear strategy. the president vowing to reduce the role of nukes. >>> and at the end of the broadcast,

the big is massy's c.e.o., don blankenship. a patron looks up from his chicken strip basket, nice shirt. thanks, brother, the man says, ambling over to extend his calloused hands. another customer rolls her eyes and gig else, nudging her friend across the table. she turns and shakes her head in disgust. bonds cab ems at mention of the man in the t-shirt. i'm so glad he's out today, ain't he great. located about 10 miles downstream from whites vim, the elementary school stands in the shadow of one of west virginia's largest impoundments, operated by massy energy. standing 385 feet tall, it holds 2.8 billion gallons of coal slurry, another impoundment, built a few miles upstream contains eight billion gallons of coal slurry. the ponds that surrounded whitesville, making some residents concerned for their safety. despite assurances from massy energy, many, including bonds, still have their doubts. the disasters at buffalo creek, west virginia, in 1972 and martin county kentucky in 2003 are still too fresh in their memories. we had

many people think it is no accident that among the big sponsors of the tea party is don blankenship, president of massey coal, because he has been able to profit by the lack of effective government regulation. so, one of the problems of populist movements often times is that they are overtaken by people who distort the good work that they might be doing, and that is the problem with the tea party, that the issues are so complex today and they have been dumb down to the point where many of the people don't really understand who it is they should be angry at. >> i would say with respect, gentleman, that the tea party movement would probably argue with both of you on that point. as for mine safety and other things, it is just not on the tea party screen at this point. it may change. >> government -- do you want government to do all of these things, all the things the government is asked to do -- something about the decline in bees affected crops, the death of the tradition of non of because it is a clone and they cannot go on anymore. we assume there are scientists doing this. last week

the owner of that mine, massey energy, and its chief executive don blankenship face serious questionsnvestigative correspondent brian ross has been asking those questions for two years now. >> reporter: massey says its but recent court cases suggest . otherwise. >> it was surprising how much evidence there was of a general disregard for safety of coal miners. >> reporter: over the last year there has been a surge of federal safety violations at the upper big branch mine. many described as flagrant and repeated. 548 citaons in 2009. 122 so far this year. 58 last month alone. including almost daily citations related to proper ventilation of a dangerous accumulation of coal dust. >> that's a red flag. it's going to say, wait a minute, something's gone wrong here. >> reporter: federal mine safety officials said today that even with the continued problems over the last month, the law did not allow them to shut the mine down. >> you're asking if i have the ability to shut a mine down based on what i find. and the answer to that is no. >> reporter: but other mine safety experts say the law d

this is about the fact that don blankenship basically is the biggest political power in west virginia to stand up to him. he goes after politicians who do anything that he doesn't like. he spent $3.5 million a few years ago in attack ads against a state supreme court justice who had made a decision in a case that he didn't like. the word on the street in west virginia is you don't mess with don. and there's just -- it's just a really simple kind of intimidation that goes on. and in these mines, you know -- you know, it's not as all above board as we would like to think. these inspections happen down in the dark and i know from talking to some of these mine inspectors, there's a lot of corruption in this, there's a lot of back slapping and turning it, looking the other way. especially in the case of massey. the obvious question is why wasn't this mine shut down? >> when we look at the disasters that have been happening so frequently in china, in the chinese coal mines. look at that and think, those chinese coal mine operators, they sure are shady. or those chinese coal miners, they don

don blankenship donates lavishly to west virginia candidate hess favors. and he's spent thousands to influence members of the west virginia supreme court, who voted in his favor in a case he had before the court. >>> again, the latest update, at least 25 miners have been killed. abc news has a team of reporters headed to the scene in west virginia. we will have the very latest on this tragedy coming up at 7:00 on "good morning america." >>> in other news, president obama unveils a new policy on nuclear weapons today. it reduces america's nuclear arsenal and limits when they could be used. mr. obama's policy announcement is the first in a series of events aimed at reducing nuclear weapons worldwide. thursday, he signs a new arms treaty with russia. next week, he hosts a major nuclear summit in washington. >>> a senior military official confirms that a battle video posted on the internet is authentic. the cockpit video shows a helicopter firing repeatedly on people in a baghdad street during the height of the insurgency, in 2007. 12 people were killed, inclu

