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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Under Attack: NY Rescue Operations In Full Swing

Aired September 13, 2001 - 08:11   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: One of the things I think the nation is fascinated by right now is exactly what rescue workers are up against downtown as they try to start to dig through the tons and tons of rubble. Behind my shoulder, of course, you still see smoke coming from that area.

Not far from there is Martin Savidge, one of our correspondents, who is going to give us an update now on exactly what is going on down there -- Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.

And as you see quite clearly on the Manhattan skyline, it is still that plume of smoke that continues to rise where once the Twin Towers were rising themselves into the sky.

It continues to be that sort of grayish, white-type cloud. It is fire that is still down there, and smoke that is billowing up. The wind has shifted somewhat. That has eased the burden on the rescuers down there. But it has made it problematic for other people in lower Manhattan. People -- anyone with respiratory problems in the area are said that they should close their windows and should not come down here.

As for the rescuers themselves, we were watching as a fresh load of rescuers came into the area. They were riding in buses. They were sometimes riding on the backs of trucks -- any mode of transportation that could bring them down the West Highway here to approach the Twin Towers or what remains of where the Twin Towers once stood.

Here is the problem that they're up against: There are at least two buildings in the immediate area around the debris field here that are said to be in imminent danger of potential collapse. We had a partial collapse that took place yesterday afternoon of the seven remaining stories of one of those grand towers.

And there is at least two other buildings. One is the Liberty One area, and then there is another building that is known as Building 5. That is a problem obviously for the rescuers down there. They had to evacuate quite suddenly, quite quickly. It was almost a repeat of some of the scenes we had seen days before.

They are carefully working their way through that debris. They are using shovels. They are using picks. They are using heavy earthmoving equipment, and at times they are using their bare hands.

The daylight now has supplanted the floodlights that bathed the area throughout the nighttime hours. They are searching for life, but many of them know that they are preparing to find death.

As you point out, the number of body bags now requested by the City of New York has doubled to about 10,000. They have officially now found 160 bodies. But, of course, that death toll is going to go way beyond those numbers that have been found.

So the desperate work is continuing. They are bringing in more equipment, and they are taking out more debris. But they also know that with each passing hour and literally each passing moment, hope of finding more survivors grows dimmer and dimmer, but that hope still exists -- Paula.

ZAHN: Martin, there was a lot of talk yesterday by FEMA and by other organizations across the country talking about sending in these specialized urban rescue teams.

Can you give us an idea this morning on exactly how they are adding to the efforts already under way down there?

SAVIDGE: Well, the specialized teams obviously do the heavy lifting as far as trying to find those that may still be trapped inside. They are the ones that are dispatched to any indication if there is life to be heard from down underground. They are the ones that have the training, they are the ones that have the equipment and the expertise.

The other volunteers that come in are doing also the heavy work, helping to clear the debris so that the specialized teams can have access to these specific areas. There are also a lot of firefighters that are down there doing their job, also assisting these teams.

So basically, it is those teams that are working at the point when it comes to trying to find survivors. It is the many thousands of other volunteers that are doing the heavy work of trying to clear the way for them to do their job -- Paula.

ZAHN: I know Americans stand in awe of these rescue workers and firefighters and police -- all of whom are risking their lives to assist in this effort.

But what are the -- and I know none of these folks involved will ever admit the grave dangers they are facing, but today, what is the biggest challenge they face in terms of their own personal safety?

SAVIDGE: Well, the biggest challenge -- it's the shifting debris. It is the concern about the buildings and the surrounding area that are known to be buckling. We know that the fires have weakened them severely, and that is the greatest danger.

But they go about the job of digging into the ground even though the threat may be above their heads. They are concerned about finding anyone who is alive. They are leaving it up to the other experts in the area to sort of watch over them.

The tremendous strain that is building up on these rescuers is very evident as we talk to all of them. We talked to some of the first responding firefighters, and the tales that they tell you of the destruction -- the human destruction that they found are just mind- numbing. They said that they never expected to see some of the scenes that they came across.

One firefighter saying that when they initially entered one of the towers -- they had to obviously go in through the lobby -- what they saw goes beyond human decency to describe, but there was a tremendous number of burned victims on the ground floor. That initially surprised them. They expected to find the burned victims up where the two planes impacted. Instead, what they found was that the fuel and the fire from those aircraft immediately dumped down the elevator shafts and exploded into the lobbies.

That's the sort of things they're up against -- Paula.

ZAHN: I cannot even imagine what they faced -- Martin Savidge, thanks so much for that update. We're going to come back to you a little bit later on this morning.

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