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CNN Saturday Morning News

Efforts to Clear Rubble in New York City Continue

Aired September 15, 2001 - 09:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. This is CNN's continuing coverage of America under attack. I'm Paula Zahn reporting from New York this morning. Welcome.

Among the many players who will be with us this morning, Bill Hemmer, who joins me south of here. He is a chunk away from ground zero at the Jacob Javits Center. Bill, are you with me? Hello?

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure am, Paula, good morning once again.

ZAHN: Also -- good morning. Also joining us from Washington, John King, who is standing by with probably one of the most commanding views of the Capitol this morning. And Miles O'Brien joins us from the CNN Center in Atlanta. Hi, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: Well, actually, Miles, we heard your voice, but we're looking at another man's picture. And there's John King again. But I think the folks who've been with us through this morning are familiar with you all. Look forward to talking to you in a little bit.

I want to update you now on some of the latest developments in America's new war. In Brussels today, authorities formally charged two men they believe were plotting an attack on U.S. interests in Europe. The two men are said to be members of a radical Muslim group. They were charged with possession of weapons of war.

Congress has OK'd a resolution allowing the president to go after those who had anything to do with Tuesday's attack. The lawmakers also agreed to release $40 billion to finance the war against terrorists and recover from Tuesday's attacks. It's interesting to note that it's twice what the president originally asked for.

Here at ground zero in New York, the grim and exhausting search for survivors continues. More than 4,700 are reported missing around the World Trade Center, with hands, shovels, buckets, and cranes, rescue workers have cleared more than 13,000 tons of debris.

And finally, air travel in the United States is inching toward normalcy. Boston's Logal -- Logan, that is, International Airport reopened this morning, but air travelers there and nationwide are facing some long lines and major delays, and still limited flights, as airports institute new security measures. So if you plan to travel, be prepared to sit around and wait for a long, long time.

The only major U.S. airport that remains closed at this hour is Washington Reagan National.

I wanted to call attention to the skyline behind me this morning, because for the first time you can actually make out the buildings that are south of where the Twin Towers once stood. As you can see from this perspective, smoke still billows out from the area of the crash site. We're going to try to give you a close-up shot now of the cranes involved in the cleanup effort.

It is an extremely painstaking process right now because of the instability, as you can see, of the surrounding structures.

Thousands of workers are down there doing what they can in this race against the clock. So far, the city is confirming that no new survivors have been found, 124 bodies have been recovered, with 59 of them identified. The city is urging anybody related to those missing to bring anything from their homes with possible identification to match up with DNA evidence, whether it's a toothbrush, a cigarette butt, or a hairbrush.

At this hour, still more than 4,700 missing.

ZAHN: Let's go to Bill Hemmer, who is standing by at the Jacob Javits Center, a place where countless numbers of the New York -- New Yorkers continue to stream into to help out. Hi, Bill.

HEMMER: Not just -- Paula, good morning again. Not just New Yorkers. We have talked to people from so many states across the country here. This is the staging area, Paula, where volunteers who want to go down to the site first have to gather. We're at the corner of 34th and 11th Avenue right now, several blocks north of the -- where the World Trade Centers once stood.

But if you want to get an indication of just how many people have showed up here, photographer Rich Brooks took this walk along the line here. We talked about hundreds, possibly thousands, who knows, maybe 2,000 or more people have come here.

Rich just started walking about 30 minutes ago, and he walked and he walked and he walked, and the line just keeps on going. And unfortunately for the overwhelming number of volunteers here, they will not be afforded a chance to go down and help out today. We are told that workers from four different companies have been selected at this point to go down to the World Trade Center area and help out with the operation today.

But still, a lot of people here, still holding out hope that they may be selected at some point today. We talked to a lot of people who've come back day after day after day without any success or without any luck at getting on any bus to head down to the site south of here.

So they once again are optimistic that at some point, indeed they may be able to hitch that ride south of here. The other thing, Paula, donations here have been absolutely overwhelming. We're standing next to the Salvation Army area here, and just the water supply is already well extended over the number of people who actually are here. There's more food and more water than anybody could drink at this point.

Captain Mark Hager is with the Salvation Army. And you've seen it, it's just been a flood, has it not?