but the massey ceo, don blankenship, told diane sawyer today that his company is a leader in mine safety. >> massey has probably the safest record, you know, in 18 of the last 20 year, we've been safer than the industry average. >> reporter: but over the last year at the upper big branch mine, there has been a surge of federal safety citations, many flay grant and repeated, and one above the national average for serious violations. 548 sigh ticitations in 2009. 122 so far this year. 58 last month alone. including almost daily citations related to proper ventilation or the dangerous accumulation of coal dust, suspected to be a cause in yesterday's accident. >> that's a red flag. it's going to say, wait a minute, something's gone wrong here. >> reporter: federal safety officials were on the defensive today, pressed to explain why inspectors considered the mine to be safe. >> we wouldn't have had an explosion if it was operating safely. so, i mean, we have to ascertain the reason behide why it wasn't safe, but an explosion wouldn't have happened if there wasn't a problem here. >> reporter:

indication at this point what caused this explosion, but what about massey's ceo, a controversial guy, don blankenship. >> he has become very controversial. he's become a major factor in politics there raising millions of dollars to support certain candidates including members of the west virginia supreme court who voted in his favor in certain key cases. when abc news tried to ask him about that, he attacked our camera man and said you're liable to get shot if you take pictures of me. >> i remember that. brian, thanks very much on the reporting on the massey energy company. we will continue to monitor that situation in west virginia. >>> we're going to turn in a different direction. big story today in the world of sport masters week has arrived. that means the return of golfer tiger woods. today, the golfer has been center stage in a sex scandal played golf, fans watched and he sat down for a grilling that has been months in the making as john berman reportses. >> reporter: he has been playing golf since he could walk, but still it was a day of firsts for tiger woods. the first time in five months he

massey's ceo don blankenship says his company puts safety first. >> you can't be productive if you're not safe. >> reporter: during a time of mourning and investigation many are reflecting. >> the mine will be here when we're long gone. >> reporter: and remembering those lost in a state with deep roots inside the mines. jane mets letter, fox news. >>> in jer use linemen thousands are coming together -- jerusalem thousands are coming together to remember the 6 million jews killed in the holocaust. air ride sirens went off marking 2 minutes of silence in memory of the victims. israeli prime minister netanyahu spoke at the memorial. other leaders were also in attendance. >>> you're supposed to get better in the hospital but all too often patients actually get sicker. find out how one hospital is pioneering a system that can sense how clean a nurse's hands are before they touch the patient. that's on the other side of this break. h ntis >>> a new york senator wants the federal government to ban airlines from charging fees for carry on bags. senator charles schumer says the fee is slap in

don blankenship says that the company will pay for all of the miner's pune rals. >> terrell brown, thanks. >>> four americans were killed in a crash of an air force tilt rotor aircraft in afghanistan. it went down in southeast afghanistan late last night. three of the victims were service members. one was a severalian employee. it's designed to land and take off vertically like a helicopter, but can fly much faster. it has a history of problems. the cause of last night's crash is unknown. >>> turning how to golf, they turned back the clock at the masters. 50-year-old fred couples holds the first round lead, but just two strokes back is tiger woods who returned to competitive golf after a five month layoff without missing a beat. joel brown is in augusta. good morning. >> reporter: michelle, good morning to you. tiger woods said it felt like business as usual out there and by the back nine, fans had seemingly forgotten about woods, the tabloid fixture, fixating again on the best golfer in the world. >> we're having some technical difficulties unfortunately, joel, thank you, though, very mu

. >> reporter: don blankenship is the ceo of massey energy and told you his company is appealing most of those fines. blankenship claims his company as a record consistent with other companies and is being unfairly blamed for the accident. >> the people that manage the minds, the engineers that develop the mine, all of these people are distressed enough without allegations that they don't care about the people. >> reporter: the work to vent the mine shaft is not quick, drilling at 100 feet an hour will not be until noon on wednesday that the drills will reach the mine shaft 1200 feet into the mountain. a loss of time for a community that has left so much. neighbors took in neighbors. friends took in friends. they are resilient because they have no other choice. >> reporter: the coal production here at the big branch mine has increase the by nearly a third over the past year but so too have the safety violations, 50 in march alone. tom fitzgerald, fox 5 news. >> thank you so much. >>> you can go for myfoxdc.com for continuing coverage of the deadly mine explosion. on our web site, you

