>> thanks, kerry sanders reporting live from copiapo, chile. the first rescuer has been lowered into the rescue shaft. that rescuer is manuel gonzalez. he'll be going down to where the miners are to help them board the capsule to go back up. no one can know better what these men are feeling right now than other miners who have been in the same situation. joining me now are blane mayhew and tom foy, they're survivors of the 2002 quecreek mine accident in somerset, pennsylvania. they were trapped underground for 77 hours. along with them bill arnold, one of their rescuers. as you watch this, what goes through your mind? >> it really takes me back to that same time eight years ago when we were here at quecreek. there's an electricity, a nervous anticipation. but it's also a very focused nervousness. we knew very clearly that the most dangerous part of the quecreek rescue was coming up when the capsule was going down. and i'm sure that the rescuers around that shaft in chile have that same sense of nervous anticipation. i'm quite certain that they'

and a lot of people, lawrence. >> kerry sanders, an amazing job down there for us.

lynn. >> kerry sanders, thank you. >>> back here in the states, the senate battle took place last night as christine o'donnell faced off with democra chris coons in a heated debate at the university of delaware. tracie potts joins us from washington now with some of the highlights. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. the two sparred over the economy, health care. o'donnell ende up backing off some of her more controversial social views from earlier on evolution and gays in the military. coons was forced to defend his record in delaware on raising taxes. this race may most remembered for her i am not a witch advertisement. last night, cistine o'donnell did some name calling of her own based on a newspaper article that coons wrote in college. >> they jokingly called me a birdied marxist. if you take five minutes and read thearticle, it's a joke. >> you wrote the article saying you learned your beliefs from an ar particular ewe lass arxist professor and that is what made you a democrat. that should send chills up the spine of every democrat voter. >> reporter: the other

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nbc's kerry sanders and natalie morales are at the scene. kerry, we'll begin with you. >> reporter: the rescue of these 33 miners that once seemed impossible is now at hand. in just a short period of time, the men will make their way to the surface, unknown men, who will be greeted as heroes. the road to the mine is now closed, barricades are up. medevac choppers have finished rehearsing their runs to the hospital. and up at the entrance to the escape shaft, the cement where the men will climb out is now dry. again, today, the escape capsule is being tested and so far engineers say every test shows it works without a passenger. now to rescue the 33 miners. >> we are going to start doing this test. first with an empty cage. later, with the first rescue. we'll go down a couple of times with him. and take some measures and then this guy will set down and he will help the first miners to go up. >> reporter: the extraction involves more than 1,000 experts with technologies from more than a dozen nations. the capsule has a live camera pointed towar

kerry sanders is reporting from copiapo chile on the site of this mine rescue. kerry, it feels like we're about eight -- >> now a waiting game, lawrence. >> we're about eight minutes away according to my little stopwatch at the anchor desk at 30 rock. and the wheel continues to keep that same momentum turning, that's what we're looking for. >> exactly. exactly. >> and there is a real calm, kerry, among the rescue technicians who are standing around the capsule position where it will emerge. and there has been that calm from the start of this coverage. there's -- it's hard to get any feel of tension looking at those people. they seem to be very, very confident about what they're doing. and now that the capsule has made a successful trip down and is on its way up very steadily, their confidence can only be building. >> i think so. and i think that the success of one coming up and look at the smoke and the -- some of that is the heat and the dust coming out as it's coming up. and that's why they have the oxygen mask because of that dust. but i think that a success o

kerry sanders joins us with the latest. kerry, we are wondering about this keeps being pushed back a bit. what is going on right now. >> reporter: there is a little bit of a delay, they thought they might begin now and they are into a two-hour holding period where they are running some tests. they are actually gathered around the phoenix, which is that escape capsule and they have had a small sledge hammer and taking a piece of rebar and banging that rebar down inside the capsule. they take a look, it looks like they are trying to get something loosened up before they reattach it to the cable that will then low ter down, so, there are always going to be some problems at the last minute. the engineers have said from the beginning that they know that this is going to take some time and expecting it. they say that when they hear the sirens, when the sirens wahle out here it will be a sign things are about to really begin. so we have not heard those sirens yet. we are looking at the pictures of the phoenix there you can see the

