Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Building Explosion in Manhattan; Fight for Symbol

Aired July 10, 2006 - 09:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Back live now.
Pictures from our rooftop camera here at Columbus Circle, southwest corner of Central Park, just about a mile away or so on 62nd Street, between Madison and Park Avenue, East Side of Manhattan, New York firefighters are scrambling to look for survivors, potential survivors, people trapped beneath the pile there, which was shortly before 9:00 a three-story walk-up building. We're told there was an explosion and fire which led to the collapse, and we are now watching as firefighters do everything they can to, No. 1, contain the blaze, and also look for people who may or may not have survived beneath the rubble.

CNN's Larry King was among those who heard the explosion and saw the immediate aftermath. He joins us now live from the street there.

Larry, what are you seeing now?

LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Hi, Miles.

I'm looking east. I'm right at the corner of 62nd and Madison. I'm watching the hoses hit the building. It looks like most of the fire has been contained. There's still a little smoke. I saw one big fire engine just pull away, and that was the one that was foisting up the cable. They're still using the hoses.

Again, I haven't seen anybody being carried out on stretchers. I saw a lot of stretchers go in, but I haven't seen anyone injured yet. They've got all the streets roped off. The New York City emergency crews reacting very quickly to this, Miles.

It happened about a quarter to 9:00. I was in my hotel room, I heard this unbelievable explosive sound, got down to the lobby, ran around the corner. That was on Park Avenue, and that's when the emergency vehicles were just starting to come. I looked down the street. I saw all the smoke. I cut around 61st Street, back up to Madison Avenue, where I am now, looking east on right at the corner of 62nd and Madison, watching the hoses. The streets are all littered. But I haven't seen anyone injured yet.

Have you had any reports there of any injuries yet?

O'BRIEN: You know, I don't think the fire department has officially confirmed they know of anybody trapped beneath there, but I think they're operating under that assumption. But when you look Larry at the devastation of this collapse, it's hard to imagine someone could survive under that. It really looks like a devastating collapse.

KING: And a man who lives in the building next door told me that he was worried that he told me there's underground parking in that building, and he hopes that they knew about it, because he thought there had to be some people underneath the main floor of that building, below ground. He guessed that there had to be people there. He didn't know that.

O'BRIEN: We are told just now one person was in fact transported to a local hospital. We don't know anything more about that and the circumstances of where that person was or who that person is, but it looks like must have been a tremendous explosion, Larry.

KING: Miles, I've never heard -- have you ever heard a bomb go off?

O'BRIEN: No, I haven't been close to one.

KING: Neither have I, and that's what I guessed it was, some huge bomb, and that's what all the people on the street are saying, the first thing they thought of was 9/11, which is what you have to think of. I wasn't here at 9/11, but it was an enormous one-bomb sound. There were no aftershocks. There were no pre-bombs or any smaller sounds or bigger. It was one huge boom! There was -- I almost thought the window was rattling on the hotel. I never heard a sound like that in my life.

When I went down, I thought the worst, and this is probably the worst, to see a building go down, and it happened right in the quarter to 9:00 on a Monday morning, people going back to work. Street -- I'm amazed that more people weren't on the block right next to it not hurt by falling debris.

O'BRIEN: We can only imagine it would have been a fairly busy sidewalk, too. So we're watching that. They've got their the hands full there, to say the least, dealing with this. Do you have a sense that they have all they need to do the job? In other words, it looks like an impressive response.

KING: More than impressive. New York City is maybe the best there is at this. They have more cars get here quickly, more streets roped off. Always handled it well. I didn't see one cop be rude to anyone. They moved spectators to the correct side where they could stand across the street on the corner, moved them out of the way. I'm looking now at -- one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine -- nine fire vehicles -- 10 fire vehicles, two ambulances, tons of police, squad cars. It's a New York City -- they handle this kind of thing extraordinarily well.