. >> on the question of these violations, we spoke with the ceo of massey energy company, don blankenshipesterday, and aired some of that this morning. he said the violations are up partially as a result of the miner act. you tighten the regulations, companies violate these violations because they find it difficult to get compliance. do you buy that argument? >> well, some companies fought the miner act implementation. others agreed to change it when necessary and they wanted to do what was necessary to improve the mine safety health underground. and because violations are up doesn't mean it's necessarily because somebody's after them. it means that you have to do a better job. and most responsible mine operators want to do a better job. they want to prevent accidents. they do not want to cut corners. they do not want to shortchange a miner's life in exchange for the bottom line profit. and, you know, that's number one in every mine operator's heart should be the protection of the health and safety of their employees. >> tame, though, the politics of it is complicated because of these min

i was told the night before last there was a meeting and one of the mining families told koeb don blankenship we have not heard yet is sorry. john. >> they are all in our thoughts and prayers. a major apology from virginia's republican governor. bob mcdonnell now says it was a mistake to omit any reference to slavery regarding the state's recognition of confederate history month. in a statement issued, governor mcdonnell calls slavery an abomination. the governor added a paragraph to that proclamation saying it is important to understand that slavery was among the factors that led to the stifl war and was a "evil and inhumane practice." in a few moments we'll discuss this controversy with an african-american state senator, henry marsh. president obama departs for praug. it was there that the president outlined an ambitious goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons. it is there where eltake whhe wa step in that direction. while that plan to slash the u.s. and russian nuclear arsenals, the president's broader call for a new strategy is generating more of a controversy. >> reporter: that's ri

this was her response to don blankenship's claims his mines are the safest in the region. >> honestly? bull [ bleep ]. that's bull [ bleep ]. >> what would you say to him if he was here now? >> honestly, i would -- [ laughter ] it's hard to. i'm very mad. >> reporter: and a lot of people here are very, very mad. tammy is one of the few who will say it publicly. >> shepard: a number of families of hopeful there are still miracles in that mine. >> they're praying and hoping for four miracles to walk out of the mine. but as you heard the governor say, it's really only a sliver of hope. those four may have made it to one rescue chamber you hopes are dimming with every hour. >> shepard: jonathan hunt, on the scene at breaking news. we'll get back who him. rescues of course working to pump water out of another mine, this one in china to locate missing miners from the flooded tunnels. it happened last month in the northern part of the country. we're told workers tigging tunnels broke into a water filled area and trapped 153 miners. crews pulled 115 to safety after more an a week underground.

this tragedy, massey energy's website boasts of its commitment to safety of the company's ceo don blankenshipdefending 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

meantime, more questions about mine owner massey energy and its ceo don blankenship as the company, moreo $104 million. the stock actually up fivefold from 11 to 55, simultaneous to a massive spike in violations and an incredible political campaign to disable the west virginia government for enforcement, particularly from the unions. at the upper big branch alone, 197 violations in '08. then profits doubled. and the stock price went up fivefold. and there were 515 violations in '09. so about five times as many, four times as many. 124 violations in just the first three months of this year. they say it's the first four months this the data, but we haven't -- it hasn't been four months so that's impossible. serious violations include ventilation problems, excessive dust and methane gas -- all of which obviously kills people. massey has aggressively fought off hefty fines, by the way, by drowning federal regulators in appeals because coal mining is so profitable, it costs about half of natural gas. you can save a lot of money for lawsuits and lobbying. a bill established to improve mandator

his name is don blankenship, he says, quote, we want to assure of the families of all the miners we aretaking every action possible to locate and to rescue those that are still missing. he said that the names will not be released until the next of kin, obviously, is notified. that has not happened yet so we're not getting the names of those individuals who have died. again, seven individuals have been killed. because of this mine explosion. we don't know at this point what exactly happened, how it exploded. they are preparing for more patients, they are telling us, at the hospital there. there are about -- they really -- they produce about 1.2 million tons of coal at this mine. 200 employees. again, 19 are still trapped. continuing coverage. we have fox news crews on the way. and we'll continue to keep you posted throughout the night. i will be working through the night. again, 19 trapped. seven killed. and this has happened in west virginia in raleigh county about 30 miles south of charleston. and i'll key keep you posted. 19 trapped. seven killed. i'm ainsley earhardt. now back to the