>> wow, kerry sanders, unbelievable. e to put the escape pod in. kerry, great reporting. thanks so much. and what exactly are the physical and mental effects of being confined for over two months? we have a psychologist and stress expert from the university of buffalo joining me now. professor, good to see you. thanks so much for joining us. kerry sanders, you saw his report. i have to talk about that round hole that is not that wide. they're talking about putting a pod down in there to bring them out. some 700 meters below. they're already talking about giving the miners sedatives. once they reach that point to sort of pull them up. it could take 5 to 15 minutes. how much stress tr the miners under? >> currently they're under stress from several different sources. at least, let's put it this way, they're potentially under stress from several sources. they're facing a disruption of their life routine that they've been doing for months or years. they're cut off from the social networks on the surface. and they have to suff

kerry sanders, nbc news, chile. >>> back here in the states, the clock is ticking for canada. it's counting down to midterm election day now just three weeks away. last night, several issued were sparred over. health care was hand down the topic of the night. tracie potts is in washington, d.c. with all the details on that. >> reporter: good morning. that and fixing the economy, republicans saying stop the spending, docrats saying we need to invest in the future. this election is becoming a referendum on the first two years of the obama administration. nowhere wa thatore evident than in kentucky last night where paul tried to make it the topic in the election. his democratic opponent came out in their debate and said this election is not about president obama. now, the president has not campaigned there, but he has been in wisconsin where democrat russ feingold is in a veryough race with the republican there, ron johnson, who as of now has a big lead. the big issue in their debate last night was funding for political ads and advertisements. president obama's focus, speaking of

let's go to nbc's kerry sanders who was live at the scene.is not there because she's about to give birth to a child. that's got to be pretty exciting. >> he got up in the nick of time. >> and the opention of the completion of a successful mission. is it pretty tense there right now? >> i think that an exuberant confidence right now. i wouldn't call it "tense." the "countdown" now with five more men. a 23 year old, making it up to the surface, with his wife. the reason she's not there she actually had contractions today so she's at home. you know, it is working flawlessly. the -- you can see him getting on to a stretcher, even though i have not seen one of these guys who needed to get on to a stretcher, they are following the protocol, taking them to the triage area and the first thing they do when they get to the triage area is ask for a hot shower. they are enjoying that. i imagine richard is about to go in there and do the same. they give them liquids and take care of them. the fenix started out going down that escape capsule taking more th

kerry sanders has been watching it out. kerry, i'm sorry, you have to have no heart or not be a human being not to have tears well up in your eyes at each one of these greetings. it's unbelievable. such an emotional thing to watch. >> reporter: it is incredible. ten hours 40 minutes into this and it's working like a charm and everyone that comes up is treated like the first one emerging from that entombed environment that they lived in for 70 days. the first one was brought up here shortly after midnight local time. as you said they are now in the process of going down to ged edison pena. it's taking a little bit more than an hour. the minister of the mines here tweet ad short time ago that it looks like they can pick the pace up to every 50 minutes which would bring the completion of bringing up all 33 miners into late thursday. today is a national holiday here. kids are all home from school, watching this. i think the most emotional outburst was when mario came up, the second miner making to it the surface. he was bursting

nbc's kerry sanders filed this report for us late yesterday from chile. >> reporter: teams here conducted a test. the escape capsule traveled 20 feet inside the steal pipe without a problem. so they went a step further and sent it down the shaft within feet of the trapped miners. >> we didn't send it down because we could risk that somebody could jump in. >> reporter: some of the equipment is still being anchored into a concrete slab. soon the escape pod connected to the ski chair lift cable will be hook up to a heavy duty winch. the capsule travels down the shaft for the first 183 feet inside that steal reinforcing pipe. past that, driven simply by gravity, it sides down the rock walls 1,567 feet through slight s turns. the trip up is expected to take no more than 15 minutes. >> who comes up first? the list remains secret tonight. what we know is that the men down below were all fighting for positions. each wanted to be last, a sign of their brotherhood developed over the last two-plus months. kerry sanders, nbc news, chile. >>> back here in the states, the clock is ticking down to elect

