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American Morning

Look at What's Happening at Ground Zero

Aired January 07, 2002 - 07:08   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, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Paula. And let me get right to it and show you. It is a spectacular site. If you take a look behind me it practically fills the whole screen. That is the Queen Elizabeth II, known as the QE II. It docked early this morning and, as you said, it is the first time that has happened. The first time a cruise ship has been allowed in New York Harbor since 9/11.

It was really a spectacular sight, I got to tell you, Paula, as the QE II pulled into the New York port. It was escorted up the Hudson River into the New York Harbor by fireboats that were spewing water into the sky. At one point early this morning the QE II actually stopped in front of the World Trade Center and held somewhat of a brief ceremony to honor the victims from 9/11. A flag was lowered at half staff, and a wreath was laid into the water for those victims.

I want to talk a little bit more about ground zero and what's happening down there. As you might imagine, the digging is continuing down there in downtown Manhattan. And what we're hearing that - is that the effort is really focused on an area called the hill. It was a street level staging area for many of the firefighters who were down there during the attack. Fourteen bodies, including 10 firefighters, were found in that area called the hill since New Year's Eve. And it's believed that as many as 50 more firefighters might be buried there, so there's definitely a lot of effort being focused on that one particular area down there at ground zero.

So far, two million tons of debris have been removed so far. And 2,000 bodies still remain missing down there at ground zero. But back here at New York Harbor in front of the QE II it's definitely an encouraging sign to see the QE II back at the port - Paula.

ZAHN: Commanding site there, Jason. Thanks so much for that report.

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