CAPT. MARK HAGER, SALVATION ARMY: Yes, it has. We've been overwhelmed with donations to the point where we've blocked traffic in three lanes, causing a traffic backup.

HEMMER: Captain, what are you telling people, then? Stop giving? Or what should they do?

HAGER: We're asking them to hold off for a couple of days. Let us get through the stuff that we have, and then if we need more stuff to -- then we'll ask for it.

HEMMER: Of the things that you might need at this point -- what did you point your finger to there?

HAGER: I know they've been asking for asbestos respirators.

HEMMER: Are those coming here?

HAGER: I believe they'd be going down to the FEMA center where they have a staging area for that stuff.

HEMMER: Somebody also indicated they needed ice. Is that the case?

HAGER: Occasionally, yes, we did -- we could use ice.

HEMMER: OK. Also we got some reports last night that Giant Stadium in New Jersey and Shea Stadium out in Flushing Meadow also could have been staging areas, possibly for goods and supplies to go to. Do you know anything about that?

HAGER: As of right now, I believe Shea Stadium is closed for donations. Giant Stadium is supposed to be from noon to 6:00 for donations.

HEMMER: What does it tell you, captain, when you see the turnout that we have witnessed here, just to -- the sheer numbers of supply that you're looking at?

HAGER: It's overwhelming, and it's grateful to see that -- the turnout of support for the workers that are volunteering their time to go down and dig through the rubble to find survivors.

HEMMER: What's it tell you, though? I mean, looking back at the supplies you have here.

HAGER: I'm just overwhelmed. I haven't seen anything like it, so...

HEMMER: All right. Captain Mark Hager with the Salvation Army. And keep up the good work, OK?

HAGER: Thank you.

HEMMER: You've got a lot of stuff here to deal with OK? Best of luck to you.

HAGER: Yes, thank you.

HEMMER: Paula, we'll continue to watch it here. We just got an indication here that a number of volunteers were told to go down and around the corner. As to why, we don't know just yet. And across the street, again, the line continues. We'll show you more of that coming up shortly here. We'll also take you inside at some point, and we'll talk with people to find out what they're doing right now in order to keep the operation up and running throughout the day here on Saturday.

But for now, back to you, Paula.

ZAHN: Hey, Bill, if you would, please stand by, because as I'm chatting with you, I wanted to show a cover of "The New York Post" that ran this morning, and our camera's going to try to get a tight closeup of this now. It shows President Bush actually embracing firefighter Bob Beckwith (ph), who is one -- what we believe to be a local fire company, the headline reading, "United We Stand."

New York firefighters suffering a tremendous blow, the mayor of this city saying at least 300 of their own among the missing. And among the dead was a fire department chaplain who was actually delivering last rites to a firefighter killed by a body falling from the first tower.

Reverend Michael Judd (ph) was then himself killed by the crush of the collapsing second tower.

And Bill, you've probably heard some of the firefighters you're talking to today calling reference to memorial service that will be held here on September 23 in Central Park honoring the firefighters who lost their lives and those who continue to fight to stabilize in New York City.

The loss of the firefighters and the police, as you no doubt have noticed, has touched a very raw nerve here in New York City.

HEMMER: Yes, and fire officials from all over the country are responding to that. We ran into a couple gentlemen who came in from Michigan late last night, Grand Rapids, Michigan, just came here to try and contribute in any way they could. And I think there was a clear resonance, Paula, when you talk to people from all across the country, they can truly relate to what they're seeing here and what they're witnessing here.

The other thing that strikes me, you mentioned earlier about 15 minutes ago, about just thoughts and impressions. This is a sight that's indelible. This is what we're seeing on nearly every street corner here, people who have tried to get out the word, looking for people who are missing, have not been heard from. And this is the hope that, again, people are hanging onto here in Manhattan.

Again, on nearly every street corner, on signposts, street posts, we're seeing people post their pictures, post their information. And if you've been over to the Armory, Paula, you know through Elizabeth Cohen's reporting that again that is ground zero for that. But it does not stop just there, but indeed it spreads out throughout the entire area here.

ZAHN: All right, Bill.

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