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CNN Live At Daybreak
New York Governor Addresses Violent Acts of Terrorism
Aired September 12, 2001 - 07:00 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: Good morning, everyone. I'm Paula Zahn in New York City this morning and Miles O'Brien will be joining us from Atlanta a little bit later on.
It is almost 22 hours after the unspeakable terrorist incident that has forever changed New York City. You're looking at pictures of some of the rubble, what is left of the 107 twin towers of the World Trade Center. New Yorkers just beginning to grasp the enormous devastation wrought in their city.
Some 1,450 victims are now admitted to area hospitals. The mayor says that a horrendous number of lives have been lost here, some city officials saying those numbers will go into the thousands.
About the only encouraging news this morning are reports that some of the victims trapped in the rubble have established cell phone contact with their family members. And late last night, two New York City police were rescued from a surrounding area of -- around this perimeter area this morning.
We are also going to show you a picture of Washington right now, where we are told the Pentagon fire is now under control. Experts there are estimating the death toll could go as high as 800.
I wanted to share with you now some of the headlines Americans are waking up to this morning. The "Daily News" proclaiming "It Is War." The "New York Post" saying "An Act of War: World Trade Center Destroyed, Many Dead." The "New York Times", "U.S. Attacked: Hijacked Jets Destroy Twin Towers and Hit Pentagon In Day of Terror."
Joining me right now is the governor of New York. Governor Pataki, thank you for joining us this morning.
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: What can you tell us about the ongoing rescue efforts?
PATAKI: Well, the search and rescue operation is paramount. We have 18 teams down there right now trying to find people who might still be alive in the rubble. We have additional teams coming in from as far away as Puerto Rico. And everything that can be done to try and save as many lives as possible is still undergoing.
ZAHN: How much hope is there that you actually will find people alive in this rubble?
PATAKI: Well, there were people found alive late last night. Two Port Authority police officers were found alive and rescued. And as you said, there are cell phone communications. So there is hope. And the devastation is enormous downtown, but there's always hope. And the teams are out there risking their lives, doing the job, trying to save other lives.
ZAHN: You mentioned this team that came in from Puerto Rico. I understand eight special teams all have been flown into this area. Walk us through the challenge, though, of these rescue workers getting in there. Last night you had a great fear that there was still enough left of the bottom part of the tower that people could be hurt going in there and trying to do their jobs.
PATAKI: Well, Paula, it wasn't just the remaining part of the tower itself, but I was down there in a building, one of the high rises right next door was still burning. And if you look down, you can see it's still burning. And there was a risk that that building could collapse. And yet in that risk we had firefighters, we had EMTs, we had police out there going through the rubble risking their lives in the hopes that they could save some others.
And it's just incredible and inspiring, really, to see the courage among those professionals who are down there trying to save lives. And you never give up hope and we're going to continue to try to save as many lives as possible.
ZAHN: I think the news that has pierced New Yorkers the hardest is the fact that some 250 firefighters have lost their lives. They were among the initial 400 that went into this area. Can you share any more information with us about that this morning?
PATAKI: Well, Paula, there are more than 200 firefighters unaccounted for. There are many who have been found dead and it's just a tragedy because these are true heroes and brave New Yorkers who risked their lives and gave their lives to save others.
And when I was down there early this morning you could see in the eyes of the firefighters who were down there in the rescue operation, you could see the pain. But you could also sense the courage and sense the professionalism as they went about the effort of digging through the rubble, trying to save their colleagues. And this is an unspeakable tragedy and it is an act of war. But even among the death and the destruction you see the hope of people trying to save other lives, people trying to do their jobs professionally as Americans always do.
ZAHN: If you could, bring our audience up to date on what is happening in the city. We should make it clear, the markets are closed.
PATAKI: Right.
ZAHN: All flights are suspended until at least noon today.
PATAKI: Right.
ZAHN: Everything south of 14th Street, all the businesses, are closed.
PATAKI: Right.
ZAHN: What else should we know?
PATAKI: Right. The city south of 14th Street is closed. We lost a power substation when one of the buildings collapsed last night and we're in the process now of moving in emergency generators to try to provide help there.
The schools are closed across the city. State offices are closed throughout Manhattan. The bridges and tunnels are still closed. And I spoke just a few minutes ago with the federal officials and they're looking to see when we can reopen them, but obviously security concerns have to be paramount. So we're hopeful that as the day goes on the city will return more to normal, but we have to be cognizant of the security concerns and we're letting the federal officials take the lead on that.
ZAHN: We touched on the fact that over 250 firefighters have been killed, 85 police officers missing. We know that some 50,000 people worked in that World Trade Center area. Any insights as to what we might be facing?
PATAKI: Paula, we just don't know. We don't know how many were able to get out before the buildings collapsed. We don't know how many were in there in the first place. We just are doing our best to try to account for everyone who may have been there and to continue with a search and rescue in the hope that we can free and save some other lives, as well.
ZAHN: Governor Pataki, good of you to join us at such a traumatic time.
PATAKI: Thank you, Paula.
ZAHN: Thank you very much.
PATAKI: Thank you.
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