and as nbc's kerry sanders reports, chile's joy was shared around the world. >> reporter: it's over. all 33 of the miners have been rescued. it took 22 hours, 34 minutes and 56 seconds, more than 1,000 engineering minds to figure out how to get down to those men. 2,040 feet in the earth, they pulled it off. and now, this country and the world celebrates. >> an inspiring experience, i'm sure, not only for the chileans, for the whole world. >> reporter: the last man up, luis urzua. he is the leader who in the first 17 days when the men were cut off from the outside world told them they should conserve the two days of food they had and ration it to be two smoonfuls of food per man, peaches and tuna. that kept them alive. they made contact with the surface. a team of american drillers came in. they made it down to the men. the fenix capsule was tested, retested, and wow, it worked. in the end, the ride up was taking less than 10 minutes. and now this country celebrates because the impossible is possible. lynn. >> kerry sanders, thank you. >>> back here in the states, the senate battle in

our coverage begins with kerry sanders who has been describing each great moment as it happened. kerry, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. we're 21 hours into the rescue and it's remarkable. everyone pulled out without a hitch. just moments ago, 29-year-old ariel sicona came out, hugged his wife, the wife who just gave birth while he was trapped down below. his rescue, like everyone today, a triumph. [ applause ] again and again and again, prayers answered. it all began shortly after midnight local time as a rescue engineer strapped into the 26-inch wide escape capsule and began the still unproven manned trip below, 2,040 feet down a shaft through some of the hardest rock on earth. 17 minutes 22 seconds later, first contact. it worked on the way down and soon, as a billion viewers around the world watched the image like a transmission from the moon, the first would prove with the first trip to the surface, the capsule worked both ways. at 11 minutes after midnight as florencio was the first to end this 70-day crisis, his son, 7-year-old byron, touched everyone's heart

let's go live to nbc's kerry sanders, who is on the scene. kerry, the emotion outside where this is taking place tonight, give us a description of what the people are feeling outside tonight. >> electric. imagine the family members who have been gathered here, living in this desert, the driest location on earth, where in the daytime, it hits up into the 80s and at night it is down into the upper 30s and low 40s, camping in tents, dealing with the environment because every day, they had hope that this day would come. and now, it is finally here, the wives, the daughters, the mothers, the brothers, the cousins, all gathering here today with smiles, but also a little bit of anxiety, because it's not been executed yet. the men are not yet up. i did see some women who spent some time today putting on a little extra makeup. they had added some perfume. they are certainly anxious to see their loved ones come out of that hole there, as you know, because some families are so large that they have decided the best thing to do is to limit the number of pe

kerry sanders from the drill site tonight. >> reporter: early this morning here in chile, the drilling team made it down success! they have now punched through to the 33 trapped miners down below. and overwhelming sense of emotion here at family members on the surface celebrated as did the engineers, poppi champagne corks, hugging and kissing, tears of joy. at the controls of the drill, as it punched through, an american, he had been in afghanistan short time ago. he heard about the trapped miners, left there, came here annow, unbridled success. >> as you can imagine, it erupted. we're all -- we've been here busting our butts and we've worked every day and fought t odds. the whole thing until the end. we made it into the gallery and it's incredible. the whole place just explode. it was great. >> reporter:ow the daunting question. when will all 33 miners be brought to the surface. there's some engineering questions that need to be answered. will they put a steelpipe, a sleeve as it were, down this hole to protect it from collapsing in on the sides, as that escape capsule comes to the su