don blankenship conceded that number was above the norm. >> this particular mine has had more violations than some of the others. it hasn't had a lost time accident until these fatals this year. and this incident, which, you know, an explosion of some sort that we're not sure what happened yet; we don't really know what to say about it. >> lehrer: the federal government levied more than $1 million in penalties against massey last year alone. the company has only paid 16 16% of that amount. it's contesting the rest. and we get more now from the disaster scene from frank langfitt of national public radio. >> lehrer: frank, first of all, there just has been news that moved off the wires that it turns out that the federal officials had cited massey energy with two violations on the day of the blast itself, according to these reports from the wires. can you tell us anything about that? >> well, one of the things that a lot of people are talking about is the record of the mine in the last few months. a lot of this seems to be focusing on the ventilation, in terms of keeping the methane levels

.-- don blankenship-- went on the social media site twitter, and urged prayers for both victims and rescuershe also criticized news coverage of the disaster. president obama ordered mine safety officials to report next week on the west virginia disaster and on how to prevent a repeat. two american soldiers were killed today on patrol in northern iraq. and a nato servicemember died in fighting in eastern afghanistan. the taliban also released video of a u.s. army private first class bowe bergdahl. he's been missing in afghanistan since last june. in the message, bergdahl pleaded to be sent home. meanwhile, afghan police said they arrested five would-be suicide bombers in kabul early this morning. they found explosives stashed below the engine block of the men's vehicle. heavy rains overnight triggered massive mudslides near rio de janeirio in brazil. at least 200 people were buried and feared dead. rescue workers searched for victims in a slum that was built on top of a landfill. officials said that made the ground especially unstable, under recent heavy rains. mudslides earlier this week alr

don blankenship, the head of massey energy, very involved in supreme court election in state of west virginia. also the federal mining agency head during the latter part of the bush add manage was a massey executive. he did fine massey for some violations. you can't say he was entirely looking the other way. people, particularly democrats, union officials who are looking for a more aggressive stance from the obama administration look at the administration, bush administration's record of working the coal industry and using coal executives in regulatory positions as part of the argument for a stronger stance. that's part of the update. >> we appreciate the update on this evolving and tragic story in west virginia. >>> in less than an hour the fed is going to release the minutes of its march meeting. all day long we have been bringing you thoughts on a range of topics from one insider at the meeting. it's not our senior economics reporter steve liesman but it could have been. he joins us with the final installment. this is like harry potter, the final installment of your exclusive with

today afl-cio omanager weighing in saying "massey mine and its ceo don blankenship have been cited for over 450 safety violations. massey paid over $1 million in fines in the past year alone. and has failed to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> it's not the safest coal mine and at times it has been higher than the industry average, but it's a large mine and large mines with lots of people. you know, you get more viilations because you get a larger area to be inspected and a lot more people involved. that doesn't mean the mine is unsafe because every violation actually means an improvement in the safety. >> accompanying that labor department announcement within the hour of its investigation plan labor secretary hilda solice saying "25 hard working men died unnecessarily. the best way to honor them is do our job and find out what happened." michelle, tyler? >> do we know mr. blankenship has been called before congress? >> i don't think we know that or yet what shape a congressional inquiry will take. about an hour ago at a briefing on site, nick rayhall who chairs a natural res

>> yeah, it really surprises me, especially someone like don blank blankenship, who is the ceo of masseygy and has often been outspoken as a champion, as he says, of his employees and workers. the fact he has not contacted them is really surprising. >> there were also a lot of questions for the mining inspectors about the violations that company has already faced. they've racked up more than $380,000 in fines and in the last couple of months, you're looking at the mine safe safetisiatio safetisiatiosafety citations. if you go in and find a problem, you fix it and then the mine continues to operate. if you're looking at things like ventilation problems, ventilation problems, ventilation problems, isn't that an indication these workers were going into an unsafe workplace? >> it certainly is when you see repeat violations. i think we're going to have to look at what happens in the investigations, in the weeks and months ahead, but it's really important to say that massey energy has a, is well-known for its sort of aggressive mining practices, for flouting mountain top mining laws. it is wel