O'BRIEN: Larry King on the line. Witness to this whole thing. Stay there, Larry. Keep us posted. Once again, we have reports of a possible explosion which might have led to the building collapse, explosion and fire. New York fire department obviously on the scene in great numbers there, attempting to stop that fire from spreading and also looking for possible survivors trapped amid the rubble. One report of one person taken to the hospital. We don't know anything more about those circumstances. We are tracking it for you. As we get more details, we'll bring them to you.

(NEWSBREAK)

MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to continue to keep you posted on this developing story of a fire at 62nd and Madison.

O'BRIEN: Yes, East Side of Manhattan. Let's listen in to our coverage right now from our affiliate WABC.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED WABC REPORTER: ... this explosion on 62nd Street.

Theodore Malone is who operates a coffee cart. He's operated one for seven years on the block.

And it was a morning like any other this morning?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice, quiet, yes, that minute that happened,it was a big explosion. I never hear anything like that, and I never see a building to fall up -- to fall down just like that.

UNIDENTIFIED WABC REPORTER: Describe it. Did it happen all at once, the building collapsing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. And it was my coffee cart jump, dancing, and then I run away because I was afraid of another explosion.

UNIDENTIFIED WABC REPORTER: Did you see people who were injured? We're understanding that there were a couple of women who were hurt in this explosion?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it was three ladies, full of blood on their face. And I tried to help them. I give to them ice cubes and clean towels. One of these ladies helped me and she thanked me, and she give me the white towel. It was completely red.

UNIDENTIFIED WABC REPORTER: Any idea. I know it's probably early to tell. But any idea if they were inside the building or walking past it when it exploded?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably outside, because the whole building fall down. I don't think it's any survivors there. I don't think so.

UNIDENTIFIED WABC REPORTER: Some people are reporting a smell of gas prior to this explosion. You were on the block. Did you smell anything that was out of the ordinary?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't smell no gas. And I believe -- I am not expert, but I believe it was not gas explosion. I believe it was a bomb or something.

UNIDENTIFIED WABC REPORTER: We're understanding...

O'BRIEN: We were just eavesdropping a little bit on the WABC coverage. But just to bring you up to date on what's going on here, this was the East Side of Manhattan, New York City, reports of a three-story building collapsing. Unclear what happened, what the series of events led to it were. But a lot of witnesses reports of a strong explosion, including our own Larry King, who was at a hotel not too far away who described it unmistakably like the sound of a bomb.

In any case, the building collapsed in a devastating way, as you can see there, at 62nd, Madison, between Madison Park. Reports of a doctor's office in that building, perhaps a beauty salon or haircutting place, but other than that, just a three-story residential building.

The New York Fire department is on the scene, obviously the police department on the scene, and we have reports of at least one person headed to the hospital.

Beyond that, we don't know much more about the condition of that person or who that person was. But once again, busy Monday morning rush hour time, and what appears to be an explosion and building collapse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. We'll keep you posted on this. As we get more, we'll bring it to you.

Back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We're tracking a breaking story in New York City. This is the East Side of Manhattan. You're looking at close-up aerial pictures from our affiliate WABC as firefighters in a desperate hunt for possible survivors or people trapped beneath the wreckage of this three-story building, which collapsed shortly before 9:00 this morning, just about an hour ago, and sketchy details. And we're trying to piece this all together. But reports of an explosion and fire associated with it, prior to that building collapse.

Neighbors and witnesses are telling us that there may have been two people exiting the building just minutes after the explosion, apparently bloody people. There's also report of one person taken to the hospital. That could be one of those people as well. In any case, there's a story that is unfolding as we speak and the cause obviously very premature to say what caused it.

But at this point, we have pictures right now from WABC coming in, and what appears to be a victim, not sure if it's a firefighter or someone who has been pulled from the rubble. Unclear what that is. But that is -- it does appear to be a victim from beneath the rubble there of this three-story building at 62nd and Madison in New York City.

Once again, it's been an hour since we heard about this, a devastating collapse to that building, perhaps preceded by some sort of explosion. And there you see the remnants of all of that, as firefighters desperately -- apparently that is a firefighter on the stretcher, I'm now told.

In any case, we're tracking it for you. As soon as we get more information, we'll bring it to you -- Melissa.