as kerry sanders reports, chile's joy was shared around the world. >> reporter: it's over. all 33 of the miners have been rescued. it took 22 hours, 34 minutes and 56 seconds, more than 1,000 engineering minds to figure out how to get down to those men. 2,040 feet in the earth. they pulled it off and now, this country and the world celebrates. >> it is an inspiring experience not only for the chileans but for the world. >> reporter: the last man up, luis aza, the leader who told them they should conserve the two days of food that they have and ration it to being two spoon fulls of food per man, peaches and tuna. that kept them alive. they made contact with the surface. a team of american drillers came in. they made it down to the men. the fenix capsule was tested, retested and, wow, it worked. in the end, the ride up was taking less than ten minutes. now, this country celebrates because the impossible is possible. lynn? >> kerry sanders, thank you. >>> back here in the states, is the senate battle in the states took center stage. christine o'donnell faced off with democrat,

nbc's kerry sanders has more now from copiapo, chile. >>reporter: the drill turned 622 meter into the earth and that was it. it punched through to the trapped miners. [ bell rings ] and on the surface, the celebrations began. engineers, as if they'd just won the playoff a rush of emotions. and some wives and daughters pushed past police to thank the team who never gave up. >> we could see the video feed of the miners going crazy. we were going crazy. and just the fact that we did it. because, you know, we knew we could d it. >> reporter: at the controls, when the drill finally made it through, some of the hardest rock on earth, american jeff hart, who had only six hours' sleep in the last three days. >> this is the most difficult, most stressful well we've ever drilled. there's 33 lives at stake. you put an unbelievable amount of pressure on yourself to make it happen every single day. >> reporter: knowing that the moment everyone wants is now that much closer makes these next days that much more difficult. engineers have decided to rein

following all of this throughout has been kerry sanders and natalie morales.on the ground all night long. kerry, i know you've got your stopwatch going, should only be a few minutes before we see that capsule down there. >> exactly. should only be a few more minutes, but were we just watching -- >> and we were just seeing the miners in their boxer shorts, i believe. all of them gearing up for their moment. >> they did lose about 20 pounds. maybe they're showing off their newly toned physiques. >> exactly. if you've got abs of steel, i guess you can show them. >> 2 hours, 19 minutes, 4 seconds since first launch of the phoenix began. we should be seeing it arrive here shortly. you can see the light on one of the miner's helmets going up and down against the wall there. i think people are surprised at the size of the area where these men have been holed up down there. a large area, ability to drive trucks up and down, so they front end loaders and they were using that to remove some of the debris as it comes in. those drills require water, so there was a pretty

kerry sanders remains in chile and joins us with the latest. kerry?> reporter: well, good evening, lester. today some of the miners began what will become part of their new routine -- going to the clinic where today doctors checked on their eyesight to make sure it's acclimating to the sunlight okay, as well as adjusting some of their medication. this as the men themselves are working on their emotions. jose enriquez with his family returned to the san jose mine today. the 54-year-old is the first to tour where his family camped for 70 days as he was trapped in the earth. he says, "it's a joy to be free." [ applause ] lorenzio avalos says he can't hug his son enough. their first embrace after 70 days trapped under ground was as tearful for those watching as it was for the avalos family. another wife had a baby while her husband was trapped, a little girl named hope. how will he live his life now? "to the maximum, to the maximum," he says, "everything i didn't do before i'm going to do now." as the miners finally return home, so, too, are the rescue te

kerry sanders remains on the job, with us again from the hospital in chile where the miners have been treated. kerry, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. three of the miners are still here at the hospital. the others have all gone home. doctors here say their eyes are adjusting to the sunlight faster than they expected. most of the miners did spend the day here with loved ones. folks they once weren't sure they would ever see again. the miners can't escape the attention, even if they want to. like the superstars they now are everywhere they go, there's a camera or cell phone pointed at them. everyone in chile wants to see and hear from the miners. and some of what they heard today for the first time was anger. miner edison bena says, why do these mining disasters have to happen? because the greedy employers want to make money. the miners were looking for gold, and they may have found it, in survival. they want $20 million for their story. they have a pact they officially notarized while still underground to sell their story to the highest bidder, and divide profits equally

