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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Recovers: Businesses Try to Assist in Rescue Operation

Aired September 21, 2001 - 07:20   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: With me now is Lloyd Frazier, who owns a McDonald's restaurant in lower Manhattan, a restaurant that has become a haven for hungry and exhausted rescue workers from the site of the World Trade Center. Good of you to join us this morning.

LLOYD FRAZIER, RESTAURANT OWNER: My pleasure. Thank you.

ZAHN: What are you attempting to do down there?

FRAZIER: Well, just pitch in and help out like everyone else and countless other people have. The McDonald's team, we rallied the troops. I put up a cry for help to my fraternity of McDonald's owners and McDonald's Corporation. We moved in a mobile unit with the help of Chief Tiffany and OEM and we're feeding them hot nuggets, hot coffee and hot hamburgers, all the volunteers, firefighters, police, EMS.

ZAHN: What kind of reaction have you gotten from these very tired workers who've...

FRAZIER: Oh, very tired they are.

ZAHN: ... come to rest?

FRAZIER: The reaction has been beyond my wildest dream. I put a hamburger and a cup of coffee in a fireman's hand one night and he just said to me, he goes you're my hero. And I kind of looked at him and let him know who the hero truly was. But yes, that's what he said, and it's just so rewarding because they come out of this rubble with just, you can see the pain and the scars on their face. It's just horrific. And to be able to just give them a little bit of a lift is so rewarding.

ZAHN: You know, it is so difficult to describe to anybody who hasn't been down there in person because I think everybody's acknowledged that pictures really do not show you the horror of what has happened down there.

But when you see how much the area has been transformed by companies like yours, you have lobbies of bank buildings now lined up with cots so the firemen can take rests. You have whole lobbies of buildings taken over for food supplies.

FRAZIER: Yes. ZAHN: Can you describe some of what you've seen as you've walked around that area known as "the zone?"

FRAZIER: Well, around the area, I could tell you this, we became the Hotel McDonald's the first couple of nights because there really wasn't anything open or available to the firefighters and the police. And I guess the saying there's no room at the inn. We had a full house of firemen, policemen, National Guard. Oh, the National Guard have been wonderful to us, as well. It was packed, sleeping everywhere within my restaurant.

And on Wednesday morning Raymond, who's my right hand man, we were sweeping and cleaning up. Someone came up to us and said well, what are you cleaning up? I said we have guests coming tonight so we have to clean up. And it was the firefighters to spend another night with us, you know?

ZAHN: Where were you on September 11?

FRAZIER: Right on the corner watching this horror unfold. We got all our people out and I looked at Raymond and I said Raymond, I said somebody's going to have to stay for these folks. And he said oh, boss, it's going to be a long day. I said well, somebody's got to do it. Let's do it.

ZAHN: And how long do you plan to continue doing what you're doing?

FRAZIER: As long as it takes till everybody's satisfied and...

ZAHN: That could be a very long time, Lloyd.

FRAZIER: Well, McDonald's has a lot of stamina.

ZAHN: And I bet you haven't gotten any complaints about the food, have you?

FRAZIER: Absolutely none. We're getting pats on the back and, you know, McDonald's Corporation has stood behind me right every step of the way from right when we put this together. Like I said, I sent up the flag for help and my brothers and sisters at McDonald's rallied quick and we put it together.

ZAHN: And we should mention that there are so many other companies that are showing the same level of generosity your company is showing.

FRAZIER: Oh, without question.

ZAHN: Yes, whether it's the banks that are giving up their lobbies or...

FRAZIER: It's a team effort every step of the way right across America, worldwide. It's a team effort. And we've put together a program. We have all the children in the schools writing letters of thank you and support to the firefighters and the police and EMS and they bring it to their local McDonald's and it's getting shipped to ground zero and we're putting these in their hands, the firefighters' hands and police and EMS. And they're welling up from kids with just little letters in their own words. And it's just so special to be a part of it.

ZAHN: All right, Lloyd Frazier, thank you so much for dropping by. Continued good luck.

FRAZIER: Thank you. Thank you very much.

ZAHN: Tell everybody how much America respects what they're doing down there.

FRAZIER: Oh, we know that. Thank you.

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