LONG: And now a story out of Washington we want to share with you, a story of a U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan. He has been awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star, but the U.S. military has yet to give him a memorial marker. The problem? His chosen religion.

AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is live for us this morning from Washington.

Good morning, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Melissa.

I'm here at the Veteran's Administration. They are discovering how difficult it is to determine what is an acceptable religion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Even though he died in combat last September in Afghanistan, there is no plaque for Sergeant Patrick Stewart on the Wall of Heroes at Fernley, Nevada's Veterans Memorial Cemetery, just a blank marker. That's because he was a Wiccan, a pagan religion that often includes witchcraft.

ROBERTA STEWART, WIDOW: I believe he is the only Wiccan who has died in active combat. My husband went to war and died for the Constitution of the United States.

FRANKEN: Sergeant Stewart's widow has rejected a Veterans Administration offer to erect a plaque with his name, but without the pagan Wiccan and circled five-point star, called a pentacle. The V.A. does not recognize the Wiccan religion, as it has 38 others, along with their symbols. His widow is preparing to sue.

STEWART: I must have it on his memorial plaque before I can lay him to rest, so that he can move on, and that our family can even begin to start to grieve.

FRANKEN: Roberta Stewart came to Washington and met with V.A. officials, who would not agree to a televised interview. Instead, they put out a statement, saying, "A decision on Wicca is simply being delayed until the department completes its efforts to develop a uniform set of rules."

There is no organized public opposition to recognizing Wicca, but although the faith has been given a tax-exempt, non-profit status by the IRS and is recognized by other parts of the government. Wiccan leaders say there is still discrimination, because it can involve witches.

SELENA FOX, SR. MINISTER, WICCAN CIRCLE SANCTUARY: Witchcraft is not Satanism. It is not harming others. It's not power over others. It's not hocus pocus.

STEWART: Our spirituality is our heart, our soul and who we are.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: The Wiccan religion says that is has been nine year since the Veteran Administration has had a request to be recognized as a valid religion. The V.A. says that it only wanting to be fair to all religions that apply -- Melissa.

LONG: Bob Franken, live in Washington. Thank you, Bob.

O'BRIEN: Back to some breaking news we've been following here. New York City, not far from where we sit right now, firefighters still on the scene of a fire subsequent to what appears to have been an explosion and building collapse, possibility of people potentially trapped beneath that rubble, and that is why they're there, trying to keep it from spreading, as well as looking for possible survivors, people trapped beneath the three-story building, which we're told by some witnesses might have had an underground parking garage. There are reports that at least two bloody people were seen by witnesses emerging from that rubble subsequent to the collapse.

And we do have a separate report of someone taken to the hospital. You saw just a few moments ago apparently a firefighter was injured. We don't know his condition either. But an impressive response by the New York Fire Department there. At least 10 fire trucks that we saw just in one aerial shot as they do everything they can to stop this from spreading, and also look for people who might be beneath that rubble here on the East Side of Manhattan -- Melissa.

LONG: We are standing by waiting to get a connection with a doorman who happened to see and hear everything that happened this morning. While we do that, I want to bring you up to date as well. If you just happen to be turning on the television, this explosion, a third-alarm fire, a three-alarm fire rather, at 62nd and Madison. Throughout the morning, we've been showing you a variety of pictures, some from our own tower-cam at the top of the Time Warner building here in New York; just around the corner this fire, at the corner of Madison and 62nd.

As Miles mentioned moments ago, we have received word that at least one person was seen on a stretcher, a firefighter getting some emergency care. There were reports from people in the area, witnesses, who happen to reside in the area, that she saw two people coming out of the building immediately after what has been described as an explosion, really uncertain right now exactly what has caused this building to explode and what was exactly inside this building. There have been differing reports of possibly a beauty shop, possibly doctors offices, and whether or not there were residential homes we're not even sure at this point.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's unclear at this point. Very early on this. We're getting all kinds of conflicting information about it. What you see there is very little to work with for firefighters, and it's a clearly a pile of rubble, a completely devastating building collapse, perhaps preceded by an explosion here in New York City.