our coverage begins with kerry sanders who has been describing each moment for us. kerry, good evening. >> reporter: we're about 18 1/2 hours into this rescue, and it's remarkable. everyone has gone out without a hitch so far. just a short time ago, 53-year-old franklin lobos came out. he emerged and they handed him a soccer ball. he's a former star soccer player in this country. his rescue, like everyone today, a triumph. [ applause ] again and again and again, prayers answered. it all began shortly after midnight local time as a rescue engineer strapped into the 26 inch wide escape capsule and began the trip below, 2,040 feet down a shaft through some of the hardest rock on earth. 17 minutes, 22 seconds later, first contact. it worked on the way down and as soon as, as a billion viewers around the world watched the image, the first would prove the capsule worked both ways. at 11 minutes after midnight as he was the first to end this 70-day crisis, his son, 7-year-old byron, touched everyone's hearts. a father and son finally reunited. up next, 39-year-old mario. wh

we want to begin our coverage again tonight with nbc's kerry sanders in chile. kerry, good evening. >> reporter: well, good evening, brian. the doctors here at the hospital say all 33 miners are mostly in very good health. one has pneumonia, another one has some dental problems. in fact, three or four of the miners may actually be released om the hospital today. thus far, they're not talking. they say that they've made a pact and they're only going to talk collectively if they get paid. it was the picture an entire nation waited more than two months to see. all 33 miners alive and well, and ee. meanwhile, outside the regional hospital today, a swarm of onlookers and cameras om all over the world, waited to catch a glimpse of chile's new heroes. and standing in the crowd, a group of teenage girls. hoping to see 19-year-old jimmy sanchez, their newest idol. asked about l the attention rescued miner richard villarroel says, it makes you want to cry. >> i think they're more anxious to get out frothe hospital than they were from the mine. >> reporter: inside, family m

kerry sanders, nbc news, chile. >>> back here in the states, the clock is ticking for canada. it's counting down to midterm election day now just three weeks away. last night senate candidates sparred over several issues, but the debate over health care was hands down the topic of the night. tracie potts is in washington, d.c. with all the details on that. good morning. >> reporter: the big picture is democrats are behind and struggling to separate themselves from washington. >> and send less money to washington. >> reporter: kentucky's democrat for senate came out and said it. >> this election is not about president obama, this election is about jack conway versus rand paul. >> reporter: republicans are trying to tie democrats to pelosi and big spending, namely health reform. >> his health reform is a prime example of what is wrong with washington. >> is incredibly expensive and complicated. >> reporter: even if the gop wins, some analysts say health reform is not going away. >> obama health care will be there as long as democrats are there. >> reporter: democrats argue some

world's attention is about to be focused on a small round mineshaft in south america and our own kerry sanders is there for the countdown and starts us off from chile tonight. hey, kerry, good evening. >> reporter: brian, a sign that the men are almost free, the single camera that will focus on the hole as each man comes out is now being put into place. today, teams here conducted a test. the escape capsule traveled 20 feet inside the steel pipe without a problem, so they went a step further and sent it down the shaft within feet of the trapped miners. >> we didn't send it down because we can't risk that somebody can jump in. >> reporter: his good mood reveals the level of confidence here. the only reason the rescues are not under way is because some of the equipment is still being anchored into a concrete slab. [ bell rings ] celebrations began saturday when the shaft to the men was completed. an american team drilled down a half mile through some of the hardest rock on earth. >> we're just so happy we did have the chance to come down here and having the chance to come down here and make a di

