"I can't tell you that and I'm not here to blame anybody. I really am not. I don't know what happened. I don't know why the concerns and the safety for the men has not advanced as much as the manufacturing of equipment."
"If you don't call us within 15 minutes so that we can get the proper equipment, the proper people on the road, a $100,000 fine. I don't know how more serious you can be than that."
"All of you have been through this scenario with us before. Time is not our friend. The time -- and the longer the time goes, the -- the more difficult it becomes."
"I'm the most optimistic person that you'll probably ever meet. I'm the most hopeful person that you've ever met. And I'm realist also."
"I feel so strong about this. And I've been now with families for the last three weeks, through some of the most difficult trying times. Human suffering that families should not have to go through. And..."
"Let me just say right now all of our attentions are towards rescuing these miners. Everything we're doing. As soon as this rescue operation is completed, whatever time today, tonight or tomorrow, I wi..."
"The good news is that apparently there wasn't an explosion. We're just talking about a fire, but obviously that smoke and the carbon monoxide is a big problem."
"Time is not our friend, those words today by West Virginia's governor, Joe Manchin."
"We want to thank you all for a job that you have to do, it is extreme difficult and we recognize that, but this is a special little state, a special state because we have special people that are so st..."
"Every person with the responsibilities that they take -- I can only speak about myself, being governor of the state of West Virginia and the responsibility I believe that we have, I have for the peopl..."
"I can tell you, we're going to fix -- something's broken. It must be fixed. And it's an absolute horrible price that we in West Virginia have had to pay."