Let's listen to our affiliate WABC. Let's listen to their coverage for a moment. UNIDENTIFIED WABC REPORTER: And you can how quickly it came down, just how far the rubble is strewn. I mean, it's all the way out on the street, almost across the street, across 62nd Street.

Since we arrived here shortly after the collapse happened, the firefighters have been concentrating on this one area. Again, I was surmising, I guess, that maybe this was an entrance into the building, either a sidewalk straight down to the basement, maybe a basement window. Firefighters have been concentrated here. And, again, you see them there with a backboard, probably in the process now of making a rescue.

And again, we're going to keep you updated. We're not getting any information from the scene. It's very difficult to get it while these emergencies are under way, because obviously the emergency authorities have their hands full. So we can only go with what we are telling you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meanwhile, you can see the right side of your screen, though, Lori (ph). This fire has not let up. When this building came down, it was originally put out as a second alarm assignment. It quickly grew to a third alarm fire, fully engulfed. Fire department reporting heavy fire in the collapse zone, and that still appears to be the case. Of course, at the root of the fire is down underneath all of that debris. It's going to take a while for the fire department to get water directly on the source of the fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the more you watch it, the more chilling it really becomes when you think of the split second that one might be in a building and it could collapse this quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In not even a matter of minutes. It was a matter of seconds, and this whole building just came down. So anyone in the building, anyone on the sidewalk, was in peril. It's truly a scary, scary sight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, we're going to Marcus Salis (ph) once again on the ground for another update -- Marcus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Lori, we're getting a little bit more information about the nature of the structure itself. We knew that there were some doctors' offices. We're not sure if it was a residence. Turns out it's both. Apparently, this structure has two doctors' offices. It is shared by two doctors. And one of those doctors has a duplex apartment on the top two floors of that structure.

Now, one of the doctors, Paul Manta (ph), is accounted for. He is here. The other doctor is not. However, it is unclear whether or not he was home at the time, or if he is away. Now, the good news here is that the office did not schedule to open until 9:00. There were no appointments scheduled before that. This happened well before 9:00, and a nurse who was scheduled to open those offices at 8:30 or at 8:00, rather, was late. So this -- the offices were not open. She was not inside at the time.

Again, there are no reports as to any patients or anyone visiting the office being there at the time. One doctor unaccounted for, but it is not sure whether or not he was actually home at the time. And the other doctor that operates that office is indeed accounted for and he is here.

As you can see,the search continues. That debris is still out there on the street. And this is an operation that will continue. John was describing the fire that is, you know, threatening both adjacent structures. Both of those buildings have been completely evacuated. One is a high rise at 30 East 62nd Street, Cumberland (ph) House. The other one is what we would assume would be a similar structure as to the one that exploded. It is a four-story brick structure that is next to it.

And, again, firefighters continue to put water on this four alarm fire that as of this moment is still not under control -- Lori.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you able to hear me, Marcus? Can you hear me? No, we're not -- we're going back to John Jelgurnel (ph) then. Thank you, Marcus, in News Copter 7 once again. So Marcus cleared it up to some degree that these two doctors actually shared...

O'BRIEN: We've been listening to our affiliate coverage of WABC. That was Marcus Salis, who's on the scene there.

Out of Washington, we just heard that the White House press secretary, Tony Snow, talking to reporters this morning in the informal briefing. They called the gaggle. Says as far as we know at this point, no terrorism nexus related to this. No reported injuries, he said, although are press reports of people trapped in the rubble. So he's actually quoting back some of the reports we've been giving out. But nonetheless, discounting the possible of any sort of terror link to this at this point.

CNN's Allan Chernoff is on the scene. Allan, what are you seeing?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now I can tell you that -- thank you very much. Well, as you can see firefighters are still shooting the water, trying to put out the blaze. And the smoke still coming out from this explosion. It all happened at about 8:40 this morning. Witnesses say there was a big explosion here. All of a sudden, this residential building -- we're told by witnesses that it was a residential building, with some doctors offices on the first floor. It exploded. A fire ensued.