morales and kerry sanders. we'll continue to cover the rescue operation in chile on msnbc throughout the night. "countdown with keith olbermann" starts right now. >>> which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? don't ask, don't tell, don't appeal. a federal judge issues a worldwide injunction against the military enforcing rules against gays serving openly. she gives the obama administration 60 days to appeal. will it? our coverage with congressman barney frank and the executive director of service members united, the only identified veteran among those who sued, alexander nicholson. he's so guilty he can't even lie about it. karl rove replies -- >> we do not solicit for entities and we tell people we will not accept money and it's been illegal since 1907 for foreign money to be involved in american political cam pan. >> your answer is yes or no. the desperate effort of rover, the u.s. chamber of congress to elude the foreign money mega scandal. >>> more carl paladino. just uncovered from march,

our own kerry sanders is at the mine tonight. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. i'm here in what they call camp hope. this is main street. just a short time ago they rushed up to meet with the first lady of chile as this is getting ever so close. the drill is now just about there, about 121 feet away. they've been drilling on and off, going much slower now, because that precarious 121 feet could collapse and they don't want to have that happen. they think they might get through tonight or maybe tomorrow. then the question is, do they have to have an engineering effort before they begin launching the escape capsule? they may decide to put some steel pipes down into the shaft a half inch thick, about maybe 300 feet. that would keep rocks from falling back as the escape capsule comes up. then the big question, who comes up first and who comes up last. they were told it is going to be the most experienced, healthy first. and the reason for that is as they come up in that capsule, they're going to be talking on a radio, they're going to be getting some oxygen and they

from the scene, kerry sanders reporting tonight, starting us off from chile. >>> another countdown under way tonight across this country to election day. just three weeks from tomorrow, the president running hard tonight to try to keep the democrats from losing too many seats in congress. our chief white house correspondent chuck todd with us tonight with a look at where things stand. good evening. >> reporter: look, election day inching ever so close and the white house is still searching for a message that's going to resonate, now with the president focusing all of his efforts on trying to get democratic voters to the polls. that means a lot of time in big cities like philadelphia sunday and miami tonight. with just three weeks left, democratic control of congress is tenuous. and that's why the president flew to miami to help save one house seat. republicans need 39 seats to win control of the house. ten seats to do the same in the senate. and democrats are engaging in trench political warfare. where it will help deploy the president to fire up his base like sunday in philadelphia. >>

everything about it was about overdelivering on promises. >> nbc's kerry sanders is back with us. y, this is exciting for us sitting thousands of miles away. tell us what you're seeing and feeling as you watch this unfold. >> reporter: i'm driven by adrenaline. i know i'm not a family member. i'm caught up in they're motion, clearly. this is incredible. we're now eight hours 56 minutes and 40 seconds into an ongoing rescue. the capsule is getting ready to go down. the next man up will be alex vega, 31 years old. his fact earl had offered to help dig down. he wanted to be one of the rescuers, but they didn't want the family members involved because they didn't want that emotion to perhaps overcome and create a dangerous situation. alex is interesting because he has told those on the surface he has a particular problem. he doesn't like cameras. he doesn't want to be on camera. in fact, the pictures he's taken of his children in the videos, he doesn't appear in them, rarely. he's about to come up and face cameras in a way that i don't think he really can imagine because -- as far as i

kerry sanders will have much more. coming up next on "nbc nitly news" at 7:00. >> just amazing.wo months. >> i know. staggering. the video, it is great to still see them and see how well they've been handlingit. >> they all seem in good spirits, too. >> way better spirits than we would be. >> most definitely. >> we're in pretty good spirits here because our weather has been so nice. abundant sunshine. temperature into the 80s. the high temperatures today with 88 degrees. now moving in night, it will be a pretty nice night. the low this morning was 62. the record high today was 90, set back in 1919. just amazing how close to that record we did come during the day. a very warm day today. temperature close to 20degrees above average. live digital doppler radar. nothing to show you around our area. just to the north as we widen out, you can see some showers and thunderstorm. entering portions of west virginia. that's a frontal boundary that will continue to make its way in toward our area into the day morrow. so we can't ru out a stray shower or thunderstorm into tomorrow. i think a

