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CNN Live Today

Rescue Workers Describe What They Saw

Aired September 12, 2001 - 14:53   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.
AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The rescue operation continues at an agonizingly slow pace. Firefighters and police officers are involved. Volunteers, Red Cross workers, among the Red Cross workers involved in painful operation, Jonathan Shanore (ph) -- I hope I pronounced that right -- and Joe MacKinnon, in an effort to get a look inside the ground-zero zone we gave them a camera and they join us here to talk a bit about what they saw. I want to show your pictures in a minute, guys, but first just give me a sense of the kind of work you have been doing -- Joe.

JOE: Basically, going through building, sifting through debris. Going onto second floors. Checking -- looking through debris, holes, anything that could possibly have a body or something. Basically giving a hand down there. A lot of the firemen and EMTs are exhausted. We are in to relieve them and give them a helping hand.

BROWN: I want, if we can, guys, roll the tape. And I know it is a little tricky for you to you see it on roof there, but just describe as we go along what it is that you were shooting and what we are looking at -- John, go ahead.

JOHN: There is no picture.

BROWN: Just tell us what you were doing and where you were.

JOHN: I don't actually know the names of the different buildings. We got in there and like Joe said, we searched the basement floor first and moved up to the first and second floor of the twin towers building. Then we moved onto the other buildings and searched them too for any survivors.

BROWN: When did you shoot the pictures, this morning?

JOHN: Some time around 9:00, 10:00 this afternoon or this morning.

BROWN: And these firefighters that we see walking away, the firefighters, the rescue people you saw, did they look to exhausted, did they seem OK?

JOHN: It seemed like they were exhausted. There was a lot of fresh people coming in -- people you could tell were fresh because they had clean clothes on -- there is lot of people down there to help which is much appreciated by everyone, I'm sure. BROWN: When you talk about, there were a lot of people there to help, tell us, what it is they were helping with, in a sense. Were they putting out fires, were they trying to find people? What exactly were they doing?

JOHN: They are doing everything. They are putting out fires, they are sorting through debris. They are moving mass quantities of debris, they have almost like a chain set up of guys just moving debris piece by piece, trying to find bodies of survivors.

BROWN: Was it noisy, was it quiet?

JOHN: There was a lot of noise down there. There is a lot machinery running, compressors.

BROWN: Did it have a noticeable smell? Was there a smell in the air you could identify?

JOHN: Yes, there is a bad smell in the air. I don't know if it's the asbestos or what exactly but there is a bad smell.

BROWN: Just continue telling us what we are looking at as we go along here. We have a couple more minutes of the tape. And it helps our viewers if you give them a sense of what they are looking at now.

JOHN: I believe that is picture right now between the tower buildings. Like I said, I'm not familiar with the exact buildings and what they were called. But that is what it appears to be to me. That is several of the firefighters and rescue personnel moving the debris down there.

BROWN: And again this was about 9:00 this morning?

JOHN: Yes.

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