. >> reporter: massey, the company owned by don blankenship, issued a statement, we strive to be in compliancels say enforcement efforts are up 20% in the past five years. but during that same period, owners' appeals of citations jumped 400%. you have the authority to shut them down? >> to -- to go to a mine and say, we don't like your safety record, we're shutting you down, no. >> reporter: it will take an act of congress to change that. after this week, after 29 deaths, some say now may be the time. david kerley, abc news, montcoal, west virginia. >>> leaders from around the world have arrived in washington for today's summit on nuclear security hosted by the president. the president's goal is to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials within four years. it's a goal intelligence experts say may be unrealistic but necessary. >> time is not on our side. as long as you have terrorist groups and others with the intent, and not just groups. iran, north korea, other states. the world's got to treat the nuclear threats that we face with a much greater sense of urgency than we have in the last few y

a growing number of shareholders are calling for ceo don blankenship to step down. but the board says blankenship has its full support. >>> air travel is finally returning to normal in europe as the volcanic ash continues to dissipate. stranded travelers are returning home and so are many people in iceland who were forced to flee after the volcano near their homes began to erupt. meanwhile, the u.s. air force is warning that its concern that some of its fighter jets in europe could suffer long-term damage if the volcano doesn't stop spewing ash into the air. >>> nasa launched a top secret space plane. >> and liftoff of the united launch alliance, atlas v rocket. >> inside there is a top secret space plane called the x-37. the military is using the plane as a way to test new equipment, sensor sensors in space. >>> next week, airlines will be banned from stranding passengers on the tarmac and there will be no exceptions. the rules establish a three-hour time limit for keeping passengers on the tarmac. five airlines wanted temporary exemptions, jet blue, delta, america

don blankenship beliefs in production, production, production. at the cost and safety of those people who work so hard, this is back-breaking, really difficult work for people in poor economic situations. there are no gas stations, no grocery stores, no target stores to work at, nothing, no cell phone coverage, the only choice they have is to work at the mine. coal makes up 50% of our energy use. we could not survive without what they're doing in mines, west virginia and kentucky, and other places. >> you were just there reporting. i was watching you the other evening on the fightly news. the last time i was there for a story was 15 years ago or so, and the conditions as you pointed out, are virtually unchanged. you creep along these beautiful roads, carved into the hollow of hills and you come along a general store. there's no 7-eleven. >> my whole family is from harlan county, usa, harlan county, kentucky. we've gop gone back to visit. it's frozen in time. as you mention, coal gives and coal takes away. it's a coal town. the whole town revolves

host: don blankenship, head of the massey co., bear indications he earned $33.7 million annual salary in 2008. flies to resorts in his own luxury jet, owns several homes. the head of the company. does that tell you anything? guest: tells me it is a very profitable company. host: what about the miners who work in these mines? guest: the profitability of the company does not tell me anything about the minors and the mines, other than that more resources could have been devoted to protecting the safety and well-being of the minors. host: i asked about the--- on average, what they earn in west virginia? guest: i am not sure what the final figures aren't now. it depends a lot of overtime. but my understanding is an experience minor can earn upward of 70,000, $80,000, $100,000 a year. these are communities where this is a very good job. host: our phone lines are open -- you can also send us a comment via twitter or an e-mail at journal@c-span.org. what you think your investigation will determine what happened monday? guest: right now we are in full rescue and recovery mode. we will begin th

don blankenship, last night he issued a statement saying "our top priority is the safety of our miners and the well-being of their families." but blankenship drew criticism four and a half years ago with an earlier internal memo in supervisors in which he seemed to stress productivity over safety. "we seem not to understand that coal pays the bills." >> even if it wasn't stated, if you're saying that production is is the most important part of our operation, you're implying that safety is not the most important part." >> reporter: blankenship later said his memo was misconstrued and safety was not secondary. since the sago accident, numerous mine safety improvements have been mandated. mines are now required to have extra breathing packs, better communications, and safe rooms for protection. >> they're looking for roof falls, gas, this kind of thing. >> and looking for the people. >> reporter: and mine rescue teams like the one we joined in this underground drill train regularly for rescues. it's important to note that mine fatalities are down dramatically over the past 40 years, but c