You can still see some of the smoke rising into the sky right over here. We're told by the fire department that two civilians have been brought to a local hospital with injuries. One firefighter we just saw, brought out on a gurney. We're told that he has injuries to the neck and also to the back.

With me right now is Yaphov Kermyer (ph). He lives right next door. Yaphov, you heard the explosion? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard the explosion and I saw the explosion as well. I was standing right across the street on the corner over here. Actually, my wife and two of my kids were waiting across the street on the diagonal corner from here for a bus to take my the kids -- to take my second oldest to camp.

CHERNOFF: Now, Yaphov, I understand you also have a baby that was in the apartment at the time of the explosion?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. As soon as I saw the explosion, I started yelling to my wife and two kids to run, run, run, and my wife screamed across the street, but the baby is in the apartment!

CHERNOFF: With your nanny?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With our nanny. And so I ran through the smoke and grabbed the baby out of the apartment. And really thank God that everyone in my family is all right. I just pray that everyone else in the building, especially if anyone was in the parking lot below, I just pray that everyone is all right.

CHERNOFF: What did your apartment look like when you went in. It's right next door. In fact, behind us we can see the blown out windows of your apartment, right next to the building that exploded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be honest, I didn't go beyond the living room, which is where the door opens into. And we just ran out and quickly exited the building. At this point, it's almost trivial to be worried about material things when there are people who are obviously seriously injured. But to be honest, I don't think there's likely much that survived in our apartment because I see that all the windows have been blown out and the place looks like it's probably filled with water at this point.

CHERNOFF: Yaphov Kermyer, we're very glad your family is OK. Thank you very much.

As you can see, the firefighters behind us are still fighting the blaze. There must be at least 70 firefighters on the scene. That's really just a guesstimate. I can see at least six, seven fire trucks around here. We were told earlier that it was a three alarm blaze, but in fact, it seems that it's probably much larger than that.

Also my producer just handed me a note. There were doctors' offices on the first floor and the second floor, and apparently one of the doctors lived on the third and the fourth floor. Had a duplex in the building. So that's what we do know right now about the building.

Two women -- those are the civilians I mentioned earlier -- two women taken to New York hospital, which is just down the street on the very East Side of Manhattan. So we do know at least of three injuries, two civilians and one firefighter. Back to you.

O'BRIEN: Allan, as far as we know -- and I know it's very difficult in this confusion -- do we know who is unaccounted for at this point? CHERNOFF: We don't know yet. We do not have information about that. There was one wire report that did mention a person being unaccounted for, but I have no further details whatsoever.

O'BRIEN: All right. Allan Chernoff on the scene there. We'll let him get back to work and get as many details as we can for you. Once again, the White House weighing in on this. The press secretary Tony Snow saying as far as we know at this point, his words, "no terrorism nexus" related to this.

But the way we've been able to piece this together for about an hour and 20 minutes now, this has been going on. It began with an explosion and a fire and caused the utter collapse of a three-story building at 62nd and Madison on the East Side of Manhattan, which triggered this response. Reports of two women who are at least injured potentially, bloodied and taken away. A firefighter injured. We don't know how seriously. And New York's fire department on there, still in force, trying to see if anybody might be beneath the rubble.

LONG: Well, as Allan mentioned in his report, two doctors' offices known to be inside that building. One doctor has been accounted for. And there was also a report that they were searching for a nurse who was supposed to be at the office, but that office wasn't scheduled to open until 9:00 a.m. this morning, which is a saving grace since, of course, this explosion -- if it was an explosion -- happened about 20 minutes before that.

O'BRIEN: Could have been patients in there otherwise had the doctor's office been open. Once again, two doctors' offices there. Apparently the doctor is living in that building as well. One doctor accounted for, the other not. Still unclear who might or might not be trapped beneath the rubble there. This been going on for an hour now as New York firefighters respond to this residential building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Well, we will keep you posted on this as these details become clear to us. We will share them with you. Let's send it over now to CNN's Daryn Kagan in Atlanta, who will pick up the story from there -- Daryn.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com