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CNN Live Saturday

At Ground Zero, Search for a Glimmer of Hope Continues

Aired September 22, 2001 - 15:22   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Down in that area near ground zero is CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman, who joins us as they continue to search for a glimmer of hope -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Marty, I was watching that and listening to that along with you. And one of the things I wanted to add to what that gentleman said was every time somebody walks out of there they look a little older to us, a little more worry on their face. You see that because the thing they wanted more than anything was to find survivors, and no survivor has been found since Wednesday morning.

That's something I want to bring up right now. We have been told today by a firefighter from an urban search and rescue team that they are getting close to where there are so-called voids or holes -- where people potentially could have survived. They are digging deep in the rubble. This firefighter tells us they have found more bodies today, but they're also hopeful -- there's no evidence; they haven't heard any survivors, there's no evidence that there's a survivor. But they believe they are coming close to areas where someone could potentially survive. So if there were a survivor there -- and they are still actively looking, we could be coming close to the time where they would potentially find that person.

But as you look at these pictures, you see that the smoke still continues to billow. There are still underground fires under the rubble, and there are still hundreds of thousands of tons of rubble on the ground. As of yesterday 76,000 tons had been taken away. That may be 10 percent of the total amount of rubble. It's expected it will take six months or longer to remove all the rubble from the site.

You know, it's been 11 days now since terrorists crashed two airplanes into the World Trade Center towers, changing the city and this country perhaps forever. People here are still, in New York City, having a tough time realizing that this is still true. So many people still think it's a bad nightmare. People are trying go about their daily lives in New York City, but wherever you go people still talk about this; 6,333 people are still in the missing and presumed dead list.

We are told, though, that it's likely that number will go lower because it's thought that many countries that have reported their citizens missing -- and more than 70 countries have reported citizens missing -- have reported people who just haven't called home. They may not have necessarily been in the World Trade Center complex. So we hope to hear later -- perhaps today or perhaps in the days to come that that number has gone down a little bit.

We also want to tell you right now the number 252 is the number of bodies that have been found. We anticipate an update a short time later today, that number will likely go up. As we told you, firefighters here are finding more.

Now, we want to show you a very emotional scene from last night, Shea Stadium, New York City. New York Mets against the Atlanta Braves, the first baseball game in New York since this all happened. The Mets players all wore NYPD hats, fire department hats (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Very patriotic flags were given to everybody when they walked into the stadium. And you see, these are the pregame ceremonies, with everyone standing with their hats on their hearts.

Players mingled together, it was a very friendly atmosphere, something you don't usually see, especially so late in the baseball season with two teams in the pennant race. So, it was really quite a night, that shot you just saw. On the scoreboard of center field at Shea Stadium the New York skyline is cut out, and that was a red, white and blue ribbon on the World Trade Center cut out, just part of the New York Mets logo.

We also want to tell you, Diana Ross sang "God Bless America," Liza Minnelli during the seventh-inning stretch singing "New York, New York." It was a very emotional and patriotic day for all.

We also want to tell you one other thing, at the other stadium in town where baseball teams play, Yankee Stadium, tomorrow a memorial service will be held, 60,000 people are expected to attend. Today, tickets were passed out at local police precincts throughout New York City. It's mainly for family members of those who have lost, but also members of the public, first come first serve, who are able to get tickets today will attend the ceremony. Security is expected to be very tight, as you might imagine. Marty, back to you.

SAVIDGE: Gary, I wanted to bring up -- we've seen these new cranes, much larger ones that have been brought into the site there and apparently are being put to use. Is this an indication of a new strategy, and is that strategy working?

TUCHMAN: Marty, this is now a recovery mission, as it's been for days now. Still a rescue mission, they're still looking for people. But as part of the recovery, they are bringing in the gigantic cranes to pick up hundreds of tons of rubble.

And that's the problem, that the rubble is piled so high, in some cases up to 10 stories, that they need those very tall cranes to remove the rubble, because it is at such high levels. So, it's not a part of a new strategy, it's just a continuing thing we're going to see, more equipment brought in as they try to remove this rubble, and it will take months to do it.

SAVIDGE: CNN's Gary Tuchman joining us from ground zero, as you were looking at the latest images coming in from the government, supplied by FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Thank you, Gary.

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