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American Morning
Search Continues at Trade Center, Even on Christmas
Aired December 25, 2001 - 07:18 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Christmas is no holiday for the workers at Ground Zero. Volunteers continue combing through the rubble at the World Trade Center, 15 weeks to the day since the terrorist attacks.
But the workers are taking time to share some food and some fellowship on this Christmas morning. And our Deborah Feyerick joins us from Nino's Restaurant with that story.
Deb, good morning, and merry Christmas to you.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NEWS, NEW YORK CITY: Good morning to you, too, Daryn.
Well, this is Nino's Restaurant. This is the place where police, firefighters, state troopers, Red Cross volunteers -- this is where they come when they're taking a break from their excavation work.
You can see some of the volunteers here manning what is this Christmas breakfast with a new plate of eggs just ready to be served up.
This is about a 10-minute walk north from the actual site. And again, it's where people come just to take a break, spend a little time away from the sad work.
This is Alan R. Betina (ph). This is very personal why you showed up here on Christmas Day. Tell us why.
ALAN R. BETINA (ph): Well, I personally volunteered to work today. Everyone senior to me -- my commander was killed that, which left me the senior officer at my command.
And I thought, out of respect for them, I would -- I wanted to be here today. I'm ...
FEYERICK: You take a break from this kind of work. Is this a refuge for you to sit for a few minutes?
BETINA (ph): Oh, it's been, since the beginning, it's been a place where you could and you could get away from everything, and just be quiet and be by yourself and have something to eat.
FEYERICK: Sort of sift through everything that you've been experiencing. BETINA (ph): That's correct. And like I said, being able to come in here today and later on go down by the site and maybe say a prayer. They're having a Catholic mass, I believe, at 11:30 under the cross on West Street, and to be close to that scene.
I think there's a lot of angels down here today. I think it's a very profound place to be. And it's a great honor to be able to go down there and let the families know that we're still down there.
And we -- everybody that was lost that day, not just the rescue workers, the firemen, the police, but there was a lot of good people that were lost that day. They were all heroes.
I mean, the people that were up on those upper floors. There's a lot of things that happened that day that we'll never know, you know.
And it's just not about the Police Department, which we all gave them respect. I think we should let the families know that today. All the rescue workers, all the people involved with this, thinking about them also.
FEYERICK: Is Christmas a little easier for you being here, being around the people, being around the site?
BETINA (ph): I don't know if the word is easier. I just think it gives you a certain feeling that, of closeness and respect for your friends that you lost.
FEYERICK: OK. Alan R. Betina (ph) from the Port Authority Police, thank you very much for joining us this morning.
BETINA (ph): And merry Christmas.
FEYERICK: And -- to you, too, merry Christmas -- and taking a look at some of the things on the wall, here, people from around the country have written cards honoring these men and women who have been working so tirelessly at ground zero.
A lot of people just sending their best wishes, especially on this holiday season. There are flags that say "United We Stand."
There's a real feeling of power here at this restaurant. Although it is a quiet, sometimes somber place, there's a steady stream of people who are very, very committed to what it is they are doing, committed enough to be here on Christmas Day -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Deb, and on a personal note, I know this is your baby girl's first Christmas Day, so we appreciate you putting in the time and bringing us such a nice story. So thank you very much for that.
FEYERICK: Thank you.
KAGAN: Thanks for being with us.
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