Joe Manchin

Sounds to me like we're picking winners and losers.

In the wake of the January 2006 Sago mine disaster, I had the privilege to serve on the special investigation team appointed by West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin.

I'm sure all the families have gathered together now and they're all pulling their strength from within, praying for the best and I want them to know the state's doing everything -- the government's doing everything humanly possible to…

I understood, we have a crew down in? You make sure you call me back and brief me before I go to that church because people will be asking me questions. Is anybody talking to the families at all?

The rescue team's allowed to go back in. That means the air quality had to be good enough so there was no danger to them, or a very minimal danger. That's a good sign.

I'm still very optimistic and very hopeful and still praying for that miracle, but our odds are pretty much against us, as you know. It's an uphill fight and the people still have a lot of faith and I do too.

The one body that's been recovered was the one person that was left right there where the force of the blast came. And the 12, the tram was in perfect condition. It was on the tracks. There was no disturbance. There was no buckets. There…

With the air levels that we have to deal with, it's still an uphill battle and it's still -- the odds are against us. From that being said, again, we are in a different total mode than what we thought we would be in at this time. So, our…

Believe in miracles.

With the air levels that we have to deal with, it's still an uphill battle and it's still -- the odds are against us.

With the air levels that we have to deal with, it's still an uphill battle and it's still -- the odds are against us. From that being said, again, we are in a different total mode than what we thought we would be in at this time. So, our…

The rescue team's allowed to go back in. That means the air quality had to be good enough so there was no danger to them, or a very minimal danger. That's a good sign.

I'm still very optimistic and very hopeful and still praying for that miracle, but our odds are pretty much against us, as you know. It's an uphill fight and the people still have a lot of faith and I do too.

I'm sure all the families have gathered together now and they're all pulling their strength from within, praying for the best and I want them to know the state's doing everything -- the government's doing everything humanly possible to…

The one body that has been recovered was the one person that was left right there where the force of the blast came. And the 12, the tram was in perfect condition. It was on the tracks. There was no disturbance. There are no buckets. There…

Our hearts and prayers go out to each of the 13 families, we are incredibly saddened by the horrific loss of these fathers, sons, husbands and brothers. This is certainly not the outcome that we had hoped for and prayed for.

I understood, we have a crew down in? You make sure you call me back and brief me before I go to that church because people will be asking me questions. Is anybody talking to the families at all?

Thanks to West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin, it's the new name of Randy and Anna's street in their little town of Simpson.

It's the new name of Randy and Anna's street in their little town of Simpson.

I don't want to believe that anybody would ever put a cost to human life. That's me speaking. That's the state of West Virginia speaking. I can tell you how much a roof boulder costs. I can tell you how much a continuous miner costs. I can…

In West Virginia, Governor Joe Manchin is urging all coal mining operations to shut down, asking the companies to stop operations until safety checks can be conducted on the mining facilities.

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.

Oh absolutely. I think you're going to have all -- we're looking at all of our state regulations and rules right now.

There's been total cooperation through this thing that we did. And without the cooperation, we couldn't have made this historic move that we made today.

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.