a little earlier i was on the air with kerry sanders and natalie morales who have been there for manyays and weeks leading up to this remarkable achievement. this was a little bit of what happened and their conversation after the rescue of the first miner going into the rescue of the second miner, mario sepulveda. take a look. >> we saw mario sepulveda, the second miner come out, he dropped the bag on the ground and started giving out rocks just like this. it was a moment that really captured the nation here because they all know how much this rock means to the country. it's not just a way of life for these men, and a very good way of life, but it is the primary industry here in chile. chile, actually a lot of people don't know this, it's one of the -- i believe, the third or fourth wealthiest latin south american countries. >> it's funny. where we are in the desert, you wouldn't come here but for the mining. there is very little that would draw you here. in fact, i think it's the lonely planet guide book talking about the copiapo guide book saying, there's no reason to come here. >>

as kerry sanders reports, they may now be just hours ay from freedom. >> chilean government officials say the escape capsule named phoenix 1 is operating as intended. it's gone down the hole and up e hole. and again another test. down the hole and up the hole empty. now, to start putting people in it. >> with the first rescue, we are going to go down and up a couple times with him, and take some measures. then this guy will sit down and he will help the first miners to go up. >> reporter: for 69 days t trapped miners have remained in a darkened tomb. on the surface, their family members have waited anxiously, today they're smiling. anticipating what they all hope is a safe rescue. >> i'm getting myself ready for my son, to be prettier, happier, to have my son in my arms. >> reporter: there are more than 1,000 people on the surface working to rescue those 33 miners it down below. one of the greatest concerns their health. >> the construction process is risky at times, the best we can do to prepare them. >> we're still not sure who will co out first and who will come out last. governmen

kerry sanders for us. thank you if anyone has a sense of what those trapped miners are going through and what they're about to go through it is tom foye, one of nine miners rescued in pennsylvania in 2002. the circumstances were different then, the depth of the mine, length of time trapped, but the way foye and his fellow miners were rescued was pretty much the same. here it is in his own words. >> going you want out of there was one of the happiest days of my life. it's a capsule about 8 feet high all screened in. you get somebody probably 6 foot, 250 pounds and we had a rusch time getting them in. it was a tight fight. you're looking at 26 inches and some of these boys' shoulders are probably a little bit more. you squeezed a little bit, and we made it and got him in. it was a quick trip. it took us about maybe 10 minutes i'd say at the most because you ain't talking 260 feet now. you're not talking a mile or almost a mime. you had a light on then, and it was really interesting going up through there wat

nbc kerry sanders is live in chile for us as he has been all night long and, kerry, we've said it before, i'll say it again. no matter how many times we see these families reunite, it doesn't lose the thrill. tell us about the emotion that is still there and what we're looking at almost 12 hours after the first rescue. >> exactly. electric, thrilling. 13 up, 20 to go and it's working exactly as they said and the minister of the mines here lawrence golborne are picking up the pace. it is now looking like it's going to be repeatedly under an hour, which means that we may see all of the 33 miners to the surface before the end of thursday, maybe even into the late evening of thursday. the celebration continue. children in school have the day off. this is a national holiday. a national day of celebration and a worldwide moment as all the eyes focus down in the mine as that capsule makes its way down. they're heading down now for number 14, victor zamora. >> have we heard anything since all these miners have been brought to triage and then to the hospital. have we gotten any official word on h

kerry sanders has been at the scene all night. we're going to get to kerry in a second. kerry, if you were watching msnbc, he was right there. he was live with lawrence o'donnell covering this event. and you could see the joy because kerry has been talking with these family members day after day, waiting to see if it was possible that their loved ones could be brought out of that situation safely. i understand kerry is ready for us now. kerry, we just watched yet another rescue. i got to tell you, i was watching you last night and you could feel the excitement that those families were sharing with you through your emotions. >> you know, how could it not be infectious because of what's taking place here? calculate 70 days below earth and then everybody said it wasn't possible and then they were coming up. and now it's continuing. and it may actually be wrapped up by tonight because they're moving so further ahead of the schedule than they actually thought. they thought this would take 48 hours. this started just after midnight last night and now we continue to see that th