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. (CONTINUING BREAKING NEWS)
UNIDENTIFIED
CNN ANCHOR: Chris, stay with us.
It's extraordinary
bit of information coming out of Washington now. Let me add to
something that we said earlier. We have a report now that a
large plane crashed this morning, north of the Somerset County
Airport, which is in western Pennsylvania, not too terribly
far from Pittsburgh, about 80 miles or so, a Boeing 767 jet.
Don't know whose airline it was, whose airplane it was, and we
don't have any details beyond that which I have just given
you. We don't know -- we don't know -- if this is somehow
connected to what has gone on in New York and Washington, but
we do know that another plane has crashed, this one about 80
miles south of Pittsburgh, or at least to southeast of
Pittsburgh.
Rose Arcy (ph), one of our producers here
in New York joins us on the phone.
Rose, what do you
have that is new?
ROSE ARCY, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, just a
while ago, I think you saw that collapse of a top of the World
Trade Center. Well, looks like a large chunk of that debris
has hit a building very close by, about two blocks away, next
to an elementary school, causing another explosion. So for the
last few minutes, I have been watching people running from
that direction. There was one man (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES)
I've seen several emergency service workers carrying
other emergency service workers from the scene. There is a
haze everywhere. It's very, very difficult to see, but that
there a whole area has been covered by an ash. It looks almost
like snow.
People are coming up the street, running
from the scene of this new explosion. You can see them
slipping on the ash and literally having to drag each other up
the street.
There is an incredible amount of panic
down here in downtown Manhattan as people are realizing they
really need to leave the area entirely, after spending the
last hour or so watching this from afar.
AARON (ph):
Rose, stay with us. Terrific work.
Let me throw another
couple of pieces of information out, as we continue to put
this altogether into a straight line, if we can. The United
Nations has been evacuated; the United Nations building, on
the East Side of Manhattan, has been evacuated. The city --
this is Election Day, a primary election for mayor and city
council races in New York. That election has been postponed
until further notice.
Obviously, we are we are in the
middle of on extraordinary catastrophe that started about 8:45
Eastern time here in New York, when one plane crashed into one
of the towers of the World Trade Center. About a half an hour
after that, as people were converging, as fire and police and
rescue teams, were converging on the scene, a second plane
appeared to the west of the Trade Center buildings and slammed
into the second tower. That is what you just saw. Fires were
shooting out the north and east side of the tower.
Shortly after that, we began to get reports of events
taking place in Washington, an explosion which first came to
us as a fire at the Pentagon. Now there are reports of a
second hijacked plane heading towards the Pentagon. It is
believed that one of the planes -- perhaps both, but one them,
we have been told -- was an American Airlines 767 that hit one
of the Trade Center towers.
About a half hour after
that -- perhaps a little bit longer -- you lose track of time
a little bit in these situations -- the south tower, the
second tower -- the one to the left collapsed -- it collapsed
in a cascade of smoke and spark. And what we cannot tell you
is if there was a second explosion that caused that collapse,
or if it was simply -- that is the first one, that is the
south tower collapsing, and that was about a half hour, give
or take, after the planes hit the tower.
Then shortly
after that, just as the smoke was starting to clear away, the
second tower -- that is what you are looking at now -- again
this is not very long ago, 10 or 15 minutes ago -- the second
tower -- it almost looks like one of those implosions of
buildings that you see, except there is nothing controlled
about this. This is devastation.
How many people? There
are 50,000 people who normally go to work in the Trade Center
buildings. How many of those people had arrived already, how
many of those people were trapped in the upper stories, how
many of those people have been hurt, how many of those people
died we cannot tell you now. We can tell you that hospitals
throughout the New York area are receiving literally hundreds
of patients, and they are performing triage. They are trying
to figure out who can be treated, who needs help first. This
is sort of standard operating procedure.
We are just
being told now that Israel has evacuated all its diplomatic
missions around the world. Israel has evacuated its missions.
We are told now that Yasser Arafat has condemned these
attacks. We don't know yet who is behind them. Britain has
condemned these attacks. Germany has convened its national
security council, and we will check and see if events are
going on in those places, or if that is simply a reaction to
what has gone on here in Washington and in New
York.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve joins us on the phone from
Washington -- Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN
CORRESPONDENT: K Street, which is one of the major
thoroughfares in Washington is at absolute gridlock. It takes
about 15 minutes to drive one block. Ordinarily, at this time
of day, there would be nothing near this kind of traffic. You
see pedestrians filling the sidewalks, many of the businesses
and offices having closed. You see cars absolutely pouring out
of the parking lots, which is contributing to the absolutely
horrendous traffic situation. Many people are trying to use
their cell phones; however, cell phone service has become very
difficult in this town because of the crush on
circuits.
For the most part, people appear to be very
calm and collected. I will tell you, though, that as I drove,
I looked at the car next me, full of some young women who I
would guess were in their 20s. Several of them were crying
their eyes out, obviously very upset as they listened to the
radio and heard the news of what is happening in this city and
in New York, also.
Aaron, back to you.
AARON:
Jeanne Meserve in Washington this morning, thanks -- as she
and the rest of the organization continue to gather what facts
we can, what facts are available in the wake of the
extraordinary chaos that has followed this extraordinarily
horrendous terrorist attack.
We are told one of the
planes involved in this was a hijacked American Airlines 767
out of Logan Airport, in Boston. American Airlines will say
what is known.
As you look at the White House being
evacuated a short time ago. Or is that live. I'm not sure on
my monitor which it is. I believe it is tape from a short time
ago.
In any case, American Airlines will talk to
reporters in about a half hour or so, at 11:30 Eastern time.
One of its planes was involved in this. We will bring that
press conference to you live when it happens.
Here in
New York, hospitals are being overwhelmed as hundred of
patients are being brought in and being treated.
we
cannot tell you -- we would not even begin to guess -- what
the numbers in this will be, how many people will have died by
the time this day is over, how many injuries have taken place
in both Washington and New York. But, as former Police
Commissioner Howard Safir told us a few minutes ago,
obviously, the numbers are going to be extraordinary.
Who do we have on the phone, guys? Help me out
here.
Patty are you there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:
Yes, I am here.
What have you got? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:
About an hour ago, I was on the corner of Broadway and Park
Place -- that's about a thousand yards from the World Trade
Center when the first tower collapsed. It was a massive
explosion. At the time, the police were trying desperately to
evacuate people from the area. When that explosion occurred,
it was a scene out of a horror film: People started stampeding
away from it.
(CONTINUING BREAKING NEWS)
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